100 Things

I was inspired by a friend’s recent post on her blog listing 100 facts about her.  Now, you may not be interested in this list whatsoever, but I liked reading hers and thought it would be fun to do the same.  Here goes…

1. I am a middle child.
2. I adore my brother and sister, and have so much in the past that it bordered on unhealthy.  For real.
3. I married my high school sweetie when I was 19 and have no regrets about that.
4. I feel most beautiful when I am pregnant.  I also take better care of myself, which I can’t seem to make myself do any other time in my life.
5. 2010 has been the first year I haven’t birthed a baby since 2005.
6. I am pregnant for the ninth time.  I miscarried at 7 weeks between my girls and my boys, and I was devastated.
7. I played the flute and loved it, but I always wished I had played the french horn.  I got to senior year and fell in love.  If I ever have money to waste, I will buy one of my own.
8. I am a changed woman because of Jesus Christ.  I’ve always loved Him, but my life is different because of Him and what He has revealed to me through an unexpected pregnancy and autism.
9. I always wanted to be a teacher growing up.
10. I was in the public ed classroom until I had babies, and now I teach them.
11. I always admired my dad for being a truck driver.  Still do.
12. I think that I was blessed with a mom who loves being our mom more than just about anything on earth, except my dad.
13. I miss my childhood friends, and I often wonder if they know just how special they were to me.
14. My three best friends now are not necessarily the picture of best friends you see in the movies, but I prefer what I’ve gained from them to anything I’ve ever seen onscreen.
15. I look at my kids in amazement daily that I can love so many little people so very much.  My mom has never understood how parents can favor one kid over another, and I so agree with her.
16. I graduated from Georgia Southern University.
17. I will never tell my kids that there is a good reason for owning and using a credit card.  NEVER.
18. I live in my grandmother’s house, the one where my mother spent the latter half of her childhood.  I love it.
19. I wish our yard were big enough for a swimming pool, though.
20. I love to read.
21. I love to sew, but have no time for it.
22. Family is oh so very important to me.  Mine, my husband’s, and ours together.
23. My siblings and I haven’t always been good to one another.  I want different for my kids.
24. I adore my nephews and niece more than I adore my siblings!
25. My parents and in-laws will both celebrate 40 years of marriage in the next couple of years.  I’m thankful for their example.
26. I love Beth Moore Bible studies, especially when done with precious friends in a beautiful prayer garden.
27. I wish I had been closer to my grandparents.
28. I am thankful that my kids are with theirs and my husband’s grandparents.  What a blessing!
29. I dream of a romantic second honeymoon with my sweetie one day.
30. My dream car is a 15-passenger van with heating and air, working windows, and a decent radio/CD player.
31. I have never understood some women’s fear of owning a mini-van.  I was so excited the day I got mine!
32. In high school, we planned on having four kids, three years apart.  God had a different plan.
33. Autism has terrified me and grown me in more ways than you can imagine.
34. I get annoyed by people who care enough about what people wear to post about it on Facebook.  So what if I go to Lowe’s in my pj pants!
35. I was sexually molested as a kid, but I am not a victim.
36. My childhood heroes were my parents, my brother, and my teachers, especially Ms. Griggs and Mr. Ellis.
37. I am a band nerd.  Loved every minute of it.
38. I used to wish I could go by my middle name, but now I love my first name.
39. I didn’t want to give up my surname, so I dropped my middle name when I got married.
40. I feel very much like my autistic daughter sometimes, and I understand my childhood better because of her.
41. I bought a brand new pick up truck before I even graduated college.  I always wanted to drive a truck, but I could have figured out a cheaper way to do it!
42. I am lazy, so it’s a good thing my life forces me to live otherwise!
43. I don’t want to clean my kids’ childhood away, but I need to be a better housecleaner.
44. I wish I could afford to have someone do that for me, though.
45. I love a good pair of shoes.  My favorites are Clarks.
46. I could not have imagined this life if I tried.  I love it!
47. This is harder than I thought it would be (the list, not my life).
48. I don’t remember ever not loving Jesus.
49. I loved my dogs and am very sad that my son’s allergies will prevent them from knowing the same kind of love.
50. I have been told that I have the gift of faith.  I don’t know how I could live without it.
51. I love fall.  It’s my favorite time of year.
52. I’m trying not to make these about my kids too much, but what can I say.  They are so much of who I am.
53. The scariest thing I have EVER experienced in my life is the fear of losing my oldest son.  He contracted viral meningitis at 8 days old and came very close to dying.
54. I love Facebook.  It allows me to “talk” to adults (which I don’t currently do that much during this season in my life), reconnect with old friends, and pray for people at a moment’s notice.
55. I love my brother-in-law as if he were my own brother.  We have a different kind of relationship, where I don’t feel comfortable saying things like that to him, but I hope he knows it anyway.
56. I like to build things.
57. I love home decor and organizing magazines, but they are so unrealistic!
58. My favorite foods are anything my mom makes (pretty much), and my Nannie’s and uncle Charley’s homemade chicken and dumplings.
59. My wedding was perfect.
60. My marriage has been even better, yet not always perfect.
61. My mom, my dad, and me all picked out my wedding dress independently of each other and picked the same one!
62. They bought it for me on my 18th birthday, while I was in my senior year and not even engaged yet!
63. I love that my brother told my mom early in my relationship with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, that he was the one.
64. One of my most treasured gifts from my husband is a musical figurine of the Genie from Aladdin that used to play “You ain’t never had a friend like me”.  He gave it to me our first Christmas as a couple.
65. My hair is finally long enough for a ponytail for only the second time in my life.  It was always short as a kid, and I hate having it on my neck.
66. I love music.  Torture to me would be life without music.
67. I have so many moral issues with the new show Glee, but I love watching it simply for the music.
68. I get choked up in movies at moments that I know my brother would get choked up.  As different as we are, it is eerie how alike we can be, too.
69. I value modesty.
70. I used to think Disneyworld obsessions in grown ups were ridiculous.  Then I went and had a moment there with our autistic daughter that showed me just how magical that place really is.  I’ll have to post about that one some time.
71. I had an emergency c-section with my last baby, who flipped between my appointment that morning and labor and delivery that night.  It is common for women like me to have a breech baby.
72. I’m not going for a certain number of kids, but I feel tremendously blessed by every child He adds to our family.
73. I am too hard on myself sometimes.
74. In my first year of marriage, I wanted us to come up with our own name instead of me taking his.  I was fiercely loyal to my family and my identity in them.
75. It is so freeing to now know that my identity is found in Christ alone.
76. I love to homeschool my kids.  I wish more parents realized how wonderful it can be and just how capable they are of doing it.
77. I count down until my husband gets home.  I miss him when he is gone.
78. I feel so blessed to be loved by such a wonderful man.  I know he is a gift.
79. I wish I were more fluent in scripture.  I know a lot of what the Bible says, but I’m not good at quoting chapter/book/verse.
80. I love to learn but did not love going to school.  I have ZERO desire to go back and acquire another degree, but I’ll read a number of books and do research on any topic that interests me.
81. I realized at my 10 year reunion that I grew up on what some people would call “the wrong side of the tracks”.  I didn’t care.
82. I love living where I currently live, even though I am a racial minority.  I don’t ever get weird looks or get ignored in my community.
83. I like camping, but doing it with many little people kind of intimidates me.
84. I love the beach, and I crave a trip during every pregnancy!
85. One of the most freeing lessons I ever learned was that God doesn’t need my help judging others, but He does demand my help loving others.
86. Looking at your baby for the first time never gets old, no matter how many times you do it.
87. I love to host my family for holidays and special events.  I just wish they enjoyed it as much as I did!
88. I was on the swim team in high school, but I wasn’t very good.
89. I love to sing.
90. I’ve always wanted to move away, but I don’t think I could bear being so far away from family.
91. There are days I wish for a few hours at home without the kids here, just so I can get some things done uninterrupted.
92. I believe in the power of prayer.
93. I still get butterflies when my husband leans over to kiss me in a movie theater.
94. I remember the band competition where he first held my hand as if it were yesterday.
95. I also remember the first time I got to see him after he left for college (I wasn’t allowed to go with his family to drop him off) like it was yesterday.  He was in his marching uniform for an exhibition at a band competition.
96. I don’t remember all of my children’s birth weights, lengths, or times, even.  I do remember their birthday, though!
97. I was surprised this Mother’s Day with an iPod.  I love it.
98. I can barely stand still when I attend our worship service and hear our praise band play.
99. I miss my college buddies.  I didn’t love school, but going through it with them made it better.
100. I found this list really hard to do!