It's All About Me!

They say it's my birthday. It's Janelle's birthday too, yeah!....(Are you singing along?!)......Okay, today is my 37th birthday. Hard to believe that I'm that old. Since it's a special day I thought I would share 37 things about myself. I recently bought a book of 1,000 questions that my 7th & 8th grade students love. Getting the idea from there, here's a little bit of info. about ME!!!!


1. Born in Illinois to Ed & Virginia who eventually divorced when I was 7

2. Born on my cousin Mark's 10th birthday. To this day he can't stand strawberry cake because that is what I insisted we have every birthday party!

3. Have 1 brother named Chuck & 4 sisters: Brooke, Heather (Yes, her name is also Heather. Okay, okay, she's my step-sister, but I consider her my sister!), Tracy, & Angie

4. Before getting my teaching certificate I obtained a degree in Mortuary Science & Funeral Service

5. Met my husband Paul (who is a funeral director) at college

6. Love salsa & chips

7. Went through numerous fertility treatments - 9 IUI's & 4 IVF's - before adopting Zoe from China in 2005

8. Coached two jr. high teams to the State Championship - volleyball & basketball

9. Drivers license still says the same weight as it did when I got it at age 16! (Why not? They ask every time I go to renew it if anything has changed. Heck, if they don't care, why should I?!)

10. Carpool with another teacher to work most mornings

11. Scared of birds (When I was young, my friend & I were walking down the street & a bird swooped down & pecked her on the head. Frightened me!)

12. Enjoy listening to a variety of music - country, Christian, rock, rap (notice I didn't say crap - that's what I call most of the music that my students listen to!!!), classical, etc.

13. Love candles - favorite is Banana Nut Bread

14. Gulf Shores, Alabama is my favorite vacation spot (right on the beach)

15. First car was a used 1981 Mercury Capri. (Didn't even get to pick it out, but had to pay for it. Let me tell ya, it was nothing to brag about, but it got me where I needed to go!) Now I drive a Mercury Mountaineer & love it!

16. Bummed when they quit making Vanilla Pepsi. (Vanilla Coke just doesn't do it for me!)

17. My family & I were missionaries in Anguilla for 5 months between my kindergarten & first grade years.

18. Could care less about politics. (Paul loves them so it really bugs him that I show no interest.)

19. Love to read. Nicholas Sparks, Debbie Macomber, John Grisham, Kristin Hannah are just a few of my favorites.

20. Hated math growing up. (Still do! I have never understood why I would have to do all 30 problems for homework if they were all covering the same task. If I could do the first 15 correctly whey did I have to do the rest? Wasn't I bound to make a mistake?)....Can you tell I don't teach math?

21. Took piano lessons for 7 years & can't play a thing. (I would give every excuse not to practice & to get out of lessons each week.)

22. Love Friday Night Lights the tv show. It's the only show that I don't miss each week. (Don't tell me what happened this week though because it's tivod!)

23. Been to two Nascar Races - Michigan & Talladega

24. Must have sugar in my tea!

25. Love looking at magazines - People, Adoptive Families, Sports Illustrated, Prevention, etc. You name it, I'd probably look at it.

26. Favorite color is green. Growing up my bedroom was decorated in pink & pale green.

27. Enjoy coloring. Zoe loves to color so there are many nights that she & I will sit at the dining room table & color.

28. Miss rocking Zoe to sleep. Haven't done this in quite a while. Since she's been in a big girl bed she doesn't let me rock her. If she would let me, you can bet that I would.

29. Can't (or should I say won't) watch a movie at the movie theater without getting a soda & buttered popcorn.

30. Saw Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, & New Kids on the Block while in college. Crazy, huh?

31. Went boating with Tony Romo (the Dallas Cowboys quarterback) a couple of years ago when he was in college. My sister-in-law (Paul's sister) attended the same college as Tony & lived with his then girlfriend.

32. Can't stand the smell of campfire smoke on my clothes. (Disgusting!)

33. Didn't even get my bicycle out of the garage this year. You can call me lazy. Go ahead.

34. Want to visit the east coast some day.

35. Thankful for my job teaching 7th & 8th graders. I absolutely love it. I try to have fun with my students each day. I figure if they are not enjoying school then they aren't learning & they do NOT want to be there.

36. Love having lots of nieces & nephews. Just wish I could see the all more. A couple of them we see about two times a year - that's definitely not enough.

37. Have a wonderful husband & daughter who love me unconditionally. God could not have given me two people who complete me more than Paul & Zoe. I consider myself very lucky.

There you have it - all 37 things about me. Hope you learned a little about me that you didn't know before.

I can't end my post with that though. Just wanted to tell you that Zoe got her wish tonight. We did have dinner tonight again as a family. However, we didn't eat at home. Paul decided that he wasn't going to make me cook on my birthday so we went to a local restaurant. Once we got home, Paul & Zoe hooked up for a little "Daddy & Zoe time"!

Oh, I must brag a little - Zoe can tie her shoes by herself. We have been working on it every once in a while. Well, tonight she came to me & wanted to show me something. Sure enough, she tied both shoes by herself. She was so excited. She said - "Mama, are you amazed?" I told her I was & that I was so proud of her. She then said - "I knew you'd be proud of me. I wanted you to see that I could do it on your birthday!" What a great present! (It's the little things in life......)