Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.
1. I have way too many interests. This results in me having no idea what to do first for most of my life.
2. I think I may win some kind of award for most diverse resume. I have held the following positions: Montessori teacher’s assistant, lifeguard, professional singer/daner/actress, retail clothing store clerk (some of you may be able to guess what store), dance instructor, summer camp counselor, transcriptionist, medical secretary, event vocalist, Reiki practitioner, birth assistant, health food store sales associate, standardized patient for medical school, and birth doula.
3. In the time between getting my driver’s license at 16 and turning 18, I was pulled over and let off with a warning 7 times. I spoke very respectfully and I think the officers felt sorry for me.
4. I was a horrible student. I rarely studied and almost never completed any assignments. I have no idea how I graduated high school and completed almost three years of college. Probably the same way I got out of #3.
5. I think I got pregnant with Liam to escape the fact that I didn’t know what I wanted to do in college and I wanted a way out. And then I got pregnant six months later with Maddie, which was the nail in the coffin for my college career.
6. I love attending births. There is something incredibly magical about being present at the birth of a new soul. Being with a woman in labor, supporting her, tapping into her energy field is like meditation for me. When I am most in tune with a laboring mom, I am most myself.
7. I want to take my career to another level. I love working with expectant couples and attending births, but I am sad when the birth is over. It feels like families still continue to need support and information, especially if they are making non-mainstream choices. I would love to be a nurse practitioner also and be able to care for families. Or, a CNM and run a birth center. Or a doctor, so I could effect change on a larger scale. But, alas, #3.
8. I have a bizarre obsession with being liked. If someone doesn’t like me, I theorize that it is because they do not know or understand me, so I go to great lengths to explain myself or have someone else defend me. I’m hoping I grow out of it.
9. My husband and I met in West Side Story. He played Bernardo and I played Maria – we were brother and sister in the show. We really didn’t care for each other much at first.
10. I got pregnant with Liam when John and I had been dating for a year. John was 19 and I was 20. My mom and dad’s support at the time saved me. I have such incredible sympathy and compassion for women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy and do not have the unconditional love and financial support that I had. Without my parents’ support, I don’t think Liam would be here, in this life with me as my son. I don’t know what I would have chosen, but I know I would have regretted anything other than the choice that I did make.
11. Having Liam when I did totally changed the course of my life. John and I might not have ended up together and that would have been criminal. I was floundering, with no idea what I wanted to do and having Liam gave me purpose. Becoming a mother was the first step down this path that I was destined to take.
12. Giving birth to Maddie at home before the midwife arrived changed me. In that birth, I found my power. After that, I knew I was unstoppable.
13. I think my children are extraordinary. I admire their sense of humor and willingness to be open to the world. I hope that they realize how much I respect them and give them space to be individuals. I hope that when they look back on their childhood, they remember the love and the fun.
14. I was once kinda almost fluent in Spanish. I love speaking it. I loved being in Spain and in Mexico and I can’t wait to go back. It is really important to me that the kids learn to speak Spanish too.
15. I enjoy researching and knowing the answers to questions. I pride myself in my ability to find answers online really quickly.
16. I really miss music and dance in my life. When I spend time rehearsing to sing for a wedding or find myself dancing with the kids, it’s like the first day of spring when you can finally open the windows and play the music loud. And then I wonder why it’s been so long since the last time I felt that alive.
17. I am so happy that I finally have a group of really great girlfriends. Some are local and some are all over the country. Having girlfriends and a community of people makes me feel safe and understood.
18. I am fascinated by local food. I love knowing the people who raise and care for the food I feed my family. I get great joy out of exchanging money for quality food, knowing that my money goes to the local producer.
19. I am enthralled by energy healing. I have taken my Reiki I and II trainings and I am constantly learning more about energy work. I think what I really want is to be the neighborhood shaman that you come to when you’re pregnant, sick, or struggling. I think that the words that a health care provider uses are just as powerful, if not more powerful than the medicine. I choose my words with my clients carefully.
20. My husband amazes me. We have taken such a long, difficult road to get here. When I married him, I had no idea the man he would become. And I am really glad I took the leap of faith.
21. I love photography, music, theater, dance, crafting, decorating, but I can’t draw worth a crap.
22. I really enjoy writing. I find it much easier to express myself through writing. I loved writing on my blog and need to carve out more time to write on it again.
23. I also love talking. Many times when we go to an event for the whole family, John wants to drive separate so that he doesn’t have to wait for me to finish chatting with everyone.
24. I spend a crazy amount of time managing media in my life. Between the pictures, the music and movies, I’ve got 360 gigs of information that I really should spend some time organizing but I have no idea where to start.
25. I want to change the world. I want to leave a legacy of happy, healthy babies and their families whose lives are intangibly better because of my support and love.
