Ten Strange Facts About Me

I keep seeing these cool blogs where people share their funny or deep secret selves. It seems strange that anyone would be interested in this stuff—but they are! I’m going to follow in their footsteps and share ten strange and little-known facts about me.

1. I have lived in six houses as a single young lady (in three different states). After we married, we lived in three houses before moving to Spain, and five here. Where we live now, a cottage in the country, is the longest I have ever lived in one place.

2. I studied French from age eight on through college, and then I became a missionary to Spain, not knowing one word of Spanish.

3. I got my college degree in art and later worked in an art department for children’s fashions and then for a Christian magazine. I learned much on the job in both places. I also taught calligraphy in the evenings at a community college. Here, in Europe, the art and architecture are enough to keep my eyes busy for a lifetime. Fantastic!

4. My loves include my husband, children, grandsons, and all the rest of our families. I love the Lord’s work and people. I enjoy good, clean humor, true Christian fellowship, and people with like ambitions—to know God and please Him. I love nature, beauty, fresh air and sunshine, walking, flowers (wild flowers, cultivated, roses, all kinds!), green grass, and rolling hills. I love the ocean, beautiful lakes, and the sound of water. I love birds, wildlife (as long as it stays out of the house), and domestic animals of all kinds. I love visiting places with lots of history, especially those with over a hundred years of history. I really enjoy living in Europe. I love castles!

5. I love books! (This has to be a different category, because I have a lot to share here.) From the time I was three, I’ve been reading. I have always loved the way words go together. I love the sound of people reading aloud or reciting poetry. I enjoy all the places I have traveled through books. Some of my favorite authors--Robert Louis Stevenson comes to mind--have transported me back to different times and exotic settings, places I will probably never visit, but they fascinate me. I love the education you get through good books. I read different genres and from different time periods. My least favorite books are sappy romances, although I don’t object to a touch of romance in an otherwise exciting plot. I love it when an author can describe a room so vividly that you can visualize it to the last detail, and you can actually smell the lemon furniture wax. I love “round” characters that grow and change. I enjoy the very good poets and hate poor poetry. I love it when someone can catch the essence of a concept in very few words—and you have to think about it for a while afterwards. I have every respect for a gifted author. (I understand how much hard work is behind the gift!)

6. I love Bible study. Every time I get into the Word for myself, I dig up a wealth of blessings. I love sharing these “new thoughts” with others.

7. Favorites: Colors—purple and blue, any shades. Food—spaghetti (No kidding!). Dessert—hot fudge sundae (Gotta have those in heaven, with all the calories taken out!). Fashion Style—fairly classic with some funky touches, modest, love blue denim. Home Decoration--Since we live in a cottage, I've tried to keep the cottage look. It's a mix of almost all used furniture, bright earthy colors, and traditional European objects. Places I’ve Been—France (the whole country, especially Normandy); the Alhambra palaces in Granada, Spain; amended new favorite is England. We loved England! Music—Mahler, Debussy, Handel, Beethoven, anything Baroque, violin played well, piano concertos, cello, French horn, trombones, classical guitar, flute. In Christian music, conservative, uplifting, not discordant. I love the old hymns! Bible Verse—1 Thessalonians 5:24, Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

8. Pets: When I was growing up, my family had three dogs (one had five? puppies), three kittens (only one living to grow up), and a parakeet (that my grandmother bought us without asking our parents). We got some kind of a shepherd mix dog after we moved to this house. Sadly, he has passed away . . . .

9. Hobbies: reading, writing, cooking, walking, watching tennis, touring historic places.

10. I have never colored my hair. (Now, that’s really strange—and subject to change, if needed!)

So, now you know--whether or not you really cared.