Tomorrow is my 41st birthday. In honor of the occasion, here is a list of 41 things about me.
1. I’ve never learned to water ski.
2. I am a registered Republican. (I really need to change that.)
3. Willie Nelson is one of my all time favorite singers.
Source: google.com via Jennifer on Pinterest
4. And my second favorite song of all time is You Were Always On My Mind.
5. My first favorite song of all time is Amazing Grace.
6. I’ve never had the chance to see Willie Nelson live, but I would love too.
7. I love a thunderstorm. Especially when I’m at home.
8. It took eight years from the day I graduated high school until the day I graduated college.
9. David and I paid for my entire college education. No loans, no grants (well one tiny one my first year), nothing. Just hard work and sacrifice.
10. I get car sick.
11. I drive pretty much everywhere I go. Even for work trips with my coworkers (who are all men). (see no. 10)
12. I’ve never learned how to fry a chicken. My mother makes the best fried chicken ever. She’s tried to teach me numerous times.
13. I suck at remembering movie quotes, but I admire people that are good at it and am a little jealous of their skill.
14. I’m kind of a prude.
15. I keep a messy house because if I tried to keep it as clean as I really want I would never.stop.cleaning.
16. If I can’t have things the way I want them then I would rather not have them at all.
17. When I was in high school I thought about killing myself. My love for my family is the only thing that stopped me.
18. I find something I love and obsess over it until it wears me completely out. New author? Must read everything they’ve written. New TV show? Much watch every single one. Current favorite food? Must eat it everyday until it makes me sick.
19. My favorite all time TV show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
20. My second favorite all time TV show is Law & Order. All of them. Except that dumb one that was set in LA.
21. When I was growing up I had the TV schedule memorized. My parents never used a TV Guide because they could just ask me what was coming on and when.
22. When I was a little girl I saw someone dive off the diving board at the public pool and hit their head. They had to call an ambulance and were rushed to the emergency room. I’ve never been able to dive into a pool since then.
23. I’m not the best swimmer and that is why it is so important to me that my kids learn how to swim well.
24. Other than the chicken (see above), the one thing I can admit that I do really well is cook. It’s in my blood.
25. I’ve never been good at being trendy.
26. I’m terrified that something will happen to David and I will have to live without him.
27. No one thought it was a good idea for David and I to get married so young, but I knew it was. Twenty two years later I still say it was the smartest decision I’ve ever made.
28. I know how to sew. That’s in my blood too.
29. I’m not good at keeping in touch with people. It is one thing I wish I could change about myself.
30. Sometimes I wish that I were a stricter mother so that my kids would behave better, but I know that I won’t be because I don’t want to do what it takes to be stricter.
31. I worry and plan constantly.
32. I talk and laugh really loud. I love that about me. 
33. I’m just as comfortable on the lake with a fishing pole as I am in a board room with a presentation.
34. I love hard.
35. Some days regrets weigh me down.
36. I have a terrible singing voice, and I can’t carry a tune, but I love music.
37. I have the gift of discernment.
38. My extended family has become so fractured that sometimes I feel like I’m floating in the wind with no roots to hold me down.
39. I’m terrified of heights and enclosed spaces. It has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older.
40. Sometimes I talk in my sleep.
41. Starting this blog and making connections with all of you is probably the second smartest thing I’ve ever done.
Happy 41st birthday to me! Here’s to at least 41 more.
Happiest of birthdays to you Jennifer! Thanx for letting us get to know you a little bit more, and as always for your candor and sass.
Candor and sass pretty much wraps me up in a package!
I think this blog is probably the third smartest thing you have done. To keep trying for kids was your second because your kids are very loved and they are lucky to have you as a mom! Love you guys and we should have more family get togethers. Just sayin’ LOL
You are so sweet, and yes we do. You have no idea how much I miss everyone.
Jennifer,
I LOVE this post! We have some major things in common:)
Thanks for being so honest. That’s so refreshing.
But, you aren’t serious about changing the Republican thing, are you?!!
Oh Debbie, you haven’t been around long have you?! I’m so over the top serious.
You’re a prude? Really? That one made me laugh.
I know, right?! But yeah. I kind of am. Maybe prude isn’t the right word. Maybe it is that I think some things should be kept private.
Do you have Stardust? My one of my stepdads was a Willie fan. He covers classics. It was incredible. And I was in 7th grade. You Were Always On My Mind came out later.
I just love you.
Happy Birthday tomorrow!
I used to memorize the TV schedule. Oh heck, I still do.
Now I’ve got the TV Guide app.
Oh how I loved this. Happy, happy birthday!!!
Thank you!
I love your loud laugh too! Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday! I love lists like these! Fascinating to read and always something unexpected.
Happy 41st Birthday!!
I think lists like this are fun too. It tells you a lot about the person.
Happy Birthday! I turned 41 this year too – great list and great idea! I might do it for my 42nd bday!
You should totally do this. I love reading these kinds of posts.
Happy birthday!
I love this list. I am not registered with either party. I don’t vote in primaries anyway.
Love that you did what you knew was right for you and David and got married when you did. You’re a strong woman–I admire that very much.
The only primary I can recall voting in is the one where we had to vote to put the concealed handgun issue on the ballot, and it was only on the ticket in the republican primary so that’s how that happened.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a fantastic birthday weekend.
I also have a crazy loud laugh. I had a boyfriend in high school who used to get so aggravated because I was so loud. Whatever. I dumped him.
I talk in my sleep if I am sick, really tired, or pregnant. My girls talk in their sleep too sometimes!
That’s when I talk in my sleep too, but I did it a lot when I was little. Cady does it too.
Happy, Happy Birthday, Jennifer!
I really enjoyed your list: on some things we are polar opposites, but on a lot we are similar. Especially #26! I am so afraid of having to raise my kids without my husband and I don’t know where that fear comes from, but this verse gives me comfort:
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
I hope you enjoy your birthday!
OHMYWORD! I love that scripture. My daughter is afraid a LOT, and I have read it to her many times. I’ve even left it open in her room.
Happy Birthday Jennifer! Dang, you know Willie was just in Dallas a few weeks ago at the House of Blues. I even blogged about it the next day. You could have joined me.
I love your honesty and we have many things in common. Have a great weekend!
I love lists like these, thanks for sharing. I have always wanted to be able to make really good fried chicken.
Happy birthday!
I smiled so big at the talking and laughing one, just picturing us all carrying on in our hotel room at Blogher.
Great list. Love ya! Hope your Birthday was as wonderful as you!