Tagged Again? Yes!

Ok HolleeAnn, here are my 7 (new) random things:

I am “thrifty”. Cheap, if you ask one of my siblings. I just really hate spending money on disposable luxuries….like cable (we have bunny ears), nails, babysitters ($6 an hour to sit at my house while my kids are sleeping? What a waste, I’d rather swap and pay nothing), electricity (yes, seriously. I am that cheap. It’s like a sickness or something….but I just LOVE seeing a super low electric bill) or internet (hence the long breaks between posts). Don’t get me wrong, there ARE things I will spend good money on…I’m just careful how I spend it. Which I guess leads to…
I LOVE to pay bills. About a year after we were married I started a “bill binder” to keep track of our income and all the bills we pay. I had a couple of jobs at the time, and from one of them I took home tips each night. But too often, I would spend the tip money on Taco Bell on the way home and it would never be accounted for when I paid tithing or did our taxes….so I started writing down what shifts I worked and the tips I made when I got home from work each day. THEN I realized what shifts brought in more tips, and asked to work those hours. After I quit that job, I still used the binder to write down all the bills I paid so I could see where our money went, and I still use the same system today. It seems tedious to some, but I LOVE it. AND I LOVE that I can look back and see how much I have spent on water, electricity, car, cell phones, etc. for the past 6 years.

I have heightened senses. No, not anything supernatural…I’m not a superhero or anything…but I probably could be if having an extremely strong sense of smell could fight crime. I also can’t stand when the T.V. is too loud. It physically hurts me in a way I can’t describe. Even my skin is sensitive. Being touched by someone else can be the most warm, wonderful feeling, or their hand can burn a hole in my shirt. I love to be hugged and touched and snuggled by people I know and love…But if you are a stranger, I will have no problem letting you know that and you are standing too close to me…especially if you should have stopped at just 2 sprays with the Lysol when you left the bathroom and the 3rd spray followed you out. Ew.

Christmas at my parent’s house is awesome. There is no other way to describe it. It’s not the presents or anything; just something about our silly traditions that makes it THE BEST. Unfortunately, since I was spoiled for 18 years having such a fabulous example of how Christmas should be…Christmas any other way just can’t compete. Ironic, but somehow having the best Christmas ever for 18 years straight has ruined every future Christmas away from my parents house because it just isn’t the same.

I used to be a people fixer. I would (subconsciously) attach myself to emotionally toxic people and then attempt to “fix” them and solve all their problems. I didn’t realize what a bad habit this is until about 2 years ago when I attached myself to another “fixer”… and then I became the project for her! Not only did she “not fix” whatever she thought was wrong with me, but she “kept me broken” by always letting me know what I was no good at. It got to the point that I was constantly apologizing for something ridiculous every time we spoke. I’ve never felt soooo terrible about myself as a Mother, a Wife, a Friend, a Mormon, or a Woman, as I did when I was friends with her. It emotionally paralyzed me and took forever for me to realize why I felt that way.

Luckily, this has been a learning experience for me. I never want to be the cause of someone else feeling this way. I have moved on from said friend, recovered (mostly), and am determined to no longer be a “fixer” for anyone ever again!

If I had daily access to a Super Nintendo, I would do NOTHING with my life. Yoshie pretty much got me through 7^th grade. I had no idea that a Nintendo addiction could stay with me FOR-EV-ER. I hadn’t picked up a Nintendo, XBOX, Play Station or any other video game in YEARS. Then we got Tetris World from Kasey, and Aaron asked me if I wanted to play it with him. He played for 5 minutes. I played until I was so tired that my eyes blurred all the little tetrads into the same shape and I had to stop. After that night, I packed up the Tetris game…outta sight outta mind, right? WRONG! They brought over Guitar Hero. Just in case you are living in ignorance, as I was until recently, let me fill you in. GUITAR HERO IS AWESOME. I am not so awesome at Guitar Hero…in fact my little rocker chick got booed off the stage the first 2 times I tried to play. But then I got the hang of it, and we spent 3 hours rockin’ out with Jimmie and Kasey this weekend. Such a simple, laid back evening, but it was the most fun we’ve had in a long time. I liked Guitar Hero so much that we sent it back home with her because I would neglect my children if I had access to it during the day. I can’t wait for Rock Band!

I am a good cook. I didn’t use to be. I can actually think of a couple meals we abandoned after 1 bite when we were first married. Aaron was always a good sport and would say something “subtle” like, “thanks for dinner, Honey...you should make that again next time I’m out of town”. Thank goodness marriage comes with a learning curve. His favorite dinner is actually called Burned Chicken because the first time I made it, I burned it. It was the first meal I ever cooked for him so he ate it anyway. He actually liked it though and requests it often…non-burned of course. I’ve come a long way, and I’m a really good cook now. But there are benefits to having a non-cook reputation. I still rarely get asked to cook anything at family get-togethers. This is also probably because I don’t have a “signature dish” that everyone can’t wait to have, like Ashley’s yummy Costa Vida Pork or chocolate cheesecake, John’s salsa, Julia’s cilantro lime chicken and homemade guacamole (my favorite, yum!), Kristie’s cheesecake brownies, or Amy’s Chicken Tortellini Soup. taking a break from the kitchen and I am totally contenteating everyone else’s good food. But I AM a good cook.

Wow, it was harder than I thought to come up with 7 more random things. Good thing I like to talk about myself. Kudos if you actually read all of that (I have GOT to get a new camera so my posts won’t be so boring). I tag Paul, Janae, Nicki, Caity, Keith and Arianne, Elden and Gretchen, and Amy. Go!