DAY 1: 15 Things About Me

1. I have four amazing children, a great husband and a cat named Tiger, plus a still-born baby and a golden retriever waiting for us in heaven.

2. Our dog died two months ago, and since then Tiger has been doing her best to drive me crazy--scratching everyone and flicking her tail in my face. Plus she's always on the wrong side of every door, especially at two o'clock in the morning.

3. I'm not really an animal person, so I'm not sure why my first three things involved animals.

4. However, when I was a kid, I did plan to make my living riding whales at Sea World in San Diego.

5. Our house is for sale.

6. I've written several novels--only one is really polished enough to consider trying to sell.

7. I can't seem to make myself try to sell it.

8. Which in a complicated, convoluted way is why I started this blog in the first place. Don't ask.

9. I was raised in Utah, but now I live in a small town in central Maine. I miss the mountains all the time, but if I ever moved back I think I'd miss the lakes at least as much, maybe more.

10. I am a Mormon, and I love every minute of it.

11. I am the young women's president.

12. I'm not very athletic, but I get my best ideas for my novels while I'm hiking, snow shoeing and swimming.

13. I wish I lived near a big enough city that I could take boxing, fencing and zumba lessons.

14. When we hear a song I know in public, my kids all grip my arms and hiss under their breath: "Do Not start singing or dancing" OR, if they are slow on the uptake, then they hiss "Stop it" (and it takes a conscious act of will on my part to obey them. I think I'm alone far too much...)

15. I'm 39 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but it involves some combination of writing and teaching.