Gorgeous Blogger Award

Okay, so I have no idea what it means to be a gorgeous blogger, but I'm still thrilled. In the words of Fancy Nancy "gorgeous is even fancier than beautiful." Yes, I am quoting an imaginary character from my one of my daughter's favorite book series. And no, there's nothing wrong with that! Anyway, Julie over at Julie's Running Blog has bestowed this honor upon me, and as I understand it I am now suppose to share six things that you probably don't know about me. Boy are you in for a surprise!

1. Throughout my teenage years I belonged to a program call Civil Air Patrol, which is an auxiliary of the Air Force. Think of it like the Boy Scouts, but way cooler. I had the opportunity to do all kinds of crazy stuff. I participated in cold weather training. You know, camping in a tent in February with no showers or toilets. I learned how to navigate the woods with a compass, how much food one should carry while tromping around the woods, and what type of equipment is essential for survival. When I was 16, I was one of a dozen cadets selected to fly around with Swedish Air Force for almost a month. It was part of an exchange program and I had the opportunity to meet other teenagers from 40 other countries. During that trip, I even got to visit the arctic circle! Oh, and fly in a jet trainer. It was an experience of a life time. When I was 17, I commanded a drill team that won the Northeast regional competition and was flown via a C-130 to the National Drill Team Competition. I'm sure that doesn't mean anything to you, but it was a big deal. I've also flown in a KC-135, which is a refueling aircraft, and I was in the aircraft when they refueled a fighter in the air! I also participated in Search and Rescue missions. I could go on, but you probably get the point. It was a huge part of my teenage years. Most of my good friends from my teenage years were in the program, and many of them later went on to join the Marine Corp, Army, or Air Force.

2. When I was growing up I wanted to be an astronaut. That was why I originally joined Civil Air Patrol. Actually it wasn't until recently that I decided I didn't really want to be an astronaut. A few years ago my direct supervisor encouraged me to do some more research into the whole astronaut thing. And I did. What I found was most astronauts aren't selected until their late 30's or early 40's, so I still had plenty of time. I also found that they work 80 hours (or more) a week, you have to live in Florida or Texas, and have to spend long periods of time away from your family. None of that sounds at all appealing to me anymore. I think the idea of being an astronaut sounds magical and romantic to me, but the reality doesn't sound so great.

3. I'm an electrical engineer. My specialization is signal processing and communication theory. I am currently working part-time, and my work is focused on satellite communications.

4. I'm an extremely pragmatic person. I never believed in soul mates or needing someone to complete me. During a philosophy course, my professor asked the class why people fall in love. I responded, "it's necessary for procreation and continuation of the species." I'm pretty sure he had never heard a similar response because he was speechless. A few years later I met Nick. And I fell hard. Definitely love at first sight. I can't explain it, it just was. We were engaged six months after we met, and only waited that long because we didn't want people to think we were nuts. We've been married now almost seven years.

5. I was the student speaker at my undergraduate college graduation. I don't know how other colleges select the senior speaker, but at my college if you have over a certain G.P.A. (I think it's 3.6), you are invited to enter a speech for review. Then they go through a selection process. I almost didn't submit a speech. It was towards the end of the semester and I was working late on my senior project the night before the speech submission was due. I called my mother and told her I didn't think I would do it. (I was sooo exhausted.) She told me I would regret it if I didn't submit something. She was right, and I knew it. I stayed up into the wee hours and submitted something the next morning. I found out later that I was a controversial choice. My undergraduate school was Catholic and primarily liberal arts, so they weren't fond of an engineer speaker. I was the first engineer major ever selected to speak.

6. I love to travel! I've traveled to Poland, Holland, Russia, England, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, and most recently Japan. Well, it was actually about three years ago. I like to ask Nick these philosophical questions that drive him crazy...one day I asked him if he could travel anywhere, where would he want to go. He had to think about it, but eventually he came out with Japan. I told him we should go; I suggested that it be our big adventure before we embark on the adventure of having children. We had a great time, and he still talks about the trip often! He tells Kaylee about it, and tells her that maybe one day we can go back as a family when she's older. Traveling is on hold for now. The thought of traveling with a young child stresses us out, but eventually we'll be off and traveling again.

Phew, that was a lot to share in one post! So, were you surprised?