Tag. I'm it.

The rules are NO CLEANING/CHEATING. What you see is the real thing. So here we go...

#1 The fridge... I'm surprised there is no Orange Juice in there right now. Andy loves his OJ.

#2 The kitchen sink...If given the choice, don't ever get a white sink. They stain like crazy and are too high maintenance.

#3 The toilet...in all it's glory.

#4 My bed...hastily made. It doesn't get made every day, but I try.

#5 My closet...mmmm...cavernous. Andy was a real gent and volunteered to take the small closet in the master bedroom. I heart my closet.

#6 Self portrait...just got out of the shower.

#7 Favorite shoes...boots of sass! Not only do these shoes make me feel like a superhero, but they are wide width and are rather comfortable. I'm one of the few women in America who HATES shoe shopping. About a month ago, Andy told me to go buy some shoes to replace a pair that was getting rather grungy....and I still haven't done it. Cute shoes don't fit because I have wide feet and when I, in a moment of weakness, buy a cute pair of "normal" shoes, I regret it and my feet hate me.

#8 What my kids are doing right now...hanging out in my tummy, I guess...? Not that that's any kind of announcement. I couldn't photograph Emma--I have no idea what she's doing right now.

#9 A place I would love to go on vacation...I'm good in the vacation department for now. But who doesn't want to go to Bora Bora. Growing up in Hawaii has ruined me for life. I will always be happy in the tropics.

Friends I want to do this blog challenge...Andrew and Amy, Paula, David and Logan, Shelley, Stephen (like that will happen), Kimberly, Dan and Holly, Anne, Heather, and whoever else wants to participate in the fun...Remember NO cleaning before you take the pictures (it is what it is), NO cheating, have fun.

I guess I'm it.

Rules:

A. Post the rules
B. Answer all the questions about yourself
C. After you are done posting, tag 5 people

1. What were you doing 10 years ago:

I was feeling overwhelmed. I had arrived in Taiwan and was working hard at learning Chinese and getting the hang of being a missionary.

2. Five things on your to do list today:

1 - Finish up the Investment Plan for the Field CRT.
2 - Use my feminine guile to get a wire sent out ASAP for a client. ;-)
3 - Go grocery shopping for a side dish for Andy's work party.
4 - Make Pea Salad for said work party.
5 - Lament that working from home precludes me from above-mentioned social distractions. Just kidding. Finalize plans and activities for this weekend's visit with Andrew & Amy and family and Emma.

3. Five snacks I enjoy:

1 - milk chocolate!!!
2 - Fruit (specifically, Mangoes)
3 - Kettle Corn Popcorn
4 - ice cream
5 - brownies (not really a snack, but I do enjoy 'em)

4. What would you do if you suddenly became a millionaire:

How much notice do I have? Assuming I can open an off-shore account first, I'd...
1 - Pay tithing
2 - invest about $300,000 for long term and possibly live off the interest.
3 - Quit the ole jobba-ru and take up ridiculous hobbies that could potentially turn into money makers like online scrap booking, ceramics, recording a CD etc.
4 - TRAVEL or maybe pay for peoples' plane tickets to come visit me.
5 - Pay down the mortgage but not pay it off because of tax benefits of paying a mortgage.

5. Five things people don't know about me:
1 - When I get really upset, I tend to silently fume and feel the need to state my concerns in a way that expresses exactly what I'm feeling without offending other people. I'm very conscientious in that regard.
2 - My favorite candy bar is Butterfinger. But I am an equal-opportunity candy bar eater.
3 - I have veneers.
4 - I am not very competitive. I'd rather make everyone a winner.
5 - When I was a kid, I thought it would be so cool to have an ice cream shop on the beach with an apartment above the ice cream shop where I would live.

* As a bonus, I found out yesterday that we have a gardenia bush in our front yard!! It's big and in a matter of days we will have more blossoms than we will know what to do with. It made my day! I love love love the smell of gardenias. We also planted our fig tree last night and there was a rain/lightening storm. It appears to have survived the trauma just fine.

I got tagged...

According to Logan, I'm supposed to list 6 facts/habits about me (Jamie). Here goes nothing...

1. Ya know that fishy smell? It makes me want to HORK!!! I therefore hate seafood. I endure a lot of criticism for my unwillingness to eat something that defecates in its own drinking water, but I just can't bring myself to enjoy it. I will openly admit that 40% of my dislike of seafood is the smell, 58% is mental--I think seafood is slimy, gross and undeserving of becoming a part of me and 2% of it is fear of overcoming my dislike of seafood.

2. I think I'm funny. I often crack myself up and have been known to go so far as to wake up laughing because of a funny dream I've had. Andy can attest to the fact that I think I'm so funny because I tell him how funny I am all the time. I'm just a joy to be around!

3. I respect money. I am an Investment Advisor and have long had the belief that having money will not make you happy, but not having enough money can make you miserable!! I think it's very important for people (especially teenage girls) to learn how to window shop and not feel like they HAVE to have something. I often find myself having to talk myself into making a purchase--even though I know I can afford it. Saving money is very rewarding. There's a certain joy in watching a bank account grow. Wahoo!! Some day this will pay off big time! (At least that's what I tell myself.)

4. My favorite movies/TV shows are: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Office, Oprah, Family Feud, various house flipping/home decorating shows, The Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory and Carpoolers. As a side note...if anyone has connections to the Colbert Report, I've been trying to warn Stephen that Snapple Fact #123 says that Beavers were once the size of Bears!!! (You have to be a fan to appreciate that one.)

5. I hate meaningless or "heartwarming" forwards that tell me what to do. Whenever I receive a forward that has some kind of warm-fuzzy message and a promise that if I forward it to 20 people then something good will happen to me within 24 hours. I think we all know that promises like that are ridiculous and serve no purpose. I never forward those...and I'm still alive....and happy. Amazing.

6. I love a good coupon!! Someone gave Andy and I a $20 gift card to Cold Stone a few months ago. Normally, I am not a fan of Cold Stone--my feeling is that their ice cream is waaaay over priced just because someone gets to play in it. Anyway, because of coupons, we've been to Cold Stone like three or four times and each time we've gotten a free "Lovin it" Ice Cream bowl. We still have about $4 left on the card. Yarrr! The Entertainment book is my friend.

I'm not going to "tag" anyone specific. Should you feel so inclined to tag yourself, go for it.