Twenty Random Facts

Because I felt in a random writing mood this afternoon, I thought I would share a post of twenty random facts that you may or may not know about me.  So here goes, in no particular order:

1.  I was born in South Korea and I lived in an orphanage for the first six months of my life.  Sometimes its sad to think of myself as a poor little orphan, but mostly it just makes me very thankful for my parents adopting me and for the plan that God had for my life.

2.  I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan.  If you were wondering where that was and we were talking face to face, I, like every other Michigander, would hold up my hand and show you exactly where. (It’s just below the pinky finger)

3.  I loved animals and had a lot of pets growing up.  We had (but not all at the same time) a dog, a cat, a guinea pig, golden hamsters, dwarf hamsters, a lizard, hermit crabs and goldfish.  Kind of funny, from a now mom who refuses to have any other pets besides fish and our gecko.

4.  When I was in Kindergarten, my teacher Miss Holman had a box of M&Ms on her desk.  If we were really good, we got one.  Oh, and I should clarify, not a package, and not even one of the fun packs that they have these days.  Literally, one M&M.  But boy, were we motivated to behave for that one piece of candy.  Looking back now, she was kind of a genius to be able to command an entire grade of Kindergarteners with the hope of getting a single M&M.

5.  Speaking of M&Ms, when I was younger, my sister Leslie always said that if you eat the blue M&Ms then your kids would have blue eyes.  And then she would do the same with the green ones.  I always thought she was crazy, because she’s brown eyed and Korean, like I am.  But lo and behold, amongst her seven, soon to be eight kids, there are a few of them with blue eyes and a few with green.

6.  I played the piano for ten years and the french horn for eight years.

7.  I loved reading.  In the summers, I would walk to the Bookmobile (a traveling library that came to our local park each week) and take out a huge stack of books.  I would read through them all, and then repeat the same thing the following week.

8.  I grew up in a very conservative Baptist church.  I went to AWANA and attribute those two things to the fact that I can still spout off a good number of memory verses, in the King James Version, no less.

9.  I worked at a Christian summer camp for seven summers, first on a Summer Missions Team and later as a Camp Counselor.  At one point, I figured that I had been a camp counselor to close to 600 girls over those seven summers.  It was probably great preparation for going on to be a Youth Pastor’s wife and working in ministry for the past twelve years.

10.  I have a teaching degree.  It’s hanging on the wall in our spare room, hidden by random boxes of stuff.  Sometimes I regret not using it, but then my husband lovingly reminds me that I use it all the time.

11.  I love Jesus.  I don’t know what I would do, or where I would be without my faith.

12.  My Dad never attended college and went from high school straight into an apprenticeship to be a welder.  When I was younger, I would tell people he was a welder, but I had no idea what that meant.  My Dad worked really hard for many, many years and is now retired and doing very well.  He and my Mom are traveling around the country this summer and I am so proud of my Dad and the example that he set of being a hard worker.

13.  I love to watch Downton Abbey and The Paradise.  I’m not sure why because they are British and set about fifty years ago, but they are both really, really good.

14.  Even though my sisters have many kids (almost eight and five, respectably) I’m pretty sure I was meant to have only two.  I figured that there are only two of Jeremy and I and I never wanted to be outnumbered.

15.  My greatest desire for my kids is that they would love Jesus.

16.  I’ve been to Europe twice.  And I’m a fan of worldwide travel.  My favorite places to visit were Barcelona and Rome, but Malta and Pompeii would be close runner ups.  I wasn’t so much a fan of France.  Sorry France.

17.  I’m pretty usually pretty happy being whatever age I am.  I like the different stages of life and the fact that I’ve learned many things, but still have many things to learn as well.

18.  It probably took a few years, but I truly love living in New York.  I love Eastern Long Island, I love the ocean, I love the bagels and I love the pizza too.  Most of all, I love the people.  They are beautiful, and good-hearted and we have been incredibly blessed to know so many wonderful friends.

19.  I love going to the gym.  I’ve attended the Powerhouse Gym for almost three years now.  I love sweating out my anxiety and working out with my friends.  And over all, I go, not because I’m so concerned with what I look like, but more so because I want to be strong and healthy.

20.  And finally, I’ve consistently blogged now for almost four years.  I started out because I wanted a way to document life and a way to share our lives with relatives who lived far away.  I also knew it would be good for my photography business and also for our church ministry.  And those are the same reasons that I still blog today.  I don’t think my life is perfect, I try to be real and transparent and I do hope that God uses my writing to encourage others.

There you have it.  Twenty random facts about me.  Hopefully they were entertaining and informative.  Feel free to return the favor, because I’m sure I would love to know 20 random facts about you 🙂  Really though, thanks for taking time to read through them and I do hope that you have a wonderful weekend!