All the cool kids are doing it!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Everyone's doing the 100 Things (also a list!) thing, and since I go with the cool kids, like Heather B, MJ, and Katie, I'm doing it too.  I never knew it'd be that hard, and this is only 25...

1. I’m going to school for childhood and special education, and a minor in educational technology. I love messing with HTML and websites along with having fun with everything we did...after an A+ in that class last semester, I added it on.

2. I want to be a teacher of the hearing impaired. I love learning sign language, and I’m interested in how people can communicate that way/how they might relearn speaking and other skills… and it was all started by my mom. She’s an itinerant teacher of the hearing impaired in the Buffalo school district. I used to LOVE going to Take Your Daughter to Work Day with her.

3.  I’m the oldest of 4 kids… it goes girl-boy-girl-boy, and 2 years-3 years-2-years. It’s kind of weird how it all happened.

4. If I wasn’t so into teaching, I would go into music in a heartbeat. I’d love to work with record labels and bands and the like.

5. I love playing instruments, but I wasn’t always good. My first instrument was a recorder in third grade, (everyone had to at my school) and I passed 2 levels out of 10. I wasn’t allowed to play “My Heart Will Go On” in the concert and I was crushed.

6. I’m a total band geek. I was in orchestra in elementary school as the only girl sax player, and then marching/concert/jazz band in high school.

7. I have gone to 35 concerts within the past 5 years, and with 58 bands. I’ve seen my favorite band Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers 9 times, local band Seven Day Faith 3 times, Goo Goo Dolls 2 times, Lifehouse 2 times, Ronnie Day 2 times, The Click Five 2 times, Teddy Geiger 2 times, Dirtie Blonde 2 times, Cute Is What We Aim For 2 times, and The Juliet Dagger 2 times. Yes, I keep track.
August is going to be a super concert month: More Than Me at the Tralf, 1997 at Club W, Jack's Mannequin at Town Ballroom, John Mayer/OneRepublic at Darien Lake, Seven Day Faith at the Canal...

8. If you haven’t noticed, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers are my favorite band. I saw them accidently when I went to see Howie Day at Thursday in the Square. They opened, were really great, and Howie pretty much sucked. Plus he is a total jerk. The rest is history.

9. I’m a street team rep for a number of different bands, though mainly for, you guessed it, SK6ERS. I pass out flyers at other shows, send people emails and links with samples/info, have people sign up for the email list at their concerts, sell merchandise at shows, and things of that nature. It’s a great way to connect with other fans and the guys in the band. They remember you and appreciate all you do. (Plus, you get free shows and merch and special events!)

10. I’m not athletic at all. I played basketball and soccer in middle school, but that’s the kind when they let everyone play.

11. I love watching Jon & Kate Plus 8. Some people think it’s weird to watch other kids’ lives on tv, but there’s something about that family that is so adorable. Aaden is my favorite!

12. Every Sabres game that I've been to, we've won. My first game was when I was 5, then most have been more recent since my parents would never buy tickets/I bought my own after getting money from working.  It's 7 total.  This season was the Matt Man shutout game, and the 7-1 Hurricanes game in March.  Last season, a Panthers game, the Calgary shootout, and the awesome Staffy goal game against the Caps.

13.  I started reading at 2 1/2.  I started with Disney books on tape aka memorizing them, then I would read brand names in the car (Pepsi! JcPenney's! Hills!).  Ironically, I'm not a fan of shopping now.

14. I’m really close to my brother Joey; he’s 2 years younger than me though he looks much older than me. We both have the same sarcastic sense of humor (we loveee The Office), are into technology and the same kind of music, etc.

15. I still don’t have my driver’s license. There’s a long story behind it that I took driver’s ed, we had one car, I never practiced then went away to school where there were no freshman cars on campus. I’m working on it though!

16. My dad got me into hockey… it’s basically a pre-requisite for our family! It starts young and grows, at least for everyone except my mom (who isn’t a sports person despite having 4 brothers), and my brother Joey who’s only slightly interested.

17. I hate to talk on the phone. HATE IT. Looking for other summer jobs was awful when I had to call places. Most of the time, to talk to friends, I text. My dad hates that and “my generation” for that.

18. I have 8783 songs on my iPod. (Yes, it went up since my music post!)  Music definitely takes up almost all of my laptop space.

19. One of my favorite books is Harriet the Spy. I had a copy when I was in elementary school and would read it every week, and would always carry around a marble notebook. Then when the movie came out, I thought Michelle Trachtenberg was the coolest person ever.

20. I was almost every Disney princess for Halloween. Esmeralda, Meg from Hercules, Jasmine from Aladdin, etc. And my mom made every single one. (Along with my 3 other siblings’ costumes.)

21. Going to Mount Saint Mary’s for high school was one of the best choices I ever made. I made my closest friends there, and really became who I am today. I stepped outside of my shell and joined clubs and did a lot of things outside my comfort zone. It was the best 4 years of my life so far, and I really hope my own girls can go there.

22. I’m 1/4 Lebanese, and it’s my most celebrated background compared to my 1/2 German and other 1/4 Irish.

23. I can't do a cartwheel, and never have been able to.

24.  I honestly never want to leave Buffalo.  There's just something about this city that makes it a special place for me.

25.  I've never had a bedroom with a door, besides our old apartment.  My family moved into the house we live in now when I was 2, and my dad added on a huge addition himself.  But after having the plumbing and other things done professionally, he realized it was all screwed up, and has been fixing things ever since.  We don't even have real walls in our back room!  (My sister and I used to joke that we wanted a door for Christmas.)