The Anderson Family: 34!!!

34 things about me on my 34th birthday....

1. I am a morning person. Always have been and always will be. Afternoons are my worst time of day. If I could sleep away every afternoon, I would.

2. I love good surprises.

3. I am a very good actress! I got 10/10 on my monologue in drama class, and I won Actress of the Year Award in my school when I was in grade 8. I still have the plaque to prove it.

4. You wouldn't believe the number of times I have been asked the question,"Do you ever get angry?" It makes me angry every time. ;)

5. I love me a good scalp massage. Foot rubs are nice too.

6. I have 4 brothers, 3 sisters, 9 sisters-in-law, 10 brothers-in-law, 48 nieces and nephews, 4 beautiful daughters, 1 smokin hot husband and more cousins than I have time to count out. Having a BIG family has always been one of my greatest blessings.

7. I'm very fond of walking. (Name the movie!)

8. I love playing "Name the Movie."

9. I stand almost 6 feet tall. When I was 11 years old, I hated being tall. My teacher told me I would like it when I got older. She was right!

10. I love suspense/action/thriller type movies. NOT horror movies. Even just the commercials of horror movies freak me out.

11. My favorite and best subject in school was chemistry, hence why I became a Chemical Technologist. I only worked as one for one year though, and then went on to fulfill my greatest experience in life.....to become a mother!

12. I love children and babies and love to work with them. I feel like I am in my element when I am with them.

13. I don't think my desire to have children will ever go away. I predict I will be 75 years old and still wanting another baby!

14. One of my worst fears is being trapped in a car under water and not being able to get my children out in time.

15. I am a textbook introvert. Everything you have ever read of or heard about introverts is me.

16. On a scale of 1-10 on how ticklish I am, I would have to say I am a 15.

17. I am an excellent speller. I won the school spelling bee when I was in grade 3.

18. I had laser eye surgery 7 years ago, and I love how it has changed my life. It was worth every penny.

19. I think beards on men are sexy.

20. I wish I was born in the 1800's. I love that era of women always wearing dresses, and people living simple lives, and no technology. And then my husband reminds me of the diseases that were rampant and the lack of good medicine and vaccinations, and I am ever so grateful I am alive in today's day and age.

21. I'm a very spiritual person. I remember being under 5 years old and thinking to myself, "Where did I come from? Where did I live before I lived in this body?"

22. Olives make me gag.

23. Cardigans are my favorite article of clothing.

24. I have never dyed my hair, but I know the time is soon coming. At what point do you stop plucking the grey hairs and start dying them?

25. I sleep best when I have socks on my feet.

26. I've recently lost weight. 80 pounds! (Yes, eighty!!!) It was done through good eating and exercise. I usually sweat it out through cardio and weight lifting between the hours of 6-7 am every morning.

27. My favorite colors are always a tie between red and purple.

28. The best vacation I ever went on was when my family took a road trip to Disneyland and Sea World (and Vegas and SLC along the way) followed by a close second to when my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary in the Dominican Republic.

29. I don't like to be the center of attention or stand out. Maybe it stems from literally standing out my whole life. (See no 9)

30. The best (and....strangest) compliment I ever received was when a complete stranger told me he thought I was the most pure person he had ever seen in his life. 😳

31. I love sports and being active. I was once told that because I was so tall I would be good at rowing, so one spring I joined the ERC (Edmonton Rowing Club) intro class, and I loved it! I was surrounded by super tall people like myself. I got busy with taking care of my little kids, but I hope to re-join the club and row again one day.

32. When I was 2 years old I slipped on some ice and smashed my face into a thin cement block, breaking the cement block in half. My parents thought my 2 front teeth had been knocked out. They searched for them but could never find them. The dental X-ray later showed that they had been pushed back up into my gums. I am so glad I don't remember any of that, including what I assume was excruciating pain!

33. Summer is my favorite of all the seasons. Life in general is just easier in the summer.

34. My favorite treat of all time are the Brookside Dark Chocolate covered Acai berries and Blueberries. YUM.

My birthday this year was wonderful. Ben had to work, but he graciously got up at 5:30 am with me to go run stairs! On my request of course haha. I LOVE being up early. I know I feel tired, and I don't love that, but I just love the early mornings, and the feeling that you are one of the first people awake. Weird, I know.

I came down to this...

So sweet of Ben. There was really nothing I wanted as a wrapped gift this year, but he still went and got me some things he thought I'd like, which I did. A necklace, my favorite body spray that I'm running low on, and some movies he knows I like.

When we were first married, we lived on the south end of 124st, close to downtown. It was a one bedroom apartment, in a small, old building, but we loved it! We would sometimes walk to these long stairs close by and run up and down them for exercise. I remember doing it by myself too a few times after work. That whole part of my life brings me good memories. So naturally, those were the stairs I asked him to go run with me that morning. The weather was gorgeous that morning, and the views were spectacular...

The U of A across the river

Bracing ourselves...

So the stairs are broken up by a road we have to cross. I don't know how many stairs in total, but I think about 200.

Legs are on fire in this pic!

Smiling...on the outside

Stopped to take it all in...

This was after a couple of flights. Oh what magic an instagram filter can do for the red face after exercising!

And this was when we were done. Only 3 flights. I was not used to running stairs on this day! Since then (yes I am completing this blog post about 3 weeks late) we have been running stairs at a closer location 3x a week, and we have both greatly improved.

We walked around for a bit after...Ben hates selfies as this pic clearly shows haha! He let me take a ton that day... it WAS my birthday after all. It was one of his many gifts to me :)

So Ben went to work for the day. My friend Kali and I and our kids went to Fred Broadstock Pool for the afternoon. It was fun but SO crowded and busy. Makes me grateful for our beach. But it was a fun change of scenery, and the kids loved that diving board! There is Lily...

Ready to hit the town! Another of Ben's sweet gifts to me was him shaving his beard off! I love beards, but sometimes I just want him clean shaven again.

We went to Julio's Barrio on Whyte for dinner. I specifically went there for the DFIC (Deep fried ice cream)!

I think we earned this....

It was SO hot that night, but lovely at the same time. We got good seats in the restaurant, not outside, but not quite inside either. Just inside enough to feel the AC! So we got some great people watching in haha. The folks walking Whyte Ave that night did not disappoint! We saw interesting and random things including a woman carrying a bumblebee piñata and a couple riding a tandem bicycle.

I love the Whyte Ave area, the Strathcona farmers market area and the University area, which is kind of where we were all night. 3 of my favorite parts of all of Edmonton.

The Fringe started that night, and it was fun to walk around and check out the street performers that were there. Because of the Fringe, they were running the High Level Streetcar at night. I love the Trolley ride! We go every year. So this was our annual trip. First time at night and first time without kids!

The train conductor took our picture and then put his hat on my head for another pic!

We got off at the ledge and wandered around for a bit. Checked out the new fountains. Then got caught in the rain! The rain was short lived so it was ok.