Catching Up...

Well Hello, Sweets! It's been too long since I've written here two days in a row! I've got lots to share with you today. I've been "tagged" several times and you KNOW how I love to play. :) So I'm going to do that. I'm going to add some pictures, too, so hopefully you'll know me a bit better after this post!

First things first.... I was tagged to play the "Interesting Facts" game by Natasha , Dara and Britt. Here are the rules:
1. Link to my tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about me: some random, some weird...all devastatingly interesting.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of my post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So...here goes nothin'!

Fact #1...
I am the eldest of 5 girls and our names (accidentally) go in alphabetical order until #5, who is out of order. Cheryl, Jeanette, Rachael, Whitney and Laura Joy. We all have the same cute Mom and Dad, since that's always the next question when people find out that L.J. and I are 14 years apart. I can't imagine life without my "silly slisters."

My sisters and I....I'm the one in the green sweater...
Our cute "parentals"...


Fact #2...
I have read thousands of books. I don't read a lot these days but as a child and young adult I read ALL THE TIME. And I do mean all the time! I taught myself to read at age 4 and never stopped! In fact, I got busted several times in class for hiding a book under my desk and reading a book on my lap when I was supposed to be doing something else! In the summer, I checked out the "limit" every week at the public library (20 books) and read all of them. I read every book in our church library that wasn't about theology or something boring! ;) So although I'm not sure of the exact number of books I've read, I know it's in the thousands for SURE.


Fact #3...
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, where my parents were living while my dad completed medical school there. So I had dual-citizenship until the age of 18.


Fact #4...
I am 4 feet, 11 inches. For my overseas friends, that's 392 centimeters! ;) My whole family is short. My dad is about 5'7, my mom is 5'1 and all my sisters and I are under 5'1. But as a teenager I had this fear that I would fall in love with a short man and we would be "the short couple." The thought just absolutely terrified me! The funny thing was is was often "hit on" by short guys but could never be attracted to one! The good news is my husband is just under 6 feet. ;) PHEW!
Fact #5...
One time when I was about 18 months old my parents and I lived on the second floor of a 2-story apartment. My mom says she was curling her hair in the bathroom when the electricity went out. She left the bathroom since the curling iron and the lights weren't working and walked by my bedroom where she saw me sitting in the window sill of my bedroom, leaning back against the screen! There was only cement under the window, so if I'd fallen I probably would have been killed. She rushed in and pulled me out of the window sill and of course blocked off the window after that. But when she called the manager to find out about the electricity, HE SAID OUR APARTMENT WAS THE ONLY ONE TO LOSE ELECTRICITY. Gives me chills every time!


Fact #6...
One time when I was 12 we were en route to Papua New Guinea (my parents were missionaries there for 2 years) and our family was packed into a little 6-man plane that sounded like it had a lawn mower for an engine. We took off from the airport and after about 10 minutes I had to pee....and BAD. The problem was that there was no bathroom and we had another two hours of flying before we got to where we were going! I sat on my foot for awhile, cried a fair bit and then my mother remembered that she had an empty sippy-cup in the diaper bag. So I had to pee into the sippy cup, put the lid on and hold the cup until we arrived at the airport and could dump it. I was in the back seat that only fit one person but I"m fairly sure the pilot could have still seen me if he'd wanted to. Soooooooo embarassing...especially at that age!


Fact #7...
We live out in the country in a teeny tiny little cottage but we are just weeks away from moving into our new house that is about a mile from here, next to my inlaws! Lest you feel sorry for me, please understand that I ADORE my inlaws and think my MIL should be nominated for sainthood. For real. :) Anyway, my inlaws live in the house that my father-in-law grew up in AND my husband grew up in. On the SAME STREET is the house that my father-in-law's mother lived in as a girl because HER father built it. A few houses down (still on the same street) my mother-in-law's dad lives in the same house that my mother-in-law lived in all growing up. So if you're following this, my inlaws were neighbors growing up, they got married and now live on the same street that they grew up on! And we are moving there, too! So that makes my kids the FIFTH GENERATION on one side of the family and the FOURTH GENERATION on the other side of the family to live on the same street. AND the grammar school my daughter goes to (she is in her grandmother's class this year!) is directly across the street from us. AND our church is also across the street and down a bit but you can see it from our new yard. James and I got married there, as did his parents and at least one, if not both, of their parents (I need to check on that!). This is amazing to me, since I have lived in something like 25 different abodes in my 30 years. I am so thrilled for my kids that they get to grow up in a small town with so much wonderful history!

This is our tiny little "cottage"!

This is the new house. This pic is a little old...it's done now...we're just waiting on stupid PG&E to hook us up!
Wow...I feel like you guys know me better now but I feel a little "exposed"...this blog thing is a very good way to only reveal what you WANT TO, which is why games like this are so great! Makes us all a little more "human," don't you think? :)

Well since I think just about everyone has been tagged, I will just say, if you haven't been tagged and you're reading this, I'm OFFICIALLY TAGGING YOU!



AND...lest you fear that you will never see a new item in my etsy shoppe or my eBay...there's updates coming!!!! I'm up to my eyes in pretty fabrics, trim, embroidery, tiny bisque dolls, cupcake appliques and so much more...

Look at me, cooking up some yummies for you!!!