Versatile Blogger

My fellow Coloradoan and awesome blogger, Terzah, tagged me with the Versatile Blogger.  I loved her post because I was able to learn more about Terzah and I found some new, great blogs to read.  An opportunity to post this comes at a perfect time because I am hurt and I am sick.  Basically, this is saving me from writing about icing my foot and blowing my nose.
 
There are a few basic rules with this award:
1. You have to thank the giver, and provide a link to that person's post. Thanks Terzah!!  I do love reading your blog!  If you don't read it, you should!  Once I can run again we will have to run together.  And when I say we will need to run together, I mean we will start together and I will eat your dust the rest of the run!  Hopefully, one day we will be at the same race!
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3. Award 15 other newly discovered blogs the same award.


Random Facts about me:

1. I lived in Heidelberg, Germany my sophomore year in college and I managed to leave the country without being able to sprechen sie deutsch.  I can only say a few things like : "Ihr schwule hund trachts lederhosen."  Which means, "Your gay dog wears leather pants."  This is not a useful phrase and I am not exactly sure why I know how to say this.  I could also say "Oh meine eier," which roughly translates into "oh my testicles."  Again, why I know this is beyond me...especially because I have no occasion to say this due to my total and complete lack of testicles.  I can say a few, more boring (but more useful) things as well.  I do not excel in foreign languages and, if fact, I am so bad that my German teacher (Frau Luft) even asked if I was dyslexic...which I am not...at least not with English.   It was an incredible experience though, and it changed me in so many ways.   Below is a video showing highlights of Heidelberg.  It also has a really cheesy version of "Ich Hab Mein Hertz in Heidelberg Verloren."


2. Crazy odds.  Both my father and father in law had polio and both of my children had the same due date.  I think the odds are pretty high for both of those things.

3.    When I was in college I went to Costa Rica for a month.  I did research on bullet ants and wrote a paper called, "Role of pheromones on recruitment habits of Parapanara clavata."  This is basically a fancy way of saying I squirted honey on a tree and counted freaking huge ants.  You can read the whole paper in Scientific American...just kidding, I squirted honey on a tree and counted ants, so if anything it would probably end up in Preschooler American.

This is a bullet ant and yes they are that big!

4.  My first job out of college was a director of Science Camp.  Worst. Job. Ever.  My second job was in a blood bank.  I learned all kinds of things about blood.  We would sometimes use taxis and FedEx to send blood to hospitals.  Birth Control makes your plasma green.  Eating a high fat meal before giving blood will result in fatty plasma.  Don't worry, we didn't give that to patients.  It was sold to a Swiss company that used it in high end cosmetics and shampoo.  Are you finished puking?  Ok, I'll go on.  I also had Kevin give blood when we started dating.  To help out society and give back to the greater good?  Yeah, totally...and I wanted to find out if he had any diseases.  Once his results were up on the computer I continued dating him.  I'm just kidding, but I did learn he passes out when he gives blood and he is Rh - (as am I).  This was helpful in my pregnancies because it spared me from getting a Rhogam shot.

5.  My childhood self would be very disappointed that I am not married to Jake Ryan and driving a convertible Rabbit.  My adult self is very happy about both...although I still have a big time crush on Jake!  It's okay because Kevin still has a crush on Winnie Cooper. 

6.  I'm married to my first boyfriend...and no we were not high school sweethearts or even college sweethearts.  I was a late bloomer in the romance department.

7.  The TV character I most resemble is Velma, from Scooby-Doo (isn't that every girl's dream...hmmm maybe this relates to my late blooming romance problem).  I have been her for Halloween on more than one occasion.  I am going to have to try to find a picture of that.

Here are my 15 blog picks broken down by category.  I am going to leave off the ones that Terzah just picked, but I love a lot of those too!! 

The non-running blog:
Real life, one day at a time- This is my friend Melissa's blog.  She does a lot of crafts and recipes and she is amazingly talented and creative.  You have to check out some of the stuff she has done.

Awesome Ladies:
Let's Move it Mamma's- Marissa was the very first person who didn't know me to follow my blog.  She has a great motivational blog with recipes and ideas for raising healthy kids.  She is also training for her first half- the Houston Marathon.
Life in the Twin Lane- Kim is hilarious.  Do yourself a favor and read the post about her hair color debacle.  It does not disappoint.
Get up and Go- Sarah has fun posts and a nice retro style!
Run with Jill- I just started reading Jill's blog and she is also a Colorado lady.  She has been so awesome to help me out and give me lots of advice about my foot problem!
Changing from Fat to Fit- Christie is great and she is training for her first half marathon also.  She is running it this Sunday!  Go wish her luck!

The Fellas: I read some blogs written by guys too!  I highly recommend all three!
Big Daddy Diesel
Half Tri-ing
Steve in a Speedo?! Gross

New to my list:  I just started reading these blogs and I have been enjoying them!
Jenn's Adventures
In the between
Running in Real Life
The Mommy Miles
Living the Dream
(Mis)Adventures of the Johnson Jocks

Bonus:  The ones everyone already loves.
Miss Zippy
The Studly Runner
Runninghood
Okay, there they are...and don't count them because I went over my limit.  Check out Terzah's list too if you are looking for good blogs!!  Thanks Terzah, this was fun.  And to everyone on the list, consider yourself tagged if you would like to play along too!!