I turned 30 today. I feel exactly the same as I did at 29… old, tired, and definitely not at my peak. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to share 30 things you might not know about me in light of my 30th birthday. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

1. I am a believer in the one true God, Jesus Christ. Okay, you probably already knew that but what you might not know is that Job is my favorite book of the bible. Being the pessimist that I am (I like to say realist actually, but others disagree), I feel like I have a lot to learn from Job.

2. When I was 4 years old I swallowed a bouncy ball and I told myself, “I am going to die now,” but then I rolled over to my stomach and the ball rolled out of my throat.

3. When I was in 4th grade, I was a bully. I am ashamed that I treated other kids the way I did, and I regularly search the internet for one specific girl that I would like to apologize to, but I can never find her.

4. I had braces in 5th and 6th grade and when I got them off, my friend told me I looked better with them on.

5. I don’t eat red meat (or any meat besides chicken breast) and even though there were times in my life that I did eat hamburgers or pepperoni pizza, my moms says I wouldn’t even eat baby food with meat in it.

6. I cannot smell. Yeah that’s right, I cannot smell. My nose has been damaged from a life-long battle with allergies.

7. I am one of 9 kids in my family. My blended family consists of 2 step sisters, 2 step brothers, 3 half brothers, and 1 full sister. I am the oldest.

8. I really like to scare people to the point that I’ll even spend a long time waiting behind the shower curtain just to jump out and scare someone when they try to use the bathroom.

9. After my driving test, the instructor told me I passed, but to hurry up and get out before he changed his mind.

10. My mom taught me to drive a manual transmission when I was 16, then I taught all of my friends using my car. (Not a good idea. Sorry, dad.)

11. I left home when I was 18 and moved to San Diego for college. Best decision I’ve ever made.

12. My grades weren’t good enough to get into college, so I had to pass a summer program the summer before college started to prove myself. I passed the summer program, completed a Bachelor’s degree, and then went on to complete a Master’s degree. High school grades don’t mean everything.

13. I have gone camping under the stars twice in my life and I recommend everyone try it at least once.

14. I hate country music, but in college I was obsessed with line dancing. You would still find me at Incahoots every Wednesday night, if I still lived near there.

15. I was stupid and naive enough to go to Tijuana a bunch of times in college, even though I was warned not to go. I even went once with just one other girl, which was a really stupid idea.

16. I was once driving with a friend who got pulled over twice in the same night for suspicion of drinking and driving and I promise, she did not have a single sip that night. #worldsbestdriver

17. I did so bad in French class that during my French final, the last one I needed to take and pass before college graduation, I sat out in the hallway crying while people walked by and gave me answers so I could go back into the class and write them down. I passed.

18. I threw up during my college graduation ceremony. I was in the front row and I had to run off to the side and vomit – in front of everyone.

19. I was the first person on my dad’s side of the family to graduate from a university.

20. I attended Point Loma Nazarene University, in the heart of San Diego. The campus has a million dollar ocean view and the students can walk to the beach. What a dream.

21. I met my husband, Rusty, at a paintball tournament just a few months after I moved to San Diego. My son’s middle name is Gregory after the man who introduced us.

22. I’m obsessed with top 40 pop music and I am not ashamed of it.

23. My husband and I dated off and on, but mostly on, for 6 years before we got married. We have now been married for 5 years.

24. For almost the entire time Rusty and I have been married, we were filmed for a paintball documentary that is finally in the final stages of editing and should be out soon.

25. On our honeymoon, I fell down the grand staircase of our cruise ship, all the way from the top to the bottom. Rusty rushed me off to a hallway to ask if I was okay and I sobbed, “EVERYONE SAW MY UNDERWEAR!”

26. I pushed for 4 hours to deliver Carter, but only 20 minutes to deliver Monroe.

27. Leaving San Diego was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I cried almost the entire drive from San Diego to Chicago, and I cried even harder on the drive from Chicago to Toronto. I know it is what God ask us to do, but that did not make the move any easier.

28. My husband is my best friend. I always said he was my best friend without really considering if he was or not, but now that we have gone through such a huge life change and our relationship has only grown stronger, I am positive he is my best friend.

29. When I make side money, I keep it and spend it. When Rusty makes side money, I keep it and spend it. I’m just kidding (kind of), I am the fiscally responsible one in our family; therefore, I have been voted in as the CFO of the Glaze Brigade.

30. I’m praying in my 30’s, God will bring us 2 more babies, home ownership, and an ocean view.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

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