Thursday, April 24, 2008

100 things about me...

I was tagged by Laura Bohler Forman to write 100 things about myself and since I have nothing else to do (HA!) I decided to give it a shot. Happy Reading!

1. I was born in Montgomery, AL on November 5, 1979.
2. I am a professional student. I have not taken a break (other than summers) since I started kindergarten.
3. I like to travel. I was 15 the first time I left the country.
4. I went on a medical mission trip to Honduras.
5. I played basketball in high school.
6. I also ran track and was actually quite decent at running hurdles.
7. Ironically I don't really like to run.
8. I wish that I did like to run. Last summer, I tried to make myself enjoy running as I was getting in shape for a potential pregnancy.
9. My middle name (Ellene) is a family name. It is my mom's middle name and my great-aunt's middle name. It was also my great-grandmother's middle name. We're still trying to decide whether or not to keep it going with our little one.
10. My husband and I went to southern Sudan on a mission trip a couple of years ago.
11. While we were there, we went on a donkey cart ride. People are not normally transported by donkeys so people looked at us a little funny.
12. We drank Coke from glass bottles in Sudan. I quite like Coke in glass bottles, but found it strange that it was available in the town of Renk, which has no running water.
13. I've been married for over 4 years now.
14. I've loved almost every minute of it ;-)
15. I went to a Baptist women's college in Alabama.
16. I like to read.
17. I have published an article in a Baptist History journal.
18. I've also written some encyclopedia and dictionary entries.
19. I failed my Spanish proficiency test the first time I took it in graduate school.
20. I passed French on the first try.
21. I find this ironic since I had two years of Spanish in high school and two years of Spanish in college.
22. The only French I've ever had is a short summer course called French for Reading last summer at Duke.
23. I spent a month in Singapore in the summer of 2000 working with Missionary Kids.
24. I bought the most amazing bag while I was there. I still use it, but the straps are starting to wear thin.
25. If I ever go back to Singapore, I'm going to buy about 5 more of those bags.
26. I was in our college's production of The Nutcracker. I have the T-shirt to prove it. No big deal :-)
27. I don't like to pick favorites. Since my opinions are constantly changing, I feel like I'm lying when I try to name a favorite.
28. Despite that, I do have a favorite number.
29. It's 3; it's a magic number!
30. I also like numbers that are divisible by 3.
31. I got my belly button pierced when I was 21.
32. I'd kind of like a tattoo, but because of #27 I'm afraid I'd never be able to make up my mind about what I wanted to get. And, if I did, I'm afraid I'd change my mind about it later.
33. I've never been snow-skiing, but I'd like to go sometime.
34. When I started college, I was a biology major hoping to go to physical therapy school or pharmacy school.
35. I finished college with a double major in Music and Religious Studies, and a minor in Biology.
36. I didn't head to physical therapy school or pharmacy school; I went to divinity school instead.
37. I met Chad in a Baptist polity class my first semester in seminary.
38. We started dating about two months later.
39. We used to write notes to one another on index cards and leave them in each other's mailboxes (folders) at school.
40. I kept them all!
41. I like to send cards. I think they're fun.
42. I don't like talking on the phone (except to Chad when I'm away). I'm not really sure why.
43. Number 42 extends so far as to include not liking to order pizza over the phone. I've been known to order it over the internet when Chad's not there to call it in for me.
44. I like to bake and I wish I made more time to do it.
45. I don't like to clean up after I bake.
46. I enjoy paying bills. I think it's because it gives me an instant sense of accomplishment.
47. I wish that we had a more detailed budget system, but I'm afraid it might drive me crazy trying to keep up with it.
48. I was a fat baby. I weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces at birth and was 22 inches long.
49. Even more telling, I weighed 30 pounds at the age of one. (Bless my heart!)
50. I just passed my doctoral exams, meaning that I am now officially a candidate for the Ph.D. in Religion at Duke University.
51. Chad and I are expecting our first child, a girl, in May.
52. I have naturally curly hair.
53. I actually like having curly hair.
54. I hope that our little girl has curly hair.
55. I play handbells in our church handbell choir.
56. I really like pajamas. I wish that I could justify buying more really nice, comfy, matching ones.
57. I like the Gilmore Girls.
58. I read and/or listened to all four of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books and enjoyed every minute of it. Please don't judge me.
59. One of my favorite children's books is The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. I can't wait to read it to Baby Girl.
60. I have yet to read any of the Harry Potter books. It's not because I have something against them; I just haven't made the time to do it.
61. I don't want my little girl to wear anything that says "Princess" on it. This is not some slam against those of you who choose to do the Princess thing with your little girls; it's merely a personal preference.
62. I like to throw parties and/or showers. It's fun.
63. I once had a Spiderman birthday party for my husband complete with a Spiderman cake.
64. I also had a Snakes on a Plane birthday party for Chad. That cake had gummy worms posing as snakes. It was pretty awesome/amusing if I do say so myself.
65. I also like to have people over for dinner.
66. I like to use our nice china. (If you are going to justify spending that much money, or asking other people to, on dishes, you might as well use them, right?)
67. I don't, however, enjoy cleaning the dishes that comes with having folks over for dinner.
68. Chad and I have already talked about college options for our unborn child. Laugh if you must.
69. In another life, I think I might enjoy being a midwife. Their job is seriously so cool.
70. When I was in 8th grade, my lunch table thought it would be fun to see how many Skittles we could fit in our mouths at once. It should come as no surprise that several of us managed to cram the whole bag in there. This was not just a one day occurrence.
71. I like to crochet, but I don't do it a lot so I'm not very good at it.
72. I like clean clothes.
73. I don't even mind the washing process to procure clean clothes.
74. Our baby girl still doesn't have a name.
75. I'm starting to be concerned that I will never be able to decide and she'll be one of those kids with like 4 or 5 names.
76. I have an awesome pair of rain boots - brown with orange flowers - that I wear around campus to avoid wet feet and/or pants.
77. I want a composter. I think I may ask for one for Christmas.
78. One day I'd like to have a little garden. Nothing fancy, just enough to be able to can and freeze some fresh vegetables for our family.
79. I don't really like the way I look right now. I know I'm pregnant, but I just feel HUGE and I hate it.
80. I like giving gifts to people.
81. I also like to make gifts for people.
82. Crowds of people I don't know make me nervous, especially when they are in my personal space (e.g., on subways, at concerts, etc.).
83. Despite # 7, I plan to train for a 5K after the baby's born. I'm going to need something to keep me motivated to lose all this weight.
84. I had emergency gall bladder surgery less than 3 months after we got married. It was kind of scary.
85. I wish that I could sew like my mom. She's amazing!
86. I like it when my mom gets to meet and hang out with my friends. I think she's pretty cool as far as moms go and since I'm about to be one I like to think that my little girl won't mind her mother hanging around her friends from time to time.
87. I had braces when I was in Jr. High. Fortunately, I only had to wear them about 10 months.
88. I LOVE Jelly Belly jelly beans. Pure sugar...yum.
89. I played Lucy in my college's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
90. I liked the name Lucy for our little girl for awhile.
91. I often get so caught up in doing things for other people that I forget to be there for them. I know that sounds weird, but it's something that Chad is trying to help me be better about.
92. Grilled cheese sandwiches make me very happy.
93. Cherry limeades from Sonic also make me happy.
94. I have one brother, three step-sisters, and one step-brother.
95. I only grew up with my brother though. Speaking of my brother, he's getting married to a girl named Mandy. It's really quite strange that there will soon be two Mandy McMichaels (at lest her "real" name is Amanda).
96. I have been to England, Scotland, and Wales.
97. I went to the Grand Canyon for the first time last May. It was even more beautiful than all the pictures.
98. I learned to like hot tea in college. It's delicious and makes tea parties oh so much more fun :-)
99. I think Blue Gatorade is awesome.
100. Blue Gatorade will be accompanying me to the birth center.

I am going to tag: Ashley Smith (to give her another way to waste time at "work"), Susie Allison (so she can make good use of her new blog), and Susan Jones (since she's never busy).

On principle, I am not tagging Melissa. I have a feeling that she is a bit too busy to take part in this ridiculous exercise that I've wasted far too much time on :-)

7 comments:

Christy Ross said...

that was fun to read. on about 8 of them I was like, "ME TOO!"

Nancy Hood said...

no! it wasn't wasted! I enjoyed reading it and learning more about you!!

Laura Forman said...

Yay! Thanks for doing it!! It was so much fun to read and I love learning new stuff about you!! :)

Ashley Smith ~ The Primary Source said...

Fun list...I'm working on mine!

Melissa said...

you could have tagged me - i'd have gotten around to it eventually. ;) thanks for sharing!

Mama said...

You're an interesting person Mandy...it was fun reading your factoids!

Mandy said...

So much fun to read! I hope you are doing well!

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