Quasi cabbage patch kid dolls and 3rd grade memories

1985 was the year of the Cabbage Patch Kid doll.

And every girl had to have one. And every girl brought them to school to put back by the coat rack. That was the doll of my dreams that year when I was nine and in Mrs. Jones's (Miss Leslie to start the year) 3rd grade class. 

My mom knew what was on my wish list that Christmas, but we also couldn't afford the price tag that came with it. Instead, my sister Angie and I got replicas. I took that doll to school with pride, and each night we both put them to sleep in their "beds."

This memory came back to me as I've watched several little girls across the hall at school bring their "babies" to school each day.

That 3rd grade year we could become part of the I.C.M.M.C. which stood for I Can Manage Myself Club. I don't recall exactly what we had to do to be a part of this club hosted by my teacher, but I did get a laminated card to prove I was a part of it. I carried that card for many years.

She also would post our classroom jobs by coming up with funny names. I remember coming into class one day to see Ocean Man next to a class job. I figured out that it must be me since my last name was quite similar -- Seamons.

This was the year I thought it would be funny to pull the chair out from underneath my classmate who sat next to me. As they went to sit, I pulled the chair, causing them to fall hard to the floor. I was reprimanded quite sternly for that.

Many of my friends came back from Christmas break with pierced ears. I would listen to them explain the process of a gun that would shoot a needle into your ear. I imagined someone standing 15 feet away and aiming this device at my head and hoping they were a good aim. To this day, I still haven't pierced them.

One day Mrs. Jones had her back to the chalkboard. The entire class began to snicker at the rip she had in the seam of her pants showing off her pink underwear. A safety-pin took care of that until she came back after lunch wearing a different pair of pants.

I happened upon an old Bible in our basement and took it to school. Whenever I finished an assignment and had some free time, I would pull that Bible out to peruse and read. I'm sure I was the only student to bring such reading material.

Life History - Camping

I've attempted to write a history of my life on and off over the past 30 years and was given the challenge to try again last week at a Relief Society activity. It can be quite daunting. Especially when I start perusing old photos and get so immersed that I come away feeling so overwhelmed. But I'll attempt something.

Growing up we didn't do expensive vacations. Our summer fun was camping in the mountains above Ferron in our yellow truck that would haul 5 kids, a dog, camping gear and food to last through the millennium, a picnic table, and usually a few cousins thrown in there.

We would head up to Ferron Reservoir, take a right at the top and continue on to Duck Fork lake. But before getting there we would take another right down a incredibly rough road down to McEwan Flat.

What I remember about a lot of those camping trips was the pine boughs dad would use to create a canopy over the bed of the truck. Tonight I came across a similar photo of a jeep that I believe belonged to my Grandpa Seamons (Grandma Seamons is in the front passenger seat) which also had the same type of bough system over the back. I now know where my dad got such a fun idea for our camping trips.

Dad is a twin and our cousins from Logan frequently came camping with us. One one such trip toward the end of June in 1986ish, it began to rain pretty steadily. The decision was made to just leave. Leave everything behind and get home. The ride down the mountain was a good 45 minutes. We arrived home soaked and cold and muddy. And the next day we went back up to get our camping gear and discovered it had snowed.

My reading life

"I was born a reader, it seems, surrounded by books, with free choice and plenty of time to read under my covers with a flashlight." (Passionate Readers)

That one statement pretty much sums up my reading life. A question surfaced the other day from a colleague: Did I remember learning how to read?

That made me really dig deep into the filing cabinet of my memories.

No. I don't recall how I learned to read. But I do remember my library card number . . . 176. I didn't have tons of books at my house growing up, but I did have access to the library and I had a reading mom. One of my favorite places to read was in the closet of my brothers' room surrounded by books like Go, Dog, Go (one of my favorites). My dad had built a shelf in there that recessed into the closet. What kid doesn't like holing up in a small, tight space to read. Under the covers and beneath the Christmas tree were some other favorite spots.

"People read for a multiplicity of reasons. . . . I'm grateful for my one life, but I'd prefer to live a thousand--and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life." (I'd Rather Be Reading)

The books that really instilled a love of reading were the Little House on the Prairie books. Back in the day of the Sears Christmas catalog, I would browse through that toy book, dreaming and hoping that I would some day get the entire series for myself. 

I still have that set 34 years later.

My summers were spent walking the two blocks to the library and sprinting back home to hermit in my room reading. I recall one summer I was really intrigued with space and wanted to be an astronaut. Maybe it was the summer of Christa Mcauliff, the first teacher to go to space. My timeline is vague, but I wanted to know all I could. I remember thinking that if I really studied one thing in depth each summer, I would have learned a lot after several years. Well, I began with space. I read a lot of what our little library had on the subject of space. And unfortunately, my quest for extensive knowledge began and ended that summer.

My mom was a reader of novels. My dad read the magazines Time and Reader's Digest (my first foray into the internet was a search for Reader's Digest in 1996 while sitting in a computer lab at Utah State University with Tyler sitting beside me). I remember pulling A Wrinkle in Time off the shelf at the school library and stumbling through it. A junior high class requirement was to read a biography, so I went to the library and found a book on Chuck Yeager, the pilot who broke the speed of sound. I hated that book because I found it so boring. I picked up James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans off a shelf in our basement and didn't get very far due to the difficulty of the writing. Did those experiences make me less inclined to read? No. In fact today biographies or memoirs are one of my favorite genres to read. And perhaps Mohicans might be easier to read 25 years later.

My life as a reader has evolved over the years. Babar, Harriet the Spy, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Boxcar Children, and Beverley Cleary's endearing Ramona Quimby were a few I indulged in as a child. My desk in Mrs. Jones's third grade class even held the Bible that I would pull out and read. In my tween years it was the drama of Sweet Valley High and the mystery solving of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I later moved onto authors Dorothy Keddington, Lois Duncan, and even admit to ashamedly reading a V.C. Andrews book or two. I loved Jack Weyland and Gerald Lund.

To Kill a Mockingbird was the first book I bought for myself. I can still vividly recall being in a Deseret Book store at a mall, looking through that book, and deciding to buy it.

During my college years, there's quite a gap in my reading experience. I claim to never have read a book for fun in college, but I'm sure I read something at least during the summer months.

In my 20s as a young mom, I read a lot of "self-help" books, namely parenting books and a few biographies. However, one of the most engaging novels that surfaces again and again in my literary conversations was a book suggested to me by a dear friend, Nancy Peixhot, in my Salt Lake ward: Phantom, the story of the Phantom of the Opera told from the viewpoint of the phantom. Such a captivating read. In fact Erik is spelled with a K instead of a C because of the main character of that book. In my 30s I started attending a book club which renewed my interest in other genres. That was a major turning point in my reading life. I have been exposed to books I wouldn't have otherwise picked up. I have loved talking about the books we read and making connections.

And now in my 40s I'm on a quest to teach my young students to be better readers and to instill a love of reading in them. Those are really my two goals as an educator. And I believe with 6 days left of school I just may have accomplished at least goal #2 when they beg me to let them read their books.

Tell me how I'm supposed to say no to that? So we sit and read and talk books and I love it.

So where am I now as a reader?

Well, I need reading glasses :) and I need deadlines. Books I borrow from the library get read more often than books I've bought and stored on my bookshelves at home. 

I continually add to my bookshelves, real and virtual. I most likely have way more books on my actual and virtual bookshelves than I'll ever read and that is quite all right. It reminds me of all that I do not know and have yet to discover and the stories I have yet to experience.

I am discovering a love for picture books. My students love it when I read to them. So I've been on a quest this year to discover picture books that tie in to the lesson I'm giving that day.

I document the books I read and have begun leaving a brief synopsis in Goodreads. I've found that I can remember reading books but I can only remember if I liked it or didn't. I want to recall more than that about the books I read. Plus Goodreads is a great site to get recommendations or to do a little sleuthing about a book I might be interested in reading before I actually commit to it.

I am still a bibliophile who seeks out bookstores on vacation much to the chagrin of a son-in-law. On our last family outing we discovered a bookstore in Boulder, Colorado that was a close second to Powell's in Portland.

I was born a reader and will always be a reader. It is definitely one of my most favorite things to do in my "spare" time.

Sometimes life comes full circle

Be kind to everyone because you just never know when they may enter your life again.

I don't know if it's small town coincidences or what, but people tend to pop up in my life years later.

Last spring I started applying for teaching jobs. Towards the end of one interview, I mentioned I grew up in the little town of Ferron. One of the people sitting in on my interview was Beverly Bunderson who coincidentally was from Emery, a town 15 miles south of Ferron and even smaller. We were in the same stake and I went to school with some of her kids (I didn't remember right off and had to go home and look them up in the yearbook. Thank heavens for yearbooks.)

She and I chatted and she mentioned her son Brad married a Kori LeRoy from Huntington, another small town to the north. I should also mention that all these small towns filter into one high school, Emery High School.

Kori and I share the same birthday. And how do I know that? Well, when I was a senior and she was a sophomore, the seminary had what was called missionary week. They put all the seminary students into companionships and you actually stayed over at people's homes for several days. They do not do that anymore and for good reason. Missionary week in 1994 happened to be the week of mine and Kori's birthday so they put us together as companions. Due to various activities, she and I were never really together. I stayed one night by myself and then she stayed another night by herself.

Senior Year

After all these years, I still remember that event even though it was nothing spectacular. 

I ended being hired at the school I interviewed with and Beverly got reassigned to work at a different school so she and I have never crossed paths again. Several months later we were needing an ELL aid for the influx of English language learners at our school. Kori was hired and she and I became reacquainted as I recounted my remembrances of her.

Twenty-five years ago I never would have imagined that we would be working in the same little town, in the same little school. Life has a funny way of coming around again. You never know when or how your paths will intersect again.

**And for kicks I pulled out my other yearbooks because I really DO NOT like my senior picture. Too much pouf, ugly shirt, too much makeup. It just isn't me. 

Sophomore Year
Still the crazy permed hair, but a little longer.

Junior Year

And then my first year of college I had a photo taken at the request of my mother. Hair looked much better although I remember borrowing that shirt from my cousin's room whom I was staying with at the time. He was about 3 times as big as me. Maybe I didn't have anything decent to wear??

E.T.

I guess that title could stand for Erik Tyler. But not today.

Alex has watched this movie at least four times this week. I'm not even sure where he came across it.

That was a huge movie when I was his age. As a second grader, the local library held a contest for anyone who wanted to draw E.T. I am no artist by today's standards, but I must have fooled them 34 years ago because I was one of three winners.

I remember that day just like it was yesterday getting all dressed up to go down to the library to have my picture taken for the paper, and I had to have it taken with a 6th grader!!! He was so old!!! Seriously, that's how I felt at the time.


But, hey, I won three -- not two, not one -- THREE free copies from the library. Now, what second grader is going to need copies? A free book would have been nice. Or a movie pass. I can think of a whole lot more cooler stuff than free copies. Jealous, aren't ya :)


These are the days of . . . 
* swim lessons

* tennis (it's turning in to a year-round sport at our house)

* taking care of the neighborhood while everyone is vacationing in exotic places

* AND taking care of the neighborhood means some mishaps -- Nate mowed over a sprinkler head which was too far out of the ground which entailed a trip to Home Depot, praying they had the right head and a few hours of replacing and making sure it worked. Nate graciously paid up for the part and for our time and gas. At first I was inclined to just give it back and say it was just a mistake that hopefully he learned from. But Tyler reminded me about Kiersten's little accident with the truck and how we had her pay half. So we decided to do the same with Nate. We'd rather they learn these mistakes with little incidents rather than the big, major ones.

My full name -- Story #1

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

How do you write your personal history?

One story at a time.

Family Search has issued a 52-week challenge to write one story a week. I've tried various methods over the years to record my personal history and am going to attempt to do so again. Not only is it good for posterity but who doesn't enjoy listening to personal stories when talks or lessons are given. Recall is going to be my stumbling block with this goal.

Nephi didn't begin recording his history until some 30 years later. Eight years in the wilderness; time on a boat; and time spent setting up a new life in a new place. Who's got time to write and record. I can understand why it took him awhile to get started. Lack of writing utilities I'm sure was also cumbersome. But I do believe that the Lord also wanted some time for his experiences to sit and marinate. With time comes perspective that allows you to really contemplate and reflect on experiences. The whole picture can be pieced together including the whys and hows which sometimes is quite impossible to do when you are smack dab in the middle of life.

STORY#1
What is your full name? Why did you parents give you that name?

My full name upon birth was Melissa Seamons. My mom and dad didn't believe girls should have middle names since they would have a long enough name when they got married. So neither me nor my sisters have middle names or initials. And that tradition has continued with both my girls -- Kiersten and Ashlyn. When I got married and eventually had to get a new social security card with my married name on it, I decided to include an S. as my middle initial which stands for Seamons.

The significance of my name is simply that my parents liked it. It was their intention that I would be called Melissa. However, Grandma Seamons began calling me Little Miss, Mystified, Miscellaneous, Missy -- anything but Melissa -- and my mom wasn't especially thrilled that the nickname stuck.

Nicknames are a big part of the Seamons family. I have a cousin we call Moose, another is Agnes; one brother named Mac, another Reedy-bug. Erik has been dubbed the Deadly One and Kiersten is Queen Bee.

I wish I could say I actually like the name Missy. It was fine as a child. I went to school with three other Melissa's so it was nice to be differentiated. As an adult, though, it's been hard to accept. I felt like I had this identity crisis, like I didn't know who I was. During my first week of college, my roommates knew me as Melissa until my mom called our apartment asking for Missy and no one knew who that was. Associations can be really hard to break and I still have a college roommate who refers to me as Melissa.

We moved to Magna and my church records identified me as Melissa. I never really corrected anyone until they would hear Tyler call me Missy. Our good friends, the Goldens, called me Melissa for a long time.

Since then I've corrected people from the start and tell them I go by Missy. That has worked for 10 years until I started substitute teaching. I always leave a note for the teacher about how the class went and now I had a dilemma. Do I sign it Melissa or Missy? In the system it shows me as Melissa, and in an effort to not cause any confusion I've signed my name Melissa. However, as I've gotten to know teachers on a first name basis, I will let them know I actually go by Missy.

Who knew a name could be so complicated!! At least there is little question as to whether I am male or female. And I rarely ever have to spell my name or pronounce it for anyone. I've come across a few doozies in my classes and feel badly for those whose names are way more complicated than mine.

Missy I am. And Missy I will always be.

These are the days of . . . 
*Covert trips to grandma's. Ash went without Alex for this 4-day weekend. We're all wondering when he's going to clue in that she isn't home.

*ACT tests. Erik took a practice ACT test and I proctored one of the sections. I came home with a test booklet for Nate to try at least the math.

*Not even an interview. I applied for a job as the librarian at Stansbury High School. I don't have a degree in library science and I don't have a license but I really think I could have done a great job and would have enjoyed it. I talked to the principal and they've already interviewed and will announce the new librarian next week. I'm bummed but not down-an-out. I'll simply move on with my other options.

Kiersten's Junior Prom

Never did I ever think I would some day have a child go to prom. It was so far away. So out there. But it came . . . and went.

Kiersten was gorgeous. She was so dead set on finding an orange dress (her favorite color) but when she tried that blue one on, we both knew it was the one. It was a good fit and the color was beautiful. Several times throughout the week I had told Tyler that Friday night we were going to promenade. He couldn't quite figure out why we were going to prom.

Small towns still do a dance involving the juniors. I did it at my prom. I know at some they invite the parents to do one dance afterwards with their child. I told Tyler to be happy he didn't have to do that. Prom was at the state capitol building in the rotunda. Everyone participating in the promenade got their name read as they descended down the staircase. Kind of magical and fairytalelike. But I was so nervous for Kiersten, knowing she was in heels on a very slippery marble floor. I just prayed she would make it down the stairs okay.

All this hoopla of asking and answering and finding a dress and corsages and dates and hairdos made me think back to my own prom.

My first date ever was to prom. Josh Gordon, a sophomore like me, and I would sit in Brother Norton's Old Testament seminary class and talk the entire hour. I wasn't a very good kid so not sure why I ended up with an A+.

He asked me a week before prom (which was 5 days after my 16th birthday) with 3 roses at the school office. That didn't give me much time to find a dress. I'm sure my mother about went crazy with such short notice.

I was excited to go even though the look on both our faces looks painful.

I remember buying the dress through a catalog which was a good thing because the next year I wore it again for my own junior prom. My date was Mike Larson, a boy in my ward. 

I remember doing a progressive dinner and doing something afterwards at a friends house, but that's about all I remember. And maybe that's all I remember because I at least have this one photo.

Reminiscing is sure fun but man, I'd never want to go back to high school again. Although, a friend and I were talking this morning on our walk about living our lives over again but differently. I know if I ever had the chance to go back to high school, I would not be the same person that I was back then. I would be more self-confident, self-assured, more kind, and worry less about others opinions. I worry less about the trivial little romances that seemed to pop up and instead make more lasting friendships. And the permed hair! would definitely go. There is wisdom that comes with age.

Good things
photos
walks
journals

Daddy Whiskers

I just walked in the house from dropping Alex off at the bus stop and gave a barbaric yawp (Dead Poet Society was our weekend movie) because I could. Because no one was home. Not even Tyler who is on a business trip for 2 days. Because I haven't had a quiet house to myself for awhile.

And while walking up the street, I decided I didn't want to spend my precious few hours finishing the laundry or cleaning some bathrooms (which I had determined I would do upon my arrival back at home). Instead I'm simply doing something I want to do and which I get very little time to do lately. Blog.

Monday I took four of the kids to Big 5 to get some shoes for Trek coming up this summer. While at the checkout line, Ash and Alex oogled and awed over Daddy Whiskers.

You see, we have Baby Whiskers at our house and Alex desperately wanted to add to his collection.

I firmly told him no and for him to put it back. A half hour later all 6 of us piled out of van at home. Um . . . we only had 5 on the way there!?!?!

Alex, the Great Houdini, had managed to sneakily whisk Daddy Whiskers out of the store and into the van without a soul seeing him.

This was a great teaching moment as we talked about stealing and the consequences. It was already late by the time we got home, but I knew I couldn't let a day go by without returning our little stuffed pet. Alex and Ash and I piled back into the van and made the 40 minute trip to Big 5. Alex reluctantly gave his friend back and apologized. If it had been up to him, he'd have simply walked into the store and put it back on the shelf. But I told him that part of fixing what he did was he needed to tell the store employee.

I would like to report that he felt much better afterwards, but he didn't. He still felt miserable wanting that stuffed dog. I do believe it will be a memory he will be able to look back on.

I clearly remember a similar incidence when I was about Alex's age, maybe a little older.


My friend Lynn and I had walked down to Morley's, a grocery store in our little town (the taller, white building in the back).

We wandered and gazed and looked and I ended up walking out with some bubble gum. My mom asked me where I had gotten the gum from and when I told her I had taken it from the store, she promptly made me spit it out (no enjoying stolen contraband) and took me back to pay for it. That was a hard thing having to fess up about something I'd done wrong.

All kids are going to make mistakes, but they can be turned into learning/teaching junctures if we seize that crucial moment.

Driving permit

Yep, she finally buckled down and studied a little and passed that driving test to get her permit.

I honestly don't know how my mom and dad coped with six drivers. I can barely handle one. I don't know if my heart can take four more.

Maybe because I was never a very good driver and here's proof.

The photo is very poor quality, but you can kind of see the sad shape my face is in. I tried to take a corner too fast on a road that was recently re-graveled and spun out and ended up in a ditch. I tried backing out but had high-centered the car. The neighbors on the corner saw the whole thing and helped me into their house to clean me up and then took me home. Then I lost it and the tears came. No major damage was done other than my face and pride as I had to retell my story several times including to the driver's ed teacher and highway patrolmen who were both in my ward. And no I was not wearing a seat belt. If I had it might have saved my face. Because of that first crash, new drivers scare me.

I will survive. Deep breaths. Lot of prayers.

A proposal

Sixteen years ago today, I got a proposal of marriage.

But it wasn't my first.

Whoa.

Back up.

That's what I said. It wasn't my first.

I was 15 when an old an old seminary student of my dad's by the name of Michael Mower came to visit. I don't remember the details, but I do remember there was talk of an exchange for eight cows that thankfully never came to fruition.

Fast forward 6 years later to when I got a REAL proposal. (By the way Mike now works for the governor. Click here if you want to see what he looks like 22 years later.)

Since I don't remember details very well, it's a good thing I keep a journal. Some of the following came from there and also from the only scrapbook that I deem completely finished . . . Our Wedding.

How we became engaged. It was the day before my birthday (Saturday, March 8, 1996) and Tyler took me out to celebrate. Initially I thought we were headed to The Korea House to eat, but then he kept going and feigned forgetfulness. We ended up at the the Logan zoo and walked around a bit looking at all 10 animals (at least it seemed like that's all there were). As we were walking over the bridge overlooking the fish pond (which is no longer there), Tyler stopped and began "fishing" around in his pocket. At that moment I knew what was going to happen. My heart started racing and my hands got all sweaty. I was so nervous and flustered I said, "Are you serious?" and immediately followed up with a "yes" before he had even posed the question. How embarrassing that would have been if he had something else in mind. He did ask THE QUESTION and my answer was yes again. He later told me how my first yes made him feel pretty secure in asking.

[Insert commentary here] Tyler still likes to tease me about my initial response.

We hugged, we kissed, and put the ring on my finger. It was too small for my ring finger, but if fit my pinky. Tyler picked the ring out himself. I hadn't even told him what I liked nor had we looked at rings. But he did a great job and I love it.

After we finished looking at the animals, Tyler presented me with a real birthday present: Roller blades! I had always loved roller skating as a kid and was so excited to finally have some blades. We finally made it The Korea House. I'd never eaten Korean before so it was very different. Not bad but different. I tried kimchi and squid. Not bad. I love him so much and am so excited to be married to him. This means no more roommates, my own fridge and cupboards, my own messes. It was a wonderful day!!

Sadly, this was in the days of film cameras when we didn't take a lot of pictures. I sure wish we had one of that day at the bridge and me eating kimchi and squid. Despite what I said above, they really are quite bad and I've never eaten them since.
This is probably our first photo together. Man we look young. But then again I guess we were. Tyler no longer wears paper clips on his shirts but for some reason I still have that jumper. I guess some things are just hard to part with. (Like for instance, my baby teeth. I still have them stashed away in the pink little treasure chest I got from the dentist when I was a kid and they have moved with me more than a few times.)
Here's a better photo, sometime shortly after our engagement.

And that is the start of Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Leary.

50 random things about me and a few more

This was something that was being circulated on Facebook for awhile. It was really write 25 random things about you at that moment. I thought I'd give it some time to see what I came up. I was surprised at some of the things I remembered.

1. I detest leftovers. Rarely do I ever eat them. I'm thankful Tyler doesn't mind cleaning them up for me.
2. I have never used an automatic car wash.
3. I am in my dad's camp.
4. I've scuba dived once and hated it. I felt very claustrophobic.
5. My little brother hit me on the head with a hammer. Luckily I only need 2 stitches, but now have a cowlick there.
6. I love my fireplace.
7. I love chocolate milk and toast. It's what I live on.
8. I dislike shopping in any form.
9. On my left little toe is a toenail so small it looks like there isn't one. Lucky for me I only have to paint 4 out of the 5.
10. I love, love to vacuum.
11. Going along with number 10, I love love to mow the lawn. It must be the straight lines I'm attracted to. I get apprehensive when Tyler mows because he tends to go circular or weaves.
12. I love to be outside in any season but winter . . . working in my yard, camping, playing. I am an outdoor girl.
13. But I don't particularly like water. I'll wade, but swimming is not my thing.
14. It must be because when you get out you're cold and I really don't like being cold. Therefore I don't like winter.
15. I wore braces for 3 1/2 years and a headgear for 3 1/2 weeks. I refused to wear it any longer.
16. We always had a dog when I was a kid. Most of them were yellow labs named Lady.
17. I teach my kids piano.
18. I've rappelled.
19. I was a speaker at my high school graduation. I think I spoke about being the best person you could be.
20. I enjoy playing ping pong and tennis. Actually I've never played a real game of tennis, but I enjoy hitting the ball and serving it.
21. I once spent a Saturday and took a pre-LSAT test (law school entrance exam) with Tyler just to see how we'd do. I scored in the 48th percentile.
22. I don't like being late. It makes me antsy.
23. I've never had a broken bone, lots of jammed fingers from basketball and sprained ankles, but never a broken bone.
24. I enjoy baking, not necessarily cooking. Maybe because I love the dough more than the finished product. Growing up we were a family who would eat half the dough before baking. I even have a stash of cookie dough in my freezer for such urges.
25. I am the oldest in my family of six siblings.
26. As I was growing up, my parents often referred to me as a hermit because I spent so much time in my room, usually reading. I love to read. I can be in the middle of lots of books and will usually finish them all about the same time and then start over on a whole new set.
    
27. In reference to #26, I would consider myself an introvert, however I derive my energy from being around other people. I'll come home from a meeting or an activity ready to tell Tyler all about it. I often don't go to sleep for awhile afterwards.
28. I love pepper, especially on fried eggs and salads.
29. I play the piano, have played the organ, and am trying the violin.
30. I cleaned houses to put myself through college.
31. I had mono when I was in 2nd grade.
32. I was the 6th grade chess champion.
33. I eat ice cream just about every night.
34. My favorite dessert is brownies with ice cream and hot fudge.
35. I love to eat out but rarely ever get dessert.
36. I usually eat some form of chocolate every day. I try to keep peanut M&Ms around, but chocolate chips do in a pinch.
37. I don't like to scrapbook, but now that I've started I feel like I must finish.
38. I was on the seminary council in high school.
39. In college I once accepted a date from a 35-year-old man with a mustache, but ditched him when he came to pick me up. I had no way to contact him to tell him I was backing out. WHAT WAS MY 20-YEAR-OLD SELF THINKING?
40. I ran my first 5K when I was 32.
41. Once my date in college took me flying and let me fly the plane for just a moment.
42. I'd rather eat birthday pie over birthday cake.
43. My favorite pies are chocolate and banana cream.
44. When I was 14 or 15 I drove a tractor up our willow tree. I thought it was going to tip over on top of me for sure.
45. I've been to Lake Powell many times . . . for the fishing (striped bass).
46. I was a bald baby and a thumb sucker until I woke up one day and decided on my own not to suck it any more.
47. I rarely make it through an entire movie. I tend to fall asleep.
48. Basketball is my number one sport. I played church ball, played my sophomore year of high school and played co-ed intramural basketball in college.
49. I was fired from a job after one day and was never so happy about it.
50. My passport has taken me to Ireland, England, and South Korea.
51. My first airplane ride was on my honeymoon to Seattle. The plane ride was the highlight of the trip.
52. I've been river rafting down the Snake River when I was 12 years old.
53. I've had a child with cancer.
54. I've had a child with a cleft in the uvula (the little hanging thing in the back of your throat).
55. I detest wrapping presents. They turn out so badly I'm glad I can blame my kids for how ugly they look.
56. I love raspberries and peas, especially eaten right out of the garden.
57. Ty was my first kiss and even then it was when I had fallen asleep during a movie (refer to #47). I didn't understand what all the hype was about and even told a roommate I didn't care if we ever did that again. It's much better now.
58. My first concert was Sawyer Brown. I've since been to Steve Miller Band, Celine Dion, Counting Crows, Neil Diamond (I'm raising 3rd generation Neil Diamond fans), Jon Schmidt, and a U2 cover band that sounded like the real thing (I won't say "better than the real thing").
59. I had my dad for a seminary teacher and really learned a lot about the Book of Mormon. Since I was also the only one who really played the piano, I quickly learned how to play as an accompanist. That was rather painful.
60. I've shot a .22 and a shotgun only once and have been snow skiing only twice in my life.
61. My first "real" car that I paid for was a red 1991 Geo Prism. That car would have gone forever and ever. But when Ty got a company car we had to part with it. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.
62. I grew up listening to FM100 and win "Name that Tune" every time when we are in the car listening to FM106.
63. I am a weather watcher. I have to know what the weather is going to be like for the next few days so I can plan my gardening, shopping, etc. I plan my days around the weather.
64. I don't own a cell phone.
65. I like the smell of gasoline and laughing gas at the dentist.