100 Things About Me

My friend, Amberly, has a couple of posting ideas on her blog that I have finally decided to use. I won't say "steal", because I think that she would freely give me permission to use her ideas. The first is "Self Portrait Tuesday", which doesn't necessarily have to do with photographs. The second is "100 Things About Me". Here goes the Diane edition of "100 Things About Me":

1. I have a testimony of a lot of things, but paramount to all of these is my testimony of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. That has brought me more happiness and peace than I could have imagined possible.

2. I have a wonderful husband, Rowdy, whom I admire and love so much.

3. Rowdy came with three great kids: Jordan, Keiler and Max.

4. Being a stepmom is both easier and harder than I had imagined.

5. Rowdy and I met through ldsmingle.com. There, I've said it. We met on the internet. But we did have a mutual friend, Holly Hamilton, so we sometimes fib and say that we met through her.

6. I like that my husband is kind of a bada**. He, of course, would say, "What do you mean, 'kind of'??"

7. Rowdy left for Iraq today, and I'm having a hard time holding back the tears. This work and life experience will be so good for him, but I miss him alot.

8. Only five months until we meet up somewhere in Europe! You better believe I'm counting down.

9. Even though I would have loved to have babies of my own, I feel like that time in my life has come and gone.

10. I was an ugly duckling until I was 35.

11. One of my favorites things is the New York Times crossword puzzle. Sometimes, I even finish the Saturday one! (Today I did!)

12. I was on the BYU Varsity College Bowl team.

13. No, that doesn't mean that I can bowl. I only broke 100 once, and that was a couple of months ago. Just because my grandma is in the Idaho Bowling Hall of Fame doesn't mean I inherited any of her athletic ability. (Did I just classify bowlers as athletes? Sorry.)

14. I want to lose 10 lbs., but apparently not so much that I'm willing to change how much and what I eat and exercise more than I do.

15. I'm more liberal than my husband.

16. I don't really like having someone tell me what to do.

17. One of my Walter Mitty-ish fantasies is of being an extreme athlete, like a professional snowboarder, skateboarder or parkour traceuse.

18. My sense of humor about myself increases as I get older. Thank goodness!

19. I chose radiology because I was good at anatomy; I love being able to look inside people without having to open them up; I like some patient contact, but I really don't do well with the chronic illnesses. It's been a good fit.

20. I think that the body is endlessly fascinating.

21. When I was really little, I wanted to be either a princess or a ballerina. Then I wanted to be an orthodontist, then I changed to pediatrician. IR barely existed when I was a kid.

22. Right this minute, I'm slumped in my office chair, waiting for the next CT/MR/ultrasound/plain film to come my way.

23. Taking call is much nicer as an attending, since they pay me well for it.

24. Rowdy is my best friend.

25. I have always done very well on the in-law front. The Briccos are a great bunch!

26. My one physical feature that I have always liked is my hair.

27. I am a receptionist at the San Diego Temple on Tuesday nights. It makes my whole week, and I really can tell a difference when I'm on call and can't go. BTW, receptionists in the temple don't take phone calls. We help people find their way around and overall help to maintain an atmosphere of reverence.

28. I'm looking forward to becoming a temple ordinance worker in July.

29. The best day of my life so far was January 20, 2007, when Rowdy and I were sealed in the Jordan River Temple. This is closely followed by November 25, 2005, when we were married in our living room in San Diego.

30. I was on the President's Honor Roll at the University of South Carolina.

31. I was a PE major at BYU and have a BS in Exercise Physiology and an MA in Health Promotion from that institution.

32. I didn't go to medical school until 10 years after I received my bachelor's. This is because I was a lazy student. I was told once by a pathologist who was interviewing me for a job as a morgue tech that there was no way on earth that any medical school would ever accept me.

33. I received honors in Pediatrics and Psychology at the Medical University of South Carolina, and would've gotten honors in Surgery, had they given honors in that rotation. So take that, Pathology Biotch!!

34. I hold grudges.

35. Primary President is my current calling. I enjoy it, but know that I could be doing a lot better at it. Which pretty much should be the feeling of anyone in a calling.

36. I love living in San Diego.

37. I usually ride my bike to and from work.

38. My favorite part of the ride home is going down the 3 stairs at the front of the hospital and over the little hill between the driveway and the side parking lot.

39. I love Baskin Robbin's peanut butter 'n' chocolate ice cream, but I haven't had it in a long time.

40. When I'm doing call overnight, I try to do 20 jumping jacks/hour for as many hours as possible. I did 200 of them on Thursday night/Friday morning.

41. Crunching food is my least-favorite noise. Over time, I've learned to deal with it, but sometimes, I just have to leave the room when Rowdy is eating something crunchy.

42. Celebrity gossip websites are my guiltiest pleasure.

43. One of the things I miss about NYC is seeing celebrities in person, just out doing their shopping or working out in the gym. (Celebrities! They're just like us!!)

44. I'm a registered Independent.

45. I am not in favor of the Iraq war.

46. Come to think of it, I'm not in favor of war in general.

47. When I was a child, my favorite books were The Secret Garden and Mandy. The heroines of both books were orphans who discovered gardens and made them their own. I don't know why that appealed to me so much, but it did.

48. I'm a little shy until I get to know people.

49. I love puns.

50. Rowdy and I like to throw applicable snippets of song lyrics into our conversations and challenge the other person to finish them.

51. Three things I can't live without: running water, toothbrush, toothpaste.

52. I hate snakes.

53. I had my gallbladder out when I was 23. Other than that, I've been quite healthy my whole life.

54. I've never broken a bone. One of my own, I mean.

55. I'm not good at making decisions.

56. I love that my husband likes my cooking.

57. This month is just pretty much just work, work, work for me.

58. I number my parents and sisters among my best friends.

59. My family is very food-oriented. When we're together, we talk about food, we watch TV shows about food, and we eat really good food.

60. I always have fun when I go surfing, but I have a mistrust of the ocean that keeps me from being bold.

61. My mom and dad are 67 and 70, respectively, but they look much younger.

62. My mom is an awesome cook! I think she made something I didn't like back in 1972, but I was a stupid kid at the time.

63. My dad is says that he's still 17 inside, and I believe him.

64. My big sister, Dayna, is beautiful, but she doesn't know that.

65. My little sister, Karen, and I lived together for 1.5 years in a teeny apartment in NYC. It was the first time we'd lived in the same house since she was 9 and I was 16. We used to walk around our neighborhood, cracking each other so much that I'd double over laughing.

66. My family is pretty humorous, overall.

67. I hate, hate, HATE declotting dialysis grafts. Definitely hope that this weakness becomes a strength.

68. I love to hear little kids laugh.

69. We're planning on going to Thailand next year with Rowdy's brother, Jamie, and Jamie's wife, Amy. Jamie served his mission there, and we're all stoked to have the chance to travel there together.

70. I am not very outgoing, so I appreciate having Rowdy with me when we meet new people. He can talk to anyone. While he's gone, I'm going to try to be more like him in social situations.

71. I really didn't like school from K-12.

72. I like baked goods more than candy.

73. I have a taser. It kind of freaks me out, and I hope I'll never have occasion to use it.

74. I'm not a good team-sports player.

75. I used to start every day with SportsCenter, but it's just not the same without Keith and Dan. Those were the days!

76. I can tap dance.

77. I long for Kellogg's Raisin Squares cereal. Bring back Raisin Squares!!!!

78. I usually just have buttered toast and juice for breakfast, or peanut butter on toast and milk.

79. I know that serving others is a great way to learn love them.

80. I am great at procrastinating.

81. The cardiobox teacher at my gym referred to me as an athlete. That was pretty cool.

82. I had a personal trainer when I lived in New York. His name is Raul Dorticos, and he totally rocked. I worked out at Equinox in Columbus Circle--good for celeb watching.

83. I saw a few very famous patients as a resident and fellow, but HIPPA regulations keep me from revealing who. One of them recently passed away. He was a nice man and responded well to sedation.

84. I think I have one of the most cluttered offices in my department. On the cabinet above my desk, there are pictures of Rowdy, the kids, and my friend, Alima Cannon. There is also a flyer for Cinema Under the Stars. On my hutch behind my chair, there are two pictures of Rowdy and a picture of Mr. Potatohead dressed up in Boise State colors from ESPN: The Magazine stuck to the doors. On the top of the hutch are two pictures of Rowdy and a pillow that says, "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!". (Thanks, Mom!)

85. I like textbooks. I always feel more comfortable surrounded by lots of reference books.

86. My most favorite book ever, aside from The Book of Mormon, is David Copperfield. It's my "comfort book".

87. Another favorite book from childhood is Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World. It's out of print now, but I was able to order one several years ago. It made me want to see the world.

88. My husband's nicknames from me include: Tenacious D, Super D, "my woman", Deelicious. My family's nicknames for me include: Nanny, Dideedoots, and Nanny Banany with the Big Fat Fanny.

89. I have never seen even one second of American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.

90. I watched three episodes in a row of Cash in the Attic last night.

91. I love Diet Coke, lemonade and water.

92. There is nothing better, in my opinion, than a good salad. By "good", I mean no iceberg lettuce and a variety of colors and tastes. Salads are best enjoyed during warm months, or accompanied by grilled meat and rice or baked potato when it's cool.

93. "Variety of colors" is pretty key when it comes to meals. I don't know how people can eat a meal that's all one color, or just white and tan.

94. I have never owned a pet. I have fish-sat and borrowed a cat, but never had my own.

95. I am allergic to cats. They can be very sweet and pleasant to pet, but they make my eyes itch and swell up.

96. I really enjoy my hybrid Lexus SUV.

97. As part of our honeymoon, Rowdy and I went to Skip Barber Racing School for two days. I have driven both a Porsche and a BMW around Laguna Seca racetrack. It was fun!

98. When I was two, I found out that bees don't like to be petted.

99. The best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can't (see item #33).

100. I really don't feel as old as the calendar says I am.