25 interesting things

Ok, so I succumbed and did the facebook 25 random things about myself. I figured I'd throw it out here to the blogosphere, so maybe some of my bloggy friends would get to know me a little better ;) Here you go:
1. I'm going to try not to make this all about my kids. However it is hard when they are both supposed to be napping and I can hear them both 'talking' to themselves. Oh yeah, they get that from me.
2. I'm a procrastinator. Not all the time (like, I already have our entire budget for the year done, completely broken up into months and subtotaled on a main sheet), but sometimes. Like now, I should be finishing up cleaning my house for playgroup tomorrow, but Celesta was the last straw. If she can move to another country, get her, her hubby and 2 kids settled and move 5 times in 2 months, then I guess I can write 25 random things about me.
3. George Strait was my first love (I mean, besides my parents). I seriously fell in love with him at 5 or 6, and have never stopped! His song, "I Cross My Heart" was the first slow song Eric and I ever danced to, and my friend Seth sang it at our wedding (cheesy, but meaningful, my 2 favorite songs of his are "The Chair" and "Carried Away").
4. When we were going through pre-marital counseling, my pastor mentioned me staying home with our kids when we had them. I told him, "you're crazy, I'm an accounting major, I'm going to have my CPA, I'm going to be a businesswoman, I will never stay home with our kids." Then he said, "who's going to raise your kids then?" Fast forward 5 years, I'm working at ConocoPhillips, I get a new job scheduling natural gas on the trade floor, LITERALLY 2 days after I found out I was pregnant with Cara. I told my new boss, and he was totally fine with it. His only concern was that I would want to stay home after I had the baby. The words out of my mouth were, "are you kidding, my husband is a school teacher, I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to." Ha. If you know me, which if you're reading this, I'm assuming you do, you know the radical transformation God did in me once I held Cara in my arms! God is so very good.5. I actually still am a CPA, and I'm one of the weird ones that ENJOYS doing taxes each spring (probably because that's the only time I work--i.e. make money from my time).
6. I'm a blog freak. I post a lot http://www.ericandmistynewsome.blogspot.com/. I read a lot. I read people's blogs that I've never met. I cry over people I don't know. Sick children are a WEAKNESS. I cried over a lost little angel today.
7. I feel like my 2nd baby (Micah) gets jipped sometimes. I feel like he lives in his little bouncy seat, so that I can get Cara dressed, or get her lunch ready for school, or vacuum real fast, or take Cara potty, or or or. Today however, while Cara was at preschool, he was having a super fussy day, on top of me not feeling totally 100%, getting over an illness. So I just sat on the couch with him, and held him and looked at him and loved on him and watched him smile, for like 30 minutes. It was the best 30 minutes of my week.
8. I re-read everything. I've re-read the previous 7 posts about 10 times so far. That doesn't mean I catch all my mistakes, or that I even care when I read something that is wrong. In 9th grade, in Mrs. Baker's AP English class, they called me the grammar queen. Now, I could care less.
9. Eric is the love of my life. And I'm debating putting this as #1. I feel bad I'm just mentioning him, but he is the best, most solid, loving, creative, sweet, giving man I've ever known. I love him for who he is, and who he strives to be. We couldn't have been more opposite when we met, and it's a little weird how much more similar we've become. Although, the day of my best friend's funeral, when we were IM'ing over Thanksgiving break, and I asked him if we were ever going to be "boyfriend and girlfriend" his answer was, "I guess we can date, but I don't think it'll last very long." We joke about that today, and he ALWAYS says, "what's your definition of long" ;)
10. One of my best friends, Miranda Denise Adams, was killed in the Texas A&M Bonfire that fell 11/18/1999. It was THE saddest day (week/year/decade almost) of my life to date, but I know God used it to bring Eric and I together. It was followed 6 years later by the death of my cousin, Michael Gamble, in a car wreck. And I know God used that tragedy to bring me my sweet girl, Cara.
11. I'm the oldest of 8 girls. My sister Bailey, is my only fully biological sister (and who I'm closest too, obviously). But, I have my step-sister Shawna, who is my step-dad's daughter, who is 3 months younger than me. I have 3 half sisters from my dad's other wives (he's been married 5 times), and 2 step-sisters that are 18 year old twins. I also have an ex-step-brother, if you can figure that one out ;)
12. I L.O.V.E my girlfriends, and spending time with them. Girls night is one of the highlights of my month. I love getting to know new friends better and spending time with old ones. I know God brought me to Kingsland Baptist Church for a reason, and I couldn't have asked for a better church family to raise my children in.
13. I would do almost anything for my girlfriends. Just ask. However, one of my fears, it always has been, is that I cherish a friend more than they cherish me. You know what I mean?
14. I met my longest/closest/best friend Trayce the first day of kindergarten. She lived right around the corner from Kiddie Kollege, my day care. The bus picked us up to go to school, and the bus driver told me to sit "there," next to Trayce. I fell asleep on her shoulder on the way to school, and we've been friends ever since. We grew up in church together. We played flute in the band together. She's a year older than me, so she could drive early. We got into trouble together. We went to Sonic a lot together. Her parents would always take us to eat after church, and then (when she was 14/15) we'd go look at model homes in neighboring towns, and they'd let Trayce drive us from model home to model home. I thought that was so cool. Especially since my mom wouldn't get in the car with me until I was a licensed driver (my step-dad taught me how to drive).
15. Ok, I'm only at 15?? Seriously??? Ok, when I was 10, I used to want 6 kids. 3 boys, 3 girls, and 2 of them (one boy and one girl) were going to be twins. I used to have all their names picked out, but the only one that stuck was Micah. When Eric and I were dating/early marriage, we agreed on 2. The day I brought Cara home from the hospital, I knew I wanted more. I didn't necessarily want them RIGHT then, but I knew I was born to be a mom. Eric agreed to 3 (even though I secretly--ok not so secretly--want 4). He says as long as they keep coming out as easy as Micah did, we could keep going. I don't think he necessarily came out easy, but that we were WAY more prepared/prayerful/laid back than we were with Cara. We felt more at ease and knew what we were doing.
16. I am WAY more patient and WAY less stressed now than I ever was when I was working. I look back at my working days, and cherish those few friends I have from that time, because I was a very ugly person back then. I wasn't in the Word as I should have been. I cussed when I got stressed, which was often. I didn't hold my tongue when I should have. I made people feel bad because they didn't work as fast as me, or it didn't come as easy to them. Man, I don't even want to talk about it anymore!
17. I LOVE to cook. This was also a transformation after I had Cara. I never cooked before. When we were in college (and married), my extent of cooking was chicken nuggets and blue box mac and cheese. One time, when we were newlyweds, between summer session 2 and fall semester, when I had a day off work, I made us jumbalaya. It was AWESOME, but it took me 3 hours to make. I've never made it again. When I had Cara, I started watching Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (yes, sometimes she gets on my nerves, but the methods are great), and figured out, I can do that. And since then, I have!
18. Going along with cooking, I love saving money. With our income, we have to be 'tight' with our money, so that we can do what the Lord has called us to do, be debt free, live a fruitful life within our means, and raise our kids knowing how to save. Cooking 13 out of 14 nights every 2 weeks is an easy way to save our money. It doesn't happen EVERY time, but for the most part it does.
19. I love to read. I read a lot growing up, not so much in college, a lot when I was pregnant (both times) and not so much since. I do my (mostly) daily devotion/bible study still, but I haven't read a book since Micah was born. Last summer, when I was hot, fat and pregnant, and Eric was home most of the day with us, I sat and read all day long sometimes.
20. I like "The Office." I didn't jump on the bandwagon when it first came out. Eric and I never even watched it until the reruns came on TBS like 18 months ago. But, we realized we really liked it, and now we have 4 seasons on DVD!
21. We don't have cable. Another way to save money. We missed it a lot at first, but with each passing month, I think it gets easier and easier. Now that we have a new TV and digital antenna, we get a few more channels, and that makes Eric very happy (before NBC didn't come in well--whatever channel 2 is--or at all, so we had to watch The Office online the day after it came on).
22. This is harder than it looks. And I'm taking way too long doing it. Cara never did go to sleep, she's been up playing in her room this whole time. Oh, I HATE to color. Never liked it growing up. It bored me, and I was never patient enough to be good at it. All the kids loved it. They'd outline everything dark, and then color light, and you couldn't see the lines or how bad they colored. It hit me hardest in Mrs. E's 3rd grade class. I was in there with some world class colorers (angie!!), and I hated it. I've been blessed with a child who loves to color and play with play-doh. Now I know how much my mom probably wished I liked it, it can keep her entertained for hours! (ok, 30 minutes).
23. I never have been a morning person. In high school, i would wake up at 6:45, jump in the shower, and be at school by 7:10 with wet hair. No wonder the guy I liked all through high school wouldn't pay attention to me. Looking at my old pics, I wouldn't have either! :) ha
24. I'm weird, and I admit it. Most people don't believe I'm from Texas. I used to be a MUCH pickier eater, oh how that's changed. But there are still some things most people like that I despise: ketchup, ranch dressing, mustard, bbq sauce. Yep, mostly condiments, mostly southern condiments. I won't even open the ketchup bottle for my kid. I'm raising her to not eat those condiments much, but she does get them when daddy's home.
25. Kids are crying, I really should have accomplished something. I haven't even had time to re-read # 12-25, so if there are misspelled words, etc, I'm sorry. I don't even think most of these things are interesting