26 Things On My 26th

In honor of my 26th year on this planet (no comment on years spent on other planets), I thought I'd do another "things you may not know about me" post. And since there are 26 letters in the alphabet, what better way than to use it as my guide? My birthday gift to all of you. Enjoy!

A: Apples. I love apples in all their many glorious forms. Apple sauce, apple juice, apple pie, apple crisp, apples straight from the tree--I love apples!

B: Bangs. The things I hated having when I was a kid and the must-have for my hair cuts now. Go figure.

C: Cats. I am allergic, which is sad because I would probably love to have one based on my brief ownership of Crystal, the Siamese kitty for about a month.

D: Dogs. This is the reason I now volunteer at the humane society. I love dogs. I miss Bentley and Esther, and since I can't have a dog in my current apartment, I get my dog fix by helping people adopt them.

E: Eyeshadow. I have a ton of eyeshadow, in nearly every shade imaginable, though I typically stick to neutrals. I credit my mom for that collection.

F: Frogs. I will forever be known as the girl who conned her parents into letting her conduct a science project for school that involved hosting about 30 frogs all at once in the basement. My mom says people would come over and sit in the living room (right over the basement) and get concerned about all the croaking.

G: Graduate School. For a long time, I wanted to go to grad school in neuroscience and do something like give monkeys alcohol and see what happens (yes, there really are researchers that do this). But the whole publish-or-perish environment of academia turned me off from that path so now I find myself winding down a masters in Bioethics.

H: Hair. I am extremely particular about who puts scissors to my beautiful tresses. They are long, thick, and with the exception of a couple of pixie cuts here and there they always will be.

I: Ice Cream. My favorite flavor is cookies n' cream, though I don't think I've ever met an ice cream flavor I don't like. My dad's parents owned a few Baskin Robbins and it's become a tradition to go there for a scoop each year. Today I tried Reese's peanut butter cup.

J: Jokes. I love telling jokes, especially if I can make a play on words. For instance, what did the firefly say to Pharaoh? Let my people glow!

K: Kites. There was a period of time in my childhood that I was in love with kites. I made, flew, and thought about them often.

L: Lemons. I love to drink my water with lemon. In fact, I recently tried what I like to dub, "mormon tea" which is basically just hot water with a lemon wedge squeezed in.

M: Megan, of course. Who would I be without the letter m? Probably a Lauren. Or an Aubrey.

N: Noodles. Noodles are my go-to food when I don't want to cook anything. They're so easy and I really enjoy them. I'm definitely a carb-craving gal.

O: Older. What I am each November. Ok, ok, I couldn't think of anything really good that started with the letter "O."

P: Pets. I have had a pet (for the most part) ever since I dug up some worms, put them in a jar, and named them. That was a little too much for my mom, so after that we had a cat, a rabbit, several guinea pigs, a slew of gerbils, a couple dogs, and a bunch of hamsters. Today I just have one hamster, but really, really want a dog.

Q: Qi. This is the word I frequently use in scrabble when I can't come up with a "u" and get stuck with the "q." Bonus: it's super high scoring, especially on a triple letter or triple word tile. You can thank me for your winnings later. :P

R: Russell. I became a Russell in 2006 when I married Spencer. It's been 4.5 years today and we've gone through a ton of changes: moved to Utah full time (not just for school), graduated, moved to Wisconsin, Spencer started school, I started working, I started school, we moved apartments, Spencer started rotations, I changed jobs, and now Spencer is interview and we are both about to graduate. Yowzah.

S: Sterling. My hometown. You may be ghetto now, but back in the day you were a great place to grow up.

T: Todd. My formed self last name, which is now my middle name. I guess technically I have four first names: Megan, Elizabeth, Todd, and Russell. Half of them are boy names. Hmm.

U: Utah. This is where I went to college, met my love, and swore I'd never want to live. Now I miss it and all it's deliciousness.

V: Vampires. I don't quite get the craze. The books were a good distraction for a few hours, but the story is so stupid and not an accurate portrayal of what a good relationship should be. If I ever have daughters they won't be allowed to read it until they are older.

W: Wisconsin. Our current home. Before moving here, I couldn't spell Milwaukee and had no clue how to even pronounce Waukesha (I pronounced it Wa-kisha), Wauwatosa, Oconomowoc, or Menomonne. Now I'm a pro.

X: X-ray vision. This is something I hope I never obtain. I don't really want to see what people have going on under their clothes. (Yes, I know I was lame and picked the obvious choice here).

Y: You. I tag whoever reads this to try to come up with a better response for this letter. Cause I've got nothing...

Z: Zoos. I love going to the zoo, and we are fortunate that the Milwaukee zoo is only a few blocks away. Unfortunately, it's a bit pricey, but I have enjoyed walking around it a few times since moving here.

So there you go. 26 things you may or may not have known about me.