My 100th Post

It seems that there is a blogging tradition where bloggers post 100 things about themselves when they reach their 100th post. Well here I am, and I am wondering how long it will take me to come up with 100 things about me to list here! A few weeks ago I was tagged by Marlise, who wanted me to list 8 random things about myself. I guess I will count this post as an answer to that tag. I have to list 100, I don't think I want to come up with another 8! So, without further ado, here goes!

1. My given name is Melissa Jenelle.

2. My middle name comes from both of my Grandmothers' names- Jennie and Ella.

3. I was born in September 1975.

4. I was born in Michigan.

5. I am the oldest of 4 children.

6. I have 2 sisters, and 1 brother.

7. I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 4 years old.

8. I was baptized when I was 10 years old.

9. I attended a Baptist church until the age of 13, when my family switched over to a non-denominational church.

10. From a young age, I had a heart for the lost, and wanted to be a missionary when I grew up.

11. I grew up listening to Christian music.

12. My favorite CCM artists were Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Twila Paris, and Petra. This was the 80's people!

13. I remember watching Luke and Laura get married on General Hospital-I must have been watching with my mom because I was only 5 years old!

14. I remember watching (again, with my mom) Princess Dianna and Prince Charles get married.

15. My favorite tv shows when I was a kid were Growing Pains, Family Ties, and Little House on the Prairie. To this day, I could still watch reruns of those shows without a problem.

16. I attended an "open-classroom" elementary school. There were no walls to our classrooms- only partitions, so we could see what was going on in the class next to us. It felt really strange to go to junior high and have classrooms with walls!

17. I attended AWANA from k-6th grades. Sparks, Chums, and Guards. Now they have Truth in Training instead of Chums and Guards, but otherwise my kids will get to go through the same program that I went through.

18. I have moved more times that I could possibly count, and have lived in 4 different states. Michigan, Florida, Indiana, and Illinois.

19. I had my first taste of Indian food on a trip to Washington DC when I was in 7th grade. I've been hooked ever since!

20. When I was 8-12 years old, we lived on a culdesac and would play outside all day long without checking in with my mom every 10 minutes. Those were the days!

21. On the above mentioned culdesac, my sisters and friends and I would spend the day pretending that we were teenagers and our boyfriends were the guys from Top Gun.

22. We would also go to my friend Sandy's house and lipsync to Madonna songs in her basement. I wasn't allowed to listen to such music in my house! :)

23. I hate to admit it, but I was a huge fan of New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and Paula Abdul.

24. The summer before I turned 13 I lived on my family's sailboat.

25. That summer I have strong memories of listening to the following songs on the radio- "Please Don't Go Girl", "Fast Car", and "Red, Red Wine". Hmm.

26. Yes, my family lived on a sailboat. We traveled from Muskegon, Michigan, to Ft. Myers, Florida. I was homeschooled.

27. It really blows my mind, but my parents were only a few years older than I am now, when they took 4 kids on a sailboat across the country! I'm still shaking my head.

28. We had a dog growing up- a cocker spaniel named Taffy. We gave him away 2-3 times but he always ended up back at our house. Don't ask.

29. My 8th grade class trip was to Cedar Point, an amusement park in Ohio.

30. I was in choir all through junior high and high school.

31. I was in a women's chorus from 7-10th grade.

32. 11th grade I was finally in a mixed chorus and 12th grade I made it to chambersingers- the most elite choir in the school.

33. I was a memeber of the Michigan Honors Choir in 9th grade.

34. I took piano lessons from age 8-17.

35. I attended Grace College in Indiana for my first 2 years of college.

36. I had the same roommate both years at Grace, plus an "adopted" roommate- a friend who lived off-campus. Hi Lydia and Marlise!

37. While at Grace, my major was Elementary Education with a minor in French.

38. I have always loved Paris and the French language.

39. I went on 2 mission trips with Teen Missions International. One to Malta, and one to France.

40. I've traveled to the following countries- Malta, England (2x), France (4x), Switzerland (2x), Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Morocco.

41. I collect crystal Eiffel Towers and Gault figurines.

42. I attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

43. I received my BA in Applied Linguistics.

44. I LOVE Chicago and will always consider it my 2nd home.

45. I had 1 roommate at MBI- my best friend Samantha.



46. I was a Resident Assistant for 2 years at MBI.



47. While at MBI, my Women's Chorus toured the Western USA as well as Europe.



48. We drove by the Ingalls homestead in South Dakota and I got a bit choked up.



47. We also visited Wall Drug Store. Quite the tourist trap!



48. I was a vegetarian for 10 years.

49. I met my husband at our church in Chicago.

48. Six months after we met, we started dating.

49. We got engaged after 6 wks of dating.

50. We got married 8 months later.

51. My husband is from the south- we are so opposite in almost every way!

52. When we were engaged, Todd would come to my house every night for dinner. A little obsessive, I know, but neither of us had any family in the area.

53. I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2000.

54. I trained for 6 months, with my longest training run being 23 miles.

55. I haven't run since then.

56. I would like to WALK another marathon some day.

57. My husband and I were married exactly one month before September 11th.

58. We moved out of Chicago a few months later. I couldn't handle the big city anymore and we wanted to be closer to family.

59. We were married nearly 2 years when Emma was born. 2 1/2 years later, Ella came along.

60. I taught myself to crochet a few years ago and I've made several baby blankets and 2 adult afghans since then.

61. When Emma was a year old, I started scrapbooking.

62. Scrapbooking is an addiction which requires therapy in the form of shopping for more scrapbooking items!

62. I've completed 4 scrapbooks and have 5 in progress.

63. I do a scrapbook a year for each child. I plan to give these to the girls when they get married.

64. I love chocolate, but not the expensive kind. Give me a bag of peanut M&M's any day.

65. I LOVE coffee. I would go to Starbucks everyday if I could.

66. My favorite coffee drinks are Frappaccinos and Carmel Macciatos.

67. I have naturally curly hair, and I'm forever trying to find the perfect haircut and product.

68. I colored my hair for the first time in January.

69. I've been a consultant with Mary Kay, Arbonne, Pampered Chef, and now The Body Shop at Home. So far, what I'm currently doing is the best!

70. My best friend and I dream of wandering the streets of Paris together. Someday!

71. My husband and I are related- back in the 1500's!

72. I used to be a Retail Buyer for a chain of Christian bookstores.

73. I was a member of the Gospel Music Association.

74. I am not a pet lover, and would be perfectly content to never own a pet.

75. If I could drive any car, it would be a Volkswagon Jetta.

76. Or a Saturn. I had a Saturn SC2 in the 90's and I loved that thing!

77. I wish I could play the drums. Everytime I see a marching band, I get jealous of the drumline.

78. The longest I've gone without washing my hair-a week. Twice actually. You don't want to know.

79. I've never broken a bone, had stiches, or had surgery of any kind. The only time I've been in the hospital was when I gave birth.

80. I hate wearing socks or shoes in the house. HATE IT! I just can't bear to do it, even in the winter time.

81. I studied spoken Japanese for a semester in college.

82. I would much rather be cold than hot. I hate being hot. I hate the beach.

83. My ideal vacation spot is a cabin in the mountains.

84. My favorite holiday is Christmas. I absolutely love it. Given the money, I'd deck my house out in holly and bows every year and have a magnificent tree as well. Oh- and I love cookie exchanges too. Any excuse to get together during the holidays is good enough for me!

85. I have 23 first cousins. When I met Todd, he told me he had a huge family. But then he met mine. 7 years later, he's still trying to remember everyone's names.

86. I love to snuggle up with a good book on a rainy day. Haven't done that since having children, but I know that will happen again someday. Oh- a down comforter is a must on a day like this!

87. I have a short fuse and I let little things get to me.

88. I'm thankful for my husband and kids and I know that I'm blessed to be given these gifts by the Lord.

89. My family is spread out all over the place. My brother's in NYC, my sisters are in Oregon, and my parents live 2.5 hours away.

90. The worst job I've ever had is working at a bakery. I worked Saturday mornings and had to open the shop at 5am. In Chicago. By myself. I wasn't crazy about it at all.

91. My favorite job was being a music buyer. I loved getting the cd's before anyone else!

92. I hate team sports. I much prefer competetive swimming or running. I like my biggest competetor to be myself.

93. I am bad at housekeeping. I work hard at it, but no matter how hard I work, it doesn't seem to ever be as clean as everyone else's house.

94. I like to be in charge. This won't come as a surprise to any of my family.

95. I live in an apartment. I can't wait to have a house.

96. We are a year and a half away from being debt free. Finally-an end in sight.

97. Sometimes I wish I could go back to work fulltime, but I know I'd miss my girls.

98. I love it when the mail comes. It's the highlight of my day. Always has been. I get depressed for a moment when all I get is junkmail. A scrapbook magazine is a great treat!

99. I'm a magazine junkie. My interests have changed over the years, but if I'm currently obsessed with something, I probably have a magazine subscription to feed the obsession.

100. My absolute favorite coffee is from Montana Coffee Traders. We found them on our honeymoon and I fell in love with their Monteverde Sunrise Blend. Yum!!!

That's all folks!


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