What You Never Thought You'd Know

This is one of my favorite photos. We were at the Forbidden City in Beijing and when all these Chinese students saw us, they would all start shouting, 'Hi!' So we got almost their whole class together (their teacher is on the left) and took a picture. My sister (she's in the back, towards the right) was VERY popular and half the kids asked if she could come with them for the rest of the day.

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Facebook is rife with silly surveys. Secretly, I like filling them out...but re-posting them on Facebook is always a little weird for me. So instead, I'll just put it on here and you can re-post it if you want. ;)

Here are 25 'facts' about me:

1. I hate red delicious apples and blue pens. I refuse to use/eat/touch these items. I avoid them at all costs.

2. I do voice-over work for MTV.

3. I have a few secrets that most people wouldn't consider secrets...I guess it's a left-hand not knowing the right-hand issue.

4. I've been to 18 countries.

5. I will have been on 5 continents by the time I'm 25 1/2. Which isn't too shabby!! :)

6. Spongebob Squarepants is probably the funniest show I've ever seen. And I watch it almost daily with my husband.

7. I play rhythms in my head when I get bored and do repetitive motions to go along with those rhythms.

8. I go into my own little world quite often. If you talk to me and it doesn't seem like I listen, shake me.

9. I want to live internationally for the rest of my life. Hell, if I could be digging wells in Vietnam or teaching English in Cambodia, I would consider my life a success.

10. I have a fixation on serial killers and murderers. I read a lot of stuff on the Crime Library; I can't understand how you could do that to a person.

11. I've been on the verge of an eating disorder for most of my life...but I think I'm finally getting over it.

12. I'm a different kind of sentimental. I get rid of things that I don't need anymore, but don't lose any attachment when they're gone. (My friends thought I was nuts for giving up my wedding dress...)

13. There are three words I positively HATE: Moist, Succulent, Naughty

14. I've bungee jumped off the one of the world's highest buildings. I've been skydiving too...but now I'm debating on skydiving in South Africa. :-D

15. My husband and I name rats that we see in the subway and then create story lines for them while we're waiting for the subway.

16. I taught my brother Shakespeare when he was three years old.

17. I could eat sushi for every meal for the rest of my life. HA! Well...except maybe breakfast where I would need cinnamon raisin peanut butter on bread.

18. I spell my first name wrong more often then I should.

19. I still can't sign my last name. I get H-U-D...and then the rest is squiggles.

20. My favorite movie is Pulp Fiction, especially the end part when they're discussing miracles.

21. I want to adopt children instead of having my own. Every child deserves to be loved.

22. I talk to pigeons when they walk in front of me.

23. I still have two baby teeth.

24. I like to imagine myself as a wonderful dancer. I'm really not.

25. I still don't understand how football works.

I Wish I Had My Tuba

I was a first-class nerd in high school.

Not only did I play the tuba and marching sousaphone (it's the same thing. But easier to swing and jump with), I played the trombone, baritone, AND was the band president.

BAND PRESIDENT.

And, as weird as this sounds, I am considered a legend to the Northwest High School Marching Band. I have mellowed out considerably since high school and I haven't really dyed my hair (blue) since then either.

But today, I sincerely miss my tuba. Like a whole lot.

The tuba is not a great musical instrument. It's mainly in the background for most songs, relegated to a bass line. BUT I MISS IT.

I miss Tuba Christmas and I miss jumping around, killing my knees with my sousaphone. I miss cleaning out thrown pixie sticks from the bandstands.

Is there something you miss? A random, general, possibly irrational missing of something?

UPDATE: I went tuba shopping...I had to. The cheapest one is $4,000. Boo! I'm going to look into renting one...

For Richer Or For Poorer

This is my friend Rachel. I'm her matron-of-honor in her wedding this September. When she and her fiance came to visit us, I was talking about how much I wanted to get chocolate soft-serve and as SOON as I finished talking, the ice cream truck went down the street. Rachel and my husband ran outside to get me chocolate ice cream. I love her!!


I know that tomorrow will be a brighter day. But today is still a little sad. Steve and I have tried to support a number of different organizations and...we just can't anymore. So I just canceled all of our upcoming donations and it makes me feel a bit sad. We don't want to abandon any of our children, so we're going to continue supporting them. I shouldn't feel so down about it, but I do.

How are you today?

This Is How We Roll

I have found a great love for the East Village. It almost makes me want to live there (and stay in NYC). If it wasn't so expensive, maybe we'd live there.



This is a Morning Jersey at Crif Dogs in the Village. It's a hot dog, wrapped in Taylor Ham (it's a Jersey thing) with cheese and a fried egg. and it is DELICIOUS!!!!!



This is my husband checking out a Chocolate Bacon bar. Yes, we got it. It is a chocolate bar with bacon in it...and it is better than you'd think. ;) Vosges Chocolate had them. Sweet and salty! We also got an Indian curry bar, a ginger/wasabi bar, and a 'red fire' bar with ancho and chipotle peppers. :)

How's your weekend going? I have more pictures and I'll try and update soon. :)

I just finished reading 'Night' by Elie Wiesel and it's something you just can't shake, you know? At the end of the book, there are excerpts from his Nobel acceptance speech. And I felt like it was really appropriate, not only for the Holocaust, but also for the Cambodians, the Rwandans, the Darfuris, and the Ugandans.

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December 10, 1986

I remember: he asked his father: "Can this be true?" This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?

And now the boy is turning to me: "Tell me," he asks. "What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life"

And I tell him that I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.

And then I explained to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remain silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of universe.

What I'm Good At

I was talking to my husband about going to get a chocolate bar made with applewood bacon.



When he said something that is very spot on with me.

Steven: you are very good at finding very odd places

And I am! It's kind of a past time for me. I've been to a 30-foot-tall statue of Mary with a base that's shaped like the Statue of Liberty.



I was even able to locate a giant fork in the road in upstate New York.



So now I have a small list of things that I would love to find when I go to South Korea. All of them are food and they are all AWESOME!!!

The Tornado Potato:


The Fry Dog:


and spaghetti in an ice cream cone:


I will let you know about my success in a week or two. :-D

Thankful Thursday!

Thank you, Sonya, for Thankful Thursday! Here are the things that I'm thankful for. There's somewhat of a theme to it, I guess. This has a been a week of compromise, but I'm okay with that. :)

1) While my husband has finally put a stop to my shoe buying, he did let me buy 9 pairs of shoes for 'my kids.' So that made me happy. Though I just found the CUTEST camo Tiny TOMS...(Update: He let me buy one pair!!)

2) While I have to put the Teaching English As A Second Language Certificate program on hold (we just can't afford it), I am able to go on many wonderful trips that I know I'll always remember. And that I'm already planning WAY too far in advance. :)

3) I have just about two weeks before I get to see my family!!! I only get to see them twice a year, so I'm really excited. Hong Kong, here I come!!

4) Though I'm DEFINITELY not losing weight, I'm working on loving myself the way I am. I'm not overweight...but I'm still not buying a bathing suit. I'm just proud of myself for purchasing shorts. I haven't worn shorts in 6 years.

5) Though my job isn't ideal, I still have one, so that's good!

6) Though we don't have a lot of money right now, we still have enough to give to people who need it. God has provided so much to us and what are we going to do with most of it anyway? Nothing that important. We can't take it with us. It may as well go to other people. As long as we can pay rent and eat, I think we're doing pretty good.

7) Though there has been some crazy shiz this week, all my friends are okay and no one appears to be hurt. I love you all!!!