5-Squared Random Things About Me

So, the "25 random things about me" chain-letter has been traveling through the Facebook world for a while now. I found it so interesting to read what others have written and finally wrote out my own list. Thought I would share it here as well. Maybe you'll learn something new.

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

5-Squared Random Things About Me...

1. I’m typing this list in Word first and will copy it over to Facebook. I’m already anticipating Word wielding its auto-formatting power to create a numbered list when I hit enter. But it will tab the list over and I won’t want it to be tabbed over. 90% of the time, I “ctrl-z” what Word has done, because I don’t like to lose control to auto-formatting. In fact, because I can fix all the formatting issues while creating sleek “copy-saving” documents, I’m often in charge of typing up quizzes and tests for my content area groups.
2. My favorite type of flower is the tulip. (Quite the coincidence: the doorbell just rang right before I was getting ready to type this item… Eric sent me beautiful pink tulips for Valentine’s Day.)
3. Speaking of my husband: I really love Eric! I don’t take for granted how lucky I am to have found such a great husband. We really are good together.
4. Now the math geek must emerge because I can’t turn off the math region of my brain. When I see the number 4, I think: “2-squared” or “the square-root of 16” or “the cube-root of 64” or.... (I’ll stop before it gets out of control. I can already hear my husband and brother calling out “NERD!”)
5. I’m a parrot. When I moved to Colorado after living in the Midwest for four years, my students noted that I pronounced “notes” with a long Minnesota “o”. “Please, get out your noooootes. Yah, dontcha know?” When I’m around my mom and we’re listening to the same person, I’ll respond in the same pattern that she does. “Oh… Yeah… Hmmm… Really?” This parroting has extended to my friends, colleagues, and husband. I hope they all think imitation is the sincerest form of flattery- it’s not intentional on my part.
6. I really enjoy math. I think math is beautiful and have always been fascinated to see how mathematical ideas progress and evolve and connect. It makes me sad when someone says they don’t like math or that math is too hard. I wish I could teach them in one of my statistics course, because I think they would see how interesting applied mathematics can be. And maybe they would actually enjoy math for once.
7. I inherited the “I can make that for much cheaper” gene from my mom. She was always pointing that out to me in clothing stores. However, even after that thought passes through my head, I prefer to pay money in exchange for the convenience. My mom is way better at making clothes than I ever was.
8. (2-cubed) I prefer to use my crafty time for creating non-essentials and gifts: sewing quilts, knitting, cross-stitching, paper-crafting, etc. Maybe I should have born during the Little House on the Prairie time period. Except…
9. (3-squared) I really like technology. It would be hard for me to live without a computer or a TV.
10. I had some great teachers through the years and I really enjoy teaching too. It’s very challenging, but I find it very rewarding as well. Especially when I can make math more accessible and less frustrating to a student. If I could be a life-long student, I would choose that as my second career. (Although, I would prefer to do this without taking tests or writing papers.)
11. My favorite color is green. However, I very seldom wear green- I would wear brown or black every day if I could.
12. I have a great family, extended family, and now in-law family. They are all so wonderful and I wish I lived closer to all of them.
13. Because we didn’t/don’t live close to much of our family, I grew up traveling and continue to travel quite a bit. I love traveling- I think I was meant to marry a pilot. I have always been so excited to get to fly on an airplane. One minute you’re in the freezing cold and in a few short hours you can find yourself in a warm tropical location. I think it’s good for people to expand their horizons and get new perspectives of the world.
14. My signature physical traits are my dimples. For years my friend’s daughter would ask how I got them. I think a little part of her believed that twisting your index fingers into your cheeks would actually work.
15. I have made some great friends through the years. My senior quote in our yearbook was “Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together.” by Woodrow Wilson. I still believe that to be true.
16. (4-squared) Typing “4-squared” made me think of playing “4-square” in elementary school. My brother and I were lucky to never have to move while growing up. Eric and I bought a house in the same articulation area as my school, so that if we are lucky enough to have kids, they’ll be able to grow up in one house as well.
17. I’m a fairly practical person and try to plan long-term. Another reason for buying the house that we did was so our kids would be on the same school calendar as me. I wanted nothing to do with an outside wedding because I didn’t want to have to fret about the weather or making alternative plans. I can more or less tell you what I’ll be teaching each day for the rest of the semester.
18. As organized as I am at school, I’m kind of messy at home and feel bad about that. Growing up, my room always looked like a tornado went through it. My favorite Esprit “What would you do to change the world?” t-shirt quote (remember that from 1992?) was: “I’d clean up the planet, but not my room.” Since living with Eric, I’ve tried to be better about being neater at home.
19. I’m a sucker for a good quote as already apparent in this list. However, I have to see the same show or movie several times before I catch a good quote from it. I’ll usually learn it and parrot it from someone else.
20. I’m glad I inherited an interest in sports from my dad. It was especially nice to be able to earn extra money when I first became a teacher by also working the scorebook or scoreboard at high school games. It has also helped me to bond with my students who play sports.
21. I student-taught in New Zealand. I was named after Kerianna, a girl from New Zealand, whom my parents met a couple of years before I was born. I was so excited to hear about Iowa State’s student-teaching exchange opportunity and couldn’t believe that New Zealand was one of the countries to choose from.
22. After a stint of orneriness in my early years, I am pretty much a rule-follower and get frustrated with those who are not conscientious of others. I apologize to those who were the targets of my biting and pinching.
23. I enjoy running. I played basketball and soccer for many years, but didn’t participate in cross-country until my senior year of high school. I loved it. I currently spend all of my running time on a treadmill at 24-Hour Fitness, but am looking forward to heading back out to our neighborhood trails when the weather turns warm again.
24. I really want to be a mom and am trying my best to be patient on that journey.
25. (5-squared) My favorite movie is “Dirty Dancing.” Great actors, great time-period, great music, great dancing, great love story! OK, maybe a little cheesy, but it's still my favorite.