100 Things About Me

1. I enjoyed reading other people's "100 Things About Me", so I decided to write my own.
2. I love to travel.
3. I have been to over 20 other countries outside the U.S.
4. My favorite place to live was Kenya where I was born. I lived there for 11 years.
5. My favorite place to visit was Italy, especially Venice.
6. I love traveling with Wes, even though I am jealous that he can fall asleep on a plane or anywhere else in a matter of minutes.
7. I love reading, especially Christian romance novels.
8. I love reading children's books to the girls.
9. We go to the library about every 2 weeks and check out 25 books, mainly because I got tired of reading the same books over and over again.
10. My favorite hobby is scrapbooking, and I can't wait until our scrapbooking day at church this Saturday.
11. I enjoy cooking. I don't cook anything too fancy or anything.
12. I like it when Avery and Abby "help" me cook.
13. Wes' cordless drill is my favorite tool. I even put together a 4 drawer filing cabinet with it all by myself.
14. I was a teacher for 3 1/2 years before I had Avery.
15. I miss the relationships with students and teachers, but I do not miss the stress.
16. I like having people in our home.
17. I am a neat freak, just ask my college roommates and Wes. I think I inherited this trait from my mom.
18. Sometimes I feel like I have to have things clean and organized before I start a project or a hobby just to have my mind cleared.
19. I love swimming, especially in the ocean. It is even more fun now that the girls are older.
20. I can't wait to swim in Hawaii on our vacation with Wes' family in the near future.
21. I like to watch movies/TV shows with Wes. He is a great date! He even watches girlie movies with me.
22. I try to work out at my friend's gym 3 times a week. I mostly do step aerobics and a weight lifting class. I have tried to convince Wes to go to a step class with me. Ha!
23. I feel incredibly blessed to get to stay home with my cutie pies. I wouldn't trade these years for anything!
24. I loved attending ACU and miss it.
24. Abilene was a great town to grow up in. I lived there from when I was 11 years old all the way through college.
25. I wouldn't mind living there again someday with Wes and/or I working at ACU.
26. We don't get to go visit Abilene or ACU very much since we have to be back for church on Sundays.
27. In high school I prayed that I would marry a youth minister or missionary. God answered my prayers.
28. I love being married to a youth minister and being involved with youth ministry.
29. My favorite job was when I was a youth intern in Abilene for a year.
30. I get together 3-4 times a year with my close high school/college friends that were in my youth group growing up . What a blessing their friendships are to me!
31. I loved my youth group experiences growing up.
32. I don't get to see Amy (Crittenden) McKissick as much anymore since she and her family are now missionaries in Paraguay. :( Thank goodness for email!
33. I enjoy dressing the girls in cute outfits, especially matching outfits. "Thank you" to my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law who love to shop and help make this possible.
34. When I was little I loved dressing my dolls up too, so maybe I just haven't grown out of that.
35. I honestly don't know what I would do if we had a boy.
36. I have ridden on a sea-do one occasion and would be thrilled to do it again.
37. In high school and college I went water skiing numerous times and have not been since. I often wonder if would still be able to do it very well.
38. I love to eat grapefruit. I eat a whole one most days, and on some days I eat two.
39. My favorite fruit is pineapple, I just wish they weren't so darn expensive!
40. I like to eat bread or pizza dough. I really usually am a healthy eater - I promise!
41. Lately, I have been eating dough from those Rhodes rolls. They come frozen in a package. You are supposed to let them thaw and rise for a couple of hours before you stick them in the oven. They are delicious cooked too, but try the dough sometime and tell me what you think.
42. I am excited because I just got a call from a lady at church who agreed to watch our kids while some friends and I do our Bible study. Yay! I can't wait to start that up again.
43. We may study the book "Beautiful in God's Eyes" by Elizabeth George, about the Proverbs 31 woman. Let me know if you have another study you have done and would recommend to us.
44. I can sew, but I definitely do not enjoy it.
45. My mom helped me sew some dresses, shirts, and skirts in middle school and high school.
46. Now I just sew simple things like curtains, and I do some mending.
47. I have never had a cavity before.
48. My parents made sure we took good care of our teeth. They even charged us a quarter when we would forget to brush them.
49. I am the youngest of three children.
50. I don't think I was spoiled or the "favorite" which are what the usual stereotypes are of the baby in the family.
51. I was pretty shy until 7th grade or so. My sister was very outgoing. My brother was a talker and the big comedian in our family. Between the two of them, it wasn't easy to get a word in edge wise.
52. I have been on Wilderness Trek 3 times. I would like to go again sometime.
53. I let what people say or think bother me too much.
54. Wes is good at helping me to be less sensitive in this area.
55. Breastfeeding was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
56. I loved the cuddling and nutritional aspect of nursing, but many other aspects were frustrating. All things considered, I would do it again.
57. I love to cuddle with Avery and Abby and have even been known, on occasion, to get them out of bed while they are sleeping to get some snuggle time with them.
58. I have to have my own "space" when I go to sleep.
59. I love getting all warm and cozy underneath all the covers in the winter.
60. I love getting to have fires in our fireplace when it is really cold out.
61. I love the bright, clean look of snow all over the ground.
62. I like to open our windows when it is raining outside.
63. Spring is my favorite season.
64. Seeing all the green grass, trees, and blooming flowers really lifts my spirits.
65. I like planting flowers and small bushes and watching them grow.
66. By the end of the summer I get tired of all the watering that has to take place for #65. Thankfully, we have had a lot of rain this summer.
67. I don't listen to much music.
68. I guess I just like the peace and quiet.
69. I hardly know any of the popular singers or groups.
70. When I do listen to music, I prefer Christian music.
71. When I am in the car alone for a long period of time I like to pray during that rare quiet and peaceful time.
73. When the girls are in the car, I usually get to listen to their DVD's that are playing.
74. When Wes drives us all, I like to read a book or magazine.
75. I absolutely love Chinese food.
76. I usually have steamed rice and sesame chicken. Yum-o!
77. Yes, I like to watch Rachael Ray (hence the "yum-o" comment).
78. My favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-fil-A.
79. This is followed closely by Taco Bueno, where I usually order their delicious bean burritos.
80. My favorite dessert is Oreo Goodie which has has Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, Oreo cookies, whipped cream, hot fudge topping, and caramel topping.
81. I don't make this very much because it is too much of a temptation.
82. I have started working a little for my Dad. I edit his stories and articles that he writes.
83. Some of you might find that hard to believe since my own writing isn't the best. But, when I put my mind to it, all those rules come back to me.
84. I can speak some Swahili and Kipsigis from living in Kenya.
85. I dislike dusting. I like to use Pledge wipes when I do dust which makes it a little more bearable.
86. I dislike blow drying my hair. I get so hot! I would much rather take a shower at night just to avoid having to blow dry my hair.
87. Some people say I am a "tight wad", but I have actually saved our family a lot of money.
88. I like playing games with my family like Candy Land, Hungry Hippos, Matching Cards, or Don't Break the Ice.
89. When I was in high school, I took a a few classes at ACU.
90. During that time, my friend, who was also in high school, and I came in second at a spades tournament at ACU. We won dinner for 4 at a nice restaurant in downtown Abilene.
91. The winners cheated. Seriously, we tried to call them on it, but they were after all Seniors at ACU and we were still in high school. What can you do?
92. I graduated with a whopping 24 students from Abilene Christian High School.
93. My heroes are Jesus, and my mom and dad.
94. I miss my mom! It is hard to believe that it has been over a year since she passed away.
95. This was the summer that her and dad were going to move from Benin to this area to be close to us.
96. They had been missionaries in Benin for 9 years, so I was really looking forward to being with them more often.
97 My mom taught me countless things about God, raising a family, living for God, and life in general.
98. It makes me sad to think that she isn't here to pass on her wisdom to my girls.
99. I know she is having a ball right now in Heaven, but I am sad that I can't be with her right now.
100. I AM READY FOR JESUS TO COME BACK!

Here are some pictures of the girls that Wes' mom had taken while we were in Mexico.
They are a little blurry since they are pictures of pictures.

Oops! I caught the reflection in Abby's picture.