I wonder where Jesus was on Saturday... "in Paradise" (Luke 23:48), or "in the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9)...

What do you think?

I was tagged with this on Facebook, but since I haven't posted in a while, I just thought I'd put it up here.  Here are 25 things about me that probably won't affect you in the least, but they might give you a peak into my head... like it or not.  :)

1. I can't have coffee after mid-afternoon, or I'll be up all night.  Such nights result in silly undertakings such as "25 Random Things..."  Don't get me wrong... I actually enjoy reading and writing lists like this, but the process of actually getting this information down is a little tiresome... but not so much when I'm caffeinated with nowhere to go and nothing else to set my buzzing mind to.

2. I enjoy cooking new things, but I often don't have the energy or ingredients to actually make something worthwhile.  Thus, mac 'n cheese (yes, the boxed variety) is a frequent at our kitchen table.

3. Jane Austen is my favorite author to read, but I rarely get through an entire book of hers without starting another book at random in the middle of her stories... something completely different like "Life with Jeeves" or "Charlotte's Web."  It must be a commitment issue...

4. I'm a people-pleaser to the extreme.  If someone doesn't like me, it bothers me to no end.  This is incredibly frustrating, but an issue I simply can't get over.

5. I've dreamed of living in Europe, and I'm rather sure that dream may come true sometime in the distant future.  I've been learning French, but I have a feeling I'll settle for some English-speaking country (one of the two, right?) for the sake of convenience.

6. The engagement ring my husband gave me first belonged to my mother-in-law.  When she was 18, she'd been engaged to a man who, before they were married, died of cancer.  She showed us her encouragement and faith in our marriage by giving us this blessing when a ring was hard to come by for my (literally) poor fiance.

7. I'm quite truly addicted to chap-stick.  I will literally go ballistic if I don't have Burt's Bees or Carmex on me at all times.  My lips will actually hurt if I go for more than two hours without a fresh application.  Does psychotherapy work on these types of cases?

8. If I could scat like Ella Fitzgerald, I’m confident my singing career would finally go somewhere.

9. I’m pretty talented with my toes.  I can pick things up and move things around with them like you wouldn’t imagine.  (If you did, I’d be a bit concerned for you.)

10. I love Brit-coms.  I know they can be quite indecent sometimes, but there is something about “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and “Keeping Up Appearances” that makes me giggle more than the average American comedy can.

11. Sometimes I crave children.  I mean… I crave the chance to have my own.  But then I remember a particular horrid diaper experience I had with a child I babysit, and I realize I can wait a little longer.

12. I hope my life is a sweet fragrance of worship to my God, to whom I owe my life in its entirety, from beginning to forever.

13. I’m obsessive about my grades.  My older brother happens to be a genius, so ever since my first B in third grade science (because of which he gave me a really hard time), I’ve worked myself ragged to keep a grade point average slightly under 4.0.  This is quite unhealthy, I know.

14. I get extremely crabby when I’m hungry.  I think that might have something to do with my overactive thyroid gland.

15. I have a love/hate relationship with Chicago.  In the Spring, Summer and Autumn, I love it.  The other half of the year, I hate it.

16. I would give just about anything to simply go to Woodard’s Pharmacy (in my hometown - Hertford, North Carolina) for a surprisingly flat but undeniably delicious grilled cheese sandwich and a fountain Cherry Coke right now.  And why not top it off with two-scoops of hand-dipped chocolate ice cream for the unbeatable price of 60-cents?

17. I recently realized how much Hertford resembles Mayberry.

18. My children will – by my husband’s unrelenting insistence – watch “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” instead of the brain-numbing Teletubbies or Barney.  And I won’t insist otherwise.

21. I’ve climbed the Eiffel tower.  It’s not as impressive an accomplishment as climbing Everest, but I must say, the view was pretty sweet.

20. I might home-school my kids.  This proposition is still up for debate, as I believe there is great potential for a good public-school experience, but there are some promising features included in the home-school package.  Thankfully, I have at least six or seven years to figure this one out before a decision will become imperative.

21. I refer to my Thesaurus a lot.  I like to sound smart (clever, shrewd, astute…), and I’ve found this is the easiest (most facile, elementary, effortless) way to go about it.

22. I love musicals… the old-fashioned kind like Rogers’ and Hammerstein’s or the Sherman brothers. Why don't they make them like that anymore? "Enchanted" was fun... but no modern musicals can hold a candle to the classics.

23. Summer thunderstorms are quite possibly my favorite weather conditions.  I love how green the grass and trees get in contrast to the dark-gray clouds above just before a summer storm… and the way the breeze wraps itself around me, warning me that I have only minutes to run inside before the rain will fall in torrents.  There is something passionate and, at the same time, calming about such storms.

24. My musical tastes are incredibly diverse.  I enjoy everything from classical to bluegrass, from jazz to celtic, from rock to gospel.  And world-music is becoming a favorite these days.

25. I’ve been to Turkey, France, Singapore and Malaysia.  After traveling a bit of the world, I now live in an incredible and dynamic international city full of opportunities and fun.  But the place I miss most is my quiet hometown in northeastern North Carolina where “the grass was always green, but the blues were at my heals.”  Someday I’ll return, if only in my dreams.