Tagging....

...what is it, you might ask? It seems that it is a little way to get to know some interesting things about your bloggity friends.

And I have been tagged...

...several times. So I guess I should abide by the rules (one of them, anyway) and give you 7 random factoids about myself. Though, the rest of the rules indicate that you must 'tag' 7 other people and I'm just not sure there are 7 people left in my little bloggy corner of the internet to tag. That's what I get for not keeping up on the current events of our blog community. ;)

1. I am the oldest of 15 grandkids on my mom's side of the family. We are a close-knit bunch of cousins and I still get teased to this day about being the favorite because I got to sit at the 'grown-up' table at family functions.

2. I have a secret previous life that few are aware of....I was married at 19 and divorced 5 years later. That is the place where selfish rebellion leads. I am thankful that it was not part of God's plan to allow children from that relationship. Shocking information, I know, for many of you. It doesn't seem real to me either. I sometimes wonder how I am going to explain that part of my life to my boys.

3. I almost graduated from court reporting school after 2 years of study and reaching 200 wpm (words per minute) on the stenograph machine. Life circumstances got in the way and took me in a different direction. But I did leave that phase of my life with the ability to type about 80 wpm on the computer and a love for proofreading. That's definitely been a nice thing.

4. My secret dream jobs....stay-at-home mom, magazine editor (see the aforementioned love of proofreading), or a party planner/photographer. I took some really great (well, I think they're great) shots of Olivia for her graduation announcements. Of course, it took me taking about 200 pictures to get 12 good ones. ;)

5. I was hand-picked by our principal to be the female recipient of the Danforth Award my senior year. It was a defining and proud moment for me. "The Danforth Award is given annually to a graduating young man and young woman who have demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership, and who have been well-balanced in a four square way in their personal development - Physically, Mentally, Socially, Religiously. The American Youth Foundation recognizes and encourages the development of character and leadership qualities in young people and acknowledges such with this award."

6. I was born with glaucoma, but wasn't diagnosed until I was five. I eventually lost complete vision in my right eye, but have never had serious problems with my left eye. I just switched ophthalmologists after 30 years about six months ago. The new doctor said it is very rare to have one eye not be affected the way mine hasn't been....my left eye is essentially as healthy as an eye without glaucoma at this point. Another defining moment for me as I realized the full extent of God's hand on my life. I've woken almost every day since then praising Him and giving thanks for being able to see my beautiful children's faces and look into my wonderful husband's eyes!

7. Rick and I are feeling called to missions work in some form. He was called several years ago during a Sacred Gathering we had at church. So he's already been to Mexico, Iowa, the Gulf (Katrina clean-up) and Brazil several times. I'm being called more recently. God really began working on me during my 7 or so trips to Haiti in 2005 (for work-related reasons). And I've really been fighting with God in the last 6 months about the burden on my heart for Africa. I'll be going to Brazil in June. This will be my first official mission trip. I hope to go back to Haiti on mission in the future. And if it is God's plan and He provides, Rick and I are tentatively scheduled to go to Africa in October of this year. This last one is a huge prayer request, too. We'll need to raise lots of funds for the trip for us both, blessings from our employers for the time off, and prayer partners for this initiative. If you are interested in being one of those partners, please let me know. We can never have too many people praying!