7 Random Facts

Thanks to Aimee for this fun tag! (She's my favorite old next door neighbor we've ever had!)


Mostly my random stuff is the funny, quirky, OCD things I do. I swear, everyone has a little OCD, right? Some more severe than I'll admit to, but all the same, everyone's quirky in some way!

1. I like to have balance in the universe. I like it when the numbers on my odomoter are a nice, round number, or if they make a palindrome (like 103301 or 97679). It always makes me feel happy when I can catch it. I also like things that are symmetrical. If I put flowers on this side of the flowerbed, I feel like I have to put the same flowers in the same place on the other side. Or pictures on the wall. Or furniture in the room. Or olives on the casserole. Or eggs in the carton. Yeah, I'm weird. I take out the eggs in the carton so that they balance: bottom left, the next one comes out of the top right, etc. If it's not symmetrical, I feel off balance. (It's a wonder I ever wore my hair in those side ponies when they were the style back in the 80's!)

2. My fingers are constantly moving. If there's music playing, I play an imaginary piano on my fingers to go along with the song. But the more likely scenario is that I'm typing on my fingers all the time! During a conversation, or watching TV especially, I'll type what's being said on my fingers. And if I ever happen to watch something with the closed captioning or subtitles--it's even worse! I have to force myself to stop. And if I'm not typing or playing the piano, I start cracking my knuckles or peeling my nails. Yuck! What is WRONG with me??

3. I actually LIKE to clean my bathroom. I'd MUCH rather scrub my toilet than I would vacuum my house. And I have a specific order in which I clean. First I do the tub and showers, then the sinks, then the toilet, and then the floors. And always in that order. Mirrors go last as well as polishing up the chrome on the faucets. Clean bathrooms make me smile. Somehow I can ignore the hairy carpet. (Sorry, Vince.)

4. I'm a talk radio JUNKY! Some of you may already know this little secret of mine. I carry a little hand-held radio with me around the house as I clean and go about my duties. I listen to Doug Wright on KSL in the mornings. But I'm an even more avid Dr. Laura fan. (Sorry, Mom!) I LOVE her show and rarely miss it, and will even schedule appointments around it if I can! I know, can you believe me? But I think her advice is right-on. I love her take on staying at home and on treating our husbands like MEN by being their girlfriends. I love her book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. It has literally changed my life! I will always be grateful for that.

5. I'm a home-body. I like to travel. I love to go see new things. We just got back from a trip to Montana last weekend, and a trip to Colorado yesterday! And I'm tired! I just want to be home. As much fun as it is to see neat things and visit wonderful people, I like being home and puttering around my own house.

6. I am SO not witty. In fact, I sometimes think I'm a bit of an airhead. I really am smart, I just can't think quickly on my feet. Yeah, I'm one of those people who laughs at jokes I really don't get. I ususally get them EVENTUALLY, but usually it takes me a minute (or an hour). I know people that can spout quick come-backs on the spot, and they come out so perfect and funny. I know people who are maybe not as witty in person, but reading things they write always makes me wonder how they can come up with such great stuff--their brains just work great like that. I usually analyze a situation for DAYS before I'll come up with a really good come-back, or comment, or joke. But by then, the moment is long gone, and alas, I can never come back to them.

7. I hate change. HATE it! I think I have a good disposition and that I can easily content myself with my situation and surroundings. But then I am content and don't WANT anything to be different! If it works, why change it? I have to constently tell myself that trying new things and stepping out of my little comfort zone will benefit me and everyone else in the long run. But I just don't want to. It's a battle I struggle with all the time. And unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) I married a wonderful man who thrives off of variety. He actually likes change! He's always thinking that doing something different is good and fun and makes life exciting. And I have to hold onto his hand (with a very firm grip) and jump out with him. And you know, if I hadn't, I would've missed out on so many things that I now love--running and water-skiing and even just flipping a house or painting a room. It's amazing how changing just a little something can give a new perspective and a breath of fresh air. Hmm. Maybe I don't hate change quite as much as I thought.

And now I can tag 7 more people: Shalon, Becca, Mary, Jo, Brooke, Marjorie (the Hogge family blog) and Mama (the Meyers family blog)

Google Tag

My friend, Sarah tagged me for this one. Enjoy!

First Name: Becky
Obviously this isn't me, but I certainly wouldn't mind having those buff legs like she has!

Middle Name: Susan


Last Name: Hogge
It was interesting what came up when I searched the name. Here's something I didn't know about it: "In 1989, the Royal Mint was commissioned by the Bermuda Monetary Authority to produce 500 four-coin gold Proof sets. These coins were produced to celebrate Bermuda's first coinage, known as Hogge Money." Huh. Learn something new everyday!


Age: Twenty-Eight

Place I want to visit: Hawaii
Favorite Vacation Spot: MontanaCollege Major: Marriage, Family, & Human Development

Grew Up: Elk Ridge

Past Pet: Oscar Meyers
A goldfish I killed because I fed it too much and it ate it all and ended up bloated & floating belly-up at the top of the fish bowl--although I do that way too often myself and it hasn't killed me yet!

Favorite Treat: Ice Cream Sundae
Pictures speak louder than words. Mmmm.

Bad Habit: Cracking My Knuckles (and toes, and hips, and knees, and neck, and back...)

Mood Right Now: Happy (of course)!

And now, I'll tag my running friends, and anyone else who wants to join in. Here are the rules:

"Just search Google Images for your answers, and pick something on the first 3 pages. Some match, some are a little random. Just a note of caution: Be sure you have a good filter on your computer beforehand. Searching images on the internet can pop up unwanted material."

Have fun!

I Beat Beethoven

Now that I'm taking a break from long-distance racing for a while, I really wanted to work on speed and improve my 5k time. My fastest 5k time so far has been in the 26 minute range. So I wanted to get under 26 minutes by the end of this summer. A neighboring city put on a fun 5k race this weekend called "Beat Beethoven 5k" in which they play Beethoven's 5th Symphony at the start, and racers try to get to the finish line before the end of the last movement. Knowing my love of running and my love of good music, you can imagine how fun this race was for me! The best part was they actually had a man dressed with a crazy gray wig--Beethoven--running the race. He had a picture of Beethoven on the front, and on the back was printed these words: "Accelerando. That means run faster." I really wasn't too worried about beating Beethoven, as his 5th Symphony is over 30 minutes long. But this is probably the last 5k I'll do this summer, so I really wanted to set a personal record.

The course was more hilly than I usually like. But then again, I'm used to running on hills. So I felt strong when we started chugging up the hill and I passed all those buff men and skinny ladies that are huffing their way to the top. It's exhilerating! I pushed myself the entire way, and crossed the finish line in 25:42! I also was the 8th woman to cross the finish, out of about 120 women who ran the race. Unfortunately, I was in the 20-29 year age group, and their were 5 other faster young 20-somethings ahead of me. So even though I was 8th overall, I was 6th in my age group! But I was so happy; I not only Beat Beethoven in this fun race, but I beat myself, so to speak.

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

A friend of mine told me about this. I went to MyHeritage.com to see who I looked like. And then I morphed myself into Debra Messing. How weird is that?? It's kind of fun to play with. And fun to see that I could TOTALLY be a celebrity. Well, if I was that kind of person, which I'm certainly not! :0) Enjoy!

The Sweet Moments of Motherhood

I love being a Mom! It is seriously a wonderful job! It was reiterated to me several more times in the past week and a half that I am a lucky, lucky woman.

After Evan came home from Kindergarten on Friday, during lunchtime, we got into a discussion about our bodies. Evan's had a bit of a cough, and during lunch he asked me, "Mom, why do we cough?" So, being the good mom that I am, I started into a long discussion on different organs in our body and how they work. We talked about little germs that get in our lungs and that we cough to get them back out. We talked about how the lungs fill up with air like a balloon and take oxygen to our heart, which carries it to our muscles so they can move. We talked about the two holes in our throats that go either to our lungs or to our stomach. We talked about how sometimes if we swallow wrong the water goes into our lungs and makes us cough a lot to get it back out. "Mom, but what happens if air goes down the other tube?" "Well, when air gets into our stomachs, then we burp," I told him with a smile. Evan thought this was hilariously funny and laughed about it for the next few minutes. And I had to stop after our conversation and say a quick prayer of gratitude for being a mom to such an inquisitive, bright, delightful little 5-year old boy!

I admit, I'm not always a great mom. After a long few days of working extra, trying to get into the new routine of school and work and practicing piano and homework, being a hormonal woman, having Vince in Vernal again for a few days, and having grumpy tired children and being a grumpy tired mom, I snapped one night at bedtime, frustrated that my children were being silly instead of going to sleep. I lectured them on why we need to go to bed on time so we're not all cranky the next day, and that I was tired and needed it to be quiet. They got the picture and were silent again when I shut the door. Relieved that it was finally quiet again, but having a pit of guilt in my stomach, I returned to folding laundry. I found a dress that needed to be hung up, but I didn't have any more little hangers. So I quietly opened the door to the kids' room to hang it up. In the dark, I caught a glimpse of my sweet Brookie, kneeling on her bed, eyes closed and head down. I stood for a minute watching her finish, thinking that in the chaos and hassle of getting kids to bed, I'd forgotten to remind them to pray. She looked up and smiled at me in that sweet forgiving way only children do, and said, "I was just saying my prayers. I say my prayers every night." A few tears filled my eyes as I hugged her and told her how proud I was that she always remembers to pray, and that hearing her say that was the best thing that had happened to me all day. That night I knelt by my own bed and expressed deep appreciation to my Father in Heaven for sending me such wonderful children who, even amid my shortcomings, are cultivating a relationship with Him. I am so grateful. I may not do everything right, but it is a great comfort to a young mom to see them learning good things.