10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 . . .

TEN random things about me:
10. I will burn for about 3 weeks straight before I can finally start to tan, and even then, it's iffy.
9. I'm an aggressive driver, and I will road-rant half jokingly (although that is not a word).
8. I'm a grammar nut. Seriously, I love proofreading. My dream job would either be teaching middle and high school kids (I'd love to have a class based less on literature and more on how to write a paper for all their other classes, including science papers!) or doing some sort of copy writing for the Indianapolis Colts.
7. I can't pay attention to anything for too long without getting bored. I don't have a favorite color, a favorite song, a favorite outfit, a favorite . . . anything. I switch genres of foods, music, television shows, and anything else that gets monotonous in my life from time to time.
6. I analyze pretty much everything. I evaluate everything. I'm always assessing where I'm at and where I could or should be at. And I really like to go deep. One of my spiritual strengths is my intentionality.
5. I'm a farm girl. I love farming, cattle, animals, and the gorgeous scenery that you just can't find in the city. But, I love the architecture, art, not-for-profits, and the general sense of community that can be found in the city if you look in the right places, too. :)
4. I really value my independence. REALLY.
3. I'm pretty flippant, but I have a hefty guilt complex (crippling, sometimes).
2. I'm an ESFP -- a "performer," but I'd say that it makes me an introspective, talkative, communal, compassionate, eager-to-please, empathetic individual. It doesn't have to be so shallow.
1. I am a tomboy. I love football, especially the Colts. :) I love rugby. I love to lift, and I have the man arms to prove it. I have "car hormones." And, I guess I fancy myself a "tough girl," even though I have no pain tolerance. All that said, coffee, chocolate, cooking, bubble baths, and shopping (window shopping because I'm in college) all make me happy, too. :)

NINE ways to win my heart:
9. Be adventurous. Try new things, be active, and encourage me to try new things, too. Do stuff that's out of the norm (especially outdoor things!).
8. Be unique, and spur on my own uniqueness. Have opinions that aren't based on everyone else around you, but don't just obsess over ideas and the more active parts of life, either. Challenge me to think about new ideas in a positive, encouraging way, not cramming anything down my throat, and help me avoid getting stuck in my own head and missing out on life.
7. Be blunt with me, but don't be a jackass. I may get really irritated when someone talks to me like my dad does (in a way that makes me feel almost attacked), but sometimes, that honest, obtuse approach is needed. I value that thousands of times more than constant, sentimental agreement.
6. Be comfortable in your own skin -- not arrogant or stuck in your ways, but definitely okay with who you are.
5. Encourage me!!!!!! Challenge me to be the best I can be all the time, and ENCOURAGE me to reach that potential, especially when I'm struggling.
4. Accept me unconditionally. It's such a weird feeling to experience, but I appreciate it. That's not to say that you can't challenge me, though.
3. Ask me how I'm doing spiritually. Be open and transparent with me. Tell me how you're doing. Walk with me in my spiritual journey, and invite me allong into yours. Be sincere. Don't allow me to accept mediocrity.
2. Let me know that I'm significant, that I'm valued. I don't always feel that way.
1. When I'm looking away, recognize when 1) I'm being ADD; 2) I'm upset, but don't want or need (or have the time) to go into it; and 3) I'm upset and don't want to go into it, but I need to go into it regardless of my desire to tough it out. Don't force me, because I can be pretty guarded. Ask me the tough questions, though, and stick around for the answers. Ask because you care, and be my shoulder to cry on when I can't help but break down. If you are that "somewhere" that I can actually go to, it will mean a lot.

EIGHT things I want to do before I die:
8. Live out my idealism. Really live a life of service and advocacy. See the face of God in people from all walks of life (rich and poor, all ages, genders, races, sexual orientations, religions, etc.), even when I struggle to see the hand of God in their situations.
7. Learn to dance like normal people. :) (My upper body is as inflexible as a block of ice.)
6. Reconcile with the boy who taught me to swear.
5. Take a cooking class in Italy. Take a ballet class in Paris. Become graceful (pound some fluidity into my body, and hammer out some of that clumsiness). Learn to paint, to write better, to capture the beautiful melancholy of life in photographs. Help coach a football team. Attend a Colts game. (This is way more than 8 in 1 question.)
4. To be and become an exciting, challenging, encouraging, and great teacher. To be a loving, compassionate, sexy partner and wife to some great guy . . . someday. To create the marriage I've always wanted to see from others: a steadfast, mutually-encouraging, healthy, and dynamic marriage. To be an affectionate, encouraging, assertive (but not controlling) mother . . . someday.
3. Travel. Road trips, tent camping, backpacking, foreign countries, you name it. . . . Do exciting things. Base jump. Climb crazy cliffs. Learn how to skateboard (haha -- that would be funny to watch).
2. Learn as many languages as I can -- common languages, obscure languages, Greek- and Latin-based.
1. Experience genuine community. Make a difference in someone else's life, and know that I mattered, that I actually made a difference while I was here. Become a really great, really intentional encourager.

SEVEN ways to annoy me:
7. Don't use your turn signal, or almost hit me with your car. (My road rage is very real for the second one, but I will only yell what I think of your jerk move from inside my car.)
6. Point out all my flaws to me and make fun of me in a way that we both know is not teasing.
5. Mess with someone I love. Bad-mouth someone I love. I've been told I'm "a Mama Bear," and darned if I don't think that was pretty dang accurate. Also, regardless of whether I know the target or not, I hate it when people gang up on or make fun or another person just to feel more powerful.
4. Don't let me have my independence, in one way or another. Whether it's by leaning on me for everything, whining incessantly and re-directing (and therefore smothering) all conversation, or re-defining me as your narcissistic image of yourself, just don't. Take advantage of me, whether you take advantage of my sense of moral responsibility, my need to be everyone's friend, or my passive lack of confrontation. I love being treated as a doormat (that's sarcasm, kids).
3. Try to tell me how to run my life. I don't care if you think yours is better than mine; heck, I don't care if I think yours is better than mine. I don't like my choices to be made for me.
2. Misinterpret my friendship as something more. Because I take a genuine interest in you, try to take more of me than that.
1. General haughtiness. It's really irritating.

SIX things I like:
6. variety and adventure (even though I'll fight it at first)
5. being outdoors
4. encouraging and being encouraged; deep conversations; loving through cooking
3. hot chocolate with peppermint whipped cream; cuddling :)
2. Colts football :)
1. Coffee, chocolate, hammering on the piano (my Midol)

FIVE things I'm afraid of:
5. any living creature small enough to climb up my pant leg (rats/mice, bugs, spiders, stingy creatures, snakes, etc.)
4. heights and water
3. things coming too easily
2. a broken marriage; repeating mistakes
1. failure, especially letting people down; rejection

FOUR favorite items in my room:
4. my Bible
3. my gueetar
2. my great-grandparents' cedar hope chest
1. my bed

THREE things I do everyday:
3. text Jason a million times (embarrassed to say)
2. listen to my iPod
1. have a hard time getting out of bed

TWO things I want to do right now:
2. have answers . . . have more time to blog
1. hit the hay :)

ONE person I really want to see right now:
1. . . . I will see for breakfast in the morning. :) Either that, or Ken and Mary, who, as two people, would not qualify as an answer to this question.