25 Things

Okay, so I resisted it; I really did. But I got tagged to write 25 things about myself like 84 times on Facebook, so I finally caved. And once I had it written, I liked my list. And since I haven't had any good ideas for a post over the last few days, I thought I'd post my 25 things here, too. Enjoy!

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1. I love to collect books. I don't necessarily like borrowing them from the library or other people; I like to buy them. That way, I'll build a nice library over time, and one day, when I'm an old lady, I will be surrounded by them. Then maybe my house will smell like a library. I love the smell of a good library. One time I walked into a little used bookstore, and it smelled like a library. I told the owner that that's how I knew it was a good place.

2. We have two cats, Livvy and Vi, short for Olivia and Viola. Those are characters from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and their names are near anagrams of each other.

3. The more I cook, the more opinionated I am about cooking. I hope I haven't offended any of my blog readers by my abhorrence of canned cream of mushroom soup or canned cranberry sauce.

4. One of the highlights of my college experience was Sing Alliance at Baylor. I made a ton of friends, loved performing, and I even had a solo. I still keep up with a handful of people I met in that group.

5. I was trained in vocal performance throughout high school. It was a very serious thing for me, and I won or placed highly in some big competitions. For a while there, I thought I'd be an opera singer. Better yet, sing on Broadway.

6. Another highlight of my college experience was studying abroad in Cambridge, England. I. Loved. It. I would live there. It was like I was at the apex of aesthetic experience the whole time.

7. One of my college friends reminded me a while back that I had always hoped to marry a man with an accent. I came sort of close. Although Nathan is a total Texas boy, he was born in England and technically has dual citizenship (or at least he did until he was 18). So even if I didn't get a man with an accent, I did get a foreigner. Sort of. A little. Mostly not. But still.

8. Because Nathan was born in Cambridge, England, I studied there, and we lived in Cambridge, MA, I think a good name for a dog we'd own in the future would be Cambridge, or Cam for short. We also like Agincourt ("A-zhin-cor"), which is the battlefield in Henry V. Nathan and I just like it for a big, intimidating dog, like a Rottweiler or a Great Dane. :)

9. So far, this list is pretty academic. Which is weird, since I am not really all that academic these days. I am a mommy, after all, which doesn't leave much room to be an academic. Actually, I have very little desire to BE an academic these days. I am more interested in learning to cook, sew, and be a good mommy than reading my brains out. But I hope I will never be able to read a lovely piece of literature without being affected by it or automatically analyzing it.

10. I love Boston. I love how different it is from Texas--particularly how beautiful New England is and the fact that we don't have 8 months of summer. That said, though, I would rather raise my kids in the south because the culture there is more conservative. Plus, that's where our families are. And, even though I can love and appreciate other places, I will never be anything but a Texan at heart.

10. I have always LOVED the Boston winters. After growing up in a hot, humid, subtropical climate, six months of cold and snow has always been a novelty. But this year, I am already tired of it, and I cannot wait until it gets warm! Which won't be till June, dangit, dangit, dangit.

11. Fall is my favorite season. Oh, how I love fall. I just exult in the glorious weather. The leaves are fantastic, I love sweaters and scarves, I love apple picking and fall food, and there is a crispness in the air that is so invigorating and just brings me to life.

11. Hopefully, Nathan will graduate this year, and right now all his job prospects are in Houston. I am obsessed with the website har.com, which lists all the houses for sale in Houston, and I am on it like 10 hours a week or something ridiculous.

12. One of my dreams is to have a second home in the mountains somewhere (Colorado, northern New Mexico, Utah, etc.). I'd love to have a place where we can take our family to go ski or just hang out. And how much fun would it be to host Thanksgiving or Christmas there every year?

13. I love to host Thanksgiving. I have made a turkey every year since we got married, mostly because we moved away from our families right away. Plus, most of the time we've been in Boston, we've hosted our Bible study group for Thanksgiving. It is always so much fun. I love to have people over, and I love food. I am starting to realize that I like to serve people through cooking. I would just like to say, though, that it is much easier to have a potluck Thanksgiving than to cook everything yourself!

13. Another one of my dreams is to travel the world. I want to go practically everywhere, but especially all over Europe. I love all the history and would insist on a fabulous tour guide who could tell me all about it. I also think it would be oh so fun to go on one of those food tours where they take you to Italy or somewhere and teach you how to make the local food.

14. I absolutely will not walk around my house (or anywhere without carpet) without slippers on. I hate the feel of grit on my feet, and you can't help but have a little bit of grit/dust on the floor all the time when you have hardwoods.

15. The best thing in the world is when Noah gives you a really tight hug. Or when he lays his cheek on yours.

16. I hate grits, salmon, and canned asparagus.

17. In college, I had a Dr. Pepper addiction.

18. I have kept some sort of budget on Excel since I was 16. It has gotten increasingly more complicated over time, but it works really well.

19. I clip coupons and shop grocery store sales in order to save money, but I'm thwarted by the fact that I really like to cook and want to buy particular things. I don't want to eat just anything. I want to eat something SPECIAL.

20. I was an English major, but the parts of my major I liked were literature and analysis. I did not like writing. Which is problematic for an English major. :) I was just too impatient to like it all that much--I would much rather tell you what I think than write it down. But thinking out a paper does make you flesh out your opinions/analyses more, so I do think I got a lot out of writing all those pages and pages, but I did not really enjoy it. Now, though, I think I would have a much easier time of it. I don't mind writing as much, probably in part because my blog keeps me in the habit and has probably honed some of my skills.

21. It takes me a little while to become really good friends with someone, but once we are friends, I am extremely loyal, and I love the person and will keep up with them for years and years. I do not let friendships go very easily.

22. I graduated cum laude, and Nathan did not graduate with honors. Still, I think he is smarter than me. And his major was harder. Plus, he is about to be a Harvard Ph.D. But he may never quite get over the fact that I have those two little words on my diploma and he doesn't. :)

23. My favorite sounds are walking on gravel and walking on fresh, crunchy snow.

24. I enter the HGTV Dream Home giveaway every year.

25. Some things I like about my husband: he is an Eagle Scout and loves the outdoors; he can spot an animal in the wild faster than anyone I know; he likes to make puns that make you roll your eyes; you would never know how smart he is just by talking to him (this is a compliment); he is a great dad; his dreams often involve him having superpowers; he can do the best, most realistic velociraptor impression you have ever, ever seen; he is very kind; his humility taught me how to be humble.