100 Things

In honor of my one-hundredth post, 100 things. (Because apparently I never tire of myself.) My gosh! Has it really been 100 posts? Already? REALLY?

Well, at any rate, here goes.

1 I was born in a small town and I've lived in small towns most of my life. (And now we'll all be singing John Mellencamp all day - and we're gonna like it.)
2 I have a twin sister, and two younger brothers.
3 I feel like a stranger to both of my brothers. And that is heart-wrenching.
4 My parents have been divorced since I was 2 years old. They both remarried, and divorced again.
5 I've been married for 6 years.
6 During the course of our marriage, my husband and I have both been the first to stop the cycle of lots of generational craziness that has been passed down for years.
7 I am an evangelical Christian.
8 I accepted Jesus as Savior of my pathetic life about 8 1/2 years ago.
9 My life has been, in many ways, harder since then.
10 It's also been WAY better!
11 When I was about 8 years old, I knew how to walk across a tightrope between two trees.
12 I had 3 most-favorite things to do outside when I was growing up (before I turned 9). They were:

• Playing G.I. Joe - We'd (me, my sister, brother and cousin) build these awesome forts and caves, and dig "rivers" underneath my Nanny's house, then we'd fill them up with water. (The house was high enough off of the ground for us to sit under. So cool.) We ruined all of my Nanny's spoons digging those rivers.
• Making mud pies under our house.
  
• Making trails...which was really just cutting down weeds and small trees in the woods with machetes.

13 Yes, we played with machetes. Before my 9th birthday.
14 I lived with my Mom until I was nine. Then the summer before my 5th Grade year, I moved in with my Dad.
15 Life changed alot after that.
16 I wasn't happy again until I was 19.
17 Ten years later. (In the last year, I spent a month in rehab, 12 days in jail, and 9 months in a half-way house).
18 I believe God spared my life during that time so that He could later save it.
19 Growing up, my best friend was always my twin sister, because we have been through everything together.
20 Except for the year we were 18.
21 That year we hated each other. We fought desparately to be separate from each other. To be Jodie. And Jamie. Not JodieandJamie. We were very competetive (especially me), but I think it was mostly by nurture, not so much nature.
22 One day I realized I had no reason to be against her, and that I love her. We reconciled, and haven't fought since.
23 That was almost 10 years ago.
24 I knew I wanted to marry my husband within the first two weeks of knowing him.
25 I actually proposed within that time period, in a moment of happy emotional surge.
26 He laughed.
27 And then he said, "You can't propose to me. You're the girl."
28 He was right. And I totally wouldn't have gone through with anything that early anyway.
29 I was just happy.
30 And he was so hot I couldn't think clearly.
31 Later in our relationship, I prayed that we would get married.
32 Actually, that's not what I prayed.
33 I said this: God, if he doesn't want to marry me, make him want to marry me.
34 He did. We got married about a year later. It was the happiest day of my life - I laughed the whole time! Everyone else cried.
35 Our recessional song (when we were walking out of the church) was the Star Wars theme song.
36 No, I'm not kidding.
37 No, I don't regret that.
38 It actually still makes me smile when I think about it. I'm glad we did that.
39 We did not dance at our reception.
40 I am not glad that we did that.
41 If we ever renew our vows, there will definitely be dancing.
42 We honeymooned in Waimanalo, Oahu. A sleepy little town that I have missed desparately since we left.
43 While there, I fell in love with fresh pineapple and plumeria flowers.
45 But not so much with snorkling, as having my face underwater causes me to panic.
46 I just had Stretch take pictures of what he was seeing so that I could enjoy it later.
47 I really like stuff. I try not to be a stuff hog. I'm self-controlled on the outside. I wrestle with it in my head though.
48 There are lots of "stuffs" though, that I don't ever want to own.
49 Like Crocs.
50 Or Mama jeans.
51 Or a graphing calculator.
52 I got no use for a graphing calculator.
53 I would like to have a collection of Mad Libs though.
54 And nesting dolls.
55 Also, I love unicorns.
56 And if I ever had to stop being a girl, and be an animal instead, I would be so excited about being a unicorn.
57 It's what I've always wanted.
58 Never a dolphin.
59 Like I said, face under water = panic.
60 Ohhhh, but to have a glittery horn, and some pretty wings? That would rock!
61 I guess that's kind of like a cross between a unicorn and a Pegasus. So what would you call that? A unisus? A Pegacorn? A Pega-uni-susa-corn? (Ohhh, I hate having to tell y'all this, but I just have to. I would love to lay claim on the awesomeness of that phrase and say that it's from my vault of stellar wit, but I gotta tell y'all so that I can sleep tonight, I totally stole that from WordGirl. I am a total thief. I can't help it if I've never had an original thought and I'm not as cool as Becky Botsford).
62 Anyway.
63 Stretch and I have had 3 kids in the first 5 years of our married life.
64 I don't recommend that.
65 It tends to put a tiiiny bit of stress on young, budding love.
66 :)
67 When I'm typing, that is the symbol I use the most. :)
68 And never LOL.
69 Because it irks me.
70 After we had our first son, I thought I was a master Mama. I thought, What's all the fuss about? This isn't difficult. People need to stop trippin'. Come on people. Stop trippin'!
71 Then we had our second child. And then our third.
72 And now I know better.
73 And I'm much more gracious with other Mama's. And the world is a happier place.
74 I once had a job selling knives.
75 Cutco.
76 I don't know what I was thinking.
77 And for the life of me, I cannot remember how I even got involved in that...
78 I did get some sweet knives out of the deal though.
79 I've tried selling a few different things and always quit after a few months or so.
80 I always hated it.
81 I was just in it for the free stuff I guess. See #47.
82 Now I have the pleasure of being able to stay home with my sweet babies, and watch them grow and learn with my own eyes.
83 There is no better job than that for me.
84 I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do that.
85 Also, I feel like God has set up some amazing friendships in my life that I am unspeakably grateful for. People who help me to appreciate my different roles, who make me laugh, who really and truly warm my heart.
86 And yet still, I often neglect them.
87 And I'm sorry about that.
88 Relationships are the most difficult and messiest part of life for me.
89 But they're also the best part.
90 I am olive-complected but I've been out of the sun for so long that twice in the past 6 weeks or so people have referred to me as fair-complected and that totally horrifies me.
91 I second-guess myself alot.
92 I think I'm alot better on paper. Because of editing.
93 Meeting people for the first time always terrifies me. I usually feel like a social misfit.
94 I am anti-fluoride and pro-probiotics.
95 I'm in love with Mr. Darcy.
96 I take a ballet class at the gym and I love it. I hope that one day soon they'll offer child care at the dance studio so I can quit the gym and just go there instead.
97 One day, I want to go to Holland and buy armloads of flowers in an open flower market, and then put them in a large basket on the front of my bike, and ride back to my cottage-style bed and breakfast where my husband and I will be spending 2 weeks (at least).
98 One year for summer vacation, (I was young enough to still wear a fanny pack, which to this day makes me second-guess my fashion sense, and it also makes me quite certain I'll never appear as a guest host of What Not to Wear) I got left behind. We were at a Dinosaur Museum/Exhibit/Thing. I left the van (after the headcount) to go back into the giftshop for a shiny, rock keychain. I was an avid keychain collector at the time, and so naturally, I had to have it. It was totally worth not being able to feed the ducks at Hot Springs. See again, #47.
99 This summer, I'll very likely be getting braces. Again. The first time I was fortunate enough to wear them through puberty. Along with ugly glasses and bad bangs. This time I'll get to wear them in my 30s. I'm a lucky girl.
100 If you have taken the time to read this entire list (which took me days to compile), you are probably one of my faithful readers. Thank you. Both of you. My new BFFs. And now you know alot of useless trivia about me. Consider yourself illuminated. LOL