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30 Things {You Might Not Know} About Me…

…and quite possibly, I should note, might not want to.

Joy w- Dragonfly (1 of 1)

Happy Birthday to me,

I’ve officially hit thirty!

And I‘m not sure how I managed

to maintain sanity.

 

In honor of 30 years under my belt, I thought I might entertain you with these 30 little morsels…

  1. I’m a picker and a plucker.  If my husband sees me with tweezers or needle in hand, he runs and hides.
  2. The week before I became pregnant with my first, I jumped off South Africa’s highest bridge.
  3. I went to 4 different high schools {Namibia, USA, Namibia and then back to the USA}.  Making new friends and then having to say farewell got a little old, but I love that through facebook I’ve been able to connect with old friends from all 4 schools.
  4. I can tell exactly how many days it’s been since my last shower with one glance at my armpit hair length.  Mad skillz, baby.
  5. My sisters and I all kiss each other goodbye.  Yes, on the lips.  Not sure whether it’s cultural or just our family.
  6. I have always wanted to learn how to ice-skate (and intend to learn one of these Winters).
  7. Time-management is not one of my strengths…I get completely wrapped up in frivolous things and before I know it…it’s 2:00 am.  I desperately need to work on this!
  8. I had breakfast with TobyMac, just chillin’ on the kitchen counters of a hotel in New York.
  9. After Bug was born, I had my placenta dehydrated and encapsulated {read: I consumed it in capsule form}.  It made a world of difference, despite being madly revolting to think about.
  10. I tried to pierce my own belly button when I was a teen.  With a safety pin.  I took it out the next day, it hurt so much.  I successfully added the 2nd and 3rd holes in my ears all on my own.
  11. I’ve always wanted to dance.  And be a trapeze artist.  I desperately want to own a tall, far-flying swing…it’s the closest I’ll get to flying on earth.  Jumping from an airplane is not an option.
  12. I was engaged at 18, and praise God, did not marry the guy.  I met my husband when I was 21, after recommitting my life to Christ and after 3 years of celibacy.
  13. I would love to be on The Amazing Race one day, with my hubby.
  14. I struggle with being a raging perfectionist.  Motherhood is slowly beating it out of me.
  15. I accidentally took a sip of my husbands….um…urine.  And survived.  He almost didn’t.  There’s a pitiful story to this.
  16. I have a storage fetish.  I have things organized into totes and baskets in every single room and closet of my house.  Love!
  17. I love weddings!  And I always watch the groom as he catches his first glimpse of his bride.  And then I get to dance with my husband…what’s not to love?
  18. I went to school for massage therapy, and got certified as a fitness instructor.  I’ve never had a design, photography or post-high-school writing class in my life.  Isn’t God hilarious how He delights in using the unlikely!
  19. My 3 sisters and I all got our noses pierced together 3 years ago.  I wanted to cry it hurt so badly.
  20. I broke my jaw right before I turned 16, and just before we flew across the ocean from South Africa to the States.  I had my jaw wired shut {ouch!} for 6 weeks and dropped 30 pounds.  I was thrilled to discover I actually had a waistline, albeit in a very uncomfortable way.
  21. I miss my “girls”.  Nursing did a number on them {but I’d do it all over again!}
  22. I must confess…I adore cleaning my house.  There’s nothing like cleaning, purging and organizing…without children around…with Michael Bublé blaring!  But…while my house is usually clean, my car is most often trashed.
  23. I didn’t know I had a short temper and the ability to yell loudly until I became a mom.  This breaks my heart.
  24. For the first 6 years of marriage, I was a horribly insecure cook and was terribly uncomfortable in the kitchen.  Since moving into this house and blogging my way through recipes, snapping photos along the way, I’ve fallen in love with it!
  25. I desperately want to get a tattoo.  But I’m just too chicken {despite being able to push out a 10 pound 6 ounce baby.  Naturally, thankyouverymuch).
  26. On my first day of school in the States (as an insecure freshman), I asked the guy sitting next to me for a rubber.  Apparently you call them erasers over here.  He’s never let me live it down.
  27. I cried live on the air {when I worked in Christian radio} telling Jeremy Camp’s story {because my sneaky co-host broke out some Titanic soundtrack in the background}.  Jeremy caught wind of it and left a sweet note on my desk when he stopped by the studio.  I’m pathetic and still have it.
  28. I simply love magic erasers.  They clean everything!  And rock my world.  I also have an addiction to baskets.  Lots of world rocking going on here.
  29. I used to be able to speak three languages, relatively fluently.  English, Afrikaans and German.  I grew up in a German colony {where it was a compulsory subject}, and went to an Afrikaans high school.  15 years later…my German stinks, my Afrikaans is suffering, and my English is, well, working for me.
  30. I soak up face-to-face time, and adore one-on-one connections over copious cups of tea and coffee…but I also adore the adrenaline rush of lots of friends mingling in a room with music pumping.  I’m an introverted social-butterfly, I suppose.

You still awake? {nudge, nudge}

So there you have it, my friend!  I’m a piece of work, eh?

{and officially thirty, flirty and thriving!}

Related posts:

  1. First Day Photos!
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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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And yet, every time I walk past it on our evening loop around the campground behind our house, it catches me off guard. I forget it’s even there.

Maybe because I prefer to look at the fruitful side.

And isn’t that a little like us?

We’re pretty comfortable displaying the beautiful parts: the wins, the answered prayers, the accomplishments, the parts of life that look healthy and fruitful.

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Maybe growth does look like good fruit.

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Buy them for yourself.
Put them in your kitchen.
Smile every time you walk past them. 🌸

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Some seasons, you’ll crush the to-do list,
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You are loved.
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

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