You might want to grab a coffee and take a seat… this could take awhile! It was written to commemorate my 175th post

—————–

175 things about me:

I hope you make it through to the end….

1. HI! My name is Shannon.
2. I was born in a hospital called Lion’s Gate.
3. I lived at the base of mountains.
4. I lived where I looked over the ocean.
5. My parents bought my first horse for me when I was 12.
6. I had extremely short boyish hair at 12, complete with a tail.
7. I started teaching myself sign language at the age of 10.
8. I have 2 older sisters (8 and 9 years older).
9. I have 1 younger sister (21 months younger who also blogs).
10. I was an Aunt for the first time at the age of 10.
11. I am the Aunt of 8 with 2 great-nieces & 3 great-nephews on my side and 10 plus 2 great-nieces one 1 more on the way on my hubby’s side
12. I took Japanese instead of French in grade 8.
13. I took French for grades 9 – 11.
14. I can’t speak a lick of French.
15. I can keep up a conversation in Japanese.
16. I lived in Japan after grade 12 for 1 school year.
17. This explains why I suck at French and still remember Japanese.
18. I was 13 when I got my first “real” job.
19. I worked in a Chinese restaurant.
20. I have worked consistently ever since.
21. I have a strong work ethic.
22. It stems from not wanting to be a financial burden on my parents.
23. My parents were poor while I was a teenager.
24. Many times we had our heat, electricity and phone turned off.
25. I still don’t like feeling like I’m being a burden on anyone.
26. Things turned around for them.
27. I love to talk!
28. I attended University.
29. I am a few credits shy for my BA.
30. I went back to school in 1998, I received my mutual funds license.
31. I worked in Financial Institutions for 15 years (1991-2007)
32. I never liked school.
33. I met my hubby in the summer of 1995.
34. We married 9 months after we met.
35. He lived in Ontario.
36. I lived in British Columbia.
37. A near 5,000 kilometer / 5 hour plane trip separated us.
38. Our wedding day was our 40th day in each others presence.
39. I would recommend telephone dating to anyone.
40. My children will not date.
41. I have 4 kids – DS 1998, DD 2000, DS 2002 & DS 2005
42. I married a pastor.
43. I was told by a visiting preacher in our church when I was 9 yrs old that I’d go “into the ministry” by marrying a pastor.
44. I forgot about this – it was never my intention to track one down.
45. I left the church in my late teens and wanted nothing to do with religious people in my early 20’s.
46. I was hung-over the morning I met my hubby… the pastor… at his church.
47. I have lived nearly 5,000 kilometers away from my family since 1996.
48. I barrel raced when I was a teenager!
49.As a kid/teenager I often pretended I was something I wasn’t… like British… #odd
50. I’ve been called Shashi by my family since I was 10.
51. That nickname morphed into Shash, Shasher, Shooshi Shasher (thanks Sara for that one!).
52. I went through a phase where I wore a ponytail wig, short shorts, Doc Martins and a fake nose ring – all the time.
53. I rode a Harley during those times too.
54. My friends called me, “Biker Barbie”.
55. I burned my right leg in two places on the pipes of a bike, 2nd degree burns.
56. I don’t ride anymore.
57. I am a lover of shoes and jewelry. Can’t have too many of either. Purses are right up there too!
58. My dream car is a 1966 red convertible… Mustang.
59. I currently drive a 2008 Honda Pilot, I call her “Beauty”. I make my hubby drive “The Beast”, 2000 Pontiac Montana which is about to die any day now.
60. With 1 car seat in it (it just seems like yesterday when there were 4 car seats in the car!).
61. I own a bicycle that I’ve never used.
62. When I first started driving (WITH a license) gas in the US it was under a dollar a gallon!
63. Favourite vacation in the last 5 years was an 11 day cruise around the Hawaiian Islands my parents took us on for our 10th Anniversary (in 2006).
64. All my life my very favourite letters of the alphabet were D and M.
65. My very favourite number… 5.
66. My hubby’s initials are D.M. and he is child number 5 in his family.
67. I believe that things happen for a reason.
68. My hubby, myself and our oldest son (7 months old at the time) backpacked through Paris, France – Switzerland and Italy for 2 1/2 weeks.
69. I love sushi.
70. That craving is only topped by my total obsession with coffee.
71. My hubby used to tease me about my love of the internet…
72. My children, at birth weighed: Q 8lbs 1oz, Em 8lbs 7oz. Li Li 9lbs 14 1/2oz, Jake 10lbs 7oz.
73. I had 4 natural, no drugs, quick and easy childbirths.
74. I go to church every Sunday and not because we lead the church.
75. We are part of an incredible church and I’m not just saying that because some of them read this blog.
76. I can’t wait until I no longer have to shave my legs!
77. I smile a lot! Even when I cry I still smile. I have a HUGE smile.
78. I drank copious amounts of Coca-Cola and Coffee during my 4th pregnancy.
79. At times I wonder why he’s so hyper…
80. I love pickles and cheese sandwiches on white bread with lots of mayo on it.
81. Threw you with that one EH?!
82. Yes, I’m Canadian and say EH a lot!!!
83. When I was 13 year old, I was in Dallas, Texas where a shoe store clerk said he liked my accent, I told him where I was from (Canada) and he said, “What State’s that in?” He seriously didn’t know where Canada was.
84. I’m afraid I stereotyped all (southern) Americans after this – sorry about that – I know better not to do that now.
85. I make it a point to teach my children about the world, different languages, cultures, etc.
86. My goal is that when they go to the nations one day they will not experience culture shock.
87. We have a border living with us from Jamaica right now.
88. We have had students from Mexico, Japan, Korea and China live with us over the years.
89. My kids can say “Hi” and “Bye” in 5 languages and we’re learning more.
90. There are many countries I would still like to visit.
91. I watch way too much HGTV!
92. I was a tomboy until I hit puberty.
93. When I was about 10, I saw my Guardian Angel. It was clear as day and you can never convince me otherwise.
94. I have green eyes. They are my favourite feature if I had to pick one.
95. My least favourite part… are my well-nursed…
96. I’m not opposed to plastic surgery…
97. One of the more romantic things my hubby’s done was to fill the bedroom with candles and the bed covered with rose petals.
98. Our second child (Em) was born 9 months later.
99. Note to self: remove rose petals first – stains bedding when pressure is applied.
100. I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
101. I was told by a teacher in high school that being a social butterfly wouldn’t get me anywhere but in trouble.
102. As a child, my home was always open. We had just about everyone from everywhere live with us at one point in their lives.
102. La La and I would share a bed quite frequently with no complaints, it’s just what we knew to do.
103. When I was about 7 we had a family from Singapore live with us, it was during Christmas time. I felt bad that they had nothing and it was a time for giving. I gave the little girl my very favourite hand-made blanket (from my Grandma).
104. We weren’t taught to give – it was exampled before us – a lifestyle of generosity. It was as natural as breathing.
105. I attended a Christian school in the 2 different churches we attended, elementary in North Vancouver and high school in Surrey.
106. In 2011, I discovered that I like to clean the house while listening to P!NK.
107. My Canadian accent quickly drops and adapts to a Southern US accent when I travel there.
108. I like dipping my french fries into my frosty.
109. I was always told I was bad at Math and I always believed it until on of my cousins pointed out that I spent 15 years in banking, where I used formulas, which is math isn’t it, all the time and well.
110. I love being a WAHM!
111. When I was a teen I listened to everything from Depeche Mode to Def Leppard to The Cranberries to The Proclaimers to Sinead O’Connor to Chicago to Alabama to Bob Marley to Amy Grant.
112. It depended on the group I was hanging out with… I blended well to my surroundings.
113. I cry every-time I watch ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover.
114. I like Grey’s Anatomy, Chuck, Glee, Big Bang Theory & Phineas and Ferb!
115. I’m online more than I watch TV.
116. I like to take my kids to the movies. They make great dates!
117. I also wanted to be an interior designer when I grew up and work with my dad in his design firm.
118. I still find myself collecting paint and flooring samples everywhere I go.
119. My idea of a good afternoon is checking out the model homes.
120. We even do this when we travel, the best was checking out a new planned development near MGM studios in Celebration, Florida.
121. I take my camera with me at all times.
122. I want to take my family to Japan and show them where I lived and went to school.
123. After I got home from Japan my younger sister (who doesn’t think I’ve mentioned her greatness enough so far) flew off to Kenya, Africa with Y.W.A.M. (youth with a mission) where she lived and built homes and nearly died of Malaria.
124. I worked at the Vancouver Airport one summer for Holland America Cruise Lines, waiting for passengers to arrive for the next sail.
125. I cried too much there, seeing people coming through the gate and meeting their loved ones. If they were crying… I was a mess.
126. I worked the following 3 summers at the pier (Canada Place) to avoid crying while at work.
127. I do love my sister and I can’t imagine what life would be like if she had died in Africa like she thought she was going to.
128. I went on a Mission’s trip to South Africa in July 2008, I took 5 teens from our church with me!!
129. Being a social butterfly has come in VERY handy as a Pastor’s Wife and even more so that I’m working for a marketing firm as their social media guru – hey teacher… How’d ya like me now?!
130. I like keeping busy, I get bored easily.
131. I only have my ears pierced, two holes in each ear but I never use the second holes and rarely do I use the first ones either.
132. I wouldn’t pierce anything else on my body – I don’t like scars.
133. I love to change the colour of my hair and each season it seems to find a new shade.
134. I love chocolate but it gives me headaches.
135. From the time I was 2 years old until teens, I got severe migraines caused from food intolerance.
136. My parents thought I had a brain tumor at 2 before they found out what it was. I used to walk into walls (dizzy), pass out and puke, then the pain in my head would be gone and I’d be alright until the next episode.
137. I am totally healed from severe migraines now.
138. I have a secret desire to fly. Not as a pilot in an airplane but – don’t laugh – like superman. I dream of flying all the time.
139. I liked the show “Heroes” – it reminded me of my dreams of being a secret super hero.
140. I don’t like to swim in deep, dark waters. I nearly drowned as a child and had nightmares for many years — into my adulthood — about being under water looking up through the water to the light but not being able to reach it.
141. I pushed that fear back this trip to Hawaii (2006) and dove off of a catamaran, into deep waters… but I could see the bottom in that area… in between a coral reef. I did it 4 times to my hubby’s amazement (I nearly had a panic attack while snorkeling 10 yrs prior on our honeymoon… which happened to be in Hawaii too).
145. I have crashed 4 cars in my lifetime. The first was my Mom’s car, 6 1/2 hours after passing my test at 16 years of age… the second I almost drove off a mountain and the third left me with soft tissue damage in the middle of my back. Last one June 15, 2010 when I drove into an intersection and was t-boned by a rather large work van.
146. I am a tissue and organ donor.
147. I want to be cremated and scattered in a mall. 😉
148. I worked for a national bank in my early 20’s and was held up at gunpoint.
149. My sister (Lala) and I gathered all the gum from under the pews at church one time when we were little and ate it. My mom asked us where we got it from and she was disgusted with our answer. We told her it was ok, “We prayed for it.” All better now.
150. I remember the night I became a Christian. I was 5 years old. They had an alter call and I went up front (without my parents prompting) with my teddy bear in tow.
151. I like to sing in the shower.
152. I can’t watch shows where people experience or dish out humiliation. It is not my kind of entertainment.
153. I am a Conservative – that’s Canada’s version of a Republican.
154. I vote.
155. I pray for our leaders – no matter who they are or what they stand for.
156. If I could have a “do-over”, you know where you can re-live your life, it would be the 5 or so years leading up to meeting my hubby.
157. I was in an abusive relationship. Never physical – always emotional.
158. I’m glad God gives us 2nd chances. Over and Over and Over again.
159. I visited my cousin and his new wife. I, for the first time in my life, saw what a real relationship and love was (outside of my parents, cause you know parents don’t count).
160. I stopped looking for love in all the wrong places & let God bring me my man!
161. I know it was the prayers of my parents that saved me.
162. My favourite colour is Red. I don’t like to wear it per-say but I love it around me. Walls, jewelry, accessories galore in red please.
163. I love Christmas time. The snow, the decorations, the presents, the time with family and friends, the time to remember that a little baby was born so I could be free and enjoy this life that I live.
164. I prefer a bath to a shower, as far back as I can remember… even when I didn’t have a jacuzzi tub.
165. I eat sour candies until my tongue blisters, fuzzy peach are my favourite.
166. I love wearing hats. Not baseball caps. Real hats, ladies hats, just like the days gone by. I found some in Nantucket that I really, really want!
167. I always speed. I can’t seem to do the limit – it’s usually about 20 klm over…
168. I wish I could lead worship at church. This, of course, is proceeded by… I wish I could sing…
169. I do not swear. I believe that words are important and too valuable to waste.
170. I am allergic to Red Wine & chocolate.
171. I do not like sports at all – can’t stand watching them and yet I married a sportaholic to the nineth-millionith degree.
172. God has a good sense of humour.
173. My favourite Disney character growing up was Cinderella.
174. I have never been arrested. 🙂
175. My final point – I started this blog to keep my family informed on what I was up to, for them to watch my kids grow and hear about the funny and difficult things that go on when you lead a church – I hope they’re still reading this after this enormous post and I haven’t bored them to tears! Love ya guys.