25 things

1. I don't really love Mississippi, and I'm not particularly happy with my program, but I continue to be very glad that I made the crazy decision to move here. This realization kind of freaked me out for a while, but I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with it.

2. My obsession with grammar plays a more significant role in my life than most people think. I think that people think I'm just trying to be funny or show off that I know more than they do, but I REALLY do get very anxious about errors. If I can take a picture of it and put it in my photo album, it makes me feel better, but it's the errors in books--especially textbooks--that really get me. Sometimes, I have to put the book down and take some deep breaths before I can focus again.

3. One of the coolest things I did in college was reading the Old Testament with my friend, Pete. I still miss S.P.O.T. time sometimes.

4. I have very little confidence in my cooking ability, and I get really nervous when I'm cooking for other people (especially if they're watching me), but I'm actually not so bad at it.

5. I don't like it when people misspell my first name. Today, the woman working at Starbucks asked for my name to write on my cup, and she actually asked, "H or no H?" I was embarrassingly appreciative of this gesture.

6. I've become really bad at keeping in touch with my friends, and I feel terrible about it. There are several people I really want to reconnect with, but I feel uncomfortable about picking up the phone and saying, "Hey...I haven't talked to you in a year. How's life?"

7. On a related note, I miss Emory, Virginia terribly and constantly. I'm afraid that I won't ever be in a community that I love as much as that one.

8. My two favorite boys...I mean men...in the whole world are Alex M. and Alex M. In that order. ;)

9. I feel silly about it, and I haven't actually made any money, but having an etsy shop has been a very rewarding, affirming experience.

10. I know most people think it's "personal" or "touchy," but I actually enjoy talking to people about Graves' Disease. I try not to bring it up, because people seem to think I shouldn't want to talk about it, but when people express curiosity and ask questions, I am incredibly happy to educate them.

11. My favorite Christmas present this year was a United Methodist hymnal with my name engraved on it.

12 I REALLY love my last name. I used to plan never to change it, but for some reason, I've begun to rethink this lately, and it kind of stresses me out.

13. I love books, and I am very possessive of them. I will not borrow books from other people, because I need to do my own highlighting and writing, and I need to have each book on my (color-coded) shelf for future reference (and for decoration.) For the same reason, I hesitate to loan books to other people, which I know is really lame. I loaned a book to someone over a year ago, and I'm pretty sure he never read it. I'm afraid he may have lost it, but I'm afraid to ask.

14. I don't value the idea of having a Ph.D. as much as I used to, but there ARE things I'd like to do that pretty much require it. We'll see.

15. I'm not really sure why I quit blogging. I want to start again, but I get overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start. So much has happened.

16. I grew up in the best neighborhood in the whole world with the best possible people, and I am convinced that no one had a better childhood that we did. When I think of paradise, it looks a lot like Hunter Court, dusk, summer, circa 1992.

17. My Gryffindor tie is one of my favorite articles of clothing, and I'm sad that I'll have very few more (appropriate) opportunities to wear it.

18. Every time I play that "2 truths and a lie" game, I say, "I'm related to (a) Bill Clinton's college roommate, (b) Katie Couric's makeup artist, and the (c) guy who invented the sandwich."

19. Sometimes it makes me sad that I don't have one, single, "best friend," but really, I'm lucky, because I have about 5 of them.

20. Sometimes, when I really connect with an author's writings, I start to feel so intimately connected with the person that I refer to them as if we're on a first name basis. Examples include Emily (Dickinson) and Augusten (Burroughs.)

21. Speaking of writers, I credit C.S. Lewis with completely revolutionizing the way I understand God.

22. I will never, ever be able to adequately thank Dr. Qualls for everything he has done for me. His teaching, guidance, insight, and encouragement continue to impact my life in very real ways.

23. During my senior year of college, I made a vow that I would never be the president of anything ever again.

24. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about working with adolescents. During my time working at Pathways, I found that I connected with them particularly well, especially with group art therapy. Right now, I'm teaching gifted middle/high school students about psychology in a 7-week program, and it has reminded me how much I love this age group.

25. I really haven't learned that much about psychology since I've been here, but I've learned a lot about love.