Friday, October 21, 2011

Feature Friday: Me!

I promise that I have been working on tons of projects, I just don't have an entire room ready to feature so today I have decided to tell you a little about me.  I'll give you ten things about my life and five things I want in the future.  Ready?

1. I grew up in a small town in Utah.  The population is about 130 on a good day.  My grandparents lived down the street and two aunts lived within 4 miles.  My other grandparents lived in a town 15 miles away (where the high school is).  My dad is a nurse and my mom drives the school bus.   My dad also farms in his spare time so I grew up baling hay (okay, I only did that a few times but I do know how to herd cattle with a four wheeler).  

2. Before my parents did what they do, they owned a convenience store called DJ's Mirage (D, for Doug, and J, for Jodi).  I started working there in 1994 when I was 14 years old for $3 an hour (not even minimum wage) but I could have whatever food/drink I wanted as long as I wrote it down.

3. I played softball, soccer, basketball, track and cross country in high school.  The first three were before I broke my neck, the last two were after.

4. I broke my neck diving into a river when I was 15.  It was 4 feet deep and I knew it.  I dove with my hands behind my back and landed on my head (yeah, not the brightest thing to do but I was trying to prove I could do it -- obviously failed that one).  My friend saw my feet come up and grabbed my arms to pull me out.  I was paralyzed for a while and had to learn to walk again. 
 

5. I graduated 10th in my class of 305 in high school -- and I'm still pretty proud of that.  ;)  

6. I went to Brigham Young University, Utah Valley State College, and BYU Hawaii.  I had the most fun and did the best academically in Hawaii.  I ended up graduating from BYU in exercise science (a pre med major) and minoring in Spanish.

7. I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington DC (the DC North Mission with a special assignment to the temple visitors' center) when I was 21.  I served for 18 months.  A typical day was spent half in the visitors' center and half proselyting in my area (each missionary is assigned a specific area within the mission).

8.  I married my husband when I was 26.  We met while we were both working at a real estate seminar company.  He was my boss.  Haha!  Now I'm his. ;)

9.  We had our first (and only -- but hopefully not for long) baby in April of 2009, five days before my 29th birthday.  Side note: I thought it would take 6 weeks to lose the baby weight (40 lbs).  It took 8 months!

10.  I choose this one because of the whole "neck" thing.  This is a huge accomplishment for me physically.  In June of 2010 I completed my first (and only) Ironman 70.3.  That means a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run.  I came in at the exact time, to the second, as my friend who talked me into doing it with her and our times for each individual thing were all different.  I lost 6 pounds that day!


Now for things I want to do.

1.  Have two more babies.  I want one now and I'm very impatient.  Usually I get what I want because I make it happen and this is just something I can't make happen.  So, hopefully soon.

2.  To be a decamillionaire.  That is like 10 times a millionaire.  And this I (and I mean my hubs and I) can make happen with good money management and wise investments.  We were once $1.5 mil in the red and have been working very hard to pay off and sell stuff so we can be debt free.   We are SO close and I will have an entire post telling you the whole story when that happens.

3.  Serve a mission for my church with my husband.  In another country.

4.  Travel the world.

5.  Most importantly I want to be happy and I want my family to be happy.  That's really the purpose of everything, right?

Now you know a little about what makes me tick.  Thanks for reading.  I love my readers.



Linking up at the great Linky parties found at the bottom of the blog.  They are where I find most of my inspiration!  Check them out!

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24 comments:

  1. What a fun post to get to know you Kelli :) Up early this morning and enjoying the peacefulness before our reg. chemo appt for hubby (it's "Friday" after all...the wheels never stop Mon, Wed or Friday)

    GOODNESS SAKES- read about your "neck thing" - The Lord sure had plans for you to stay on this Earth for a while longer because it doesn't sound like that was survivable- but you did and grow and shine more every day.

    God Bless you this day and always.

    Your (Fond)Reader and Follower in Illinois,
    Suzanne

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  2. What an intriguing story! WOW! You sure have some amazing accomplishments to brag about! One of my favorite is your beautiful family! I know how you are feeling about wanting a baby and it is so hard! Hang in there!

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  3. Way to go with paying off debt! That is so rare these days.

    My husband and I were so excited to become debt free (not including the house), and then our beautiful little girl came along. We had to pay about half of the medical expenses before we got insurance through hubby's new job, which meant we went back into debt. Boo. But we'll be debt free again before November, and she's only four months old, so I'm kinda okay with that. :)

    I'm excited to read your debt-free post!

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  4. Nice meeting you. I bet you do get what you want and it looks like you are willing to work hard to get it. I hope you get everything you want = Looks like you have some awesome stuff to write and brag about already!!!!

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  5. I love posts like these! I love random facts about my bloggy friends. And how great that you are paying off your debt!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

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  6. That picture still brings back horrible memories of that day. Makes me sick to just think about it. I sure hope my kids are not as dumb as we were when we were teens. Love your goals. I know you will get all of them. We are also trying to become debt free but we sure are having a hard time. It seems like just when we get our heads above water something comes up and we have to start all over. Good luck on becoming pregnant. It will happen. I know how hard it is to wait though. Can't wait for it to happen for you though. Hope you are doing well and we can see you around the holidays.

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  7. Just found your blog! I love the name of it! I also loved how the first post I came upon was about you and some AMAZING accomplishments! You go girl!

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  8. Wow! I can't believe you broke your neck and have gone on to accomplish such amazing things! Your daughter is adorable, btw!!! You have a beautiful family!

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  9. These posts are always SO fun! I learned all sorts of new stuff!

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  10. Such a great post! I like knowing a bit about who I'm reading:) I can completely relate on the baby front. We've been trying for almost 2 years. In His timing, right? It'll happen:)

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  11. Fabulous post! You have accomplished a lot in your life to say the least! We are working on becoming debt free, which is why I am doing a 31 Days Towards Financial Freedom series on my blog right now :-)

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  12. oh my gosh. i'm your real life friend and i never had the courage to ask how you broke your neck. nowww i know. that is crazy. i'm glad you persevered and are such a strong woman!! love you lady!
    we want babiiieeesss! :/ soon enough right?

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  13. Wow! what an amazing story. I know how hard it is to want a baby now! We are trying for our first. I think I may be right now, but its too early to test and the suspense is killing me.

    Stop by sometime. http://cupcakedaydreamer.blogspot.com/

    Lexi

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  14. Wow! You're amazing. I can't wait to hear about how you got out of the red!

    Also, I live in Europe (I'm American), and you're welcome to come visit me anytime in your jaunt around the world. I'd love to sit and chat with you.

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  15. Wow! I remember this, Kelly, and I remember running with you my freshman year of high school in CC and always thinking you were so pretty and super nice. I totally looked up to you then, but knowing the whole story, I look up to you a ton more now. You're amazing!

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  16. What an amazing inspiration you are.
    I always wanted a ton of kids. My second was born 12 years after the first. I pray it doesn't take you as long. :)

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  17. What an amazing story! You are so inspiring! I'm your newest follower!
    Briana @ babblingsandmore.blogspot.com

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  18. Very interesting! Good luck with everything! Here from Seasonal Sunday.

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  19. Great post! You really were only 15 when you broke your neck? Wow! We were young, and not very smart. I love all of your projects! I am doing well if I do something crafty every 6 months!

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  20. wow you have been through a lot . glad all is well and happy in your life now
    Hugs and Happy Autumn

    - KAT -

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  21. Thanks for sharing that Kelli, it's amazing where you've come from that broken neck!!I've been an email follower for a long time, I'd appreciate it if you'd check out my newish blog: craftythriftydecoratingwifemom.wordpress.com. Gotta think of a shorter name, sure wasn't thinking when I did that!
    Janet Christianwifemomcrafter@gmail.com

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  22. Such a great story and wonderful pictures. You are a beautiful woman and your family is gorgeous. You have some lofty goals set but something tells me you will achieve most of them.
    God Bless and thank you for linking up to Motivated Monday at BeColorful
    Pam

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  23. This was the most viewed link at my link party haha. You're being featured tonight! And, I haven't forgotton about your guest post. Would you still be interesed in guest posting your beautiful turquoise piano sometime? It can be a recycled post. Just let me know :)

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  24. ps- i loved reading more about you! your story is pretty cool!

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