I've been tagged!

My cousin Penny tagged me today! In a nutshell, that means I have to list seven random things about myself. I'm also suppoesd to tag seven other people, but since most of the people I'd tag have already been tagged, I'll skip that part. Hope I'm not breaking any rules. :-}

I've been wracking (or is it racking? I'm too lazy to look it up) my brains all day for seven random things about myself that would be remotely interesting. I came to the realization that I've led a pretty quiet, ordinary life. Haven't met many famous people or done many fantastic things to wow my blogging fans. But here are a few things you may or may not already know about me:

1. I once held a boa constrictor around my neck but freaked out a couple of weeks ago when a spider started crawling toward me on my dashboard. I had to pull over and deal with it so I wouldn't drive into a ditch.

2. Evan and I were married only six months after we started getting to know each other. When you know someone is the right one, why wait?! If we hadn't had 3000 miles between us, we probably would have courted longer but we've never regretted anything.

3. Purple is no longer my favorite color. Now I gravitate toward green and pink when I'm buying clothes.

4. I was once robbed in Moscow. During a three-month missions trip to Moscow when I was 17 a few of my teammates had a rare opportunity to see some of the sites in that beautiful city. I failed to heed the warning not to bring anything valuable and had my wallet stolen right out of my coat pocket while on a crowded bus.

5. I once shook hands with Oliver North.

6. I went 11 years without being able to eat chocolate without regretting it. Then all of a sudden last summer I snuck some in and discovered to my delight that it didn't make me sick. Let me tell you, being able to eat chocolate again makes a gluten-free, dairy-free life not seem quite so bleak.

7. I hate salad.

Happy Things

• The faithfulness of God and the assurance that as He has led in the past, so He will continue to. I can trust the future in His hands and rest in the knowledge that He knows the plans He has for us and has only our best good in mind. How grateful I am for the peace He gives that passes all understanding!

• Dear friends whose love and support have carried us through a difficult time. You know who you are!

• Doing school with Jed on the trampoline. This week has been so warm and beautiful, it seemed a crime to make Jed stay indoors to do school, so we took it outside! Ah, the joys of homeschooling.

• Working on a tan while doing school with Jed. Yesterday I was eyeing the kids' gorgeous tans, developed after several days of near-constant play in the sun, and I thought to myself how I wanted a tan too! So I got out the lounge chair, set the baby up in the bouncer with a blanket and hat and his face away from the sun, and got comfortable. The kids gathered around me and we happily read stories, then Jed buckled down and did his math and reading. And I got a little color too. :-)

• Going to the homeschool convention in Massachusetts with Evan two weeks ago. In some ways, the convention itself was a sidenote, because what we both really wanted was quality time with each other. We left the older three with a babysitter (thank you, A.P.!) and spent the day Friday down there. It such a happy day being with my best friend and connecting hearts in a way that our busy schedules don't often allow. Of course the convention itself was very good. We didn't go to many sessions, but one that we did hear was a good reminder that homeschooling is not just about textbooks, it's about discipling your children and raising them for Jesus. Jack, of course, came along for the ride. He did pretty well until the end, and then the noise and confusion seemed to get to him. He screamed inconsolably until we walked out of the building and then he quieted instantly. Good thing we were ready to go too!

• The other day when we were getting out of the car at the grocery store Chloe looked down at her outfit and said, "I need to change when we get home. This outfit looks weird." The outfit didn't look that bad, actually, compared to some doozies she's pulled off, but I just had to laugh because that sentiment is so typical of a woman. Get to where you're going then wish you could go home and change because your outfit isn't appropriate to the occasion or you just don't like it or whatever.

• The other night Evan and I watched an amazing movie called The Last Sin-Eater. I highly recommend it! We both read the book several years ago and were deeply moved by it. The movie stayed true to the spirit of the book and moved us just as much. I cry easily when watching movies, so of course I cried a lot, but even Evan was sniffling a little.

• Having a kitten in the house! He/she (I can never tell the gender) is so playful and frisky and adorable. This evening as I was getting up out of a chair, the kitty came with me! She had been playing on the seat next to me, but I didn't realize her claws were stuck in my skirt until I stood up. There she was, dangling away. I plucked her off before she climbed higher and dug her claws into my back.

• Proofreading again! I took my time getting back into it, not needing another stress factor. But I finally felt eager to get back into it last week. Just finished three small collections of quotations. During the kids' quiet time after lunch I like having something mentally challenging that lets me sit down but is still productive, something other than washing dishes or folding laundry, mentally stimulating as those are!