Last week I read a post by Arik Hanson titled, “8 Things I Wish More People Knew About Me”. I love learning new things about friends and bloggers I follow, so naturally I read it. It was Amber Naslund’s blog post, “What I Wish More People Knew About Me” that inspired Arik to write his post. In her post Amber actually encourages all of her readers to write a similar post and send it her way (which I hope you all will!). Here is my list of 11 things you probably don’t know about me. (I’ve also decided to share this embarassing picture of myself that my father posted on Facebook. This was taken in Kodiak, AK when I was about eight. That is the halibut my dad caught)
1. If you know the culture of Hawaii, you will totally “get” me. While most of you might know I spent most of my life growing up in Hawaii, what you may not know is that I am the person I am today because of Hawaii. If you have been there, or better yet lived there, you will understand a lot more about why I do/act/feel certain ways about things in life. I have also moved around a few times and I know what it’s like to be the new kid, which sucked but I also wouldn’t trade it for the world. If you’re wondering, I’ve lived in Florida, Alaska, Hawaii and Virginia.
2. I was obsessed with soccer growing up. I mean beyond obsessed. I knew every detail about every person on the Women’s USA team. I wrote them constantly and still have their autographs and letters in plastic cases. Beyond this, soccer and sports were always a big part of my life growing up. Sports have taught me teamwork and work ethic. They have taught me the value of practice and the importance of heart and determination over skill. Being an athlete is why I don’t let failures define me, I make them fuel me.
3. I’ve always wanted to live abroad and be bilingual. My father is Puerto Rican and never taught us to speak spanish because he was teased as a child. I’ve always felt cheated of this and one of my biggest goals since I was very young was to be fluent in spanish. If I lived in a spanish speaking country I know I could definitely master this.
4. I want a big family but I worry about juggling it all. I grew up with one sister but lived close to three of my cousins, who I consider to be my siblings. I think this is why I have always wanted four kids (yes gasp). Even though for me, having a family is years away, I still find myself worrying at times about how or if I will be able to have a successful career and a family.
5. I didn’t grow up with much and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My parents worked hard and sacrificed a lot for my sister and I. I clearly remember the day my mom decided to go to college (I was five). She tells me I used to lay on her books to get her attention while she studied. I don’t know how she ever slept.
I know my parents struggled at times, but it’s their work ethic and value in things like education that has shown me what is really important in life (and it’s not stuff). I cherish my relationships over anything and I always try to be grateful for the little things. While I don’t want to struggle while raising children, I hope to instill the same values and gratitude that my parents have in me.
6. I’ve always wanted to be a makeup artist. Every time I walk by the Mac counter in the department store I wish I could work there. Makeup has always been a guilty pleasure that I will actually spend some money on. Maybe one day I will work at Mac and get my makeup for free!
7. I am really passionate about child safety. Really I’m passionate about human rights in general but there is hands down nothing more that gets me reeling than child safety. Growing up my mom was always big on keep us safe and at times I was so mad that I was the only kid that couldn’t stay the night at a friend’s slumber party. Now I completely understand why and my mother has instilled this same sense of safety precautions in me. There’s nothing that pisses me off more than child abuse or people who don’t protect their children. I could write a post alone on this, or quite frankly a whole new blog all together.
8. I’m the queen of health facts. My mom and aunt were both nurses. For some reason the things I have learned from them and in my many sexual health classes in school have always stuck to me. I have always been the person my friends come to for health advice, but I will give them my two cents whether they ask for it or not.
9. I judge very little…except judgment itself. I am copying this from Amber’s but it’s only because it’s true. I too have a strong opinion about certain things and I will let you know if you ask. But I am a very accepting person and I enjoy surrounding myself with all types of people. I welcome anyone’s opinion and perspective as long as it’s respectful. Amber said it best, “More often than not I take issue with the *way* that people disagree, not THAT they do. I get bristly when I see people casting judgments, so I guess that’s judgment in its own way.”
10. I want thick hair. Yep, that is the one thing I would change about my appearance. I have thin hair and there’s not much I can do about it. Every time I see a picture of one of the Kardashian girls’ pretty thick, long hair I always think - when is someone going to come out with a pill for that?
11. I listen to my intuition. My mother always taught us to listen to our intuition, gut instinct, whatever you want to call it. Because of this, I can read people very well and it doesn’t take me long to decipher their character or motives. My gut instinct works the same in situations, it’s hard to explain I just have a keen sense (and I’m not trying to be pompous). I believe we are all born with a gut instinct for a reason and some of us aren’t taught to listen to it. Thankfully I was, and it’s something that has helped me time and time again in life.
There it is, a few things you probably don’t know about me. I am a pretty open book, so if you’re wondering anything else please ask away.
Now I want to know (because I’m innately curious!), what are a few things you wish people knew about you?
