99 Things About Me

A while ago, I found this idea on Pat's family blog, and I thought it was neat. I saved it to my documents, and have toyed with the idea of using it in a post off and on. I asked myself, "Can I really come up with 99 things about myself?" I still don't know the answer to that, but I'm going to give it a whirl. I'm hoping that some of you follow suit, and try this on your own blog. I just think sometimes it helps to reflect on who we are at heart. It helps us get to know one another, as well as ourselves.

I am sure some of this list will be repetitive, so please forgive me if I bore you to tears. ;)

1. My name is Kristi, but nearly everyone calls me Kris.
2. I was named after a 70s soap opera character.
3. I have a 16 year old son named Josh.
4. I have a 14 year old daughter named Jess.
5. I have a 9 year old son named Josiah...aka Jo-Jo.
6. I will have been married to my husband, Robert, 16 years on July 4th.
7. I have four dogs...Gideon, Taz, Carlito and Maggie.
8. I have two cats...Tiga and Sheba.I have six guinea pigs...Sabu, Bentley, Lilly, Milly, LaBrawn and Carmello.
9. I have three unnamed dwarf hamsters. They bite. I should name them B1, B2 and B3. (Biters 1, 2, 3.) ;)
10. I was raised by my paternal grandparents.
11. I purchased the house that I was raised in and that my dad was raised in.
12. My grandfather built the house. He was a gifted carpenter.
13. The house we live in really is too small for us, but I love it, anyway.
14. My birth mother died at the age of 58 in 2005.
15. I didn't meet my birth mother until I was almost 18.
16. My grandparents that raised me are deceased. My grandfather passed away in 1995, and my grandmother passed away on New Year's Eve 2004/2005.
17. I do not have a relationship with my birth father.
18. When I was a teenager, I planned to be a missionary. I didn't want to marry or have kids.
19. I met my husband while he was a cook and I was a waitress at a local restaurant in my senior year of high school.
20. I am now an Administrative Assistant/billing clerk for a small manufacturing company. I will have been there 9 years in August.
21. When I accepted this job, my youngest child was 9 months old.
22. In high school, I lettered in tennis. I started out on the reserve doubles' team and ended up first single's varsity.
23. I once took a twelve mile canoe trip down the Little Miami River in the Dayton area. I thought I was in peak physical condition at that time in my life. The next day I couldn't lift my arms above my head because my muscles were so sore.
24. I started a Christian support group in our high school in my sophomore year that met once a week before school.
25. My brother, Eric, is my only sibling that was raised with me and we both have the same mother and father.
26. Eric has four children, all boys.
27. My birth mother's mother was a native American from the Arapaho tribe. She was raised on a reservation.
28. My husband is of African American descent, with Mexican heritage on his father's side.
29. My husband does not have a relationship with his birth father, either.
30. Many people think my husband is "Samoan." We are asked that all the time.
31. Other people think my husband looks like the actor, Ice Cube. We've heard that like a hundred times. ;)
32. My birth mother remarried after my father and she divorced. Her second husband was African American. I have three half siblings from that union. Tony, Todd and Tami.
33. Tony has three children... a boy and two girls.
34. Todd lives in Hawaii. He has no children.
35. Tami has three children...all boys. She just had her youngest in April.
36. I've been friends with my friend, Wyn, the longest; since I was three and she was four. She lives in the Springfield, Massachusetts area.
37. I can't swim. I can float and tread water, but I can't swim.
38. I wasn't allowed to get water in my ears as a child because I had perforated ear drums. This is why I never learned to swim.
39. Growing up, we only had one dog. His name was "Ole' Yeller." He came to our house, a stray, when I was nine years old. The vet believed him to be 9 months to a year old. He lived to be 17.
40. I have kept a diary since I was nine. I have many diaries that have huge gaps of time in them, but have kept some sort of written record of my daily life through most of it so far.
41. I am glad I kept those diaries, because I have big chunks of time that I can't recall from my childhood.
42. When we were little, if a stray cat or kitten came to our house, (which many did) and we asked to keep it, we were almost always allowed to. Off they would go to the vet to be spayed or neutered, and then they hung around our house or barn and lived out their lives there.
43. One of our strays lived to be 21 years old.
44. I collect Strawberry Shortcake stuff. I have way too much of it, but I love it.
45. I love to scrapbook, and I have completed 40+ albums, including gift albums, to date.
46. I am a Creative Memories' consultant. I don't actively sell the product, I'm what's known as a "hobbyist." (Stay active as a consultant for the discount.)
47. I go to a scrapbooking crop at least once a month.
48. My favorite food is Mexican food.
49. I hate pecans, especially pecan pie.
50. My least favorite vegetable is asparagus.
51. I love brussel sprouts.
52. I can't stand to eat white bread.
53. I'm not a big fan of pork. It's because I don't like foods that are real salty, which bacon and ham usually is.
54. My grandmother used to make me an orange chiffon cake for my birthday every year.
55. My grandmother used to buy me towels every year for Christmas. Now that she's gone, I miss that a lot. I'm thinking of asking for towels for my birthday this year from Robert. I love new towels.
56. I love Big Macs, so I avoid them like the plague.
57. When I was pregnant, I craved McDonald's french fries and Frosted Mini Wheats. (For the kid in me...haha.)
58. I am terrible at math. Always have been. I use math every day on my job. I use my adding machine a lot.
59. Music impacts my moods greatly. That's why I don't listen to country music. It depresses me.
60. I love pop music, particularly upbeat. I like any music that makes me happy. Top 40, Contemporary Christian, and 80s are my favorite genres.
61. My favorite scripture is Psalm 139.
62. I went to church camp three years in a row from my freshman year to my junior year.
63. I get my feelings hurt rather easily, but I'm working on that.
64. I never discuss my political views. Period.
65. I wear jeans to work almost every day.
66. I've worn contact lenses since I was fourteen.
67. I picked strawberries at a local fruit farm for a whole summer to buy my first pair of contacts.
68. I had braces from 7th grade to my freshman year of high school.
69. I can't understand why people think Bob Dylan can sing.
70. My brother, Eric, is named after Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.
71. My least favorite popular singer is Beyonce. Her voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
72. I think Chad Krueger from Nickleback has a sexy voice. It irritates my husband when I say that.
73. I think Weird Al is a comedic genius.
74. I love to laugh. I laugh a lot. I prefer movies that make me laugh. I think there are enough sad events in real life. I'd rather see a movie that takes my focus off the sad stuff.
75. I could make a lot more money than I do if I sought another job in my field, but I'd have to travel to Dayton, Cincinnati or Columbus. I would rather spend that extra travel time with my family, so I stay where I am.
76. I'm not a big fan of change.
77. Something in my personality craves stability.
78. Something in my personality craves chocolate. :)
79. My biggest worries usually involve my son Josh or finances.
80. We have so many projects we need to do on the house we live in, but never seem to have the time to do them. Or additional money in the budget.
81. I'm not a morning person.
82. I love to sleep.
83. A good day for me is one where I got a nap in.
84. I rarely have a day where I get a nap in.
85. My favorite physical charateristic is my eyes.
86. My least favorite characteristic is my complexion.
87. I can tan really well but I don't get out of the office enough, so I stay pale.
88. It is my goal to have lasar vision correction surgery one day.
89. I want to go to college after my kids are all adults.
90. I adore my Uncle Ron in Georgia. He reminds me a great deal of my grandfather in personality. He looks just like my grandmother did, but acts just like my grandfather.
91. I also adore my Aunt Marlene...my birth Mom's fraternal twin. They looked nothing alike, but I used to always get them confused on the phone. Their voices were that similar.
92. I used to love to wear dresses, and now I hate it.
93. I've never been out of the country. I hope to change that soon by visiting Canada. ;)
94. Robert and I both have ugly feet.
95. In my early twenties, I worked for a Jewish family helping serve food during their Passover feast. The church I attended at the time focused on the Jewish roots of the Christian heritage. There was a member of the church that had a kosher food business. The weekend I worked for this Jewish family was one of the most wonderful in my entire life. They were fun, lively, great story tellers and extremely generous. I will never forget them.
96. One of my lifelong goals was met in 2001 when I got to attend a Billy Graham Crusade with my family in Cincinnati.
97. I've been to one NFL football game (Bengals) and several Red's baseball games. I love to watch NFL football on t.v., but hated it in person. I hate to watch baseball on t.v., but loved it in person.
98. My dream car is a 1972 yellow slug bug. Maybe I'll buy one after the kids are grown....

Wheh! Okay. That's it. It is hard to figure out what to say on these lists. Feel like giving it a try? ;)