The 100 Things List

I don't know if I have 100 things, but I haven't been able to sleep lately so this is a good distraction in the wee hours of the night. Here goes. . .

1. I was appropriately named because the summer is my favorite time of year. I hate to be cold!

2. I wish I knew how to tap dance. When I'm really excited, I pretend like I do.

3. I have lived in Abilene, El Paso, Grapevine and Fort Worth. El Paso was not my favorite!

4. I am terrified of really deep water and swarms of fish. Scuba diving is my worst nightmare!

5. I am not afraid of heights.

6. Someday I'd like to sky dive!

7. Eating meat off of the bone kind of grosses me out. I have to force myself not to think about which part of the animal it was.

8. I like to make lists so I can draw a line through a task when it is completed. It's very satisfying.

9. Sometimes, if I do something not on my list, I add it just so I can cross through it.

10. I think that might make me obsessive compulsive.

11. I love to have a clean house, but I don't love to clean it.

12. I don't really like to cook.

13. I am clumsy in the kitchen. I spill things. I drop knives. Two weeks ago, I got a nasty second degree burn on my arm while cooking with grease. This is probably why I don't like to cook.

14. I do like to decorate and rearrange things in my house.

15. I decorate a lot better on a tight budget. A few times I have been asked to help people decorate with a fairly large budget, and it makes me nervous. I do better finding good deals and bringing stuff together that I find at garage sales and Target.

16. I wish I was better at sewing. My sister quilts and I think that's pretty impressive.

17. I have never met anyone famous. Kate met Matt Damon once while running an errand for me. I was very jealous for a long time, but I'm over it. Really, I'm over it.

18. I would like to be funnier. Most of the time, my jokes are pretty lame. Even Ava says, "Daddy is sillier than mommy."

19. I love to travel. One of the best summer's ever was the summer I did study abroad in Oxford and visited France, Switzerland and Ireland.

20. That was also the summer I made a pact not to date for 6 months in order to clear my head and not have any distractions.

21. I broke the pact and started dating Chad. I think he was worth it.

22. I was a camper and counselor at Camp Blue Haven for about 10 years. I still miss it every June!

23. I wish that they had camp for grown ups. I could still use a week away in the mountains to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate!

24. In my heart of hearts, I feel like I'm more bohemian than I appear. I now shop at The Gap like everyone else, but when I was younger and had time, I loved to buy most of my clothes at thrift shops! I wish I still had my favorite torn jeans and crochet top!

25. I think I would have liked to have been a hippie. . .minus the drugs!

26. My first car was a copper Honda hatchback with a slightly different color door. My friends called it, "The Penny Incher" because it was so slow.

27. At ACU, we once piled as many people into as we could and drove it from the intramural fields to Nelson dorm. It looked like a clown car with so many people getting out. I wish I could remember exactly how many fit-- it was a lot!

28. My sister is my best friend. She is four years younger, but I think she is wiser in a lot of ways. . . more grounded and stable. I am sometimes too emotional and impulsive!

29. People always think she's the older one. I used to hate it, but now that I'm 30, I'm starting to enjoy it!

30. I turned 30 this week, but so far I feel no different.

31. I love being a mom!

32. I thought I knew what to expect before I had a child, but it is more exhausting and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.

33. I have a tattoo on my foot of my name in Japanese.

34. I am 1/4 Japanese, and have visited Japan when my parents lived there in 2001.

35. I am growing my hair out for Locks of Love. I will be cutting 10 inches off in November!

36. I was an Art Major for a while at ACU, then switched to English/ Education, but I now I work in Children's Ministry!

37. I taught 7th grade English for 3 years before I realized that middle school is not my thing.

38. I love to read great literature, but rarely have time to start and finish a good book these days.

39. One of my favorite books is The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, because it taught me a lot about my Asian heritage and my relationship with my mom and grandma.

40. When I get together with 2 of my best friends, we spend a lot of time analyzing ourselves. It's very interesting. . . at least to us!

41. The first time I ever rode on an airplane was the summer after my freshman year of college.

42. The first time I ever got a pedicure was the week I got married.

43. My dad is one of the most unique people I know. What I used to find a little embarrassing in Middle School, I now find endearing!

44. Several of my boyfriends in high school and college stayed in touch with and/or hung out with my dad even after we had broken up. I don't what that says about me, but at least they thought HE was cool!

45. I love just about anything chocolate. . .

46. if I have a tall glass of cold milk to go with it.

47. My middle name is Kei (pronounced Kay) and is a from a common Japanese name, Keiko.

48. My mom used to call me Keiko chon when I was little, which means "adored one." My other childhood nicknames were Summer Sunshine and Happy Feet. (See #2 about tap dancing.)

49. I loved taking art classes in college. It was therapeutic for me.

50. I miss pottery. I would love to have a potter's wheel in my house as an outlet for stress.

51. I am pretty neat and organized, except when I am painting or creating. . .then I become a complete mess! I used to come home with paint from head to toe and clay in my hair. I cannot explain this.

52. Chad is actually a much better artist than I am.

53. For my 30th birthday, he drew a BEAUTIFUL drawing of Ava. It looks just like her. I cannot capture a likeness in a portrait!

54. My favorite color is green.

55. I am a night owl, but have a hard time getting up early.

56. If I watch TV, it's almost always HGTV or TLC.

57. I have a love/hate relationship with the show, "Lost," because I can't stop watching it, but I am frustrated after almost every show!

58. I HATE scary movies and haunted houses.

59. The scariest movie I have ever seen is, "Watcher in the Woods." It's a Disney movie, but it really is scary. Don't mock it until you've seen it!

60. I have peed my pants as an adult. To my credit, I was pregnant at the time.

61. I still like to color.

62. I enjoy helping others, but find it hard to ask for help when I need it.

63. I have a major guilt complex. I feel guilty about things over which I have no control.

64. Awkward situations make me laugh hard.

65. I struggle with God's plan for our finances-- giving generously and living humbly versus saving and investing for the future.

66. I am also conflicted about poverty worldwide and nations that are suffering. Again, these are things I feel guilty about but have no control over.

67. I have started recycling and using canvas bags at the grocery store in an effort to be more green. When I run out of cleaning products, I am going to switch over to organic. (I told you I would have liked to have been a hippie.)

68. If I could see any band in concert, it would be U2!

69. I would like to be more up on the music scene, but I listen to too much kid music right now to feel cool at all.

70. Our next car will probably be a minivan for economic and functional reasons, and I'm okay with that.

71. Someday I'd like to drive a jeep!

72. I don't speak any other languages. I wish I did.

73. I feel blessed to have a lot of good friends.

74. I don't handle adversity well. If someone has a problem, I lay awake at night thinking about it until the situation is settled.

75. I try to stay out of "drama" between girls. It wears me out. I am thankful that my closest girlfriends are self confident and don't get their feelings hurt easily.

76. I do not return phone calls very well.

77. I have broken one bone in my life.

78. I had a brief episode of seizures once in El Paso.

79. I have herniated a disc in my back several times, which is by far the most painful thing I have ever experienced, including labor!

80. I usually buy cheap drugstore makeup, but I spend money on good soap and cleansers.

81. I rode the bus in middle and some of high school.

82. I hate to drive, especially in a big city.

83. I would almost always rather be a passenger.

84. I have NO sense of direction.

85. I have been in 2 car accidents, both when I was 16.

86. I am not very athletic at all.

87. I always wanted to be.

88. In High School, I was in Theater, Art and Student Council.

89. I was also a pep squad leader for a brief time.

90. That was not my proudest moment. My dad still likes to bring it up.

91. I was the co-lead in our One Act Play my senior year, which made it to Regionals. We have the play on video, but I've never watched it because it makes me cringe to watch myself act on stage.

92. I am not very good at math in general, but I do our budget and pay our bills.

93. Sometimes if you tell a really great detailed story, I will retell it as if I was there. This is not an intentional lie. I just remember it with such detail that I honestly think I was a part of it.

94. I have been having contractions for weeks, but still have 4 weeks until my due date.

95. I love to go to my grandparents Lake House, ride the boat, play games and hang out with family.

96. I have 9 cousins on one side.

97. 4 of them attend ACU right now.

98. When I married Chad, I became an aunt. One of my nephews is also at ACU.

99. I liked being a student, and I studied pretty hard.

100. I find it annoying when people make jokes about my name and expect me to laugh like I have never heard them before. In my yearbooks, there are probably 100 places where people wrote, "Have a nice summer, Summer! Ha Ha!" as if they were being original.

If you actually read all of this, I am sorry. It did help me pass some time with late night contractions!

Pierson's Nursery & My Abilene Shower

Here are some pictures of Pierson's Nursery. I think it's just about ready for him!










Last weekend, some of my sweet friends threw me a shower here in Abilene. We had a great time, and I enjoyed opening lots of little boy things! I think he's going to be set. . .


We have so many milestones in our family this month, it's almost overwhelming to think about! I turned 30 today which seems impossible, because I still think of myself as about 24! That's where I stopped counting mentally. Ava will start back to preschool next week, and then she turns 3 and we're having her birthday party at our house the next weekend. And we're expecting Pierson Reed to arrive sometime in the next month! Lately, I've been having alot of contractions, so I am preparing myself and trying to make sure we're ready before my actual due date just in case, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Alot will be happening around our house in the coming weeks! Stay tuned. . .

Some of my dear friends in Fort Worth threw me a shower this weekend at P.F. Changs (my favorite resturaunt.) We enjoyed great food and conversation, and Pierson got loaded down with cute outfits as well as the necessities! I love that even though we moved over a year ago, I still feel such a closeness to the friends we developed while we lived in Fort Worth! I also loved letting Emma and Ava swim and play together, and spending some time with family! It was a great weekend! Here are some shower pictures:













There are actually 12 people in the picture above:From right: me (due in Sept.), Elizabeth (due in Oct.)Jamie, Cheslea, Shelly, and Tara (all due in Dec.)

A Bad Choice

On Monday Chad walked in the door after work and immediately said, "Why is the garage door open and where is my bike?" The answer to both questions was, "I don't know." We immediately had a sinking feeling because this is not our first time dealing with theft (Chad's truck was stolen when we lived in El Paso), and also because Chad had just recently purchased the bike after saving up for almost a year. It's a road bike that he loves! At this point in his life, I think he would have rather someone stolen his vehicle than that bike!

We immediately called the police who came out and took a police report as well as Bike Town, the shop where Chad purchased the bike, to get the serial number. They let us know they'd post a note on their computer that the bike was stolen. Chad has gotten to know the guys at Bike Town pretty well since he goes in for adjustments and equipment from time to time, and he browsed for quite a while before he made his purchase. It's a small town so the biking community is fairly well acquainted.

We were bummed all night Monday. Kate treated us to ice cream and Chad was trying to make the best of it, but I could tell he was truly disappointed. I felt awful because everything we've ever had stolen are Chad's favorite things. . . truck, golf clubs, and the bike! We had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that it was gone.

But Wednesday morning around 10:30, we got a call from the Abilene Police Department letting us know that the bike had been recovered! Apparently, the guy who took it showed up at Bike Town with the stolen bike wanting to know how much it was worth! The employees immediately guessed that this guy was not the original owner of the bike, and when they checked the serial number, they realized it was Chad's bike! The guy clued in to the fact that he was caught and took off running down the street! Two Bike Town employees chased him on foot and caught him, bringing him back to the shop and calling the police. Then we were called to identify the bike and file a complete report!

Gotta love a small town. . . where the thief is knuckle headed enough to take the stolen property back to the one Bike Shop in town the day after stealing it, and the employees recognize the stolen property, then chase the thief down!

The great thing about this whole ordeal is that we now we are both thankful and appreciative for a bike Chad owned in full and might have taken for granted a few days ago!

Also, Ava and I have had some interesting conversations about policemen, stealing and jail. Her commentary on the story is hilarious! She explained to me that a boy took daddy's bike, but it wasn't his and that was very ugly of him. She wanted to know what his mama was going to say!

Then after the bike was recovered, she asked me if the police man was going to put that boy in time out because it's not nice to take other people's things. I explained that he might have to go to jail which is like a very long time out for grown ups. She replied, "He made a bad choice, didn't he?"

Yes he did.