10 Things You Didn't Know About Me | Our Story

Last week was a fun blog to write! I got to share more about my husband, the guy behind the scenes who encourages me, helps me, and has such a great heart for the people around him. However, it's only fair that if I get to share ten things you didn't know about him, that I share about myself as well.

This was kind of hard to write. On the one hand, I'm glad I don't have any deep, dark secrets. On the other hand, this post would be a million times better if I hit you with something big at the end. But hopefully in reading a few things about me you'll get to know me a little better, and find something in common with me. Like my fear of straws. Yep. Just read on.

1) I have a fear of straws. If you eat out with me, you'll notice I just set mine to the side and drink straight from the glass. This comes from a story about someone piercing their eye with a straw once, and it scared me to death. It's probably not true, but I take no chances.
2) Family pets were my THING growing up. We had hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles, hermit crabs, more guinea pigs, a duck, and eventually, a dog. Nathan wants no part of this for our kids, so I'm secretly hoping they'll start the begging early.
3) In high school I ran one season of "indoor" track. I roll my eyes at that because the only thing that was indoor about it were the meets, and it was in the dead of winter. Y'all, I was cold. And I swore I'd never run again. That changed, but...
4) I wanted to wear glasses SO badly when I was younger. I have no idea why, because of course I ended up being the only kid in our family with the bad eyesight. Don't worry, I rocked some sweet train glasses all the way through 8th grade. (Yes, it was scarring. Now I wear contacts)
5) I'm obsessed with mugs. We have a million random mugs from all over. In fact, we even got rid of our pretty stoneware mugs just so I could keep my collection.
6) I drive a manual (stick shift). It makes me feel pretty cool, at least until I get stuck in traffic.
7) Nathan and I are gluten free, at least for the most part. For him, he gets inflammation from gluten. For me, I read 30 Days of Real Food and never looked back.
8) After visiting Portland last year and being totally unprepared for it at the time (aka we took the worst route possible), one of my personal goals is to summit Mt. St. Helens.
9) I have a thing with grapes. It's bad. If I buy them, I will usually finish them that day - before Nathan even gets home. It's an addiction.
10) Since we moved overseas when I was just a baby, I actually learned both Chinese and English at the same time. I could speak Mandarin and the local dialect fluently by the age of 4 or so, and my mom used that little advantage to get some great deals at the market where we shopped.

And coming next week...the part of our story before we met! Watch out for it next Monday.
Last week: 10 Things You Didn't Know about Nathan

Oh, the Places I Hope to Go! // Monday Musings

I wrote a few weeks ago about some of the things I learned from the last workshop I went to. It was a wonderful experience, and the biggest positive (if I could choose just one) was the encouragement and support of the ladies who spoke to us and with us about our business visions, dreams, and goals.

One big thing I heard over and over again was to just say out loud some of my hopes for what the next few years will bring. And one big thing kept coming to my mind - I love to travel! I grew up quite literally on the other side of the world, and when I meet someone who asks me where I'm from, I never quite know how to answer. I've lived in southern China, northwest China, Roanoke (Virginia), West Virginia, Blacksburg (Virginia), and now Hampton Roads.

On top of that, I've spent months in Thailand, a summer in South Africa, and visited countless other places, from the United Kingdom to Tokyo to Hong Kong (where my sister was born). I've driven all over the United States, and finally got to check New York and Seattle off my bucket list last year alone.

What's the point of all this? Well, as much as I love local weddings, I would LOVE to travel for a few weddings next year! There's almost nothing as scary and exciting as saying your dreams out loud, for fear of not achieving them, but keeping them to myself sure won't get me anywhere :) So without further ado, here are some places I would love to travel for weddings. And if you happen to be getting married here (or somewhere else across the country or the world!), I would love to be there for your big day.
United States: Portland, Oregon; anywhere in California; New York City; anywhere in Texas; Denver, Colorado; Charleston, South Carolina
International: Jamaica; Cayman Islands; Ireland; Spain, Peru

We all know that we miss 100% of the shots we don't take. So here I am, taking my shot at travel in the years to come :)