The Blonde Behind The Blog: 20 Facts

We have made it to another Friday, and as usual, I am more than happy to see it. I have had a "serious" couple of days on my blog so I want to keep it fun today, link up with my ladies, and write another "getting to know you" post. This is the second in my "series". The first can be read here: a list of current favorites. 

Before I begin, I want to say thank you for all of the comments and emails from Wednesday's post: "You are so pretty... for someone of your size". Writing that was really hard. I have been so damn ashamed of my body my entire life; and it was not until a couple of months ago that I finally fell in love with my curves and muscles and developed a healthy confidence within myself. I hope together, we can spread the message of embracing our flaws, uniqueness, and genetic makeup. Plus show the world that health and fitness come in many, many shapes and sizes, and we, especially as women, follow no standards or expectations except of our own. Two of my dear blogging friends Tricia and Rebecca shared their personal experiences and struggles as well. I am so proud of their courage and very lucky to be surrounded by such strong and amazing women. 

1.) I was born exactly 2 months early. I weighed 3.8 pounds. My mom was deathly ill with pneumonia and toxemia. Her doctor had to do an immediate c-section to save our lives. Because of this, a lot of my nerves were not properly developed. This caused me to have ADHD and severe night terrors. I still have night terrors sporadically. It has only been about 4 years since I stopped having them on a nightly basis. 

2.) I am related to two former United States Presidents. William Henry Harrison is my great, great, great Uncle. I am obviously related to his son, Benjamin Harrison, who was also a President.

3.) I have the skull from the movie "The Punisher" tattooed on the middle of my upper body. Above the skull is the word "Broken", which is my favorite song of all time by the band "Seether". "Broken" also happened to be the theme song of the 2004 Punisher movie with Thomas Jane. That is one of my favorite movies. My tattoo represents the pain and struggles of my childhood. I am also a huge, huge Marvel Comic fan and nerd.

4.) This may be hard to believe in blog land, but I have never eaten at Chipotle. I have also never seen an episode of "The Price is Right". How weird, huh? 

5.) My mom never made me sandwiches when I was a toddler because any time she did, I would cram them in the VCR player. (I have no idea).

6.) My dream career besides writing is to be a Forensic Psychologist. It was my major in college and I wish so deeply that I could have finished and received the required advanced degrees. However, I ran out of money and refused to take out loans. Additionally the course work was becoming too difficult to bare as I also worked full time at a minimum wage job 45 minutes from my home. Plus I helped take care of my mom and our home. If I am ever able to make a lot of money on my own, the number 1 item on my bucket list will be to get my PhD in Forensic Psychology and work in a jail and on trials. It still hurts to think about this. 

7.) Speaking of writing: if you read my blog, you know I am writing my first book! My love and passion for writing has been with me since I was a child. When I was 6, I wrote this book. Then when I was 14, I wrote the below "book" -- all for fun. It is called "Quest"; I can't believe I still have the notebook I wrote it in! 

8.) My Abnormal Psychology professor in school dated my grandmother when I was a baby. He announced to the class once that he used to change my diaper, ha ha!

9.) I have been in one car accident. It was November of 2009. I was driving home from the gym. The road I lived on was very, very curvy. The city was repaving the road and the new pavement was extremely slick. However there was no signs indicating this or to warn people to drive at a slower speed. My tires slid on one of the curves which caused me to veer off of the road. My car flipped twice down a hill and landed upside down about 6 feet away from a lake. My doors were crushed so I was unable to get out. By the grace of God, a Deputy Sheriff was driving by, saw my car, and rushed down to help me. He cracked my window and was able to pull me out. I walked away without a scratch. I only wrecked about 6 houses down from where I live so the Deputy Sheriff called my mom to tell her what happened while the EMS checked me out to make sure I was OK. When my mom walked up to the scene and saw my car upside down, she thought without a doubt that I was dead. That moment caused her to have an extremely bad MS flare up an sent HER to the hospital and she was out of work for a week. 

10.) I was obsessed with Britney Spears when I was a child. Hell, I still love love her, but her music disappoints me so much now. Anyways, I wrote fan letters to her all of the time, posters of her were all over my bedroom walls, I would play her CD's constantly in my room and pretend I was her putting on a concert. I would pretend that she was my best friend. Any time a new album of hers came out, I would beg and plead to my parents to take me to WalMart the day it was released so I could get a copy before school started. WalMart opened at 7 AM at the time and I would always make my parents get there at 6:45 (just to be safe, ha). I also had a VHS of Britney called "Time Out with Britney Spears". I watched it so much that the actual tape part of the video ripped and fell apart. 

11.) In 2009 I had bright red hair. It was hands down my favorite look! If my hair could permanently stay that color red without fading so drastically, I would never be blonde again.

12.) I have never bought a lottery ticket or played one.

13.) I consider myself a brave person and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. However, I have two fears that literally tear me up. One is flying in an airplane over the ocean. I am fine flying in an airplane over land; but the ocean? No way. It makes me shake, tremble, cry and I am convinced the plane will crash. My second big fear is death-- knowing that one day I have to die. I have had panic attacks in bed thinking about it sometimes. They both are so odd, I know.

14.) I hate seafood; all of it. Shrimp, tuna... there are no exceptions. I hate the way all fish look. I hate the way they smell. I hate the way they taste. I hate everything about fish. Gross!

15.) I am left-handed. 

16.) When I was a freshman in high school, my dog got sprayed by a skunk. The smell was so bad, that it migrated into my clothes and backpack for school. That day, I was sent home from because the smell was disrupting my class, ha!

17.) One day at the gym, I sneezed so hard on the elliptical that I fell off of it in front of everybody. It was so freaking embarrassing! 

18.) I love pretending I am a "model" and taking weird and "artsy" type photos then playing with exposure and contrast. Pictures make me come alive; I feel creative and free.

19.) You guys know the love of my life Marty, right? Well, my friend gave him to me in August of 2008 because he was moving in with his mother in New York and could not take him because she is allergic to cats. He did know anyone else in North Carolina and did not want to take him to a pound. Of course I said I would take him. I had been around Marty for 2 years at this point. However, my mom said no. I took him anyways and hid him in my closet sneaking food and purchased him a litter box. One night my mom heard him meowing and asked what was going on in my room. I told her I was watching a movie but she knew otherwise. She demanded to search my room, found him, and fell in love. Luckily I did not get in trouble.

20.) I am actually ALLERGIC to alcohol! I never get drunk and when I do drink, my limit is two - if even that. I develop really bad mucus in my throat and lungs and have trouble breathing. This is due to my body not having the proper enzymes to break down (metabolize) toxins in alcohol.