So, in honor of this, I am launching my new blog. Welcome. I'm Blue, and here's a little intro to me in the form of this meme.
Jobs I’ve had: I earned money various ways as a young child. Pulling out teeth for the fairy offered too little job security, so I moved on to more lucrative pursuits. Lemonade stands aside, like many of my generation, I had a bicycle paper route delivering about 200-300 papers every week. Ironically, I also collected used newspapers to raise money for our school paper drive. When I was nine, I started working in the school cafeteria. At age 10 I started to babysit, and have been working almost non-stop since that time in my life. But for tax purposes, here's a sample of jobs I've held:
- Grocery stores, retail stores, restaurants (never fast food!) and a variety of Temp Agency jobs. These experiences taught me to work hard, and exposed me to many different kinds of people and opportunities, and helped me learn more about my interests and aptitudes.
- Deseret Towers Cafeteria Hostess: Noted for it's significance insomuch as it's where my DH, whom I'll refer to on this blog as "Doc", first laid eyes on me. My table-wiping skills were simply mesmerizing. He saw me holding that rancid dishrag across the room and said to himself, "that's the woman for me".
- Teaching: In college I worked as a TA. Recently I became a substitute teacher. I homeschooled my kids for a year, and have spent most of my adult life teaching kids and teens at church. Interestingly, I never considered how much teaching has been part of my life.
- Web Developer. AKA: WebMaster, WebMistress, Web Designer. Your choice. I spent the majority of our years in Chicago doing web dev, working and teaching all members of the university community about the internet, creating their first account, and introducing them to this new technology that would change the world. Years after we left Chicago my old boss, whom I remained friends with, informed me that, though he quickly came to appreciate my skills, work ethic, dependability etc., the reason I got the job was because his boss made him hire me because he "thought I was hot and wanted me around". Sheesh!
- Manager of the ID Center for University of Chicago. I switched gears for a couple years to manage the transition from the antiquated poloroid/laminated, quarterly-validation sticker ID card system, to a SmartCard system with digital pix, magnetic strip and cash stripe technology. A crazy, long-hours process, but it was a valuable experience that taught me a ton and I enjoyed it. Good times.
- Which brings me to my present employment as a flight attendant. The best perks of any job I've had. It's been an amazing experience for me. (see guilty pleasure #1 below)
- Finally, most rewarding work of my life though, is that of raising my darlin' kids. Bunch & Gator are simply beyond comparison. They provide a framework for every decision I make, and the experience of parenting them is the thing I'm most grateful for in my life.
Since I subscribe to the philosophy that life's too short to re-read or re-watch most books/shows, something has to REALLY resonate with me for me to sit through it more than once. So, a couple favorites have been:
- The Scarlett Pimpernell with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour...if you haven't seen it, it's one I enjoyed a lot. Sink me!
- There have been a couple times I wanted something to mostly listen to while I did a task (like ironing), in which I can't watch the screen much. So action movies are out. Doc gave me Ever After a long time ago and I enjoy it. I've also loved Anne of Green Gables since I was a child.
- I've enjoyed some of the quality blockbuster movies, (the Harry Potters & Lord of the Rings types). Don't watch them over and over though.
- #1 would have to be Travel. I'm sure I spend much more time traveling than a lot of people, but I have no idea if it's something I'd ever get tired of, because I haven't ever been sated. It's a guilty pleasure for me because it's not "real life"...and it's means being away from my community and commitments, including (during particularly guilty pleasure get-aways) Bunch, Gator and Doc. I love visiting friends, seeing places I haven't been, sleeping in hotels, eating out, driving rental cars, exploring and adventure. It's a beautiful world.
- A day of reading...especially just-for-fun books. Like yesterday. I knew I'd need to just plow through it, so I waited till then to pick up the last Harry Potter book. I committed to taking breaks to feed the kids, and I did answer the phone twice, but from the moment I woke up till I finished it late last night, I didn't do anything but read. Good thing books like that don't come out too often.
- Treats. They're awful. They don't do your body any good. They mess with your insulin levels, give you a false high followed by a hard crash, cause bloating, make you fat, make you gassy and probably take years off our lives. Darn they're awesome! Especially baked treats.
- Provo, Utah--for the first couple weeks of my life.
- Costa Mesa, CA--till I went to college
- Provo, Utah--College years
- Socorro, TX--When I was a missionary
- Chicago, IL--Whilst Doc did his Ph.D.
- Colchester, VT--Life after graduate school
- Salt Lake City, UT--Present--whilst Doc gets his MD.
The only time I've watched tv in the past 4 years has been on JetBlue when not working. During those times, I try to find the decorating and home/garden-type shows. At home we have rabbit ears on our set downstairs, and only get PBS and KBYU, which is fine for us.
What were the things I thought of when I first saw my husband?
- The first time I met Doc, he was in my oldest friend CJ's dorm room the day after the dance she'd invited him to. Not being the type to scope out friend's dates, the encounter didn't dent my consciousness at that moment. Different story for Doc, because, as you know, he'd seen my superb table-wiping skills in the cafeteria we ate at (see #2 Jobs I've Had above). Poor CJ. It was all over for her and Doc (they'd had one date). If only she'd had her own rancid, dingy dishrag in hand when he first saw her, she might've had a hope.
- The second time I saw Doc, was when I got off the elevator in the lobby of my dorm to meet him for our first date. Not having any memory of what he looked like (see meeting #1 above), I suavely meandered out, hoping he'd step forward to claim me, which, thankfully, he did. We went to the Folk Dance Christmas Around the World performance at the Marriott Center, and he had me home by 8:30 pm. I didn't know what to think of Doc yet.
- The third time I saw Doc was for our 2nd date...which had me slightly worried because I was a complete loon at that point in my life, but knew enough to realize that if he asked me out twice in quick succession, it probably meant he was interested. This was a bad thing, because I didn't want an 18 year old boy to fall in love with me. How AWKWARD it would be, when I, an almost 19 year old who was mature far beyond her years, had to break his poor heart! I avoid awkward. So I did my best to be a silly, frivolous nincompoop, so that he'd lose interest. To this day I have no idea why it didn't work.
- Our fourth meeting was our 3rd date. He asked me if I wanted to go to a movie with him. "Sure", I said, unimpressed by the lack of originality (I was a real git!) And then this good-hearted 18 year old boy, took the girl he was trying to impress to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the campus theater. It worked. I thought it was sweet and genuine of him. I started to be sweet and genuine in return. That night we ran into The Bumpler, a good friend of Doc's, on our way back to our dorm, and the three of us went and had a massive snowball fight. My first ever (I was a California girl all the way. They grew up in northern Illinois). It was wonderful. The rest is history. (Moral of the story: Never underestimate the power of a good snowball fight!)
Places I have been on Vacation (my favorite topic!)
- London, England
- Paris, France
- Bermuda. I ♥ Bermuda!
- Cozumel, Mexico
- The islands of Oahu and Hawaii, Hawaii
- Florida Keys
- Puerto Rico, and particularly the island Culebra off the south-east coast.
- I've been to almost all of the 50 states; still need to make it to Alaska, Oklahoma Arkansas, and the Dakota's...at least I don't remember being in these five states.
- Fun cities: Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, San Francisco, San Diego, Salt Lake City.
Favorite foods:
- Really good grilled steak or chicken. I almost NEVER have grilled meat. Maybe once a year. But YUM! Whenever I do (like 2 weeks ago, my friend's fiancé made the most amazing steak for us!) I am reminded of how tasty meat is.
- Baked goods. I loved the baked goods. Nearly any kind of baked good.
- Pizza. Really great pizza. I'm still a teenager at heart I guess.
- Ice Cream. I'm a sucker for ice cream. Especially home-made...oh torture! But I'm also a big fan of The Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt chain in California. I'm even a card-carrying member...I get some every time I visit. It's healthier than ice cream, so less guilt!
- Smoothies. I ♥ smoothies! I aim to own a VitaMix before year's end, and will be using it to mix up delicious smoothies and soups and other healthy treats.
- Delish salads. I like eating but loathe making salads. Any salad made by someone else is a favorite with me. A great salad has lots of toppings, and a good dressing. Poppyseed is a favorite. Yum!
Websites I visit daily:
- Blogs. I use Bloglines to subscribe to blogs I read (there are 30 of them), and any time they've been updated, Bloglines lets me know. It's free and so useful!
- Funny, other than blogs, there aren't any sites that I visit every day intentionally. I use Google Maps, Dictionary.Com, Wikipedia and our County Library sites regularly though.
Body parts I have injured:
- I've been pretty fortunate as an adult really. Growing up I was "Bruised up Blue". I had an adverse relationship to glass, and had to have stitches a number of times. I cut open my leg with a hoe, have the ubiquitous chin scar so many of us sport, and a crooked thumb from a fast-pitch ball my coach pitched at me during softball practice in High School. I missed so much school after a car accident when I was 16 that I wasn't eligible to graduated from High School (so I ended up dropping out and went to college). I've had a number of sprained ankles, torn ligaments, broken toes. I spent 18 hours in a decompression chamber after my first open-water dive in Bermuda. Memories!
Nicknames I have had:
Ahh nicknames. Terms of derision and endearment! For therapy purposes, we'll be excluding all the monikers from my childhood:
- Blue
- Jeuls
- JB
- J-Sweetest
- Hota (pronounced "Ho-tuh")
- Hota Bay
- J-squeebs
- Spleebs
TAG, You are it:
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