Tuesday, December 15, 2009

25 Things About Me!

I keep seeing these 25 Things About Me articles in those silly magazines (that I've been trying not to buy but that sometimes hop into the cart) on news stands and decided to do one for the blog. Some things you may already know from reading my blog and some may be surprises. So here goes:

  1. I used to spend a lot of time fighting! I have a black belt in Shorin Ryu Karate and a brown belt in Kyokushin Karate and I studied Taekwando, Wushu and Aikido. My black belt tested lasted for 12 hours (with no food).
  2. We are currently living in a hundred square foot cabin without running water. We are hoping to move into an apartment before blessing #2 comes along. It's getting crowded! And I miss indoor plumbing!
  3. I was my high school's valedictorian, played basketball and was a cheerleader. I am a bit of a perfectionist.
  4. We'd love to have a big family and can't wait to see how many God will bless us with. When people ask how many we plan on having Paul jokingly says 14.
  5. I want to learn how to bake (well!) but hardly ever find the time. Someday I will make it through all the beautiful recipes in my Martha Stewart baking book.
  6. During college I studied Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, isiXhosa, Spanish, German and French. I ended up learning the most Mandarin and Spanish because they're what my friends and coworkers spoke. It was a little confusing though taking tests and having the answer pop into my head in another language!
  7. Before I got engaged I was hired by the CIA's "clandestine service" branch. After surviving 13 months of interviews, psych evals, testing and a polygraph I.... got married and moved to the middle of nowhere. And I love being a SAHM!
  8. If I could I would spent an insane amount of time knitting. When I was pregnant last time I was known to knit 12 hours at a time to finish baby sweaters. These days I don't have that kind of time...
  9. I could eat pizza every single day and not get tired of it.
  10. I'm a tap dancer and I can't wait to buy Sadie her first pair of tiny tap shoes. I think she'll love stomping around in them.
  11. I'm a morning person. And lately I've been having a hard time keeping my eyes open after eight o'clock.
  12. My degree is in political science from Saint Mary's College of California!
  13. I met my first horse when I was three days old. He sniffed my diaper and it was the start of a beautiful 14 year friendship.
  14. We are definitely going to homeschool our kids.
  15. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.
  16. I've finished three novels. I have yet to send any of them into a publisher. I think it's that whole "perfectionist" thing flaring up.
  17. I've tried snowboarding, but I'll always be a skier at heart.
  18. I'm scared of heights but I once jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet.
  19. I was obsessed with rugby for several years and went to South Africa to play (and go to school!).
  20. Between labor and a back injury I've had five epidurals and a spinal block. Only one spinal headache though. Ouch!
  21. I surfed during and after college, but now that I'm a mom I think my surfing days are done. There are too many sharks in Nor Cal and I'm not as fearless as I used to be.
  22. I love to garden. Paul thinks I'm crazy and does not enjoy it when my gardening hobby includes him (but he can dig holes so much faster than I can).
  23. Someday Paul and I will finally take our trip around the world!
  24. I constantly have the Wonder Pet theme song going through my head.
  25. And last, but certainly not least my nickname is.... Pengie. It's because Paul says I "dance like a penguin...." Maybe like a Happy Feet Penguin.... after all I am a tap dancer.

18 comments:

  1. Very interesting! I like learning more about my blog friends :)

    I took Japanese in college, do you remember much of it? Unfortunately I'm already forgetting most of what I learned.

    And Steve will hate me for this if he were to find out ;) But he was a tap dancer too, well when he was younger anyways.

    Do you still ride horses often? I've always loved riding, but have never gotten the opportunity to own one. Someday..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow did some of those shock the pants off of me! Especially the martial arts and surfing, I would never had guessed. That's so cool for your family that you have experience in so many things, you'll be able to teach the little ones so much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Thanks for blogging your cool secrets:). I admit that I am now terrified to get in a fight with you...lol. And I've finally met another SAHM Catholic homeschooling mom who played rugby! I didn't play for long though because the culture was completely depraved:(. But it was fun while it lasted. You should definitely have 14 kids because you need to teach them all the great stuff you know... including how to love your kiddos to pieces and serve Christ through his Holy Catholic Church, of course!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Cam, I'm with Joanna on this one. Wow. Well, this does clear up another misconception...maybe Paul didn't marry you just because you are drop dead gorgeous. :)

    I was in Japan for three years (Navy) and tried out aikido. I only retained enough to roll with a fall when I'm clumsy. What I like about aikido is the philosophy behind it. Primarily defensive if I recall correctly, manipulating opposing force, fluid motions... The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are extensively in aikido. Another fascinating art/sport to watch was archery on horseback.

    The language was a challenge. It was fun & a little scary to get around on the trains, figure out where to get off, then correlate map symbols with signs, and order food...

    Clandestine services? Whoa, girl... haha Maybe you would have been stuck in some deep, dark basement translating meaningless newspaper clippings. :) I have a niece who did Russian in college. I admire folks who learn another language.

    Supper bell just rang. I will definitely revisit this post. bye

    ReplyDelete
  5. Supper is done. Pizza. Store-bought. We miss mom.
    I challenge you to NOT get tired of frozen pizzas.

    I'm curious what type of novels/books you like to write. Kay has written, but not published yet quite a few children's books. She participates in the Kansas Authors Club, and I dream of someday being the spoiled husband of a rich (not necessarily famous) authoress.

    Kids want their laptop back. Gotta go. bye

    ReplyDelete
  6. You seem very well-rounded. Spanish was my major in college, although I also studied French, Italian, Latin, and German. Are you going to teach Sadie any languages?
    What are your novels about?
    I love pizza also, but my husband gets tired of it, because they are always buying pizza at work for the employees. In the summer, I love to make my own pizzas. Hard for the dough to rise in the wet and rainy season here.
    I love to garden too, but after my arm injury I may just have to stick to gardening in pots.
    Ditto on the big family. It will be a little bit harder for us, since we are infertile, but God's ways are mysterious.
    Anyways, it was fun learning more about you. I think if we had been neighbors we probably would have been good friends, because we have a lot in common, except for the whole danger-seeking/fighting/tap-dancing/sporting thing. Each to his own :).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! Talk about Super Mum!

    All 14 children will no doubt be well-educated and well-rounded.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi! I've never posted a comment before on your blog, but I've been reading for a while-I found you through another blog, can't rememeber who. Anyways, I was going to suggest, if you want to learn to bake well, toss the Martha Stewart and get a 60's version of the Good HouseKeeping Cook Book. Seriously. The best recipes I have are either straight from it or adapted from it. It was handed down to me from my step mother, and it's my catechism for baking, cooking, and entertaining. Mrs. Kemp

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Allison-

    I hardly remember anything! I do remember how to write phonetically, but that's pretty much it. Once in a while a phrase will come back to me!

    My parents still have horses and we were working with them this summer (they're pretty wild still. One was actually a BLM mustang and while he's sweet, he's so clumsy I'm always afraid he'll fall on me!) but they've mostly just been out in the pasture now that winters here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Joanna-

    I was even surprised when I was remembering some of them because they feel like such a long time ago! Everything's changed so much in the last few years! I thought it would probably surprise people here too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Sewmelody-

    I played (if you count injury time, which was a lot!) for three years but I never quite fit. It definitely does have it's own wild culture. I actually got along the best with my South African team. Coming back to the states was such a readjustment!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Cliff-

    Thanks! :)

    Oh I can definitely be tired of frozen pizzas. And I think Paul has the same dreams of me someday making the best seller list (just general fiction mostly, but I've been trying out mysteries lately).

    I was supposedly going to be a Operations Officer which meant 80% time overseas and 20% in the states "recruiting" or "handling" people. It made me a bit nervous though when they commented that I could pass for Iranian during one of my interviews. And then I saw on my file when I was in the medical building that they'd written "cover type: commercial," which meant no diplomatic immunity. Definitely started some second thoughts in my head. One of these days I'll have to do some posts on the process. It was very dramatic and a little silly at times.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Maria-

    We do sound like we have a lot in common and I definitely want to teach Sadie as many languages as I can! I think my full contact sport days are definitely over! I just can't see what it was that appealed to me back in the day. I'm content to watch sports with Paul now (although Sadie is a little obsessed with football these days!).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Helen-

    I think after reading through the comments I've decided to up it to 15 so we can have our own rugby team. :OD. Hmmmmm... I don't think Paul would go for that though... I'll have to think of something else!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Mrs. Kemp,

    I'll definitely keep my eyes open for it. I'm always on the lookout for good cookbooks! And used ones are usually less! Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You've inspired me to post my own 25, Cam! Not sure if I should have followed that inspiration or not! lol

    ReplyDelete
  17. I just stumbled upon your blog (linked from Cliff's) and love it! You sound awesome!! I also played rugby in college and tried to get on with government intelligence (long story with the polygraph) but am now hoping to become a SAHM. I'm going to start following!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello I love your site and also reading about you. I love your head covering (I wear one also full time) You look so pretty in pink. This is a really great site. GBU

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!