Meet Kristen

Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm Kristen. He's Dave. He's been putting up with my antics since 2003-ish and is always willing to go on road trips, visit new restaurants, and haul whatever piece of furniture I'm tired of out to the garage to die. In return, I put up with his obsession with all things Beatles, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, and begrudgingly let him take my picture sometimes, if he promises not to put it on Facebook. :)

By begrudgingly, I mean I make funny faces because I know he'll put it on Facebook anyways:

• Exhibit A:

It's hard to sum yourself up in a few paragraphs, so I remembered way back when we posted a 25 things survey on Facebook - remember that? I read through my 25 things, and miraculously they're all still true! Ok, not all, but almost all.

• Guys in high school used to tell me I wasn't the type of girl you dated, I was the type you marry. At the time I hated that, but now that I know what that means I'm ok with it.
•  St. Matthias youth group and Tri-Cities WorkCamp taught me how to be myself around people I wouldn't otherwise hang out with, or who wouldn't otherwise hang out with me.
•  I'd like to say I have no regrets in life, but JMU is a big fat one. I wish I had made the most of that experience, outside of the KDR house and with less Natty light. I'm paying for those mistakes still, and might for the rest of my life. And I hate bars now because it reminds me of how I smelled when we got home from KDR – beer and cigarettes. Blech.
• The year I lived at 204 Rugby Court with Jennifer, John, and Nate was the most fun and the hardest at the same time.
• I'm glad I waited to find a guy who is just as obsessed with movies as me, doesn't care what I look like in the morning because he knows he looks just as bad, and will humor me by going to Amish country every year.
• After 8 years of being attached (literally) to a phone for 10 hours a day at a call center, I do not like talking on the phone for longer than 5 minutes at a time. If you call me and I don't answer, that's probably why.
• I am very bad at keeping in touch with people, no matter how close they are or cool they are.
• The 2 previous issues have lost me more friends than I can count.
• I love my job. But I'm scared to come in every day in fear that I've lost it due to something out of my control.
• I hate it when people say they're proud of their kids because they don't do drugs and they take care of their responsibilities. I usually hear this on Maury Povich's trash show. Be proud of your children because they graduated at the top of their class, saved someone's life, or inspire people. Don't be proud of them for doing the bare minimum.
• I love to watch movies. Especially ones that make me cry, not because of some dumb love stuff, but because the characters make me believe what they’re saying or doing and I feel like I should be able to help them or comfort them. Those that make me laugh out loud are a close second.
• I like to create things. Cards, blankets, quilts, scrapbooks, pajama pants, purses – really anything that can be born out of a pile of pictures or fabric is ok by me.
• I haven’t been to church in years and I have no reason or excuse.
• Not being able to see my parents whenever I want makes me sad.
• I wasn’t as nice in high school as I thought I was. I really disliked people for no apparent reason other than being richer or smarter or cooler than me. Did I assume they didn’t like me because I wasn’t as rich or smart or cool?  I never made an effort to see if that was the truth. I’ll never know.
• Marching Band was cool in high school. Just a different kind of cool…all you band geeks out there know what I mean. I had a blast on all the trips we took, even when people got busted on the bus for doing foolish things and when we lost to Monacan…again.
• I am grateful that Bob and Louise let us stay with them when we traveled to Alaska. It gave us a better experience than staying at a hotel. It was an awesome trip and I hope we go back to see more. Denali was amazing, even though I thought that big green bus was going to roll over that hill. The driver didn’t help – when someone asked if they’ve ever lost a bus, and she said “No, we found them all.”
• I’m glad Dave and I had a traditional wedding. Before he proposed I always said I wanted to get married at a resort in Jamaica. But as soon as I had that ring on my finger I knew I wanted to get married in a church.
• I’m also glad we went to a cabin in the woods in NC for our honeymoon instead of a tropical place. It was more us.  Asheville, NC, for the win!
• I have a trash can in my car. Not a baggy - a kitchen-size trash can. People think it’s weird, but I think it’s clean…
• I’m glad I’ll never have to pay for shitty baby pictures at Portrait Innovations. My photographer will also be my baby daddy.
• I am a noise Nazi at work. Please don’t hum to whatever song is playing on your iPod, don’t read to yourself as you type an email, and don’t tap your fingers on the desk, or your feet on the floor. Shaking your knee is also nerve-wracking to me.
• I'M IN LOVE, I'M IN LOVE, AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT! (see bullet re: movies) 
• Dave took my profile pic at our wedding right after we were pronounced man and wife (a la “13 going on 30”). It got a good laugh out of our guests, and it will always be my favorite picture of us:
  

So there you have it!  Me, in a nutshell.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like what you see :)