Tag from June

Ok, so I thought while I am neglecting homework that really needs to get done, I would make good on my promise to Kelly to finally do the tag from when she got me in JUNE...I'm a slacker..I know.
Eight random facts/habits/stories:
1) Ever since I can remember, I have loved dancing. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I would turn the radio on and just make up moves as I went (teaching myself a lot without meaning to). Contrary to popular belief, I really actually am graceful when I want to be. So, my parents put me in a ballet/tap/jazz class when I was 5 or 6. I remember going for the first time and it was a beginners class. The teacher was telling the girls to "jump over the pretend puddle"-trying to teach them to leap properly. I thought this was so dumb because it was WAY too easy and I had been doing this on my own for years now. The teacher must have noticed that I wasn't challenged by the pretend puddles, because the next week I was in an advanced class. I was with girls who were 9 and 10 years old (SO big to me, then). They treated me like a baby (asking if they could read me stories while I sat on their laps when we had our water breaks-I hated it), but I showed them. ha ha At our first recital, I was the ONLY one who stayed on beat-everyone else was behind. It looks funny in the video-me:a short, tiny little thing one beat ahead of these tall girls who should have known better. Anyway, I love watching that home video of me and knowing that I was the only one in that class who could keep a beat in front of an audience. lol
2. I am a HORRIBLE artist. People think it's modesty (or me trying to be funny) when I say I can't even draw a stick figure, but I am totally serious. I always wished I could draw or paint better, but my little sister, Jacquelyn, got those genes. It's going to be pretty sad when Kaden turns 3 and can already draw better than his mom (not even kidding...).
3. Something most people outside of my immediate family don't know about me is that I have started a book. It's not anything good, but it is my passion. I love to read and write. Writing is such an amazing release for me. I have done the first couple of chapters and made my family members read and critique it for me, but we will see what happens with it. Shane believes heart and soul in me and always pushes me to finish the book....what a good hubby. He just wants me to be his sugar mama. :)
4. Most people can't believe that I have never climbed a tree, but those are the people who don't know my dad. I didn't get to jump on a trampoline until I was....about 10 or 11 years old. My dad is VERY protective and didn't let his girls (four of us) do anything that might result in any kind of injury. So, I missed out on a lot of childhood fun, but I think I have made up for it in my teenage years. I found out a few years ago that rock climbing is amazing and SO fun! I actually tried skiing and snowboarding (I am really bad at both, but hey, I tried...my butt just hurts for the next few days after going). I have been thrown off a horse a couple of different times (I felt like someone should be filming me when it happened-I would have loved to see the replay). I know those are not extreme in any form compared to some people's lives, but for me, they are big accomplishments. Shane, on the other hand, loves skydiving. I think he is crazy and tell him all the time that I will skydive with him as soon as the plane I am in is burning and both engines are out. Total wuss...I know.
5. I am the second oldest of 5 kids. No offense to my older sister, but I always wanted to have an older brother (too, not in replace of her!). I thought growing up that an older brother would be cool to have so he could beat up on you and have a best friend to rough house with, but now I realize that the only reason I wanted an older brother was so that he could bring his hot friends home for me to stare at. lol
6. Funny story involving Shane...when we were engaged, we were looking at pictures of ourselves from high school (we went to the same school). Shane was a senior when I was a sophomore, but we never met in high school. Shane saw the few pictures of me that I have (I tried not to have evidence of those years) and told me, "You know, it's a good thing I didn't know you back then, I would never have been interested in dating you." Harsh! It's because my teeth were messed up before braces, I didn't know how to do my very thick hair, I thought makeup was a cover up for acne, so it was always caked on, I had no idea what tweezers were AND to top it all off, I was way chunky, but everyone was too nice to tell me to lay off the gallon of ice cream for dinner (not even kidding on that one). Scary. I don't blame him one little bit, but just so you know, I would NOT have even given him a second look back then, either. He was this scrawny kid with ORANGE hair! His younger sister (she's my age) was going to cosmetology school and would experiment with bleaching his hair...HAHAHA. He literally has orange hair for his senior pictures. lol Good thing we didn't meet until after his mission. :)
7. Places Shane and I have been: Hawaii (yay for Maui!), Disneyland (every year since we met..except this year-Kaden is too little to take and I can't ride any rides being preggo anyway), Disneyworld, Bahamas, two cruises (both to Ensenada (spelling?)-Mexico and Catalina Island), Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, San Francisco and Sacramento (yay for Rocklin!). Our next big trip will be to Disneyland (I am having withdrawls) and England once the kiddos are old enough.
8. I had a total of 7 surgeries before I was 18 years old. My first one was when I was 6 1/2 years old and they have kept coming ever since. I have had my birthmark removed from my left calf (when I was 6 my parents were told there was a good chance of my getting bone cancer in that lef before I was 12 if it wasn't removed...it was gone within a week), I had my adnoids out (usually this happens the same time as tonsils coming out, but the doctor was stupid...), I had my tonsils out when I was 15, I have had my wisdom teeth pulled (p.s. dry socket SUCKS), and I have had a total of 3 knee surgeries between both of my knees. The knee surgeries were the worst of any I have had, but now at least I can kneel down without worrying about my kneecaps popping out of place (unbelievable painful!).
Who to tag now? I tag Emily, Steph Chugg, Yuki, Amelia, Kristin, Jamee, Hill, and Lori
RULES
1) each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2) people who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
3) at the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4) don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.