13 random facts about me?! Okay. I’ll try.

I liked a friend’s random facts she shared on Facebook.  I thought—Wow.  Those are fun facts.  Didn’t realize it was one of those fun pass-it-along games.  So she gave me 13 to come up with about myself.  Hmmm…I don’t even know 13 fun facts about me.  But I shall try.  Perhaps you can come up with a few about you and share, too!

1.  My mom and dad debated between naming me Brooke or Brandi.  Brooke Heidi probably does sound better than Brandi Heidi.

2.  I have a chicken-pox scar smack in the middle of my forehead.  But you probably can’t see it amongst all of my freckles, aka Angel Kisses 😉

3.  I kept my maiden name and added it as a second middle name.  So legally I have 4 names. My grandmother started this tradition (it’s probably from her Spanish roots).

4.  My great-grandmother was born in the Baja Territory and her birth certificate is entirely in Spanish.

5.  I have worn my wedding ring on my right hand for probably the last 10 years.  I guess that’s only unusual here in the States.  I finally switched over to my left hand this past year since we’ve been staying in the States again.

6. There are at least 4 big secrets in our marriage that we will never, ever, ever tell any of you.  Not even if you torture us.  Or pull out our toenails.   Nope.  They are ours.  They will never be yours.  Haha!

7.  I have always wanted to name a daughter Adeline since I was about 8 years old.  But, when we finally had our first baby and named her Adeline, my husband decided he liked the “y” in her name instead of the “i”.  So she is Adelyne with the Adeline sound to it.  And I like that it looks pretty that way.

8.  Although our wedding was a BLAST, I never grew up being all girly and planning a wedding.  Heck, 3 weeks before we actually got married, my sister and great friends helped pull together a wedding for me.  I did always know, however, that if I had an actual wedding event, I wanted to wear my mom’s dress.  Bam!  It worked out perfectly.  But I had to cut the sleeves off of it because it was about 106 degrees on our wedding day (outside).  Oh, yeah.  And I always wanted to get married in tennis shoes.  Worked too.  By the way, my mom bought her dress at Dillards for about $40 off the rack.  What a great deal, eh?  Two weddings and a $40 dress.  LOVE IT!

9.  I have a huge phobia of sharks.  HUGE.  On our honeymoon, in Puerta Vallarta, we watched a disturbing Discovery show about sharks.  And then the next day we rented a catamaran (don’t worry, my husband can sail).  Ummm…Let’s just say, I nearly had a heart attack in the middle of the ocean because I just knew what was coming…Da-dun.  Da-dun.  Da-dun, da-dun, da-dun!  In fact, before my family went to Hawaii when we were in high school, I sat up and said in my sleep, “I’ll get you, sharks!  Snip, snip.  Snip, snip!”  I guess I even made the finger motions of scissors and all.  Yes.  Sharks may be the heart attack death of me.  No. Joke.

10.  I have, since the 5th grade, wanted to be a journalist (be it newscaster or newspaper).  Then, when I went to university, I studied Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism for my first year instead.  Totally loved it, but decided it was not the field for me.  Eventually I went into teaching.  A big heart-thumping job there.  Loved it times infinity.  But, in the end, I wish that I had stuck with my 5th-grade dreams and pursued journalism in college.  Ah well.  Our childhood dreams rarely become our adult realities anyway, eh?!

11.  I have about 4 finished children’s books (stored in Poland) that I would eventually like to send off to agents.  But I bought a book, similar to finding a literary agent for dummies type-of-book, and realized that this whole getting into the publishing business is super confusing.  So, for now, my children’s books are shelved in Poland.  Wife, mommy, Bread of Life, and pastor’s wife come first.  One day, however, I hope that you’ll pick up a book for your kid or grandkid.  I’d heart that!

12.  I got a C in my computers class in college.  Why?  Because I didn’t understand this DOS thing and all of the other thingies we had to do to log in to a program.  And one professor demanded we use this thing called the Internet as one resource for one of our papers.  I had no clue how to even get on the internet.  Good thing I was dating Richard by this stage of my life.  He helped me dial it up.  Haha!  Love that I escaped university with only one paper that had to have one resource that came from the Internet.  I feel like a fossil.  Totally rad.

Phew…I made it to 13.

13.  Simple.  My favorite most delightful happy color that I love (yes, missing a lot of proper punctuation here) is YELLOW!  Yellow like a canary.  Like the sun.  Like the color that makes you feel happy.  Like the Forest Gump smiley face color.  Yep.  Yellow.  For as long as I can recall from even my childhood days.  I. Love. Yellow.

That’s 13 for me, folks.  Let’s just say, I’m glad she didn’t give me the number 20.

Hoping to hear some randomly weird, wild, or fun facts about you.  Go!

(Photo:  Dan Pan Photography)

Our washer and dryer sit on our porch, and I am thankful. Thrilled even!

I love this 30 days of thanks.  I’ve seen many Facebook funnies that have said that it’s the time where everyone else that has been complaining all year takes a break and gives 30 days of thanks.  Well, even if that is the case, I am still enjoying reading why people around the world are grateful.  Why they are thankful.  Why they are blessed.

It’s a whole bunch of warm fuzzies going around, and I am appreciating each post read.

And so, today, I would like to share two things I am especially grateful for:  our washer and dryer.

Where are they located?

On our outside porch!

Now, you see, when I was teaching in the States before we ever moved to Poland, I remember the counselor talking about the “poor” kids that came from other countries that lived in small apartments and had their washers and dryers (gasp!) on their porches outside.

I had just come from a honeymoon in Mexico, and while we were there we traveled to some pretty remote areas.  We talked with many locals.  And we saw many things.  Things such as kids walking a mile to go to school two days a week.  Things such as children going down to the local creek to scrub their clothes with a bucket.  Things such as kids having to use outside toilets with no water—therefore they had to go and scoop water into a bucket to pour into the toilet so it would flush.

These were just a few of the things we saw or experienced, and I thought, “Man!  I am pretty sure these people that we had just visited would really appreciate a washer and dryer—even if it had to be located on their porch!”

And then we moved to Poland.  Half of the time in our first flat, we wouldn’t have electricity.  Our washer wouldn’t work, and we would be scrubbing our clothes by hand.  And, let me tell you, jeans and sweaters being washed by hand and then DRIED in a cold environment was no piece of cake.

So, when we moved back to Arizona for this year and we were forewarned, “Oh, by the way, your washer and dryer are outside,” I didn’t think twice about it.  I was so thankful that we would have them (on loan, of course, from some GREAT peeps!).

And, truthfully, the Arizona weather is so gloriously beautiful, that doing your laundry on the porch is actually pleasant.

But then it made me think, “What would my former coworker think of my situation?  Small home, washer and dryer on porch, coming from a foreign country?”

And I giggle.  Truly.  Sometimes people lack perspective.

Roof over the head?  Check.

Health?  Check.

Clothes?  Check.

Education for my daughter?  Check.

Food in our bellies?  Check!

Love?  Abundantly!  Check.  Check.  Check!

So, this November, I am grateful for many things—including our awesome washer and dryer on our porch in beautiful Arizona!

And sunshine, and our chickens that cluck, and my baby boy that is always sick and smiles readily anyway, and my daughter that came to a foreign land (America) and yet has made great friends, for family close by, a husband that serves, and a baby in my belly that has made it past the most dangerous stages of pregnancy.

Yep.  I think as long as we keep it all in perspective, a washer and dryer on the porch are luxuries.  And, for these, we are truly thankful!