My Homework

I was lucky enough to be tagged twice in the same day on the My Homework meme, thanks to Josh and Jamie. 

11 Random Facts About Myself:

1. I drive the same car (Chevy Cavalier) that I bought the summer after I graduated college 11 1/2 years ago. 
2. My wife and I met when I was a Resident Advisor in the dorm she was living. Yes, that was frowned upon by the higher ups around campus, but my hall director at the time OK'd it.
3. I was Senior of the Year at my high school.
4. I won our "Driver's Ed Award" about a month before I rolled my pickup. I didn't realize the gravel road curved and I ended up in a field, upside down. Glad I put my seatbelt on before I turned to take that "shortcut."
5. In a span of about 10 years I got my high school diploma, a bachelor's degree and two Master's degrees. 
6. My parents were divorced when I was very young. I call both my Mom and Step-Mom "Mom." This can be confusing when telling a story, especially to my wife, or when both of them are in the same room.
7. My kids (oldest is 5) haven't figured out that they have more grandparents than other kids. They do like the extra Christmas'.
8. My office at work is also designated as a "mother's room." 
9. Since 2009 I've been doing a "picture a day" blog so that family members that we don't get to see very often get to "watch" the kids grow up. I've gotten smarter over the years - now I have one Blogger site. This is the 3rd different service I've used and I also used to create a separate blog every year. Not very smart. The last two years I've done everything from my smartphone. 
10. My kids all love vegetables. I hate vegetables.
11. "The Office" was the last weekly sitcom that I would plan my life around. 

Since Josh and Jamie both tagged me on the same day, I decided to just pick the question that I liked.

1. What was your favorite children's book as a child or favorite to read as a parent? I loved the Pokey Little Puppy, but a close second was The Little Engine That Could. My kids have grown to love The Little Engine That Could also. My grandma who I would read The Little Engine with gave a copy to us when we had our first child. Since she's passed away, I pause whenever I open the book to re-read what she wrote on the front cover.
2. If you had won that insane lottery jackpot, what is the first thing you would buy? A truck. I'm ready to be done with the Cav. That way I would look good driving to donate money to the Church and other great organizations. 
3. What's your favorite "get to know someone new" question? "Where are you from?" I think that says a lot about people. And I find that where you live now isn't necessarily where you are from. 
4. Would you ever consider a job that required an out of country relocation? I would never say never, but it's extremely highly unlikely. I like being close to family.
5. When was the last time you laughed so hard it hurt, and what was it that made that happen? I have three kids that are hilarious. My middle child is three and comes up with the craziest outfits and things to say. It's wonderful. Either something by them or during one of our Dads in Ed podcasts (subscribe in iTunes!). We've had some hilarious times discussing Brent's baseball glory days (Episode 1 toward the end) and all (er, both at the time of writing this) of our guests have been awesome. Yes, I chose this question as a way to shamelessly get Dads in Ed mentioned here.
6. What is the one movie that shows up on TV that even though you have seen it a hundred times you still leave it on and watch? The original Blue Brothers. I really dislike watching movies but there isn't a movie that comes close in my book. I love all the music on it. 
7. How long does it take you to get to work? Generally less than 10 minutes. That's three times as long as when we first got married. I've never lived more than 15 minutes from where I worked.
8. What was your proudest moment thus far? Honestly, it's probably when I see or get compliments about how my kids treat other people. With my oldest in kindergarten, we keep stressing how important it is to treat others in a positive way. Many "awards" he gets involve how he acted or how he helped others, which means more to me than test scores. 
9. What's your favorite thing to cook? Don't tell my wife, but I do enjoy baking cookies. I rarely do it because she's an awesome cook. I don't know how to cook much. I learned (via YouTube) how to cook an egg over-medium earlier this year. I really like breakfast and my wife isn't always a fan of mornings, so maybe I should learn how to make fancy pancakes or something.
10. Android or iOS? iOS. I had an Android when they first came out and wouldn't go back.
11. If you could pack it all up today and move, where would you land? Some place quiet. I had thought when I graduated college I was going to move to Wyoming and teach there, but grad school brought me back closer to home. I would love to live in a quiet, scenic area that has a change of seasons.

Next up

• I have no idea who hasn't done this, so if you are reading this and haven't done this, see the questions below!
• If you've already done this and just think my questions are awesome, feel free to make a new post :)

11 Questions for You

1. What's the favorite car you've ever owned?
2. What's your favorite vacation spot?
3. Morning or night person?
4. If you had to create a fake Twitter account for an celebrity, who would it be and why?
5. How many coats do you own? Which one is your favorite?
6. When you Google yourself, what's the first link that comes up (even if it's not about you)?
7. Chevy or Ford?
8. What college did you go to?
9. What's your favorite story from college?
10. Who is your favorite band? Favorite song from that band?
11. If you were to have coffee with one person, who and why?

Here's how it works:

• Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
• List 11 bloggers (or take the easy way out if you can't figure out 11 :))
• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don't nominate a blogger who has nominated you.