100 Things About Me: Part 1

I'm borrowing this idea from my friends Michele and Kim, who recently posted similar lists on their blogs. Let me know if you learn something that you didn't know before, or something that surprises you! In no particular order of importance, here are items 1-50:

1. My hair has been every length and every "normal" color except black (haven't experimented with unnatural colors like pink or blue)


2. I hate popcorn - even the smell of it makes me nauseas


3. I love skim milk - I was drinking two gallons a week while pregnant


4. I'm 30 years old (and secretly like it when people act shocked after learning my age)


5. I'm an avid Stephen King fan


6. I worked in an iron ore mine for a summer


7. I've lived in Michigan, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, and California


8. I love heavy rock music


9. I'm three-quarters Finnish


10. I have an entire drawer in my refrigerator dedicated to chocolate


11. I'm deathly afraid of spiders


12. I wish exercise wasn't necessary for good health


13. I crack my knuckles (and have done so since age 10)


14. I quit biting my fingernails for good earlier this year


15. My friend Brooke and I had an eating contest in 7th grade to see who could consume more calories over a weekend


16. I'd like to quit my job and write books instead


17. I'm jealous of people who don't have to wash their hair everyday (I'd be a grease monkey otherwise)


18. I didn't learn how to swim until the ninth grade


19. I played the flute from 6th grade through 10th grade


20. I wish I could play the piano


21. I have a terrible singing voice


22. I like new clothes but I hate shopping for them


23. I love to eat but I don't like cooking


24. My middle name is Marie


25. I have a sister who is almost 26 and a brother who will be 22 this weekend


26. I've never owned my own TV


27. I have a tattoo on my lower back


28. I used to have a pierced belly button but took the ring out about three years ago


29. I have a Masters degree in Public Administration


30. I have liberal political views


31. I have a 6-week-old daughter named Isabelle
    
32. Isabelle's middle name is Marian, which was my maternal grandmother's first name


33. I like making to-do lists because it's fun to cross things off as I finish them


34. I AM ANNOYED BY E-MAILS THAT ARE TYPED IN "ALL CAPS"


35. I think there is a definite difference between Coke and Pepsi, and will choose Coke every time ("real" Coke, not diet - I hate diet pop)


36. I'd rather have coffee from 7-11 than Starbucks - it tastes better and is way cheaper


37. My nickname in junior high and high school was Bones - my friend Brooke still calls me that


38. Soon after college, some girlfriends and I frequented a bar in Grand Rapids so often that we became friends with the band that played there every Friday night (and eventually one of the band members married one of my good friends from college).


39. Strong fragrances give me a headache - my worst nightmare would be getting locked inside a Yankee Candle Store


40. I hate onions, black olives, Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Stove Top stuffing, and meatloaf


41. My favorite cereal is Lucky Charms


42. I have freakishly long arms


43. I could watch the orangutans at the zoo all day


44. I have an allergy to cheap metal jewelry - it gives me a rash


45. I got engaged in New York City, in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree


46. When I eat ice cream, I tunnel through the carton and eat all the chunks


47. If I had some extra money I'd get LASIK eye surgery


48. The farthest I've traveled out of the U.S. is Playa del Carmen, Mexico


49. On my first date with Jason, we bonded over music. Subsequently, one of our early dates was the "Summer Sanitarium" concert in Detroit, featuring the Deftones, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica.


50. In 2005, I worked at the United Way for only three months before getting recruited for a new job somewhere else