37 Things about Me {Another Year Older}

It's my birthday this week!  In honor of my thirty-seven years, I am sharing that many things about myself.  I did this a few years ago at my old blog.  You can see those here, if you are interested.  (I worked hard at trying to keep these new.)

Want to know something that I didn't answer?  Just leave a comment!
  1. I can barely swim.  Some would say that I cannot swim.  Since I can go from one end of the pool to the other, I say I can.  Even if YOU call it the doggie-paddle.  I cannot go underwater.  I just can't hold my breath.  I pray if there is ever an emergency, God will intervene.
  2. My older sister and I used to tell people that she shot me with a BB gun when we were little, leaving my (very large) dimple in my left cheek.  Apparently when I told my husband this when we were dating I forgot to tell him I was joking.  He learned years after we were married that it wasn't true.  Oh my!  Note to self: Don't tell lies, even for fun!
  3. I get horrible motion sickness, even in the front seat given the right circumstances (the back roads of where we live now or where we grew up here in PA where they were deer or Indian trails first).  The good news is that I don't vomit...just get miserable and can't really function.  It takes about a half hour to recover.  (I did vomit once...when I was pregnant on the back roads of Vermont.)
  4. My favorite trip to an amusement park was when I was pregnant.  I took a book and patiently waited while the family had their fun.  See #3.  (I want to like roller coasters, but it takes me so long to recover that it isn't worth it.  I think it is getting worse as I age.)
  5. I have only been out of the USA once.  I was a teenager and my youth group went to Toronto for a retreat of some sort.  Until I was 30, I had never been off the East Coast, but we went to California for the wedding of Derek's cousin.  (That was also when #4 happened.)  I did get my passport in early 2000 hoping to visit my friend in England.  Then the money I had saved to go needed to be used  to replace my engine.  But a few months later I bought a (cheap) computer...and a few months later Derek instant messaged me...and then we began dating long distance...and it's been ten years now since we married!
  6. Our desk is always a wreck.  Embarrassingly so.  
  7. I have totaled two cars.  The first...I hit a barn at age 19 or 20.  (Unexpected gravel on a big corner made me lose control.  I may have been speeding.)  The second was when an oncoming vehicle crossed into my lane at night on a windy (curvy, not blowing air) road.  (Thankfully I was going slowly.)  Big Sister was just 5 months old and in the backseat.  (I was 30 if it matters.)  Other than me having a broken foot, we were both okay.  (We were actually visiting family in northeastern PA since Derek was in California for work.  It was a bit stressful time, but fine.)  
  8. I get excited and involved in projects...sometimes to the point of neglecting other things like keeping house.  Crafting is something I really enjoy.  It has been increasingly difficult to do such things since the arrival of our third child.  Occasionally, I make something for the children like the pioneer dress or the Star Wars peg dolls...but not often.  The same can be said of books.  
  9. My parents divorced when I was about six.  My mom remarried a year or so later, and I lived on a farm for four years.  Then, from sixth grade on I lived with my dad.  That is why I am self-taught when it comes to cleaning and cooking.  Dad did teach me to make spaghetti though.  
  10. I am a rule follower.  It does not translate well for me most of the time, especially when I place expectations upon others when it is my own conviction.  I do tend to drive a few miles over the speed limit though.  Why is breaking that law so acceptable?  (My husband and I have very similar driving styles...but he likes to bring up the warning and ticket I earned a few years ago.)
  11. I make a lot of mistakes in the kitchen.  Not all include smoke or fire.  My husband barely notices when I say uh-oh or ow in the kitchen.  I hope he'll notice if I become a bloody mess.
  12. I became a Christian as a teen.  I became serious about it my senior year of college.  I was baptized at the age of 22.  I have grown by leaps and bounds since then...first as a teacher in Christian schools and also with our church and learning on my own with books (such as these).
  13. NCIS is likely my favorite television show.   My MIL has all the DVD's, and she shares them with us.
  14. I have a very good relationship with my mother-in-law.  She doesn't even feel like company when she comes to stay for a weekend.  She's also likely my biggest blogging "fan."  (Hi Janice! ♥)  
  15. My dad and I painted "my" first car together.  He pulled a 1969 AMC Javelin from his barn.  (He collects old cars.  When I was in college he had no less than 30 cars.  I think that number is less now.)  We took it to my uncle's garage and painted it there.  Together.  (It was always his car, though we both called it mine.  I didn't have my own car until I paid for it myself.  That would have been a 1992 Mercury Sable.)
  16. Despite growing up around cars and engines, I know little about them (relatively speaking).  
  17. It took me a long time to make a personal Facebook account, but I do enjoy using it especially since our families are far away.  Even my church friends are far...
  18. I would love to write articles for pay.  I just don't know if I have the skills or know how to go about doing it.  So I blog and enjoy the relational side of writing!  (I accept advice!)
  19. Upon graduating from college, I was a teacher with Nature's Classroom, an environmental education program in New England.  Schools brought their students to us for five days at a time, and we took them hiking and taught hands-on classes daily.  We were with the kids from 7:30 (breakfast) until about 9:30 at night.  It really helped me to be a better teacher.  I loved it!  This summer I might share a lot of science with my kids from my experience there.
  20. While at Nature's Classroom, I lost any fashion sense I may have had (which I didn't).  I began to wear socks with Birkenstocks on a regular basis in the winter.  I no longer have my Birks (lost one of them!!), though I'd like another pair.  I wouldn't wear them with socks all the time...just a little.  I was never one of those women (or even girl) who can put on sweats and look put together.  I don't even look put together in a dress.
  21. I think I would be a much better school teacher now that I am a parent...but that will not likely be happening any time soon, if at all.  (I do teach at our church, but it's not the same.  Nor do I want to teach full time again.  The problem is part-time teaching is still a full-time job.)
  22. When I make homemade bread, we usually eat half of the loaf while it is still warm.  (Oink, oink.)
  23. I keep forgetting my age.  I think I've been 37 for about six months.  I also forget the year easily.  When freezing strawberries this year, I wrote the year 2014 on the bag!
  24. I can't gargle.  Whether it be mouthwash or a salt water mix to help combat illness...I just can't do it.  When I hear my husband doing it I think, "Show off!"  He's just doing business though.  
  25. I really struggle with eye drops or putting anything in my eye...or taking it out (like contacts).
  26. My eyesight is very poor.  I'm not legally blind, but I certainly would never consider driving without my glasses...or anything else.  I don't think I could even get out of our garage!  I've had glasses since the age of 6, at the end of first grade.  In eighth grade I was allowed to get contact lenses.  When I was about 29, my eye doctor explained to me in no uncertain terms that I should not be sleeping in my disposable contacts.  Since I struggle to put in and take out contacts (see #25), I have been wearing glasses ever since.  
  27. We have a maroon 2006 Malibu that used to be my primary car (until we had our third child in a car seat/booster and had to buy a van).  We bought it when it was a year old.  Despite its age, I still think of it as a new car despite the rust spot on the trunk.  When I drive it, I feel like I'm in a sports car since it handles so well (compared to the van).  (#7 explains why we needed to purchase the Malibu.)
  28. Vocabulary is not my strength.  Words that look like they should be said one way, but aren't are hard to remember.  Examples- Photography should sound like photograph-EE.  Hearth looks like earth, so I think they should rhyme.
  29.  Little Sister was born in 2011.  I have just recently come out of the Little Sister Fog of constantly being tired, unmotivated, and a bit depressed.  The fog lifted a few weeks after she started sleeping through the night at the age of 18 months.  
  30. Despite what some may think, having three children born within a week of each other was not planned, though I remember thinking it'd be nice to have our first two children two years apart.  Brother was due on Big Sister's birthday...but was a week late.  Little Sister has a birthday right in between them.  What do you think the chances are of us having a fourth child within that same week?  I jokingly told Derek that we couldn't have another child because they would feel so left out without a birthday that week.  (Even one of my sisters has three children born within a week of one another...that isn't that unusual!)
  31. I wear little jewelry, mostly because I don't consider it important enough to "bother" with it.  On my ring finger are always my wedding and engagement rings.   Derek gave me two necklaces over the past few years.  I leave one of those on.  If I take it off, it doesn't return to my neck.  Every once in a while I wear earrings.  Earlier this year, Big Sister said to me, "I didn't know you had your ears pierced!"  She did...she had just forgotten!  
  32. In the fall, winter, and early spring I wear a turtleneck and sweater/sweatshirt daily...and sometimes a third layer.  If sitting down, I prefer a blanket on me as well, since I am always cold.  Yet, in the summer I tire easily in humidity.  
  33. I do not wear nail polish.  I considered wearing clear polish for my wedding, but determined it'd be too much hassle with needing remover when we were away on our honeymoon.  I usually do paint my toenails in the summer though.  I've never had a manicure or pedicure though.  
  34. I carry babies only in my right arm.  Before #7 happened, I could use either arm.  Even years after that broken foot, somehow I struggle with the added weight on my hip/shoulder, though it's likely just habit.
  35. Sometimes I find amusement where none was intended.  Or maybe I just have a great sense of humor.  Either way, I tend to laugh at movies more than others.  Except my older sister, Amy, who has a, um, distinct laugh.  It is bad to take us to a movie together.  Not that we've been to a movie together in many, many years.
  36. I love where we live in rural southeastern PA (fairly close to Lancaster, PA and the states of Delaware and Maryland).  But I miss our families.  (I"m thankful to not be in a city or even a medium-sized town...I am  not a city girl!)  
  37. Possibly the most unusual thing about me is that I have one attached and one unattached ear lobe.  I did not learn of this until I was 30 years old and pregnant with my first child or about to have her.  We were likely discussing ears and what the baby's may look like.  I vividly remember my high school biology class and learning about how certain traits (rolling tongue, hair on fingers, ear lobes, eye color) are all part of genetics.  I had long (and big) hair back then and likely just pulled back one side of my hair for someone to tell me what type of ear lobe I have.  Who knew!?

~ Annette {This Simple Mom}

4 comments

  1. You have a readers vocabulary.... I struggle with the same thing.

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  2. Happy birthday!

    I have never been out of the country and can't swim at all. I like NCIs, too.

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  3. I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!! I love these posts! It's fun getting to know you better. :)

    When I'm carrying little ones, I can only use my left side. When I'm feeding, it's only natural on my right side. Also, I can only wear the diaper bag/purse strap on my right shoulder. It literally will not stay on my left shoulder. (not sure why)

    I'm with you on the odd sense of humor. Jonathan doesn't usually find humor in the things I do, except that I actually find humor in it. ;)

    I'm also with you on #1 and #6!!

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  4. :D :D :D

    SO FUN! ANd I can tell you DID work hard to come up with new things because I don't remember any of these! I so, so LOVED reading through your list. We are actually quite similar, reading through this list. I have only been out of the country once. I want to like rollar coasters but the amount of time it takes to get over riding one makes it not worth it. I have also totally a car. (But only one.) I have mistakes in the kitchen. (!) We also eat a half a loaf of bread once it is made. I have issues with vocabulary and would also like to write articles for pay (but don't know exactly how to go about that - and I doubt my skill). I laugh more at movies than other people I know so let's just say we have a good sense of humor, k? I also don't wear nail polish, don't really bother with jewelry and am pretty sure I'm never "put together" either in sweats or a dress. (However, since having a girl I've been trying much harder to figure these things out so that I can teach her.)

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Annette! On my wish list is to actually meet up some day 'cause I like you very much from a distance already.

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