Random facts about me…round two
Round two of random facts about me on my birthday!
It is birthday time again! Happy 42 years of living to me!
I did the random facts about myself back in 2020, which was hard, and here I go again challenging myself to tell you 42 random facts about me.
1. I love the smell of the rain in the desert.
2. I have lived in four states - Minnesota, California, Arizona, and Colorado.
3. When I was a teenager I jumped off of a 50-60 foot cliff, at Havasupai, without hesitation, shocking everyone (including myself!)
4. Bryce and I have seen The Midnight, an amazing synth band, three times in concert.
5. I love hanging out with my kids.
6. My cat will be 19 years old this year.
7. My favorite type of ice cream is Thrifty ice cream. My favorite is a double cone with chocolate chip and mint chip. We used to get this after school when I was a kid. The taste brings me back!
8. I dream about someday owning a house on a lake. I can imagine the long list of fun times we could have there.
9. I got to study Spanish in Costa Rica, living with a great family, for five weeks.
10. I like to treat myself to coffee as a cure-all!
11. I love flowers!
12. I have three raised gardens in my yard and we are growing strawberries this year
13. Most often I end up watching the same shows over and over.
14. This last weekend I got to see Michael Bolton and Reba McEntire sing at a charity event.
15. I love to garden - both flowers and tasty foods!
16. My kitchen is a rainbow of different colors of Fiestaware.
17. I have three above-ground gardens and am trying to grow strawberries in Arizona, we shall see if it works…the first few have been AMAZING!!
18. I love cloudy and overcast days!
19. Visiting all of the National Parks is part of my bucket list.
20. If I could go anywhere today I would go to Greece.
21. I have lived in Arizona most of my life.
22. If I could go anywhere today I would go to Greece!
23. I have lived in Arizona most of my life.
24. I love taking walks with my dog. She starts jumping around and talking as soon as she sees me getting my shoes or going near her leash.
25. I get really excited to go flower shopping.
26. One of the things I love to do for myself, and everyone in my family, treat myself to wonderful-smelling lotions.
27. I like to listen to affirmations to remind myself to be kind to myself and others.
28. I lived in constant pain, from TMJ, for around 20 years. Almost four years ago my husband helped push me to the right doctor to get it fixed, and I had jaw surgery on both sides of my jaw. I can now, eat, talk, and breathe without pain.
29. The day that Bryce and I got married there were suddenly strong winds. We keep finding that happens whenever we have guests over, or when we have lunch at one of the National Parks.
30. I am a fine art photographer.
31. I love to talk in song quotes and movie quotes. It MIGHT drive some people crazy but secretly they really enjoy it!
32. I like to dye parts of my hair with fun and bright colors!
33. When I was in graduate school one of my images was selected to be on the cover of the photography auction magazine that year. I was, and still am, super proud of that.
34. I love when my kids are on break from school and we get to hang out and spend time together.
35. As a family we love to get to play board games on the weekend.
36. When I am in the car by myself I love to listen to podcasts. One of my favorites is The Art Curious where I get to learn about things in art history.
37. I tend to watch the same TV shows over and over. I am always looking for new suggestions though!
38. I have two sisters and I am lucky that they live close by!
39. When I am was a kid I wanted to be a librarian. My love for books has ALWAYS been there!
40. I have seen The Chicks in concert at least four times and I can't wait to see them on their next tour!
41. When I was in Costa Rica I got to see volcanos, jungles (where I went zip-lining), fantastic sunsets on the beach, and life in the city.
42. My favorite adventures are always the adventures that I get to take with my family. I love taking the kids to new places that fill them with wonder.
And there you are….42 random, and hopefully interesting, facts about me! What fact did you find most interesting? I would love to know!
Saguaro National Park
Our trip to Saguaro National Park
What is on your list of places and things to do? Think of one of those things that you always want to do, no matter how many times you make a new list of things, but that one thing is always there that you want to do? One of my top things is going to the National Parks, the dream is to get to them all but one step at a time, I dream of just be standing in and amongst all the glory that is nature and that has been set aside so that this beauty is preserved for all to see.
Well, last weekend my husband, Bryce, and I went to Tucson, Arizona on an adventure and because I have been talking about wanting to go to Saguaro National Park forever, we spent the afternoon hiking, taking pictures, and becoming park members! (So all the parks within driving distance watch out because here we come!)
We didn’t have as long to spend at Saguaro National Park as I would have liked but since it is only a couple of hours away I certainly plan on going back before it starts to heat up again. This was the perfect time of year to go where we could walk around and enjoy being completely surrounded by nature. Walking the path where there wasn’t another voice around and you could just hear the wind and feel the sun on your back.
There is so much to see and so much to learn about the park and the saguaro, in general, that this time around I just soaked up the beauty of the park. When we got home my daughter, Violet, shared some fun facts from her class last year.
Fun facts:
Saguaros live to be around 125-175 years old
Saguaros start to produce flowers around 35 years old
The arms of saguaros generally start to grow around the age of 50-70
So, where is that place you dream of going to? I would love to add more places to go to my long list of places I want to travel.
Bryce and I at Saguaro National Park
We are easily amused!
A Tiny Joy
What is something tiny that brings great joy? This is a question that I asked myself while I was sitting in the car waiting to pick up my kids. I was interested in challenging myself to think of something that brought me great joy. I chose a small item to think about something that could be often overlooked, however, held great significance to me.
There are some tiny little forget-me-not flowers (Myosotis scorpioides) that grow at our family cabin in Minnesota. Each year I am excited to go searching for these little guys and to photograph them. These blue blooms are so tiny and delicate.
These flowers bring great joy, not only because they are beautiful, but because they make me think of my parents. Way back when, before I existed, when they were dating they would write each other letters. My dad would often include a little forget-me-not in his letter to my mom. So these tiny flowers hold my attention, not only because of their beauty but also because of the part they played in my parents' relationship.
I challenge you to also think about this question, is there something tiny that brings great joy to your life? I would love to hear your story as well!
Random Facts About Me
Forty random facts about me on my 40th birthday!
As we all know, things have been weird this month. Because of all of the changes going on in the world, there are many changes going on around here as well. My kids’ school, and the rest of the schools in Arizona, have closed down at least until March 29.
So two mornings ago I woke up a mom and a photographer. Yesterday morning I woke up to a new job of being a home-schooling mama, as well as mom, and photographer. The kids started the day off with begging for a school schedule and ready to learn. And then we come to this morning, my birthday, I woke up officially 40 years old.
There is so much seriousness going on all around us right now that I wanted to share as many random facts with you as how many times as I have been around the sun.
So here we go...get ready to dive into all the random goodness of me and my life! (Finding 40 things about myself was a lot harder than I thought it would be!)
I am a fine art photographer
Wife of a wonderful husband for 11 years and counting
Mama of two awesome kids
Big fan of the Harry Potter books
I love to garden
My favorite movie is Princess Bride (The first day we saw this movie, on VHS, we watched it two times)
I enjoy adding fun color to my hair and pink is by far my favorite
My birthday is on St Patrick’s day
I went to Arizona State University for my BFA and studied photography
My favorite succulent is an echeveria
I have lived in four different states, Minnesota, California, Arizona and Colorado
I love the beach
My favorite way to treat myself is with coffee or ice cream
I love books
I have two sisters
My favorite tv show is Friends
I love to hike and camp
I had surgery on both sides of my jaw for TMJ
I went to the Academy of Art for my MFA and studied photography
Saturdays are for playing board games
My favorite colors are pink, green and purple
I photograph with a Canon 5D Mark ii
Fridays are spent hanging out with my parents
I’m a vegetarian and have been my whole life
We have two cats, one is 16 and the other is 12
I am a night owl and drag myself out of bed in the morning
As a kid, I wanted to be a vet
I love cool and cloudy weather
I don’t like to be in cold water
I love ice-cold water to drink
My favorite pajamas have cameras all over them
When I was a kid we would often stop at Thrifty’s to get ice cream
I hate to be late or be the last one to arrive
Daisies were my favorite flower growing up and now I can’t pick a favorite
I love to cuddle with my kids
I love bonfires in the backyard
My favorite holiday is Christmas because I get to see my kids happy faces
We have two dogs, one is 3 and the other 5
I love going to the gym and taking classes
Finally, I am super spoiled because my husband does the majority of the cooking, and I love it