I Mustache You Some Questions

I was recently tagged by Kaylin over at her  blog, Enticing Healthy Eating, to complete a survey. She was actually the winner of my recent 4th blogiversary giveaway so it was fun to learn more about her from her answers. Since I have been meaning to do a “random things about me” post for awhile now I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon and do this survey. Oh and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Four names that people call me (other than my real name):

1. Rin/Rinny – Growing up I really didn’t have any nicknames until my friends took it upon themselves to come up with one for me in high school. Chop off the E and it stuck! Although only a handful of people call me this, it is my most popular nickname.
2. Nire – It’s my name spelled backwards. This was inspired by newspeak in George Orwell’s 1984 when my friends and I had a group project in high school. Only one of my friends still calls me that.
3. Air-In – Yet another creative nickname thought up by one of my friends. She purposely emphasized the phonetic spelling.
4. Ann – When on the phone people often misunderstand when I say my name even when I make it a point to enunciate.

Four jobs I have had:

1. Sales Rep at American Eagle – I got away with my purple hair there too.
2. Sales Rep at Vector/Cutco – I drank the Kool-aid and love my set of knives.
3. Kodak – I crawled into film machinery and cleaned it, mopped and sealed floors, painted walls, etc. It was not glamorous.
4. Laboratory Assistant at Ohio State – Maintained solutions, cleaned glassware, transplanted seedlings.

Four movies I have watched more than once: 

1. The Little Mermaid/The Last Unicorn/Fern Gully – I grouped these together because I watched them all over and over and over as a child, much to my siblings’ dismay.
2. Muppets From Space – “The goat?” “The re-MOTE!” Favorite Muppets movie. Muppet Christmas Carole is my second.
3. The entire Harry Potter collection – Of course I read the books first. But before every new movie was released I rewatched all the previous movies and have sporadically watched them otherwise. There’s a reason why a team of myself and even more HP-crazed fans won Harry Potter trivia.
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – I even saw Monty Python’s Spamalot musical.

Four books I’d recommend:

1. The Harry Potter Series – Yes I am one of those people who think you need to read the books. There’s so much they leave out in the movies, especially in The Half Blood Prince. And I had the privilege of reading each of the books as they came out (even went to a few midnight book releases). I basically grew up with Harry Potter.
2. The Outlander Series – I never thought I would get into this series by the description but I’m totally sucked in and anxious to read the latest book that just came out this year. They also turned it into a series on Starz but I haven’t watched more than the first episode. I’m not a huge fan of the character they picked for Jamie though.
3. The Hunger Games – Apparently I like book series. I just saw 2 hours of Liam Hemsworth the Mocking Jay Part 1 yesterday. Even though I know what happens it’s killing me already to have to wait another year to see it.
4. 1984 by George Orwell – This is probably the book that got me really into reading.

Four places I have lived:

1. Dallas (Plano), TX – Birth place!
2. Rochester, NY – Where I grew up.
3. Columbus, OH – The Ohio State University for undergrad.
4. Memphis, TN – University of Tennessee Health Science Center for grad school.

Four places I have been:

1. Most of the contiguous USA and it’s major national parks/monuments. Most recent favorite was rafting and camping on the Colorado and then hiking out of the Grand Canyon.
2. Canada – Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Banff.
3. Cayman Islands
4. Europe – All over Italy, London, Paris, Prague, and Berlin.

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. Feels odd to say where I’d rather be when it is Thanksgiving! How about I’d rather it be a few hours from now when I will have a full plate of delicious food in front of me?
2. Somewhere warmer like Costa Rica
3. Greece because I’ve wanted to go for a very long time
4. At the Ohio State vs. Michigan game on Saturday

Four things I don’t eat:

1. Mushrooms – Unless they are minced up really small. I don’t mind the flavor, it’s the texture.
2. Pickles – Just no.
3. Coffee – I know that’s a beverage that you drink not eat, but still.
4. Seafood – I’ll try it sometimes but I rarely enjoy it.

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Fruit – All kinds! Cannot get enough.
2. Cheese – Very glad I am not lactose intolerant.
3. Bacon – Mmm salty meat.
4. Avocado – If it has avocado on it, I’m sold.

Four TV shows that I watch:

1. Big Bang Theory – Best show ever. About time they showed how cool nerds are.
2. New Girl – Another show I love. Such great characters and I enjoy Zooey Deschanel.
3. Sleepy Hallow – I got hooked last fall when I was in the mood for creepy shows to prepare for Halloween. And I kept going.
4. Sons of Anarchy – Not a show I would normally have picked up but while some shows have characters you cannot help but love, this show has ones that you cannot help but despise and want to see cut down. That being said, I should have stopped watching at the end of Season 6 as I was not at all happy about the way it ended. I have slacked off with staying up to date with Season 7 as a result.

Four things I am looking forward to:

1. Going home to Rochester for Christmas. It’s just not Christmas without a healthy dose of snow!
2. Trip to San Juan to celebrate my and a few of my friends’ 30th birthdays next summer. Our birthdays are all within a couple months of each other so we figured we should just all celebrate together.
3. Memphis in May BBQ Festival! Just because I no longer live there doesn’t mean I plan on missing out. Especially since it is during my 30th birthday month.
4. Something I’ve been keeping secret for over a month… and I still cannot tell you! But no I am not pregnant or getting married.

Four random things about me:

(This category used to be 4 things I’m always saying but I couldn’t think of any.)

1. I still have a baby tooth. There was no adult tooth underneath to push it out so it remains. Thankfully it is in the back of my mouth so as long as it doesn’t rot it’s staying put.
2. While I’m on physical traits, I also have strabismus. It means that my eyes don’t line up (not lazy) and that one crosses. My left eye pointed in towards my nose and it was quite pronounced, resulting in double vision. But I was given glasses at a very young age in attempts to strengthen my left eye. In highschool I had surgery to straighten my left eye (they cut off the muscles and reattached) and it’s been straight on ever since! Unfortunately my eyesight is still horrid but that surgery allowed me to finally get contacts.
3. I’ve only broken one bone, my arm near my wrist, from a snowboarding incident. I wish I could say I was doing some cool stunt to result in such an injury but alas no. It was my first run down the iciest slope I’ve ever attempted and I just wiped out. And now I refuse to ski or snowboard south of Pennsylvania on the east coast ever again.
4. My hair has been an array of colors. It started with the “Sun-in” hair lightener, slowly giving me dirty-blondish hair in middle school. Then I went off the deep end and tried black, dark red, blue, and most often purple. In fact purple appeared in my hair for the better part of a decade starting from the end of highschool until a little over a year ago. It would come and go for graduations and weddings but would always find a way to sneak back. Maybe it will again soon….!

And now I am supposed to tag 4 people to take this survey but I’m not going to do that. I thought it was a fun little exercise and if you feel like doing it, have at it!

One year ago: Cranberry-Walnut Oat Bread

Two years ago: Red Velvet Rice Krispie Treats

Four years ago: Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini