Happy Birthday Leslie!

Per my cousin Leslie's birthday request, here are some random "I" thoughts.  The cheapest gift I've given for awhile! In no particular order:

1.  I am in my 8th month of unemployment.  This is the longest I've been without a job since I was 15 years old (since 12 years old if you count babysitting as a job). I'm becoming more and more anxious about finding a job (something, ANYTHING), but trying really hard to not dwell on it.
2. I enjoyed playing host to my brother and sister-in-law, parents, and Ella during their visit to Nashville this past weekend.  Having people stay with us at our home makes me feel so grown up. 
3. I would love to host my and Will's immediate family for a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday at our house.  I think that would be the ultimate "you're a grown up" experience.
4.  I know 8 women who are currently pregnant, or have given birth very recently.  That's a wholelotta pregnant people!  4 of those ladies are friends from high school.  Knowing this many pregnant (married) women makes me sometimes wonder if I'm behind schedule in...life, I guess.   Will and I are perfectly happy where we are and not in any hurry to change our lives right now by adding a marriage or a child to the mix.  But sometimes I daydream about what it would be like to have kids of our own...
5. I know I'm not ready for kids for several reasons, but I realized one important (albeit selfish) reason while we were walking around Savannah, GA on a really, really hot and humid day.  I don't want to have to carry a hot, sweaty kid around when I'm already hot and sweaty myself. Gross. Ironically, I carried a hot and sweaty Ella around for a whole week in Gulf Shores, and in Nashville this past weekend.  I guess you just have to buck up and take one for the team sometimes.  (And truthfully, it wasn't all that bad. Especially when carrying around a sleepy little girl.)
6. I miss going to concerts and discovering new music.  Will is not really into music like I am, and I feel bad forcing him to go to concerts with me.  I wish I had a music buddy in town to go to shows with.
7. I wish I was more outdoorsy than I am.  I love being outside, but it seems that the great outdoors doesn't seem to like me.  I'm prone to sunburns, bug bites, chiggers, poison ivy, etc...
8. I like that Will and I are similar in many ways, yet completely different in others.  It keeps things lively around our house! One of our friends once said to us, "I can't believe God made 2 of you."  We really like to say that to each other when we finish each other's sentences or react the same way to something. 
9. I wish I could pick up and move to a different country for a year...or longer.  I think living abroad was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced, and I'd love the opportunity to do it again for a longer stint of time.
10. I wish I could speak multiple languages.  How great would it be to converse fluently with people from all over the world? Also, how great would it be to eavesdrop on other people's conversations without them knowing you knew what they were saying!
11. I believe in spirits, guardian angels, and that there are people "up there" watching over myself and my family.  I often talk to my family members who have passed away.
12. I mentally say a Hail Mary every time I hear sirens and pray for the person who is sick or in trouble.
13. I think Era laundry detergent smells the best.
14. I am very much a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, but enjoy dressing up every now and then as well.
15. I was probably a little too excited to see that there is a Ghost Hunters marathon on TV today.
16. I sometimes visualize myself winning the lottery and deciding what I'd do with my winnings to the point that I'm terribly disappointed to not have money in my account.
17. I have never mowed a lawn...unless you count sitting on my Dad's lap when I was a kid.
18. I wish I knew how to do something fun with my hair.  Alas, I am hair-inept.  I don't want to cut it off, though, even though that's a logical solution to my problem.
19. I am not a shy person, but embarras very easily.  I don't like being the center of attention.
20. I sometimes think some of the things that happen to me, or the conversations that Will and I have are funny enough to be sitcom material.  I crack myself up.
21. I check email/facebook/blogs FAR too often during the day.  It's almost like an obsessive compulsion.
22. I think that we may have new neighbors moving in next door.  And I'm sad to admit that I'm not thrilled by that news.  I liked having a quiet, empty place to share a wall with.
23. I can't wait to have a house with a yard so we can get a dog.  While we can technically have pets here, our place just isn't dog-friendly..at least not for the size dog we want.
24. I love the exciting feeling you get the night before leaving on a big trip somewhere.
25. I felt nervous at my interview with Vanderbilt yesterday.  That was the first time I've had nerves while interviewing.  Hopefully that's a good sign!
26. I don't understand what the big deal is about gay marriage.  Admittedly I don't know much about politics, but I thought there was a separation of church and state.  Why can't 2 men or 2 women who commit their lives to each other enjoy the same freedoms that the government grants to a man and a woman? I don't see how the "it says it's wrong in the Bible" arguement works for the government. 
27. I believe Ranch dressing is the ultimate condiment.
28. I love playing with my Wii, but only in spurts.  It will sit unused for months, and then I'll break it out everyday for a few weeks.
29. I often wish I had gone to a college that was bigger, farther from home, and had a football team. Not to say that I was unhappy at SLU- I really enjoyed my time there! I jsut sometimes feel that I missed out on the ultimate college experience by not having a football team to root for.  (This probably comes from living in the South where football is king.) But I believe everything happens for a reason.  (ie- had I not gone to SLU, I wouldn't have moved to Chicago after graduation with an old college friend. And then I wouldn't have had the series of jobs that I had and met the people I did, which means I wouldn't have met Will, etc...)
30. I enjoy word puzzles and card games.
31. I hate bananas, yogurt, jello, pudding, and flan. I literally gag at the thought of eating any of those things. It's a texture thing.
32. I can only wink with my right eye and can only make the "Elvis" lip on my right side