Ten random things you don't know about me

Some of you know me really, really well, and some of you don't know me at all. Hopefully with this post, you will all know me a little better.

#1 - I'm a really good ping-pong player

Okay, not Forest Gump good, but good on the normal person end of the spectrum. I played a ton of ping pong at church camp when I was a kid, and we had a table in our garage growing up. When I lived in Mammoth, I would go visit the Holiday Inn, flip one side of the table up, and play by myself. I once won a ping pong tournament and even played one match left-handed to keep it interesting.

My brother-in-law, David, can still beat me, but he's a youth pastor. That's not exactly fair because being good at ping pong is practically a job requirement.

David, youth-pastoring and mentally preparing for his next match

#2 - I dropped out of college and became a snowboard bum for two years

22-year-old me at a Snowbunny photo shoot. Girl snowboard company names were awful in 2002. 

Most of you know I love to snowboard, but did you know I dropped out of college as a junior and became a snowboard bum in Mammoth? For two years I snowboarded almost every day from October-June. Yes, it was as as good as it sounds. Luckily, I did return to college later, finished my degree, and went on to get a masters degree from UCLA.


#3 - I don't like animals

Except this one

Saying "I don't like animals" would have been unconditionally true until last December. But now, I have Stan. In general, I hate the way dogs lick and bark, beg for food and jump all over you. I loathe pet hair on my clothes and furniture. And quite frankly, I have enough responsibility in my life without having to walk, feed, and entertain an entity that won't support me in my old age. I'm still not an animal person, but now that I have Stan... I kind of get it. He is so adorable and loves us so much. When I'm drinking wine on the couch or working on my computer, he curls up next to me and looks at me with his big brown eyes, begging me to love him back.

I do like Stan.

But not all those other dogs. Keep 'em away from me.

#4 - I was in the Wallflowers music video "Three Marlenas" 

If you watch this video from 1:17-1:19, you will see me walking down the beach in a blue and white bikini. You may think you will have to look hard, but you won't: there are 10 of me. Oh, and did I mention I was 17 but told them I was 18 to be in the video? Don't worry, my husband told me the statutes of limitation have long since run. Speaking of my husband ...


#5 - I met my husband on eHarmony

Flirting over menus in Palms Springs

I have other friends who have met their spouses on eHarmony and for some reason they're embarrassed about it. Not me! I think it is awesome that a computer ran my husband and me through an algorithm and determined us to be a perfect match. I didn't really trust myself to pick unassisted after one divorce and found this method far more trustworthy.

A sub-thing (5b?) that you may not know is that I have the best husband in the world. He is objectively brilliant and values family more than anything. He is an old-fashioned husband that holds open doors and would defend me to the death while being fully modern and equitable in our marriage. He brags about marriage to his friends and treats it like something to be cherished. I will brag more about Robert in future posts, but suffice it to say, I love eHarmony.

#6 - I can say the books of the Bible (old and new) in 20 seconds

I was the consummate church kid growing up. I participated in Bible Bowls, AWANA, Christian camp, and memorized literally thousands of verses. Not in NIV or the Message like kids nowadays, but in freaking KING JAMES. One of the fun things that stuck with me from my childhood is an ability to reel off the books of the bible in 20 seconds. It sounds like one long word, but if you follow along with a list, you will see that it is 100% accurate. Robert can do the same thing with the counties in Utah, and it blows my mind ("Beaver, Carbon, Davis, Morgan, ...").

Church kid

#7  -When I was 21, my retina detached (the thing that holds your eyeball to your head), and I had three surgeries to fix it.

This injury was one of the suckier things in my life and led to the aforementioned dropping out of college. My eyeball scars are still one of my biggest insecurities. I always wonder if people see them and wonder what they are.

It's especially noticeable when I look to the right and you are on my lefthand side. This is why when I was younger, I used to try to sit on the left of people I wanted to impress so they wouldn't notice my scars. Not fun, but definitely better than being blind or something.


#8 - My go-to karaoke song is Don't You Want Me Baby by the Human League

I love singing, but karaoke stills scares the crap out of me. The beauty of Don't You Want Me Baby is that: a) it's a sing-along classic; and b) it's a duet, so you can share the stage with a friend. My favorite karaoke moment of this Human League classic was at the Detroit Bar with Jules where a live band called "Cover Me Bad" performed behind us. Jules was kind enough to sing the boy part and we brought down the house.

#9 - My high school boyfriend was almost seven feet tall

My prom photo. The photographer asked if I wanted to stand on a stool. I declined. 

Volleyball is my sport of choice, and therefore, I've had a lot of tall friends over the years. In fact, my whole life I've always felt like a pygmy because most of my girlfriends hovered in the 5'9 - 6'1 range.  The cake topper on this "too short" complex was that my high school boyfriend was 6'10" tall. We broke up when he went to Stanford and I stayed in LA, but we stayed friends for several years. In fact, he met his future wife at my 20th birthday party. I can't tell if she's tall or not from photos because next to him, everyone looks short.

#10 - I'm allergic to penicillin

This may not be a very interesting fact, but it is something almost no one knows about me unless you've snuck a peak at my medical records (lookin' at you NSA!). Who knows, maybe one of you will be in a position to save my life one day by knowing this little piece of trivia. In any case, penicillin makes me break out in hives until I feel like I want to die. I will spare you a picture; it's gross.

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Now you know some fun facts about me that we can talk about either in person or in the comments thread below.  This little thought experiment makes me wonder what strange things I don't know about my friends. Nortorious, maybe you can do a similar post in the near future, and I can learn some things I don't know about you!