I’ve been tagged by Stina over at Lord, Guard and Guide.
Here are the rules of this game of blog tag:
*Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
*Share 7 facts about yourself that you think most people don’t know.
*Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
*Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
And here’s what I do when I’m tagged, I play along partly by sharing whatever the game is asking me to do, but I usually don’t continue the tagging. I know, I know. I’m a party pooper. I’ve just never been one to continue chain letters (I am the weakest link!) or to send forwards (although I do read many of them). Anyway, here are “Seven Things You May Not Already Know About Me”:
1. I am a law school dropout. Immediately after graduating college, I worked as a legal clerk in a corporate law firm in Atlanta and also went to law school for a little over a month. However, in my heart of hearts, I knew a legal career wasn’t for me, and writing briefs and reading case law definitely left something to be desired. Then September 11th happened and I was reminded how tenuous and brief life really is and abandoned a legal career and then volunteered with the American Red Cross until I could find a job in Augusta, Georgia where Dave (my then fiancé) was at med school. Despite all those useless law school applications and LSAT study sessions, I’m thankful for my brief embracing of legalese. After all, I did meet my future husband on our high school’s mock trial team, which also ended up securing the National Mock Trial Championship title. Yeah, we were big nerds.
2. I’m a Team In Training alum. I ran a marathon in Anchorage, Alaska with TNT and ended up finishing the run in under four hours. I also raised over $4,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Running that marathon truly was a spiritual experience. I can remember feeling like my body was no longer in control and that there was something bigger than me that was at work – no doubt, the Big Guy upstairs. I started running in high school and kept at it all throughout college and in my early post-college years, but a recurring injury has kept me sidelined for a while now. I do hope to hit the pavement again in the future.
3. I grew up riding horses English style. I smelled like hay and manure for a good part of my childhood and could definitely be described as “horse crazy.”
4. I was born on the same day as my older brother – March 8. You don’t hear about that happening too often.
5. My husband isn’t Catholic (GASP!). I have a hard time ever admitting this because I would love for us to share a unity of faith. That said, we celebrated the sacrament of marriage with a full Mass; he wants our children to be Catholic; and he is committed to going to Mass as a family and even embraces NFP. I used to prod him about being Catholic all of the time. Before we got married we went to a wonderful Pre-Cana program called Three’s A Marriage and I even briefly considered calling off the engagement because he wasn’t Catholic. Then during the marriage prep retreat I found myself at Adoration and I distinctly heard the words, “Love him. Just love him.” Often in my life I have a hard time discerning whether that little voice whispering in my mind and heart is my own or the Holy Spirit’s. In this case, however, there was no doubt that this was a voice that came from outside of me. I still struggle with our spiritual differences, but I have left his conversion in the hands of the Holy Spirit and simply do my best to pray for him often and to live a life that makes him crave Catholicism. (Unfortunately, I often fail miserably at the latter.)
6. Growing up, I wanted to be a horse trainer, writer and actress. I never tried training Seabiscuits, but I did pursue acting for quite awhile and cavorted in both L.A. and NYC before realizing the acting life, at least not outside of community theatre, wasn’t for me. Don’t ask me how I ended up in law school for a month… The good news is I have embraced one of my childhood career choices and consider myself a writer and will probably be writing until the day I die.
7. I have a very diverse group of old friends. Madeline’s godmother is a pediatric resident who has done mission work in India (with the http://www.cmswr.org/member_communities/MC.htm, the religious order Mother Teresa’s founded). Another great friend is married to musician Bobby Yang and is his music promoter/business manager extraordinaire. The first friend I met when my family moved to Georgia from Illinois when I was in elementary school remains one of my closest friends. We both married guys from high school, had our daughters two weeks apart, and had our second children two months apart. We are sharing our motherhood journey together and I thank God for our friendship. My closest friend from college runs her own nonprofit dance organization and is married to a medical student. Then there’s my mom and younger brother, two people I consider great friends. And I can’t forget Dave, who is, as cliche as it may sound, my best friend (don’t start gagging!). I am infinitely thankful for all of my incredible friends.