101 Random Things About Me

  1. I was born in IL and raised in AZ. 
  2. I went to college at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. 
  3. After 2.5 years, I left, primarily for health reasons.
  4. I didn’t find out the source of those “health reasons” until after my 3rd son was diagnosed.  We both have celiac disease. 
  5. Don’t ask me about celiac disease unless you want an earful.
  6. I was 21 when I got married.
  7. I had just turned 24 when my first baby was born.
  8. I now have four kids — three boys and a baby girl.
  9. No, we were not trying for a girl.  We were trying for a baby.
  10. I’ve been married for 13 years.
  11. We had a phenomenal honeymoon because my husband Martin won it.  Airfare and six nights at the Palmilla in Cabo.  We were broke and ate at taco stands in San Jose del Cabo.  We couldn’t afford even one dinner at the resort.
  12. I really admire my husband.  He is full of integrity, he’s humble, talented, smart and hard-working.  And he’s funny.  And handsome. 
  13. We’re in our 6th year of homeschooling. 
  14. The longer I homeschool, the more I’m convinced we’re in it for the long haul.
  15. We use Sonlight Curriculum, plus a smattering of lots of other stuff.
  16. I’m happy to be homeschooling for my own learning pleasure, as well!  I’ve learned a ton, especially in history.
  17. I live among the Sonoran Desert foothills.
  18. My husband designed our home for the homebuilder who built it (his employer).
  19. I’d like to live in a home we designed together, but on 10 acres or more.
  20. I enjoyed living in New Orleans, but always said it was a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there permanently.  Did you know N.O. has more canals than Venice?  But most of them are underground.
  21. I spent the summer I turned 19 in Ketchikan, Alaska.
  22. In AK, I worked at a cold storage, a.k.a. ”fish disassembly plant.”
  23. I can gut a fish faster than anyone I know.
  24. My Mom and two of my sibs have Marfan’s Syndrome.
  25. Almost 10 years ago, my Mom was given 6 months - 2 years to live.
  26. Because of the “short time” we had left, my Mom & Stepdad started coming over every week for dinner.
  27. They still come over every week.
  28. We alternate weeks for cheffing responsibilities, so every other week, I get a “free” dinner from my mom!
  29. I love coffee. 
  30. My favorite frou-frou drink is an extra-hot almond cappuccino. 
  31. I think lattes are for wimps.  My husband knows that, but he still drinks vanilla lattes.  I think he’s secure in his non-wimp status, though.
  32. My husband is the supreme coffee-maker/coffee snob in our household, and I love him for it.
  33. Almost every morning I wake, I sniff the air to make sure he’s made the coffee!
  34. I also like tea, especially at night.
  35. My current fave tea is Chinese “restaurant” tea — oolong and green teas with jasmine.
  36. I love baseball.
  37. I remember being in college, not having time to sit down and watch any games, because my time was eaten up by other things… so now I give thanks, nearly every game I watch, that my life is slow enough that I can take in a baseball game.
  38. I love the Diamondbacks.
  39. I believe baseball is NOT boring, especially if you’re one who enjoys thinking and details.
  40. I play the guitar.
  41. I love to sing. 
  42. I coordinate background vocals for our church’s worship team.
  43. I can pick out alto and tenor harmony by ear, and usually switch back and forth at will.
  44. I’d rather sing back-up than lead, though leading is fun sometimes.
  45. When I’m upset, I love to go on an errand by myself and BLAST worship music in the truck, singing my guts out.
  46. I love to take walks.
  47. It was/is a goal to run a marathon by the time I’m 35.
  48. Time is running short, because I’m now 34.
  49. I was training for a marathon, then damaged several tendons in my feet.
  50. I love birding, and take my Sibley guide nearly everywhere.
  51. I start nearly every morning on my back patio, no matter the weather.
  52. When I was a kid, we usually went camping one weekend a month.
  53. My Mom says that the one thing she and my Dad did well together was camp.
  54. I still LOVE to camp.
  55. My parents divorced when I was 15.  Not enough camping, I guess.  ;)
  56. My husband’s parents divorced when he was 2.
  57. We were determined to do things differently and break those patterns of divorce.
  58. We’ve reached that goal, and will continue to reach it, thank God!
  59. My first job was babysitting, which I loved.
  60. My first “real” job was at McDonald’s at 43rd Ave & Thunderbird Rd. in Glendale, AZ.
  61. I am still very nice to all fast food employees.  They are under-appreciated
  62. Working 2.5 years at McDonald’s paid for my first semester of room & board at college.
  63. I cussed like a sailor from ages 10-16.
  64. I stopped cussing when my fellow McDonald’s employees said, “I thought Christians didn’t cuss.”
  65. I’ve always thought it ironic that my non-Christian friends kept me more accountable to Godly principles than my Christian friends did.
  66. I went to college on a full-ride scholarship.
  67. I was fairly smart, but I did NOT deserve that scholarship!  I was a very small fish in a very large pond. 
  68. I love missionaries and missionary stories.
  69. I never had a birthday party as a kid.
  70. My parents still don’t do “celebration” very well.
  71. That’s OK;  they have other fine qualities. 
  72. I had three close neighborhood friends growing up:  Jennifer Phipps, Debbie Brown, and Torre Walker. 
  73. At school and church, my best friends were Lori Bryson and Brian Schmidt.
  74. In high school, my best friend became Holly Bourns, partly because Lori got a boyfriend.
  75. I still keep in touch with Lori, Brian & Holly.
  76. Holly and I go to the same church.
  77. Her dad is pastor of that church.
  78. I’ve always made friends more easily with boys than girls.
  79. After I got married, that was a completely useless skill, and I had to learn how to be friends with women.
  80. Now, my best friend is Shellie, and she lives in Oklahoma.
  81. My taste in music is a little odd.
  82. I still like rock’n'roll, even though I’m now “old” and can’t keep up with all the new music.
  83. Growing up, I always wanted to be an architect.
  84. After going to school for it (and doing fairly well), I decided that it was not how I wanted to spend my future.
  85. Now, my husband is basically an unlicensed architect, and often brings home his work to show me, and get my opinion on.
  86. I played volleyball, basketball, and softball in junior high and high school.
  87. The high school I went to was a very small Christian school.  We belonged to a state-wide association of similar schools, and my senior year, we took State in basketball.
  88. I was co-captain of that basketball team, but in the middle of the season, my celiac disease flared up, and I struggled the rest of the season.  By the time the season ended, I wasn’t even a starter.
  89. I love Mexican food.
  90. I still have the key to my second apartment in New Orleans.
  91. I love to be outdoors, and in the water, but I have terribly fair skin that does not stand the sun & wind very well.
  92. I got in the best shape of my life after my second son was born, doing a Body for Life challenge.
  93. I believe moms should let their sons be BOYS – loud, dirty and gross — but not at the dinner table.
  94. I’ve never been drunk, though I have been tipsy a few times.
  95. I’ve never been stoned.
  96. I was a virgin when I got married.
  97. However, I did drink, underage, in college – one or two beers here & there.
  98. I smoked cigarettes from ages 19-20.
  99. My first cigarette was hand-rolled tobacco, and I knew how to do it from seeing way too many friends rolling joints. 
  100. I messed around too much, dated too much before my husband.  I didn’t understand that the idea was to keep oneself PURE, not just a technical virgin.
  101. I love my life.

Responses

Hey, I loved your list. I think I will do the same for my blog. Visit at http://www.donbryant.wordpress.com.

By: Don Bryant on November 21, 2006
at 12:34 am

You’re awesome!

By: Sara on November 28, 2006
at 9:06 pm

Hey…thanks for stopping by my blog with a comment today. I like your list — it seems like we have a lot in common.

By: grafted branch on January 29, 2007
at 10:33 pm

Well, everyone else was doing it, so I did too.

By: Steve on February 16, 2007
at 11:28 am

Hi,, I went for a nice blog-walking,, and I found you,, nice,,

I love coffee too, and that’s really good that you love your life,, :)

By: Rizma Adlia on May 3, 2007
at 6:45 am

Hi…I googled for Marfan Moms and found your link.
I enjoyed reading your list, I have been meaning to do the same thing. lol

I too have 3 boys and a girl. I was done after the 3rd boy but my husband had a dream that he was holding a baby in pink. I thought he was nuts but he convinced me to try again. Emma will be 6 in July.

I also have Marfan Syndrome, began with my dad who died at 33 from it undiagnosed. My oldest brother and I have it and 3 out of 4 of my children have it. I was trying to find other bloggers who have it…mostly parents.

Kudo’s to you and your husband on homeschooling. I wish I was brave enough to do it.

Take care~
Melissa
http://www.thruthicknthin.com

By: missmelx4 on May 21, 2007
at 5:34 am

hi.
I was looking for poetry and i found you.One good thing should always happen to people early in the morning to start the day off.you are my good thing today.the list brought back memories for me. i have mine written in a diary someplace.be sure to get it out and load it.you have a nice day

By: prabha on September 4, 2007
at 8:50 pm

I made a 101 list on my blog a year or so ago. Here it is: http://gombojav.blogspot.com/2006/06/101-things.html

By: Daja on September 13, 2007
at 6:07 pm

Are you sure we camped that much? I still don’t like to pee outdoors, and I really don’t like camping at all.

By: Robin on December 28, 2007
at 12:22 pm

Yesterday, I was cleaning my kitchen and stumbled upon a container of William Sonoma never been open Valentine cookie cutters. I have celiac disease and no recipe for making those lovely cookies. I am such a romantic at heart, so your recipe was a God send.

I love your 101 list.

I too was a virgin when I got married at 30, and it is the best decision I have ever made. Tough, damn tough, but it really gave me vision and inner strength. As JP II said, “We become a gift to another person to the same degree as we acquire self-mastery.” Still working on that self-mastery part :)

Thanks again for sharing both recipe and lovely facts about yourself. - Ann

By: Ann on February 10, 2008
at 8:01 pm

All of that seems to be the truth…except the love of Mexican food…I am pretty sure that you simply LIKE Mexican food…please refrain from exaggerating while blogging…it affects my ability to trust you and your writings…

Please clarify your Mexican food liking intensity on a scale of 1-10

I am very disappointed in you…

By: Charlie on February 15, 2008
at 11:54 pm

OK, Charlie. I don’t know you, so I’m really hoping that your reply is tongue-in-cheek and not serious. In this whole blog, that’s the most important thing you can find to quibble about? Semantics over your favored usage (and non-usage) of the word “love”??

In the English language, the word love has very broad scope of acceptable usage. If we spoke Greek, or a more love-vocabulary-specific language, I could easily note exactly what kind of love to which I’m referring.

Obviously, I don’t love Mexican food as much, as, say, my husband, nor, obviously, in the same way. But, I think it’s safe to say that as far as food goes, yes, I love Mexican food.

By: Karen Joy on February 16, 2008
at 5:18 pm

yeah…i was just trying to be funny…i really enjoy snooping around your site…just wanted to go on record to say “i was here”…

…i guess i could have left a better sounding calling card…

…have a blessed day.

By: Charlie on February 18, 2008
at 8:58 am

you say that u was virgin when you married and u married at 21yrs,what it suggests?
is this means i want to ask girl is she virgin ,or isn’t?
before marriage.
by the way story is so nice and ur way to look life.i liked it

By: rohit on February 23, 2008
at 1:09 am

hi karen!

what a great blog……it’s funny that you say you got along better with boys than with girls, because i’ve been the same way forever! my best friends are girls, but they’re both athletic and quite tomboyish, i much prefer them to all the gossiping, let’s-go-to-the-mall types. i too am literally obsessed with baseball, partly because i have always been such a nitpicky person concerned with detail, and because there is so much artistry in the game. i like hockey and basketball, but not football, for the same reasons.
i have been homeschooled since i started school; congratulations on deciding to do this because it is so incredibly important in the formation of your children’s faith! there are too many christians out there who don’t practice because they were subjected to so many bad influences in public, private, and even catholic schools. (i’m a catholic so this isn’t just prejudice!) not a big coffee fan, but i too love camping! (and charlie, this is a love, not just a like) CONGRATULATIONS! on never getting drunk, remaining a virgin, and making up your mind never to divorce! three rather difficult things in this day and age.

God Bless You and your family

By: Alena Merimee on April 7, 2008
at 10:58 am

Hi Karen,
Your idea of “101 things about me” is fenomenal. Most people would have a hard time writing just 10 things (me included). It’s finding blogs like yours that can inspire others to be brave and get out of their comfort zone.
Thanks for inspiring me today, and for sharing your story with others.
Laurie

PS-Sorry to hear some people like to drop negative bombs on you — I hope you’re not being hurt too badly.

By: Laurie on June 18, 2008
at 5:47 am

Wow, stumbled acrossed this after my first comment on your more recent post. I’m even more blown away by some of the things we share in common. I won’t go down your list and comment on each thing to spare you. ;)

God bless you and happy blogging!

By: Richelle on June 28, 2008
at 11:31 pm

We have sooooo much in common, I love coffee, baseball and the Olympics too!! In fact, I am on an Olympic high today, floating around on a little Michael Phelps cloud and happy for Dara T who at 41 is the oldest to win a medal! Go Team USA!!! Feel well and happy Sunday!!

Gayle J

By: Gayle on August 17, 2008
at 11:59 am

I love the fact that you can say you love your life. I can say that too, and we are a homeschooling family as well. Maybe it has something to do with being able to be with the people you love the most and really share their lives as they grow up worship Jesus together on a daily basis. Umm…just a thought.

By: Kristene on August 21, 2008
at 8:16 am

I found your site googling for info about odd teething patterns (my 20 month old son still hasn’t gotten one of his lateral incisors!) and then was intrigued by the fact that your site mentioned homeschooling (something I’m definitely considering) and gluten-free living (which I’ve been doing since 2001 when I discovered that gluten was the source of my health issues) so I looked at more parts of your website. I love your list, and was happily surprised to see we had even more in common. I was a 29 year old virgin when I got married and didn’t do much in the way of drinking, and never used drugs, either. I’m proud of that, too, and hope I can raise my children (currently 2 sons age 20 months and 4 months, but God-willing more will join our family) to do the same. God Bless You!

By: Mary on September 19, 2008
at 12:22 pm

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