Ashley 101

This was a whole lot more work than I thought it would be. I loved reading many of yours so I decided to try it. If anyone reads all the way through to the end, you deserve a medal.

1. I love math and I’ve always loved math.
2. I remember the first math equation I learned. I was 3 or 4 and it was 2+2=4. I learned it while watching Sesame Street (take that TV-makes-kids-dumber studies! ). I remember being excited because I understood.
3. I had some major buck teeth as a kid with a huge gap (braces fixed that).
4. I wore my hair in a pony tail for school every day for about 3 years (grades 2-4).
5. I was a bit of a tomboy.
6. For some reason, I was “asked out” by four different boys when I was in the 4^th grade. I turned them all down. Little did I know, that was to be the height of my popularity throughout my life.
7. The only B I ever got, until college, was in PE in the 4^th grade because of square dancing. Perhaps this was due to all of the emotional turmoil of the year? It couldn’t have been my absolute lack of dancing ability :).
8. My husband is a better dancer than myself.
9. He is also skilled at interpretative dance and frequently makes the girls and I laugh with his performances.
10. I love the color purple but don’t really wear anything purple.
11. I am a chocoholic. The more chocolate the better.
12. Joe and I literally eat ice cream almost every night. We’re addicts.
13. My favorites are anything chocolate with brownie pieces and Neapolitan.
14. My favorite foods are mashed potatoes with gravy and the fried cheese at Chili’s.
15. I love to cook and feel confident in my ability in the kitchen. This is good because of my inadequacies in other aspects of homemaking (i.e. sewing, cleaning, decorating, gardening, etc.).
16. I was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in high school.
17. Most of the people who voted for me would probably be surprised that I’m a stay-at-home mom with 2 kids but there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.
18. I played tennis and soccer all four years of high school.
19. I used to have dreams almost every night during soccer season of scoring a goal with a bicycle kick (how cool would that be?).
20. Joe and I played tennis on our first one-on-one date and he beat me (lowering head in shame).
21. Our first date, a double date, consisted of DQ Blizzards, croquet on the church lawn, and waltzing in the parking lot to an Enya song. Weird, I know…
22. We were engaged after only 6 weeks of dating. Yikes! What were we thinking? It’s a testimony-builder to us of the guidance of the Spirit.
23. I am learning more and more how perfect Joe is for me.
24. I love my daughters more than I ever thought I could.
25. Motherhood is harder than I ever thought it would be.
26. There are no sweeter sounds than my children’s laughter and singing.
27. I have almost no memory of 3 days of my life. Unfortunately, those were the first 3 days of Elizabeth’s life. This still makes me sad.
28. I absolutely loved being awake for Natalie’s birth.
29. My favorite kind of music is oldies, especially classic R&B like the Temptations, Four Tops, The Platters, The Spinners, Otis Redding, and Al Green.
30. Two of my favorite songs are “My Girl” and “I Can’t Help Myself”.
31. I can’t sing but sometimes I pretend like I can, for instance when “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” or “I Want to Know What Love Is” comes on the radio (if you’ve never sung along to those songs, you should try it :)).
32. In my humble opinion, no one has a better singing voice than my husband.
33. I am the youngest of 5 kids.
34. I have always idolized my older brothers and my sister. They are the epitome of smart, funny, cool and kind. I aspire to be like them.
    
35. My favorite pastime in high school was babysitting my nieces and nephews.
36. My happiest moments in life are always when I’m with my family.
37. I have eaten shark and barracuda. Both were pretty good.
38. I’ve been to Africa and loved it. Someday I’ll go back.
39. I would love to go to Italy, France, China and Japan.
40. I love the beach and getting tossed by the waves.
41. Summer is my favorite season—I love the heat!
42. I love to ski but I don’t like very cold weather.
43. I love the rain.
44. I love buying sweaters and have a million of them.
45. #44 is also true about flip flops.
46. I have never pierced my ears and have no desire to.
47. I don’t like painting my fingernails.
48. I love painting my toenails.
49. I’ve been told often that I have weird toes but I don’t see what’s wrong with them.
50. I’ve never liked my knees—they’re too big.
51. I think Elizabeth may have my knees. Poor girl.
52. I love surprises and surprising other people.
53. I love giving gifts.
54. I’ve had too many prayers answered to deny the power of prayer.
55. I love to sit out in the sun and read.
56. I love to sit on my mom’s bed with her and watch chick flicks.
57. I cry a lot. I’m what I call a sympathy crier—I cry whenever I see someone else crying. Even someone I don’t even know.
58. Joe is very patient with me when I cry, for which I am very grateful.
59. I am a huge Sacramento Kings fan.
60. My favorite player that used to play for the Kings is Chris Webber. One time at a game, I was standing up and yelling his name during warm-ups. He turned and smiled at me and I was so excited that I cried (it was more that my eyes watered, really :)).
61. I was once interviewed by the local news about the Kings while in the audience at a game. I said something barely intelligible about them needing Mike Bibby healthy for the playoffs.
62. I eat a lot; much more than Joe.
63. I would much rather go out to dinner than go to a movie.
64. I once ate an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting my freshmen year of college. My roommate ate one, too. In my defense, it was BYU Creamery’s Brownie Nut Fudge. Yumm…
65. My mom is my hero.
66. I married someone a lot like my dad. I love my dad.
67. I love to play the piano. It is a stress reliever for me as long as I’m not playing in church :).
68. I only own about 3 pieces of jewelry. I wish I had more but I never know what to buy.
69. I once kicked a police officer as hard as I could in the groin. Don’t worry—it was for the final in my Self-Defense class and he was heavily padded. Still, he dropped to the ground :).
70. I took karate as a part of my senior project in high school and earned an orange belt.
71. I have double jointed thumbs but I didn’t realize it until I was 18.
72. My senior prom date dyed his hair hot pink to match my dress (for the record my dress was pale pink).
73. I used to wake up at 5 in the morning to watch reruns of “Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman”.
74. “Dumb & Dumber” still makes me laugh, even the 50^th time.
75. “Jeopardy” is my favorite TV show. Someday I want to take the test and try to get on.
76. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth, the only thing that would make me throw up was Joe. One time he came home from school and all he did was give me a little kiss hello and I ran to the bathroom and threw up. It was unexplainable and luckily didn’t happen during Natalie’s pregnancy.
77. I karaoked to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” with my friend Jessica in front of our high school. Unfortunately, we did not know that the song was 6 minutes long…yikes.
78. I danced to “Lady Marmalade” in front of our high school with 3 other girls in our French club. Don’t worry, the song was edited to “Voulez-vous danser avec moi, ce soir.”
79. That’s about all of the French I know after 4 years of French in high school (maybe a little bit more but not much).
80. #77 and #78 are actually pretty freak incidents since I am a shy person.
81. I’ve been known to accept food dares, including attempting to drink a cup of marinara sauce (didn’t work).
82. Before we were married, my husband was very social and I was kind of a home-body. Now, we’ve switched places. I love to hang out with friends and extended family and Joe just wants to stay at home most of the time.
83. My favorite part of American History has always been the Civil Rights Movement. I don’t really know why but I love learning about it.
84. I once won an award for an essay I wrote on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
85. I was hit almost head-on by a semi on the freeway and I walked away without a scratch (the car was totaled of course).
86. After the #85 incident, I thought of Joe and wanted to call him. This is what made me first see myself marrying him. This was after only 4 or 5 dates.
87. I always wanted to have the initials AAA and it worked out! That’s not why I married him, of course :).
88. I really like my in-laws. They are great people and fun to be around.
89. I broke my arm in 1^st grade by falling off of the low bar (about 3 feet high). Not the most exciting bone-break story.
90. Marjorie Pay Hinckley is another one of my heroes. I love to read about her.
91. I used to eat “ice soup” as a kid. I would put crushed ice and water in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.
92. I am a major ice-chewer.
93. I’ve never been able to touch my toes without bending my legs. Maybe someday…
94. I love cheese. Anything is better with cheese on it.
95. I used to have a major crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas. I think Joe looks like him, but cuter :).
96. My favorite cereal is Smart Start.
97. I ate Smart Start every morning for about 4 years.
98. I’m very much a creature of habit.
99. I love to bake cookies.
100. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I know it’s true.
101. I love my family.