25 Random Facts About Me – Part 1

**This is a “Throwback Thursday” post from 2015. I thought it only fitting to introduce {or re-introduce} myself to everyone. I have updated some of these facts to make them more current.

Lately I’ve seen a lot of other bloggers posting “50 random facts” about themselves and so I thought I’d give it a try. I think this will give you a better idea of who I am (hopefully). I divided this up into two parts because I didn’t realize how much I babbled about some of my “random facts”. Here is part one of my “50 random facts”.

1. I was a newspaper reporter fresh out of college and I covered the police beat. Not many people knew my name, but they knew my face and called me the “Banner girl.”

2. My husband is one inch shorter than me. I know how to pose for pictures with him to make him appear a little taller than me. Thankfully, he likes me tall, preferably in high heels! {Update: I’ve shrunk about an inch so we are basically the same height now. Also, my feet can’t handle heels like I used to, but I still try to wear them on special occasions.}

3. I do all of my blogging on my mini iPad, and occasionally on my Samsung Note 2. {Update: My husband bought me a MacBook Pro, and now I do all of my blogging on it. I love it and can’t see how or why I wrote my blog on a mini iPad.}

4. I have never been to Disney World or Disneyland, and I consider myself a “princess”, so I don’t know why I haven’t been there yet. {Update: I can now saw that I’ve been to Disney World. I went while I was at the BlogHer conference when it was in Orlando, Fla. I loved it!}

5. I have a passport, but I have never used it. My husband and I got our passports several years ago because we were planning a trip to Ireland, but I got laid-off from my job and so we couldn’t afford to go. Bummer, right? We are still planning to go one day!

6. I have a slight obsession with labels. I’m a label-whore. I love Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, and Coach, just to name a few.

7. I have a B.A. in English, but I am a Registered Medical Assistant who blogs in my spare time. And just to toot my own horn, I made a 94 on my RMA exam!

8. I love mexican food! I could probably eat chips and salsa every day.

9. As much as I hate working out, I love it when I’ve finished a good workout session. I love the feeling of having finished a good workout. I feel like if I haven’t sweated, then I haven’t worked out.  (Side bar: The first time I did the 21 Day Fix program, I lost 5 lbs and 5.5 inches. This program definitely worked and it made me sweat!)

10. I love Pinterest. I pin dozens of things almost every day, and I have over 10K pins, but I rarely go back and review my boards or what I’ve pinned, unless I’m looking for something specific. I have had several Pinterest “successes” and just a few Pinterest “fails”.

11. I don’t have any “girlfriends” that I hang out with on a regular basis. I see other women’s Instagram photos of #girlsnightout or #girlsweekendgetaway, and feel a little envious.

12. My favorite Broadway musical is Les Miserables. Although I have seen Les Mis four times already, I have never seen it on Broadway in NYC. The only musical I have seen on Broadway in NYC was Mamma Mia! {Update: The last time I saw Les Mis was on January 6, 2019, with my husband. It was showing at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, Tenn.}

13. I have naturally curly hair that I finally embraced a few years ago. I used Wen products (with some Treseme mousse) and I occasionally use the Ouidad “rake & shake” method for styling my hair. Otherwise, my natural curls have a mind of their own and are sometimes very lion-ish. {Update: I don’t use Wen anymore. I actually use Monat 2-in-1 shampoo/condition and their newest Super Nourish line. I use Cantu products — the leave-in conditioner, and mousse.}

14. I love watching cooking shows on the Cooking Channel and Food Network. I would love to cook with some of those chefs and celebrity chefs. {Update: My husband and I gave up cable, but picked up Amazon Prime and Netflix. We are currently watching “The Ranch”- with Ashton Kutcher.}

15. I currently have three dogs with my husband, Mike, and their names all start with the letter D. Dakota is our 16-year-old Chi-Pom mix and he rules the roost. Daisy is our 5-year-old Beagle-Poodle mix who looks nothing like a beagle or a poodle. Doc is our 2-year-old (-ish) adopted Pit Bull-mix who was wondering our country neighborhood and we like to think that he adopted us. Dakota is named after a bull my husband rode back in his rodeo days, while Daisy and Doc are named for Mike’s favorite movie Tombstone… Daisy for the line “you’re a daisy of you do…” and Doc for Doc Holiday. Currently I have over 900 photos and videos of my furbabies on my phone.
{Update: Both Dakota and Daisy have passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Daisy’s death is still very heartbreaking for me. We adopted an Australian shepherd/Texas heeler mix and we named her Kate. We also have three feral cats, and one of them lives inside with us. Their names are KitKat, Sonny and Cher. We also have a special needs goat named Trooper and a miniature horse named Duke.}

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16. My senior year in high school, I wore flip glasses, like Dwayne Wayne in A Different World. I pretended they were prescription glasses, although I was actually wearing contacts at the time. I earned the name “Flip” by my classmates and that nickname was printed on my senior mug.

17. I love to listen to audiobooks in my car. I also love to listen to or read a book before I watch the movie version. For example, I listened to Gone Girl before my mom and I went to watch the movie.

18. I like to think that I have a pretty convincing British accent.

19. I love to cook or bake for family and friends. I usually make a sweet or savory treat for my co-workers several times a year. They love my sausage balls!

20. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Mormon hospital (if I’m not mistaken), but I’m not Mormon.

21. I love the feel of sand between my toes while I’m at the beach, but not when I’m not at the beach.

22. I love to make wreaths. I have made several wreaths, usually around Christmastime, and I have given them away as gifts to family and friends.

23. I love all things celebrity. I know movie actors and actresses, and I like to think that I’m the go-to person when people are trying to remember an actor in a particular movie because I can usually (9 times out of 10) name the actor, the movie, and name other movies that actor was in. It’s a gift.

24. I love going to thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales. One woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure. I have scored some pretty great finds at thrift stores and garage sales.

25. I secretly harbor the wish that I could be an actress. I think I would be a great one.

BONUS: I recently had a total hysterectomy and was out of work for two weeks. On post-op day three, I was already bored and anxious to return to work. On post-op day 14, I realized that even though my body was ready to go back to work, I thoroughly enjoyed my time off and that I didn’t really want to go back to work.

So there you have it… 25 random facts about me!

Now here’s the kicker… If you’ve read this blog, then now it’s your turn to share 25 or 50 random facts about yourself. Be sure to let me know when you’ve posted your facts via blog or vlog so I can check you out!

Yours Truly,
Vanessa