Happy Birthday to Me!

In honor of my 34th Birthday, I decided to re-post the following "note" that I posted on my facebook account several months ago. It's got more info about me than ANYONE would ever want to know (except maybe Jeff because he loves me and never tires of hearing about me...), but I'm posting it anyway... If you've seen it before, you don't need to reread it, unless you're totally bored:~)

1) I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and am the youngest of 3 kids in my family. We moved to Utah when I was about 3. My parents divorced when I was 4 and I was raised 100% by my mom. She remarried when I was 10 and I gained 2 younger sisters who I love like they're blood relatives.

2) My name is spelled with an "I" because my mom works at a credit union and has always hated it when letters (like g, p, y) fall below the line when signing checks or the backs of credit cards. So therefore she named all her kids names that are spelled with only letters that stay above the line (Paul, Aimee, Wendi).

3) My mom is my hero and I rely on her for advise, support, perspective, babysitting, you name it! She is the smartest woman I know.

4) After high school I moved to Cedar City to attend Southern Utah University. I loved it there! I studied Journalism, French and Secondary Education and graduated in 1997 with a double major in Journalism & French and a Secondary Ed teaching certificate.

5) I met my husband on a blind date while I was in college. We were set up by my step-sister who was engaged to Jeff's cousin. We met again at their wedding and became best friends and dated long distance until he moved to Cedar City to be with me. We got married when we were really young and thankfully, we still love each other!! We have grown up a lot together and I love him more than I ever thought it was possible to love a person.

6) After I graduated college, I went on a study abroad trip with the University of Utah to France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. It was amazing and I feel so fortunate to have had that experience (especially because Jeff stayed behind and worked his butt off to fund my adventure!).

7) I did my student-teaching at Alta High School in 1997. I taught French, Journalism and Yearbook.

8) Jeff joined the Air Force in 1998 and I followed him across the country... we lived in Biloxi, Mississippi and Valdosta, Georgia. Valdosta for the longest period... we were there for 4 years. When he got out and was hired by the FAA, they sent him to Oklahoma to attend the academy. Drew and I went along with him. I have loved all the places we have had the privilege of living... though some I didn't realize how much I loved until we left.

9) I love nature and the beauty of the earth. When we lived in Georgia, I was the Executive Director of the local Keep America Beautiful organization... I planned all sorts of community clean-ups. I still teach my kids the importance of taking care of the earth and noticing the amazing cycles of life the earth creates. We do neighborhood cleanups and recycle everything!

10) I had to use fertility meds to get pregnant with my first son, but not with my second. I had a completely natural childbirth with my first son (no drugs at all), and had the epidural with my second. I nursed them both for over 1 1/2 years.

11) I joined Weight Watchers on September 11, 2001 after feeling like my whole world was out of control. I lost 60 pounds and have maintained my weight-loss for 6 years (I had to lose 45 lbs. again after my 2nd son). I have worked as a Leader for WW ever since I reached lifetime and it has completely changed my life... not just my size. I would recommend it to anyone!

12) After watching the movie "Super-size me" I went on a personal boycott of McDonalds (even though it was my first job back in the day) and refuse to eat there or take my kids there. My youngest son has never been to a McDonald's in his entire life... he's 5. I know my boycott isn't bothering the McDonald's corp., but I'm so far into it now, there's no turning back. I still go to other fast food places sometimes though, just not that one.

13) I am not a Disneyland/world fan. We've taken the kids there once (Drew twice), but I just can't see wasting all my vacation money on a Disney trip when there are so many other wonderful, fun, educational, entertaining, REAL places in this world to see!

14) I am a scrap booker and am completely current in my family scrapbook. I don't do individual books for each kid; I just keep one family book and try to keep it to one book per year. I take a ton of photos and consider myself a pretty decent photographer.

15) I try to be the best mom I can be, but I admit that I fall short a lot! For example, I'm on the community council, am room mom and volunteer weekly in Drew's class, but I've never volunteered even once in Will's preschool class this year. I try to make up for it by playing educational games and giving him extra attention, but I still always feel like I'm falling short.

16) I am type-A in the planning department. For example, I have a grocery list that is laid out according to the store I shop at (broken down by aisle) that I print up and then highlight the items I need according to my two-week meal plan that I keep in my family planner. Go ahead and laugh, but it works!

17) Jeff and I live on a very tight budget. We believe in the principal of "paying it forward" so we have savings accounts set up for all of life’s needs... from birthdays and vacations, to car registration and health deductibles, and more. We save money each month so that we'll have the money when/if we need it. We keep all our receipts and Jeff balances our books each week.

18) I love to do volunteer work and feel it's extremely important to help out my community in as many ways as possible... I do this by volunteering monthly with my boys at the food bank, working on my mother-in-laws festival of trees committee (selling tickets, creating crafts, etc.), participating in Race for the Cure & Strides Against Breast Cancer, raising money and biking in the MS150 (I've done it for 6 years), and more that I can't think about right now. Bottom-line, I love helping out!

19) One of my life long goals is to publish a children's book. I love to write and read and teach my kids cool things. It would be awesome to put it all together one day!

20) Though I consider myself a very spiritual person, I do not believe in organized religion. This results in feelings of isolation and loneliness because it's very difficult to find like-minded friends. I teach my boys about all religions so they will better understand the world they live in. But I do not tell them what they need to believe other than in themselves.

21) I'm pretty out-going and can have a conversation with ANYONE! I have no problem striking up conversations with strangers... I attribute this to being a journalist:)

22) One of my favorite things to do is snuggle with my boys when I put them to bed at night. I love it so much I have a tendency to fall asleep in their beds because I'm so comfortable. They are the most amazing human beings and they bring so much joy to my life!

23) I LOVE SLEEP! But I have a hell of a time falling asleep at night! It's not uncommon for me to lie in bed for close to an hour or more before finally falling asleep. It's SOOO frustrating!! But I refuse to take meds because I can't ever wake up after I do.

24) In addition to working at WW, I also am a freelance writer and producer. For the last 2 years I've had the great privilege to work at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City (last year for Entertainment Tonight, this year for Associated Press). I got to interview lots of celebrities on the red carpets before their film premiers. It was an awesome experience!

25) Yoga makes me happy. I've been doing it regularly since I was pregnant with Drew. I also love running and biking.

So there you go... more info than you ever wanted to know about me. Thanks for reading!