Tagged Again... Seven Things About Me

Jodi tagged me on this one. It looks harder than the Google one because it's less structured, but more fun for the same reason. So here are seven things you might not know about me, in no particular order:


1. I've taken part in a real Indian sweat lodge. I wouldn't do it again for... er... modesty reasons. Not to mention the fact that I don't really believe what they believe. But I don't at all regret doing it just once because it was such a cool experience. It felt very exotic! Oh yeah, and hot. Really, really hot!

2. When I was a Junior in high school, I was an extra in a Disney made-for-cable movie (we're talking the big time here, LOL). Here's a scan of the article I saved about it:

I did a Google search on this, and apparently it was bad even by Disney standards, so that's saying something. Anyway, we didn't have cable at the time so I never got to see if I actually made it into the movie or not, but I've always wanted to watch it and find out. My most girlie memory of that experience is when the lead male told me my hair was pretty. I was too shy to do anything but blush and say thanks, but inside I was saying, Squeee! It was the only time he talked to me, except when I asked for his autograph on the last day, but it was cool anyway. I also remember one of the actresses (not the one in the photo) had long, straight blonde hair. They literally combed it out right before each and every take. It was an eye-opener for me. No wonder their hair looks so pretty all the time on TV, I thought. My hair would look good too if I was preening it 24-7! I also remember when they used a huge group of us to record some background crowd noise to use in various scenes. They gave us a sentence to say (I can't remember what it was now) and we all walked around in random directions repeating that to ourselves over and over again. It really did sound like a crowd you hear in the movies. You couldn't make out what we were saying at all. It was cool.


3. This is my life's version of the saying, "life doesn't always turn out as you expected." Both my parents are atheist and I literally didn't know who God was until I was 8 years old. I heard two of my friends talking about God and I thought they must have met some new kid in the neighborhood while I'd been away on vacation. It was a confusing conversation for me to follow. When they started saying things like "I think God is perfect and loves everyone" and "I believe God can see everything," I said in exasperation "Who are you talking about?!" They looked at me like I was from Mars. LOL. This event was followed by a brief, childlike faith in God for a few years. By the time I was a teenager, however, I was a pretty staunch atheist. On another note, my family life gave me certain ideas about what my future would be like. My parents divorced when I was young, my grandmother was first divorced and then widowed (twice), and so I didn't see much point in a man. It was just us girls growing up (even my dog was a girl) and I liked it that way. I was also deeply ambitious. My grand plan was to be a cut-throat journalist living in New York City and traveling all over the globe. No room for a husband, obviously. I might have houseplants. Maybe.


Little did I know that I'd end up married, LDS, and a stay-at-home mom with three boys. Growing up, I was too young to realize that you don't get married just to get married. You get married because you meet and fall in love with someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. I didn't know that faith is not about blinding your mind and clinging to false hope (as I'd believed) but that it's about being true to experiences with the Spirit which you can't deny, and trusting the Lord's love for you. I didn't know that being a stay-at-home mom is not about lack of ambition or old-fashioned submissiveness, but that it's about dedication to family and recognizing the value of a mother in the home. The only thing I can say I still have, out of the childhood list above, is ambition. Despite the fact that it's almost impossible to get published, and just as difficult to publish successfully, I want it anyway. Badly. In fact, I'm working my tail off for it. But you already knew that. :)


4. I hate to sew but I love to quilt. I love fabrics and colors and seeing it all come together in a nice, finished product. I used to do so much of it that I got burned out, but I still like the sight of a well-made quilt. In fact, I've decided I'll separately post pictures of the quilts I've made that I still own (most were gifts made during in my pre-digital-camera days, so sadly I don't have pictures of those).


Oh my gosh, I still have to come up with three more things?? Do they have to be interesting things? Hmm, let me see. Okay...


5. I love the ocean. Yeah, I know, who doesn't? But I really, truly love it. I could sit and watch the waves all day and not get tired of it. If I didn't fear earthquakes I'd live on the California coast. And that's one more item down. (Was that cheating?)



6. Thanks to my long-standing interest in genealogy and family history (way before my Mormon days) I've come to be the keeper of several family treasures. I own my great-grandmother's upright piano (I vividly remember her playing for us), her father's wooden cane which he carved himself, my other great-grandmother's hope chest, and another chest that my paternal grandmother got as a gift when she graduated school. I have several very cool and very old family photos which I've been planning to put in a post someday. There are a few other items too, but these are the main ones. I've always felt honored to be entrusted with these things until, one day, it will be my turn to pass them down to the next generation.


One more to go...


7. Um... I like to read. Oh wait, you already know that. I like to write! No, you know that too. I like art! I like Italy! I like to take pictures of my foot! Oy vey! What haven't I already confessed in this infernal blog? Oh, okay. I got one... ;)


Growing up in AZ, I think I'd been up in the mountains and seen snow on the ground just a couple of times. I remember it being the hard, icy kind of snow. I'll never forget, though, the first time I saw it actually snow. I was a freshman in college sitting, appropriately enough, in my poetry class, in a third story room of Old Main. I looked out the latticed windows and saw snow, real snow, falling from the sky. (Okay, well, it wasn't real snow. I realized later it was just flurries. But still!) I was so amazed and enamored by the sight of it, that I turned my chair around, and with my back to the teacher stared wide-eyed at the miracle before me. My poetry professor stopped her teaching long enough to ask me what I was doing. I explained that I'd never seen it snow before and wanted to watch. Since she was a flakey writer type, I got away with this no problem. I knew all I had to do was write a poem about it later and all would be forgiven. It totally rocked. I came to love the snow, and went through a pair of boots each winter because I thought it was far more fun to tromp through the snow than to try not falling on my (*cough*) walking on ice-ridden sidewalks. I also loved making snow angels (complete with halos) and, as a bonus, here's the proof:

Whew! That list was a little tough but fun too. :)

Okay, I'm tagging:

Deb

Roccy

Amy (cuz you got off WAY too easy on the last one, LOL)

Have fun!