10 Things You Don't Know About Me...

... that you will know after this post.  Since I have been tagged by Jen I thought I would give this a go.  If you don't read my blog, you may not actually know that much about me (since most of the time I am just doing the QofD or Vox Hunt here), but I'm still not actually sure what 10 things to share... I guess I'll have to think of something.

1:  I was a band geek.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still a geek, I'm just not in band any more.  I played the tenor sax in wind symphony and the bari sax in jazz band.  It was pretty awesome.  All my closest friend were in band and we were pretty tight.  Sometimes I miss those days... other times not so much.  We played in Carnegie Hall once in New York: in-freakin'-credible!

2:  I am addicted to Coke... well usually Cherry Coke actually.  It is, along with Mountain Dew, an amazing beverage.  Period.

3:  I hated reading for much of my life.  My mom was really worried that I would never read much (or well) because all I read were Garfield comics when I was little.  I started taking more of an interest my senior year of high school, but it really wasn't until my freshmen year of college that I actually got excited about reading as a means to learn more and for pure enjoyment.  I am still not a huge fiction fan (except for the classics), but even those are growing on me.

4:  Some say this is late in the game, some say quite early: I knew I wanted to go to the University of Washington since my freshmen year of high school (it was the only college I applied to) and knew I was going to major in physics and astronomy since my junior year.

5:  I NEVER ever wanted to be a teacher, ever.  My dad was a teacher, my aunt a teacher, my grand parents were teachers, my sister is a teacher.  I refused to go down that line.  Then late in my sophomore year of college (it may have been my junior year actually) I felt clear direction from God that I was going to be a teacher.  I had never felt any specific direction of this sort in my life and haven't since.

6:  I am addicted to the internet.  This might be obvious, but it really is true.  Since I haven't been very busy this last year I am on pretty much all the time.  I secretly wish that my friends and family would all have blogs so I could interact with them more often than I generally get to (especially when living away from them); I think most of them think it is somewhat silly that I blog so much.  I say "get with the program!" ;)  If I could make a living off blogging, I totally would.

7:  I grew up in a church-going Christian home (I still really appreciate the Presbyterian church, its structure, governance, and dedication to God and the church family) but it wasn't until my dad's death just before my freshmen year of high school that I realized that I had to make my faith my own.  It became such a black and white issue: either God exists and loved me and wants me to draw closer to Him OR God doesn't exist and life really doesn't have much meaning.  I examined everything that I learned growing up, I looked at the examples of my parents, friends, and family, I read, I prayed, I pondered.  I came to the conclusion that God truly does love me and care for me and wants to be in relationship with me.  Since then my faith has been nothing be strengthened by study and worship (in a wide variety of ways) and I truly cannot think of anything that could pull me from God.

8:  I have (only?) had three relationships in my life (and I am not sure if the one in high school counts because, well, it's high school).  They all had their ups and downs (especially the second one... it was over three years long) and while it was difficult when they ended, I have been able to look back and appreciate them for what they were and learned lots from them.  While I have never really felt like I needed to be in a relationship, I am getting to a point in my life where I would actually really like being in a relationship and headed for marriage.  I am perfectly fine not being at that point right now, but it is something I think about.  Sometimes (and really, I do only mean sometimes) I wish I was better looking so it would be easier to find sometime... but most of the time I don't care and am just happy being me.

9:  Not only am I a geek, but I am also quite a nerd.  For example: I love computers and have been using them since I was 4 (which isn't a big deal any more, but it was 1983 when I was 4).  I have loved building a variety of computers and learning how they work.  My next goal (if I can get enough in student loans) is to build a laptop (I have only ever built desktops).  I am a nerd in a lot of ways, that is just one example.

10:  I think I am a cross between an extrovert and an introvert:  I can spend multiple days in a row with my friends and can thrive being with them, but having spent essentially three years apart from my friends (two up at Regent in Vancouver BC and one in Bellingham cause I thought I was going to go to school here...), I also know that I can be completely alone and really enjoy myself as well.  So feel free to visit... or stay away. ;)

I don't know if those were the best 10 things to share and I think I got a bit more personal than I intended, but they are what they are.  So there ya have it!

Oh, right, I am supposed to tag someone... how about KristIn, Lindsay, and Amanda?