eleven

The ever talented and lovely Katie tagged me...

Eleven random things about myself:

1. We are in the process of choosing a lot to purchase to build our home on!  Our house in Texas closes on Wednesday--hooray!  The picture is of the lot that is our favorite at this point. We need to do some research--schools, wards, commute time, etc.

2. My mom used to give me flowers to plant for my birthday every year, and even still I always think about planting flowers in May.


3. I like the anticipation for a big event (vacation, etc) sometimes more than I like the actual event.  I love Christmastime way more than I love Christmas day, for example. 

4. I like eating at home more than eating out.

5. I've been listening to a lot of Pandora lately. I rotate through Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Josh Groban, and Paul Cardall stations, depending on if I need music to calm me and my children or music to motivate me to clean/get to work.

6. I like vanilla wafers more than I had realized.  But only the store brand/cheap kind.  They're more crunchy.  Nicholas and I polished off a box of them this week.

7. I eat pizza and sandwiches with the intent of saving the best-looking bite for last.  It's usually the bite right in the middle, so I eat all around it.

8.  But corn on the cob? I eat that with the intent of eating the best-looking bites first, in a scattered crazy a-little-here-a-little-there fashion. I'm a weirdo.

9. My most prized material possession is a bookcase my grandpa made me when I was maybe 14.  It's beautiful and I hope to keep it forever.

10. I don't like to make business phone calls (insurance, bills, requests, etc.).  I can do it, and I will, but I'm always looking for a way to avoid it.

11. I am at the point post-pregnancy where my hair is thinning drastically (as in, my ponytail holder has to be twisted two whole more times than it used to and I have to arrange my hair to hide the thin spots) but my waist is not.  Sigh.  Last time, my hair did grow back eventually...I'm hoping it will do the same this time.

And the eleven questions I was to answer:


1. What do you wish you knew one year ago?
  I don't know.  It would have been strange to know a year ago that this year I'm now living in Utah.  Would it have made the year better?  Or harder?  I might have done more things with my friends, more things to enjoy the beautiful Texas winter, but I was pregnant and sick and maybe I would have just felt guilty that I couldn't enjoy it more, and I would have had "the move" hanging over my head all year... When it comes down to it, I'm glad I didn't know.


2. What are you looking forward to in the next three months?
  Making friends here, Springtime coming, and Ellie learning to sit up on her own (it's a very good day when they can sit up and play).

3.  Who did you last say "I love you" to?
  Ellie.  While I was in the shower and she was sitting in her bouncy seat.  Just a few minutes ago. I say "I love you" very, very often throughout the day. I want to be certain my children are familiar with hearing that.  And my husband also.  I kiss them lots, too.


4. What was the best book you read in 2011?
     I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

5. What food won't you eat?
    I prefer not to eat carrots, olives, and mushrooms, but I will eat them if they are given to me (and sometimes even enjoy them).  But offer me a marshmallow peep, twinkie, or any other super sugary food and I will turn it down every time.  Bleh.

6.  What do you most admire about the opposite sex?
     I really admire the way that men (most of them) can shrug it off, forgive, and move on.  I can't even begin to count the times I've been grateful for Kent's ability to love me and move on when I have done something stupid and immature.


7. Do you believe in God?
      I believe that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and who is intimately involved in the details of my life.  I believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives, and that through Him we can all be saved and return to live with God.  And I believe that the Holy Ghost is a gift to man to provide witness that this is true, to guide us to doing what is right, and to protect us from making wrong choices.


8. Beach vacation or mountain retreat?
   Beach.


9. Smart phone or regular phone?
   I have a regular, plain old, make-calls-and-send-texts phone.  But being married to a man who is an Android Developer for a living...I think I'm slowly being converted.  I get a phone update in June. We shall see.



10.  Do you like tea, coffee, or hot cocoa? Which one is your favorite?
  Because of my Church's health code, I have never tried tea or coffee.  And I don't feel bad about that at all.
Hot chocolate, though?  I LOVE it.  

11. If you could pick any neighborhood from a movie to live in which one would it be and why?
  Whew. This is hard.  Most movie neighborhoods have something drastic occur...right?  The last movie I watched was the second Sherlock Holmes, and I'm positive I don't want to live in that neighborhood.
I'm afraid it's been so long since I watched a movie that I just can't remember.