Meme-morialize

I have been tagged by VeggieGirl and Bazu for a meme! (okay, will someone please explain what that means exactly...I could guess, it's like when you raise your hand in class and know the perfect answer, so you're thinking to yourself "me, me!" so the teacher will pick you.... but maybe I'm way off) Regardless, I will first repost the rules of the game:

#1 Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of your first or middle name.

#2 When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.

#3 At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them, they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

#4 If I’ve tagged YOU (the bloggers that I've tagged are listed at the end), please join in on the fun!

Okay, so right off the bat, I'm going to break rule #1 and use my last name. As many of you know, I am getting married in a week and a half and about to get a new last name! So, to memorialize the last name I've had all my life, I'm going to use it, hope you don't mind. So here goes....

Ellison

E - Engaged (literally) and engaging. Even though I consider myself a fairly shy person, once I begin a conversation with someone, I fully commit myself to that conversation. I find that many people only seem to half listen to what others are saying. Not only do I try and listen, but I also try to engage the person as well, by commenting, asking questions, and being supportive. One of my better qualities I believe.

L - Longing for the mountains. Even though I grew up here in Houston, I was able to escape for 7 years to Colorado (where I earned my degrees) and in that time, fell in love with the outdoors and more specifically, the Rocky Mountains. I still have fond memories of field camp (looking at rocks outside for five weeks straight!), driving through southern Colorado, listening to Tom Petty. And some of my proudest accomplishments are climbing a handful of the state's many Fourtneeners .... now if I only could have brought enough rocks with me to make Mt Elbert a little bit taller (I think they made a mistake surveying Whitney). Anyhow, I miss the mountains here in pancake-flat Houston, but I travel to them as much as possible!

L - Learning to be an adult. Even though I just turned 28, I feel the same as I did in high school (okay, maybe a little different). Maybe it is something about my generation, but many of my friends have struggled with this transition as well. The reality of a full time job was the hardest thing to swallow, I just want to be free sometimes. I guess I'm just trying to find the right balance between freedom and responsibility. I'll get there someday....

I - Inlaw or outlaw? I am related (somehow) to an outlaw in the old west, John Wesley Hardin. The story goes that it used to be our last name too, but to distance ourselves from this guy, we changed it to Hardy and kept it as a family name (both my dad and brother's middle name today). Funny story, my mom and I were traveling in Ireland and went to a Texas-themed restaurant (the food was awful) and actually saw his wanted ad on the wall, how weird!! Oh, and also my family can be traced to the group of 300 original Texas settlers that Stephen F. Austin led here in the early 1820's. Pretty cool, huh?

S - Scientist. I remember having one of those chemistry experiment kits growing up, lucky for me, mine had all sorts of cool things since my dad was a chemist. I would like to think of myself as a fairly quantitative, analytical person, which is why I am drawn to science (and subsequently why I have trouble writing, scientific writing teaches you not to use adjectives, so you'll have to excuse my redundancy of words like "yummy" when I describe my food). I have my masters degree in geology, and love to look at rocks and think about the time, place, and conditions they were formed under.

O - Organized and a bit obsessive. Yep, I'm a planner. I like to be on time, even ahead of schedule. Not to say that I can't ever be spontaneous, but I'm much more comfortable if I can anticipate anything that comes up. And I have probably mentioned my slight OCD tendencies. My current obsessions includes wedding planning (I promise I am not a bridezilla, ask John), planning my next travel destination (St. John, USVI), and of course veganism (which includes cooking wonderful vegan food for everyone and promoting animal rights).

N - Nailbiter no more. I used to bite my nails like mad, up until pretty recently. I still find that if I'm nervous I revert back to it. I have a vivid memory of being in elementary school and trying out that stuff you paint on your nails that tastes bad, in order to get you to stop biting them. Well, I forgot I had it on and ate a dinner roll (at Luby's, how embarrassing to admit that) with my fingers and it was disgusting.

Okay, so there you go, a little more about me. Hope it didn't bore you to tears. This worked out well because I haven't been cooking anything spectacular for the last few days anyhow. And here are the people that I'm taggin for this meme (7):

Pleasantly Plump Vegan

Melisser from Urban Housewife

Tamara from McFarland Designs

Don't Get Mad Get Vegan

Veg-a-nut (when she recovers from her daughter's wedding this Sat!)

Vegan*asm

VKO from Lifestyles of the Chic and Vegan

Oh, and since I'm the bride and can do whatever I want (teehee) I'm adding one more:

Gekius

A random photo of me from the Airplane Vortex in Sedona. Don't I look like I'm gathering energy?