I had so much fun reading Alyssa's list of 100 things about herself that I was inspired to do the same. So without further ado, here is my list of everything you might not know (or might not want to know) about me.
1. I share the same name as one of my mom’s cows (she grew up on a dairy farm).
2. I think touching car upholstery, especially the fabric on the ceiling, is like nails on a chalkboard. It has the worst texture.
3. If I could pick just 3 foods to eat for the rest of my life (and it wouldn’t kill me) I would pick pizza, bean & cheese burritos, and chocolate peanut butter ice cream.
4. When I’m bored I like to look at dogs for adoption on the internet.
5. I would like to adopt a child someday, and have wanted to long before Brangelina made it popular.
6. There is no feeling I hate more than being pregnant, but I love the labor & delivery part.
7. I just started taking spin classes, which are miserable, yet strangely addicting.
8. The most fun I’ve ever had was doing study abroad in London for 4 months.
9. The hardest thing I’ve ever done was go on a mission to Madrid, Spain.
10. I’m uncomfortable around small children in general (except my own) but I love being around teenagers.
11. I enjoy oil painting, but don’t have the time and space to do it.
12. I learned to play the hand bells in middle school.
13. I was in several choirs growing up.
14. I took piano lessons for several years.
15. I took guitar lessons for 2 years.
16. I cannot sing, read music, or play an instrument, but I love listening to music.
17. I’m in the same church ward I was in growing up.
18. I live in the same town I grew up in.
19. I taught English and Reading at my own high school.
20. I love feeling connected to people and places, but dream of the adventure of starting out new someplace else.
21. I love to travel abroad, and I’ve been to Mexico, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Ecuador, Belize, and Honduras.
22. I also love going to my parent’s vacation places in Tahoe and Maui over and over again.
23. I believe that Disneyland IS the happiest place on earth.
24. I think the second happiest place on earth is the Rancho la Puerta spa, where I spent a week this winter with my mom and sisters.
25. I can be really shy, especially in large groups, and even around good friends and family.
26. I HATE calling people on the phone, because I’m so shy.
27. People have occasionally interpreted my shyness as snobbery.
28. I can spend hours on end gardening, but I don’t know what I’m doing.
29. My favorite date is dinner and a movie.
30. My favorite restaurant foods are Indian & Thai.
31. I think breakfast food tastes best at dinner time.
32. I love the sound of my girls squealing and laughing.
33. I’m scared of the ocean, except when I’m scuba diving.
34. I dove with sharks in Roatan in January. They swarmed about 3 feet around me and I was only a tiny bit scared.
35. I love getting massages, manicures and pedicures, but I’m too cheap to enjoy those often.
36. I’m not too cheap to have someone clean my house for me.
37. I can be a complete slob when I’m overwhelmed with life.
38. I work best under pressure and after procrastinating.
39. My best grades were for papers that I stayed up writing the night before they were due.
40. I like to cook, but I hate shopping for ingredients. Thus I don’t cook often.
41. My favorite American authors are Willa Cather, Steinbeck, and Toni Morrison.
42. I love to read and write, but I can’t spell.
43. I’d rather write essays than take multiple choice or true-false tests.
44. I have a hard time retaining facts and trivia, especially long-term – I’m much better with analytical information.
45. Math was my second favorite subject in school, but I can barely remember basic algebra now.
46. I only dated my husband for 8 months before getting married, but I had known him for 2 years.
47. I first started getting treated as an “old maid” when I came home from my mission. I was only 22.
48. I held out until I was 25 to get married, and I still think that was young.
49. I’m a registered Republican, but I don’t really consider myself as one. The far right bugs me even more than the far left.
50. My birthday marks the anniversary of when Paul Revere rode his horse to announce the arrival of the “red coats” and the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.
51. I was riding a horse during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. My horse bucked and reared, but I managed to stay on.
52. I’m a night owl and definitely not a morning person.
53. I have a hard time saying no to other people.
54. I’ve been terrified of flying ever since I saw a made-for-TV movie about a flight in Hawaii where the top of the plane ripped off, but I probably fly at least 6 times (round trip) a year.
55. I’ve never been in a car accident while driving.
56. I love to drive fast, especially when it’s a European car.
57. I’ve only been pulled over by a police officer twice in my life. The first time was when I was 24 and I got a speeding ticket. The second time was the very next day, for speeding again. I cried my way out of that ticket.
58. I’ve never seen anyone die.
59. I can brush my hair until it becomes a huge fro.
60. In middle school, the boys would tease me by throwing little balls of paper in my hair, which would get stuck until someone told me they were there. I got in the habit of running my fingers through my hair just to make sure there wasn’t anything embarrassing lodged in there.
61. A tennis ball ricocheted off my racket and got stuck in my pony tail during practice.
62. I spend more time brushing snarls out of my hair after a shower than I spend doing anything else to my hair all day.
63. I have dry skin and go through more lotion than anyone I know.
64. My husband could scratch/rub my back all day and it still wouldn’t be enough.
65. My favorite movie snacks are diet coke, kettle corn, and junior mints.
66. I prefer low budget/independent films over blockbuster movies.
67. Since I became a mom, I can’t watch movies where children are hurt or threatened in any way.
68. I’ve been called to jury duty two times, but never selected to be on a jury.
69. I’m addicted to TV programs on Thursday nights. Except during the summer, I need two Tivo’s with two tuners each to catch all my favorite shows on that night. You’d think I’d space out watching them throughout the week, but I’m usually too excited to wait more than a day.
70. I’ve become a less judgmental person with age.
71. I try to be open minded about other people and the choices they make. It’s too hard to understand everything that happens to a person to make them who they are.
72. If I had to go back, I would make different decisions about my life; but now that I’m here, I wouldn’t change it for anything.
73. I cannot sleep at night unless I read first.
74. I used to suffer from frequent nights of insomnia. Since having kids, I’m too exhausted (mentally and physically) to have that problem.
75. I don’t think there is one right way to parent a child. Each parent and child is going to need something different.
76. I sucked my thumb until I was 10.
77. I had braces two times in middle school.
78. I’ve played soccer since I was 6, but rarely get a chance to play now.
79. I’m a klutz. I’m constantly tripping, bumping into things, and dropping stuff.
80. Tonight at dinner I knocked my glass of water all over myself.
81. I hate wearing wet clothing. Even when it’s a swimming suit. I’ve passed this phobia on to my daughter.
82. I’m always losing my keys, cell phone, wallet, sunglasses…pretty much anything important.
83. I snow ski and wakeboard. Compared to most people I’m pretty good, but compared to my siblings I’m a wimp.
84. I love to ride on the front of a boat, as the sun sets on a really hot day.
85. I’m getting tired of writing this list, and wishing I could be on that boat.
86. One Christmas Eve, I woke up and felt someone push my head back down to my pillow. I swore it was Santa, not wanting me to see him. To this day my family teases me about “Santa pushing my head down.”
87. I was 9 years old before I knew the truth about Santa.
88. I saw the movie “Poltergeist” when I was way too young. From that point on I would leap onto my bed at night, for fear of a scary clown lurking below.
89. I saw “Poltergeist” as an adult and thought the clown scene was pretty stupid.
90. I don’t want to use the word “stupid” around my kids. Or “hate”. I’ve used both words on this list.
91. I didn’t learn to read until about 2nd grade. I just wasn’t interested. Once I started I never stopped.
92. As an English major, with a master’s degree in education, I’m living proof that parents don’t need to freak out if their kids aren’t reading before they start kindergarten.
93. I’ve started worrying about Ava being able to read before she’s in Kindergarten. Really I should be worrying that she’ll be potty trained by then.
94. I’m managing the design and construction of a spec house that my parents are building across the street from my house.
95. Every day I think of things I’d like to change or add to my house if we had the money. Instead I just move furniture and accessories around every few weeks.
96. I could shop at Target and Costco every day.
97. If water conservation and limited hot water weren’t an issue, I could stay in the shower forever.
98. I don’t feel clean after a shower unless I’ve shaved my legs and brushed my teeth.
99. I’m addicted to “So You Think You Can Dance?” and think I want to take dance lessons now, which would be a complete disaster.
100. I feel pressure to make my last thing profound, but mostly I’m just happy to be done with this list!
Happy birthday sweet Lilly! 
Ava's first footsteps in the beach.
Lilly's newborn feet.
Spending time with daddy.
