Tagged...

I've gotta stop goin' to Karin's blog....just kidding. She officially tagged me by name, so here are 7 random things about me (sorry most of you know most of this already. I don't have a secret life I've been keeping hidden all this time):

1. I went to five different elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools--all in four different states: Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, and Texas.

2. I went skydiving at age 15. I tandem jumped from 11,000 feet over the Pacific ocean in Hawaii. I have the video to prove it. (Tonya did it, too.)

3. At age 14 I was certified in SCUBA. My dad would take me out on weekends. I almost didn't pass the certification because I couldn't "buddy breathe". That's where you are underwater and take your regulator out of your mouth and you and a buddy share one air source. I guess I didn't trust my buddy. I would panic each time. I finally did it with the instructor, so he passed me. The highlight was a 100 foot dive off of Waikiki beach down to an artificial reef on a sunken ship. Ya, I have a cool dad.

4. During high school I had four earrings in each ear. I took them out permanently during my senior year after I met with my school counselor before a big scholarship interview and her only advice was, "take out your earrings." Once I used the "scars" as a visual aid during a FHE lesson on the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet. I talked about repentance and how you can't always make all your mistakes completely go away. My kids still remember that lesson about my earrings. And Rebekah has promised to obey the prophet and only have one set of earrings.

5. I am a jack of all trades. Seriously. I have a little talent in a lot of areas. I don't have one single talent that defines me. I can play the melody of a song with my right hand on the piano. I have cross-stitched one giant picture (that my mom and dad lost) and never did it again. I crocheted half an afghan before Paul Ivan was born and have not touched it since. I played softball for one season, was a cheerleader in 8th grade only, took only 2 years of gymnastics, hand-made Rebekah dresses when she was 3-and never again.... I can't draw, paint, sing, sew, decorate, flower arrange....nothing. I cook, but out of necessity, not passion. I do a lot of things, but there isn't one single thing that I do very well. I'm not complaining--I'm happy with who I am. Just stating facts.

6. I was guilted into getting baptized. Really. I was 15 years old. My dad had been taking me to the LDS church for about 6 months. The missionaries had been teaching my family with no real progress the entire time. One missionary, Elder Blake Bodell, had been teaching us for the entire 6 months. This particular Sunday, August 12, 1990, he was sitting on the stand and we were sitting next to his companion, Elder Eric Lund, in the chapel. Elder Lund leaned over and said, "Elder Bodell is being transferred to Maui tomorrow. He really wants to baptize you." So I was baptized that night. That was the best decision I've ever made for the wrong reason. It took about a year, but through awesome fellowshipping I gained a real testimony. I'm grateful for Elder Lund recognizing that I have a strong desire to please people. I'm positive that Elder Bodell has little faith that I stayed active in the church. I couldn't have been his most "golden" convert. I'd sure like to thank him, nonetheless.

7. Most people know that I have a BS degree in mathematics from BYU, but what you might not know is that I started out a physics major at the University of Texas at Austin. I quickly learned I was not "that" smart, so I dropped down to math. I could handle learning things that were completely irrelevant and had no application value. Learning things just for the sake of learning them. That was me. Engineers and physicists are total geniuses in my book. Not only can they learn all the math I learned, but they can also learn how and why it is important to know it. My brain shuts down with the how and why. Also, I took 15 different math classes for my degree. I never got an A in math after the first semester of calculus, which I took my freshman year. I persevered and got my degree, but I definitely wasn't the smartest thing walking on campus. A side note: I got a B+ in the summer math class where I missed a week of classes because Paul Ivan was born 5 weeks premature, so he came 2 weeks before finals. I had him (via C-section) on a Sunday morning and returned to class the following Monday--8 days later. Crazy times!