Inner Peace

Today Michelle Mason tagged me with the Inner Peace Award. The rules are to share seven things my blog readers don’t know about me.

1.) I’ve been to seven countries outside the US. And I’ll list my favorite part of each trip

• Israel – Floating in the dead sea and taking a jeep ride through the Golan Heights

  

  Me in the Golan Heights

• France – Cannes (side note: least favorite part, getting the worst sunburn of my life on a nude beach, no I wasn’t nude!)
• Spain – Swimming in the Olympic pool in Barcelona
• Italy – Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa, and pretty much everything in Rome.
• Monaco – Everything about it. This country is seriously gorgeous. So many awesome views. Not to mention some seriously cool expensive cars.
• Andorra – The Mountains
• England – Platform 9 ¾’s, the Tower of London, double decker buses, the Millenium bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Tower Bridge, and just London in general.

  

  Tower Bridge

2.) I didn’t always want to be an engineer. When I was little I wanted to be an astronaut, then for a very long time I wanted to be a Veterinarian. I changed my mind junior year of high school. When I went to a weeklong intro to engineering program, I saw them break a two inch diameter steel rod. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Right then and there I decided I wanted to break stuff for a living. I combined my love of space with my love of math and science and am now a Rocket Scientist.

3.) I started swimming when I was three and learned to do three strokes at that age, backstroke, breast stroke and freestyle. I swam on team for years, and was a butterflier for a while, one of the few who could do the stroke properly without getting DQ’d. When I got into high school I was on the swim team and was a breaststroker. I got a varsity letter on the swim team.

4.) In high school I considered changing my mailing address to the school's theater. I loved being a backstager. I staged managed a number of productions including Once Upon a Mattress. I climbed ladders, hung and focused lights, and programmed light boards. I was the only girl in backstage theater who didn’t paint. I couldn’t paint to save my life unless someone said go paint that wall black. I did construct sets, and I was the only girl who could pick up a screw gun and not have it taken away from her.

5.) I’m a dancer. They put ballet and tap shoes on me at age three. I danced tap, jazz, and ballet from aged three to eighteen. I started pointe at age fifteen. I quit when I went to college but picked it back up in grad school and beyond. I also love watching so you think you can dance. It reminds me of my dance days.

6.) I went to space camp. It was awesome. I got to see the shuttle roll out to the pad but sadly never saw a launch. I only wish I could have done some zero g training. I always wanted to ride in the vomit comet but never did.

7.) I loved sleep away camp. I spent eight summers at camp: five as a camper, two as a junior counselor, and one as a counselor. I even spent an entire eight week summer there as a camper one year. I met some of my best friends at camp at age twelve and we are still friends today nearly twenty years later. Most days I wish I could back to camp and do it all over again. Best time of my life!

So that’s seven things you may not have known about me. I’m tagging

Tom Torre

Mandy Pietruszewski

Stacey Trombley

Amira Makansi