1. I'm an introvert! Like wow. Phone calls with people I don't know make me anxious. I'm terrible at small talk. Alone time is my jam. Even texting can be too much for me at times. I totally sympathize with people who deal with social anxiety! I am proudly, and without a doubt, a major introvert. Funny that I didn't realize it until college and later - once I moved away from my well established comfort zone. It also seems like I'm just getting more and more introverted the older I get... 😬
2. I don't like being vulnerable. Even the word itself used to annoy me - no joke. Sharing my deepest, most personal feelings? Uh, no thanks. Like, it makes me super uncomfortable. Even with people closest to me I find that I have a really hard time finding the words. Well, correction, I have about a billion words going through my head of what I could/should say, it's the actual speaking of those words that I struggle with. I've also noticed that I don't mind so much opening up about things or feelings from the past, that I've already moved on from. It's current, ongoing struggles or poignant feelings that I have a hard time expressing or even wanting to share. If I'm currently dealing with it, then I feel like it's none of your business, give it a couple weeks and I won't mind so much, lol. This is something I'm trying to work on, because I've seen how much opening up really can help yourself and others, but it definitely isn't easy.
3. I'm fairly independent, even though I didn't necessarily think of myself this way. I feel like I usually think of independent people as the ones who proudly and widely proclaim the fact, just in case anyone wasn't already aware. That is definitely not me. But I've realized that I do have a tendency to want to work things out on my own or accomplish things by myself. If I can possibly do something without having to ask for help, I will.
4. I love books, and learning, and intellect. Ok, so I pretty much always knew this one (hence making the goal in 6th grade to graduate high school as Valedictorian), but I've come to realize how much I really value it. I read a ton as a kid, but slowly stopped over the course of high school after feeling like I couldn't find anything worthwhile to read. A few years ago I made it a goal to start reading more...like 6 books a year or something (the fact that that was an improvement is almost appalling to me now! haha) Then 2 years ago I started reading a book with Julia, sharing our thoughts as we read, and it really reignited that spark! Last year alone I read 50 books (if you count my reading through the Book of Mormon again). And with my love of learning and intellect, I've found a passion for non-fiction books as well. My fiction reading is actually still fairly minimal, mostly consisting of more classic works/authors like Jane Austen. Ya, I love books. :) And I especially love that I married someone who loves it all as much as I do! (If not more...I may be more than a little envious of how quickly he can make it through a book. I'm not a slow reader, but he still gets through so much more than I can in the same amount of time! It's annoying...)
5. I love learning about and understanding people. I really enjoy biographies. And I love the aspects of personality type that help me to better understand other people that function so differently from myself. What makes people tick? I love to try and get inside their head to see how and why they act or react in certain ways. It really is becoming a passion of mine.
6. I really enjoy cooking. Especially if I don't have to come up with what to cook. ;) And thank goodness, cause I do a lot of it! (Well, by today's standards at least.) Also, the figuring out what to cook...I wouldn't survive without meal plans. Well, correction, I would live off of nothing but cereal and other easy, grab and eat foods, which I'm pretty sure is what I did all through college. I hate to cook for just myself - it feels like a waste of time. But I enjoy cooking for Gabe and I and for friends, especially when it turns out well and tastes delicious!
7. I observe and analyze - it's how I learn and process and understand the world and people around me. Also something I think I've always known, but what I didn't know is that not everyone else overthinks everything as much as I do. :P Hence also my love of learning about and understanding people - I observe and analyze!
8. I've come to really love the outdoors and nature. I never saw this one coming. Not that I ever had anything against it, I was just always the one having to be pushed/dragged out the door, never the one calling for others to join me. I was generally indifferent to it. But now I just love the calming nature of, well, nature. The further I can get from the sights and sounds of the city the better! But also, just being outside in the sun is so rejuvenating, even if it's in the middle of a neighborhood (our apartment balcony facing the parking lot, unfortunately not so much).
