Happy One Year!

Today marks one year since my first blog post!  I debated whether I should call this my "one year anniversary" or my "blog's first birthday", so we're just gonna stick with happy "one year" and call it a day. ;) It seems as though I have some new readers on here, so I thought I'd share some fun (okay, maybe not fun or at all interesting) facts about me! So here are 25 things that you may or may not already know about me.  Why 25?  I don't know, it just seemed like a good number. :)

1.  I'm Massachusetts born and raised, and pretty proud of it!  Tyler and I had a brief period of Rhode Island living during and after college, but when we were looking to buy our first house, we decided we really wanted to be back as MA residents (even if we can practically throw a stone into RI from our house).

2.  I majored in accounting in college.  I went in undecided and declared my major at the end of my freshman year.  I was deciding between three things: accounting, finance, and fashion/retail marketing - one of these things is not like the other. ;) I picked my major out of a hat - literally, with Tyler's help, of course. Because 19 year olds make all kinds of smart decisions, right?  But, I will say that my high school accounting teacher was the bomb and definitely had me considering the accounting field ever since I took his class.  My dream job is to be a stay at home mom/housewife extraordinaire.  Hopefully someday (soon)... maybe when we pay off some of those student loans for the education that I picked out of a hat.  My dad is TOTALLY cringing right now.  In all seriousness, I'm very grateful for my education (and my parents who helped me get it).

3.  I'm definitely more of a morning person than I am a night owl.  Hands down, I'd rather wake up at 4 am every day than go to bed at midnight.  Thanks to Ellie, I frequently get to do both. ;)

4.  I grew up in a school district consisting of five very rural towns.  One of said towns has a larger population of cows than it does people (I think that's still a valid fact, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!).

5.  Summer is by far my favorite season.  Accordingly, Ellie's middle name is Summer.  We were deciding between Summer and Ann (which is my middle name, my mom's middle name, my mother-in-law's middle name, although she spells hers with an "e" at the end).  Once I told Tyler my reasoning behind "Summer", he was on board 100%.

6.  Country music is my favorite. I love how it sounds, the lyrics, and that it's just kind of "feel good" music.  I've got two recent country converts in my life - Tyler and my dad! Tyler and I are going to see Kenny Chesney at the end of the month and I am so excited!  We saw him a couple years ago, but this will be the first country concert that we go to that I won't feel like I'm dragging Tyler to.

7.  I don't really have favorite actors, musicians, etc.  I might love one song by a musician but really not like another.  Tyler always says "but it's so-and-so".  I don't care.  I don't play that game, sir.

8.  I crossed parasailing off my bucket list last summer with Tyler and my sister. Loved the parasailing, hated the boat ride. 

9.  My favorite color is definitely grey.  All grey everything!

10.  I am definitely a creature of habit. I have the same thing for breakfast almost every morning - Dannon Light & Fit yogurt on multi grain rice cakes and a Granny Smith apple with peanut butter.  And black coffee.

11.  I don't drink milk.  I also don't eat cheese, except on pizza.  Even then I take some off sometimes. Yet, I still consider pizza to be one of my favorite foods.

12.  As I mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of all things Christmas.  I am typically in such a good mood during the month of December. Until the 26th, and then I go into my "I hate winter" mode. I seriously think I suffer from some slight seasonal depression.  I'm convinced Ellie will help brighten my dark, gloomy winter days though! :)

13. In my 26 years, I've never had a cavity. 

14.  For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be a mom one day.  Having a family of my own has been my number one goal in life.  I've almost always wanted to have two or three kids, except for a brief period of time when I thought I wanted five (a little too much "7th Heaven", perhaps?).  I think we've settled on three, but who knows what the future holds! ;) I also really looked forward to childbirth. Not because I thought it'd be fun or anything like that, but because it's just something I've always wanted to experience! You can read all about my experience with Ellie here.

15.  I started having an interest in house design/decor (I guess you would call it that) at a weirdly early age.  Like, obsessed with looking at house plans in my mom's "Country Living" magazines.  The "Morgandale" was my favorite plan, and I cut it out and kept it in my bureau.  I don't remember exactly how old I was, I would guess around ten?

16.  I have one sister and loved growing up with her.  It definitely makes me want Ellie to have a sister, but I'd also be perfectly happy if she had a brother or two!

17.   I have never broken any of my own bones, but I may have assisted in breaking someone else's (on accident, of course).  Sorry, Danielle!  I still feel bad about that.

18.   I was pretty recently mistaken for a 16 year old, going for her driver's license road test at the RMV.  I know I have a baby face, but really?  Ten years is kind of a big difference.

19.  A lot of people think I'm shy, and while I can be shy in certain situations, I prefer to think of myself as "quiet" - though Tyler will likely disagree. ;)

20.   I really like to bake and would do it more often if I had someone to eat it all. We certainly do not need three dozen cookies sitting on our kitchen counter.

21.  I've never, ever been athletic, in any sense of the word.  Even in youth soccer, I clung to my dad's (the coach's) leg and walked the sidelines.  I did, however, run in a few 5k races in the past couple years.  I've never gotten very good times but I always finished! ;)

22.   I had a slightly irrational  fear that my belly button would explode at any given moment for the longest time, and hated it being touched.  Until I was pregnant and my belly button turned completely inside out.  Now, I'm convinced it can withstand anything.

23.  It's no secret that I love my cats. I have (almost) always had cats growing up.  I think they make great companions and I tend to like animals more than most humans.  Sorry, not sorry.

24.  I've always been a homebody. Give me a summertime Saturday night out on our deck, some music, and a cold beverage and I'm in heaven! 

25.   I love to clean, although my house probably doesn't look like it 99% of the time.  It is seriously one of my favorite things to do, if I have the time to do it. 

There you have it, folks!  My life is certainly fascinating, isn't it? ;)

I'm looking forward to another fun year of blogging ahead! And to those of you who have read since the beginning, thanks for sticking around!  :)