Tagged

I got tagged! I usually tag myself because some of the tags I see are interesting on other blogs, but this time Kathy tagged me and I will comply.

Here are the rules:
1- Post the rules on your blog
2- List 6 random things about yourself.
3- Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4- Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
5- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random things about Me

1.) I don't like to share. I had bad luck as a child with people never returning things or returning them ruined. However, I will typically go buy the item for the person OR give them the item instead of sharing. It has sometimes cost me a bit of money, but gave me much piece of mind.

2.) Technology gadgets are my weakness. I love to buy them. My latest was a little tiny speaker to plug into my iPOD. Now when people ask if they can hear a song I'm talking about, I just plug that speaker in instead of letting them try out my ear gear. Gross and like I said ...I don't like to share.

3.) I de-junk my house every single week. I don't have anything stuffed into closets or anything now. I'm getting to be fairly simple. I just have no interest in spending a lot of time taking care of stuff.

4.) The older I get the less tolerance I have for laziness or people who want to receive things on a golden platter. It's even harder to be the boss of people of this sort. They fall into the category of "there is no time for people like that" and I honestly have a hard time looking in their eyes when really ...wouldn't it be the opposite?

5.) I am one of the few people that likes to sit in the back row of church and see all the children antics. Since I don't see any children during the week, it is fun for me to see them grow, pout, smile and fixate on my boyfriend's head. Haaaa. (Kids like round heads I think)

6.) When it comes to cookies, I have no self-control. So, I now unofficially run cookies anonymous, graham crackers anonymous, peanut M&M anonymous, chocolate cake anonymous, and brownies anonymous. Ok, so my problem is bigger than cookies. Sometimes I will sneak into salt after eating the cookies thinking that will stop the behavior. I think it actually works.

Yes, those six things were pretty random.

Here are six people I'd like to hear about:
1 - Ann
2 - Renaye
3 - Patti
4 - Elise
5 - Pam

Not tagged and yet a response

Figured I'd answer these questions for myself that I saw listed on another blog.

1. Started your own blog -Yes, I have 10, but some are secret. I have a lot of pent up words.
2. Slept under the stars -Yep, as well as in many tents. But, not since 17 years old. No interest in camping.
3. Played in a band -No, but I did play in orchestra from 6th grade through part of 12th grade.
4. Visited Hawaii -Yep, when I was little and then again a few years ago. I slept in a car by the beach one night because all hotels were full.
5. Watched a meteor shower - only on tv.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - Yes, and realized that was ok after I filled out my taxes.
7. Been to Disneyland - Yes, when I was in kindergarten we lived right by Disneyland. I've been to Disneyworld a few times as an adult. Am I the only one that thinks it is overrated? I liked the going over to the Cape Canaveral better.
8. Climbed a mountain -Yes, and I had to be rescued from it the next morning. No interest in climbing any more mountains.
9. Held a praying mantis -No.
11. Bungee jumped -No. And, why would I want to?
12. Visited Paris -Yes. But, only the airport. I kept going to south France instead.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - Yes, and that is not a comfortable place to be.
5. Adopted a child - No, but I may at some point.
16. Had food poisoning -Yes, darn that Steak-n-Shake in Columbus, Ohio.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty -No, but I've looked at it across the river.
18. Grown your own vegetables -Yes, kind of. We had tons of gardens growing up so that my parents felt like we had enough work to do. Now I have two plants - a bamboo thing that doesn't need watering and a big tropical plant that no one could kill.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France -No, like I said ...went down to south France.
20. Slept on an overnight train -Not really, though I've fallen asleep at night on the DC metro before.
21. Had a pillow fight - Yes....many, many years ago.
22. Hitch hiked - No, but my Dad used to pick up hitch hikers in Nebraska and we paid one of them to mow the lawn AND he stayed the night. Scary!
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill- Yes, but I would never do that now. (-;
24. Built a snow fort -Yes. I used to always imagine that I would build one good enough to live in for the winter. After about the two feet high mark I was too tired and the roof would never quite work.
25. Held a lamb -ate lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping -No. Gross.
27. Run a Marathon -No. But, I plan to walk one.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice -No. perhaps on my next European adventure.
29. Seen a total eclipse - Yes, it was in Nebraska. We all went outside of the elementary school and put on this massive helmet to view it through. My teacher made sure we were scared to death to look at the sun at that time. We thought we would go blind.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - Both. I still loved them most in Idaho and Indiana. Here there are too many trees.
31. Hit a home run -Yes, but I was probably six years old and it was probably a plastic bat.
32. Been on a cruise -Yes, a day cruise from Nassau in the Bahamas. It was a small cruise. We went to a little island like the one in the Microsoft default screen savers. We had a cook out on the boat, went snorkeling, played beach volleyball and just sat watching the beautiful Bahama water.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - Yes, multiple times growing up and as an adult...except as an adult I was able to finally go on the Maid of the Mist boat.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors -Yes, a few of the places.
35. Seen an Amish community -Yes. I can even claimed to have slept in one! My family pulled over into one of their corn fields in Pennsylvania when we were on an eastern family trip when we were young. We just hoped that none of them would discover us the next morning.
36. Taught yourself a new language - I've taken Spanish numerous times and can read it, but am not sure I'm comprehending it all.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied -Yes, but that was about 10 years ago. I had about $2,000 in savings, no debt and that was actually when I traveled the most.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person -No. What is the deal with all these questions about "token tourist sites?" Alas, I guess we learned to see everything but the tourist traps growing up.
39. Gone rock climbing -Yes. No interest in any further climbing rocks or mountains.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - No.
41. Sung karaoke -Yes. In fact, we would go to the Chi Chi restaurant with all the capital hill interns and I was the oldest and I would get carded.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt -Yes. In fact, it erupted sideways when we were there one time. Must have been windy.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - No, but I've purchased meals for people at McDonalds and have taken them outside to them.
44. Visited Africa -No, but that is highly likely.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight -Yes, beautiful except there are a lot more crabs out at that time....at least in Hawaii and in the North Caroline Outer Banks.
46. Been transported in an ambulance -No.
47. Had your portrait painted -Not that I'm aware of, but it's easy to turn a photo into a portrait with photo software so who needs it.
48. Gone deep sea fishing -Yes, a few times out in Ocean City, Maryland. It was pretty fun and relaxing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person -Nope, not yet.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris -No, wow, more Paris questions.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling -Yes, but it still scares me.
52. Kissed in the rain -Yes, but there was no music in the background.
53. Played in the mud -Yes, when I was little. After it rained in Nebraska, there would be a lot of dirt on the side of the road that would dry quickly. It would be really smooth and break into pieces. We called these "freckles" and I have no idea why, but it seemed completely normal at the time.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater -Yes, they have them in Utah.
55. Been in a movie -Yes. My brother was a rugby player in the Forever Strong movie. I sat and did fake cheers in the audience.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China -No, but I'd love to soon.
57. Started a business -Yes, but I put it on hold so I don't have a conflict of interest with my current job.
58. Taken a martial arts class -No, but I love martial arts movies and in my dreams I'm always the martial arts hero.
59. Visited Russia -No, and I have absolutely no desire to go there for some reason.
60. Served at a soup kitchen - Yes, it was fun, but humbling.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies -Yes, but for one year. I think I bought the most from myself. I love the thin mints.
62. Gone whale watching -No, but I've seen them in movies.
63. Got flowers for no reason -A few times.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma -No. Not worth it with the fainting.
65. Gone sky diving -Nope, but I've been para sailing above some of the Bahama islands. It was amazing being way above even the tall hotels. I started singing at the top of my lungs and no one could hear me. There was no wind up there and I felt like I was floating. A wonderfully peaceful feeling. I would never do it on the east coast. You could see what was in the water in the Bahamas. Up this way who knows what is lurking under that ugly brown water.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp -No. I will. I've been to the Holocaust museum and was indoctrinated growing up in Michigan with movies that I'm sure were worse than the Schindler's List movie.
67. Bounced a check - Yes, years ago, but not lately
68. Flown in a helicopter -No.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy -Hmmm. I don't think so. I dejunk regularly, but I take lots of pictures.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial -Yes, many times. I love it. Very inspiring.
71. Eaten Caviar -Yes. And it was disgusting.
72. Pieced a quilt -No. It isn't a goal yet either.
73. Stood in Times Square - Yes, and bought cheap tickets at that place in the middle of the road.
74. Toured the Everglades -No.
75. Been fired from a job -Kind of. The boss of the BYU bookstore called me in saying that he didn't think I could handle being there on time. I was an early morning janitor in the bookstore (4 a.m. - 8 a.m.) and if you arrived at 4:01 a.m. you couldn't get in. I got there at 4:03 a.m. a few times after staying up all night writing papers. I think I worked there all of 3-4 weeks.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London -Yes, I tried to make one or two of them laugh and then gave up...since I wasn't sure if I would get in trouble.
77. Broken a bone -Not yet.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -Yes, up through the Rocky Mountain canyons. Not interested in going on them again.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - Yes, from the air.
80. Published a book -No. Maybe someday.
81. Visited the Vatican - Not yet.
82. Bought a brand new car -Yes, I bought my current car when it had nine miles on it. It was worth the extra money.
83. Walked in Jerusalem -No, not yet.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper -Yes, I was paper carrier of the month and then the year. I think it was in there a few more times for stuff.
85. Read the entire Bible -Yes. I read it when I was around 14 years old and then again when I was a missionary.
86. Visited the White House - Yes, in fact I used to work a block or two from it.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - No, and let's hope it never comes to that.
88. Had chickenpox -Yes. My sisters and I had them all at once and we looked like the living dead. Apparently I only had 4-5, but I picked those 4-5 to death and have scares for all of them.
89. Saved someone’s life -I think so. A man had a seizure on the George Washington parkway and I could tell from a distance and had someone call 911 quickly and he was eventually air lifted away. Not sure what happened.
90. Sat on a jury -No.
91. Met someone famous - Yes, quite a few. Most of them are political or ambassadors from around the world. One of my roommates entertained them on a regular basis and I would go along to help. I helped Bill Marriott serve them at a big party at Senator Smith's (Oregon) house once. I thought it was cool that the Marriotts pitched right in and helped.
92. Joined a book club -No. I really don't want to plan to talk about what I read.
93. Lost a loved one -No.
94. Had a baby - No, but I hope to have triplets and just be efficient that way.
95. Seen the Alamo in person -No.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - No, just seen it about 100 times (honestly, I counted it up one day) from the air.
97. Been involved in a law suit -No.
98. Owned a cell phone -Yes, but I hate the cell phone part of it and love the email part of it.
99. Been stung by a bee -No, but I've been stung by wasps. The last time I was stung was when I took a vacuum to a nest on the side of the garage (as per my Mom suggestion) and some of them came at me and stung me in the throat.

Blog Tag - You are It

Ok, I've never been tagged before, but I saw this on Pam's blog and figured that I would give it a try.

The rules of the game:

RULE #1: People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

RULE #2: Tag 6 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
They would get a long string of witty little comments from me - you know, the kind that pop into your head an hour too late to make any difference, but they are extremely clever and hurt to the core. Actually, I would be very hurt and would forgive the person, but would never forget. After all, you don't want to make the same mistake twice.

2. If you have a dream you’d like to come true, what is it?
Get married, have triplets, invent something, travel the world, market the talents of others, have Becca House actually built and go back to developing some of my talents. I also have the desire to play "The Star Spangled Banner" on a powerful organ in some huge stadium or in the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
On any given day there are a few rears that I would like to kick at work, people that wait for me to cross the street (I hate that), people that do bad stuff to other people and perhaps even Sarah Palin. Ha.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Well, I've already figured this one out on a piece of notebook paper. I hear of so many people winning millions in the lottery and then losing all of the money, their families, their dignity, their friends, etc. So, I have it all divided out to charity, debt, family, friends, my personal foundation for technology foundation, and for a few organizations that also promote education and skill development.

5. Will your best friend always be your best friend?
Yes, but like Pam (she's one of them) I feel like I have a little group of best friends. I feel like every couple of years there comes along another to add to the list, but that said - I keep the list of the really close small. I plan on keeping close relationships for life...even if we don't talk for a few years.

6. Have you ever been in love with two people at once?
Nope, I think that I've only been in love with one man. I will admit to having been infatuated with more than one man at once in college. Reading my college journals is a certain reminder.

7. How long would you wait for someone you really loved?
Well, I am extremely experienced in this area. I'd wait forever (literally), but part of me doesn't consider the wait waiting. 

8. If you won the lottery, would you quit your job?
No. Along with my "winning a billion" dollars plan mentioned above I decided that I would continue to work for three months while I was deciding what to do with the money. I think keeping the job for three months would force me to remember how life is and get everything situated properly before I just run off and see the world.

9. Who are your favorite celebrities?

I like Jackie Chan and a lot of the other martial artists - as well as their movies. In that case, I get a laugh out of Jackie Chan/Owen Wilson combination. Hmmm. This is a hard one. I don't really care who is acting and there isn't much to be looked up to in most of their lifestyles, values or even choice of fashion....as if I would know. Oh, I love the actors on the Big Bang Theory show. Nerds are cool.

10. What sucks the life out of you?
Meetings, meetings, meetings. Tuesday is a big meeting day at work each week and I always try to get extra sleep on Tuesday night. I need 3-4 hours a day to myself. Perhaps it's my INTJ personality.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
I would like to be the tall, dark lady with beautiful silver hair that walks around wearing a loose white linen skirt, an untucked light blue linen shirt, pearls around my neck, and a woven beach hat. The backdrop would switch from a huge lawn where I'm playing with kids, to a moment where I'm taking a photograph, to a huge sunroom where I'm managing some knowledge management system, and on to walking on the beach with my spouse with our hair blowing in the breeze. Aaaah! I think I need to experience some wind and salt water.

12. What’s your greatest fear/phobia?
Though I love the martial arts movies, I'm most afraid of knives and swords. I get freaked out even if I have to cut up something in my own kitchen. I hate spiders, but I don't run from them. I run to find something to take their life. However, if I see a spider outside I don't kill it.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
No one tagged me. Hey, sometimes you have to be a self-starter. However, Pam gave me the idea and I think she is a deep thinking, caring, patient, smart and very understanding individual who happens to be on the best friend list mentioned above.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
I'm assuming that we are talking money here, aye? I'm already single and well paid, but I'm not rich. However, I've seen my income double multiple times over the last few years and I can say this - more money doesn't bring more happiness. It also doesn't bring that much extra money (higher taxes) which is funny. I don't believe that this question should even be a choice. The choice should be whether you love someone and want to spend the rest of your life with them. The rest (whatever the rest is) will follow if that decision is made correctly.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
I roll over and turn off the blackberry alarm. I scroll through blackberry email really quick. I roll back over and close my eyes and say a prayer. The prayer is extra long because I don't want to get out of bed. I get up, get dressed, check facebook really quick and try to get to the commuter lot by 5:45 a.m. to meet my carpool.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
I give what I can when I have the energy and other times I'm too tired. At that point, the other person better not be tired because it's their turn to give their all to me. Ha. Sometimes you both just have to sit there and do absolutely nothing but give each other a hug.

17. Is your career vitally important to you?
I didn't use to think it was very important, but the reality is that it is very important. I've been working since I was in the 4th grade. I was born to work. It fulfills me and it's a game to me. I will always work, but I'm doing all I can right now to ensure that my work won't take me outside of the home for the rest of my life.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing someone has done?
I can forgive and have done it many times and am hoping people will continue to forgive me. Sometimes it is valuable to remember and other things that may have been horrible at the time have long been forgotten. I'm carrying enough weight physically. I don't need to carry extra emotional and revengeful baggage.

19. Do you prefer being single or having a relationship?
Honestly, a love having a relationship that makes me feel comfortable about myself. With that relationship also comes the understanding and freedom between us that helps us appreciate the time we also need to have alone or with others.

20. List 6 people to tag
Ok, let's see. I guess I will select people that have actually commented on my blog. I don't have very many visitors.

• Renaye - http://rc3w.blogspot.com/
  
• Jessica 
• Heidi 
• Patti