SIXTEEN | Little Did You Know

I am doing "today's blog prompt" for the day it was actually written. Today! Hurray! Check out this girl's fabulous blog for more prompts this month. 

Today's prompt: "Most people don't know this but…"

I love the smell of gasoline, library books and rubber cement.

I can’t stand "diet" anything. It tastes like nothing. 

I think it would be really cool to be Amish. I want to make homemade soap, and homemade candles and live in the fields

I want to give birth to red-headed children…but Scott and I don't have red hair.

I played volleyball, basketball, tennis, and ran track in middle school and high school. I was also a golf instructor, swim instructor and soccer coach.

I have extremely high arches in my feet which has cause me to have to be really picky about the shoes I buy

I hate HATE milk but I have to have it in my coffee. 

When I lived in Los Angeles for a brief period I LOVED it

Most of my life I wanted to be shorter. 

I adore photography but don’t want anyone to know because then I feel like there’s expectations and pressure to be good at it (now you know)

I would love to be a mermaid

Ticks are 10x LESS scary than spiders to me

I prefer the rain over the sun

I prefer the cold to the heat but this one is pretty obvious.

I have a problem with picking. If I paint my nails I have picked it off by the same time the next day. It is so satisfying.

I feel like the whole female species is on my side and believe we belong to each other. I’ve had to work hard at challenging my skepticism regarding the male species. After all they are human just like me!

It's your turn! Tell me something most people wouldn't guess about you.

Confession of an ENFJ: mainly confessions of an I.

I am currently following this blog's daily prompts for September. I can't promise I will blog every day but some of the prompts are pretty fun! 

Today's prompt: Let's talk personality types. Introverted? Extroverted? Unsure-troverted? If you know you Myers-Briggs type, share it! If not you can take a similar test here and share your results.

For those of you who don’t know ENFJ stands for extroverted, intuitive, feeling and judging. It is taken from the Myers Briggs Personality Type test. This has been my result for years and years after taking it and going through the Type 2 testing through my church, Flood, where I learned about my personality more in depth. I have wavered a bit with the extroverted/introverted part of the test as well as the feeling/thinking part. One side of the test I have always come out very clearly on is the intuitive part. My husband, Scott is an INFP. One area he always scores quite high in is intuitive as well. Now you know it’s not just opposites attract!

(Note, if you are put off by the author’s name, “Joe Butt” I understand…is this a real person?)

The following statements generally appeal to the intuitive person* 

·      I remember events by what I read "between the lines" about their meaning.

·      I solve problems by leaping between different ideas and possibilities.

·      I am interested in doing things that are new and different.

·      I like to see the big picture, then to find out the facts.

·      I trust impressions, symbols, and metaphors more than what I actually experienced

·      Sometimes I think so much about new possibilities that I never look at how to make them a reality.

These are according to the all research done through the Myers and Briggs Foundation. I think the way I would list my intuitive personality is this:

•      I leap

The judging part of me is smart, plans ahead, makes tons and tons of lists and is very conscientious.

The intuitive part of me seems to be blindly impulsive and a shameless space cadet. After I leap I don’t really have a plan.

Looking back on my life I really have to wonder what I was thinking regarding some of my decisions…

For example…

I left my hometown in Nebraska and drove off to college in Minnesota. 

I was offered a full time job after I graduated. Did I take it? Nnnnoooooo. As if Minnesota wasn't far enough away from my roots,  I thought it would be even more fun to move to San Diego to start graduate school. I left all my family and friends in a blur of happy leaping with only a couple hundred dollars to my name. 

One time I flew away to Morocco for a missions trip to underground churches and slept alone in a strange hotel in Casablanca. 

I love trying new things. One time I snorkeled with barracudas in a cave. (okay, so I didn’t know about the razer tooth creatures when I jumped in…) 

One Christmas I thought I’d be cool to get red low-lights. It was not cool. It was scary. It turned pink later and not in a hip way, in a more sicko pinko way.  

During my trip to Big Bear I jumped off the boat into the icy cold water….it was exhilarating…until I realized I had no way to get back up. #classy

I like talking to random strangers and requesting crazy things such as if I clean your floors for you, will you give me a coffee? (I won't name any names here….starbucks.) I watch too much Cheapstakes on Netflix. #realife

I like that I decided to become a therapist and then worked simultaneously with some of the sweetest and most hostile teens out there.

I’m glad I ate a frog and a cactus and rode a camel. 

I think it’s fun I went to film school. 

Sometimes I just paint whatever is in front of me and this makes Scott very anxious as we are still renting. Sometimes he comes home and I have painted a drawer. Why. Because I felt like it. 

I married my husband and couldn't be more pleased I stuck with my gut on this one

This has all made my life more exciting and adventurous, not necessarily in your typical way of extreme sports or adrenaline junkie way, but in it's own Heather way. But it has it’s disadvantages.

For example, the other day, Scott and I realized with terror that we somehow didn’t renew my car insurance. My car insurance canceled on me. Sometimes being a happy space cadet is not all roses and good cheer. It reminds me that Scott and I fly around by the seat of our pants. Sometimes I am shocked we are legal adults. Who are these people flying about daily acting like they know what they are doing?? They don’t! And the worst part is they make decisions off of how they FEEL!!!! We trust our gut and we trust our impressions more than anything else.  I feel Taylor Swift when she sings, “I stay out too late, nothing in my brain, that’s what people say” One time Scott and I were bored one night so we drove off to a casino. It was one of our favorite memories, the middle of the night, a weird trashy buffet, slot machines in the middle of nowhere…what more could you want?!

 For a long time, I felt that I could not trust my intuitive gut. I felt that it was more spiritual to stick with the “facts” in life, to suppress my feelings and “suck it up”. I figured the more disciplined I was, the less I would feel. Wrong. I was just more repressed. I had feelings all right, deep deep inside. Once I discovered my feelings were not my enemy, and that actually they might be on my side, I realized I could wrap them up in a warm embrace. My gut is worthy of noticing and responding to. My intuition is valuable and worth observing. Today I am grateful for my highly intuitive side even when I can't figure out how to get back on the damn boat. 

What about you? Do you like to leap too?

Dave Ramsey, the bully*

So today marks the first day of using “cash only” for Scott and I. Yesterday, we went to the bank and pulled out the cash we needed for the rest of the month. 

I really have fought against this whole cash thing because I love CREDIT CARD POINTS. Also I love credit cards because after saving points, you get to USE them. It’s like free money you guys. I can’t hate them. I just can’t. But there’s some wisdom in using what you have and cash makes that VERY very clear. 

I am clearly NOT a financial advisor. I am a therapist and would rather listen to your feelings than talk about money. But good ol’ Dave, he likes to talk about money and he’s done pretty well for himself. Davey makes me feel real shitty about myself. Like I need to be more tidy about my finances.  When I interact with Davey via the web I think Dave! Slow down! No one can keep up with your perfect money magic. Sidenote: When I went on his website to utlilize it’s budget tool, it asked for my monthly income. Guess what! My monthly income wasn’t even an option on their list of incomes! (mine was way too high) Come on Dave! At least have my income included!

          On Davey’s blog he writes about the good and bad of carrying cash. His is educated and smart and he makes some good points. 

But I figured you might want to hear about my pros and cons for carrying cash since I’ve had a WHOLE day of using it. I’m practically an expert by now.

 The Bad:

1.   How will you get credit card points and go on fancy vacations?
2.   Someone could steal your cash
3.   It runs out after awhile
4.  Amazon doesn’t take cash

The Good:

1. The general texture of cash is awesome and gritty and smells of musty joy
2.   I feel rich carrying around a wad of bills
3.  I always know what happens to my cash; it leaves my fingertips
4.  Unlike a credit card, you can throw bills in the air like they are confetti. 

So there you have it. Dear Davy, you win.

*Dave Ramsey is not an actual bully.

Best Friend Bill Of Rights*

  1.   I CAN CALL YOU AT 2AM

I can call you in the middle of the night: anywhere, anytime. However I commit to not being personally offended if you don’t pick up. You have this right as well.

   2.   RESPOND TO TEXT MESSAGES                                                                                                Not responding to a text message for 1 day is okay, 3 days and we are still going strong. If you wait a week to respond to my text I will assume worst-case scenario. Text me back and tell me you are alive.

   3.   CALLING 3x IS NOT A CHARM

If you call me 3x in a row with no voicemail or text I will assume 1. You are headed to the ER 2. You are pregnant or 3. Both (if you are my husband I have a lot of questions)

   4.   WE SHARE CLOTHES AND FASHION ADVICE

I expect you tell me when I look weird in my 90s clothes. However I still get to wear my TIGER shirt and neon shorts. Also top knots.

   5.   WE WRITE LETTERS

We are old school and write hand written notes to each other

   6.   I CAN SAY NO TO YOU

I can say no to you and you can say yes no to me.

   7.   PUBLIC VERBAL AFFIRMATION

When we go to parties together I talk about how cool you are publicly and tell stories about the time when you I saved you from drowning in Hawaii.

   8.   WHEN YOU ARE SCARED I WILL BE THERE

I won’t try to reason your fear away. I will hold your hand or lay on top of you: whatever brings you comfort the fastest. I remind you to breathe. I will tell you that you are brave and strong.

   9.   IT’S ALWAYS COOL TO SAY ‘REMEMBER WHEN’

Even if “remember when” was 5 minutes ago. It’s still fun.

   10.  SILENCE IS A MARK OF OUR FRIENDSHIP I like that we can watch the Bachelor, PLUS ONE, the Mindy Project, and I’ll Be Home For Christmas and a tons of rom coms quietly. I love that it’s okay for me to zone out, staring blankly out the window on a road trip, I adore that we are comfortable enough that we can be safe in our quietness.  

    11.  WE NAME EACH OTHER AND ITEMS OF SIGNIFICANCE. They don’t have to make sense. They just need to happen. If my hair looks like a dinosaur because my poof is too pointy I can now referred to as dino. If I can’t figure out how to send things on pinterest I am not not a loser, I am a lose. If my turtleneck is too tight around my neck you can call me a caulker. If one day I imagine you hopping around like a rabbit cause that gives me the best visual for your lifestyle, I will now call you bunny. If your name is Elizabeth and I nicknamed you E-beth, but now my dad calls you Ebay, I am sorry.

Have any suggestions? What are your best friend rules? Add yours in the comments!

* Inspired from the witty and savy book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling from her chapter, The Best Friend Rights and Responsibilities.