Getting to know me…getting to know all abouuuuut me.

1. I grew up in Idaho.  To be exact, I grew up in Kuna, pronounced “Que-na”– which is just outside Boise, pronounced Boy-See.
2. I grew up on a working farm.  A big one.  1100 acres of corn, beans, alfalfa, potatoes, hay, I don’t even know what.
3. I know how to work HARD.
4. I  was driving, all by myself when I was 8.  I had to look THROUGH the steering wheel instead of over it.
5. I’m a middle child.  #6
6. I have 10 siblings.
7. I was a gymnast.  I loved gymnastics.  I did NOT love (or even remotely like) the idea of “competition” in a huge stadium with gazillions of people watching.  In 6th grade, I quit –I always regretted that.
8. I was shy.
9. I was a daredevil.  My exit from a trampoline was a front flip layout.
10. I like sweets and desserts.
11. I was the shortest girl in my entire grade through 7th grade.  Then a girl moved in who was shorter than me.  (I fist punched the air that day!)
12. I taught myself to play the piano by ear.
13. I love to dance.  Nothing fancy or that has a name (ballroom, jazz, tap…), just moving my body to the rhythm of the music.  I dance while I build, I dance while I cook, I dance while I brush my teeth…It keeps me young.
14. I was allergic to just about all animals.  Now it’s just cats and horses.  (that I know of — I don’t go around hugging bears or turtles so, who knows…?)
15. I worked as a “trapper” on a shooting range.  …Large scar on my face over my left temple?  I had a little accident behind the “thrower”.
16. I was a music major in college on a vocal scholarship.  (Laa-la la-Laaaa!)
17. I sang in Carnegie Hall.  (In a huge group, no biggie.  I almost didn’t add that part because it sounds so much more impressive standing alone.)
18. I met Wes when I was 21 at a “Pool Party”.  He came and sat next to me in the gazebo and said, “Hey, how ya’ doin’?”  (I rolled my eyes and walked away.)
19. Wes followed me after I walked away from him — out of the gazebo at the pool party.  He’s tenacious like that!   I talked to him a little and  decided he was OK.
20. I married Wes when I was 22.  We’ve been married 18 years (later this month).
21. I did not finish college.  I don’t have a degree in anything even though I’ve been “Back to school” many times.  We keep moving before I can finish anything.
22. I worked at a wood mill, I was a cashier at a grocery store, a nanny, a chiropractic assistant and a bank teller.
23. I like milk chocolate over dark.
24. I am a terrible navigator.  I have to use my Garmin to find my mailbox!
25. I had hyperemesis during my pregnancy.  (Which means I threw up pretty much…constantly.  Like -all day, all night.  Long heaving spells that would finally make me so tired I’d fall asleep.  That’s the only time I wasn’t throwing up…when I was asleep.)  I was hospitalized 5 times for 3 days each.  I lost 20 pounds.  I looked like a skeleton.
26. I was in labor for 26 hours.
27. Madison was born when I was 26.  (And she was healthy, despite …everything.)
28. I never want to throw up again in my life!
29. I get sea sick, car sick, plane sick …sick from movies and video games that move to fast…  (Which thwarts my plan to never again throw up.)
30. White is my favorite color.  (I know, it’s not a color…)
31. I find it very easy to laugh at myself.  I do it daily.
32. I also have full conversations with myself out loud but Wes says I shouldn’t tell too many people about that.  Oops!
33. I don’t get bent out of shape too easily.  Someone cuts me off on the road?  I smile shrug and assume they have somewhere very important to get to very quickly!  Life is too short to let the little things ruin my day.
34. I don’t have a favorite food but my favorite cake is German Chocolate.  (I hope Wes figured out how to make it.  He won’t let me make my own Birthday cake.  That’s sweet of him.)
35. I’m tough…but not all the time.   If I skin my knee, I like it when Wes cleans and bandages it up for me.  And holds me a little if it really hurts!
36. I cry at some point during pretty much any movie I see.  (I don’t see horror movies.)
37. Yes,I build houses (kind of) but I’m a girly-girl.  I love to shop.  I have a closet full of clothes I painstakingly arranged into outfits and still feel like I never have anything to wear.
38. I think I can do anything.  (But I don’t want to do everything.)
39.  I have a terrible memory.  I’ve had a brain MRI to make sure everything’s OK up there.  Apparently it is.  I just have a terrible memory.
40.  I know my own strengths, skills and talents.  I also am fully aware of my limitations!   I have many.  I don’t kick myself or feel bad about them.  I appreciate myself for what I can do –for myself and for others.  I want to continually improve and learn but don’t expect myself to know everything or be perfect at anything.  I just do what I can and try my best to enjoy the journey.

And that’s me, Yo’!

Learn more about  how I got started in my DIY journey on my “About Me” page.