An introduction

In the spirit of everyone's wonderful introductions through Self Portrait Tuesdays, I thought I'd join in! Spilling the beans, as Susannah puts it! Here are 10 beans about me:

1. I grew up on the campus of a small private school where my dad has now been teaching for over 35 years. I loved having so much at my disposal- soccer fields galore, a tennis court, trees to climb, and a whole 'playground' to ride our bikes around when the kids went home for the summer! I also went to school there for highschool and spent a year working there as a houseparent.

2. The first time I tried to shave my legs (having had no direction!) I pushed too hard and cut myself all up my shin bone- I still have a bunch of little scars. Now I'm an expert and very careful.

3. I absolutely LOVE getting letters in the mail- it's one of my favorite things. Someone taking the time to sit down and write to me means so much and it means I can do the same in return- writing letters is one of my other favorite things!

4. I have kept a journal for half of my life (15 years), almost daily. When I came back from my two years living and traveling around the UK, I had 9 journals to help me remember everything. I hope to keep them in a fire safe box one day, keep them for my children and grandchildren to read.

5. I'm an anxious person - not in my day to day activities- but I spend enormous amounts of time worrying about things I have absolutely no control over. The rest of the time I spend trying not to worry! I'm learning to let go and accept things, so this is helping. Imagine what I will be able to do with all that time!

6. I have never really gotten angry at someone in my entire life. Probably not a good thing, but I was scared when people got mad at me so I never wanted to make someone else feel that way. I avoid confrontation as much as possible, but am also a good communicator so that eliminates a lot of the reasons to be angry. Or at least I find. I did once yell at my brother to stop bugging me, it scared the shit out of him!

7. I didn't enjoy at least 90% of my four years at university. The school was too small, but I wasn't ready to be in a big city. I was trying too hard to be someone else, so didn't make any lasting friendships. And I was always thinking about how I was going to pay off my students loans when I was done with a History degree. I do love to learn, but it was a bad experience all around, a hard time for my sense of self- one I've learned a lot from, though!

8. I love to cook and bake, read and try new recipes. I have dreams of a huge kitchen in our house one day, room to run wild! Be as messy as I'd like! Cooking with our kids, having big dinner parties with our friends. I do love food!

9. I had a very active childhood, spent most of my time outdoors running around and using my big imagination. As a result, I also have a big thick file of xrays at the hospital at home! Being an athlete and also a bit clumsy makes for a pretty interesting combination- two broken wrists (not at the same time!), two bad ankles, numerous fingers, I could go on and on!

10. I'm still in love with the magic of going to see a movie in a theatre. I love finding small old fashioned cinemas, or new funky places to experience the wonder of a movie. We used to treat ourselves to La Premier seats every once in awhile in Australia- still wondering why they don't have that here! Wishing there were more good movies out these days as well- anyone else find the pickings a bit slim lately??

and a bonus bean- I don't seem to give into trends very often- no Doc Martins for me, no Lululemon obsession, no addiction to reality shows (although I do watch a couple), no little dog in a bag, and I'm not really sure why.