100 Things - last updated 10.2010 01.2013

• My name is Jennifer.
• I am of Finnish decent with a pinch of Swede in me, as well.
• I was born in Michigan.
• I live in Minnesota.
• My family still lives in Michigan.
• I have 13 siblings. (8 sisters and 5 brothers.)
• I am the oldest.
• I loved growing up in a big family.
• I have always loved babies.
• I am 30 years old, even though I'm really 35. I've decided I'd like to be 30 forever.
• My parents have been married for 36 years.
• My husband is 4 years younger than me.
• I was almost 24 when we got married.
• I have always thought that age is only a number.
• Mark and I knew each other for about 3 or 4 months before we started dating.
• We only dated for 6 weeks before we were engaged.
• Our engagement was 4 months long.
• My husband wanted to elope.
• I didn't.
• We are opposites in so many ways.
• We are the same in so many ways.
• We balance each other.
• He is my best friend.
• Our oldest, Nikayda, was born in Minnesota over 10 years ago.
• Abram was born in one hospital in Michigan over 9 years ago.
• Carter was born in another hospital in Michigan over 7 years ago.
• Aria was born at our home here in Minnesota 9 months ago.
  
• I think dreams can come true.
• I hope this to be true because I am a dreamer.
• I LOVE vintage things.
• I love to make stuff.
• I love to cook.
• I like to clean.
• I think there is nothing better than a sparkling clean house.
• Sometimes I think there is something wrong with that.
• Especially because my house is always sailing.
• I have an innate desire to produce fun, vintage style decor and art.
• I love the word 'junk'.
• I sell junk as a little hobby on Etsy {Whimsical Junk}.
• I'm passionate about organization.
• I love to organize.
• Why, then, does my house look like it was raided by wild elephants?!
• I love to take pictures.
• I want to learn how to take {great} pictures.
• I love vintage fabric, ric-rac, and lace.
• I want to teach myself how to draw and paint, again.
• I miss art.
• I only took two years of art in high school.
• I regret that I didn't take it all four years.
• I don't have very many regrets in life.
• I never went to college.
• I don't plan to.
• I don't regret that.
• My husband never went to college.
• My husband owns a carpentry business.
• I can't drive by one-single abandoned house without wishing I could dig through it to find junk.
• I would be in-my-glory digging through old houses, outbuildings, attics, and basements.
• I am very nostalgic and sentimental.
• My life is a study in contradictions.
• I love history.
• I would like to travel the United States.
• I would like to stop only at historical sites and landmarks.
• I am intrigued by politics.
• I disdain politics.
• I am a conservative.
• I am very opinionated.
• I never mean to hurt anyone with my opinions.
• I respect other people's opinions.
• I hope other people know that.
• I love and collect a lot of vintage things.
• I'm a little bit passionate about thrifting and garage saling.
  
• I am 5'1".{I won't tell you how much I weigh.}
• I have grey/blue eyes.
• My hair is light brown/dark blonde in color.
• I like short fingernails.
• I love to laugh.
• As I get older, I cry more easily.
• I love to drink {black} coffee Tazo organic Chai tea Twinings organic chai tea with a splash of milk and honey.
• I need to drink the aforementioned coffee tea every morning.
• My favorite drink is a non-fat caramel macchiato from Starbucks Campfire Mocha from Caribou Coffee. hot or cold.
• I drink a lot of water every day.
• I associate the word 'peanut' with 'poison'.
• My youngest child could die if he touches peanuts, so great is his allergy.
• Because of his peanut allergy, I disdain GMO's (which are a leading suspect in the abundance of food allergies these days).
• We try to avoid chemicals as much as possible in every aspect of our lives. (i.e. Cleaning products, toiletries, laundry, gardening, and our food.)
  
• I love essential oils and natural medicine.
• The chemicals in processed and prepackaged foods really scare me.
• We try to eat organic whole foods as much as possible with a minimum amount of organic processed foods in our house. But we do go out to eat occasionally.
• My idea of window shopping is surfing blogs and looking at other people's junk and vintage finds.
• I am an optimist who occasionally suffers from anxiety and mild depression and I had moderate-severe postpartum depression (PPD) with two of my pregnancies. (My middle two.) I did not get PPD with my current baby.
• I still have an imagination.
• It gets the best of me sometimes.
• I am not the same person I once was.
• My husband gave me the confidence to be *me*.
• In the past, I often squelched my true thoughts and opinions. I do it a lot less now.
• But sometimes I still do.
• I feel the most like *me* than I ever have.
• I hope that I have grown.
• We are building and settling into our very first home. (...7+ years and counting...still under construction. Did I mention I'm married to the carpenter?)
• I feel like my life is just beginning.

Comments

[Junkyard Jennifer]

This was a cool post! I really liked your last line! We are really similar. Can I guess that you are a perfectionist? And that you get frustrated when things don't seem to be as put-together as you think they should be? (Well, that is how I am anyway.)

I like vintage stuff, but I'm no where nearly as committed about junk collecting as you are. However, I really like essential oils and natural healing also. (The oils are expensive, eh?) Do a post on how you use your ess. oils... :)

By the way, I don't see your email address anywhere on your blog. I'd like to send you a photo, but I'm not sure to where? :)

Angie M.
5:33 PM, August 16, 2007
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Judy said...
Now I know a bit more about you. I like the post.
8:17 AM, August 17, 2007
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Sue said...
Great post! Funny thing, I could have said most of the same things...Kristy always said we were alike!
10:32 AM, August 17, 2007
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Junkyard Jen said...
(Sue) We must be. Lol! :) The girls have always told me that too.
1:14 PM, August 17, 2007
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Heidi said...
Cool, that was sort of poetic.
7:41 PM, August 17, 2007
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Becca said...
Very cool post...sounds like you. I didn't know you were the oldest.
8:11 PM, August 18, 2007
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Jennifer L said...
Hey Jennifer! This is Jennifer and Ginger-- Gin was showing me the cute pics of Nikayda and Aapo :) so fun. This blog thing seems funner than Facebook! Katie K was telling me how she keeps in touch with you by this blog. Hope to see you sometime soon in Menahga.

9:04 PM, September 10, 2007
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[merryheart2]

I love this post.
We two are so much alike, except that I don't drink coffee. Love the smell or fresh ground coffee or brewing coffee, but don't drink it.

I come from a small family with 2 other siblings.

Our house is not under construction (at the time). It was built in 1926, I believe, and I want to leave it as original as I can, but as functional as possible. We may add on to the master bedroom bath and add a closet.

My husband is one year younger than me and neither one of us went to college. He's my soul mate and best friend.We work in construction too. We own a paint contracting business. We do mostly commercial(churches and schools), but we do some houses too.

I'm 5'3" with brown hair and I love peanuts.

I don't necessarily love to cook, but I sometime will. I definitely love to clean, but lately my house probable looks worse than yours and I can not for the life of me figure out why I cannot get motivated to do something about it.

I live in Tx and have 2 grown children.

The rest you pretty much hit it right on the nail. hehe
Sandra

[Debbie]

I really love your blog. I enjoyed the entry about you. We have quite a few similarities. However, I grew up and still live in Washington State; I have one brother; I am 5'8" tall. I too love coffee, but with cream. I love anything with cream. I love cream. I also like red wine and gin. I am an artist and you sound so very creative. I love art. I must create. I love both of those words.
I have a business with two of my best friends. We are an online magazine for women called Mermaids of the Lake. We love to be inspired and to inspire others. I love the word inspire. We are in the process of setting up a blog. Fun. Blog is a strange word. I drive through Minnesota every year to go to Northern Wisconsin. I have been married forever. I have two kids. I also have a dog, cat, bird, gecko, and two frogs. I love animals. I also love to organize, but am frequently frustrated by piles of stuff. I love, love, love a shiny, clean house and the smell of fabulous candles. I love antiques and what others think of as junk. I collect pixies and vintage Santas and elves, among other things. I live in the same area as The Farm Chicks and found you from their blog. My website is on their blog, as well.

Make art! It will make you happy.

Debbie

[Becky S]

Awesome blog....you are so creative; I love the colors and your photos. :)Becky Swykert

[Sara]

Jennifer,
OMG. I just found your blog and have been reading through everything. I love it. I have been laughing and giggling over all things we have in common. My husband was sitting here watching me grin like a little school girl and wondering what I was doing online. He asked if he should be worried about anything. LOL. I started reading your list of 100 things and he wondered if it was my list of 100 things about me. 27 through 79 are pretty much spot on. My husband is a truck driver, I am 5'4", with brown eyes. 88 through 100 are right on again. It is almost crazy. I feel like I could have wrote those words myself. I am just starting to blog. I read much more than I write because I haven't quite found my groove yet. Your blog is definitely inspiring. Keep up the great work.
Thank you and good luck junking.

[Pat McNally]

I love your description of yourself!!! I, too , am of Finnish descent- don't find too many of those here in the Va mountains!!! My parents lived in Minn for a number of years - loved it and the cold (altho I much prefer 2 degrees to minus 50!!!) I love vintage buttons, pretty much vintage everything- and rummaging thru old houses and caramel macchiato from Starbucks (decaf tho!) I am a few too many years older than you - but love reading your blog!!!

[Kara Melissa]

I really enjoyed reading this. Getting to know you all over again!

[Lotta]

I love this post! I am going to have to steal it. I remember wanting to give my partner (now husband) a list of the 10 things I love most about him.... it blew into 100 and I used up a whole box of brown paper wrap writing it.
Thankyou for sharing xx