Healthful Bites

I was recently tagged by my pal Sam to participate in the Lucky Number 11 Survey going around the blogosphere! I shared the basics about myself last spring, but this is the perfect excuse to open up about a few more lesser-known fun facts about yours truly.

The rules of play:

• Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
• Answer the questions the tagger set for you (Sam had some awesome ones!).
• Create 11 new questions for others and tag 11 more people.

As you’ll see at the end, I’m going to bend the rules a bit…But it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to! ;) Away we go…

1. At any given time, I probably have about five games of Scrabble on Facebook going. It’s a bit of a problem, but I’m OK with it. There are worse addictions out there and I chalk it up as good for my mental health!
2. In other game news, I find that there is little in life more fun than crowding around a board game with family and friends. A new favorite: Ticket to Ride.
3. My only broken bone came when I was one year old, about as big as I was in the picture above. (What can I say? I was multitasking from a young age.) I was trying to help my mom pick fruit from our cherry tree and fell off the mini-step ladder and crack! A cast isn’t going to slow me down though. I motored around so much that I wore a hole in the bottom of it before my doctor took it off.
4. Whenever I could use some cheering up, I visit Aaron Rodgers Photobombs. I dare you not to laugh!
   
5. While I am nowhere near getting married and find most wedding-related TV shows boring, I cannot get enough of My Fair Wedding with David Tutera. A guilty pleasure!
6. I received a teddy bear for Easter when I was one or two which Mom had so aptly named Jelly Bear (get it: jelly bean/Jelly Bear)? I would like to believe that was when my lifelong love of puns began.
   
7. If I had to diagnose myself, I’d say that I’m practically blind. My Mom always says that she married the only person she ever met who had worse eyesight than she did…so that means I have two sets of awesome vision genes! I recently went for a new prescription and, without any contacts or glasses, struggled to read one letter—really, just one—that was about 14 inches tall on a wall 10 feet away. See? Blind. Thank goodness for contacts!
8. To make my commutes and errands feel quicker, I mow through several podcasts on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis. Some top picks include Fresh Air, Freakonomics, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
9. After catching the first episode of Smash on iTunes (free sneak peeks are the best!), I’m more than a little excited for the rest of the season. Anyone else get chills with Katherine McPhee puts her own twist on Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful?”
10. I’m often told how much I look like my Mom. We have similar smiles—and similar personalities. Even though we live hundreds of miles apart, we still find each other saying just what the other person was thinking while chatting on the phone. Crazy!
11. I’m having a ton of fun with the #FebPhotoADay project that my friend Jenn introduced my too. Here are a couple of my favorite snapshots so far:

And now for the 11 questions from Sam:

What’s your lucky number?

I guess I’ve never given this much thought, but I’ll go with seven.   

How many siblings do you have?

Two awesome older (and they might say wiser) sisters: Amy, an E.R. doctor, and Sarah, an occupational therapist. Their life-saving work inspires me! 

What was your favorite school subject and why?

It was math in my early years, since I rocked those times tables and Around the World (anyone else remember that game?). But somewhere around junior high, my number-related skills didn’t seem to be quite as strong as my verbal/written skills. So English took over! 

What’s your biggest gym pet peeve?

Please, please don’t chat on your cell phone while using the equipment. I know that a strong social life is good for your health, but it’s really distracting. Plus, you’re probably not focused much on the intensity of your workout if your lost in conversation, so leave it in your locker if you don’t mind. :) 

What’s a healthy food that you really can’t stand?

I may be inviting a bunch of gasps from food bloggers out there (and I really wish I could say that I love this!) but I have yet to convince myself to like plain oatmeal. I know, I know! It’s SO wholesome and good for you, but something about the texture is just not my favorite.

A close runner-up: seafood, but I’m not 100 percent sure if I want to love it because of the smell.

What’s your favorite cereal?

Cascadian Farms Honey Nut O’s are pretty delish. 

Where’s the farthest you’ve traveled from home?

I visited Tanzania with my Mom and uncle when I was in college while my sister was in the country doing medical volunteer work. It was a life-changing experience to see how different the world is without refrigeration, endless clean water and many paved roads.

*NSYNC or Backstreet Boys?

*NSYNC hands-down. Anyone who knew me in junior high could vouch for the fact that I had a touch of Justin Timberlake fever. But really, who doesn’t? ;) 

What’s one career you find fascinating?

I know I could never do it—I think I would take other people’s problems home with me—but helping people with the inner workings of their brains, like a psychologist, would be so, so interesting.

How do you feel about Pinterest?

Love! The Type A in me adores how easy it is to organize awesome ideas and to-dos in one place. By the way, you can check out or follow my boards here!

What’s the biggest fear you’ve conquered?

I’m pretty proud of the fact that I gave up control and jumped off a cliff with a stranger to enjoy an amazing paragliding experience in Colorado!

Phew! Well after that novel, I don’t think there’s room for much else. I’m going to skip the tagging, as nearly every blogger I know has either participated or has been tagged already. Plus, it’s a holiday weekend, so everyone deserves a break! I’m going to take a little hiatus, but will see you back here next week. Happy President’s Day, everyone!

One last thing: I’d be fascinated to hear any of your responses to Sam’s questions. Spill in the comments!

What is Tweetsgiving, you ask? It’s a web-based celebration around Thanksgiving that encourages bloggers, Twitter posters and other Internet users to share what they are thankful for. Showing gratitude is something that I treasure, yet never really get around to doing often enough (similar to down time for some, exercise for others…), so there is no better time than now. Thanks for the kick in the right direction Epic Change!

Epic Change is a non-profit dedicated to sharing stories of changemakers, increasing their visibility and raising funds to cover their hope-building and micro-finance projects.

Another brilliant aspect of Tweetsgiving: Epic Change has asked that if readers, bloggers or tweeters have enough to share and feel so moved, they donate in honor of all of their blessings. The best part: all of the money raised will be used to build and improve schools in Africa. In fact, last year, the donations went to create a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania—a town that I was lucky enough to visit a couple of years ago when my sister was in the country doing medical volunteer work.

While in Tanzania, my Mom, sister, uncle and I were able to spend some time at an orphanage which was also where the child residents were educated. Their classroom was basically a small stone room filled with wooden chairs and desks connected to the open space for a play area (this was not the classroom involved in the Epic Change project, just a classroom we visited). No books, no pencils, no chalkboard and dirt floors. The comparison between even the most disadvantaged American schools and that particular African school was astounding. I know that some schools in Tanzania are probably fantastic, but trying to educate even just a few students in an area like that would be nearly impossible. And education is crucial to the well-being, prosperity and health of pretty much everyone.

It’s almost overwhelming to consider the impact one person can have in a situation such as this, but when several (or several thousands of) people get together, like with Epic Change, the impact can be, well, epic!

The children were so bright, friendly and fun. It was one of the trip highlights for me to share some Hershey’s kisses and play time with them. Even though we had quite a language barrier, we were able to connect, share some laughs and I was able to build great memories. Playing with the kids made me regret the worries in my life, because my problems seemed so inconsequential compared to the difficulties that they are up against.

(Image from To the Wire)

Finally getting to the point here :) This year has brought so much to be thankful for.

I am so blessed…

• To have my good health and a body that accomplishes so many amazing things
• To share my life with a supportive, kind, generous family
• To never have to worry about where my next meal will come from, or where I will sleep the next night
• To be building new friendships and support systems (including with many of you!)
• To have so many “small things” that add up to big joy: a warm shower after a good workout, a cozy bed on a rainy night, etc.
• To be able to find work and be able to work at some amazing places. Dreams do come true!
• To receive an education and be able to learn new things every day

I’m making a small, college kid-sized donation to the Tweetsgiving fund. Will you join me and share what you are thankful for in the comments?

Have a happy, healthy and grateful thanksgiving all!

__________________________________________________________________________

“This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.”