10 things to know about me

I’m headed to a blogger conference called SoFabCon this weekend and fortunately, it’s literally just up the road from me. I’m going to spend time with local blogger friends and some blogger friends I’ve gotten to know online in the last year through my connection with Collective Bias.

We’re all doing something fun as a “get to know you” thing which is to create a blog that is a “10 things to know about me” and we’re all linking them up together.

I had planned on doing a list of blogs that reference things about me but don’t know if I have time for that (welcome to stream of consciousness blogging).

In no specific order:

• Job-My first job was a business I created as a babysitter. I’m now friends on Facebook with many kids I used to babysit. They now have babies. My first “real” job was a secretary at a water park. My favorite job other than being a reporter and now a business owner was working at McDonalds. To learn more, read this.
• Pets-technically, my first pet was a dog named Puppy or Bruno. But the one I have actual memories of is my imaginary cat named Skinny. My dream and plan is to write a children’s book based on him. To read more about Skinny, go here. Since then, I’ve had a total of three dogs, one gerbil and two cats. Two of the dogs and the two cats are my current pets with my husband, John. They are the “stars” of my Instagram feed.
• Faith-I was raised in a Christian home and always believed in God but did not have a relationship with him at all until my late 20s. To learn more about that, read this.
• Love-I had a “boyfriend” in 7th grade but we couldn’t go on dates by ourselves. My first “real” date was at age 28. I met and dated a couple of different guys but they all ended up quickly proving themselves to be bullies. I realized my relationship with God was not deep enough yet to make strong decisions in regards to men so I quit dating. A few months later, I met John. He’s truly a God-given gift! To learn how we met (hint: it includes MySpace), read this blog.
• Enough-Last year I participated in the One Little Word program, which asks each participant to choose a focus word for the year and apply it in different ways each month. I chose the word “enough” based on what I learned at the Captivating Heart retreat the year before. I haven’t finished all the blogs yet, but when they are finished they will be the inspiration for my first e-book. To follow the journey, read this blog.
• Health-I was born with Spina Bifida and am a full-time wheelchair user. I also have four auto-immune diseases. I had gastric bypass and lost nearly 150 pounds and regained 50. I need to lose about 110 more pounds including skin removal before I hit goal weight. I’ve written various blogs about this so all you have to do is search my blog for Spina Bifida, Graves Disease and gastric bypass to learn more. Incidentally, my blog was started to chronicle my gastric bypass journey so there’s lots about that in the early years.
• Coffee soap-I love coffee soap. Especially when made with goat or sheep’s milk. Using this after handling smelly food like onions gets the smell out of my skin. We get ours from Goatie Girls.
• Enchiladas-I seem to have a “thing” about making enchiladas. I love making them at home or for potlucks. I make regular beef, cheese and olive enchiladas or fajita chicken bacon enchiladas the most.
• OCD-I’ve never been diagnosed with OCD and my “oddities” don’t interfere with my life so I don’t worry about it but…for a very long time I had to only take ice out of ice trays or eggs out of egg cartons in a symmetrical way. I still will eat three gummy vitamins instead of two because there are three flavors and I want to have them in even proportions. Don’t get me started on M&Ms.
• Volunteer-I enjoy working with non-profit organizations such as Champions for Kids, Polina’s Promise, Dress for Success NWA and Captivating Heart. To learn more about them, visit this blog.