Day 1 - Introduce yourself, recent picture, 15 interesting facts.
My name is Melissa, but most people call me Mimi. Since moving to New Zealand, I've been trying to introduce myself as Melissa rather than Mimi, so new people I meet in NZ call me Melissa. But then people like to shorten Melissa to "Mel" and I HATE being called Mel. Should've just stuck with Mimi.
Hmm. Interesting facts. Hopefully I can come up with 15... they might not all be interesting, but here goes.
1. I got married twice. To the same man. One was a Catholic wedding, one was not. We did this so my non-US citizen husband wouldn't get booted out of the country before our BIG big day. And actually, our little wedding was awesome, it was by the beach, we wrote our own vows, it was just us and immediate family. Totally chill and intimate, and we loved it. And of course our big wedding was fabulous.
3. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of girl. I'm either super healthy and work out all the time, or I sit on the couch and eat ice cream. I either clean the whole house, or do nothing at all. I don't like to do things halfway. So lately my house has been pretty messy, and I've been eating a few too many cookies. Oops.
4. If I had to choose: chocolate or gummy candy, I choose gummy candy. I like chocolate of course, but it's definitely something I could live without. I love jolly rancher jelly beans and swedish fish the most, but they don't have 'em in NZ.
5. The things I miss most from the US aside from family and friends are: Noah's bagels, CPK (California Pizza Kitchen), and burritos. New Zealand is not exactly known for its Mexican cuisine. Oh and Target. I LOVE shopping at Target, but there's no Target here, or target equivalent.
6. I don't drink alcohol. I'm not morally opposed or anything like that, I just (1) don't like the taste (2) am poor and can't afford it (3) have been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for the past 15 months so alcohol is a no go anyway.
8. I drink WAY too much diet coke. Such a bad habit, but I just love it so so much. I blame my parents, they are addicted too. I tried to drink sprite zero instead (less caffeine?), but that didn't last very long. My college roomies and I used to power through diet cokes like there was no tomorrow while we stayed up late studying. It was just one of the many things we had in common.
9. I get more bug bites that anyone you've ever met. And I'm allergic, so they get all red and hugely swollen. Therefore, I HATE bugs. All bugs. Flies, spiders, bees, mosquitoes, all of them.
10. I wear my hair in a ponytail or bun every. single. day. You'd never know I have really really long hair. I always tell myself I'm going to start wearing it down or cut it, but so far I haven't done either. And a further confession... I haven't got my hair cut by a professional in about 15 months. I know, I know. I got desperate about 9 months ago, and cut it myself because it was getting so long. I keep meaning to go get it cut, but I just haven't. It's on my to do list BEFORE Christmas. I'm kind of embarrassed I just admitted that, that's a ridiculously long time.
11. I have a tattoo that says "faith" in chinese on my ankle/lower leg. No, I'm not chinese. I got it when I was 17, and no I don't regret it, although it is a little bigger than I originally planned. People also think that because I have a tattoo that says faith, that I must be religious. Not so. There's a big difference between faith and religion. Do I believe in God? Yes. Am I religious? No. I won't go into it further, because that could take a while.
12. Soccer used to be one of the most important things in my life, and I could not imagine my life without it. Now I barely even think about it, and only play socially a couple months a year. No biggie. I played since I was 4, and so many of the things I did revolved around soccer. But priorities change!
13. I would rather order pizza and snuggle on the couch with my husband than go out. I mean, I'm all for "date night," but I'm really more of a movie and take-out kind of person.
14. I LOVE holidays. If I had unlimited funds (which I totally do not), I would be that crazy over-the-top person with the outrageously decorated house and I would throw huge holiday parties and make gingerbread mansions and carve outrageous pumpkins and hold neighborhood-wide Easter egg hunts. For real. We're totally taking Riley to sit on Santa's lap every year at the mall until she's like, oh, 18.
15. I rule at Mario kart, and I love Super Mario, the old school version. Although the wii version is pretty sweet too. Sometimes when Mark comes homes from work, we plop our butts on the couch and play video games like little kids. So. fun.
Hope you're not totally bored! Sometimes I think Riley thinks I'm boring, and she gives me this face...