100 Random Things About Me At 29!

This is something I have thought about doing for a long time for a scrapbook layout I was doing, but I never actually did it. Then my friend Ilene got this same idea for another friend and did it for a blog and I decided to stop procrastinating and just do it. I mean the scrapbook layout is already all made up and just waiting for my list of things and if I don't hurry I won't be 29 anymore and will have to redo the layout to read 30 (Yikes! I am getting old!). So here it goes.

1. I love to eat brownies. I just have a hard time stopping once I start.
2. I have been losing weight all year and am finally only 15 lbs. away from my goal--which is still 15-20 lbs. more than high school but I have given up on that dream (Thank goodness I am tall!)
3. I am still very in love with the first love of my life--together 15 years, married 9 years.
4. I love to reread old favorites. (Jane Austen, Anne of Green Gables, Mitford, and Harry Potter to name a few).
   
5. New books make me a little nervous because I worry about the cleanliness of the content and whether it will be emotionally demanding--I greatly prefer happy books.
6. Same goes for movies.
7. I love the color yellow.
8. I love spring and fall. I love it when the weather is cooler and the seasons are changing. Winter and Summer are more extreme, I like the moderate.
9. I like to play the piano, but am only moderate at it. I plan to improve, but that will probably not happen until my kids are older.
10. I have 4 beautiful and intelligent children.
11. I love the sound of children playing together happily and using their imaginations, creativity and talents--I just wish that that happened more around my house! : )
12. I do not like calling people on the phone. I get nervous. I am doing better at this but it is still a sort of phobia that I am working on!
13. I am rather a reserved person until I get to know someone and then I am very open and warm and rather too chatty sometimes. : )
14. I love to sing, but have low confidence in my abilities (except in my own imagination).
15. I used to think I was an intelligent person but since having children my mind seems to have shut down. This actually bothers me quite a bit. I guess that means I was a little proud or vain about my brain before, doesn't it?
16. I loved school and getting the new books at the beginning of each semester and learning.
17. I hated writing papers and tests made me so nervous. I would study for hours and hours in order to get A's.
18. I thought I would be good at homemaking and mothering until I became one.
19. I do not enjoy housework. I love the FlyLady!
20. I enjoy knitting, crocheting, embroidery, scrapbooking, etc. I guess this is why I am perfectly content to stay at home with all my quiet, solitary (and, sadly, sedentary interests).
21. I do not enjoy solitary exercise. I need a movie or a book or a friend to help me get moving.
22. I love to eat.
23. I do not love to cook
24. I love baking.
25. I like to be in the water, but putting on a bathing suit is embarrassing.
26. I can't fall asleep at night unless I read a little something.
27. I tend to rub my feet together or on something when relaxing--I guess it is soothing to me.
28. I love good photography. I would love to learn how to do it myself but don't want to spend the money on all the equipment so probably will have to just keep enjoying others work.
29. I am not a decisive person usually.
30. I don't like contention. It makes me anxious.
31. I don't usually contradict people. That doesn't mean that I agree with them, but I just keep my opinions to myself.
    
32. I love the smell of fresh baked homemade bread.
33. I love the smell of bookstores with all those new books.
34. Libraries and book stores are two of my favorite places to go.
35. I have a strong testimony of the gospel of Christ.
36. I spend large sums of money very carefully and thoughtfully. If I could just extend that carefulness to small purchases as well we would never have to struggle financially!
    
37. I can come up with great ideas for furniture placement and how to paint and paper walls in an effort to decorate my home. I am not good at deciding what pictures, curtains, knick-knacks, shelves, mirrors, etc. should go on those walls. So my home (after almost 5 years here) still looks like a work in progress.
38. I enjoy making homemade cards.
39. I want to learn how to be proficient at sewing.
40. I want to be able to get a college degree before I die.
41. I love history, but my retention of all the facts is iffy. : )
42. I only like to work outside in the spring and fall when the temperature is more bearable.
43. I love to dream up home improvement projects and get all the stuff to do these projects, but then I seem to struggle to start and completely finish said projects before jumping to another one.
44. Some of my favorite music is LDS (religious) artists, broadway, show tunes, oldies, and Primary songs.
45. I enjoy watching old movies and old TV shows.
46. I love my parents and siblings and think they are amazing and intelligent people who I look up to as examples.
47. I worry about things too much.
48. I am usually pretty good at giving people the benefit of the doubt.
49. I have a hard time saying no to people.
50. I have a big curiosity about people and their lives.
51. I like learning something new, but I am not really great about trying new things in a group of people (especially when all eyes are on me) Call it pride or vanity, but so it is.
52. I love the feeling of intense love I feel sometimes when looking at, listening to or being with my children or husband.
53. I love all of my in-laws. I do not have struggles with any of them which is a great feeling.
54. I love carbohydrates more that fruits and vegetables which makes it hard in trying to change my eating so that I can be healthier and set a good example for my children. : )
55. I am a good driver but I do not like driving much.
56. I have a hard time giving gifts because I always want to give the perfect, most useful, or most beautiful or most loved thing. I am still trying to learn the concept, "It's the thought that counts".
57. I think that I am more similar to my mom in looks and gestures and how I carry myself, but I think I am a pretty good mix of my mom's and dad's personalities--maybe even leaning a little more towards my dad.
58. I think my parents are some of the greatest people in the world and want to be like them.
59. I have not worn jewelry much and have a hard time choosing something out to accessorize with because it looks strange to me when I put it on (at least with necklaces that is) and earrings tend to hurt my ears.
60. I love video taping family life. I am a definite amateur at it but I enjoy it.
61. I love flowers. All sorts. They make me happy.
62. I love to get together and chat with my friends.
63. I tend to avoid housework and other stresses in life by escaping to another world or time reading a book. I have to fight this tendency all the time.
64. I love family get togethers.
65. I love living out in the country except for the fact that a hospital is 45 min. away. (Especially when thinking about my son with his extreme peanut allergy and asthma and when contemplating having another baby.)
66. I am not ready to have another baby quite yet. : )
67. I tend to get most angry with my husband when he is not spending much time with me. Though I also don't enjoy it when he is relaxing while I am still working--but that could go along with not spending time with me, right? : )
68. It is almost the exclusive ability of Paul and my children to make me really angry. Why is that?
69. I look back on my two years at BYU with nostalgia. Those two years meant a lot to me.
70. I love reading marriage books. Not because my marriage is in trouble. I guess I just figure it can't hurt and will probably help and they help to remind us of what we should be doing in our marriages to keep them strong.
71. I like the smell of paint and stain and finish and sanded wood and all that.
72. I love to sit around a campfire and smell the smoke and watch the flames.
73. On dates I probably most look forward to the meal because I don't have to cook it or clean it up--and I love to eat!
74. I am sentimental.
75. I love romance but, like my friend Ilene, I am usually too practical.
76. I am a private person, but am pretty open to close friends--as mentioned earlier.
77. I tend to be a little bit of a control freak about some things.
78. I love order, lists, planning, etc.
79. However, in the matter of housework my motivation is low and so the above love gets overlooked and, therefore, causes me some pain and stress.
80. I have a loving and helpful husband who helps out a lot. He should probably be the one at home since he tends to face the work more instead of avoiding it. : )
81. I am rather a perfectionist I am discovering and not sure that I like that.
82. I am looking forward to buying some new clothes in October for my birthday when, hopefully, I have reached my goal weight, or at least am very close.
83. At this time in my life I feel my best physical features are my eyes and my mouth and skin.
84. I love to look at organizational tools and products. There are so many great things out there to help improve the organization and efficiency of our homes. However, I don't usually buy any because I can't decide if it will work for me or don't want to spend the money. (Refer to #'s 29 and 36!)
85. I hate asking people to babysit my kids.
86. I have a great sense of humor and like to think that I am witty, but I am afraid that it usually happens by accident! I admire those who can witty and think creatively in a quick, spur of the moment way. I am a bit more slow--though I like to think that part of that is the death of so many brain cells due to pregnancy and child-rearing. : )
87. I am a patient person and I think that I am a kind and thoughtful person. However, I am not perfect in these areas because at home, where patience, kindness and thoughtfulness are very necessary I often fall short! : )
88. My favorite time of the day is when the kids are in bed. Isn't that awful!
89. My least favorite time of day is about 4 or 5 pm to 7 pm. By that time I have had it, I am cooking dinner (not one of my favorite things), the kids are tired and things are pretty rough.
90. When Paul is unhappy everything seems worse. Maybe that is because he always seems happy, laid back and not worried so when he is then all my worries kick into overdrive. : )
91. I struggle with the bad habit of nail biting. Sometimes I am doing well and have beautiful nails and then worry or boredom or something happens and I chew them all off. My Grandma D. says that nail biting is a sign of perfectionism.
92. I am a little embarrassed about being overly talkative, but can't seem to stop myself! Look at the length of some of these entries! : )
93. I love to hold newborn babies. There is just such a special feeling about them.
94. I am amazed at the fact that this year my son will be turning 8 years old and getting baptized and my oldest daughter will be starting Kindergarten. Where has the time gone.
95. I get so excited for my kids when they go back to school because I can still remember my own excitement in and love of going to school when I was there age and I want that experience for them.
96. I do not do well at impromptu speaking.
97. I love the Willow Tree statues and Precious Moments figurines.
98. I love Christmas. The decorations, the food, the family get togethers, the excitement in the air, the feelings of goodwill. Everything except trying to buy those gifts for everyone (see #56)!
99. Having parties at my house seems to stress me out. I guess I need to practice more so I can become a better hostess.
100. I do not like shopping. I guess it is because of my indecisiveness, not knowing if I should spend the money, crowds, etc. I am sometimes better at it than others but I can never honestly say I like it.

Well, that is me in a nutshell. I will probably think of other things that I'll wish I had written instead of others later (since my creativity is a little slow), but I have children who need attention and I still need to do my hair (it's noon!) so I will leave it how it is. Sorry if there seems to be some repeats. My mind is a little obsessed with food and weightloss and improving my homemaking and mothering skills so I kept coming back to those topics. I hope that you enjoy reading and learning (or remembering) these things about me.