100 Things to Know about Me: 1-20

I've been wanting to do this post for a while, but it wasn't until over my vacation that I had some time to put a list together. I know, I could have put the list together as I went, but I'm too organized to do something like that. (Organized, anal, same thing!) Also, instead of a list of things people don't know about me, I did a list of things people should know about me, because whether people know them or not, they are important pieces of me.

1. I have been a certified scuba diver since I was 13. I was certified while we were living in California, so my preference for dive locales has always been for chilly (if not downright cold) kelp forests and playful sea lions. Yes, sea lions sometimes mean sharks, but -
2. One of my life goals is to dive with great white sharks. Yes, you read that correctly...great white sharks. Jaws, the White Death, etc. And no, I don't plan to be stuck in a shark-viewing cage. I intend to be in the open water. Dangerous? Of course, but so is sky-diving and bull-riding, and people do those all the time.
3. As a warm-up for my eventual brush (figuratively, not literally) with Jaws, I have been on a shark dive before. I was seventeen, and we were diving in the Bahamas off a live-aboard sailboat. It was amazing...we sat there on the bottom of the ocean and watched the reef sharks swim all around...if I had been so inclined, I could have reached out and pet them. (Of course, I wasn't...I said I want to see them, not tempt them to bite.)
4. My favorite food in the world is uncooked chocolate-chip cookie dough. It's absolutely delicious, and cures all pains. In college, when I was the designated driver, I would bring a roll of cookie dough to parties to munch on while my friends drank away.
5. My favorite alcoholic drink is a tangy Amaretto Sour. I first had one with my big brother Meredith at my first fraternity semi-formal, and have enjoyed them ever since.
6. My favorite non-alcoholic drink is Ale-8. Never heard of it? Your loss. This drink qualifies as one of the few things I find hands-down fantastic about the Bluegrass State. I love it so much that my parents import it for me whenever they visit. It may only be ginger ale, but by golly, it's good ginger ale!
7. I have lived in or visited 23 states (including the District of Columbia) in my lifetime: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. (I have lived in Virginia, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Texas.) Next month, I will add Oklahoma to the list, and at some point, I will have to add Nebraska, where my friend Karen has recently moved to.
8. I do not count traveling through a state as visiting it, and think those of you who do are cheating! But in cheater-land, I would have seven more states on my list: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
9. I have also lived in two other countries: Holland and Germany, and visited five: Spain, Belgium, England, the Bahamas and Japan. The only one of those I've been to since I was ten is the Bahamas.
10. What do U.S. territories count as? They're not states, but they're not countries. Hmm...in any case, I've lived in one (Guam), vacationed in another (St. Croix) and, in cheater-land, visited another (Puerto Rico).
11. Of all the American places I've lived, Boston was the most fascinating. But eventually, I would like to return to central California. I have an affinity for the west coast that even I don't understand.
12. I like the beach and the snow. Not many people that I know like both, but I do. (Hmm...California makes more sense now.)
13. My favorite place to be is outdoors. Whether it's hiking in the woods, kayaking on the ocean or sitting in a park, being in nature is the most peaceful and beautiful place to be.
14. During the warm, sunny months, I relax by laying out, either at the pool or the beach. Will I be leathery and wrinkly when I'm sixty? Probably, but I can't seem to make myself care. Is that confidence in my health, or just plain foolery? Either way, I'm counting the days until the spring is here.
15. I love to cook. Not extravagant culinary masterpieces, just simple tasty fare that fills the stomach and satisfies the hunger. Some of my best recipes come from my mom, but I also clip many a recipe from magazines and advertisements.
16. I am an only child...unless you count the dog, which we sometimes do. I mean, c'mon, he's definitely more spoiled than I was. Example: growing up, if I didn't like what we were having for dinner, my parents would tell me to find something for myself. And yes, there were nights I went straight for the Cheerios. But the doggie has gotten so spoiled that, without a sprinkling of cheese or bacon or other people food on his dog chow, he won't eat...and my parents succumb to the pressure. Hmph! And my husband says I'm spoiled.
17. I was also an Army brat for thirteen years. (Thus, the two foreign countries.) After an eight-year break from the military, I dated and married a Navy man (yes, a seaman...haha), who recently became a member of the Air Force reserve. To further add to my patriotic pedigree (or whatever you want to call it), both of my grandfathers were in the military, one the Navy and the other the Air Force.
18. On a related note, there seems to be a trend developing on my mom's side of the family. She was the only child of a military family, and married a military man with three siblings. Then they had me, the only child of a military family, and I married a military man with three siblings. Makes me curious to see what happens if we have a little girl down the line.
19. I met my military husband at a nightclub in Wilmington, North Carolina, five years ago tomorrow. None of my close friends were surprised by this occurrence, and in fact have used it for many jokes and laughs ever since. However, any new acquaintances are always a little shocked to find this out, and I can never tell why. Are they shocked that two people who met in a nightclub went on to get married? Or are they shocked that I was in a nightclub being picked up? I haven't gotten that boring, have I?
20. When I miss those close friends in North Carolina, I watch "Will and Grace". (They know who they are, and if they don't, shame on them.) And I promise...if you knew them, you would totally agree that watching the show is like being plopped down in the middle of a conversation with these dear amigos.