I’m still working on my recaps for the Walt Disney World Marathon and the ZOOMA Florida 12K (soon, promise!), but I’m taking a break from those to link up with Courtney, Cynthia and Mar for the Friday Five.

I had fun doing this one and admittedly, it took me MUCH longer than it should have because I got sucked into looking through old pictures on my computer.  Can I just say that I’m glad I wasn’t blogging regularly back then?  Because wow.  We took a LOT of pictures and, well, lets just say we had a lot of fun.

So anyway, today’s Friday Five is five random facts about me – hopefully these are new-ish and not things I’ve talked about before!

I lived in Hawaii for three years.

My dad was in the U.S. Navy for 26 years, which meant that we moved every few years.  He was a Flight Engineer on P-3’s so our moves usually took us to Naval Air Stations with VP squadrons.  One of those was VP-6 in Barbers Point, Hawaii.  I was little, so I don’t remember a whole lot about it, but I do have some memories of it.  It’s definitely somewhere that I’d love to go back and visit one day!

Holy cow, Mackenzie looks a lot like me in this picture!

I am freakishly flexible.

My high school best friend nicknamed me Gumby because of how flexible I was.  I remember my gymnastics coach making me do splits with my front leg on the backside of the wedge mat.  See that ridiculous thing I’m doing below?  It’s called a Bow & Arrow and I can still do it.

Adam and I dated less than a year before we were engaged.

It was crazy fast, but when you know, you know.  We worked together for a year and hung out a bit before we started dating, so we did kind of know each other.  Officially, we started dating in July of 2004, moved in together in October, bought a house in April, and he proposed in June.  Best decision he ever made!

Engaged!  And we look like babies!!

Being a mom is the one thing I always knew I wanted to do.

It’s what I dreamed about most when I was younger.  It is, by far, the most challenging and rewarding thing I’ve ever done.  I’m not lying when I tell you that the best part of my days are when I’m with my kids and sometimes, it’s the worst part too.  I know I make mistakes and I know I’m not perfect, but when they curl up in my lap and say “I love you mama, you’re the best”, it makes every single tough second worth it.

Does it get any sweeter than this?  

I won’t get in the water at the beach but I am SCUBA Certified.

The first time I went diving was on a cruise with Andrea, her family, and our friend Amy.  Amy decided she wanted to try it and somehow convinced me that it was a good idea.  I loved it!  Adam and I had to cancel our original honeymoon plans at the last minute (thanks to a hurricane) and ended up on a cruise that went to Grand Cayman.  I convinced him to go on the diving excursion and he was hooked!  We spent most of the money we received for wedding gifts on diving gear and getting certified.  I still hate getting in the water at the beach (too many critters that you can’t see!) but I’ll jump off of the back of a dive boat into 80 ft. deep water without a second thought.  And I’ll swim after sharks to try to take their picture.  Makes sense, right?

Diving in Key Largo with our buddy Russ

I want to hear five (or one, whatever!) things about you!