For Day 1 – Here’s a recent pic of me and my mom celebrating my 25th birthday in Augusta.

15 Interesting Facts:

1. I used to be a really messy person. I was messy throughout my childhood, especially in High School and continued being messy in college. However, ever since I got married, something changed and I decided I wanted to be a neat freak – go figure. I still think Jason is quite confused by this. 
2. I played the piano for about 12 years. I was pretty serious about it and practiced about 1 hour a day during high school. I even considered majoring in music. Now, I hardly play at all even though I have a beautiful piano in our house. Luckily Jason makes much use out of it!
3. I really enjoy learning more about managing personal finances. In fact, about 80% of the time, I listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts in my car. I actually like being in charge of paying the bills, keeping track of our budget, etc. And to top it off, I used to not be very disciplined in this area. I didn’t keep a checkbook until I got married. 
4. I really like to bake stuff, but really am not all that into cooking. I’ll make brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, ice cream, bread all day long – but ask me to make chicken and veggies, and I don’t exactly know where to start. 
5. One of my hobbies is real estate investing. Jason and I helped my dad get a rental house last fall, and rehabbed it for about 3 months. I have enjoyed learning about real estate through this process and would really love to get a few rental properties of my own. This is one of my big goals in life. 
6. I was born in Houston, TX, lived there for 7 years with a lot of my mom’s side of the family. Then we moved to Seattle and lived there for 7 years while my dad worked at Microsoft. Then I moved to Atlanta when I was 14 and my family has been there ever since. This is the reason I have no southern accent. 
7. I used to write in journals and diaries all the time. Then I took about a10 year break, but am trying to revive this through my blog – since it is sooo much fun to look back and read about what you were doing back in the day…
8. I really love business and marketing – which is why I have been in marketing roles ever since graduating from UGA in 2009. I am so thankful to God that he has been faithful to provide me with jobs during this economy, especially jobs that I have enjoyed. 
9. I have really bad excema on my hands pretty much year round, although it does get a lot worse during the winter. One time at my first job at Johnny Rockets, one of my customers asked me if I owed a punching bag since my hands were so red! lol 
10. I bit my fingernails until I was about 23 years old! It took wanting my nails to look good at our wedding for me to finally stop! 
11. I really love DIY projects, whether it is home decorating, painting, rehabbing a rental house, or outdoor work. This is how I first got turned onto blogs. I have gotten a lot of ideas for our house by reading about other projects by fellow DIYers. 
12. I have 3 adopted younger siblings: S (11), L(7), and S(6). My parents got them when I was a senior in college. I love them all so much, and am so thankful for them! It is such a blessing to see them grow up.
13. I am currently training for a half-marathon. This is longest race I have ever trained for. So here’s hoping that I don’t get shin splints before race day on Thanksgiving in Atlanta. 
14. On random occasions, I really enjoy yard work and love the results that you can see from weeding, mowing, and trimming bushes! 
15. I have had the privilege to visit some foreign countries like Spain, Poland, China, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. 
16. I love to shop, while finding a great deal – although this probably isn’t that interesting, it is true!