So I'm told by my husband that I may not be home on my birthday (its a surprise), so I'm posting this a little early.

In honor of my birthday, here are 50 random things about me, in no particular order.

1. My favorite entrée is King Crab legs
2. My favorite dessert is a Lindt Excellence Intense Orange dark chocolate bar with a big glass of milk
3. I have a wonderful husband who treats me like a queen
4. I miss spending time with our kids
5. I go back to bed for a half hour or so in the morning after I take a shower (the only quirk I’ve ever been able to think of for myself)
6. My favorite vegetable is asparagus, second favorite is fresh sweet corn
7. I’m not a person of extremes, so it’s hard for me to pick one favorite movie, song or book, etc.
8. A few favorite movies: Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, The Sting, Sleepless in Seattle
9. A few favorite musicians: James Taylor & Amy Grant
10. My father had 10 siblings that lived to be adults and every year at Thanksgiving we would all gather at my grandmother’s house for dinner. It was a huge crowd full of love and laughter and good food.
11. Although I love music, I have no idea what my favorite song would be.
12. I love to look at magazines for decorating, travel and just plain living tips
13. I love to travel!
14. Although I’m an organizer, I love to be spontaneous and do things on the spur of the moment.
15. I’m very visual, so I need to write things down to remember them, so if you want to send a strong message, show it to me in writing.
16. My favorite hobbies are photography, scrap booking, journaling, and decorating (all very visual)
17. I’d love to learn to do landscape design or architectural drafting.
18. I love being in the mountains, especially near streams
19. I think often of losing weight and getting in shape, but rarely do anything to move in that direction.
20. I love the fact that all of our kids are creative and talented and confident enough to pursue non-traditional career paths.
21. Because I grew up in a family of 8 without much money, birthdays are a big deal to me. No need for spending lots of money or having big parties, but a card, a kind word and a little extra attention make it extra special.
22. My favorite colors are almost any shade of blue or green.
23. For me, the look and design of a room, restaurant, outdoor space, etc. are very important to the feelings they evoke. That’s why I like to look at photos of restaurants before I go there for special occasions.
24. In all my years growing up, our family only took one vacation. It was a drive at Christmas break from Ohio to Phoenix.
25. I would love to ride in a hot air balloon someday. It just seems so magical.
26. I love my church and am learning so much about God’s grace there.
27. The top places that I’d like to visit are: Anywhere in Australia, Ireland, England (or nearly anywhere in Europe), New England in the Fall, Banff National Park, Alaska (again)
28. Some of the most amazing places I’ve seen: Havasupai Canyon in northern AZ, many of the national parks, including Denali,
29. I have the most precious friends that anyone could ask for.
30. I have been given so many good things that sometimes I feel guilty about it.
31. I grew up with 2 parents, 3 brothers and 2 sisters (that’s 8) in a 1200 square foot house, with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The bathroom had one small sink and a claw foot tub with no shower. We had no true closets or doors in the bedrooms and my mom painted the floors red and white so they didn’t look so bare.
32. Sometimes I mistakenly feel that my value is derived by what I do, instead of who I am…then what would happen if I couldn’t “do” anymore? Would I stop being valuable?
33. Favorite flower: Hydrangeas, but really almost anything is wonderful!
34. If I were a billionaire, I would help to fund the ODF building project or even help to move them to a new campus with more space. I’d give a good chunk to Leadership Catalyst, then I’d have such fun deciding which other ministries to give to. I would travel the world, design and build my own home, see lots of live theater, buy gorgeous original artwork and have fresh flowers in the house every day.
35. Each summer I spent several weeks at the farm with my grandmother, aunt and 2 cousins. It was an amazing time of exploring and adventure, picking fruit and vegetables, playing, swimming and enjoying life!
36. Favorite theme park: Disneyland - I love the magic of the Magic Kingdom!
37. My mother’s mother was an orphan, so it will be hard to trace a family tree on that branch
38. I love the colors and smell of Autumn!
39. In fact, I love to stop and smell the roses or anything that smells good. Some of my favorites, a freshly peeled orange, sliced cucumber, lilacs, new mown grass, eucalyptus trees, rosemary, steak cooking on a grill, and so much more…
40. I have a hard time staying in the same role (at work) for more than 3 years. I get bored once I learn the job and if the job doesn’t change, I usually need to.
41. I would love to learn so much more about photography.
42. I look forward to someday being a grandmother.
43. Age is just a number on a page. So far, I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve had the privilege of experiencing.
44. When I got married, one of the commitments I made to myself was that we’d have cloth napkins to use for special occasions.
45. If I had the chance, I could spend time in Colorado in any season.
46. I love plays and especially musicals. I watched Newsies again last night. I love that movie!
47. I have a wonderful cat named Shredder.
    
48. I’ve always wanted to be a travel agent, because I love the excitement of planning the trip, plus the perks would be awesome.
49. I had a pony named Midget when I was younger and if the weather was cooler here, I’d love to have a horse again someday. It’s good exercise!
50. As a child every year before school started my mom would take each of us kids one day at a time, to go school clothes shopping. She didn’t drive so we would catch a bus to the next town and spend the day shopping and having lunch, and enjoying the special day we had one on one with our mom. It was one of the few times each year we’d get time alone with her.

Although there have been tough times in my life of loss, sorrow and pain, I truly believe that am blessed beyond my wildest dreams!