Four Things

I'm not taking part in today's 5 Fandom Friday because I know very little about Broadway. I thought I'd use the time to write up this post, which Nina of Le Fancy Geek tagged me for a long (long) time ago. I apologize to anyone who's ever tagged me for anything and expected a timely post in return.

Regardless, thanks for the tag, Nina! And now, here are a bunch of random facts about me.

Four Places I’ve Lived:

1. Cupertino, California—I was born here, and lived here until I was 8.
2. Rogue River, Oregon—The place I consider my hometown. I lived here from 8 to 17, and this is also where I met my husband.
3. Amherst, Massachusetts—I lived here, albeit temporarily, while I attended the University of Massachusetts. (When I wasn't at school, I lived in Madison, Connecticut.)
4. Austin, Texas—Where I've lived since the spring of 2006.

Four Jobs I’ve Had:

1. Baci's Pizza and Pasta—I worked here during high school, making pizza and sandwiches and doing all the other assorted duties that come with working in a restaurant. Best part about this job: I learned how to toss pizza crust (i.e., up into the air to stretch the dough into the proper circle shape).
2. Tuxis Lumber—I worked here during college and for a year after I graduated, as a cashier behind the counter of both the hardware store portion of the store and the actual lumber yard. I even occasionally got to work in the lumber yard, but never—sadly—got to drive the forklift.
3. Sweets & More—I worked here during the school year in college, as a co-manager of this student-run business, which meant that I had a hand in everything from advertising to payroll to actually selling cookies and ice cream (and more) to my fellow students.
4. Apple, Inc.—I work here now, as a technical writer.

Four Things I Don’t Eat:

1. Calamari "bodies"—I think calamari, when it's served in steaks, strips or rings, is delicious. But I just can't get around the tentacle bits.
2. Chocolate ice cream—I love chocolate in its natural form, but am not a fan of many chocolate-flavored items.
3. White chocolate—Again, I enjoy eating milk chocolate (and sometimes dark chocolate), but there's something about the taste of the white version that doesn't set well with my tastebuds.
4. Burger King—I'll occasionally eat other fast food, but I just don't like the taste of anything at BK. (I think I ate there too much when I was young.)

Four of My Favorite Foods:

1. Meat/veggie/rice bowls—Two of my favorite restaurants to eat at are Zen and Pei Wei, and I frequent the Wok Station at the cafe at work. (Yes, we have a Wok Station. I know I'm spoiled.)
2. Boom Chicka Pop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn—I have been known to eat an entire not-single-serving-size bag in one sitting.
3. Watermelon—I am super lazy and most often buy the pre-cut cubes from the store, however. Cutting a watermelon gets SO messy.
4. Pie—Dean Winchester and I are total soul mates (on the love of pie front).

Four Films I’ve Watched More Than Once:

1. Lara Craft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life—I will watch this every times it's on TV, regardless of where I am in the movie, or if there are commercials.
2. The Avengers—One of my favorite movies of all time. I can't get enough.
3. Pitch Perfect—I watch this (or listen to the soundtrack) whenever I need a pick-me-up.
4. National Treasure—Similarly to Lara Croft, I will watch this whenever it's on TV. It's such a ridiculous movie, but it never fails to make me smile. And I definitely think it's one of Nicolas Cage's best.

Four TV Shows I Watch*:

1. Face Off—This reality competition show on Syfy has taught me so much about the art of special effects makeup. I'm not typically a reality TV fan, but this show is super fascinating.
2. Doctor Who—Even though I'm way past tired of Clara as a companion, I'm still excited about this show's return next week.
3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine—I don't really watch many sitcoms, but this show is so hilarious and sweet and wonderful, you guys. Come for Andy Samberg, stay for the rest of the cast.
4. The 100—WHY IS IT NOT 2016 YET?!

*I watch a lot more than four shows, but I figured this was a decent selection of my faves.

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To This Year:

1. An anniversary trip to Washington, D.C.—Neither the Mister or I have ever been, and we're both suckers for museums.
2. My 32nd birthday—27 was the hardest year for me, as odd as that sounds; I've never really minded being "over 30." I think 32 is going to be a good year.
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens—Nina had this on her list, but I had to put it on mine, too. Even though I was trying to remain cool about this movie, after seeing the first trailer, I was a total goner.
4. Winter—The last book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer will be out in November. The fact that this series, which is one of my faves, is coming to an end it bittersweet, but I'm really excited to see how everything wraps up, and have one last adventure with Cinder and the rest of the gang.

Four Things I Can’t Live Without:

1. Running water—I'm not a very outdoorsy person, and I can only deal with being dirty for short periods of time.
2. Air conditioning—I hate being hot, and it gets very hot in Texas.
3. Books—If I had to choose only one form of escape and entertainment, I'd choose books over movies, TV, etc. It would be a hard choice, but as an only child, I'm pretty practiced at using my imagination to keep myself amused.
4. My Mister—Gross, I know. But he's my other half, and I wouldn't know what to do without him in my life!

Four Celebrity Crushes:

1. Tom Hiddleston—The man can do very little wrong in my eyes.
2. Bellamy Blake—I don't care that he's fictional! (Or kind of a dick at times.)
3. David Tennant—It takes a certain kind of man to go from Barty Crouch, Jr., to the Tenth Doctor. But David pulled it off, and made me swoon in the process.
4. Tom Hiddleston—Did I mention that the man can do very little wrong in my eyes?

Four Places I’ve Visited:

1. New York City—I used to live only a couple of hours away from the city, so I have visited often. I've also gone back three or four times since moving to Austin.
2. Paris—My aunt, who instilled in me a love of the impressionist painters (Monet, specifically) when I was very young, took me on a trip here when I was 15. Other than Canada, when I was like 3, this is the only place I've visited out of the U.S.
3. Portland, Oregon—Colt's side of the family lives here, and it's where we got married. We visit at least once a year, and I'm always recharged when we leave.
4. Wall, South Dakota—Home of Wall Drug, my family and I visited Wall when we moved across the country the summer after I graduated from high school.

Four Pet Peeves:

1. Apostrophe abuse—Apostrophes are used to show possession or to indicate a contraction with is. I know the English language is hard, but proper use of apostrophes really, really isn't.
2. People who think they know what they're talking about but don't—I don't mean to sound like a snob, but it drives me nuts when people talk about things (particularly pop culture things) and are just plain wrong, but they're absolutely adamant that they're right. I rarely correct anyone, but inside I'm seething.
3. The toilet lid being left up—Growing up, I had a cat that liked to drink out of the toilet, so I got into the habit of closing everything when I finished. Now I just think it's kind of gross to leave it open.
4. People being dicks—It's really not hard to be nice. Do unto others and all that.

Four Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Find an exercise that doesn't feel like torture—Anyone have any tips? I'd like to be more healthy, but whenever I try to exercise, I hate it almost immediately.
2. Draw—I'm a decent copier, but I've never been able to just sit down and draw from imagination. I'd love to be more of a doodler with a purpose.
3. Write a novel—I just don't have the patience or the dedication. I envy those who do!
4. Go into outer space—On a proper ship (like the Enterprise), please. Not to knock the current space program, but I'd like climate control and less chance of getting sucked into a vacuum. (I never said I was a risk-taker.)

Four Subjects I Studied At School:

1. English—I have a degree in this (doubled with the item at No. 2). I've always loved studying the written word, and I've always been pretty decent at writing it, too.
2. Journalism—When I decided not to pursue the course of study at No. 3, I switched to English. But my parents wanted me to add journalism so that I might actually get paid when I graduated. (Oh, parents. <3) Thankfully, I have actually found a career that uses both 
3. Mechanical engineering—I went into college with the plan of becoming an astronaut through a mechanical engineering degree. I lasted a year. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the engineering courses that made me seek a different path. (It was the physics.)
4. Italian—I thought my three years of Spanish in high school would be a help in learning Italian. Boy was I wrong. Also, I am terrible at all languages other than English.

Four Things Near Me Right Now:

1. Two dogs—Both Mrs. Mollie Weasley and Frigga love to be near me when I sit on the couch. It's very cute, but at the same time ... I need a little personal space sometimes, ladies.
2. My cell phone—As much as I like to think I'm not addicted to it, it's never very far away.
3. A bag of wasabi and soy sauce almonds—Betcha can't eat just one! But also bet that your mouth kills after a handful or two.
4. Two new t-shirts—When I saw that they were on sale, I just had to buy shirts featuring my Dragon Age: Inquisition boyfriend and sassy BFF.

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you'd like to take part, please do!