Friday, February 08, 2008

100th Post

So, this is our 100th post. I was sitting here at work thinking: I should do something to commemorate this event. I searched around on google to see what other people have done, and lots of people have listed 100 things that others may or may not know about them. What a great idea. Unfortunately, I gave up at number 71, so if you can think of any interesting or random facts about us that we might have missed, feel free to add them as a comment.

1. I have lived in 3 states. I was born in Utah, then lived in Texas for 15 years, then moved back to Utah, and now live in California.
2. I had never been to California until about 2 years ago. And I have never been to Disneyland.
3. I have 3 sisters (Kara, Carly, and Kelly), a stepsister (Aubrie), a brother (Chase), and a stepbrother (Tyson). I am the oldest. I also have a stepbrother-in-law (Greg) and a stepniece (Hailey).
4. I have been to 5 countries: the United States, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Jamaica. I have never been to Canada or Mexico.
5. When I was 15 I tripped on a suitcase and broke my ankle in three places. This required two surgeries. I am very clumsy.
6. All of my grandparents and stepgrandparents are currently living. And I am very grateful for them.
7. I am part Cherokee.
8. Before I got married my middle name was "Jean," after my paternal grandmother. When I got married I changed my middle name to my maiden name, "Taylor," because I thought it sounded better with Jackman.
9. When I was in elementary school my mom would buy my presents if I would talk or read more loudly in my classes. I was (and still am) very shy.
10. I graduated from BYU with almost 200 credits. I majored in biology and minored in math and English. None of these have any classes that overlap.
11. Tom graduated with exactly 120 credits (the bare minimum)
12. Tom took a 1 credit intro to psychology major as a senior to hit that requirement
13. I was a majorette in 7th and 8th grade.
14. My favorite book is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
15. In elementary school we participated in the Accelerated Reader program which gave you points for every book you read. I usually had about five times as many points as everyone else and I got to be the "principal for the day" every year because of it. I am such a dork. I was even in a promotional video for the program.
16. Tom was in a math program that gave you a milk shake the teacher made in class every time you scored a certain number of points via right answers from weekly quizzes. He pretty much had more than the rest of the class combined that year.
17. I am very good at taking tests on subjects that I know nothing about. I participated in academic decathlon in high school and regularly won awards after randomly guessing on tests.
18. I don't think I have ever really argued with my mother. We get along really well.
19. Tom, on the other hand, regularly argues with his mother. They were both into debate in high school and it's almost like a sport for them.
20. Tom was born in Texas, then moved to Oklahoma, then moved to California, then moved to Utah for college, and now is back in California.
21. Tom also spent two years in Alaska while on an LDS mission.
22. My most embarrassing moment involves me in the men's showers in the baptistry at the St. George temple. It was bad.
23. I really enjoy contemporary poetry. I was the editor of the literary magazine in high school, I had a poem in BYU's literary journal my first semester of college, and I won $100 by winning first place in the Hart-Larson poetry contest at BYU.
24. I love sugar. My favorite types of candy are Twix, Reese's Pieces, Kit-Kats, and Junior Mints.
25. The only food that I have ever tasted that I really hate is the beet. I think it tastes like dirt.
26. My favorite colors are earth tones. I have always been particularly fond of grey and brown. (note from Tom...she also seems to like black)
27. I have only had one pedicure in my entire life.
28. My great-something grandfather Parley P. Pratt was friends with Tom's great-something grandfather Levi Jackman.
29. My favorite hymn is Lead Kindly Light.
30. In the 8th grade I was voted the "Most Honest Student."
31. I am a former Diet Coke addict. In my last couple years of college I could easily drink a 12-pack of Diet Coke a day. I quit a little over a year ago and haven't had one since.
32. I love angry girl music.
33. I am a Democrat. I know, scandalous.
34. Two of my favorite meals are chicken and dumplings and chicken spaghetti, both made by my mother. So good.
35. Sometimes I leave for work without looking in the mirror or brushing my hair. This usually results in me realizing later in the day that I have peanut butter on my face.
36. I am very sensitive to loud noises. I turn my ipod and the TV down to a volume where I can just barely make out what is being said. For this reason, going to the movies or a concert can be a really bad experience.
37. Tom likes music and movies to be really loud.
38. I cannot stand to wear socks. I really don't understand why I can't just wear flip flops all of the time.
39. I also really don't understand why I can't just wear sweatpants all of the time.
40. When I was a kid my sister and I watched a lot of Nick at Nite. As a result, I have seen every episode of most classic television shows multiple times.
41. I don't particularly like cartoons. I also tend to dislike movies that are old, that are westerns, or that involve too much science fiction. This really limits the number of movies that Tom and I want to watch together.
42. I am very prone to motion sickness. When we were on our honeymoon in Jamaica we went snorkeling and I threw up multiple times.
43. I gained about 25 pounds during my freshman year of college. I didn't think I could study unless I was eating Ben and Jerry's. Luckily, this trend didn't continue for the rest of college.
44. I didn't go to prom. I was asked to the homecoming dance, but couldn't go because it was the after I had surgery on the aforementioned broken ankle.
45. I only like to use mechanical pencil with #9 led. Interestingly, Tom has the same taste in mechanical pencils.
46. I cannot stand being around people who yell all of the time. I am very grateful that I have married a very wonderful, very mild mannered man. (note from Tom - but also mysterious and deep)
47. I have only been in one car accident. I was a little kid and my aunt was driving and I don't really remember what happened.
48. Tom totaled a car while on his mission...but it was the fault of the SUV that hit him. Of course the person didn't have auto insurance.
49. I changed my major from English to biology after watching the movie Lost in Translation. That movie completely changed my life.
50. When I was in elementary school I was on the jump rope team. It was awesome.
51. I am a big believer in the celebration of birthdays. And half birthdays. It's important.
52. The only thing Tom loves more than a gadget, is a new gadget.
53. When we met Tom had given up on getting married before graduating from BYU.
54. He had gone on about a dozen first dates with no second dates.
55. We got married about three weeks before graduation. (thanks PELL Grant!)
56. Tom is the only person he knows who got a firm job for this summer after interviewing in shorts and a t-shirt.
57. In our first apartment, the water heater had to be re-lit every day or we wouldn't have any hot water. Tom was terrified he was going to get blown up.
58. Tom is not allowed to buy gum because he goes through the whole pack in about five minutes.
59. Tom doesn't mind talking in class, but hates public confrontation. I don't mind confrontation, but would rather do just about anything than talk in class.
60. I have many phobias. I am afraid of heights, closed spaces, getting into a car accident, etc. I'm kind of a nervous person. (note from Tom - this is true, she also gets worried that I don't worry)
61. In high school I helped write a rock opera called Waiting for Gobot with my friends Tim, Nick, and Dan. We thought it was the funniest thing ever.
62. I am a penny pincher. One of my favorite events every week is cutting the coupons out of the paper and then organizing them.
63. Tom has two sisters (Denise and Robyn) and a brother (Brent).
64. Tom and I took piano lessons for the same number of years and used the same piano books. Somehow he's much better than I am.
65. Tom had/got to play the piano in Priesthood growing up, as well as on his mission.
66. Tom and I were both in the marching band in high school. I played the clarinet and Tom played the saxophone.
67. I have had the following jobs: busser at an Italian food restaurant; I worked at Deseret Book; I transcribed interviews for the education department at BYU; I worked in the publication lab at BYU; I was a math grader (for calculus 1, 2, and 3, and for linear algebra); I was the assistant editor, the editor, and then the graphic designer for the honors journal at BYU; I worked at a terrible web design company in Provo; and I now scan documents at UCLA.
68. I love shopping. Since Tom and I have gotten married, I have gotten much better at keeping this impulse under control. My favorite places to shop are Target, Costco, Ikea, and the Container Store.
69. While I do enjoy cheese in small quantities, a big hunk of cheese totally grosses me out.
70. I get really, really bad red eye in photos. Thank goodness for the red eye removal tool in Photoshop.
71. Whenever Tom doesn't want to talk about something, he pretends he's asleep and starts snoring. This has been happening a lot lately. It seems baby related. (note from Tom - ZzzZZZzzZzz)

7 comments:

Melody said...

I loved reading your post.It brought back lots of fun memories. I am going to work on some additions to your list. It is late tonight, I will post them later. It was fun to learn some new things about Tom.

Anonymous said...

You need to add that when Tom was a toddler his favorite item of clothing was a skirt from one of my dance recitals and that his favorite move was Mary Poppins. Oh, you can add these things because I'm pretty sure that it is impossible to embarass Tom, that may count as a thing too. --Denise

Emily Andrus said...

Wow, I learned so much about you by reading that. I never knew you were such a smarty pants or a poet. I don't think you're at all scandalous for being a Dem, I sometimes I tend to see the logic from that side! That's pretty cool Tom got his job is shorts and flip-flops. Now I have to see Lost in Translation

The Thomases said...

I loved reading your list! These things are so fun!

1) I definitely want to hear the complete story about ending up in the boys dressing room in the St. George Temple.

2) We should go treat ourselves and get a nice pedicure

3) I definitely agree about wearing flip-flops all the time. I tend to buy shoes more than clothes, but the ones I wear far more often are the $3 flip-flops from Old Navy.

Melody said...

Okay...Here are my contributions to your list:

1.Erica was in a beauty contest at Wal-mart when she was 8 months old. Much to her mother’s dismay she didn’t win. She was the cutest baby there!

2.Erica had so much hair when she was born that the nurse was not able to place a fetal monitor on her scalp while she was in the birth canal. The electrode kept getting tangled in her hair.

3.In the car on the way home from piano lessons, Erica used to cry because her piano teacher had gotten mad at her for not practicing during the week.

4.Erica only sneaked out at night one time. Her mom watched her sneak out and waited up for her. When she came home she felt so guilty that she never thought to sneak out again.

5.One day while her mom was sewing, she dropped her bobbin. She asked Erica if she could see it on the floor. Erica said, “What is a bobbin? I have no room in my brain for words like bobbin”. Needless to say, Erica does not know how to sew.

6.Erica began to walk at 8 ½ months, was talking in sentences by 12 months and was completely potty-trained by 18 months.

Jan said...

Great memories. And the car accident happened because I misjudged the distance and thought I'd missed the car in front of me (I didn't).

And I'm with Tom on the pilot light!

One more thing to add - you have always loved little babies!

Anonymous said...

clumsy, loves sugar, addicted to diet coke, democrat, chicken spaghetti, sensitive to loud noises, hates socks, motion sickness, penny pincher, worked at a terrible web designing company, loves shopping, hmmm..... i guess we have more in common than we thought.

And remember how YOU used to fake sleep when you didn't want to scratch my back?!