Once upon a time, my dear friend across the big pond challenged me to list twenty things about myself here on Wattpad. This is the chaos that has since ensued (this is also my attempt at amping you up for what is sure to be a general disappointment, for I am not near as interesting as you-or I- may think). If you're too sad when it's all said and done, you can thank @AngusEcrivain. After all, he made me do it.

1. I'm a wee bit of a hippie. Where I live, that means I recycle, compost, drive a hybrid, and wear the occasional ankle-length skirt.

2. I am married to a Viking of a man with black hair, a red beard, and calves for days.

3. That man also happens to be the quietest person I've ever met. But I love him. A whole lot.

4. Even though I am fast approaching thirty, I can still hold my own in a game of full court basketball.

5. I am absolutely pop culture stupid. I enjoy movies and music, but I cannot tell you who sang what or quote more than a few verses from any movie save Monty Python: Search for the Holy Grail.

6. But I can talk about books all day long. All. Day. Long.

7. That husband? The one I mentioned up there? The last thing on his list of enjoyments is reading. How on earth, right? I know, I don't get it either. But, he washes the dishes and cuts the lawn, so I keep him around.

8. I hate doing dishes.

9. But some things I do love to do include hammocking, painting, cooking, and running. Writing, somehow, is interspersed throughout all those things and, of course, my everyday life.

10. I love to write, but more than that, I absolutely love to read. All day, every day. I was the kid who pulled Malcolm X's Biography out of her bat bag to read between innings. (True story).

11. My family is much like the Portokalos family from My Big Fat Greek Wedding-'cept we're not Greek- and the Stone family from The Family Stone. They are quirky, all up in your business, most of the time loud, and love fiercely.

12. I have my dad's dry sense of humor. My mother frequently reminds me, "You're just like your father." which could be an insult or a compliment since they have been married for 35 years.

13. You know that one thing you were just made to do? The thing that gets you going, where you feel most alive and at home at the same time? That thing for me is teaching. I love to teach. It's what I'm best at. It's what I enjoy working at the most.

14. I am not a teacher.

15. So, "What do you do?" you ask. Well, I don't really tell people what I do because they seem to get wigged out by it.

16. Asking me to choose my favorite book is like asking me to choose between my favorite children. But if you really pressed me, I would have to say it's The Giver although the Harry Potter Series ruled my life for a few years there.

17. In life, if I could do anything that would pay my bills, I would write, tell people about Jesus, travel, or (again) teach. What I actually get to do is a weird combination of those four things that leaves me speechless that the God I serve knows me so well and made a perfect little spot in the world for me. This gives me peace and makes my heart smile.

18. My kitchen is a bright evergreen. And I chose that color.

19. For lunch, I had broccoli and carrots with some ranch, peach yogurt, and a chicken leg. (Don't be fooled, I had a brownie for breakfast.)

20. My favorite place in the world is a dead tie for a hostel in the Himalayans in Solokhumbu, Nepal & the swing in my parents' front yard.