I started blogging full time in February of this year, and, as of today, I've shared 100 blog posts on my blog. Wow. Somewhere around 95 I started to wonder if I'd run out of things to say... :)
So, without further ado, here are 25 random things about me.
2. My mom & dad were high school sweethearts and all three of my siblings married their high school sweethearts - crazy, huh? I've known my in-laws since we were all teenagers - and now we're all in our thirties.
3. My maiden name was VanRisseghem - pronounced exactly how it's spelled. Van-Riss-eg-hem. It's hard to learn how to spell Gabrielle VanRisseghem in Kindergarten, but by the time you learn it, you almost know the entire alphabet!
4. We live on the banks of the Mississippi. God opened up an opportunity for us to buy this house last year. I still pinch myself when I wake up in the mornings - it's absolutely beautiful.
5. I live in my hometown where my mom is the mayor - and I love it! Our community is big enough that I don't know everyone, but small enough that I can go to the grocery store and run into a handful of people I want to visit with.
6. I worked at a historic site for ten years - it was my dream job and I'd love to go back one day when my children are older.
7. I love pasta. All kinds.
8. I have four children, the youngest are twin boys. One of my earliest memories as a three year old child was running around the house with a ball under my shirt, pretending to be pregnant! Being a mommy has been my greatest dream and God has blessed me in big ways.9. I have a phobia of wood ticks. Eww. They suck your blood - can it get any more disgusting than that?
10. I love watching golf on television - but I don't play it. I know - it's kind of weird, but it's so relaxing.
11. I love to travel. It doesn't matter where or for how long, but I love seeing the world.
12. I've been on an airplane at least once, if not two or three times, every year since 1996 - with the exception of 2010 & 2011, when my twins were very small - but I've made up for it by taking two trips BY MYSELF in 2012. :)
13. I bit my fingernails until I was twenty-four years old! It was a terrible habit I'd tried to break my whole life, but I finally did it when I was pregnant with my first child. Now I enjoy great nails! :) Ha!
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| Doris Day |
14. I love old movies - almost anything pre-1965. I love Doris Day, Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Roc Hudson, Van Johnson, June Allison, Howard Keel, Lucille Ball, Maureen O'Hara, Elizabeth Taylor - the list goes on and on!
15. I have 17 biological aunts and uncles - and over 40 cousins! My dad is from a family of 9 and my mom is from a family of 10.
16. I LOVE historical fiction - both reading and writing it! The first historical book I read was Love Comes Softly by Jennette Oke - and I was hooked.
17. I made almost 1,000 flower pins last year. I had a booth at a craft fair with my sister-in-law and I sold quite a few (but have many more left). I started making the pins as a way to enjoy a creative outlet when my twins were still small - until I could start writing again.
18. I'm a huge fan of MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) and have been involved for seven years now.
19. I took ballet lessons on and off from the age of five until I was seven months pregnant with my second daughter at the age of twenty-six. Now I enjoy Zumba as my preferred method of exercising!
20. I love living in a state with four distinct seasons. Winter isn't my favorite, but it always makes Spring so much more amazing.
21. I write because it's like food for my soul. I thank God for my love of writing. Someone recently asked me how I find the time to be a wife, mother, volunteer, writer, etc. and I told them that writing energizes me to do all my other jobs well. It doesn't subtract from my life - it adds to it.
22. I'm an old-fashioned girl at heart. I often think I was born in the wrong century - but I'm reminded that God sent me here for such a time as this and my times are in His hands.
23. I'm wildly hopeful about my writing. My husband puts it this way: be hopeful, but don't get your hopes up. I know God has a plan - He's given each of us a gift - a commission to plant seeds of His Kingdom on this Earth through Faith, Hope & Love. However He chooses to use my writing, I'm wildly hopeful I can plant those seeds and see His Kingdom grow.
25. I am a sinner saved by Grace. I was raised by parents of deep and abiding faith and I've never known a time in my life when Christ wasn't the center. My faith is the bedrock of my existence - but it hasn't always been an easy road to travel. I've had doubts that have shaken me, fears that have tripped me and questions that have stretched me - but through it all, I've had a faith that has sustained me. God defines my life, and orders my days, and I humbly seek His will.
So there's twenty-five random things about me in celebrating my 100th blog post.
What about you? I'd love to learn something random about you in the comments - and feel free to participate in this fun blog idea!
