Tagged

My friend Nicole tagged me for this post, and I almost let it slip my mind! I love these! They kind of disappeared after everyone's blogs went private and Facebook came along. So, here we go.

1.) What is your favorite book and why?

Brainy Amy would say Silas Marner by George Eliot and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Wonderful books with noble characters and powerful messages! Relaxing/Unwinding Amy will always find herself returning to a good old Harry Potter. They are such fun to read. Make fun of me if you want, friends, but I can't wait to introduce the books to my kids!
Yes, I own the boxed set.

2.) Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I'll be in my mid-40's! Boo and Yaks will be teenagers, and Diddles will be the age of my Beehives! I should probably say that I'd get back into teaching at that point. To be honest friends, teaching was (and is even more so today), a tough gig. It's so much preparation in and outside of classroom. I love to teach, but the behavior management alone was enough to almost put me over the edge after the mere two years I taught! It killed all the fun of that job. Granted, I taught 5th/6th grade, but I'm not sure I want to ever return. Is that terrible?

Me outside my classroom. I look so young, and that was only 10 years ago! :(

So, I guess I have 10 years to re-invent myself and find something I'd love to do. Right now it's a full-time job raising my kids to be good, kind, hard-working people, who will be the steadfast and immovable sort. That's a big job now, and I'm sure it will still be 10 years from now.

3.) Where is your favorite restaurant and what do you order there?

I love The Melting Pot. It's really expensive, so it's such a treat to eat there. Our group usually orders the Swiss Cheese Fondue, the Land and Sea with Oil, and the Milk Chocolate Fondue for dessert. I think the food is wonderful, but the ambiance is unmatched! I love the high-backed, quiet booths, and the trays of dip-able food that they bring out. I love sampling different combinations, and talking about which you like best and why. It's a wonderful place to go with a bunch of great girlfriends or your spouse for a long, leisurely meal and great conversation.

4.) What was your first childhood memory?

Lots of little memories, but no idea chronologically which one came first. I remember watching Sesame Street.


I completely remember feeling so sorry for Luis that the poor man couldn't find any WATER (agua)! Good thing it started raining just in time. :)

I remember feeling sad when Jon and Andy left for school and being excited for them to come home.

I have no memory of this. I must have been 2 or 3.

I remember running around with my siblings, riding big-wheels and playing pretend games. We had a lot of snails in California, especially after it rained, and I remember we set up a circus of acts with the snails. Tightrope walking, flying on the trapeze, etc. We made tickets and everything! I remember we had a pet rabbit in a hutch out back, and the rabbit had babies. That was so exciting. I remember Mom reading bedtime stories to us. I can still hear her voice in my head, and that sound that fingers make when it grips a page to turn it. Funny the things that stick, huh?

5.) What is the most daring thing you have ever done or what are you the most proud of accomplishing?

When I went away to college, I knew that I had to financially pay for it on my own. My parents were supporting missionaries and we had a lot of medical bills from Tim's surgeries. After finishing an expensive first quarter (out-of-state tuition), and no luck finding a part-time job, I quit school. I had to get a job and get my residency. My neighbor, and good friend Wayne taught me to drive stick-shift on my brother Andy's Camaro, and then had me use him as a reference to apply for a job at ICON Health and Fitness (a production plant for exercise equipment). I got a job working at the replacement parts warehouse, boxing consoles and treadmill boards (which weighed almost 30 lbs. each). I'd come home tired, dirty and exhausted, but I kept at it, and slowly worked myself up to an "office" job upstairs, where I analyzed inventory and adjusted future orders for parts. I finally got in-state tuition, and went back to school part-time, and worked there part-time.

My Grandparents helped me pay for my housing one year, and my parents helped me pay for my Gold Nugget (my first car - a gold Honda Civic Hatchback) after Andy got home and wanted his Camaro back. :) During the summers, I went home and worked, and was then re-hired at ICON each school year after that, all the way until my student teaching five years later. When I finished up student teaching, I moved home with $200 in credit card debt. Not too bad for a five-year college education! That experience taught me to work hard, to sacrifice, and to prioritize. I worked harder in my classes, knowing that X number of hours of boxing boards went to pay for that text book, or that class.

Dad, me and Mom, Graduation Day in front of the "A", May 2001

But really, I didn't exactly do it "all on my own". I had help from my parents and Grandparents, not to mention endless moral support from great friends and roommates, as well as a loving Heavenly Father, who I know was mindful of my righteous desire to get an education and stay out of debt, and helped pave the way to make it a possibility. It was a great feeling to graduate!