25 Things

So since the New York Times has now covered the phenom known as "25 Things" I've decided to share my own list here.

25 Random Things About Me... in no particular order:

1. If you know me you probably know that I have three sisters who are my best friends, with my youngest sister adopted from Guatemala. She’s six (seven next week) and a hoot!

2. When I feel really sad my gums go numb.

3. I write with my left hand but my “handedness” is on my right side – I cut, throw (rarely), and see better with my right side.

4. My favorite kind of movie/book is survival stories. One of my favorite movies is ALIVE and in high school I used to daydream about having to take care of the survivors if they got dropped off at my doorstep.

5. I thought “The Notebook” was the worst movie ever created and I have absolutely no idea why people like it so much.

6. When I get extremely nervous/excited in a good way my mouth gets dry like the Serengeti. It’s only happened three times in my life, but enough to recognize a pattern.

7. One time I hitched hiked down half of Belize.

8. I also had fleas in Belize.

9. I’m named April because I was conceived in April. My birthday is in January.

10. A bowl of cereal can solve almost all of my problems.

11. I recently did a silent retreat – no speaking, phones, internet, or music for 48 hours. It was amazing and I highly recommend it.

12. I run partially so I can eat all the junk food I want. 

13. I backpacked from Mexico to Costa Rica over the course of three months alone. It was amazing, extremely lonely, and I would never ever let my kids do that.

14. What I want most are the simple things in life – a family, community, and the opportunity to serve God.

15. I think Stephen Colbert is funnier than John Stewart.

16. It kind of annoys me that I’m always the one that calls my friends, not vice versa. Oh well. BUT - my friends excel at sending packages!! (And I like sending them, too!)

17. Even though I work in the environmental field, I just can’t read news about environmental destruction. It’s way too depressing when all day long I have to be up beat about turning the crisis around.

18. One of my closest friends from college and one of the few people I keep in touch with from that time in my life is a professor.

19. I heard the founder of the company I now work for speak when I was in the 9th grade; he inspired me and it’s a life dream come true that I now work at Interface.

20. I’m very loyal to my crushes. One crush in elementary school for four years, one crush in middle school for three years, one crush in high school for three years, and one crush since then for five years. Phew!

21. I can’t spell worth a darn.

22. Saugatuck is one of my most favorite places in the world. I love Lake Michigan.

23. I used to do this weird thing in high school called performance art – basically I would get really hyper and do silly things in front of my friends and they would laugh.

24. Seeing Gloria for the first time in the airport in Grand Rapids was one of the best moments of my life.

25. I love making people laugh and I’m not afraid to make fun of myself.