1. It was raining the night I was born.
2. My grandparents gave me my nickname.
3. My parents told me what day my birthday party would be on when I was 3 and I got it stuck in my head that the party day was my actual birth day. It took years to correct that mistake.
4. I preferred my grandparents as babysitters. They were more fun. :)
5. The end of the year party in kindergarten involved a pinata.
6. When I was 6, I went to Florida to visit family, swim in the ocean, go to Seaworld, visit Busch Gardens, and, of course, take advantage of all Disney World had to offer. It was a very busy yet unforgettable week for me.
7. Best-friend journal writing became a thing, for me. Any time a friend came over, I had them write in my journal. Now I have little bits of them captured in my version of a time capsule.
8. I practiced math and spelling on a computer given to me by my grandparents in the mid-90s
9. My mom would always type my reports for me, because she was much faster than I was. When I began instant messaging and e-mailing friends, this came to a hault. Rather than sitting with my mom while she typed my reports, I would type them myself because I was much faster.
10. Birthday dinners at a (specific) local Italian restaurant with family became the norm for me at age 10. I've been going every year since.
11. My parents asked me one year if I wanted a party or a bunch of gifts for my birthday. I decided to go with the gifts…
12. I bought Jane Eyre in the 6th grade despite the fact that the bookstore associate told my parents it was above my reading comprehension level. I read it and understood it just to spite him.
13. Then I attempted Gone With the Wind … the longest book ever. And gloated about it during the next school year…
14. Going to the mall with a friend at age 14 without adult supervision was not an option. I asked and was told no. :(
15. My roommates during my school trip to NYC decided that it would be fun to sneak out of our hotel room and go to the roof of the hotel during the middle of the night. Then we chickened out… It's hard to do those types of things when the head teacher is an insomniac pacing the halls all night…
16. I did not care about learning to drive. My parents were willing to take me anywhere I wanted since I didn't ask to do much. I like to think that I was an "easy" teenager.
17. Prior to dating Justin, I encouraged him to go out with both of his ex-girlfriends. The end result: I've never been jealous of his exes.
18. I started dating Justin at age 18. I was pretty indecisive about whether or not I even wanted to date anyone at the time.
19. Since I met Justin, he has almost always helped "improve" my family's Thanksgiving food dishes. We went from having so-so dishes to having stellar, exciting dishes. :)
20. Justin bought me a camera for my birthday one year. It was absolutely one of the most surprising gifts I have ever received.
21. I drank a little alcohol here and there before becoming of age to drink. I never really liked it and I'm still not a huge fan…
22. Interning provided me with a lot of learning opportunity, but it also put me in touch with a lot of mean people who took advantage of me.
23. #ThatMomentWhen Justin broke up with me and his uncle said "What were you thinking?!?!" Note to others: Always make friends with your significant other's family. Be "the one that got away". ;)
24. Learning to manipulate color in photoshop has been a time-consuming learning experience.
25. Not having much money taught me to make my money go further and last longer…
26. While babysitting my (now) sister-in-law, we both slept in too late one morning and she missed gym class at the high school. Ooops. (Sidenote: she had told me I didn't need to wake her up. I was there so she wouldn't be staying home by herself alone overnight.)
27. I based my decision on marriage on whether or not I could see myself spending an enjoyable life with the person who asked me. The answer was yes.
28. We only served glass bottled drinks at our wedding. A portion of our guests, who don't drink alcohol, still don't know that beer and wine was available at the wedding… (Some of which wish they had known!)
29. My first experience in Europe has me longing to return!
30. Unroll.me has been a life-saver. I can't stand the 15-million e-mail notifications I receive every day.
*November Blogathon Day 1
