33 Things About Me

I turned 33 yesterday so I thought it would be fun to share 33 random facts about me that you might not already know!

1. I was born and raised in Southern California (Irvine to be exact) with two brothers.. I am the middle child. Probably why I’m weird..
2. I never moved as a child and my parents still live in the house I grew up in.
3. I am left-handed but do all sports “righty.” I kick, throw, snowboard right. Multi-faceted, right?
4. I can recite every line from Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura and Home Alone. So can my brothers. We are annoying to watch movies with.
5. I started dancing when I was 3.5 and was competitive in ballet, jazz, tap and pointe up until High School.
6. I was on the Cheer/Song squad all 4 years of high school. L-E-T-S G-O!
7. My mom used to rhinestone everything of mine, including my freshman winter formal dress. There was nothing basic about me.
8. I played the flute and piccolo in middle school and the first year of high school. Looking back I should have continued with my instruments but I didn’t want to get made of at school. My mom would force me to bring my flute home to practice but I was so embarrassed to carry it on my walk home that I would shove it in my backpack or conveniently “forget it” in my locker.
9. I went to Loyola Marymount and studied Communication Studies. I graduated Cum Laude but was .1 off from being Magna Cum Laude. I will never live that one down.
10. The college roommate I was paired up with freshman year was also from Southern California and we grew up only 20 minutes away from each other. She is one of my best friends to this day and we lived together all 4 years of college and 2 years after.
11. I didn’t grow up religious but loved taking religion courses in college and was one credit away from being a religion minor.
12. Speaking of religion, I recently took RCIA classes (rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church. I did it mostly because my kids will be attending a Catholic school and I wanted to be able to relate to what they were learning and answer their questions.
13. I worked at the Ritz Carlton Marina Del Rey when I was in college and sat a number of celebrities at the restaurant, including Nicolas Cage (his alias is Dr. Frankenstein) and Mariah Carey… diva doesn’t even BEGIN to describe her.
14. My childhood friends and college friends have merged into one friend group and we still celebrate all of life’s exciting events with one another.
15. My husband and I met while we were both working for Aetna in 2009. I was in an on/off again relationship of 6 years but when Britt walked in the door I thought to myself, “I am going to marry that guy one day.” And I did.
16. He always tell people we met on Craigslist. We didn’t. Lol
17. We dated long distance (he moved to Seattle for work 1 month into our relationship) for 11 months before he proposed in Napa.
18. I moved to Seattle after Britt proposed. In October of 2011.. the worst winter of all time. It snowed on March 17th. MARCH!
19. I told Britt I would only live in Seattle for 5 years before moving back to OC. We’re still here and never moving.
20. I got married when I was 25 (an infant) at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, CA. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky that day
21. We went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon but it rained the entire time (don’t go in January). We lovingly call it our “honey monsoon.”
22. Our favorite thing to do as a couple is travel, eat and drink 😉 The best trip we ever took was to London, Paris and Nice a month before we conceived Jackson.
23. I worked in employee health & benefits for 9 years before “retiring” after Cameron was born.
24. I have been a “working mom” and “stay at home mom” and they’re both the hardest f*cking thing in the entire world. I have sympathy for both sides and there is NO happy medium for women.
25. Jackson and Cameron are 23 months apart and Cameron and Parker are 22 months apart. WAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM.
26. These next few aren’t about me specifically but about my kids.. Jackson is named after Britt’s late Uncle who was killed in a plane crash when Britt was a young boy. His middle name is Walker and is a family name on my side.
27. Cameron is named after Cameron, WI: Britt’s Hometown. His middle name is John after my grandpa.
28. We didn’t know if Cameron was a boy or girl and would have been Cam either way. He is the only baby who we were “surprised” by in the delivery room.
29. Parker is not named after anyone. I just liked the name! Also, he was a different kind of “surprise.” lol
30. All three of my labors were different but the same. My water didn’t break with Jackson but I actively labored at home for 12 hours before going to the hospital. I was at a 6 when I was admitted. Epidural. 2 pushes and he was out. My water broke with Cameron but no active labor until they gave me Pitocin and an epidural. 3 pushes and he was out. I was induced with Parker and after an epidural, he was out in 3 pushes. Long story short: epidural with all three and they flew out. Wouldn’t change a thing about any of them and their three births are the three best days of my entire life.
31. After every birth, my husband brought champagne and sushi to the delivery room. Because I could live off of those two things and those two things only.
32. I credit Alix for getting me back into fitness and healthy living.. and now we’re training for a half-marathon when I couldn’t run more than a mile one year ago.
33. Starting this blog with Alix has enriched my life in more ways than I can count. I have found purpose, creativity, confidence and empowerment again.

Do you feel like you know me a little better? I hope so! Looking forward to another beautiful year!

xx, H