random

i'm jumping on the bandwagon and i'm posting 20 random things you may not know about me. here. we. go.

1. i have an intense fear of flying. however, i have been on a plane before. (once. when i was 6.) i hope to overcome this fear sometime soon so that i can go places. i've missed family trips to australia, the virgin islands, and several states destinations due to this nonsense. i'm not afraid to die, but i am afraid to fly.

2. i went to college for two years at shippensburg university and then decided i needed a change. i decided i wanted to go to new england to go to school. i enrolled at roger williams university in rhode island and went there for a semester. i wigged out and moved home shortly after. i often wonder how my life would be different had i stayed there.

3. i've known since 2nd grade that i wanted to be a teacher. however, i went into college with an undeclared major, switched to communications, and ended up not declaring my major to teaching until i returned to shippensburg, after my rendezvous with rhode island.

4. i don't like needles (at all), but at senior week i got my belly button pierced. it got infected that fall and my college roommate had to pull it out with a pliers. shortly after, i got my tongue pierced. i forgot i had to do a persuasive speech in a class the next day. my tongue was swollen and i gave the whole thing while drooling, with an awesome added lisp. ps. i wasn't very persuasive.

5. i always thought i wanted to have 5 children. now that i have two, i feel like it's enough. i love my kids, but goddamnit they are a lot of work. (however, i haven't ruled out a 3rd...but not for a coupla years.)

6. being a mother is by far the hardest thing i've ever had to do. childbirth was my most epic life event to date.

7. i've grew up in a super small town with big hearted people. although i miss small town living, i now can't imagine living anywhere but maryland.

8. my first car was a used 1995 BMW 5 series. my sophomore year of college butch and i drove this car to california and back. we took 3 weeks, $1000 dollars each...and a tent. one of the best experiences of my life and sometimes i wish i could do again.

9. when i accepted my first teaching job, the principal offered me either a kindergarten or 5th grade position. i took the kindergarten position...because i feared the 5th graders would all be taller than me. i now know that is my niche and will probably finish out the next 22 years teaching 5 year olds. i love it.

10. in high school i lost a very close friend in a tragic hiking accident. it changed me in a lot of ways. many years after,  i married his best friend and our first child was born 11 years later on the exact day that he died.

11. i believe everything happens for a reason. i don't think we meet people by accident and i believe individuals come in and out of our lives on an as needed basis. i believe in god and have given the sermon at my hometown church. more than once.

12. i'm glad that i grew up with two brothers and never wished i had a sister. moreover, i always pictured myself having boys, rather than little ladies. this being said, it kind of terrifies me to see how the dynamic between my own two girls will play out over the next couple of years.

13. i like my showers, my soup, and my coffee all the same way. scalding hot. if it doesn't give me third degree burns or scorch my tongue...it's not hot enough.

14. i eat bacon almost everyday.

15. my grandmother was one of the most influential people in my life. she used to send me handwritten letters weekly and i saved a bunch of them. i read them when i'm missing her.

16. i like to hear people's stories and when i talk to people, i ask a lot of questions. i'm not nosey...just curious. people have a tendancy to overshare when talking to me...and i'm okay with that. conversely, i overshare with people and i always tell people how i feel about them.

17. i want to live at the beach someday, and i believe i most likely will.

18. along with the flying fear, i have a fear of people choking. i once had to perform the heimlich maneuver on a student and afterwards i had so much adrenaline pumping through my system i almost passed out.

19.  i don't watch the news. ever. maybe that makes me an ignorant person, but i really don't care. half of the stuff on there is depressing and the other half is nonsense. no thanks.

20. i love to read books and write often. even though i am typically a loud person, the library is one of my most favorite places.

in conclusion, if you gained anything from this list...it should be this: if i was flying on a plane and someone choked on their chewing gum, i would stroke the hell out and probably be escorted out in handcuffs post landing. pretty awesome.