25 things about me

So I was tagged on Facebook for this meme, and I thought I'd put it here too. If you have a list of your 25 things, please share your link!

25. If my dad didn’t know how to type 90 wpm, I probably wouldn’t be here. (He was drafted to go to Vietnam, but ended up being a clerk in Washington State.) My dad was in grad school in classics when he was drafted. However, his brother who was going to take over the farm had diabetes, so my dad had to do it. He wasn’t a very happy farmer.
24. My parents were living with my great grandparents when I was born—my dad had just gotten out of the service. They bought a trailer house on the way home from the hospital with me. My great grandparents and my parents are the only ones who have lived on that farmstead.
23. My second cousin, Kay, lived with us during the school week so she could attend a school with a hearing impaired program.
22. Every day after school, I’d play school with my younger brother, Mark, and Kay. I’d teach them everything I had learned at school that day. What do you do with a kindergartener who knows how to multiply?
21. My dad quit farming when I graduated from high school. They make way more money renting out the land than they did farming.
20. I was really swaybacked as a kid.
19. We lived in town briefly, for kindergarten to second grade.
18. I didn’t spend a birthday at home between the ages of 11 and 18—I was always on some type of trip (girl scouts, church, 4-H).
17. I reached the second interview step to be a U.S. Senate page.
16. I was a Minnesota State 4-H ambassador—and had a green and white wardrobe to prove it.
15. Everyone I dated in high school either was named “Mark” or a D name.
14. I sang in the Concordia College Concert Choir. I was the last woman chosen, but I was still in!
13. If I could live any year of my life over, it would be the first year of grad school. It was great, but I would make some different decisions.
12. I spent a month in Korea on a research exchange in grad school. I lived in the dorms and ate school food—imagine the Korean version of elementary school food.
11. I met my husband at a homeless shelter. (He was the director, I was a volunteer.)
10. My big toe is my longest toe.
9. I became lactose intolerant in grad school. I was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which got progressively worse until Harmony was 1 and I got prayer for healing at a small group Bible study.
8. Running is very good for my mental health.
7. A neighbor teen lived with us for a while when H1 and H2 were very small.
6. We lived in Ithaca, NY for a year when I was on sabbatical.
5. Last year my brother, Mark, and I ran the Indianapolis Mini-marathon…I was 13 weeks pregnant!
4. We didn’t intend for our kids to all have H names—Henry Lee is named after his great grandfathers and his middle name is from his grandfather: Harmony Kay is named after my grandmother, Mona Mae, and her grandmother, Wanda Faye; and Hope Eileen is named from Romans 5 and my other granmother (her middle name was Irene, but then Hope's initials would be HIT!).
3. We’re in year 10 of renovating a Queen Anne Victorian house. It’s definitely an exercise in patience.
2. Cookies >>>> cake >>>> pie.
1. I hate shopping, except for scoring big bargains at CVS, Walgreens or the grocery store.