That's me. :) What do I say about me? I hate talking about myself. I will be 35 this May 13th, and I like to think that I was the best Mother's Day gift my mom ever received. Ha. I'm kind of kidding here, kind of not. :)
I was born on Saturday, May 13, 1978 in Sigourney, Iowa (yes, like the actress), at 7-something in the morning. This would be the last time I would ever do anything willingly before 9 am. I grew up in Pella, Iowa, which is about 45 mins SW of Des Moines. Pella is not a big city. Unless you consider 10,000 people big.
Pella's most notable accomplishments would probably be The Tulip Festival & Pella Windows & Doors/Pella Corp (formerly Rolscreen). Oh, and Central College. They have a pretty awesome softball team. I was raised by two awesome parents, who spoiled me slightly more than I probably should have been. I wasn't a brat (I hope), but in the summers I was sent to weekly day camps at the local community center & when I was old enough, I was sent away to summer camp. I really didn't like the away camps that much, since I was incredibly, painfully shy. I generally came out of my shell by the second to last day. Being away from home and around all those new people was excruciating. But I did love the activities. Being married with a child, I now know that summer camp was probably not as much for my benefit as it was for my parents'. :)
I can't cook (much), but I can bake. I love to paint, and I'm a writer at heart. I love RPG video games, live theatre, and horses. Bad grammar annoys me. I love a good romance and a fantastic cup of hot chocolate. With real whipped cream. Earl Gray tea with milk is my favorite drink. I prefer champagne to wine, and a bellini over plain champagne. I've been to England twice, and it remains one of the great loves of my life. British history is my favorite subject, and in school, I'd take the history text books home to read for fun. I love Greek & Egyptian mythology, but Greek is my favorite. I have three (very small) tattoos. I'd rather listen to 50s & 60s music than anything current, but Michael Buble & Josh Groban make my knees weak. I love Renaissance Festivals, and my dream is to one day visit Greece. I adore children's books, and my favorite cuisine is probably Italian. Unless you count chocolate as a cuisine.
My parents both worked at Pella Corp, my mom in the factory, on the line. My dad was a manager in the factory. They both had a ridiculous (in a good way) work ethic & I used to hear all the time (of which I would sigh & roll my eyes) "If you're going to do something, do it right & give it 110%"...this line has helped me land many a job, let me tell you. That, and the Midwestern Hand Shake, which I assure you is a real thing. I've gotten compliments on my hand shake in job interviews. "My, what a firm handshake you have." I once shook a woman's hand (we were both in college) & she gave me her hand as if I were to kiss it. It was then that I realized how important a good, firm shake really is.
So here I was, growing up in this rather idyllic, picture perfect town with it's Dutch heritage & architecture, tulips that popped up every spring. We lived in a beautiful 2 1/2 story Victorian and I could walk to the town square in under five minutes, one of my closest friends lived five minutes away...I used to walk out the gate of my backyard, through two yards and be at her house. Nights were peaceful, people were friendly...I hated it.
I was skinny with glasses, bad hair and braces. I had a "weird" name that the teachers all slaughtered on our first day of school. It got to the point that by high school, all of my classmates would correct the teachers for me. In unison. My mother was raised Catholic, so we went (sometimes) to the one Catholic church in town...but almost everyone I went to school with seemed to go to one of the several Dutch Reformed churches. Many of my classmates were of Dutch heritage. I was not. I wanted to see the world. Most of my friends when I was younger wanted to get married and have babies.
I felt like an outcast for many years. I took the town's slogan "You ain't much if you ain't Dutch" to heart. When I was in third or fourth grade, I had VERY short hair, and my mom had the stylist give me a perm. The kids laughed and told me I looked like Medusa and a poodle. I did have a few boyfriends in my later years of high school but they weren't exactly boys you'd want your daughter to bring home. But no one else was asking me out, and when you're 16 & 17, and a dorky, suuuuuper shy girl who just wants someone to send her flowers on Valentine's Day, or be asked to the prom by a cute boy...sometimes you take what you can get.
I still remember the high school table on Valentine's Day...my prettier, more popular classmates would have dozens of bouquets sent to them...and all I wanted was that one boy I had a crush on to notice me. But hey, at least my parents sent me flowers. During my senior year, I was chosen to be a Page at the Iowa House of Representatives, and within my first week of doing that, I was moved to the Chief Clerk's Office to work directly with her. That was pretty awesome, but I had no taste for politics.
A couple of years after my dad's death in 1993 from a massive heart attack, my mom married an awesome man named Robert. He used to bring me a box of my favorite chocolates every week when he'd come to visit my mom. I finally had to ask him to stop because I was gaining too much weight.
As much as I hated growing up in Pella, I decided for some odd reason to apply to the college just a few miles from my house. I attempted the college thing for three years but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I still felt odd and out of place, and I still couldn't get a date to save my life. The one thing I did enjoy was working as a historical interpreter at the living history museum in Des Moines. I also worked at the window factory. Now THAT sucked balls. I've had some very physically demanding jobs but that took the cake.
Around my junior year in college, I auditioned for a spot in an international model & talent showcase in New York City, through my modeling agency. Oh, did I forget to mention the modeling? Yes, dahling. I was a model. No, you've never seen me in anything. Although I did audition for a few pilots, and I was an extra in a crappy movie...though Scorsese did put his name on it. Yes. THAT Scorsese. My one big claim to fame. Sort of. Anyway, so I went to NYC & fell head over heels in love. And long story short, I moved to NYC a few months later to attend an on camera acting school there. There's a lot of stories from my couple of years there, including being there for 9/11.
I returned home after graduation, and about a year later, I moved to Tucson. Almost one year later, and I met Rob...but that is another story for another time. We celebrated our 6th year of marriage this past May. So I guess in a few months we're supposed to get the Seven Year Itch. He still makes me laugh daily, and I still can't cook.
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