Random Confessions vol. 5

So I've spent the past 2 days lying around on the couch/in bed with a horrid flu-like cold thing. Worst sore throat since having my tonsils out at 17....worst headache in my more recent memory....worst all over body achy feeling since I had mono in college. How's the rest of the family faring? Chloe's had a little bit of a runny nose this week and so far Aaron has skated through unscathed. How is it that I ALWAYS end up the sickest?! Shouldn't I have the strongest immune system being exposed to germs on a daily basis at work?! No fair!
Here's some more random confessions for your (un)enjoyment.

• I was prom queen my senior year of high school. My whole english class voted for me so that I'd have to be at prom since they knew my parents didn't usually let me go to dances. I found out I was going the night before prom. That's a whole story in itself. Maybe I'll tell it sometime.
• Playing piano is my stress reliever. I haven't felt a burning urge to play since I started my new job in the OR in January. It's also partly because my piano desperately needs to be tuned but that's one of the extra expenses that always get's pushed to the bottom of the list. Is that a good sign though, that I haven't needed to play since January?!
• I'm allergic to celery, carrots, cauliflower, apples, peaches, pears, plums. Like tongue-itching, throat-swelling allergic. And if I peel potatoes....serious itchy eye/sneezing attack. Same reaction I get to cats.....and pollen and trees and grass and dust and mold. Yeah...I'm one of those weird allergy people. But it's only been since I was 12 or 13. I used to eat those fruits and veggies all the time. I hate it.
• I work best under a huge looming deadline. I'm a procrastinator. Just ask anyone who knows me well. Company will be here this evening @ 7? Great...I'll start cleaning @ 530. :) I think sometimes it drives Aaron crazy.
• I guess some people think I always seem self-assured and confident. But honestly? A lot of the time I'm quaking inside and fearful of what other people see/think when they look at me. A lot of times it seems putting on the front of being self-confident helps me feel the tiniest ounce more confidence.
• I pay hardly any attention to current events. Yeah I read the headlines on CNN.com and occasionally on our local paper's website....but I really have no idea what's going on most of the time. I have no clue who I'm going to vote for in this fall's election. It seems like the news just repeats and repeats.
• I was on the debate team in high school with Ian. He made fun of me for being in French class since his mom was the spanish teacher and he was fluent. He also thought we should use thematic elements from The Great Gatsby in our arguments about foreign policy between the US & Russia. We had so much fun....showing up with our one folder of clippings/notes and the other teams showed up with bins and bins full of info.
• My fastest mile time ever was 8:59. My goal was to make it under 9 minutes....and I did! I used to get excused from gym class a lot cuz of my allergies. And I was more than thrilled that it wasn't required after 10th grade. I'm so unathletic.
• I could eat breakfast food for all 3 meals of the day 7 days a week. I love breakfast food....especially french toast.....and really really crispy bacon.
• My dream vehicle is a Range Rover....but I'd never be able to afford one....or the gas to drive it around.
• I missed the bus on my first day of kindergarten. Mum had to drive me further down the road to a bus stop in her pajamas. And then I forgot my lunch. It was pouring rain....and Wendy was sobbing cuz she didn't want me to go to school.
• I'm a night owl. Even when I know I have to be up early I have a really hard time going to bed. Which is why I love working evening shift....
• I love books by Jodi Picoult.

Real Simple

I love this magazine . They always have a section near the very last page where they ask questions of real people. I know they'll never pick me , so I'll answer some of the questions myself on here for your reading pleasure. Feel free to post your answers as well!

What are you really good at?
Picking out meaningful gifts for people.

What's the quality you least like in others?
Closed-mindedness to change

What is your favorite motto?
Not sure if it's my favorite, but one that always amuses/uplifts me (my dad always says it)- "Time wounds all heels."

What's the one thing you'll never understand?
Why it is that Aaron loves me so much.

Someone should invent...
A way to really grow money on trees.

My life would be simpler if...
I lived on a desert island with Aaron and Chloe and only had to worry about eating and staying out of the sun/rain all day.

What are you most proud of?
Finishing nursing school and getting my bachelors despite the drama that was going on in my life at the time (thanks for your help on that one Aaron!).

Simplest pleasure?
Sleeping in

What surprises you most about your adult life?
That relationships are a lot more complex/imperfect than I thought they were growing up. A lot of people that appear to be always happy really have a lot of stuff going on under the surface that I never saw growing up.

What's something that no one knows?
My fastest mile time isn't under 9 minutes I don't think. I'm NOT a runner.

What's something that makes you laugh?
Aaron's myriad of facial expressions- he has a whole secret stash of them up his sleeve

Something I've been struggling with lately is...
Trying to find time for my spiritual life amidst the craziness of everything else (working, taking care of Chloe, being a wife)

If you could change places with anyone, living or dead, for one day, who would it be?
Desirae Brown - so I could experience the excitement/accomplishment of being a professional pianist

Would you rather be a little smarter or a little sexier?
Well I'm content with my intelligence level so I'm tempted to say a little sexier, but sexiness is in the eyes of the beholder, right?, and Aaron already thinks I am. So I can't pick one.

The best decision I ever made was...
Marrying Aaron before my last year of nursing school - my life definitely would not be the same without him.

If you suddenly came into $1,000 in spare cash, what would you do with it?
Get me one of these!!

What's the one thing you refuse to eat?
Venison

If I knew then what I know now...
I'd have forced myself to make daily exercise a necessary habit.

Guiltiest pleasure?
A long (at least 15 minutes or more) scalding hot shower

What would your ideal "I'd rather be... " bumper sticker say?
...playing the piano at Carnegie Hall.

What's your favorite posession?
My camera

Random Confessions Vol 4

• I love classical music. I wish I lived in a city where I could go to the opera/symphony on a regular basis, like at least once a month. I'd also need someone to go with me since Aaron only tolerates it in small increments for me.
• In Paris, Aaron and I tasted escargot, just so we could say we'd tried it. It actually tasted pretty good- sort of like the texture of a huge chewy mushroom.
• I've been fishing for lobster. My dad's cousin has a boat in Prince Edward Island, Canada and we used to go out for a day of fishing with him when we went up there on summer vacations. There is nothing like lobster fresh out of the ocean less than 12 hours ago when you cook it. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Therefore I cannot eat lobster at mainland "seafood restaurants"- I've been forever spoiled by tasting the "real thing".
• For the longest time (since Aaron and I were dating) I wanted a baby so desperately. I'm afraid Aaron probably feels like I nagged him to death about it. Now that I've had one, I'm sometimes filled with feelings of doubt about my preparedness and ability for motherhood. That doesn't mean I regret having Chloe, because that's most definitely not true. I guess it's more learning as you go than I expected it would be.
• In high school, for some reason, I loved cows. I had cow mugs, cow stuffed animals, cow patterns for my bookcovers, cow everything. Cows?! What was I thinking?!
• I love laying in the hammock in the backyard on a warm sunny day. I wish I could do it every day all year round. "Daily To do list item # 23- Take an afternoon nap in the hammock."
• One of my favorite classes in college was a European Lit class. I took both semesters of it. We read an insane amount each week but it was one of my few "non-nursing" classes that was a nice relief from all the anatomy & physiology, pharmacology, etc. Week 1 we read the Iliad. Week 2 the Odyssey. Week 3 Dante's Inferno. You get the picture....I know I'm a book nerd.
• I had a clinical instructor in nursing school who almost failed me because I forgot my stethoscope one week. She was an NP married to a Cardiologist, pregnant at the time, and more concerned about varicose veins than she was about teaching us. That semester was one of the toughest- I think I cried after that clinical every week. It's possibly the reason why I would never ever want to work in Cardiac.
• When we moved to MN, I drove from Milford, NH to here all by myself. 2 whole days of solitary driving. I don't know how truck drivers can handle it. I was ready to pull my hair out by the time I made it here. I did stop and see Niagara Falls on the way...one small highlight.
• I've only ever had one speeding ticket in my life (despite being pulled over half a dozen times). It was at 11pm on a Sunday night. Aaron and I had left from Malcom, IA @ 630am and driven straight through to Virginia. Got pulled over 30 minutes from home on a road with not a single other car on it. I was SOO furious.
• One of my favorite books of all time... A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
• In 12th grade English class I did a book report about a book by Danielle Steele. Still can't remember how I convinced my teacher of that one. A book report on a cookie-cutter romance book?
• In that same English class I did a poetry analysis paper on Sylvia Plath because my teacher said she thought I would do well with Sylvia Plath. A deeply depressed poet who killed herself with her children in the other room?! What was she trying to say about me? I got an A on the paper.
• I got accepted early decision to UVA. I knew the week of thanksgiving break in high school that I was accepted to college. TOTALLY destroyed my motivation for the rest of senior year.
• I accepted my job at Mayo at the beginning of February during my senior year of college. That also seriously hindered my motivation for the rest of the year despite being a huge relief.
• I absolutely love eating at Noodles & Co. It doesn't help that it's less than a mile down the road from here and I'm a pasta fanatic. I've been there so much they recognize me and sometimes give me free desserts or a free drink. Customer dedication pays off!
• One of the girls killed in the shooting at VTech last year was from my home county. She graduated from high school with my younger brother. Nothing like events like that to make you feel sober/serious about life.
• My high school GPA was 4.0 and my college GPA was 3.3. Those numbers seemed so earth-shatteringly important at the time. Funny how they're totally immaterial now. Like people care what my GPA was?!

Blah blah

Consider yourself tagged if you have a blog. Finish the sentence:
1. Maybe I should empty out all the boxes still sitting in the furnace room from when we moved here.
2. I love to curl up with a good book and some coffee and read to the sound of music.
3. People would say that I'm too much of a grammar/spelling/pronunciation nazi.
4. I don't understand how some men can physically/verbally/emotionally abuse women. How does anyone ever come to think that that behavior is okay?
5. When I wake up in the morning I moan/groan and deeply long to go back to sleep.
6. I lost my naivete when I went to college.
7. Life is full of disappointments, but I try not to think about that stuff too much.
8. My past isn't very significant if you consider length/quantity, but definitely significant if you consider quality.
9. I get annoyed when people don't sing the right tune or timing to the hymns.
10. Parties are a social exercise that wearies me.
11. I wish I didn't have to work full time.
12. Dogs shed, and I hate having a house full of dog hair.
13. Cats make me sneeze/wheeze and go blind from eye puffiness. We could just say that cats and I don't get along at all.
14. Tomorrow I will get to spend all day with Chloe, Aaron, my mom and Ben!.
15. I have low tolerance for dishonesty.
16. I'm totally terrified of heights.
17. I wonder what my life would be like if I had gone to Florida for spring break with my family instead of staying home the week that Aaron and I "met".
18. Never in my life have I been skinny.
19. High school was not very fun at a rural school with only 89 kids in my class. It was also definitely not good enough preparation for where I went to college.
20. When I'm nervous I double and triple guess myself until I have a headache from going over things in my head so obsessively.
21. One time at a family gathering Aaron and I announced that we were engaged.
22. Take my advice: GO TO COLLEGE.
23. Making my bed is something that I have NEVER done in my life.
24. I'm almost always singing.
25. I'm addicted to facebook scrabulous.
26. I want someone to pay off my debts for me.

random confessions vol. 3

• I'm extremely terrified of heights....breath-hitching, light-headedly terrified. I couldn't go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower when we were in Paris....and I tried so hard to psyche myself up for it.....but to no avail.
• I'm also terrified of crossing bridges. The worst one? Driving to PEI with Wendy, Lindsey, Christina and I happened to be driving when we came to the bridge that links New Brunswick and PEI. 11 miles and the only walls are like 5 foot high concrete barriers on the side. I think I had to change underwear when we got to the other side. (Why couldn't I get someone else to drive across, you ask? They were all asleep...)
• I am a scrabble fanatic!! And I love that I can play on Facebook....I usually have several (5...6...7?) games going at once....The best is when I can actually beat my grandfather (a scrabble genius).
• I get really irritated when people doubt my intelligence/knowledge because I look a lot younger than I actually am.
• I'm one of those detail oriented people. I remember a LOT of random details, facts, numbers that probably won't ever do me any good except to take up brain space.
• Take the two previous points and combine them to indicate that I usually know what I'm talking about....and I'll argue until you see that I'm right. :)
• While I love to argue....I can NEVER argue with Aaron because somehow (even if he just happens to be lucky and pick the correct side) he's ALWAYS right. It's extremely irritating.
• I love picking out cards at Hallmark.....I could make a hobby out of that. Goes well with my excitement at finding gifts for people.
• I know my calendar for weeks into the future without even looking at it.....but I don't like everything to be scheduled. I'm very spontaneous....something fun comes along, I'm totally game!
• In high school I loved the color purple....had my room purple and hunter green with the ivy theme, etc. Now I can't stand the color purple. Most frequent color in our house? Blue probably....but I'd say green is my favorite color now.
• I like to cook....but only in a well-stocked kitchen like my mom's. And I'm just too lazy to have a well-stocked kitchen....plus we don't use all those basic things often enough to make it worthwhile.
• My favorite ice cream in the world.....mint chocolate chip. For my 20th birthday my mom made me a mint choc chip cheesecake that was the ultimately perfect dessert. Even if it was slightly soupy in the 95 degree summer heat.
• I never buy clothes at full price for me or Chloe (Aaron buys his own). Always get stuff off the sale rack. I usually don't even look at the clothes not on sale. I get that from my mom- she's a bargain shopping QUEEN. Too bad I don't have her frugal mindset..... :)
• Aaron got me a big white teddy bear for our one month dating anniversary which I named Ralph (b/c Aaron really liked Ralph Lauren). I slept with that teddy bear every night until we got married. Now Aaron's my teddy bear. :)
• I've had a cellphone with Sprint, Suncom, Quest & Verizon. So far verizon has been my favorite, Sprint my least favorite.
• When I started college I was fully convinced that I didn't care about boys and they certainly wouldn't interfere with my plans for getting my bachelor's in nursing. Then I met Aaron spring semester of my first year and we got married the summer before my 4th year. So much for that conviction!
• My first year of college I played the keyboard in the pit orchestra for the musical Kiss Me Kate. It was so much fun! I wish now I could be part of an orchestra/symphony but know that I'm not really good enough. (I have difficulty memorizing music-which is ironic considering my fine-tuned attention to details.)
• I have horrid stretch marks from pregnancy. We're talking awful- looks like someone painted flames on my belly. I never wore a bikini before Chloe....but now I definitely won't ever wear one.
• I'm a sucker for love stories like "The Notebook", "Pride and Prejudice", "Wuthering Heights", etc. The sappier the love story the more I'm hooked. (I guess that makes me a hopeless romantic?!)

random confessions vol. 2

• I'm an ESTP on the meyer-brigg personality indicator... extroverted sensing thinking perceiver
• I only gained 14 lbs when I was pregnant with Chloe and immediately lost it....I think I've gained more than that back since I had her.
• So far in my life I have visited 13 different countries and have at least set foot in 34 of the 50 states. Chloe has already been to Puerto Rico and Paris and Grand Cayman in utero!
• My ex boyfriends include a black track star, an English computer engineer, & an Army ranger from Washington. They're all 3 married now...
• I played violin from 4th grade to 7th grade and then I switched to French horn which I played through my second year of college. I still have a violin....but the case is collecting dust in the closet.
• I never got my wedding dress "preserved" like all the bridal shops tell you you're supposed to. I think it's still in the garment bag it came in tucked away in a box downstairs somewhere.
• I was an intramural sports referee and supervisor in college. I got paid minimum wage to watch crazy college kids play sports. It was great fun!
• I am NOT a morning person....I hate getting up early in the morning. If I have to....I require caffeine and sugar to stay pleasant/functional. Ironic that from now until the middle of summer I'll be working 7-330 shifts....HA.
• I'm a starbucks fan....I know a lot of people don't like them and they are overpriced....but there's just nothing on earth like a caramel macchiatto....nothing.
• It irritates me that the starbucks across the street from my hospital does not have very good hours. They close @ 7pm...and sometimes on random days even earlier than that. How can you be across the street from a hospital where people work 24/7 and not be open later than 7pm?! They also don't open until 7am on the weekends....that doesn't help me when I need to be at work by 7 am!
• I really really want a nikon d80 (that's a digital SLR that would fit to the lenses I already have for my nikon film SLR) but can't discipline myself to horde away enough money for it.
• I have a severe penchant for purses....the one redeeming factor about this is I never spend more than $20 on one purse.....Aaron had to install a floor to ceiling row of hooks in the basement for me to hang them on.....and I switch around several times a week.
• I hate my hair....its too thick....too frizzy....I can never wear it down and have it silkily cascade down my back like everyone else's seems to. It always turns into a static nightmare after about 30 minutes.
• My dad always calls my by my first and middle name.....Jami Leigh.....it's a southern thing.....but my dad's not southern. Go figure!
• People are usually surprised when they hear me talk...they expect a southern accent when they learn I'm from Virginia.....and they're usually even more surprised that I don't have a boston accent when they learn I lived there for 7 years of my life. In fact....I don't really have any accent at all. But I can turn on a southern one......or a boston one if ya like.
• I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to nurse Chloe as long as I have....I thought returning to work would make it too difficult. But we're 9 months strong and I've loved every shirt-stained, try-to-stay-modestly-covered, endure-withering-glances-in-public moment of it.
• I'm not a water drinker. It was so hard for me to drink extra water during pregnancy. But milk?! I could drink a gallon of milk by myself every day. I love milk.
• I hope that Chloe doesn't end up with all the food allergies I have. So far she doesn't seem to have any. But I didn't get mine until I was 10 or 11.
• I'm worse than the paparazzi with a camera in my hand. Just ask Aaron....he thinks being with me at photo ops is like having a strobe light along. But I just LOVE taking pictures.....can't help it!

random confessions vol. 1

• I can't stand when people mispronounce words/use incorrect grammar....it's like fingernails on a chalk board to me. But I'm getting better at not verbalizing the correction....just announcing it mentally. I'm also getting better at stifling the visual grimace/cringe.
• In the back of my mind, I feel like I failed somehow when Chloe had to be born by c-section. I was so sure I could do it naturally....and I can always do whatever I set my mind to.
• I am unquestionably addicted to nestle toll house choc chip cookies (the ready to cook dough). I have absolutely no will power to keep from eating the whole cookie sheet full. It's horrifying.
• I'd love to have my house fabulously decorated but lack the motivation and funding to pull it off.
• While I do like my job, I would love more than anything to just stay at home with Chloe every day.
• Even if I didn't work full time I probably still wouldn't get all the housework accomplished that I should.
• I abhor the smell of vanilla and lavender. They both make me want to gag.
• Reading is a drug for me....a total escape.
• In fact, an ideal vacation day = lying on the beach reading all day.
• Winter depresses me.....profoundly.
• I desperately want to move back to Virginia. I miss my family very much....but there's still a little bit too much drama back there.
• Some moments I wonder what the heck I was thinking when I chose nursing as my career. Sometimes the moments last for a whole day or two.
• I need to exercise and eat healthier but I lack motivation.
• Someday I WILL own a steinway piano.
• I wish I could have multiple careers- photographer, piano player, English teacher, nurse.
• I'm really good at starting projects with an energy that is astounding and better yet at leaving them nearly finished for way too long before I finally get around to finishing them. Why do I run out of steam so easily?
• I used to have an overwhelming desire to change my name to Samantha. Now I can't stand the name. (No offense to anyone named Samantha)
• I can remember building snowmen in the front yard with my dad one time....I think I was 3 or 4.....it was late at night.....and it had snowed a lot (for Virginia anyway).....I remember feeling like my dad could do anything.
• My favorite destination so far has been Paris. I can't believe Aaron enjoyed the trip as much as he did. I was afraid he'd be miserable.
• Some moments when I look at Chloe the depth of my feeling of love is so overwhelming it makes me cry.
• It flabbergasts me that I could love another child as much as I love her.
• After almost 7 years in a relationship together, Aaron and I have still never had a fight.
• I thoroughly enjoy gift-shopping for people. I could make a job of it. Sometimes it thrills me more than buying anything for myself.
• When I think of all the patients I've cared for in the short 3.5 years I've been a nurse it's mind-boggling.
• I've never been slender/slim/skinny....whatever word you want to use. I've always wished I could be.
• The bureau in my bedroom doesn't actually contain any clean clothes. Clean clothes remain in the laundry room on the table. It's easier that way.
• I'm worried that by the time I finish having kids I'll be bald judging by the amount of hair that came out over the past few months.
• I have a really hard time saying no. And I volunteer for way too many things.
• I absolutely abhor cleaning house. Hate it with every fiber of my being, which is why it rarely gets done. Good thing for a husband who contributes to house cleaning.
• Even though I've been playing the piano for almost 20 years I still get really nervous playing in front of anyone other than family.