100 posts!

When I started this blog I was skeptical about how long it would last. I tend to start things with a vengeance and then at some point I lose steam, and I eventually fizzle out and move on to the next thing that piques my interest.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy blogging, although I shouldn't be. In college I remember telling a friend that someday I thought it would be fun to write a book. He asked me what my book would be about.

"Oh, I don't know - miscellaneous stuff. Funny things that happen in life. Random thoughts that I have."

He looked at me like he wasn't quite sure about my idea.

Little did he know that I was simply ahead of my time, and that ten years into the future the internet would be chock full of miscellaneous, funny, random "books" called blogs.

So here I am, at home in a form of expression that I have come to love. I don't know how many people actually care about my forms of expression, but I'll continue to put it all out there just for the fun of it.

Many bloggers use their 100th post to write 100 random facts about themselves, and I've heard that it's much harder than it seems. Since I'm always up for a challenge, I decided to go ahead and try my hand at writing a 100 list. Here it is:

100 Random Facts About Erin
1. My family was convinced that I was going to be a boy.
2. My name was going to be Stephen Michael. (Or Steven Michael. I don't know if they were going to spell it with a "v" or a "ph".)
3. On the way to the hospital, my mom thought it might be a good idea to pick out a girl's name.
4. I have never colored my hair.
5. My senior year of high school, I got a "Rachel" haircut.
6. I have watched more episodes of Curious George in the past year than I care to admit.
7. I love the idea of being an avid reader.
8. However, I am not an avid reader.
9. At various times I will decide to go to the library and check out about 10 books, in an effort to become an avid reader.
10. The books then sit at my house and become overdue, and I end up with massive library fines.
11. I once held hands with Kirk Cameron.
12. Seriously. We were in a prayer circle together.
13. I have no clue what we prayed about because I was too worried about getting sweaty hands.
14. Being a good midwesterner, I love to play Euchre.
15. I pretty much love any card game.
16. I love games in general, and spend too much time playing them.
17. At least I am safe-guarding myself against Alzheimer's.
18. Right?
19. I once tried my hand at gardening.
20. I couldn't even get zucchinis to grow.
21. We went to Disney World for our honeymoon.
22. It was great and I would highly recommend it.
23. While we were there, we got some churros and this bird swooped down and took mine right out of my hand.
24. In college, I did a fun group presentation that was a parody of an infomercial.
25. We sold "fabu-flab" in our infomercial.
26. We had testimonials from people who had terrible, miserable, failed lives until they tried our product and gained 50 pounds. After using our product (and gaining the weight) they became popular and successful.
27. This group project was second only to another group project where we made a movie based on the "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" book from the "Chronicles of Narnia" series.
28. As part of the video, we put a lab rat in a toy boat and pushed him out to sea.
29. This was to represent a part of the book where one of the characters (a mouse) sails off to the edge of the world.
30. When I say that we pushed the rat "out to sea", I really mean that we pushed him about 10 inches into a lake.
31. After 10 inches the boat tipped over and we had a really wet rat.
32. Those were good times.
33. I am writing this post in segments, because I can't think of 100 random things all in one sitting.
34. During this segment, I am watching Monday Night Football and doing laundry.
35. I hate doing laundry.
36. I love watching football.
37. Fall is my favorite season.
38. I lived in Fresno, California for three months and I hated it because it was during fall, and there simply is no fall in Fresno.
39. Anytime I reference Fresno, Mike says, "Fresno? Nobody goes to Fresno anymore!" Apparently, it is a line from some movie.
40. In addition to #23, I have had other random encounters with animals in my life.
41. One time in college, a squirrel jumped out of a trash can just as I walked by.
42. It completely freaked me out.
43. Another time, I was walking out of the Student Union with a grilled cheese sandwich when someone asked if I could help them for a second - I think they were carrying something in or out and needed an extra hand. I put the sandwich down, stepped away for 10 seconds to help, and when I came back, there sat a squirrel, on my sandwich, looking very content while he ate part of it.
44. I let him have the rest of it.
45. I have also had 10+ encounters with bats, because they liked to get into our old house.
46. I found one tucked away and sleeping on the window sill one day.
47. I had one attack me one night while I was in the basement putting in a load of laundry.
48. Maybe this is why I hate laundry.
49. Ok, so the word "attack" in #47 might be a little inaccurate. But it did come from nowhere and start flying around the basement, which felt like an attack.
50. I'm so very happy to now be in a house that does not have bats.
51. My first date with Mike was on New Year's Eve, 2002.
52. We got engaged on the 4th of July, 2003.
53. We almost decided to get married on Valentine's Day, 2004, but decided that having our anniversary on that day would make it hard to go out and celebrate. We opted for the 28th instead.
54. We found out that we were pregnant with Kaitlyn on Christmas Eve, 2005.
55. Kaitlyn was born the day before Labor Day, 2006.
56. Do you see a theme?
57. Oh, my birthday (November 3) sometimes falls on Election Day. It's not exactly a holiday, but it sort of fits the theme so I thought I'd include it. Mostly this means that my birthday is full to the brim with either political ads or political coverage, or both. This year is no exception.
58. My grandma taught me how to crochet.
59. I've made one full size afghan.
60. And one baby afghan.
61. And lots of doilies.
62. I haven't crocheted in a long time.
63. I also used to be a demonstrator for Stampin' Up.
64. I really enjoy stamping, and it was nice to earn stuff for free, but the business part of being a demonstrator sucked the fun out of the hobby.
65. I guess I'm technically still a demonstrator - as of October 1 I was on probation, and I would have to sell $400 of product before tomorrow to stay active.
66. Contact me ASAP if you suddenly feel the urge to buy $400 worth of stamping and paper crafting supplies.
67. I used to sleepwalk a lot, and every once in a while I will do something really strange in my sleep.
68. A few years ago, I got up in the middle of the night and asked Mike if wanted some cat chow.
69. He said, "No. Get back in bed. Go to sleep." And I did.
70. I think Kaitlyn has inherited this from me, because she frequently talks in her sleep.
71. I once chewed three of my husband's toenails. If you haven't read the story, here it is.
72. I used to work for this guy.
73. And this guy. I had the honor of meeting him once, during the Crusade in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
74. Mike and I dated long-distance, while I lived in Oklahoma City.
75. When we got engaged, we had spent the equivalent of only two weeks together, if you count just the times when were physically together.
76. We spent the equivalent of about a million hours on the phone.
77. Okay, not a *million*, but you get the picture.
78. When I'm in the car I frequently think of other things to add to this list, and then when I sit down to add them, I can't remember what they are.
79. As soon as I type number 100, I will immediately remember the 20 things I thought about in the car and never added to the list.
80. I cleaned off my desk at work yesterday - it was a disaster because of a huge project I've been working on - and I found at least 10 pens scattered about.
81. My desk is usually in some state of disaster.
82. So is my purse. I cleaned it out last week and found no less than twelve old grocery lists.
83. I think I need a maid, or a personal assistant.
84. When I was little, I promised my mom that I would live with her forever and be her maid.
85. I have not lived up to that promise.
86. I don't think I would do a good job, even if I tried to live up to that promise. (See #'s 80, 81 and 82 for evidence of this.)
87. I took piano lessons for 13 years, starting when I was in kindergarten and going until the end of my senior year in high school.
88. I haven't played the piano in a while.
89. As soon as we are able to arrange for it to be moved, I will inherit my parents' piano. (The one I grew up playing.) Woohoo!
90. Someday, I would love to help women start their own businesses. I love seeing people use their gifts and passions to the fullest, and I especially love it when they can make it their career.
91. I'm not sure how that will happen, but I'll just sit back and trust God on this.
92. Speaking of seeing women use their gifts and turning it into a business, here is a shameless plug for my friend Sara's design work. She did our Christmas card last year, and it was incredible! Check out her Etsy store. She does baby announcements, party invitations, save the date cards, engagement announcements... The options are endless!
93. I'm really excited to be at #93 and finally wrapping this thing up.
94. I've spent weeks (literally) writing this post. I'm glad I got an early start.
95. I'm having an extremely hard time finishing this up, mostly because I'm a perfectionist. What if I left something really important out? Should I end this with something monumentally important?
96. Jesus, for example. He's pretty important, being my Lord and Savior and all.
97. But I haven't mentioned him yet.
98. So I guess he would be a great way to end.
99. After all, he is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
100. The end. Amen.

I'm done!!