20 Facts About Me

Day two of the 31 day challenge is to write about 20 facts on myself. This should be boring, eh? But in case anyone was actually interested...

1. I am a huge 49er Football Fan. I have been since pretty much birth (if not before). Both sides of my family are from Northern California (but my parents didn't meet until they were both in Alaska, even though they went to rival high schools), and cheer for the Niners. I was born the day after they won the Super Bowl in 1985 - mom wouldn't go to the hospital that Sunday because she was afraid they wouldn't let her watch the game. I'm a huge fan of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Steve Young, and Coach Harbaugh.

2. I love all things Iditarod and sled dogs, but I won't drive a sled. I've never stood on the back of a sled and told the dogs to "hike up" or "mush" (who says that command anyway?). I have sat in the sled while a friend drove her team of two down the trail, over an embankment and then bailed and let the dogs run me through an open creek. I then walked, soaking wet, back home. We were in Jr. High. I've never wanted to drive a team since. Though growing up I wanted to be the next Libby Riddles/Susan Butcher. I'm perfectly content to support the teams I love and work for the whackadoodle breed of human known as Musher.

3. I've taken TEN trips to a Disney park. 1990, 2006, 2011 and 2012 were to Disneyland in California. 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013 were to Walt Disney World in Florida. I can safely say I haven't seen or done it all, but I have done so much and love going back. The trip in September to Disneyland (my fifth!) will most likely be the last trip to Disney for the foreseeable future, and that makes me sad... super sad. But I need to venture out away from my happy place... and I need to build up my savings.

4. I have never been on a date. I've not been asked since high school. It's not that I'm picky, it's just that I have a very... strict? idea of what dating and partnership should be. And, really, in 11 years since high school I haven't been asked. So I'm sure there's something wrong with me. Ha ha. But I'm actually quite content to be single. Until people put their nose where it doesn't belong. Then I am almost to pick some random guy up to shut everyone up and give them something new to gripe about.

5. I have an extra bone in my right foot. Apparently this is pretty common - though most folks have the extra bone in both feet. When my mom worked for a local chiropractor in town (I was eight?) he didn't believe us that it was an actual extra bone. Just one "out of alignment". He felt my foot and determined he was right, so without x-rays he began to try and manipulate it "back into place." It wasn't until I screamed out in pain and kicked him that he pulled back and said "I'll be damned. You're right." And people wonder why I DON'T like people touching me?!

6. Speaking of that - I hate giving random hugs, especially when I'm not the one that gets to initiate it. Like I physically HATE it. I give hugs to close family and friends, but really if I don't go in for a hug... don't assume it's okay. It's not comforting, cute, or friendly. I feel very confined, uncomfortable, and disrespected. It's one thing when the person doesn't know, but those that acknowledge that I dislike them (and then suggest I need to get over it) that's when I really take issue. I'm outspoken, but I'm also unable to really speak my mind in those situations... so I typically take my punishment and then the rest of the day is pretty crappy. Yes, it's that bad. No, I'm not going to change my feelings. It goes much deeper than someone's need to force me to hug.

7. Growing up as an only child I wanted a brother. Originally I wanted to be oldest with a younger brother, as I've grown up I've realized I wanted/needed someone older. This is going to make me seem hateful and uncaring, but the younger brother I was blessed with has caused so much pain and hurt and yeah that I feel very cheated. I really do have a yearning to have a protector, like the older brothers so many of my friends have. In the last year I've never wanted something more. I don't know why, I just really wish I'd had one. Interestingly enough, had my parents been able to adopt the boy that they were in the process of when they found out they were pregnant (and the mother was pulling out of the adoption) I'd have had an older brother (by about 6 months). I'm very thankful for the guys in my life through the years who were older and filled that role for me. Now that they're all away and married perhaps that is why I feel that desire again.

8. I have been obsessed with photography since I was seven years old. A friend from school gave me a point and shoot (film) camera and Panda Bear (it was a combo gift, not sure where he got it but I still have both the camera and the bear) for my birthday. I wore that camera out! My dad taught me the basics of SLR cameras and by the time I was in high school I was being asked to shoot weddings and portraits. I decided that I didn't want to do anything else - except maybe become a film director. I did not go to college for photography, however. I wanted to get into TV/Film direction. So I basically wasted a lot of time and money because I didn't end up with a degree, and I didn't achieve my goals. Mainly because I'm a poor student.

9.  I am a HUGE Steven Spielberg fangirl. Like SUPER fan girl. I have a collection of his films (not complete, but we're getting there. I got a late start!), even ones I won't watch (ET because he scares me, and War Horse because it crushed my soul). To me, Spielberg is my generation's Walt Disney. He brought to life dinosaurs, brought us Indiana Jones, and even the supposedly flawed Hook brought about imagination. For all the fun that he brought to our lives, though, he's also brought the important stories of WW1 & WW2 - the horrors of the Holocaust, the tragedies of war as well as the beauty of those souls fighting for what they believe in. I could gush about him and his work all day. SPIELBERG!

10. I love Alaska. I was born and raised here, and Lord willing I will die here. I don't want to live anywhere else (except maybe Cinderella's Castle). I live in Kenai - where I was raised - and you can't convince me there's a better place on Earth.

11. I still love the show FRIENDS. I have just about every episode memorized, and my bff and I are known to have full on conversations using only quotes from the show. I got hooked on it just a few weeks before it ended, and I sat with my bff and hugged her as the finale happened. She was a HUGE fan while it was on the air (still is) and was the one that got me hooked. But she's the one who cried. I made fun of her for getting SO involved with a TV show...

12. And then 10 years later - yeah, it was my turn. If you've followed my blog in the last few months you know where I am going with this. I got hooked on Once Upon A Time last year. It was a great escape for when I lost my beloved pug dog Yuka (while I was away from home visiting my bff, ironically). I was SO excited for the third season of this show. It was going to be dark, it was going to have twists. There were going to be pirates, and mermaids, and Neverland... and then the second half of the season happened and I had fallen in love with a character that, unbeknownst to me, was going to die. I have never been affected by a television show as much as I apparently have with OUAT. I cannot get over them killing off Neal Cassidy. I've never experienced the grief over a character of a tv show like this (I have for movies, so I know it's possible). And I've lost quite a few favorite TV characters over the years. Michael Raymond-James (as I've gushed about before) is a fantastic actor. I'm sorry it took me so long to recognize it, but OUAT will not be the same without him. I cannot WAIT for Sons of Liberty (History Channel, premieres December 14th, yes I will be obsessively watching). Yes, I did have to do this just to mention MRJ. I'm a crazy person.

13. Speaking of Sons of Liberty, I am a huge US History nerd. I like world history, too, but US History gets my attention far more than anything else. Revolutionary War, Civil War, and our involvement in World War 2 are my favorite categories (oh and Lincoln and Washington). I have to give a shout out to my 8th grade US History teacher, Bob Summer, for giving me a love of the subject. Even if my grades didn't always reflect it (I was a huge disappointment for him, I didn't apply myself. My grades did not reflect my capabilities).

14. I used to be really into politics as well, but have become increasingly more jaded. Probably the Alaskan in me. Hard to care about national politics when you know your vote doesn't count and that you have a very non existent voice.

15. I have been a huge fan of figure skating pretty much my entire life. From the time I was nearly four all the way till now I've watched the sport and fangirled over so many of its stars. I believe the years of 1984-2004 was the best era of figure skating (peaking from 1994-2000). It's considered the "Golden Era" of modern skating in the West. Kurt Browning is the ultimate figure skater. We will never see another like him. Medals and titles don't matter (though his four world titles are nothing to sniff at!), he is far superior to anything the sport has produced before or since. I could watch him skate all day. Scott Hamilton is the ultimate showman, but Browning is the real deal.

16. My first celebrity crush was Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I. when I was a toddler. I would "call" him on the phone and talk to him for hours. I can't stand him now. Go figure. But I've always crushed on older actors. Very few from my age group are in my "best actor/hotties" list (well, that was more true before I started watching Once Upon A Time, most of those guys are my age-ish). I wanted to marry Scott Hamilton (figure skater) when I was four, and I've crushed hard for Harrison Ford, Kurt Browning, and a host of other older guys from the time I was in Jr. High. As I said earlier, I'm crazy.

17. I love tacos. Tacos are my most favorite things EVER. I could eat a mountain of tacos. They are my major weakness. I live for Taco Tuesday/Thursday. I love taco salad when I can't have tacos. Which is any time I have to cook tacos because I refuse to cook with oil over a flame.

18. I am terrified of cooking with oil because I set my parents' kitchen on fire when I was 16. In my defense I was sick and thought I'd put the tea kettle on to boil water to make some hot cider. In my cold med stupor, however, I turned on the wrong burner. It was an electric stove, so there was not flame to indicate that I was boiling the wrong thing. Mom had left a pot of oil on the stove. I walked out of the room for mere seconds and WHOOSH! I've been terrified ever since, though I love to cook.

19. It's just been in the last few years that I've loved to cook. It was out of necessity when I lived on my own, and now I miss not getting to cook more. I love planning my menu, going based on a theme, and making it all come together. I get this from my grandmother as she was the master planner and chef. I wish I'd embraced cooking sooner so that it would've been something we could have enjoyed together, but it makes me feel connected to her even though she's gone now. We'd always enjoyed baking, and now that I have found the love for cooking I have to believe G'Ma is smiling down on me.

20. I am a massive planner when it comes to vacation. I don't go as far as to do the spreadsheets (well, sometimes), but it's how I cope with the wait. This started back when I began working on the family 2007 trip to Disney World. I found a disney travel message board that encouraged this behavior. It's been a lifesaver SO many times, and now I'm kinda obsessed with planning. It's half the fun for me!

So there you have it, 20 facts about me. Probably more than you ever cared to know, but it is what it is... and if you actually read all that you deserve a cookie. Not going to lie. So I'll leave you with this adorable MRJ gif (yes I'm obsessed and I don't even know why. I feel like a stalker! LOL). I really need to rewatch Terriers again. Britt Pollack is too funny.