I’ve been tagged by my friend Denise at http://journeytomaggiemae.blogspot.com/. I’ll try to come up with 7 odd facts about myself that people may remotely find interesting.

1. I have a tatoo on my hip of a turtle. It was something I did my freshman year of college. I still think it’s cute – despite a stretch mark right around it’s head (maybe that in and of itself is a wierder fact than the tatoo?). The kids like it too though they have asked several times when it’s going to go away.
2. I started college as a psychology/pre-med major. I dropped the pre-med after my first semester after bio 101 kicked my butt. I wanted to be an ob/gyn. I loved the idea of delivering babies! Ended up majoring in psychology and getting my masters in Biblical Counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary.
3. I met my husband on August 26th, 1997 and was engaged December 23, 1997–just under 4 months of dating before we got engaged. And, our whole dating relationship was long distance. After we got engaged, we spent 4 days together between his parents and my parents houses–it was the longest time we had been together up to that point. We’ve been married 10 years now. It was the best decision I ever made.
4. I love yard sales, bargains, and ebay!
5. Apparently, I’m claustrophobic. Discovered it this fall when I had to get numerous MRIs and MRAs.
6. I love Disney World. I actually tear up when I first walk onto Main Street, USA in Magic Kingdom. I just love it. We’re hoping to go again next year–maybe February 2010.
7. I already broke into the Halloween candy last week when I went through I needed a chocolate fix. Yup. Sorry for the kid who won’t get that full size kit kat bar. It was good though. Well worth the calories.

I’m breaking the rules and only tagging 5 people. So, you’re it!

Erika at http://thecalihans.blogspot.com/

Lisa A. at http://cotaarndtadd1.blogspot.com/

Erin at http://hamsons.blogspot.com/

Kaylee at http://pacificnorthwestgirl.blogspot.com/

Kelly B. at http://thebillhimeclan.blogspot.com/

I’ve been a delinquent blogger. This was from Monday. I didn’t want to post the pics until I could make another fun montage. So, here it is. Ashlyn’s school, Stepping Stone Education Center, does a Bike Rodeo every fall. Very cute idea and always fun to watch and cheer for each and every child. Ashlyn’s bike was decorated to look like a little girl using our spooky eyeball decoration we got for Halloween. Ashlyn made the mouth herself–note the many teeth. We used some material for the hair (recognize it Lisa A.?) and even put a signature hair bow on the side.

Sometime in September, my mother drove over 2 hours to our house for the day (about 5 hours round trip) just to help create Ashlyn’s Halloween costume. Ashlyn had a picture in her head of a pirate princess. It became our job to bring that picture to life. When the day was done and the costume complete, we liked it so much that I told Ash I’d walk with her in our town’s Halloween parade and let her throw candy out to kids if she wanted to. Hey, after all that work and money, I wanted her to get some use out of this costume! So, we signed her up and bought 14 lbs of candy at Costco. And, Mark did his magic on our wagon to make it look like a pirate ship. Ash was so excited to be a part of the parade and be judged in the costume contest. So, my mom came up again the day of the parade (this past Tuesday). The parade itself wasn’t all that grand. But, boy, did Ash have fun. Mom and I had to keep our mouths shut as we walked with her–she didn’t want us pointing kids out to her to throw candy to. She was in complete control of the situation…as always. So, last night, we went to a Halloween party where the winners for all the age groups were announced. Each time the announcer would call out a name, Ashlyn would look back at us and sort of sigh like she was thinking in an eeyore-like way, “oh, they didn’t call my name.” But, eventually,…drum roll please…Ashlyn won first prize! She…and Evan as you can tell from the video…were thrilled. She got a crisp $20 bill for her prize, and she already has picked out some panda toy from the Toys R Us catalog that she wants to buy with it. What a fun experience for all of us…and we haven’t even trick or treated yet!

Introducing Casey. Uncle Brian gave the young thing to us. The kids are crazy about her (yes, it’s a “her.” Girl turtles have brown eyes and thin tails. Boy turtles have red eyes and wide tails.). Nearly everyday, we measure Casey’s shell and weigh her on my postage scale and write down in the cool notebook the info and any “observations” such as how much she ate (she likes worms) and where she liked to hang out in her terrarium. It’s educational. And, turtles are pretty cool.