16 Things

Over on Facebook, I was tagged by a friend to share 16 things about myself ... 16 little known things that others might not know about me. After spending way too uch time writing up those 16 things, I decided that I'd share it over here for my family and friends who might not see it on Facebook. Enjoy!



Maybe you know or maybe you don't know that ...

1. I am the oldest child in my family, as well as the oldest grandchild for both sets of grandparents and the oldest great-grandchild for 3 of my 4 sets of great-grandparents.

2. During my marriage to Matt, I moved 14 times in 14 years. Sometimes, it was just a move across town ... but each move still involved packing up every little thing in to a box and then unpacking it on the other end, even if it was just 2 miles up the road.

3. I have lived in 6 states: NC, LA, CA, GA, VA, and TX.

4. In addition, I have visited 15 other states: MS, AL, FL, SC, MD, KY, TN, MO, AR, OK, KS, NM, AZ, WA and OR. I've also visited Washington, DC.

5. Despite all my traveling around with the military, I've never been out of the continental US. However, I have a passport and am definitely willing and ready to travel to a foreign country if ever the opportunity arises.

6. I do not like canned peaches ... not even in cobblers or pies.

7. I used to show lambs as part of my 4-H club experience.

8. I won 1st runner up in the 4-H state egg cookery contest when I was just 9 years old.

9. If you can't tell from the previous two facts, I loved my years as a 4-H'er. Fortunately for me, I'm now working as a 4-H agent. It's a job that I really enjoy ... well, at least most of the time.

10. I don't watch very much TV. In fact, I haven't had my TV at home turned on in over 2 weeks. The last time it was turned on was so that Joel could watch a weather channel special on hurricanes. I'm not so much against TV, as it just bores me.

11. I also don't enjoy watching movies at home. A movie in a theater is ten times better, so if I've got to watch a movie, that's definitely where I want to view it. Even at that, I could probably think of a dozen things I'd rather do than go see a movie.

12. I graduated valedictorian of my high school class. It's not a hard feat when there are only 21 graduates, though.

13. I adore solid black animals. Currently, I have a black dog (Jingle-Belle) and a black cat (Domino). I think it all goes back to when my brother Reid was born ... for some reason, around that time my parents gave me a solid black kitten that I named Kitty-Baby. I loved that cat. Ever since, black dogs and cats make my heart melt.

14. I collect teacups... not teapots or tea sets. Just teacups. I started collecting them when I was around 12 years old.

15. I love to read. I can't go in a bookstore without buying at least one book. My kids have more books than the local library, or so it seems. (Then again, our library is so small that I don't imagine it would be too awfully hard to out book them.) I spend at least half an hour reading aloud to my kids every single night.

Last one ... thank goodness! It was hard to come up with 16 things! So, for #16, maybe you know or maybe you don't know that ....

16. I am nearly debt-free. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm working hard on getting that way. I still owe on one small credit card that I hope to have paid off by January 2009, and my mini-van. I'd like to find myself totally debt-free by the end of 2009. It's a goal, anyway.

That's my 16 things!