I apologize that it turned out as long as it did.
I decided to put it on our blog too, because I thought that some people who would really enjoy reading it probably don't look at Facebook.
25 Things About Me:
1. I love chick flicks. Adore them, (well, some of them.) I can only stomach so much of some of them, i.e. “The Other Boleyn Girl.” But one of my favorite movies of all time is “Love Actually,” followed in quick succession by “Serendipity”. I also like movies/plays/books that end without a happy ending. I love it when the person we've been rooting for all along doesn't get the girl/guy/job, and gets a solid helping of reality. For a movie like this, check out "The Visitor."
2. I hate when people misspell things; especially glaringly obvious stuff. Didn’t they teach us the differences between there, their, and they’re in third grade? When you publish something, don’t people get paid to catch those sorts of things? And anyone who gets ideas to say, “I hate that to,” or “That bugs me two” will get a punch in the face. (Erika, that could solve one of yours for you…) I care less about people who screw up grammar, but sometimes that bugs me too.
3. I’m fluent in three languages: Russian, American, and Spanish. I will soon be learning Arabic. I am also working on learning proper English. I have found that my most effective study tool towards proper English is a children’s tv show called Charlie & Lola. They are most adept at exploring the uses of superlatives like completely, absolutely, extremely, never, not ever, and mostly. My most absolutely, completely favoritish episode so far is the one about a Dotty Elephant.
4. I dreamt of being a fighter pilot when I was growing up. I am now much too tall for that, though I haven’t yet finished growing up. I have considered going into intelligence agencies, because being a spy would be fun. Hannah says no, and I completely absolutely understand.
5. I know how to build a house from the ground up, even though I don’t have a contractor’s license.
6. I am a surf-aholic. This does not work very well, since I am currently finishing up my undergraduate degrees in the “wonderful” state of Utah. If I could, I would surf every day, for several hours a day, and twice on weekends or any days with good swell, and most days ending in “y”. Future life circumstances permitting, we would love to own houses near remote surf breaks in different countries.
7. I want to get my pilot’s license. Hannah has graciously agreed to allow this, so long as we have life insurance for the kids. I’ll wait till graduation. I would also love to ride motorcycles, but my grandmother made me promise as a child that I wouldn’t. She has since died, but Hannah is now quite adept at enforcing said promise.
8. I am much stronger than people imagine, and most of it is in my legs. When I played lacrosse for BYU, this translated to squatting a lot of weight. At the same time, my upper body is comparatively weak. But I can generate 1.65 horsepower.
9. My wife has had to teach me how to swim.
10. I may never entirely “grow up”. Now that I have kids, it gives me a great excuse not to!
11. I love to read. I read everything I can get my hands on. I don’t have enough time to read, because now I am stuck studying textbooks. Someday, I plan to have a library collection that is on par with my Dad’s. And I will have read them all.
12. I am a good cook. No, really. I can cook very well. It would be fun to be a chef, but I don’t have the knowledge of alcohol that seems to be a job requirement.
13. My mom is the man. My dad is a stud, too. I find myself realizing that I am becoming more and more like him. Funnily enough, this no longer bothers me like the thought of it did in earlier years. The physical limitations of gender will keep me from turning out TOO much like my Mom, but she really is the man.
14. I probably suffer from a mild-to-severe case of OCD. This manifests itself in two of my personal tendencies. Firstly, I have a thing about rearranging furniture. Given the opportunity, I would rearrange furniture in our bedroom and living room every 2 months or so. Due to this tendency, there was a period of time in high school when I had my bed on a table. Yes, a table. It was the most genius set-up I have created. I’m not quite sure what it comes from. As a teenager, I think that I reasoned it away as my way of dealing with a messy room. A very messy room at that. Secondly, I make lists. I think that it is my way of dealing with my very busy life. Problem is, having made the list I promptly forget about it and move on with my life. (I don’t have the space here, but if anyone wants to hear, I will tell you what Tolstoy has to say about people who make lists like this. It’s pretty good.)
15. Like many of you who will read this, Hannah and I have a dream house. Actually, several, and many ideas on what we would like to do to the various houses we own along the way. It all started when we lived in San Diego as newlyweds and would take an afternoon walk around our little neighborhood, critiquing the houses around us. We would remember the ones we liked, and talk about what we would change on the houses we didn’t quite all-the-way like. I guess that can be expected from someone who knows construction, and married an artist who wants to be an architect. She comes up with all the good ideas, and I know enough about houses to be able to bring them to fruition.
16. I am double Majoring – in Economics and Russian, and will get a business minor. I really like Economics because I think it helps to explain the world and why we do the things we do. Russian is also fun.
17. Given the opportunity, I would be a hermit. I really don’t like people. It’s not that I think I am better than anybody, because I will be the first to point out some of my major character flaws that you probably overlooked. It stems more from my hatred of dealing with all of the social conventions and nonsensical games that people expect from you. It’s like going on a first date, all the time, with everyone.
18. While much of my talent has faded due to a lack of use, I was once fairly musical. In my heyday, I could play the piano, was battling for first-chair trumpet, and was in the top choir at my high school.
19. I love the outdoors. I will do things outside at the drop of a hat, (and now, with my wife’s permission.) I look forward to teaching my kids to camp, hike, etc. and will really enjoy teaching them both to fish. Hannah has promised that we can do our first camping trip this spring/summer. I am ecstatic.
20. I am fairly good at Boggle. Hannah, (when she agrees to play with me,) swears that I make words up. I am just being more creative! My friend Jake recently showed me a game called Scramble, a facebook application that is very similar to Boggle. I like it a lot, (completely and absolutely). Then my brother-in-law’s sister rocked my 200’s scores by scoring 500 points. In 3 minutes. I was amazed.
21. I am extremely indecisive. It probably stems from my not having very many “favorites”. I like to think that I am easily pleased/amused/entertained
22. I look at the toilet paper after I wipe. Don’t let me know if you don’t, because you should probably start. How else do you know if it’s clean?
23. Like many other people out there, I wouldn’t mind losing some weight. Unlike many people out there, after losing some weight, I still plan to weigh more than 200 lbs.
24. One of my thumbs is shorter than the other. By a good half-inch. When I was about 12 or 13 I played goalie in soccer, and shattered the growth plate in the thumb on my right hand. Now, I have one 24-year-old size thumb, and one half it’s age. I wonder if that will mean I get to live longer.
25. My new favorite hobby, (tied with surfing,) is wrestling with my kids. I never realized how much having children changes your perspectives on life and makes you re-evaluate your priorities.
