Wow, I made it to 100! When I started this blog, I didn't know if I would write more than a couple of posts. Obviously, I found a new hobby! It's funny to think that six months ago, I had no idea this blogging world existed. I'm glad I found it. :) I've had a lot of fun even though there's still a ton of stuff I would like to learn.
To celebrate, I'm having my first give-away! One lucky reader will win a book and a snack. To enter leave me a comment on this post sometime between now and Monday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. If you post a link to this contest on your blog and let me know, you'll have two entries!
Somone will receive a copy of a book I recently read,
The Shack by William P. Young. Everyone that doesn't win needs to go out, buy a copy, and
read it! Anyone who has already read it needs to enter anyway, so she can give it to someone who hasn't read it! In
The Shack, a man comes face-to-face with God. This book really presents a lot to think about and could transform your relationship with the Lord!
The winner will also win a bag of glorious chocolatey deliciousness a.k.a. Poppycock! I was introduced to Poppycock through a post on Jennifer's blog, so it's a fitting 100th post give-away item. Without blogging, I may never have known about this tasty snack. The horror!
Good luck everyone! Make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win! I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, so check back!
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I also have a list of 100 things about me for my 100th post. In no particular order and in typical Jenelle randomess, here they are!
1. I adore my family.
2. I have green eyes.
3. I have an extremely precious son whom I am so enamored with.
4. My husband is one of my best friends.
5. My mother is another.
6. I am right handed and right brained.
7. I like blue M&Ms best.
8. My first car was a gold, 1978 Dodge Aspen. How cool is that?
9. Sometimes I cuss in my head when I’m driving.
10. I sometimes got reprimanded in school for reading.
11. When I’m teaching, it doesn’t really bother me if kids are reading and ignoring me.
12. I spent the last year growing my hair out because I wasn’t sure what my natural color was anymore. Now that I know it’s a very uninteresting brown, I suspect I will be getting highlights soon.
13. I confess…I’m Big Foot. Not really. But I do wear a size 10.
14. I once was bit by a hungry pig.
15. I HATE pigs.
16. I like B.L.T.s
17. I love the mountains.
18. I think I might love the ocean even more, but I haven’t been there enough times to be sure.
19. I am blind as a bat. The person who invented contact lenses is my hero.
20. I sometimes think I would like to move out west…maybe Wyoming…maybe Montana…but I probably never will.
21. I don’t remember not believing in God,
22. but sometimes I ignore God. Isn’t that weird?
23. I like to be outdoors,
24. but I loathe ticks and mosquitoes.
25. Hamburger from Wal Mart sometimes makes me gag. I like the farm fresh stuff.
26. When I was little, a pitch fork went through my leg.
27. I don’t do well on less than eight hours of sleep.
28. I cried during The Lion King.
29. My fingernails are long, strong, and fast growing. Too bad I don’t keep them painted.
30. I’m a procrastinator.
31. I’m taking on two new part-time jobs soon—teaching a few classes at a local college and teaching some online classes.
32. A little part of me still believes in Santa Claus.
33. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
34. I’m a Scorpio.
35. I went home practically every weekend during college.
36. I need to shave my legs.
37. I could eat chocolate at every meal.
38. I like to garden.
39. I’m not very good at keeping up with laundry.
40. I grind my teeth when I sleep.
41. I’m the oldest of five kids.
42. Supposedly, I’m pretty bossy. Whatever.
43. I have only flown once, and it terrified me.
44. I love flowers.
45. I won a bunch of medals throwing the shot put in junior high. Then everyone else grew and I stayed the same size, so I wasn’t any good at it anymore.
46. I used to work as a waitress.
47. I stole a piece of two cent candy when I was little and had nightmares about policemen coming to get me.
48. I grew up on a farm.
49. I loved being pregnant.
50. I love being a mommy more.
51. The direction our country seems to be headed scares me.
52. I hate it when people are rude.
53. I have a love/hate relationship with my cell phone.
54. Sometimes I want a dog,
55. but most of the time I don’t.
56. I like to watch movies curled up on the couch with my husband.
57. I also like to beat him at miniature golf.
58. I sold underwear on Ebay.
59. I love Ebay.
60. I am becoming a blog addict,
61. but I haven’t taken the time to figure out exactly what I’m doing.
62. I like camping...RV camping.
63. I think it would be cool to go on a really, really long bike trip--like across the state or something.
64. I like to listen to audio books when I’m cleaning.
65. I daydream a lot.
66. I don’t like coffee,
67. but I love the smell.
68. When my brother was four, and I was eight, I had him stand on my shoulders for our circus game, and I accidentally let him fall. He had to get stitches and has a scar in the shape of an X on his forehead. Oops.
69. I love to take pictures.
70. I like to cook.
71. I don’t like to do dishes.
72. In fact, I would love to have a housekeeper. Who wouldn’t though, huh?
73. I changed my major four times.
74. I finally decided on English. Don’t judge my grammar though. Some of these blog posts get written very quickly during nap time.
75. I want to kidnap my thirteen-year-old little brother, because I miss him.
76. I like to go to historical tourist places.
77. I have copies of my photographs in five places. Paranoid?
78. I have young parents. My mom was only eighteen when she had me.
79. Sometimes I ignore my husband when he talks about fantasy baseball. I’m sorry, honey.
80. I had my ten-year high school reunion this summer. Ugh!
81. Sometimes I stay up way too late. Like now.
82. I used to have a beta fish named Barbarossa.
83. I had a roommate in college that had a séance in her room, and we think she burnt a bird as some sort of offering. It was super weird.
84. I need to lose about fifteen pounds or go buy a whole new wardrobe.
85. I like video games.
86. I really want a Wii Fit.
87. Spring is my favorite season.
88. I didn’t like math in school, and I ended up married to a math teacher.
89. I think it would be cool to meet an alien. Well, a friendly alien anyway.
90. I’ve been married for five and a half years.
91. I have two warts on my thumb. Ick.
92. I love Cadbury Crème Eggs.
93. I have seven holes in my ears. It used to be eight, but I decided the fourth row was just too much so I let them grow in. One of the holes has never sealed up though.
94. I need to learn a foreign language, so I can finish my M.A.
95. In a high school writing contest, my two entries tied for first place in the tanka poem division.
96. John and I tried to have a baby for almost three years before I finally got pregnant. We did fertility treatments for about nine months, and then as soon as we couldn’t afford it anymore and had to quit, Colter showed up!
97. I like to go on walks.
98. I am disgusted by my husband's fungus-infected little toenail.
99. I wish my girlfriends and I got together more.
100. I’ve written 100 blog posts. Hooray for me!
Andy Andrews, author of New York Times bestsellers The Noticer and The Traveler’s Gift is known for his historical accuracy intertwined in his fiction, and I learned some interesting details about World War II while reading The Heart Mender. The plot centers on a German soldier who washes ashore along the Alabama coastline and the woman who finds him. Yes, I said ALABAMA. Apparently, I slept during this part of history class, but during WWII, “more than 1300 navy men, 201 Coast Guard personnel, and exactly 5,682 merchant marines lost their lives due to U-boat attacks in American waters [Andrews’s emphasis]! (20). Whoa! I had totally forgotten that significant detail in our country’s history if I ever knew it, so I found the setting of The Heart Mender very intriguing. Andrews has a unique narrative style in which he weaves his own experiences in with the characters which works well with his historical fiction.