25 Random Things

One part of being on facebook is that people will do annoying things like poking you, sending you e-gifts (that don't actually do anything) and then send things like "write 25 random things about you." Well I got a couple of them and finally wrote the 25 random things so that I could say that I did it. Here is the list that I posted (by the way the Chuck Norris picture was just a random picture I thought would be appropriate):

1. I love that my kids make me laugh everyday, Jacob and the new things that he says, and Maddie…well she is like me, her thoughts are all over the place.


2. I hope that one day I will able to take a year off of work, pull the kids out of school and travel the world (although living in China isn't a bad start)


3. I love saying, "Renee and I have been married for 6 ½ years (or however many years at the time I'm saying it)…it's been the best 2 years of my life." It hardly ever gets a laugh, but I'm cheesy like that. NOTE: I secretly have loved all the years that my wife and I have been married…wait…secrets out.


4. I wish that more people would understand how awesome the message of the Gospel is.


5. I am obsessed with the NFL Draft; I literally plan my year around the last weekend in April so that I can sit around on Saturday and Sunday and watch close to 20 hours worth of pure football enjoyment. Note that I already have my plans for the 2010 Draft; all I got to say is Damon Hall had better be ready.


6. I am extremely cheap and my favorite gift to give others is a gift certificate to watch my kids for a night.


7. I am happy that I go with the flow; otherwise this whole thing about not knowing what is going to happen when I move back to the US would probably be stressing me out.


8. I have begun to love watching Rugby over here in China. I hate to say that it is getting closer to being my number one sport to watch. Sorry NFL, the flow of Rugby with no commercial breaks, no timeouts, just all out running around and hitting is so much more appealing then watching a 3.5 hour NFL Broadcast that contains less then 30 minutes of action.


9. I still believe that ice cream fills in the cracks after eating…so even if you are full, enjoy, it won't fill you up any more, right?


10. I have no idea where I will be in 5 years or 10 years…my wife keeps asking and I am always able to somehow defer my answer.


11. I would rather watch Ravens' games by myself, mostly because I sometimes secretly try to coach the team through the TV…too bad it never works


12. I think that Buffalo chicken sandwiches are like manna from Heaven.


13. I would love to be able to make MTO runs every night at 1am, but I would probably then be dead after about 1 year.


14. I have really begun to enjoy hiking outside and up mountains, first Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), then Old Rag, then Evere…wait…okay maybe I will stick to mountains less then 10,000ft.


15. I really hope that I can go to New Zealand in 2011 to watch the Rugby World Cup, and oh yeah, seeing New Zealand wouldn't be half bad either.


16. I would love to open a diner that just sells sandwiches made from left over comfort food meals, Thanksgiving Day Sandwich, Pot Roast Hoagie, Chicken and Mashed Potatoes on Pumpernickel, etc. My experiments in this field have slowed during my time in China…still trying to figure out if the Chicken Feet, Pig's Ear, Lotus Root and Fried Noodle Sandwich would be a hit under the "Asian" section of my menu.


17. I love playing basketball in China, I tend to be one of the better players when I'm on the court…in the US I am usually the scrub no one wants.


18. I have what medical professionals refer to as Poop Fright, defined as the inability to go #2 in public or around other people.


19. When I cook something I don't trust other people's opinions, I have to taste it on my own to determine if it is good or not, usually I don't think it tastes great…I get that from my grandmother.


20. I don't know how to accept praise from people; I try to downplay important stuff in my life so that I don't have to receive praise over it.


21. I like to secretly give my kids candy…oops…secrets out. I understand this is very wrong on many levels, but it brings a smile to my kids and my face.


22. I am a little bit of a movie snob, I may sit down to watch almost any movie, but I usually like very few movies and they mostly do not appeal to the masses.


23. When I plan vacations, I try to plan them around the meals. Most of my favorite experiences from vacations past deal with food.


24. I basically had never lived outside of a 70 mile radius of where I grew up, until I moved to China…so that was kind of big.


25. I used to be embarrassed to say that my favorite tea to drink is Lady Grey Tea, but I have come to accept that, "I Love Lady Grey Tea!" (but please imagine me saying this in a grunting manly voice, not a spritsy schoolgirl voice)