29 things you {maybe} didn’t know about this Artsy Mama

Guess what?!  It’s my birthday!  Today, I’m turning 29 for the fifth time!  I’m getting to be really awesome at it.  

Just for fun, to celebrate the day, I thought I’d tell you 29 random and hopefully fun facts about this Artsy Mama.  Here goes…

1. I was born six weeks early.  My original due date was the 20-something of January.  Surprise, Mom!

2. My parents tried to return me to the hospital.  {Not really}.  They had to take me back because I had jaundice.  But I got to come home in time for Christmas Day!

3. My mom and dad planted the Christmas tree from the year I was born and it lives in their front yard.

4. When I was about five, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up.  Then, the Challenger exploded, and I changed my mind.  I decided to be a teacher instead.

5. I started taking piano lessons when I was three years old.  I can play all kinds of gorgeous classical pieces, but I refuse to play anything people can sing along with because I’m afraid of screwing up.  I very rarely play in front of anyone.

6. I loved being an only child.  I know some kids don’t like it, but I totally did.  I used to pray that Jesus wouldn’t send me a brother or sister, and He listened!!

7. I had lots of parties at the roller skating rink and the bowling alley because you can’t have outdoor parties in December in Maryland.

8. My best friend threw me a surprise birthday party when I turned 16.  All of my friends were so afraid of spoiling the surprise that all day long at school no one even said happy birthday to me and I went home crying because I thought no one remembered or cared.

9. One year, my prized birthday gift was Tickle Me Elmo.  My friends played with it so much the batteries ran out.  I will not divulge how old I was.

10. I never minded having my birthday less than two weeks from Christmas.  My mom and dad {and hubby now} are awesome at separating the two and I never felt ripped off by getting less presents or anything that my fellow December birthday folks sometimes complain about.  Actually, I kind of like not having to wait quite so long to get a present!

11. When I was growing up, one of my birthday presents was usually a new pair of pj’s.  I’m a sucker for fun, comfy pajamas.  In fact, as you know, some days when I can get away with it, I wear them all day!  Shhh!

12. My standard order at Starbucks is a grande nonfat decaf iced salted caramel mocha with whip and extra caramel.  Unless it’s frigid out, and then I get a peppermint hot chocolate, nonfat with whip.

13. I could eat an entire package of Thin Mints.  I think the Girl Scouts put something addictive in there.  I’m also a sucker for snickerdoodles, chewy ginger cookies, chocolate chip cookies, mom’s sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms…ok, apparently I’m a cookie addict.

14. I have some of the BEST friends in the entire world.  You know who you are.  {PS: Erin, YOU are a direct answer to prayer.}

15. Getting married in December was a compromise between my husband, who wanted to get married in the summer of ’01 and my parents, who wanted summer of ’02.  We met in the middle and I got married while on Jan Term break from my senior year of college.  I really wish our wedding and anniversary were in a much warmer month.

16. I love to sing and often break out in random song around the house.  Little Crafter says, “Mommy, you really DO have a song for everything!”

17.  I hate confrontation.  If I have to do it, I’d much MUCH rather do it via email/letter/written word because I feel like I can express myself best that way.

18. I also hate snow.  It’s very pretty, but otherwise, all it ever does is ruin my plans, make things cold and messy, and mean that I have to shovel.  Boo on all of that.

19. Ideally, I would love to move south, probably to somewhere in the half-hour-from-Myrtle-Beach radius.  But I’m not willing to move that far away from our families.

20. My hubby proposed on my 20th birthday.  We had gone out to dinner, and afterward the waitress brought out two fortune cookies.  My fortune said, “Will you marry me”.

21. The diamond in my engagement ring is shaped like a heart.

22.  My engagement ring has a uniquely shaped band, so I thought it came with a matching wedding band.  Nope.  We had to have my wedding ring custom made so it would sit right against the engagement ring.  I kind of love it that no one else in the whole world has the same ring I do.

23. When I turned 29 for the second time {ahem}, hubby and my parents threw me a surprise party but I’m so hard to surprise that they had to do it in November.  I was totally confused because it was so far from my birthday that it just didn’t register that the party was for me.  I kept looking around and wondering why certain people were there for the anniversary party I thought I was attending.

24. I would rather have birthday brownies, birthday ice cream cake, or birthday apple pie than a regular cake.

25. Now, every year on my birthday, Little Crafter wakes me up by playing “birthday turtle,” the world’s most annoying walking and singing stuffed turtle.  He loves it.

26. This year, hubby did awesome.  He gave me an at-home gel manicure kit.  For the win!!

27. Little Crafter picked out some sparkly hair bands for me.  Because he knows glitter makes everything better.

28. My favorite dance is the Argentine Tango.  I think it’s incredibly romantic…as long as you’re very careful where you flick and kick.

29. I’m secretly afraid that our Christmas tree fiasco {which I do promise to post about eventually} was my punishment for stealing branches from the neighbor’s tree in my little covert mission a few weeks ago.

Well, there you have it, 29 fun facts about this Artsy Mama!  How many did you know?  Thanks for stopping by today and celebrating with me!

Hugs & Glitter,