100 things about me...part 1

OK, so all the other cool kids are writing these lists, so I might as well since I got to look over and comment, it's only fair that I make one too.

1.) I like Minneapolis better than St. Paul, and now my mom is going to smack me.

2.) As a kid, I invented my own language and tried to teach my brother. Sadly he did (and still does) not share my enthusiasm for languages.

3.) I am EXTREMELY superstitious. Whether I'm watching sports or playing them, I have many rituals that must be followed. During the playoffs, participation is manditory.

4.) I can't watch horror movies. My imagination makes everything ten times worse than it actually is. Same goes for ghost shows, mystery books, or even made up stories.

5.) The older I get, the more OCD I get about cleaning. I've been told it's just the Finnish genes in me combined with the Swedish and constantly being told to clean things.

6.) I didn't really like baseball as a kid and into my teens, but as I get older I'm finding that I like it more than I once did. The fact that we have likeable players on the team (Redmond, Slowey, Morneau) doesn't hurt, either.

7.) As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut, a marine biologist, a botanist (all before I turned 8), a veternarian, and now I don't know what I want. I wish I had the focus of my younger years.

8.) I love foreign languages. I speak several fluently, and I will start to learn Mandarin in the fall. I plan to take Spanish (though I understand it pretty well and can speak a little bit) when I find the time, and then travel when I can to pick up a couple more. I can easily pick up speaking a language in a month, but reading and writing are slower to follow.

9.) I love to go into stores and just pick up everything. I enjoy stores like Creative Kidstuff, REI, IKEA, etc where I'm encouraged to go in and touch everything and test things out.

10.) I'm also very auditory. I love to listen to music and I recognize people more by the sound of their voice than by their face a lot of the time. This probably helps my language gift.

11.) I hate road trips. If I have to ride in the car for more than 15 minutes, I'm bored. I have a constant need to be entertained, and I'm an excellent multitasker, making it difficult to keep me entertained.

12.) I love to be outside. I like to camp, fish, play sports, everything outside. Ron Schara has the best job ever in that he gets to be outdoors and get paid a lot for it.

13.) For all that I love to be outside and in nature, I also tend to be very easy to reach. During the school year I'm on Facebook a lot, and when I'm not at work, I text fairly constantly.

14.) I love bright colors. Bright leafy greens, the bright blue the sky gets in the summer, and yellow. My skin tone doesn't really allow me to wear these shades well until I tan, but the walls of my room at home are bright yellow.

15.) Even though I now spend 8 months of the year in Oregon (during their rainy season), I really don't like rain. I'm a child of the sun all the way. Who says Scandinavians don't tan well?

16.) That being said, I love the water. I love to swim, row, fish, canoe, kayak, and just generally be around water.

17.) I have always had a lot of pets. I've had dogs, parakeets, a cockatial, chinchilla, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, and a crab. Going to school is weird, all I'll have is bamboo for company.

18.) I'm not very artistic. The only form of art I am good at is music. My only attempts at visual arts at the moment are my random Paint scribbles. My art tends to be more representational than recognizable.

19.) I am extremely competitive. It doesn't matter what it is, I will compete at it. I will compete against any one, any time.

20.) I love getting mail. It pretty much makes my life complete. If anyone sends me mail, I do my best to find something to mail them back and return the favor.