Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Blog Hop: 30 Things

When I saw this blog hop from May As Well Event, I knew I wanted to jump on board! Mostly because with the current soggy state of Missouri as a whole, I have nothing else to write about, lol. Plus I love blog hops! :)  Since I started this draft like 10+ other people hopped on this so I'm super behind. Although on the positive side, I was really struggling to hit 30 and some of your posts gave me inspiration, so I'm glad it took me a few days to put together.

While my blog delves into my personal life a little more than the average horse blog (I'm an over-sharer), here are some random (non-horse-related) facts you might not have known about me!
Enjoy some freshly-raked arena zen before you get started!
1. I had scarlet fever when I was in college. The doctor was both horrified and fascinated, because she’d never seen anyone older than a preschooler get it.

2. I didn’t find out I was allergic to sulfa antibiotics until I was in my mid-20s. The first time I had them was for the scarlet fever, but the reaction was chalked up as a symptom. The second time I had them, I ended up in the hospital for an unrelated reason (swine flu, complete with botched spinal tap because they were afraid I had spinal meningitis), and the doctors finally recognized my body’s allergic reaction to the drugs.

3. My husband asked me to marry him after less than four months of dating. I got tired of being asked when the baby was due so we had a 13-month engagement, haha (because clearly there was no baby). A lot of people had negative things to say about that, but nine years later we're still going strong and I can't imagine my life without him.
4. I was so obsessed with Pride & Prejudice (the Kiera Knightley one) that I saw it 12 times in theaters. Also my dad bought the 10 foot tall tri-fold movie display the theater had in their lobby for me as a gift, and it lived in the gooseneck of my horse trailer until it got leaked on and moldy *sob*

5. I have no student loan debt (never had any incidentally).

6.  As a kid I was at the USS Arizona Memorial looking at the sunken ship and my glasses fell off into the water. Oops?
7. I have never broken a bone (universe, don't take that as a challenge) although I had a suspected pinky fracture. The X-ray was inconclusive and the splint annoyed me so I wouldn't wear it.

8. I’ve been in two weddings -- once as a maid of honor, once as a bridesmaid. Both weddings ended in divorce in less than five years. The moral of the story is, don't ask me to be in your wedding!
Got some nice pro pics with DH out of it though?
9. I took two years of Latin in high school. While I retained enough useful knowledge of the roots of many English words for my actual profession, the only conversational Latin phrases I remember are "always wear underwear" and "there's a drunk servant in the kitchen". I also took a year of American Sign Language but remember even less of that.
10. After spending two years in a high stress job that stressed me out to the point of becoming physically ill (I developed an ulcer, my hair was falling out, and I had to be heavily medicated to function), I have very definite work-related boundaries. I absolutely refuse to take jobs where you're expected to work a lot of unpaid overtime or be on call 24/7. Since I work in communications that really limits my career options and severely limits my salary, but my mental health is more important than money. Work-life balance is a thing. I work for the money to enjoy my life, I don't live to work.

11. All of my animals have real names and then like 10-15 mutating nicknames. I can't help myself. My favorite teeny dog CiCi started her life with us as Sienna, but also gets called Specklefoot, Squirrel, Twirly Squirrel, Red Princess, Bitchface Weiner, Teens Ween, Banana Nut Muffin, Little Red Bitch, and lots I can't even remember. Some of them I can explain, but some of them I cant, lol.
The Haute Dog herself.
Couldn't even begin to list all the nicknames.
12.  In college I worked for a newspaper and my primary job was editing obituaries. Morbidly enough I kind of loved it. I edited a couple of $$$ ones (including a 4-figure one haha) and some of the people's lives were fascinating.

13. I don't like beer. I love a lot of alcohol, but cannot tolerate beer.
Wine, check
Margaritas, check
Hard lemonade, check.
14. I got my first email address in the mid-90s. It was a rocketmail address, I still have it, and there are archived emails from as early as 1996. I also had an ICQ handle (the precursor to AIM).
Back in the day....
15. I was 12 the first time I took the ACT (with no prep, my mom just literally got me up and took me to the test facility). I scored better then than most of my high school classmates did when we all took it again a few years later.

16. Although I don’t think it’s worth going to a doctor to be officially diagnosed, I have many of the symptoms of Selective Eating Disorder. I am an incredibly picky eater, which is mortifying as an adult. It's actually easier to list the things I will eat as opposed to the things I won't. My coworker coined the nickname "vegetable disorder" (because I don't eat veggies) so now that's what I call it.
Gotta break the text wall with a photo, haha.
17. I have a morbidly dark sense of humor that very few people know about. I have some inexplicable memes saved on my phone -- God forbid anyone find it and judge me by it, lol.

18. I can kill a chicken with a rake handle, which is a skill I acquired when we raised and butchered our own chickens. #farmtotable

19. I was the valedictorian of my high school class, graduated summa cum laude from college, and was also a member of four honorary societies.
HS grad with my bestie
College graduation with my mom! See all the cords? Sooooo many colors haha.
20. I have a fairly uncanny recall for song lyrics and can regularly flip stations on the radio and immediately begin belting out whatever is playing. My college best friend called me the country music rainman (although it doesn't apply to just country).

21. I hate horror movies and won't watch them. I was offered a really great opportunity in college to collaborate with a professor I really respected on a project but it involved watching horror films so I turned it down.

22. I read incredibly fast and have a super good retention rate.
23. I was raised in a hyper-religious household and spent years attending religious schools -- there's not much about the Bible I don't know from a factual standpoint (I annihilated the curve in my Bible/critical thinking course in college and like half the class failed and had to take it again). I got burned out on hypocritical church people so the barn is my church on Sunday mornings now ;)

24. When I was younger I played HorseLand -- I had one of the coveted 6-digit accounts, ran a breeding program of Straight Egyptian Arabians, had some pretty high point horses, and regularly sold million+ dollar breedings. Ahhhh if only the money were real haha.

25. I hate MLM scam companies. With a burning fiery passion. I feel sorry for anyone who shills for one and it will almost inevitably lead to removal from my social media accounts.
26. I played soccer for 12+ years, from kindergarten all the way through high school, including some year-round seasons (indoor/outdoor). I was All State back-to-back years my junior and senior years of high school (as well as the leading goal scorer 3 out of my 4 years playing varsity). I desperately wish my town had some kind of rec league I could play in now. I miss it so much!

27. I am unashamedly and vehemently childfree. I used to be a lot more polite about it when people asked me, but now I’m… less so. My preferred response when I get tired of being badgered about not having kids is that I’m not dumb enough to think the world needs more kids, or vain enough to think they need to look like me. If you have kids and that offends you, #sorrynotsorry
28. I was super excited to start donating blood, until I found out I was AB+ -- which means I can donate to like, 2% of the population. Soooo they don't usually need my blood. I still donate when I can though!

29. In 5th grade, I played a year of basketball. My team ended up winning the conference championships... and I was the only player on the team who didn't score a single basket. Not for lack of trying, either. Hahahaha. My hand-eye coordination is.... not great?

30. I got my first job when I turned 16, and it ended up seeing me through high school, funded my horse habit through college, and then I finally gave it up when I got my first "real job" two months after graduation. What was it you ask? I waited tables at a Waffle House. The politically correct term is "salesperson". Don't laugh, it's where I met DH! But that is a story for another day ;)
The peanut gallery is glad that's over so we can go back to horse posts now!
So there you have it! Thirty random (non-horse-related) horse facts about me. 

32 comments:

  1. No to babies, veggies, and church. We could so be besties!

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    1. Yessssss, let's start our own religion-free, veggie-free, child-free group! Haha

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  2. Super interesting!
    What I learned from this is that you are killer smart and talented but know what you want and have no bones standing up for it. That is super admirable :)

    (FYI, as AB+ you are a universal plasma donor and can donate just plasma instead of whole blood)

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    1. Haha well thanks! 😊

      Yeah I've been told about the plasma thing but the problem is finding a donation place set up for that -- I live out in the boonies!

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  3. Ima need to see those memes. (You should see the ones I don’t share on FB!)

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    1. Hahaha I follow some really obscure meme pages and groups on FB. The internet is a strange and wonderful place!

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  4. Smarty pants!! ;-) I loved reading your answers! And I am totally with you on the MLM scams!

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    1. They make my blood boil -- and I have some fairly intelligent friends who have fallen victim to the "get rich quick" or "be your own boss" mentality, and I can't understand it at all. If I Google a company and half the first page of results involve the word scam or rip-off, I'm gonna run, not walk, away.

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  5. omg HORSELAND! I was super active on it too, but never reached the level of selling million dollar breedings lol

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    1. Hahaha my favorite memory of that was one of the breedings sold for 20 million and when I was "selling them the money horse" (which was the only way to transfer amounts that high) I mistyped the sale price at 2 million so I had to go back and ask for the other 18 million separately. The amount of times I laughed at that ridiculousness typing it out tells you everything you need to know about teenaged HorseLand playing me 😂😂😂

      Although customizing my barn pages was my first dabbling in HTML, which is actually part of my job now, so I did at least pick up some useful skills? 😁

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  6. No student loan debt is the shit.

    LOL re: being in weddings. I had a streak like that for a time, too, but it apparently has ended 'cause the last couple is still together and it's been a few years.

    #preach re: work/life balance and mental health. I'm in a sticky spot lately and not sure what to do! Fortunately not as bad as what yours sounds like though!

    #11 - yeah...don't even get me started on the nicknames for my critters! I freaking love the stories that go with nicknames tho!

    Riding on Sundays has been my "church" for years. I get way more out of it than any building or pastor etc.

    Fuck having my own kids. I really love my friends kids, but so far as having my own? NO.

    L.O.L.!! salesperson/waffle house

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    1. It was hard to walk away from that particular job but it was the best thing. Within 3 weeks of starting a new job I was able to transition off all the medications and my hair started growing back. Haven't had a problem since!

      But yeah. I feel like if you lived near me, we could cause a lot of trouble. Child-free churchless trouble 😉 haha.

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    2. Also really morbid sense of humor trouble. #sorrynotsorry

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  7. Loved learning about you. People and their question about your engagement - RUDE. And a big yes to child-free. I'm not even at a point where I can manage a dog right now...

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    1. The first time someone said it to me I was shell shocked. By the 5th time or so, I got real angry.... Haha.

      I've just never had any maternal instincts towards children. Dogs, yes. Horses, absolutely. Goats, sure. Kids? Thanks but no, sounds awful.

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  8. I mean, that phrase has come out of my mouth more times than I care to admit 😂

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  9. Horseland! I totally played that! I don't think I was ever that good, I just dabbled. But it was super fun, I loved "breeding" new horses!
    Ditto on the kids thing too.

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    1. I didn't have my own horse or take lessons or anything, so HL was as close to I got as an equine fix 😂

      It's comforting seeing the increase in people who are happy and content being childfree, and I love that gradually the social stigma is decreasing.

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  10. This list just makes me missing hanging out with you IRL.

    So yeah that's gotta happen.

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  11. Loving reading these on everyone's blogs, yours is no exception! Cheers on the kid thing, since moving south it's basically the end of the world that i'm late 20's and childless.

    Also - OMG HORSELAND!!! I bred Hanoverians and spent HOURS photoshopping fancy images for them. What a throwback, thanks for that!

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    1. Haha yeah I'm in the Bible belt so you can imagine the looks of confusion and then dawning horror when someone asks me to hold their baby and I tell them no thanks 😂

      Ahhhh! I was never any good at Photoshop but I had a few "breeding partners" that were haha. I had such a fun trip down memory lane thinking about that game.

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  12. You and I have so much in common, it's crazy! Ditto on the child-free. And religious schools. And graduating with honors. And reading. And the morbidly dark sense of humor. And so many others! Yours is my favorite of these so far.

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    1. It's so cool to find out those weird things about you that you think no one will understand are actually not that uncommon! 😁 I'm glad you liked it. I bet if you did this hop, you'd have a ton of really awesome stuff to share!

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  13. I also played Horseland I had thoroughbreds lol, also I will not ask you to be in my wedding. I really miss ICQ, I loved that you could go invisible (because AIM didn't have that feature for many many years later), I also loved that you had a # and you could change your name as much as you wanted since your account was linked to the # and not the name. So annoying how if you wanted to change your name on AIM because you no longer were an ElfLover4567 or grew out of xXVampyreChicXx that you needed to abandon that account and friend list and open a new one and re-add your friends.

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    1. Haha yes to all of that! ICQ had so many great features. And yeahhhhh not that anyone's knocking down my door asking me to be a bridesmaid, but I'd refuse on principle at this point 😂

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  14. I also took Latin, read incredibly fast and graduated summa cum laude. I have so many nicknames for my dog that someone thought I had two separate dogs for the longest time. Nope, just one with too many names. I really want him to learn Spanish too, but English is proving challenging enough for him...

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    1. Haha that's so familiar. My problem is I have 6 dogs each with like 10 nicknames. If we had neighbors who could hear m yell off the porch, they'd probably think I was a hoarder!
      😂

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