1. When my mother was pregnant with me, someone asked my brother if her preferred a boy or a girl. His response? He wanted beagles.
2. Since the age of three, my nickname has been “Stuff.” My two older brothers declared that I thought I was “hot stuff,” and it stuck.
3. My kindergarten class put on a show based on the then hit TV show ‘Puttin’ on the Hits. I, as Madonna, performed ‘Material Girl.’ I was, I sincerely hope, the only six-year-old in the state to have a pair of fingerless, lace gloves.
4. I cannot spell. I entered a spelling bee in about the fourth grade and missed the word, ‘again.’
5. During my first senior year of college, the girls and I had a fake prom. We all pulled out the old dresses, which all still fit (more or less) and went out. I got to be prom queen because I was the only one who owned a tiara.
6. For my real junior prom my mom made me the most gorgeous blue dress. She dyed lace to match and beaded it by hand. I really have to get her to give me more sewing lessons.
7. I have a thing for old pickup trucks. I used to date a guy with a ’52 Chevy. The first time we went out, the door handle fell off.
8. One of the proudest moments of my life was when I bought my house at the age of twenty-three.
9. The most upset I have ever been was when someone decided to break into my house. In the interest of looking on the bright side of things, I had to laugh at what their reaction must have been when the figured out I had nothing worth taking.
10. I make homemade soap. I know, completely random.
11. I am insanely allergic to poison ivy. I never got it until about 2 years ago, but I’ve had it twice since then. It is miserable.
12. I opened my first checking account when I was five. I had to close it a few years ago because someone decided they they’d fund their internet porn habit with bank drafts out of my account.
13. People, especially women, who don’t even attempt to have a financial plan make me nuts.
14. My grandmother taught me to crochet, but neither of us ever learned to follow a pattern.
15. I vaguely remember tasting beer for the first time when I was about five.
16. I can see the beauty in an algebraic equation, but the practical applications are pretty much lost on me.
17. I am a certified graduate of a hunter’s education program, and actually went raccoon hunting on a ‘date’ once.
18. The first time I wore high heels was sixth grade graduation.
19. I was a cheerleader for one year, the lone seventh grader amidst a group of freshman girls who called themselves ‘The Dolls.’
20. I used a Shell Silverstein poem in my Valedictorian address senior year, “Grandma sent the hammock. The good Lord sent the breeze. I’m here to do the swinging. Now, who’s going to move these trees?”
21. I like public speaking.
22. I had to have braces. I got one set on the day before Thanksgiving one year and the other set on the day before Thanksgiving the next year
23. I love to dance. My dad has been my most consistent dance partner, but it was a friend who taught me how to waltz.
24. Once when my dad opened the car door for me, he said, “I want you to know what it’s like to be treated like a lady…and the first guy who doesn’t do it, I’ll kick his butt.” Love that.
25. I think that the one thing I’m most grateful to my parents for is their example of true love…human, imperfect, tested, but always enduring. One of my good friends once said, “I love to watch your parents dance. They look so in love.” They do, too.
26. I think “Joy of My Life” by Fogerty is the best love song ever written.
27. I love to cook. I just bought a Kitchen Aid Mixer (the Professional Series, 6 quart, 575 watt model with bowl lift and steel attachments). This thing could probably mix concrete. I love it
28. I feel like a complete bad a** when I open a bottle of wine, using a waiter’s corkscrew, of course
29. I will buy things for the sake of great packaging. I will also refuse to buy things because of excess packaging.
30. Few people who see me on a regular bases would guess that I have an obsession with high-end makeup. Stila, Cargo, Nars…why can’t they open a Sephora in central Arkansas?
31. Everyone should have at least one job for which they have to wait on the public. Waitress, receptionist, whatever. Also, you can tell a lot about people by how they treat those who wait on them.
32. Everyone should live on her own before getting married.
33. I will never understand ppl who are in debt but pay to have cable.
34. A maternal instinct is not part of my makeup.
35. I won the Missouri lottery.
36. Growing tomatoes is more fun than eating them.
37. I love bonus features on DVD’s. I feel almost obligated to listen the extra commentary, but then I feel guilty for watching the extra scenes that weren’t in the ‘real’ movie.
38. ‘Garden State’ is the best movie I’ve seen lately.
39. I sincerely wanted to be a nun until I was about thirteen.
40. My nickname my junior and senior year of high school was ‘Sister Sin.’
41. I love little purses, especially Nine West minis.
42. My mother cannot understand why I will wear shoes with bows on them at twenty-five but refused to at the age of twelve.
43. I always loved the sound of ‘church shoes’ clacking on the floor.
44. The most terrifying question in the world is “Where did God come from?”
45. ‘Reality Shows’ is a misnomer. They should be called unscripted.
46. When I was young I was afraid of waking up in a burning building. I never liked to sleep above the first floor.
47. My favorite Mr. Rogers episode was the one in which they showed how crayons were made.
48. I enjoy being read to.
49. I wish I could sing.
50. When I was younger it seriously worried me that one day I would have to grow up and do my own grocery shopping.
51. Until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t bought a lipstick since I was seventeen.
52. I’m convinced that I work more slowly than everyone else at my job.
53. My favorite quote (as close as I can get without looking it up) is, “And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
54. Oddly enough, one of the scariest things I’ve ever done was a drawing project. A 6’ by 6’ nude self-portrait.
55. I hate going to the store for one item.
56. I love to read. I’m also a re-reader. I’ve read the Anne of Green Gables series a dozen times… The Chronicles of Narnia, anything Judy Blume, Jane Austin, The Little Women Series…love ‘em.
57. Sleep is a beautiful thing.
58. It kind of freaks me out to think of anyone reading this.
59. I had forgotten how much I like to write.
60. I’m a fan of back seam stockings, but fishnets are just trashy.
61. I pretty much have the musical taste of a fifty-five year old man. Johnny Cash was brilliant. If you can’t dance to CCR, you can’t dance to anything.
62. I’d really like to raise bees and maybe chickens. I’ve been known to muse about life off the grid.
63. I’m not a big TV watcher. I can think of four shows that have really struck me as worth watching: The Cosby Show, The Wonder Years, My So-Called Life, and Joan of Arcadia.
64. I define my life not in days or years, but in moments.
65. People who say ‘irregardless’ make me want to throw things.
66. Shortly after I began my current job, I heard myself leave a phone message that ran along the lines of, “I just wanted to touch base with you and make sure we were on the same page.” I recoiled in horror.
67. I love listening to NPR, especially ‘This American Life’ and ‘Selected Shorts’
68. I always kind of feel sorry for women who get a dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day. The best V-day present I’ve ever heard of was the calendar my brother gave to his wife. For each of the 365 days of that year, he wrote a different reason he loved her.
69. I’m a sucker for a good foot massage.
70. One of my favorite features are my fingers
71. I love scars. I always want to know the story behind them. I think varicose veins are kind of cool too.
72. The first guy who said he loved me said, “I love you, too.” I hadn’t said I loved him first.
73. I don’t like creamed corn. I don’t see the point.
74. Ppl tell me I have a ‘nice phone voice.’
75. I had a baby brother and baby sister that both passed away before I was born. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to know my sister.
76. Learning to see grey is an essential step to being human.
77. PhotoShop is a truly awesome program, but I always kind of feel like a big liar when I use it.
78. I hate writing checks. I really hate having to go to the bank to cash checks.
79. I’d rather wait to get what I really want rather than get it right away.
80. I’m just less than 5’2”. I have no desire to be taller.
81. I don’t trust guys who kiss one handed or women who can cry on cue.
82. Kissing is underrated.
83. The Beatles are overrated.
84. I like dandelions in my yard, especially when they are yellow.
85. Really tanned ppl scare me.
86. Clean sheets make me happy.
87. I refuse to use fabric softener. (If you are using fabric softener on your towels, you are doing yourself a great disservice.)
88. Air ‘fresheners’, strong perfume, and scented laundry detergent make me ill.
89. I own four canister sets.
90. I love paper, especially handmade, linen, and brown kraft papers.
91. I also love containers…bottles, baskets, boxes, and tins.
92. I majored in Fine Arts and minored in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies.
93. I think sign language classes should fulfill language credits in universities.
94. I have a dog named Sophie.
95. I think it is gross when ppl let their dog sleep in their bed.
96. In college I had a habit of telling ppl “You’re going straight to hell for that one.” This eventually extended into sending ppl to a specific level of hell (bad friend hell, ruining a good song hell, etc.). I toyed with the idea of making a ‘Levels of Hell’ board game for my thesis, but, no, I didn’t do it.
97. I used to hate answering machines
98. I never successfully learned to ride a bike.
99. I love chocolate.
100. It took me forever to try to correct the spelling in this list