30 Things About Me

I've seen this here and there throughout the blogosphere and thought I'd participate!

1. I had cancer when I was 3 1/2. My father picked me up one morning and noticed a hard lump on my side. My kidney had formed into a tumor the size of my head but it was only a stage 0 or 1 cancer, since it hadn't spread. My kidney was removed and I had chemotherapy for 6 months. Haven't had any problems since, except the celiac disease, which I think (without any medical knowledge) might've been triggered by the trauma.

2. I have an ever-worsening fear of trains. Not sure where it came from. It started on a trip from New Hampshire (maybe 4 years ago), when we saw the arm of the crossing thing come up. It scared me and now I can't look at the front of a train without crying and feeling nauseated. I also hate small spaces and big machines, which explains the anxiety attacks I have in the car wash.

3. My husband and I met for the first time in high school. However, my mother worked with his father 5-10 years earlier, and his stepmother was my sister's kindergarten teacher. Somehow we never met before high school.

4. I told Rob that I loved him the first night we got together, after a 3 hour long conversation.

5. I have always hated the "Happy Birthday" song. When I was a kid I forbade my family from singing it to me and if they did, I plugged my ears until they stopped.

6. Before I put my deodorant on the in the morning I have to smell it. I thought this was totally out there but apparently my cousins do it too!

7. When I use the bathroom in a public restroom (hey, I travel, it's a pretty frequent occurrence), I have to plug my ears when I flush the toilet with my foot. It's really loud and stresses me out in such a tiny space.

8. Rob and I have already figured out the names of our future children, if we decide to have children. He could never figure out a boy's name he liked until his brother came up with Robert, so we could call him R2.

9. I have weird rules around watching movies and TV shows. When I want to destress I watch shows like Seinfeld, Family Guy, and Mystery Science Theater 3000, because they don't require any significant emotional investment. I don't mind watching the episodes over and over either, simply because they aren't stressful.

10. Similar to #9, I hate suspense. Sometimes I'll read ahead just so I don't have to stress about what's going to happen.

11. I would ultimately like to be covered with tattoos, but unless I can be promised a lifelong job that doesn't require me to hide them this is simply not in the cards.

12. I almost always wake up just a minute or two before my alarm is set to go off. This is extremely annoying.

13. I have a bad habit of picking/chewing my lips. I managed to stop for a few months before the wedding but started right back up again.

14. I've had a lot of people tell me I look like Winona Ryder or Natalie Portman. I think it's just because they both had short hair at some point.

15. When I was a kid, my mother was relatively controlling in regards to food. I never had any sweet cereals and had few sugary snacks. As a result I have an insatiable sweet tooth; in college I would sometimes just eat Cookie Crisp for dinner.

16. My favorite song is "Don't Think Twice" as done by Mike Ness.

17. I drink a vodka cranberry, made with Svedka raspberry vodka and Ocean Spray Cran-Pomegranate, at least once a night. I'm not an alcoholic or a frequent drinker, but what can I say, it's my one vice.

18. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I love how challenging my job is, but sometimes I wish I could be a housewife and spend my days organizing my home and eventually raising our children. Not sure how that'll all turn out but we'll see!

19. I an obsessive saver...with money, that is. I tend to not be a great haggler (like with buying a car) so I usually lose money, but I've already started contributing to a 401(k) and I also put money into a savings account every month. Rob makes fun of me but I think we'll be pretty happy later on!

20. I have mini-panic attacks if I forget my chapstick. I need to have my chapstick with me at all times.

21. Rob and I spent the entire time he was enlisted--4 years--unmarried and apart. We saw each other every couple of months for a week or two, and during the deployment, we spent 6 months apart and then 8. I'm pretty proud of everything we've gone through.

22. I never wanted a smartphone until I got my current job. Now that I have one I can't stand being without my phone, unless it's a self-enforced hiatus; for example, if I'm on a date with my husband.

23. Also, when my husband was in Iraq, my phone was ALWAYS on me. I would tell college professors ahead of time that I may leave to talk to him, and when I was in Russia one of the first things I made sure of was that he could call me. Amazingly we were actually in the same time zone for those three months! Made for much easier communication.

24. I have really nice handwriting and I love hand-writing things just because I love the process of actually writing it.

25. One of my favorite movies is "Se7en" with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. I also love "Shawshank Redemption."

26. I am a big reader. I love the Harry Potter series, as well as everything Tom Robbins and everything Kurt Vonnegut. I actually have a few books autographed by Tom Robbins thanks to my lovely friend *A* [see her blog here!].

27. I know that modern country is just about the worst music there is, but I grew up with it and listening to it makes me feel happy and calm. I absolutely love old country, as well.

28. I speak Spanish fluently and also speak Russian intermediately. I plan on getting a Russian tattoo after this half-sleeve, complete with matryoshka (nesting) doll.

29. I love my dog, Cypress. If we can't have our own children I want to have a huge plot of land with a ton of dogs.

30. Rob and I performed two songs at our own wedding - "Dirty Glass" by Dropkick Murphys and "When She Begins" by Social Distortion.