25 Things

I previously published this list as a Facebook note over a year ago. I posted it way after these kinds of "25 random things" posts were popular. However, I found the task of coming up with this list to be fun and as such I've decided it deserves a place on my blog.

1. My love language is quality time. The way that I show love is through acts of service.
2. When I find a new song that I love I listen to it a zillion times in a row. It'd probably scare people if they knew how many times I could listen to a single song without getting sick of it. I do this sometimes with albums too.
3. I've served on a jury. It was only a basic traffic accident case but I loved it. I'm sure there are a lot of screwed up things about our court system but at least we Americans have the right to a fair trial. If I get called for jury duty again within the next 3 years I'll probably still go.
4. I have a college degree and a career that I love even though neither of these things will be necessary for where I expect that my life is going to go. I think that raising my children will be one of the highest callings God could give me and I'm excited to be a wife and a mom someday. (I still think having a college degree is important either way, just for the record.)
   

   A) I was 11 when I decided that I wanted to major in Computer Science and I never once changed my major in college.

5. After living the majority of my life in Arizona I came really close to moving to Washington DC about a year ago. I now know that Phoenix is exactly where God wants me at this stage of my life but rejecting the job offers from DC is what finally made me realize that Phoenix is where I'm supposed to be at right now. This (for now) closed the door for a lot of the opportunities I'd been wondering about for the last couple of years. I switch back and forth between thinking that Phoenix is the perfect place to live and wanting to try living in a different city.
6. I'm a night owl. Even if I'm tired in the evening there's just something that happens to me late at night and I come alive.
7. I love Eeyore. I still have a stuffed Eeyore that I grew up with as a kid. My first car had an Eeyore on it. My AOL screenname when I was a kid had Eeyore in it.
8. The biggest impact on my spiritual life growing up was Awana/Scholarship camp. A large portion of what I know about the Bible came from my years in Awana. The spiritual growth and friends that came from camp, not to mention the great stories, are incredible. The CSCMI/GWC ministry is very near and dear to my heart.
9. I have a hard time talking about me or my life unless someone asks me to. I always assume that the person I'm talking to doesn't care or that I'd bore them. And when I do talk about myself I tend to talk really fast and then change the subject quickly afterwards. I've been trying really hard to get better about just opening up without requiring someone to ask me something.
10. I have a small dent in my skull from where a marble candle holder fell on my face when my sister kicked my bed sheet tent down while I was in it. The candle holder was holding the edge of the sheet on the piano and landed right above my eye. The dent is visible only with certain facial expressions and luckily it's not noticeable enough for anyone to have ever noticed it. I had a black eye for days.
11. I've had multiple ppl starting singing "Mandy" by Barry Mannilow to me after they learned my name. And yes, all of these ppl were over 35.
12. My full name is NOT Amanda, it's Melinda. This never ceases to confuse ppl and understandably so. Just go with it. I never know which name to put on my voicemail and there have been times when I've awkwardly paused on the phone after saying "Hey, this is....uh..." because I can't remember which name to say to that person.
13. I want to attend a home game for every major league baseball team at some point in my lifetime. So far I've only got 3 teams on that list, so I have a ways to go. *
14. When my family moved from the Chicago area to Phoenix when I was 4 or 5 I cried because we weren't taking the leaves from our big tree in the front yard. My mom had to get me a cup to put some of the leaves in before I would calm down. As a kid I used to feel bad about "abandoning" inanimate objects. I would worry that they'd feel left out and lonely. I was pretty old before I finally accepted that inanimate objects don't have feelings.
15. I cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the teen area at the Cholla Branch Library when I was in highschool.
16. At one point in highschool I wanted to be a librarian. I mapped out a plan that, if followed, would’ve meant that I’d have a Masters in Library Science by now.
17. My life isn't about taking part in some sort of "organized religion". My individual relationship with the Creator of the universe is the single most important relationship I've ever and will ever have. I can't imagine how ppl get through life without knowing Him.
18. The number one thing that bothers me about myself is my lack of consistency in reading His word.
19. The graduating class for my major was less than 10% female (a high percentage in comparison to some schools) and I am the only female in a department of 30+ guys at work. I get asked how I'm still single and the best answer I've ever come up with for this question is something I heard the other day: "When it comes to engineering guys, the odds are good, but the goods are odd".
20. The timeframe from when I submitted my application to U of A and when I got my official scholarship offer was 7-8 months instead of 7-8 weeks because of a clerical error in the admissions office. It was an unfortunate situation that turned out for the best but created a very confusing eight months of my life. Nothing like getting the "So, what are you going to do after graduation?" question a million times and having an hour long explanation as to why you haven't been able to commit to a specific university yet. I can't imagine my life without those three years at U of A though, so I'm glad it worked out in the end.
21. I’ve always loved sports but one of my biggest insecurities is my lack of athletic abilities.
22. I never attended a public (or private) school until I was taking my first college class. And I don't regret not having a prom, I didn’t do school in my pajamas, I do know how to socialize and I’m not super smart.
23. I can overanalyze anything. Seriously, anything!
24. If you give me a clicky pen I will proceed to click it constantly until I put it down. And if I put the pen down somewhere near me chances are I'll pick the pen up again shortly thereafter and start clicking it again. Or flipping it around my fingers.
25. I love lists. If you give me a list I'll be a happy camper.

*The count is now at five!

It's now five days until State and eleven days until I leave for Summit. Crazy how time is flying!