[Life] If You Really Knew Me...

I'm sure you all have seen the "If You Really Knew Me" posts, so I'm going to go ahead and hop right on that bandwagon. :)

Without further ado....If you really knew me you'd know...

When I bake, it's always from scratch. My mom is an amazing baker and I've never known it any other way than from scratch. I'd like to think I do pretty well, but I'll never bake as well as her!

My family is the most important thing to me. I cherish every moment that I have with them and hold on tightly to the things that make them special to me - traditions, recipes, etc.

I am scared to death to become a parent but I know it's going to be one of the best things that will ever happen to me.

I am not celebrity-crazy. I enjoy hearing the gossip but I don't get emotionally involved. I've only ever once been obsessive about a celebrity and that was New Kids on the Block when I was 9. Frankly, I think celebrities are just like the rest of us but with a lot more money and cameras in their faces.

In the same vein, I get really annoyed hearing incessantly about a particular celebrity talking point - Rihanna/Chris Brown, Robert Pattinson/Kristen Stewart, etc. When my morning radio show talks for 10 minutes about Rihanna or Honey Boo Boo, day in and day out, I change the station.

I think every one of us is entitled to our own opinions and no one opinion is definitively right in most cases since opinions are formed from our own personal subjective experiences. I like to think this allows me to be respectful of the opinions of others.

My Family <3

If you really knew me you'd know...

I find shooting a gun at the shooting range empowering. I was never interested in even touching a gun - in fact I was scared to death - but my hubby is ex-military and I figured if he was going to have one in the house I had damn well better learn how to use it. Knowledge is power, and I'm safer knowing how the gun works than pretending it's not there.

Sundays during football season are for the Steelers. Period. I'm also obsessed with college basketball.

I want to move back to Pittsburgh, but I also know it won't be the same Pittsburgh that I left 5 years ago, and that makes me a little sad.

I am the world's worst artist. I can't draw, I'm not creative, and this affects my ability to make my house look pretty.

I am super Type A. My computer contains a ton of random excel spreadsheets and other overly organized files. I waste a lot of time constructing the rigid world I live in (think hours properly naming photo folders or adding to my "to read" or "to watch" lists).

I hardly ever eat red meat, and when I do, it's almost always steak. I make all my burgers from ground turkey or chicken.

I don't understand spending lots of money on workout clothes. I can't imagine justifying $100 on a pair of lululemon pants that I'm only going to sweat up a storm in, especially when you can get a pair of equal quality for half the price.

Steelers Sunday

If you really knew me you'd know...

I am an extrovert. I thrive in a crowd, I love talking to people, and I don't mind being the center of attention - but I'm always nervous that I'm coming off as arrogant and worry that people around me think I'm full of myself when in fact I really just want to be accepted.

The previous statement comes from the fact that I was a total nerd for most of high school and I never felt pretty enough or fun enough or cool enough, even when I started dong well in sports and making friends with the "in" crowd. I think that will always be an underlying current in my life, no matter how comfortable with myself I become.

I consider you a close friend when I'm around you and I no longer worry about the stuff in the previous two statements.

I hate tea. Hate it. Doesn't matter if it's sweetened, unsweetened, hot, cold, flavored - it always tastes nasty to me. I have tried for years to acquire a taste for it and it just isn't going to happen.

I lived on a ship for 3.5 months. I've been to Alaska, Canada, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Cuba, Brazil, Spain, England, South Africa, Tanzania, India, South Korea, and Japan, but I haven't traveled much within the US.

I am super picky about vegetables. Mostly due to texture issues and a lack of introduction to them as a child. I love to cook but I always doctor recipes to avoid the veggies I dislike. I also don't taste a lot of what I make for my vegetarian husband for the same reason.

In Japan

If you really knew me you'd know...

My happy place is when I'm dancing.

The beach is my favorite geographical place in the entire world.

Music was my first love and will always be important in my life. I sang in a chorus for years and also took piano lessons, and still sing and play (though I'm by no means great at either!). I come by it honestly - my mom can play piano by ear, my dad played trumpet and sang in a band, and my little brother is in a band that's been playing around Philadelphia for years.

I was a pretty good hurdler in high school and broke a 20 year old school record in the 100m hurdles as a senior.

I love being nostalgic. I love looking through old photos from high school and from college - for as insecure as I was all those years, it sure didn't stop me from having fun. I look back on those experiences fondly.

I hate TV. I'm unhappy with how much of it I watch, but I really enjoy the shows I watch. It's more that I don't like TV because of the time suck it is when there are more beneficial things to be doing. Doesn't make it less enjoyable, though I wish it was!

Ah, nostalgia....freshman year PITT game, 1999

And you'd also know some more serious things about me, like....

Blogging frightens me a bit, because the one thing I strive for in my daily life is to keep from offending/hurting/negatively affecting those I come into contact with, and I worry that I could inadvertently offend someone if I write something that is interpreted in a different way than I meant it.

I hate politics, because I believe it's become more about "my side is right and your side is wrong" instead of the actual issues. If it was about the issues I think we'd see we're all as a whole a lot more middle leaning than the political media makes us out to be. I am so, so, so tired of the finger pointing. The us vs. them. From both sides.

I hate rudeness and I think we as a society have become more rude as technology has advanced. I get so tired of people only paying attention to themselves and not noticing others. This happens more often than it should, and I personally try really hard to always be aware of those around me.

I have no patience for the media glorifying people who make poor choices - ie shows featuring irresponsibility and poor parenting, like Teen Mom and Toddlers and Tiaras. I feel like it condones the type of things that will hurt us as a society by making these folks people we look up to. They're only famous for bad decisions. I understand why people watch, I just wish they hadn't produced the shows in the first place.

I struggle to not be judgmental. It's one of my flaws I am desperately trying to get rid of.

I suffer from what the husband terms "paralysis by analysis" and often end up not making decisions due to over-analyzing.

I'm a bit of a hoarder and I'm working really hard on not being one.

I'm super uncomfortable talking about religion with those I'm not close to. I think it's because it's such a personal thing to me. I'm jealous of those who can speak openly about it, but at the same time it can make me a tiny bit uncomfortable. I wish I felt differently!

Oh, and one more - I'm totally a dog person and am especially in love with this one!
(And I kind of don't love cats...though 5+ of my closest friends own them)