About Me

100 things about me:

1. I was born and raised in Stuart, Florida.
2. My middle name is actually Noel. My dad can be blamed for choosing the German spelling.
3. Everyone knew my parents because they were teachers.
4. I have a younger brother named Rob.
5. He was my sworn enemy until we were both in college.
6. We had multiple hamsters and fish when I was little.
7. My mom said no to larger animals until a cat showed up at our doorstep.
8. She fed him and secretly brought him into the house.
9. His name was DJ, he died in 2008.
10. I studied Computer Engineering at the University of Florida for two years.
11. I moved in LA in 2005, partly because I got a job there and partly because my boyfriend did.
12. Thankfully I wound up loving my job and marrying my boyfriend.
13. I worked for the company for almost five years. Longest intern ever.
14. I now live in Alexandria, VA after moving to be closer to family.
15. I hate to drive; public transit rocks my socks off.
16. I’ve kept a paper journal since I saw Harriot the Spy in middle school.
17. I haven’t written in my current journal in six months and miss it dearly.
18. I have two cats who are named after the Wright Brothers.
19. All of the computers in our household are named after ancient cities: Sparta, Rome, Alexandria, Carthage, etc.
20. I hate cleaning but hate a dirty place even more.
21. I love taking baths, especially with bubbles.
22. I’m afraid of both the dark and heights yet try not to let either keep me from experiencing life.
23. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 21; both my future husband and therapist made me.
24. I have no sense of direction yet used to work for a GPS engineering group.
25. I start projects often but finish only about a third of them.
26. I love to plan out every minute of my day then throw out the plan on a whim.
27. I drink far too much soda and feel horrible when I meet someone who drinks none at all.
28. I lost 40 pounds in 2006; I’ve gained most of it back then lost it again in 2009.
29. My eyes are blue and strangers like to remind of this often.
30. I wore glasses from 13 months to age 22.
31. I had contacts for a few years but hated how long they took to put in and remove.
32. I only wear reading glasses now when absolutely necessary (such as now as I type this list).
33. I love watching TV, especially bad 80s sitcoms and made for Disney Channel movies.
34. I enjoy the theater but rarely go because I’m cheap.
35. When I was little, I would read a book a week. I’m now lucky to read a book every three months.
36. I became an engineer because of my participation on a FIRST Robotics team.
37. I was previously considering being an artist, journalist, or doctor.
38. I have zero artistic talent.
39. My writing skills and ability to press people for truthful answers are lacking.
40. I could have never gotten the high grades required to complete med school, though I still think of doing something in the field.
41. I am terrified I’ll never learn how to act like an adult.
42. I can’t dress myself to save my life.
43. I have a tendency to buy shoes that hurt my feet but don’t even have the saving grace of being overly cute.
44. I learned cursive and typing in the third grade.
45. I can type nearly 100 words a minute but can barely write my own name in script.
46. I start to talk in the accents of others the more I am around them.
47. I often wish I had an accent which immediately placed me in a particular part of the country.
48. My husband now says “Florida” and “orange” differently because I made fun of how they sound in his Balitmore-ish accent.
49. I have a love/hate relationship with my Tivo – love that it records things when I can’t them live, hate when I want to watch live TV and it’s trying to record something.
50. I can barely fix a computer hardware problem but laugh at those who don’t understand basic software ones.
51. I rarely get jetlag though use it as an excuse to whine.
52. I need either seven or nine hours of sleep a night. Eight results in my being just as cranky as if I had four.
53. I am not a happy person until I’ve been up for an hour.
54. I love breakfast food any time of the day.
55. My mom’s french toast is still my favorite.
56. I can’t cook well and have almost zero reason to attempt it because of my husband’s talents in that area.
57. I love watching Matt play video games though dislike playing them myself.
58. I get overly happy when I receive something, anything in the mail.
59. I can’t read something over a “page” long on the computer.
60. I crave salt far more often than chocolate or sugar.
61. Actually, I rather dislike chocolate in anything but the smallest quantities.
62. I don’t eat onions or mushrooms because of their texture.
63. I eat fish but only salmon, tuna, and monkfish.
64. I used to eat sushi all the time but now it disgusts me.
65. My hair is thick yet very fine. My Aunt Diane had a horrible time when I little trying to braid it.
66. I had bangs until high school; not keeping the bangs was my only rebellion as a teenager other than not wanting to do household chores.
67. My dad refers to me as a purse whore; he’s mostly right though none cost more than $30.
68. I am happiest when I’m in bed, wrapped up in blankets, snuggling with my husband.
69. I tend to take more photos of people than places though I’m too afraid to ask a stranger to take his or her photo.
70. I prefer a good, acidic Sauvignon Blanc over just about any other wine.
71. I’m a pretty big wine and food snob except when it comes to cheeseburgers and pizza (any is good).
72. I haven’t gone roller skating since my second year of college; the middle school girls were dressed sluttier than us and that scared me.
73. I’ve never skied or snowboarded and would like to keep it that way.
74. My ears are pierced but neither hole is straight and the two aren’t in the same location on each ear.
75. I never wore make-up until I got married; I’m up to 150 points on Sephora.
76. My favorite candy is Sweet Tarts; Twizzlers are a close second.
77. I’ve never seen a professional sports game other than hockey and baseball.
78. I’ve only been to two college basketball games, despite having previously held UF basketball season tickets.
79. I have almost no idea how football is played but like to knit while Matt watches.
80. I prefer hard, straight-backed chairs to squishy and/or poor posture-enducing ones.
81. In high school I was a band nerd, quiz bowl dork, and robotics geek.
82. I sucked at playing the clarinet.
83. I loved marching band; the sense of order and rigidity appealed to me.
84. I took piano lessons for eight years but only made it up to playing Fur Elise.
85. I used to be obsessed with music but rarely discuss it with anyone but my dad.
86. I learn by recognizing and exploiting patterns.
87. Chemistry was horrible for me because test questions focus on the exceptions to the patterns.
88. I took three years of Spanish in high school.
89. A single semester of college French and many years of little use wiped out all I knew back then.
90. My mom, the Spanish teacher, would be ashamed if she knew how little I can recall.
91. I took a semester of karate in college and loved it though have only taken one class session since.
92. When asked what I want for dinner, I can rarely think of anything except cheeseburgers, pasta, and pizza.
93. I dyed my hair twice with at-home kits then paid nearly fifty dollars for a professional to dye it back to my original color a few months later.
94. My brother once dyed his then light blond hair bright red with dye he and his buddy got on sale at the drug store. It was sort of my idea.
95. Despite volunteering in a hospital Emergency Room for four years, I have major White Coat Syndrome.
96. I am often made to lie down for awhile after the nurse takes me pulse during a routine visit.
97. I can’t spell, despite having been taught spelling via phonics in elementary school.
98. I memorized my 3′s time table by listening to the other students ahead of me in a sort of testing line. I still remember Randy Porch was the one right in front of me who freaked out under the pressure. I think he’s an officer in the Navy now.
99. I have only one ex-boyfriend. We never talk though he’s my “friend” on Facebook.
100. I am truly obsessed with the color blue; I can see over thirty blue objects from my desk as I write this.