Although Justin Bieber* would tell me differently...

 As part of a month long challenge to blog daily, I am joining some honest, funny, and real women in #reverbbroads11. Day 6: List 10 things you would never do. 

In no particular order, and with varying levels of seriousness, I present my list of 10 things I will NEVER do.

10. Be in Guinness Book of World Records for longest fingernails. (It's too gross to even post a picture!)

9. Swim the English Channel. (It is cold and I'm not that great a swimmer!)

8.  Get any additional piercings. (One hole in each ear is plenty for me.)

7. Participate in a casino heist a la Ocean's Eleven. (That is one good looking group of people, though!)

6. Run for political office. People are mean and will look for every reason to smear you. I'm not thick-skinned enough to handle that.

5. Stand in line for midnight madness or early-bird specials on Black Friday. I can't think of anything that I would want that badly to forgo sleep over.

4. Become a crazy cat lady. Enough said.

3. Be ungrateful for my health. There are so many people who are dealing with outrageous medical bills, terminal diagnoses, and daily pain.

2. Stop being thankful for my loving husband. He is my best friend. He is loyal, hilarious, creative, and my perfect other half.

1. Take my family for granted. I would not trade these 90+ people for anything! It is amazing that we can all get together and have so much fun together. I am blessed that I have so many great relatives who have become friends over the years. (Video courtesy of my dad from our Winter 2009 family gathering at Virgina Beach, VA.)

*lame nod to "Never Say Never" by the Biebs. Add that to my list: I will never see that movie!

Wedding bells

I married my best friend four and a half years ago and was blessed to have four amazing women stand with me on that day.

In the past four years, I have definitely attended my fair share of weddings, but I had only ever been in my own. I was hoping that, at some point, I'd be able to participate in someone's wedding and help make their day as memorable as mine was. As more and more of my friends started pairing off, I wondered whether I would have the opportunity to be a bridesmaid. Well, this past summer, I was in three bridal parties... in the course of 5 weeks!

I can't say that 3 weddings in 5 weeks (in two different states, three different cities) was necessarily something that I had always dreamed of doing, but I couldn't have been happier to support these three amazing women on their wedding day.

And, I'm proud to say that none of them were bride-zilla. :)

As part of a month-long blog challenge, I am responding to prompts from #reverbbroads11. Day 5, courtesy of Amy at http://2bperfectlyfrank.blogspot.com/: What is the one thing you finally did this year that you always wanted or said you were going to do, but in your heart of hearts never thought you would actually do?

Is it really almost Easter already?

First of all, thanks for the birthday wishes this past week. I can now officially rent a car, so I guess that's pretty exciting. Aside from a cold and some random allergic reaction, it was a low-key birthday, but Jared is the best husband. He got me a new mp3 player with video and FM radio capabilities to replace my iPod mini that died last year. Additionally, he made me dinner and got me cake and ice cream. I really can't complain at all!

Now on to the real subject: Easter, but more broadly, church.

Before we moved, we had been pretty involved at LUMC, mostly because we were leading the WOW service on Wednesday nights. We also kept up our ties at ELC since we had some great friends there. I don't think that either of us really felt like our spiritual needs were being completely fed at either place, but the church families that we developed were great.

Since we moved, we have been church shopping on and off now for about 7 months. It has been a lot harder since Jared had to work on Sunday mornings for quite a few months, and I really would prefer to try to find a church home with him. We have gone to small churches and huge churches, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentacostal, non-denominational, traditional worship, contemporary worship, and some blended services. Some of the churches have been really welcoming, others we have sat in the pews without anyone even saying hello. All in all, it has been a frustrating process that we're still not through with yet because we haven't completely found a place to settle.

I would be so happy if I could find a place like theWELL, but I know that probably doesn't really exist around here. I like hymns and all, but I find a more personal connection with contemporary worship; there are not a lot of mainstream denominational churches around here that do contemporary worship. I would like to find a church family with a thriving younger adult/college & career group for us to get involved in; for most of my life, many of my best friends have been people I have met through church, and I really would like to meet some more people in the area that we can be friends with as a couple. I really enjoyed being involved as part of the advisory team for the high school youth when Jared was youth director and would love to find that opportunity again. I have enjoyed helping out with Vacation Bible School in the past and wouldn't mind having that opportunity again. I know that a lot of those types of opportunities are probably available if we can find a place that we want to keep attending.

In the past, so much of my calendar awareness was based on the Church calendar: Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, etc. Since we have not fallen into a church pattern, my calendar now seems to be dictated by the academic calendar (registration time, summer orientation, beginning of the semester, etc); perhaps part of that has to do with the fact that I am just experiencing the academic year at my new job for the first time and am still trying to get a feel for the rhythm.

I definitely feel like I am in a dry spell spiritually. I loaded up my new mp3 player with a lot of Christian music, which has been a nice centering agent to my mornings and afternoons, but I need more. I would like to get involved in a small group or Bible study, and to be challenged by the weekly message during the church service. Perhaps during the next few months as we continue to settle in to our new lives in NC that can happen... I hope so anyway.

25 things about me

I have been tagged enough by people on Facebook to do this, so I guess I finally will. (Plus it's not like I've been updating here on a regular basis anyway, so I may as well write something!)

1) I really like to be in control of myself. This is partly why I've never been drunk, hate roller coasters, and don't enjoy gambling.

2) I really would like to get another dog. Not a "matchy-matchy" dog, but one that pairs well with Emma.

3) I want to have kids. 2 or 4 probably, not 3 (so there isn't a middle child) unless we had twins.

4) I am trying not to use a lot of my vacation and sick days so I can build up time for maternity leave, even though we aren't planning to have kids for at least a few more years.

5) I cannot wait to have a house of our own. I would really like to paint walls and have built-in bookshelves.

6) While I cannot wait to have a house, I pretty much hate housework. I try to blame our dog for our house being messy, but it really is mostly my fault.

7) A boy in my 5th grade class called me "Sarah the Sumo" almost every day when I would walk home. I still think about that when I'm having a "fat" day.

8) There are very few things that I miss about being in Ohio. I thought moving away from home would be harder than this.

9) At the same time, I would love to get a job at one of several colleges or universities in Ohio later in my career.

10) I have mixed feelings about going back to get my PhD. Some days I think I would love to get back in the classroom learning and have the option of teaching in a grad prep program. Other days I don't really want to have a job that would require me to have a PhD.

11) I go to bed at or before 10:00 p.m. almost every night. I have a really hard time staying up past then.

12) Since we moved, I have been asked on at least 5 occassions if I am more than 21 years old. Apparently I look quite a few years younger than the 25 that I will be turning at the end of March.

13) My summer jobs in Gahanna gave me a love of horticulture. I sometimes find myself missing being able to landscape and prune shrubs/bushes/trees and getting my hands really dirty.

14) I feel like a black sheep in my husband's family because very few of them have even been to college and I have a Master's degree. And I made Jared move out of Ohio.

15) I don't really think that my family understands what I do.

16) My faith was really strong when I was in college because I was surrounded by other people who had really strong faith. Now that I haven't been actively involved in a church for quite a while and have been out of a community of faith, I feel like I am back at square one.

17) I really miss singing in a choir.

18) I enjoy riding the bus to work every day. It is so nice to not have to worry about driving, parking, or gas prices.

19) I have pretty much completely separated myself from who I was in high school. This matter is exhibited by the fact that I only invited two friends from high school to my wedding.

20) I used to write poetry on a pretty regular basis. I had a couple of my poems published in the Ashland Poetry Press yearly magazine.

21) I hate running, but would really like to finish a 5K before I turn 30.

22) I wish my brother and I were a lot closer than we are. When we were in high school we were pretty close. I feel a little guilty for being at college when he was dealing with some tough issues.

23) I think about my friends and family a lot more often than I actually pick up the phone or a pen to let them know I was thinking about them.

24) I am glad that I work in a place with quite a few people my age and that we are starting to hang out a bit outside of work. I feel bad that Jared doesn't have any real friends down here.

25) I am the luckiest girl in the world because Jared is the best husband I could have ever prayed for. He cooks, cleans, lets me sleep in, makes me laugh all the time, and moved to NC for me. I probably don't tell him enough that I love him, but I hope he knows it.

101 Update

I am a little more than a week into my 1001 days, and I actually have started a few of the things on my list! I think having a list is a great technique for me to actually get tasks done, because I really like the satisfaction of crossing things off!

#8: Call at least one friend a month to catch up. Since returning to work this week, I have talked with two friends/colleagues on the phone for at least 30 minutes! CV and I never went to school together, but we met when she interviewed for the assistantship I had at BG. She got my e-mail address from a listserv e-mail I sent and we have been communicating that way for about a month. I finally got around to talking with her on the phone about grad school, her transition, and life in general. It is funny, but if we would have ever been in the same place for a while, I'm sure we would have been good friends.

Yesterday at lunch, I called CP since I haven't talked with her since before the fall semester started. It was really nice to be able to catch up for a little bit. Perhaps she will apply for jobs in my neck of the woods like I suggested...

#15: Talk to my parents at least once a month on the phone. I'm not sure it really counts, but I called the other night to make sure that they were still planning their visit in a week!

#26: Start and finish the 100 push-up challenge. I printed out the 6 week plan and intend to do my initial test this Saturday. Sore arms, here we come!

#37: Get back in the habit of going to the dentist every 6 months. I scheduled a dentist appointment for myself yesterday. In two weeks, I am going to the dentist!

#38: Get my vision checked once a year. I also scheduled an optometrist appointment yesterday. January 23 is going to be a fun day in doctor's offices!