7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me
My friend and colleague, Rachel Rasmussen from Rescue Desk Virtual Assistant Services just tagged me in her blog and asked me to write 7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me. This is a fun sport so I’m happy to oblige! Without further ado, here they are:
- I’m a Chicago transplant to Wisconsin. I moved here 4-1/2 years ago. I think this little town called Lisbon it’s actually Wisconsin’s best kept secret. I lived in Schaumburg when I was in Illinois – home of the great Woodfield Shopping Mall and IKEA. One thing I should have realized before the move – IT’S EVEN COLDER AND SNOWIER HERE. What was I thinking?? Truth be told, however, I’m actually more at home here than I think I’ve ever been in my life.
- I’m a newlywed. OK, so it’s the second time – it still counts. I was married on July 11, 2008 to the man I should have met 30 years ago. We had a formal wedding with the works – dress, flowers, rock band and all! I planned every little detail to perfection (See #6) because it was my first “real” wedding (eloped first time) and because it is definitely my LAST wedding. My husband and best friend, Chuck, is also my business partner!
- I love to draw – and paint – and play a little piano. I won’t call myself an artist, but I sure give it the old college try. I have done several pencil sketches and recently took up painting. I did my first acrylic painting a couple of weeks ago and we’ll just let that be a secret.
- In the 70s, I briefly taught Ballroom Dance. I think I would have kept this up had it not been for the smarmy sales tactics this dance studio wanted me to use to entice new students. But I have loved and enjoyed dance for years. My husband and I actually hooked up with some dance lessons to choreograph a Foxtrot to “Just In Time” for our first dance at our wedding. That was fun! As an even more amazing note – I even won a DISCO contest in the 70s – Whoa! You SO want to hang with me now.
- I LOVE BIG DOGS. (Maybe that’s why my favorite saying is “If you’re gonna’ run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch!”) About a year and a half ago, I had to put my beloved golden/lab mix down at the tender age of 14. If you’ve read the book Marley & Me, you know my dog. She was his clone with the exception of gender. I’m still not over it. But, the upside is that we still have Samantha, our 13-year-old small black lab who thinks she’s 2, is exceptionally obedient but certainly is a BOR (box of rocks).
- I am a perfectionist. It’s sometimes a bad thing and sometimes a great thing. When I’m locked into a project, it’s great because the end result will be great. When I’m attempting to get my hair and makeup and outfit to coordinate for that special occasion – well, let’s just say – How much time do you have? Or if I have to get the last harness painted on the last reindeer cookie at 2 a.m., NOT TOO PRETTY.
- My 7th thing – let’s see – vacations – I LOVE VACATIONS. My favorite, hands-down, undeniably, the bomb vacation is anywhere on a beach, but most notably, JAMAICA. Been there twice and can absolutely hear the ocean crashing against the beach at night, picture dancing reggae style to the steel band, feel the warm sun, taste the “bang” sauce and sing out loud to “One Love” by Bob Marley. What’s not to love?
I bet there’s a lot more you probably don’t know about me, but that’s OK. A little glimpse into someone’s life gets the ball rolling anyway. So, to Carrie Anderson and Lauren McMullen, TAG – you’re it! Won’t you please give us a little peak into your life?
Susi Schuele
Chuck Schuele
My new friend and colleague Susi Schuele from My Virtual Blog tagged me in her blog and asked for me to write “7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me”. I love this aspect of Social Media Networking, the opportunity to connect and develop relationships with people from all over the world. So since the best ways to develop relationships is to be transparent about yourself here I go.
1. The first and most important thing about me is I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ. My prayer everyday is for the things I say and do to glorify Him. I was always the person who had life under control. I prided myself on being self sufficient so it was a huge surprise to me when 10 years ago during a crisis, I discovered, I was not the one who was in control. Whew, that was a tough one but now I can honestly say I am thankful for the crisis that drove to His arms. It is nice not to have to be the one to take care of everything. Now I know that through his grace I am forgiven so when I do mess up (which for me can be a daily occurrence) all I need to do is ask for forgiveness and He gives it to me.
2. I have been married to my soul mate and best friend, Lester for 32 years. That 32 year part is amazing in its own right since the only other people I know who have been married as long are my parents. They have been married 54 years. But the unbelievable part is; we met one night and got married the next day. Yup you read it right me, miss control freak, on a whim drove from Tallahassee, FL to Bainbridge, GA and married a guy I had just met the night before. That was legal in GA then. So here we are 32 years and 2 children later way more hopelessly in love than the day we met. Of course on that day we were probably in lust not love.
3. The next most important passion in my life is my horses. I trained and showed Combined Training Event horses for 25 years but an accident ended my jumping career about 10 years ago. I then switched to gaited horses because they are so smooth to ride. I have a Rocky Mountain Horse named Mack along with a Spotted TN Walking Horse, Belle and an orphaned Arabian pasture ornament, named Cameo. I now focus on Parelli Natural Horsemanship and trick training.
4. I have a Miniature Donkey named Bullet that I have trained to do tricks and this spring I will begin taking him to nursing homes in the area to entertain the residents. He wears red tennis shoes so he won’t scratch the floors and bows, stands on a pedestal, retrieves a ball or my dropped hat and will soon pull a buggy. He is a huge ham and loves to be pampered and petted so I am sure he will enjoy it they will all love him too.
5. My husband and I owned and drove a Semi Tractor Trailer Truck together for over 5 years. I loved it! It was a great way to see the country and I have been to all the lower 48 states several times. My parents were appalled that their college graduate daughter drove a truck but I had a blast. The other interesting thing to me was how really nice and helpful most truck drivers are. I also learned how aggravating and dangerous 4 wheelers (cars) can be. They do such things foolish things like cutting in front of big trucks and then slow down. Do you wonder why big trucks tailgate going up hills? If they lose their momentum and slow down too much it’s very difficult to get to the top of the hill. The list of grievances against 4 wheelers is a long one and I believe everyone should have to spend a few days in a big rig so they could learn to share the road better. Truck drivers don’t get near the respect they deserve for the difficult and exhausting job they do. I’ll step down off my soapbox now. LOL
6. I love to camp in the mountains and ride my horse. Several times a year my friends and I head off to horse friendly campgrounds to ride and hangout. We love to go to the Smoky Mts in TN but my favorite trip was to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. This was a childhood dream so several years ago we drove from TN to Wyoming and went on an organized one week trail ride. The scenery was breathtaking and the food was scrumptious. Riding at 12,000 feet was exhilarating and exhausting but I had a blast. The sky is definitely bigger out there and it remains one of the most spectacular memories of my life. I would go back in a heartbeat but it probably won’t happen anytime soon. Gas was .99 cents a gallon at the time and it still cost $800.00 in fuel to go out there and back.
7. This is what I describe as a fru fru hobby so I don’t often admit it but I make 1 inch scale miniature flowers out of paper, glue, paint and some wire. I started about five years ago when my mom got a miniature dollhouse and started buying furniture and nick knacks at miniature shows. She also had a terrace outside her house and I was looking for miniature plants to give her as a gift. I saw some arrangements I liked but they were expensive so I decided to take a class and make them myself and I really enjoyed it. It’s a good winter project when it’s yucky and cold outside. I start with plain sheets of thin paper and paint the paper and then mold it into the shapes of petals and leaves. Then I glue them together to make each flower. Finally I arrange all the different flowers together into a pleasing arrangement. I entered a miniature art show with several arrangements and was thrilled to win a third place.
Ok that was fun and I am now going to tag another new good friend, Kathleen Sullivan. It will be neat to find out some more about your life offline. I hope you dont mind.
Lauren McMullen
January 22, 2009 at 4:56 am
I’m so glad you took me up on the challenge to introduce the world to seven things! It’s interesting to see that of the VAs I read who were “tagged,” we all have an inner artist. I think it’s probably true of anyone who starts a business…a little creativity is a must!
I, too, was a Wisconsin/Chicago transplant, although it was reversed. Originally from Wisconsin, I did spend a few years living and working outside Chicago. I miss it sometimes … I loved the energy of The Big City!
And we certainly share a love of big dogs! My Sophie is the first dog we’ve ever had in the family (we didn’t have dogs growing up), and now none of us — from my parents to the kids in the family — can’t imagine life without a dog in it!
Rachel Rasmussen
January 24, 2009 at 3:44 pm
That’s the great thing about blogging and social media. It is a fabulous for building relationships by learning about people. What a great way to make new friends! We’ll definitely have to discuss our love of The Big City sometime, as well as the love of dogs and creativity!
Susi Schuele
January 24, 2009 at 6:02 pm