so remember those annoying 25 things about me facebook posts...

well, to tell you the truth i loved them. i loved reading 25 random facts about everyone i knew. and i also thought it'd be fun to document 25 random things about me and put them in a journal for my kids to read. so i made the list on a spare piece of paper during an exceptionally boring conference call and stored it away. of course it never made it's way into my handwritten journal (a common theme in my life) so i thought i'd dig it out and store it here. if you ever wanted to know way too much about me and my quirks, well here you go.

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1) I never wanted to marry young, but now that I have, I don't think I've ever made a smarter decision. it means you still have all your young, fun, lively years to be spent with the person you love. (Note to my kids in 20 years: 25 is still considered young in my book, so aim for that :) )

2) having said that, i think the only good thing about growing up is getting to marry your best friend. having to work for the rest of your life? yeahhh, not feeling that

3) I am so jealous of those that have had friends since childhood. I've always felt a bit gypped. Not only that, but I am so used to growing up with friends coming and going that I tend to follow the same pattern even when I don't move. Friends continue to come and go. Though the ones I really love will always stick around :)

4) It also means I can't go longer than two years without getting the itch to move somewhere new. There are so many exciting places to see and countries to experience! While a part of me craves the house with the yard and white picket fence, the other part of me thinks I'd just go crazy there.

5) I never realised how peculiar some of my tendencies were, until a few years ago when I found out other people didn't do the same thing. like....

6) I have to have a perfect proportion of food for every bite - I mean what is good about, say a bacon cheeseburger if there isn't bacon, cheese and burger in every bite?

7) One that note, I will leave a "perfect bite" on my plate until the end so I can have a perfect last bite. Once I've had that bite I will not eat any more 8) Neil is a polar bear and I swear anything below 65 degrees is freezing. It gets complicated.

9) I have had stomach issues since I was young. I've gone to doctors, cut out different foods, everything, but nothing seems to work. Days where I don't feel nauseous/have stomach pains are far and few between

10) There is no doubt I my mind that there is life after death. I am 100% sure that my brother is often near

11) A few years ago I developed a fear of flying. For quite some time it was to the point where I need to be medicated to fly comfortably. Makes little sense since I've been on 10 flights a year since I was 3. Only this past year have i been able to get over it somewhat but I'm still never comfortable and relaxed on a flight.

12) I have this dream every few months that my teeth fall out. It always starts with a few in the back and I think to myself "okay no big deal, no one can see those". But then they all start becoming loose and the next thing I know they have all fallen out. The most vivid part is the feeling of all my teeth all fallen out but still in my mouth and the sensation of my mouth being full of all these loose teeth

13) I've always wanted to have cute handwriting. In California all the girls would buy colourful markers and make signs and notes with the cute, curly handwriting. But no matter how hard I practiced, or how many different ways i tried to write my A's my handwriting still looked like as messy as it did when I was 11.

14) I get too involved in movies/plays/TV shows. I can't seem to separate myself from the characters. Watching anything embarrassing is honestly brutal for me and I cry in movies, TV shows - even commercials sometimes strike a nerve. I have made Neil turn off pretty much every single Steve Carrell movie we've ever started

15) I have been caught in May or June googling Christmas songs for my annual Christmas extravaganza CD - I think I'm now up to 3 hours worth

16) I love Christmas! Everything about the season makes me happy. And I'm a sucker for anything with bright lights, so there you go. Even the cold is bearable during the month of December

17) But by Jan 1, all bets are off and I'm desperately dreaming of summer. I think it's because we'd always go back to Utah for Christmas and enjoy the snow, but then 3 weeks later I was back in sunny Singapore. It spoiled me

18) I have a strong love for shoes and purses. Which is aggravating to Neil because I tend to wear the same flats and same bag day in and day out, but can never stop wanting to add to my collection. And unfortunately most of the brands I love are a bit out of my price range and it's dangerous.

19) At the same time I have an equally large disdain for wasting money. The two constantly battle and so far the latter has won out (luckily for Neil). But now that decorating a house has come into play this love of things not in my price range has come back with a vengeance.

20) I think far too long when setting my alarm clocks (one set to wake up, the other to snooze). Snoozing for five minutes is too short, ten too long. So it end up at 6,7, or 8 depending on the day. It drives Neil crazy!

21) I hate the sounds of the microwave buzzer so I try my hardest to be there 1 second before so I can stop it early

22) By the age of 24, I've lived in 6 different countries and 10 different cities. But even though I have spent most of my life abroad, I still tend to feel like an All-American girl

23) My first concert was Frankie Valli, at probably age 8, and I fell in love! I bought his greatest hits cassette tape and listened to it endlessly the rest of the summer. So you can imagine it was like fulfilling a childhood dream getting to watch and sing along to Jersey Boys while in London! I was screaming as hard as the 70-year old Grandma next to me.

24) All my favourite foods are found in Singapore. My favourite fruit is mangosteen. I seriously dream about it! And it's my intention that every chance I get, I convert someone new to it. And don't even get me started on my love of Haianese chicken rice and roti prata...

25) I don't know what I want to do in life. It's not that nothing sounds good to me, it's that TOO MUCH sounds good to me. I've gone from back and forth from Banker, Jet Blue Flight Attendant, Gemologist, High School Teacher, Literacy Specialist and Adoption agent in the course of ONE YEAR. See the link between all of these? Yeah, me neither. That's the problem.

26. An extra one I'm adding right now because I can. I am so extremely lucky in life for the people that surround me. My husband, my family, Neil's family, my extended family. It just doesn't seem fair that I have it so good. I love you all. Really really.