Five Random Things

My friend Megan did a post like this, and I ended up learning a lot, so I thought I’d take a stab at it too! Here are five random things that you may or may not know about me.

1. Names are both interesting and important to me. My first name is actually Elizabeth, but I’ve never been called it; my parents liked the sound of Elizabeth Marie better than Marie Elizabeth, but they always planned on calling me Marie. My brothers and I each have a family name. I was named after my mom’s sister Elizabeth (not my grandmother, whose first name also was Elizabeth). My older brother’s is Laurence after Mom’s brother, and my younger one’s is Joseph after Joseph J. Daynes, my great-great-grandfather who was also the first Tabernacle organist. All of our children will more than likely have family names. Ryan’s middle name is Woodruff after another great-great-grandfather, Wilford Woodruff. Our next boy will be Alexander Reese (Reese is my father-in-law’s middle name). Of course, we haven’t picked a girl’s name yet, so I don’t know about that.

2. I used to think I was born in the wrong era; when I was younger, I was fascinated with both World War II and the civil rights movement. I used to read a lot of what Martin Luther King wrote, and when I was 15, I attended a march on Washington D.C. that commemorated the 30^th anniversary of the one when Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Racial diversity and harmony is really important to me, and I’m so glad that my family embodies it. Between my dad and mom’s sides of the family, I am related to Mexicans, Navajos, Tongans, Asians, and, now that one of my cousins is in the process of adopting two children, Ethiopians. I love that at my uncle’s funeral, there was a traditional Tongan ceremony and that everyone has always been accepted without question.

3. I might as well come out of the closet—I’m a tree hugger. From the time I was a little girl, I remember watching the Earth Day TV specials and thinking how important it was to take care of the planet. Now that I’m older, I still believe firmly that we are the stewards of this planet and that at some point we will be called to account for how we handled that stewardship. I’m pleased to say that Nate and I are trying to do our parts. We recycle almost twice as much as we throw away. I bike to do a lot of my errands (which is also valuable exercise for me and a lot of fun). We have tried to buy Energy Star appliances and look for other ways to conserve energy. And I’m probably going to start a compost heap soon. Oh, and I also learned a few years ago that Nate and I were married on Earth Day. It wasn’t intentional, but I’m quite pleased with the fact now that I know.

4. I love to travel, and my favorite way to do it is to live in a place for a month or more to really get to know the people, customs, and place better. My first foray into this kind of travel was in high school. I nagged my father into supervising BYU’s Washington D.C. program for a semester. I loved it!! We spent every weekend going to historical sites or being at the Smithsonian (I had the luxury of getting to read every plaque of a number of the exhibits at the Museum of American History—sooo fun!). When I was 19, I went to a village called Nealtican in Puebla, Mexico, to teach literacy. I was able to get to know and love the Mexican culture, as well as see Mayan and Aztec ruins and beautiful cathedrals and eat absolutely amazing food (popsicles made out of fresh fruit and water, an amazing chocolate-chile-nut sauce called mole poblano, corn on a stick smothered in cheese, cream, and chile, fried bananas with evaporated milk and chocolate, I could go on and on). And then I was able to live in London twice, where I went to see a number of play, visited a number of parks, spent some serious time in Stratford-upon-Avon, Cambridge, the Cotswolds, and Chichester. I loved being able to get to know London so well and walk all over visiting historic sites and museums.

5. Last thing. I don’t normally consider myself a “crafty” person, but I really enjoy cross-stitching. I first did it in third grade, but then I stopped doing it until middle school when I did a number of projects. I got too busy in high school, so I didn’t start cross-stitching again until I got married. Since then, I’ve done a number of projects that I’m quite pleased with: baby afghans, curtains, samplers and other pictures, ornaments, and a stocking for Nate, which I finished stitching but still need to sew together. I stopped after Ryan was born, but I hope to get back into it. In the meantime, I have picked up knitting and crocheting because they don’t require as much intense concentration or exactness. :D