Twenty-Five Random Things

For those of you on Facebook, you have probably all been tagged or seen the notes that are flying around. I think that I have been tagged in about four or five, and every time I get on Facebook I see that someone new has written their 25 Things list. I have yet to post any notes on Facebook, and I don’t particularly feel the need to start; but for some reason I don’t feel as silly posting the same information on my blog. And, since it is my blog, I think I can be as inconsistent as I like. So here is my list of random facts. Hopefully you will all learn something new and maybe you’ll gain a better understanding of why I am such an odd person…

1. When I was little, every time it snowed a decent amount, I would make a big snowball and stick it in our freezer. I’m not sure if I was worried that I would forget what snow looked like or if I just thought that I would want it in the summer. Regardless of why, I never did anything with it and would throw last year’s snowball out the next year.

2. I have seen almost every single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation multiple times. After the show ended on TV, my family pulled out the tapes – because, yes, we had taped just about every episode in the eight years the show ran.

3. Despite the fact that I majored in English literature, my favorite books tend to be those written for children.

4. I make funny noises while I am scratching my throat and have been compared both to a pig and a bunny because of it.

5. For years I hated green beans – the very smell nauseated me (even though my parents tell me I used to steal them off of other peoples’ plates). Somehow, in the last year I became okay with them and now kind of like them.

6. I have ridden in an ambulance twice.

7. If I could star in any musical it would be Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. It follows that Cinderella is my favorite Disney princess, my favorite fairy tale, and one of my favorite books is Ella Enchanted (a twist on the Cinderella story).

8. I have had a crush on Christian Bale since I was seven, which is when Newsies came out (1992). (I also had a crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas and secretly kept a poster of him under my bed because I was scared my parents wouldn’t approve).

9. Unlike most people, I have a big toe and then four equally sized little toes.

10. While listening to “For Unto Us A Child is Born” on my Amy Grant Home for Christmas cd as a child, I could not decipher the words and was convinced for quite a long time that she sang “-and the god of Mansharee” instead of “and the government shall be upon his shoulders.” Don’t ask (and no, I don’t know who, or what, the god of Mansharee is).

11. Tylenol has betrayed me twice. As a child I believed that Tylenol helped calm upset stomachs; I was quite shocked as a senior in high school to find out it didn’t (thanks for lying to me Mom). I recently learned that most doctors say that Tylenol is almost worthless as a pain killer for adults.

12. For some reason, while growing up, my dad and I always played a game where I tried to poke my finger in his belly button. I still play this game.

13. As a freshman in high school, in Mr. Smythe’s history class, I made a list of fifty life goals. I still have this list and religiously check them off as I complete them. So far I’ve checked off about ten of them (most recently: earn a college degree and visit Victoria, BC). Still to come: fly in a hot air balloon and climb to the top of a mountain.

14. I listen to Christmas music all year long. It makes me happy. (On my iPod I have over twenty-five Christmas albums)

15. Once, when I was cooking, a recipe called for “dash salt,” and I was so confused that I had to call my mom to ask where the dash salt was. She laughed at me.

16. I ended up in Kentucky because I had to tell Dr. Thorpe if anything had stuck out to me while reading Delaying the Real World, and the only program I could remember was CAP because the description reminded me of Catherine Marshall’s book Christy.

17. I like repeats. By this I mean that I love to read the same books over and over, to listen to the same songs (if they are amazing) over and over, and I love to watch the same movies over and over (hence, I can practically quote all of While You Were Sleeping).

18. One of my favorite childhood memories is from a day when I got lost with my friend Christy while our families were cross-country skiing. We were skiing along the wrong trail, but we passed a little waterfall that was fully encased in big-bubbly-looking ice – probably one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. While everyone was worried about us, we made it back to the van and ate our lunches and drank our thermos of cocoa. Eventually our families came back and my sister Emily was grounded for a month (which I kind of enjoyed).

19. I would classify myself as an aspiring pacifist, a recovering tomboy, and a Christian feminist.

20. I enjoy long movies. I can easily sit down and watch a five-hour movie if the story is intriguing enough.

21. I’ve only had three nicknames that have ever stuck: Smidge (since I was little), PaJess (my residents gave me this one when I was a PA), and Princess (don’t ask).

22. From the age of ten to fifteen I secretly wanted to be a wedding coordinator. I even had a notebook filled with ideas for weddings and drawings of dresses.

23. I have a fear of calling people I don’t know. Even if it is just to order pizza or something small and insignificant.

24. When I was four years old I decided I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart, so I went into the backyard and sang a song about it. And that is the beginning of my walk as a Christian.

25. The last time I wet my pants was on Easter when I was five or six; I knew where the big eggs were hidden and I was not about to let anything get in my way.