I've Been Tagged!

Arin tagged me about a week ago, and I'm just getting this done.

10 random things about me. . .

1. I am a storyteller. Some might say blabbermouth, jabber jaws, etc., but I prefer "storyteller." Some things in life just weren't meant to be abbreviated. For example, if you were to ask me something simple such as what college I attended, one would think I could reply with a simple, "OSU." But no, that's not me. I would probably explain what brought me out here to Oregon in the first place, why I didn't go to WOU, which was closer, or Chemeketa, which was cheaper, what subject I thought I wanted as a major, and how it changed, actually negating the entire reason of going to OSU instead of those other schools. And don't EVEN get me started on how Grant and I became a couple! I cherish every little detail of that story so much that I couldn't bare to leave out one thing in consideration of another person's time or attention span! This need to tell the whole story when relating events also causes me to talk very quickly so that maybe it won't seem like I've been talking as much if I finish in a shorter amount of time. Plus, I can hopefully spit it all out before being interrupted, which completely derails my train of thought and leaves my story incomplete. I have to then rack my brain, using my very imperfect memory, to try to remember where I left off in order to continue. Another result of this is that I tend to interrupt people so I can spit something out before my faulty memory lets it go. I feel very rude, kick myself, and always resolve that I will work on not interrupting people. That being said, don't be surprised at the length of any of these other answers. . .


2. I have never been: east of Colorado, north of Victoria, BC, west of the Oregon coast (except on a whale watching boat, but I don't think they go far enough out to be significant), or south of Claremont, CA.


3. I almost constantly have music in my head. Because of this, I am always looking for good new music to keep more variety floating around in my head. There is nothing more annoying than having an undesirable song in my head. At any given moment in a conversation, someone's words can remind me of words in a song and put THAT song into my head.


4. I am a picky eater! My pickiness is mostly texture-based, but not limited to that. For example, I don't mind the flavor of onions in food, but if I happen to bite down on a piece of onion that is even the tiniest in size (we're talking the size of a sunflower seed), an almost uncontrollable shudder of disgust runs through my entire body, and I can barely bring myself to swallow. Funny thing is, I don't mind lettuce, which has a similar texture. I don't like celery, pickles, tomatoes (unless they're cooked in something, and cut small), peppers, mushrooms (I don't do fungus), or olives to name a few.


5. I am NOT a morning person! Most anyone who has lived with me, spent the night, or interacted with me regularly knows this. Unfortunately, Eleanor didn't get that memo, and she pops out of bed bright and early around 6:30 most mornings. Because of this, we are slow starters. There are many days that I don't get the two of us dressed until after her nap because I know I'm going to nap with her, so I might as well stay in comfy clothes. Besides, we rarely go places before her nap. Like I said, I'm a slow starter. There are some mornings when I get up feeling so cranky that I actually know if I even open my mouth, it will cause a problem. I'm not very good at keeping my mouth shut. It's something I'm really trying to work on. Poor Grant, right? He knew what he was getting into (that's a story for another time).


6. I'm full of stupid-human tricks. I can curl my tongue, twist it one way or another (but that's nothing- my sister can make hers into a flower). I think one of my big toes is double-jointed. Oh, and I can pinch with my toes or pick up small objects. But wait, I haven't brought out the real talent! I can hold a pen in my collar bone. And, my favorite: when I drink a lot of liquids, I can lay down and cause my tummy to slosh so you can hear it sloshing and slurping around inside of me.


7. Whenever I'm around a natural body of water, such as a lake, creek, ocean, waterfall, etc., I feel an overwhelming urge to at LEAST dip my feet in (but sometimes more) no matter how cold the water might be and no matter what I'm wearing. I have acted on this urge less and less since I had Eleanor, but it's still there. I've tried to teach Eleanor it's joys, but she doesn't like the cold water. Lately, she likes to go out into the water on the beach as long as I'm holding her, making sure to keep her dry. Oh well. Baby steps, right?


8. I was born on Christmas, which is why my name is Jocelyn Noel, meaning joyous Christmas. I have never had a problem with having a birthday on Christmas. Most people think it would just be awful. I think the worst part about having a birthday on Christmas is that whenever I tell people my birthday, they say something like, "Oh, doesn't that suck?" and I want to reply, "Only when people say, 'Oh, doesn't that suck?'" My parents have always been really good about separating birthday and Christmas. We usually would open Christmas presents in the morning and go to Grandma's in the evening for birthday celebration. I have almost always gotten double presents, or if I got one present for both occasions, it was usually more expensive than a typical gift. It's not like I have ever known anything different. I didn't have a June birthday half my life and then had it ruthlessly yanked away from me so I would have to wait all the rest of the year for my fun day. Imagine the excitement surrounding that one day! I still can't sleep the night before! Plus, look at the benefits that carry into adulthood. Once I get older and don't necessarily want a lot of fuss about my birthday, there are plenty of distractions that can take my birthday out of the limelight. In other words, no, I've never thought it sucks, so stop asking. Besides, get a better vocabulary! You would be amazed how many people actually use the word "suck" in relation to my birthday.
9. I love the rain. When I lived in Utah, I used to want to run outside every time we had a big downpour with those big, juicy raindrops that could soak you with one hit. Many times I would run outside in the rain, run around, dance around, hold my arms up to the sky in my joy, etc. (especially when it wasn't too cold-- how I loved random downpour on a hot summer day). It took me a while to get used to the "misting" that goes on here in Oregon. At first, it seemed like I was being spat upon by someone who sprays when they talk. But, I soon learned to love that too. I love cloudy warm days when you know it's warm enough to go out, but you won't get scorched by the sun (believe me, I burn!). I love the winters here. I don't find them depressing. I love days when it rains without a stop. It just gives you an excuse to bundle up inside and watch the rain, read a book, or spend time with family.
10. I'm having a hard time thinking of things for this last one. This might not be that interesting (not that my other factoids were), but it's what comes to mind. I have only had one bloody nose my entire life. We were living in West Jordan, UT. It was a very windy day, and our garbage can was at the bottom of the driveway, empty. On days like this, it was not uncommon to find your garbage can a block away after the storm was done. Knowing this, and being the only ones home (I think), my sister, Beth, and I struck up a deal. She would open the garage door and close it if I would go down the driveway and get the garbage can. Now, in a sense, I did get the shorter end of the stick in the deal, but it's not quite as bad as you think. We didn't have a garage door opener, so Beth had to go into the creepy garage and climb past and around various garage junk to get to the door. Plus, she could have just made me do it all myself. How could she make me, you ask? With her big sister mind controlling power. I don't know if every big sister has this, but I think Beth was stocked up on it at times. I just did what she said without wanting to. One time, she made me taste puppy food just because she was curious and didn't want to be the only one to do it. I knew I didn't want to taste puppy food. I was not curious about how it would taste (refer to factoid #4). Yet, I did it because of that big sister power. I'm still not sure how it worked. Anyways, I went down the driveway like a good little sister and got the garbage can. On the way up the driveway, which had a slight uphill slope, a BIG gust of wind came through, lifted up the hinged lid on the garbage can and smacked it right into my nose. I bent over in pain, and blood gushed out almost immediately, so I also was bending over to keep the blood off my clothes. Beth came out and helped me into the bathroom where she proceeded to doctor me, all the while laughing hysterically. I cried (of course), and told her she shouldn't be laughing because it really hurt and that was just rude! She said she couldn't help it because from her view from the garage, she saw me pushing the garbage can, saw the lid rise up with the wind, and when it came down. . . I was gone! Jocelyn disappeared! Ha ha ha, thanks for the sympathy!

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tag three people. I tag Daphne Crook, Kelli Pinkerton, and Annette Davis. Get posting ladies! Oh, and I'm adding one. Haley Judd: I said it before, and I'll say it agian, get a blog!!! That goes for you too, Kristen Arnett; I want to see pictures when that baby is born!