50 Random Things About Me.

Today I'm participating in my very first link-up with Rita at Fighting Off Frumpy!

This is actually the perfect link up for me, because I actually started writing a "50 Things About Me" post months ago, but never finished it because I was afraid people would think I was narcissistic.

But now that it's a link-up, I have an excuse. I tried to make it as random as possible to guarantee that there will be at least one thing on here you don't know about me.

Check out mine, check out Rita's, and then join in the fun!

Without further ado, a list of 50 [really] random things about me.

1. I am doing either one of two things when listening to music: singing loudly at the top of my lungs, or, in situations where it would be inappropriate/embarrassing to sing, pretending I'm a character in a movie/TV show.

2. I tend to eat one to one and a half meals a day, plus some snacks. Except on the rare occasions that I'm suddenly STARVING all day long. On those days, I eat about 7 meals (for realz, this happens).

3. I love books, but not reading. I'm the worst reader. I'm super slow and I have a short attention span and unless I'm REALLY into a book, it will take me approximately 3 years to read it. I can't remember the last time I was only reading ONE book, because of my tendency to start a book, forget about it, start another one, forget about it, and so on.

4. I turn into a ninja when people try to touch my neck. Catlike reflexes, people. Don't do it. I am not responsible for any injuries that may result from an attempt to touch my neck.

5. I love watching basketball, football, and hockey. I mean, I don't specifically set time aside to watch them on TV or anything, but when I do watch them I enjoy them.

6. I hate driving. Mainly because nobody else is as good of a driver as I am, and they always try to hit me because they're jealous of my magical driving skills, like using my blinker and yielding to people with the right of way. (Skills that are hard to grasp, I know.)

7. Spiderman is my favorite superhero. And I like Andrew Garfield more than Tobey Maguire.

8. There are few things in this world I excel at. Which is okay, because I'm not competitive. But I hold on for dear life to the three things that I am good at. Sometimes people mistake this for competetive-ness, but really it's just a self-esteem issue (like, I MUST REMAIN THE BEST AT THESE THREE THINGS OR I MIGHT CRY).

9. Human personality is a subject that I find fascinating. I love learning more about it, and trying to figure out other people's personality types when I meet them. I'm usually right.

10. I think I'm hilarious.

11. When I go to old-timey looking places, or scary places, or anything of the sort, I like to make up a story about the place and pretend I'm part of it.

12. I can't stand the flavor or smell of cinnamon. I like it fine as an ingredient, i.e. mixed with other things and baked like in spice cake or cinnamon rolls, but on its own, or in gum form, or in soap form (we had a cinnamon scented soap once and I couldn't use it), I will die. For real.

13. If I had a super power, it would be teleportation through time. So not only could I just show up wherever I wanted in nothing flat for free (Trip to Europe? No problem.), I could also show up wherever I wanted in any day, month, year, or century that I wanted. ("Laura Ingalls Wilder's house, 1882." Poof. "Hey what's up Laura?!" Best. Day. Ever.)

14. I was born in the wrong time period. 1860s or 1950s for me, please.

15. Sometimes I wish I was blonde. Just for the sake of being blonde. But then I think I would look weird, and I fall in love with my dark hair all over again.

16. I love exploring/going on adventures.

17. I'm the worst car owner. Ever. My brake light was on for 6 months before getting it checked out. My registration was expired for a month before I noticed. My inspection was expired for 3 months before I noticed, and then I went to get the inspection and discovered that my insurance card had expired, as well. I went in for an oil change 4000 miles past due, and there was absolutely no oil left in my car. I don't know what 90% of the buttons in my car do. However, I am very good about keeping it clean. That part I'm good at.

18. The only time I update iTunes is when I get a new computer and have no choice but to download the latest version.

19. I am easily amused by squirrels.

20. I am always afraid to be the first person to go after a red light turns green, just in case I'm imagining it.

21. I am fascinated by stars. I want to move to the middle of nowhere just so I can marvel at the stars every night.

22. For a similar reason, I keep my blinds open at night. I like seeing the stars/moon (if visible) when I'm lying awake in bed.

23. I like to pretend I'm on American Idol. I come up with different themes and sing a song that fits, and the judges always, ALWAYS love me.

24. I also like to role-play future conversations that I may or may not have with certain people. Kind of like rehearsing my conversation with someone before I actually have it. It rarely works out though, because I can never quite be sure what the other person will say in response.

25. I don't like spending money and I hardly ever do it.

26. I can be really shy and quiet and I'm terrible at small talk, but I LOVE getting to know people. (And analyzing their personalities, of course).

27. I love animals. Particularly small furry ones, but I really love them all. (Except spiders, but they don't count).

28. I have a weird obsession with World War I. It's my favorite war.

27. I like trying to be witty. It doesn't always work but I do my best.

28. I love musicals and I want to see them all.

29. I don't take offense when people make fun of me. I'm easy to make fun of. I get it. I make fun of myself all the time. (As long as I know you actually love me and are just joking.)

30. I cannot recall a time when something good happened to me on a Tuesday.

31. I often find myself wishing I kept a notepad and pen in my car, so that when I see my friends' cars in parking lots, I could write them notes and leave them on their windshield. I've never done this, though, for fear of looking like a stalker.

32. I could watch game shows all day long. Seriously. I've never seen a game show I didn't like.

33. I have this weird obsession with the baking aisle at grocery stores. Shopping for regular groceries? Eh. Shopping for clothes? Exhausting. Shopping in the baking aisle? Oodles of fun and I could stay there forever.

34. I don't really care for movies that much, but I have a terrible addiction to TV shows. My symptoms include falling in love with fictional characters, watching TV for 12 hours straight, and yelling/screaming/crying/hyperventilating at 2am when the season finale ends on a cliffhanger.

35. Don't shoot me, but I think cats are better than dogs (even though I LOVE dogs). I really don't understand why so many people hate cats.

36. I would rather receive an encouraging card or note than flowers. I'm terrible with flowers; I forget to water them, so they die, and then I forget to throw them away so I just have dead flowers sitting around for 6 months. Sweet cards/notes, on the other hand, I read over and over and save forever.

37. That being said, if you were to buy me flowers anyway, I like daisies. Because they are the happiest flower.

38. I have only thrown one party in my life, and I really enjoyed it. However, it was a lot of work and kind of expensive so I'm not sure I'll ever do it again, at least not to that extent.

39. I am currently learning how to decorate cakes. I've wanted to learn for awhile, the main reason being so I could give wedding/birthday cakes to friends and family free of charge to help them out if they are on a budget.

40. I LOVE birthdays. Not just mine; anyone's. I really don't even know why. I just get so excited when someone has a birthday.

41. I've been to about 20 states, but only three of them are west of Texas.

42. The only two sweatshirts I own are from the two places you would never expect I would need a sweatshirt: Hawaii and southern California.

43. I don't like dim lighting.

44. My favorite commercial is the one for the green KIA with the hamsters that get makeovers and then dance to Lady Gaga's Applause. Cracks me up every single time.

45. I haven't had caffeine (except for in a few life-or-death situations where I have only had caffeinated drinks to choose from) in...10ish years. (Chocolate doesn't count).

46. Even though I didn't really care for high school, there are some things I really, really miss about it. Junior high on the other hand, you couldn't pay me to go back to.

47. I am great at Facebook stalking. I can find ANYONE on the internet, and I'm not even a little bit ashamed.

48. My cousins' dog chipped my tooth when I was about 10 years old. The dentist never fixed it, so that tooth is still shorter than all the others.

49. I was a competitive swimmer for several years when I was younger. One time, my ears popped underwater and got water behind the eardrum. It's still there, and my ears pop every time I swallow. I also can't go very far underwater without getting a terrible earache and having to use rubbing alcohol to dry out the inside.

50. I quit swimming because it got too competitive. I was in it for the fun, and when I moved up a level and got a new coach, she yelled at me and made me cry because I wasn't swimming fast enough. I also felt like all my friends who I was once faster than were getting better than me, and it just wasn't enjoyable for me anymore.

And thus ends my very long list that was much harder to compile than I thought it would be.

Let me know if you decide to participate -- I'd love to learn more about you (see #26)! :)

{Update}: 51. I don't know how to count. There are actually 52 things on this list (53 if you count this update), because apparently I think that the numbers go 26, 27, 28, 27, 28, 29.

Oh well.

The Spider.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I am deathly afraid of spiders. I'm not exaggerating.

One time I found a tiny (like, the size of a sugar ant) spider crawling on me. I screamed. Loudly. For a whole minute. While flailing around like an idiot trying to get it off me. But all that did was make the spider fall down my shirt to where I could no longer see it. Defeated, I sat down and cried for the next five minutes.

It was a truly traumatic experience and I am scarred for life by it.

Spider - 1, Kayla - 0.

Last week, I had just finished locking our dogs up in their crates in the garage for the night, when I heard one of them crying. I ignored it at first, but the crying persisted and my mom had me go check on them to see what was wrong.

As soon as I opened the garage door, of course the crying stopped. Unable to figure out what was wrong, I went back inside and began to get ready for bed. The crying started again.

This time I went and actually let them back outside for a few minutes in case someone just needed to go to the bathroom or run around or something. After a couple of minutes, I locked them back up and went back inside.

About five minutes later, the crying began again. My mom told me just to let them out and leave them out. So I went into the garage, let them out of their crates, and then followed them to the garage door to let them into the backyard.

As we were walking to the door, I saw a big black spot on one of my dogs. At first I thought it was just dirt, but then I noticed it was moving. I looked again and sure enough -- a GIANT spider (probably the size of a quarter, which qualifies as giant as far as spiders are concerned) was hitching a ride on my dog.

My dog who was now standing in between me and the door to the backyard. Which meant that a giant spider was standing between me and the door to the backyard.

I froze. I began to panic. I screamed. And then I turned around and ran inside, slamming the door behind me.

"THERE'S A GIANT SPIDER ON BUCK!" I screamed at my mom. "HE'S STANDING IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. I WOULD HAVE TO GO NEAR THE SPIDER. I CAN'T LET THEM OUT."

My mom convinced me that the spider was probably not on him anymore and to try again. I cracked open the door to see my very confused dogs wondering why I left them loose in the garage. I looked at Buck. I saw the spider. And it had doubled in size (now the size of a half-dollar coin). I screamed. I slammed the door. I went into hysterics yelling things like "I CAN'T DO IT" and "WHAT IF IT EATS ME?"

I almost made my mom who had just had shoulder surgery and was already settled into her recliner for the night get up and put them away, but she convinced me to try once more.

I opened the door. I looked at my still very confused dogs. I examined Buck closely. I didn't see anything. I took a step out. It still looked good. Maybe the spider was no longer on him.

But wait.

If the spider was no longer on Buck...then OH MY GOSH THE SPIDER WAS IN THE GARAGE SOMEWHERE WAITING TO EAT ME.

Enter adrenaline rush. Unsure of where the spider was lurking, I ran to the side door, yelling at Buck the whole time to STAY AWAY FROM ME. I opened the door, they ran out, and I slammed the door shut behind me as I ran screaming back inside.

Spider - 2, Kayla - 0.

I came back inside to find my mom literally dying from laughing at me. I was less amused.

"The spider wasn't on Buck anymore and now I'm afraid it's hiding somewhere on me," I said, offended that my mom was laughing at me when my life was at stake.

Suddenly, she stopped laughing and looked at me. She had this really serious, concerned look on her face. And then she gasped.

And that was all it took.

I screamed bloody murder and jumped a couple feet into the air, flailing my arms around for about two seconds. And then, as my mom once more burst into laughter, I realized what a cruel trick she had just played on me.

Spider - 2, Mom - 1, Kayla - 0.

But don't worry. One day, when it is proven that spiders are in fact little tiny demons that steal your soul and then kill you, I will have the last laugh, and my score will finally be Kayla - 1.

P.S. I was going to add a picture of a spider for effect, but I couldn't do it. The pictures on Google were horrifying and I couldn't look long enough to decide on one.

Saturday in the Park (Unintentionally).

Okay, so in the past three days so much craziness has happened, I'm going to have to split it up into a few different posts. But let's start with this afternoon.

I had quite the adventure.

I went to lunch with a couple of friends and had a great time. The craziness started when I was trying to leave.

I had parked in a parking garage to the left of a big concrete column. As I was leaving, I needed to go right. For those of you playing at home, that means that as I was backing out I was turning toward the column. Do you see where this is going?

I was looking left to make sure no cars were coming while I was backing out and turning right. As I turned my head to look right, I noticed how close I was to the column. But what I didn't realize was that I had not yet cleared it. I thought, That was close! and kept going. Half a second later I heard the screeching sound of my car scraping against the column.

Not knowing what to do, I then stopped backing out and went forward instead. My car screeched again as it scraped the column once more in the opposite direction. I straightened out my car and continued backing out, thankfully clearing the pole this time. And then I exited the parking garage, hoping the damage wasn't horrible.

As I was exiting the garage, I got confused about which way I was going and, though it really didn't matter, accidentally chose the more difficult way. Which I realized as soon as I turned, but it was too late so I was going with it. I knew what to do, so it wasn't a big deal.

Except I got distracted and missed the street I was supposed to turn on. Naturally, I assumed I could turn on the next street and it would lead me to the same place. Naturally, I was wrong.

I ended up on a weird street and was briefly concerned that it was going to lead me off a cliff. Instead, it led me to a park.

Side note: I have been to this park before but have never driven myself. It is across the river from where I work and I have always wondered how to get there. Now that I have figured it out...I really doubt I could do it again. Probably not even with a map.

Anyway, I pulled over in the park to gather my thoughts and come up with a game plan and check out the damage on my car and respond to a text message. My car looked like this:

Which was a lot better than I had imagined. So it's no big deal.

Anyway. This park is really confusing. Like, it has a bazillion roads to choose from. I wasn't sure what to do so I just went straight. I followed the road a little ways but it just led me to a dead end. So I turned around and turned onto a street that had this sign:

This photo is from google. I am not so crazy as to stop and take a picture of a sign just 

because I am already writing the blog post in my head.

I have no idea what this sign means. I have a vehicle and I'm pretty sure it has a motor...does that mean I drive a motorized vehicle? Wouldn't a de-motorized vehicle, like, not move? Confusing.

But there was a stop sign just up ahead facing me, and why would they have a stop sign if cars weren't allowed there? I decided that I was not in fact driving a motorized vehicle (even though I'm still convinced my car does have a motor) and that it was okay for me to proceed. I came to a turning point so I picked a direction and turned. I was sad for a minute because it led me to yet another dead end, but then I realized that there was an exit!! That led to a street!! That led to another street from which I knew how to get home!!!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was below empty on gas this whole time. And unfortunately there are no gas stations in the park.

Maybe that wasn't as crazy as I made it sound but it felt pretty crazy to me. Sometimes I don't even know how I manage to be so...I don't even know what the word is. Me. That's the word. So me.

And what will I be like when I'm 30? I'm sort of afraid to find out.

Stay tuned...

A Few of My Favorite Things.

Forgive me for my absence from the blog the last few weeks. I've had a lot going on and have a CRAZY week ahead of me. I'm writing an article for a magazine my church is doing (due Monday), cooking a meal for my group Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning I am taking a very important test for my teacher's certification that I'm kind of freaking out about. In the mean time, here is a list of things that are currently making me happy/keeping me sane. 

Enjoy.

My One Line a Day journal.

You write a couple lines everyday about what happened that day, and it goes on for 5 years. Great for the sentimental people, like me. I'm really bad at journaling but I've been doing this now for just over 4 months. I love that it's so quick to catch up on if you get behind.

My pretty new planner.

Even though I can't use this until January, organization makes me happy. This beauty is made by Sugar Paper Los Angeles and can be snagged up at Target for 8 weeks only. Get yours now! (Also, this mint green scarf in the picture is new and I LOVE it.)

My Wilton cake decorating classes.

I actually completed course 1 on Monday, but it was so much fun learning how to decorate cakes! I'll be taking a break for the holidays, but I hope to start back up with course 2 in January. This cake was my final project. What do you think?

Halloween.

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in about 8 years. This year I got invited to a costume party and I was so excited! It was a lot of fun. I went as a flapper/20's girl. I found the perfect dress at Goodwill (for $2.75, thank you) and just added a few accessories, did my hair in a faux bob, and put on some red lipstick and I was good to go.

Sara Bareilles.

Sara Bareilles is a fairly new discovery for me. I've always known her hit singles that were played on the radio, but that was it. Man, I have been missing out! Each song is catchy and I can relate to every lyric. Her voice is so strong and rich and perfect. And I love the borderline jazz/blues genre of her songs. I can't get enough.

The #joyfilledhomechallenge.

Remember my 30 Days of Thankfulness post from last year? This year I'm expressing my thankfulness by participating in this photo challenge, hosted by two awesome bloggers. Check out my posts on Instagram (@kholiday25) and be sure to let me know if you decide to participate!

I will hopefully be back with some brand new posts after I take my test on Wednesday! I have a lot in the works, just haven't gotten to making them postable yet. :-)

Happy November!