100 Things About Me
I was just reading Surfs Up Buttercup and saw her 100 Things About Me post and giggled because I imagine you would not be interested in learning 100 things about me! I'm not even all that interested! So I will spare you and just write 25 so that you don't start throwing rotten fruit at my little haus maus blog. Okay here are my 25... Some sad, some good, some great, some pathetic.
1. My middle name is Elizabeth but I want to change it to Elisabeth with an S. I don't know why.
2. I am 5'10" and have been called many a name for it in my lifetime, mostly in grade school before being tall was "cool" and "model like". I was called Amazon Woman, Giraffe, Stork, you name it. And I cried. Hard. I was the tallest kid in my class starting in kindergarten all the way through high school. Maybe that's why I'm so sensitive to the feelings of others - I took a lot of crap being tall.
3. I always wanted to be 5'7". My mother is that height and she was always perfect to me. She looked so lovely in high heels. Me, not so much. I cannot wear high heels because I walk with a wobble and though my husband is 6' and I can legally get away with 2" heels, I usually wear flats.
4. I hate clowns.
5. I have very strong opinions and in person I share them freely about everything from religion to politics and beyond. Online I share very little of them because I am quite a private person despite how it may not appear to be so.
6. I once snuck into a Broadway show because I really wanted to see Toni Braxton playing "Belle" in Beauty in the Beast.
7. I took voice lessons because I had this dream of singing on stage and nearly did when I was 24 but chickened out a week before the performance.
8. I've always wanted to write a book and handmade many as a child.
9. I've been obsessed with homes and decorating since I was 4 years old.
10. My dream is to buy a beautiful city apartment and always own a home-based business.
11. I am dying to go to Copenhagen.
12. I like spiders and snakes and all the things most girls hate. I find them strangely beautiful and fascinating. I love their many eyes and how much personality some little spiders have.
13. I love living in Germany. I feel like Hannover isn't the perfect city for me but in many ways it feels completely perfect. I battle with this but I feel like I am home. My life feels like it's just getting started in many ways.
14. I miss nothing about life in America after 7 months of living here and this sort of scares me. It also makes me realize how my home just may NOT be a physical place but actually inside of my heart.
15. I miss living near the ocean. I love the forest which is practically in my back yard, but there is nothing like smelling the salty air and collecting shells on the beach.
16. I love that I gave up my car. I don't even have a train pass. I walk everywhere and the best part is that when I moved to Germany 7 months ago I could barely climb the subway stairs without huffing and puffing and now I run up them and could easily run up 10 more flights. We have friends who live on the 4th floor of buildings, big buildings where 4 floors is like 5 or 6 floors in the states, and I run up those now too and feel great. It's amazing how you can turn your health around in just 7 months without a car.
17. I love Fettuccine Alfredo. Love. It.
18. Cafe Latte is an appetite suppressant, at least to me. I have no clue why.
19. I hate pork and lamb. Hamburgers gross me out. I like fish best, turkey next, chicken last. I love tofu.
20. I use to wear those horrible MC Hammer pants. Mine were white cotton genie pants. You can't touch that!
21. I use to speed skate and compete for prizes. I started skating at 3 years old and went a few times a week my entire childhood until I was around 15 years old. I traded my roller skates for inline skates in my early 20s and never looked back. I have great legs as result. :)
22. I want a dog. My husband wants a cat. How do you ever work this out?
23. I sometimes write for 8 hours straight without even thinking about it. I get into writing mode and that's it, I'm in deep and it's hard to snap me out of it.
24. My favorite author is Oscar Wilde.
25. My husband is the best. I remember looking up at the stars as a teenager imagining that my future boyfriend was out there somewhere waiting for me. And he really was. If everything fell apart tomorrow, I have my husband and therefore, I have it all.
Whew! That's all I can manage. Do you spot anything that we share?
Comments
Easy! Either get an old cat and a young puppy, an old dog and a kitten, or a puppy and a kitten. The second option seems to work best from experience. :-)
#7 - I still dream of making my own album and sing daily.
#8 - My passion for writing started very young as well, with articles in the local newspaper and books that I made myself, which we also learned how to do in elementary school.
#9 - When I was young, I thought about being an architect & drew floor plans obsessively.
#13 - Never been to a Hanover, but I have been to southern Germany, Austria, and norther Italy. I adore Europe with all my heart & have set a personal goal to live in Europe by 2020 & I have a feeling #14 will happen to me as well. When I visited the above 3 countries in 1999, I had zero desire to come back to the USA.
#15 - I have an uncanny passion for moving water: rivers, streams, oceans ... lakes, not so much. Living in SF, near Ocean Beach, was heaven.
#16 - Living in SF was also a joy because I didn't have to own a car. Now back in CT, I hate having a car! So expensive & lazy ... I regularly dream of the day I can get rid of it (about 2 years away).
#23 - Ah writing, there's nothing like it. Whether its blogs posts, articles, short stories, poems, or songs, I love getting into "the zone" & losing track of time.
#25 - Having someone at your side that just, well, makes you feel like half of a real whole ... there's not describing it, no matter how many words there are in the English language. I got married to my 5th-grade crush last year. :D
I also like spiders and snakes and all of nature. :)
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, and dog or cat? Get both. Double the cuteness and the fun :)
Also, I've always been tall (I'm just shy of 5'10"), but when I was a kid my nickname was Brigitte the Midget. Not only was it not nice, but it wasn't even true! Back then, I was the tallest kid in class.
Ps. I vote for the cat. But you can always have both. My cats bump noses with our neighbor's dog, and it's too cute for words.
I like this list, I love learning more about other people...I would have read 100 things, too!
I, too, married the perfect guy for me, no matter what. i. love. him. ha, and he's also German, but shorter than me (never did I think I would marry a guy shorter than me, ever)
I also want to write a book and wrote many as a child, love living in Germany (but feel this may not my final stop, at least for now), miss living by the ocean, and we're trying to do an around-Scandinavia vacay this summer and CPH is on the short list.
oh my word, though, i hate spiders and snakes with a passion! I find German spiders to be about 18x the size of American ones, so yeah, have fun this summer and fall! =)
#8. Me too. I'm sure a published book or three are not far away; your writing style begs for a whole book.
Thanks for sharing those little snippets of your life with us all. As for the cat/dog dilemma. We have both a cat and a dog. A dog is a real companion, they wag their tail at you and love attention all the time. A cat only likes things on their terms, they are independent and make their own decisons. I once read that Dogs come when they are called, but cats take a message and get back to you later :) Thought that really summed them up :)
All things nice...
And yes, why not having both - cat and a dog. It works!
Buy a dog and call her Cat ;)
I say you get a dog AND a cat! They'll love each other!
I also hate clowns. ugh!
I'm so glad you did these 25 things...hope you do more. I know you think "who would care?" but as you read from your comments it really opens you up to folks and simple things they have in common with you and for those of us who so admire you, it's just fun to read these "interesting bits." I loved reading everyone's comments here as much as your list.
Of course your "spiders with personalities" thing kind of freaks me out though... :o)
I know Chihuahuas have a bad rap from many, but my experience has been nothing but awesome. She is quiet, friendly, sleeps about 20 hours a day but will wake up and play games and fetch the second you want her to, is so clean, portable.... I could go on.
Anyway, cat people seem to love her, and dog people do too (as long as they aren't breedists!). ;P
So glad to hear you are at home in Hannover. Sounds wonderful!
I love that you don't miss anything about America...my husband is German and I am wishing that somehow we could relocate to Germany - though I too would miss the ocean..
Capricioustraveler.blogspot.com
i have absolutely nothing in common with you. case in point - i'm super short, i don't mind clowns, i HATE spiders and cheeseburgers are my favourite :)
I'm 1,78 m tall, too - just as my dad. My mom is 1,83 m (6 feet) tall, so I never felt awkward about it. And here in Germany it is not so unusual - I don't remember being teased about it. High-heels are out of the question for me, too, though moderate heels are OK with me.
Regarding cats 'n' dogs:
Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
I found the cat part very true (never had a dog)...
Loved to get to know you a little more!
xox jebcat
I love lists like this and actually did a similar one, after you’ve been talking about lists in the BYW class.
I spotted some things we share:
We both moved countries at about the same time. You moved to Germany, where your husband comes from, I moved from Germany to England, where my partner comes from.
I also work from home, have no car, love homes and decorating, used to make books and draw floor plans of the house of my dreams when I was a child.
I enjoyed reading your list, seems you are a really likeable person.
xoxo
Melis
My dream has always been writing a book and i have made many attempts.
#22: get a dog and a cat!
I wrote books as a child and teen and bound them with dental and embroidery floss.
I had a pair of white Hammer pants!!! I wore them in 7th grade and was told by a 9th grader that she wanted to beat me up because of my Hammer pants.
Jen Ramos
www.madebygirl.com
madebygirl.blogspot.com
#5...have always wondered on that one. Must be difficult for you to divide...not saying it's good or bad...just pondering on that one myself. I guess as long as you're (meaning anyone, not you specifically) not being fake, then I suppose leaving personal feelings out of it (meaning your blog) to spare others...well it's ok...I think. See what I mean? This one is really difficult for me. Feeling your pain on this one.
Lots of other similarites...but don't want to bore you. Thanks for sharing...has gotten me thinking about my next blog post idea! :o)
thanks, holly
~Lisa
www.BlueCakesBlog.com
Great read!!!! Loved your list! Re: the cat/dog issue. We have had both and many at one time for years. They both have such different personalitis and bring so much to a home and your life......Go for it! Get both, if you get babies, they will grow up together.......Love the blog and hearing about life in Germany! It was interesting the you said you didn't miss a lot in the US, no surprise. Enjoy your new life there.....at least we can all still read your blogs online.....best to you, Sondra
5. strong opinions- would love to hear yours- maybe in a new secret blog.
8. handmade books as a child- posted one on my blog. (banaedesigns.blogspot.com-Oct. 2009)
9. got to choose the upholstery for a chair when I was about 10. Assumed I was a decorator. Still have the chair-I was not a decorator!
12. like spiders and snakes-and any animal or bug (not as pets!)
17. love Fettucine Alfredo
22. get both!
Loved reading your list. It should be required for all blogs!!!
http://www.katespade.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3839520&cp=1863844.3744578
Thank you for your help! :-)
1. My original name was Tatjana and I changed it to Tatyana (so people could pronounce it properly) and now I regret it. I feel like someone in a witness protection program with a fake name.
2. I was always the shortest and smallest kid in my class (despite the fact that my whole family is 6’+) and had to sit on my backpack for the 1st 5 years so I could see the blackboard in class.
4. I hate clowns, too (even more after seeing "It").
9. I made houses of left-over wood in my uncle's wood shop and drew floor plans and furniture designs since I can remember.
17. I love Fettuccine Alfredo!
22. Same here – I think we will have to get both. When I’m done with school my present to myself is a Hungarian Vizsla that I plan on naming Tesla (like the scientist).
I'm 5'74"
I also love all the walking we do here in germany (also biking).
This northern california girl also misses the ocean.
/Stina.
we live a "few steps" from copenhagen-in the old and beautiful town of Elsinore ( helsingør ) with the beautiful castle of Hamlet, so when you'll finally come here, drop us a line, we'll show you lots of beauty ;)
I love your list. We have 4,9,11 in common. I think you already have the home-based business down.
Fettuccine Alfredo? YES PLEASE!
Ok, you have GOT to visit CPH after June so I can take you to coffee or something- if you have time, of course! Then again, they have really nice apartments in CPH with AMAZING wood floors (no crappy plastic ones!) and it happens to be by the ocean! So, maybe destiny is calling, "move to DK!" :-)
I'm with you about walking everywhere. I miss it SO much! We have to drive 10 minutes JUST to get to the grocery store right now! I HATE it! It takes FOREVER to get anything done because I spend more time driving places than I do in my own bed.
Love your attitude to living and your passion for what you're doing!
Your love for your husband and when all would be lost you still have him!
So sweet and smart!
XX
Victoria
PS:
Hang in there, you'll come across the place for you soon!
My #1 baby girl name is Elisabeth - only with an s. I'm scared she would be called Lizzie though.
I am also dying to go to Copenhagen. Aussie Princess Mary is my idol.
I also totally am feeling that home truly is where the heart is. I used to think nowhere but where I grew up could be home, but I've come to discover that wherever my partner is and we're together and doing things with our lives that make us happy and fulfilled is where our home is.
Lattes def = appetite suppressant. Period.
I've never been ice-skating and I can't imagine not eating lamb and beef, grew up on a prime lamb property and now manage a genetic beef property.
That's all! Have a lovely weekend xxx