100th Post Giveaway!

Yea! 100 posts!

This year has been the year of the blog for us. With just over two weeks until the anniversary of the first post to Eastern Blog Country, today finds the 100th post finding its way into the blogosphere.

In celebration of this milestone, we are taking some tips from blogging maven Angie Lee (she loves being called a "blogging maven"), namely hosting a giveaway and posting 100 interesting facts about us.

Since you're no doubt dying to find out how you can get something for free, let me introduce the giveaway. It's just a $10 gift card -- I am on a student budget after all, but you have the choice of a few different stores...

For my fellow tech geeks: RadioShack.
For those of you who are artsy-fartsy [giggle] (see my friend, Cami's, post): Michaels.
DIY?: Lowe's.
BOGO?: Target or Walmart.
WTDATC?: Denny's, of course.

Comment on this post and we'll put you into the drawing for the gift card. We'll pick the lucky comment on New Year's Day and let you know!

We've been excited to see so many friends and family get on our blog and see what's going on in our family. Thanks ever so much for your comments and encouragement!

Now, the second part of the post--100 interesting facts about us. Tamara and I both think it's only fair that we get to split this into two groups of fifty. I got lucky--I already had forty from an early post. Tamara put me to shame by coming up with not fifty, but fifty-one facts, just like that. [snaps]

Here are mine:

1. I use brackets to narrate my actions while I'm IMing. [smiles sheepishly]
2. I miss California, but worry about not making ends meet if I move back.
3. I'm an Aires.
4. I've known my wife of 11 years for more than 27 years.
5. I really do not like butterrum life savers.
6. I abstained from eating all chocolate for 3 years after someone accused me of being "addicted."
7. I haven't broken the sound barrier--yet.
8. I've been a Mac addict for sixteen years.
9. I've saved two of my children from drowning in a river and a lake.
10. I don't really follow professional sports--at all.
11. I once broke both my elbows at the same time--and it was on my wife's birthday.
12. As an adult, I always weighed more than 200 pounds until my wife and I did the South Beach diet.
13. I've been this tall since I was about 15.
14. I like to sew and knit.
15. My ape index is about 6 inches.
16. I have 5 children (just one wife, thanks), 3 siblings, 7 nephews, 1 niece, 13 aunts, 13 uncles, and (I think) 53 first cousins.
17. I try to open doors for women, even though I get exasperated looks sometimes.
18. I have been in college for about as many years as I was in school before college.
19. I don't like touching sandpaper or emery boards.
20. I have periods of time when my dreams are vivid and I remember them well upon waking. Lately I just drop off to sleep and don't remember anything after that.
21. I enjoy eating, but , unfortunately, tend to be more focused on finishing than savoring my food.
22. I fancy myself environmentally conscious, and even make the effort to be more green.
23. I hate shaving, especially my armpits.
24. I have a weird sense of humor, but my mom almost always laughs at my jokes.
25. My children think that Daddy can fix anything.
26. I rode a bike from Monterey to Santa Barbara.
27. I've been pulled over by the CHP, and I was on my bicycle.
28. I'm getting better, but I'm still quite claustrophobic.
29. I am part of the small percentage of the population that has ever worked with radioactivity.
30. I was once in charge of the lingerie department of a Lane Bryant franchise.
31. I've been to the top of the Empire State Building and the Washington Monument.
32. My favorite ride at Disneyland is Pirates of the Caribbean.
33. I almost drown once, but was pulled to safety by a lifeguard.
34. During my missionary experience, I spent extended amounts of time on three different continents.
35. I can't help being convinced that I could really be organized if I just had enough Tupperware containers and some flashy indexing software.
36. I am more of an impulse buyer than my wife. (No generalizations here--that's just the way it is, folks.)
37. 
38. I think Grace Kelly trumps Nicole Kidman and Audrey Hepburn outclasses any contemporary actress.
39. I am a former Dungeon Master.
    
40. I actually made it to 16 before my first kiss.
41. I was a cheerleader my freshman year in college and loved every minute of it.
42. My favorite part of getting home from anywhere--taking off my socks.
43. I was a double major as an undergrad: Molecular Biology and Russian.
44. Texture, more than flavor, is what draws me to some foods. Tortellini, shrimp, soft homemade cookies, and jicama make the list for having crunchy or chewy textures.
    
45. I was a TA for a class called "Weapons of Mass Destruction." The FBI made several visits to the lecture.
    
46. I originally envisioned myself as a nuclear physicist. It was only after I decided to pursue biology and took some physics classes that I saw how that would have been a mistake.
    
47. Various animals (some fictional) that have fascinated me from childhood: dragons, cobras, unicorns, tigers, raptors (the birds, not so much the dinosaurs), unicorns, tarantulas, pegasusses, sharks, horses, and coelacanths.
    
48. I love swimming in the ocean, but have been anxious about sharks.
    
49. I was once held at gunpoint by an irate little man.
50. My favorite turtle is Rafael.
    
    

Here are Tamara's:

1. I love going to the library and always have. I remember being so excited that I could write my name and get my own library card.
2. My favorite season is spring. Everything looks so pretty after the gloomy winter finally leaves.
3. I love hiking, biking, and being out in nature.
4. When I was little and anyone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up my answer was always the same. “I want to be a mommy!” Now that I am a mommy I have to say it is the best career decision I have ever made!
5. I lived the first 19 years of my life in the same city.
6. I have a pair of tap shoes hanging in the back of my closet. Can’t remember the last time they were used but at one time they got lots and lots of use.
7. I am not a patient person. I try but it doesn’t come easily or naturally! Just ask my family!
8. I’ve had the calling of ward organist twice now (two different wards) and I don’t really know how to play the organ. Guess I’m just good at faking it!
9. When I was 16 years old I wanted to get my ears double pierced. My mom wouldn’t sign the permission form (had to have permission if you were under 18) telling me that someday I would regret doing that to my body. After hearing President Hinckley’s remarks on tattoos and piercing I shook my head in amazement. Mothers really do know best!
10. I’ve been married for 11 years (almost 11 1/2) but have know my husband for about 28 years.
11. I've had three surgeries on my foot, and it's still broken.
12. My children take things to my husband to get fixed. They know I'll just throw it away.
13. I jumped into rapids to save my infant son from drowning.
14. I teach three of my children piano lessons.
15. I volunteer at the library at my children's school.
16. I teach sign language to second graders.
17. My fourth child was born on the same day as my sister's oldest child. My mom likes to tell people she has twin grandsons
18. My brother and I are both ward organists.
19. My husband pulled a chair out from underneath me as I went to sit down in Sunday School when I was about ten years old.
20. I rode a bike this summer after ten years of it being in storage.
21. My husband and I skipped out on Mutual to participate in a ballroom dance course when we were first dating. We were seniors in high school.
22. I was so shy and quiet in high school that a lot of people thought I was stuck up because I wouldn’t talk to them.
23. I’ve tried 3 times to hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos but have had to turn back a few miles from the top because of snow. I will keep trying!
24. I don’t like seafood! The only time my husband gets it is when he makes it himself or orders it when we go out to eat.
25. At age 32 I’ve discovered that I need glasses. The kids are quite upset and trying to picture me having to wear glasses. I’m just looking forward to being able to see without getting headaches.
26. My first niece was born this past September. I have 7 nephews so it was about time for a niece.
27. I spend way too much time cleaning. I can’t function when things are messy and cluttered!
28. Did you know that rabbits make noise? I learned when I was little that they actually scream. Our neighbors behind us had lots of rabbits and a fence with a hole in it. Rabbits got into our yard and our cat loved to chase them and play with them until they died. It was very traumatic for me as a child and I would try to save them but still ended up burying several.
29. We all know that hitting is bad but at one point my mom actually told my brother and I to hit my sister. My brother and I knew we were not supposed to hit and would just sit there and let our little sister beat up on us. My mom got tired of us crying to her so she finally gave up and told us to hit back. It worked. My sister stopped hitting me when she knew I would hit her back!
30. A week before my baptism I fell and hurt my wrist. My mom and dad didn’t take me to the doctors until after my baptism because they were afraid I would end up with a cast and not be able to get baptized. It was broken and I did end up with a cast!
31. My 5th baby came so quick that there was no time for pain medication. It was my first time delivering natural and I hope to never have to do that again! I honestly can’t understand how anyone would choose to deliver that way!
32. My cousin and I had golden wedding dresses. Our Grandma made our dresses and used some gold material leftover from my brothers wedding to make the trial ones.
33. My real wedding dress (which was white) had forty-nine buttons down the back. The package of buttons came with fifty and my cousins dress used button number fifty.
34. I was engaged on July 4th and married the following August 9th.
35. I grew up in the Bay Area but have never been to Alcatraz.
36. I have been to a real functioning prison many times visiting my Uncle. I think my family felt like they saw enough of the real thing to want to go visit another prison.
37. I love to read!
38. I cook because I like to eat. I don’t really enjoy cooking. Just the end result!
39. I’ve spent the last 6 years without my own washer and dryer. I do have strong-arm muscles from carrying loads back and forth!
40. I’ve never had a dishwasher. I’m really good at washing dishes from so much practice!
41. I’m a master at organizing and making room for all seven of us in our little home.
42. I hate going to the dentist!
43. My least favorite household chore is mopping the floors.
44. I love gardening. Someday I hope to have a big garden to play in!
45. I had to learn how to like playing games. My family didn’t play games much when I was growing up but I married into a family that played games lots. It took me a few years but I now like playing games.
46. I have learned to like playing games but I don’t like playing “thinking games” as I call them.
47. When I was twenty years old I was on a piano performing team that was getting ready to travel to China. I had even made my first payment before I decided that I didn’t want to go. Lucky for me I was able to get my money back.
48. I loved going fishing when I was little. It was a special time to spend with my dad and grandpa. I would bate my own hook, take the fish off the hook, and even clean and skin the fish. You just wouldn’t catch me eating it!
49. I love music. I think I would be lost without music.
50. My very first piano recital (I think I was 6 years old) I walked up to the organ and almost started playing on that instead of the piano. It was my first time seeing a grand piano and the organ looked more like my piano at home until I walked up and saw all the pedals. I was so embarrassed after that and almost didn’t play my song.
51. I love the smell of sawdust! It takes me back to days of my dad working in the shop. Whenever we would ask him what he was making his answer would always be, “sawdust!”