25 Random Things About Casey

For those of you who aren't on Facebook, there is this silly phenomenon sweeping the interweb. According to today's NY Times, over 5 million people have done this silly "chain" email in the past 2 weeks. I have enjoyed reading countless friend's and family's entries. And for those of you have yet to see them, here are my little quirks... or at least the first 25 I thought of.

1) When Los proposed to me in France, I started laughing/crying hysterically and fell on the floor beside him. It took me a couple minutes to catch my breath and answer him. Not quite the “movie moment” I was hoping for.

2) When everyone got braces I was jealous, even though I didn’t need them. I talked my mom into letting me get them for 5 months. Now I wear a retainer for the rest of my life. Great.

3) I have studied 7 languages to some extent. I am fluent in 1, yes, English.

4) My husband is the only person I’ve ever French-kissed. And the only guy worth my heart. He’s amazing. I’m ridiculously blessed by him.

5) I hate running if there’s no soccer ball in front of me. Yet I want to run a ½ marathon.

6) Most people crave sweet or salty things. Not me, but I love sour, vinegar-y things, weird.

7) I travel like a maniac. Yet I still get nervous on flights. And I’m married to a pilot, what?

8) Los and I were the original Brangelina- we have always wanted to adopt from around the world.

9) Contrarily, I never wanted to get prego- I thought I had a broken “biological clock.” At week 21, I finally got excited that I’m growing a little person inside me.

10) On the scale of passive-aggressive, I weigh heavily on the aggressive side. I probably wouldn’t harm someone in real life, but I think about it in my mind, and like to throw out phrases like, “I’d punch them in the throat.” Creepy. Yes, this probably stems from my childhood.

11) I am super independent, yet love my husband’s chivalry.

12) I am a liberal conservative, or conservative liberal, I don’t fit inside the political boxes in this country.

13) I would rather my husband do the inside chores and I’d rather do the outside chores. Cooking and cleaning aren’t as fun as taking out the garbage and working in the yard.

14) I am obsessed with all things citrus. I ate 42 Satsumas in one sitting. It was a competition and I lost, but I got a crazy Vitamin C high.

15) I have a hard time being friends with people who don’t like cilantro or avocados, maybe it’s b/c I’m from CA, but I think it should be a law that people love those two things.

16) We haven’t had a tv since we’ve been married (3.5 years) but I love tv on dvd or online- currently I can’t watch Extreme Home Makeover without bawling my head off.

17) I think I could be a pretty decent long-haul truck driver (minus the greasy food and porn they watch). I drove across the country in 3 days by myself, San Diego to Jacksonville.
Or a Nascar driver- not gonna lie, I went 120 in my Acura on I-5 one night, jff. Bad girl.

18) I have very selective OCD in our home: in organizing my closet and the dishwasher- if someone else loads it, I will rearrange it. Sorry.

19) I am all about snobby, healthy food, fresh, local, organic, free-range, whatever… Yet I love corn dogs and mac’n’cheese, go figure.

20) When asked the question, would you rather have a home at the beach or in the mountains, I get really stressed out. I don’t know. BOTH.

21) I am obsessed with my dog. I carry him like a baby. When people don’t like him, refer to #10

22) I have spent close to $200,000 on my education- I have a very expensive brain. And I have no job.

23) I have been to 45 states and 20 countries, and I can’t wait to go to 40+ more countries; we love to travel.

24) I suck at talking on the phone, and am probably bad at communicating this, but I am passionate about my friends and would die for them.

25) I didn’t know I had curly hair until college?! I am frugal in many areas, but hair is not one of them, bring on the Bumble and Bumble and stylist.

Quirkiness

In my attempt to get back on the blogging horse, I'm responding to the tag from Kate to post:

Seven Quirky Things about myself and Three things I like about myself.

Quirky:

1. When I am really tired, I start scratching my head, without being aware of it.  I didn't think this was weird until my hairstylist asked in a very confidential voice if I'd been beaten or "fell down the stairs" because of the scrapes she saw on my scalp.  Gross.

2. The happiest moment of my life was when Carlos said, "I love you" for the first time and asked me to be his wife.  I was so taken aback by hearing those words for the first time that I started sobbing and laughing uncontrollably (it was like every emotion coming out at once).  I collapsed on to the floor and totally forgot to answer him.

3. I used to judge people that had small dogs and babied them, dressed them, etc.  Now I am that girl.

4. I have studied 7 languages in my lifetime to some extent, and I wish I was fluent in multiple languages (like people from most countries).

5. My parents and brother have brown hair and brown eyes, I was born with blond hair and blue eyes.  Milkman child?

6. I have very selective OCD.  Everything in my closet is arranged by style of clothing and shades of the rainbow.  I unload dishes, and rearrange my spices and pantry for fun.  Conversely, I can live quite contentedly with piles of stuff and chaos all around me.  As long as my few things are in order.

7. I floss one tooth every day multiple times a day, and determine that my life is getting out of control when I haven't had time to file my nails recently. 

3 things I like:

1. I have had size 10 feet since I was in 4th grade, and was the tallest kid/girl in the class until middle school.

2. I am left-handed and right-brained.

3. I don't affiliate with a political party and place my hope in Christ rather than the American government.

I tag: Annie (to momentarily take your mind off Ben); Shannon; Becky A. and Becky R.; Maggie; Joey and mom.

Why I love the South

Me: Do you want to have dinner next week?

Her: If the Good Lord's willin and the creek don't rise.


(I think that means yes)

On College Football: Them Southerners Must'a Rubbed Off On Me...

5 years ago I never would have written this blog. 3 years ago this next week, I left Florida and during my time there, somehow, college football seeped into my being, and miraculously, I became a fan. The life-long soccer fan in me feels betrayed by this new part of myself, but it's true. Now I can't WAIT for college football season, which is upon us within weeks. However, I will never be an ardent fan of just one team, that's too limiting to me. Plus I never want our home to be a sports paraphernalia kind of home. No thank you. And since we move around, it is convenient for me to adopt teams at will. Maybe you true blue, bleed-whatever-your-home-team-color-is people will look at me with disdain; but remember, you're dealing with a girl who may or may not also pick my NCAA Basketball brackets by places I like and uniform colors. So there's that...

But here are my self-proclaimed teams that I'm rooting for in my own quiet, non-discriminatory, pan-conference kind of way:

Pac 10- California Bears, no question. If I ever see a Cal hat (in Australia, London, wherever) it is now instinctual to say, "Go Bears!" I am excited if Washington (Los' alumnus) wins too, but let's be honest, when does that happen?
WAC- Fresno State, hometown team. Plus I like saying wiggity Wac.
SEC- Florida, no question. I've been to 5 SEC stadiums, they are ginormous! These are the most zealous, football-is-life fans I've seen. They are an amusing breed. I've seen Gator wedding decorations, birthday cakes, etc. Awesome.
ACC- North Carolina (I have no affiliation, but heart their colors, state, and women's soccer program)
Big East- Syracuse and Connecticut (my mom got her undergrad and Master's there)
Big 12- Texas (our new home, plus I heart burnt orange) and Colorado (I have a thing for Buffaloes and Boulder)
Big 10 (they can't count, it's actually 11)- here's this for unity: Michigan AND Ohio State. What can I say? Great people are BOTH places. Yesterday I was driving with an OSU grad, and I mentioned Michigan in a sentence, as in, "turn left after Michigan," and the guy actually shuttered and said, "Please don't say that word in this car." Amazing. Even though they are sworn enemies, I endorse both:)

Lastly, which doesn't really fall into any particular conference, since my favorite colors are blue and orange, I always like teams that have those colors, such as: Florida, Syracuse, Illinois, Pepperdine, Auburn, who else?

Funny Links

This link from Annie (who just played her first show in Nashvegas, woot woot!) cracked me up to start my day.

I'm excited to move to Texas because Kiesha makes me watch things like this.

And I love being married to someone silly, who plays this video and starts dancing in our living room with our dog. We'll have to learn the Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown duet, since I can't convince anyone else to (so far).

Close, but yet so far... gotta love all-nighters...

It's 12:30. In the morning. And I am 2000 words away from being done with my last Hebrew Exegesis paper ever. Which means two things: #1) I dominate Proverbs 31 and could write a book on it, or preach a sermon series at least. And #2) it's likely I won't be sleeping. But it's the last all-nighter I'll ever pull. I can almost hear the nostalgia being queued.

And sleep is overrated. At least that's what I'm going to tell myself. I can sleep on the plane to Cali. Or during my hair appt. But then my highlights may look weird.

It's a good thing I have an IV of espresso running through my veins, in spite of doctor's orders... I told the doctor, who is a psychiatrist, that the paper has the potential to make me certifiably insane otherwise; so the espresso is the lesser of two evils. True enough. I thought he, of all people, could appreciate that.

Obscure, yet interesting fact: My 1899 commentary on Proverbs titles the wisdom woman in Proverbs 31 "the ideal housewife." My 2005 commentary calls her "the woman of strength." Funny how phraseology changes in 100 years. She used to wear an apron and bake muffins. Now she's a boxing and pilates aficionado who runs a real estate business and wineries in her spare time. Hoo rah.

On other notes, if I had a dollar for every time this blog has been read; I could make up my $50,000 of tuition that's been forked over to Fuller lickity-split. REI should be paying me for the free advertisement.

Snapshot from 2am

I should be sleeping. I tried to go to bed 3 hours ago. I’ve been checking the clock since 11:30. My mind won’t turn off. Does a spoonful of Nutella have that much caffeine? Is it excitement about graduation? Anxiety about finding a job and a new home? Anticipation of traveling this summer? And in years to come? (Asia, the Caribbean, Africa and World Cup?) Talking about getting Burly a sister again- a Pug, or maybe another breed? Decisions, decisions. Making lists in my head. Things on back burners and things on front burners of our lives. Thinking about buying and selling furniture, yet wanting to live simply. It’s hard to have a “style” when your location and space changes every few years. Rustic pine? Espresso? Glass? Wood? New? Antique? Who knows! Where and when will we end up somewhere? We hope we land permanently in CA, but are we the kind of people that land permanently? We’ll never stop exploring, but is it in our DNA to settle? There’s so much to experience in life! So much wonder, so much beauty and creativity. We are on the cusp of new life, full of surprises around every corner, I can feel it, it makes me hyper and giddy. The yearning to experience as much as possible in this life makes me ache! It makes me want to burst!

Yet it’s 2am. And I should be sleeping. I’ve done all my tricks, performed all my acrobatics, went pee another time, closed the shutters even more tightly. Cuddled with my dog. Put him in another room, so I don’t hear him snoring. It’s raining outside. That should be soothing. My husband is sleeping next to me. I put my ice-block feet on his warm legs. Listening to him breathe should be soothing. Yet here I am, twiddling my thumbs at 2am. There must have been something in that Nutella.

Illegal

Just so I can find some allies, I'm gonna throw it out there: I think waking up at 5am should be illegal.

Burly and I had to take a 3 hour nap to recover from waking up to take Los to the airport this morning. He is a natural morning person (read: alien) whereas my eyes can't open fully until at LEAST 6 (though, let's be honest, I prefer 9am).

So anyway, he went to wacko Waco, TX today, and is heading to Jacksonville (jealous) tomorrow. Pray he comes home quickly, our friend Forrest did this plane repossession trip once and he didn't come home for 3 weeks!

Best- Worst

Best-long, luxurious sleep in a Heavenly bed with nothing to do when you wake up except make a fun breakfast
Better- solid sleep for 6-10
Good- Sleep with no pee breaks
Bad- Rolling around in your bed for hours and getting up to pee 3 times
Worse- sleeping under a bridge in the winter
Worst- Incurable insomnia

Numbers

1- tooth I floss daily
2- days until I turn 29
3- summersaults I do in a pool before taking a breath
4- days until the love of my life comes home and my in-law’s go to France- one of the world’s best countries
5- continents I’ve been to so far
6- months til I am done with graduate school forever (maybe…)
7- languages I have studied somewhat
8- pairs of flip-flops I own
10- hoodies I own
16- countries I’ve been to so far
24- flights I went on last year
36- times I said the word “like” in a 5 minute speech in 9th grade. Oops.
42- satsumas I ate at one time (it was a competition. I lost.)
45- states I have been to in the US so far
48- state license plates I have counted in one trip (skiing in CO). I remain on my quest for the elusive 50 (damn Delaware only has like 12 residents, and not that many Hawaiians snow ski, I imagine…)
90- hamburger patties on one person’s order at San Diego’s In-n-Out Burger
199- times I have listened to Sara Groves on my iTunes
206- dollars the speeding ticket I am trying to get out of costs
300- plants I have planted so far at my house
1000+- sweet pea flower seeds I harvested last fall from the 25 I planted (let me know if you want some this spring!)
5,000- miles we drove our new Prius in the first 2 months of owning it
8 million- hairs (approximately) my beloved dog sheds per day