From Facebook- 25 Lovely Facts About Yours Truly

So I have a few "notes" on Facebook that I would also like to have here on this blog. Therefore, the next 5 (including this post) will all be from there. If you've already read this, and the others, from Facebook- feel free to reread or ignore. I honestly don't care either way. :)

Originally posted on Facebook Feb. 2009

25 Lovely Facts About Myself...
1. I HATE Spiders with every fiber of my being. I cannot look at a picture of a spider (TV, magazine, whatever) or touch a fake spider. I can't even touch the picture of a spider. However, if I am in a room and see a spider I can't leave the room until it is killed. That way I KNOW it is killed and it doesn't crawl somewhere where I can't find it. Oh- and I mentally can't kill a spider. Even if it's on the floor, or low enough on the wall.  ***An awesome saying I heard which I feels accurately depicts my feelings about spiders: "Spiders are little pieces of death wrapped in scary."- Yep that about sums it up quite nicely.***

2. I am the biggest night owl EVER!! I can stay up like nobody's business. Going to bed at midnight is an early night for me. Even when I go to bed at 2 a.m. and wake up at 8 a.m., I will still be able to stay up till 2 again. I get my second wind around 10 p.m.

3. On the flip side though- I am so NOT a morning person. Anything before 10 a.m. is early. No joke. I LOVE sleeping in!!! So basically- I'm the last one to bed, and the last one up.

4. I graduated from high school with a 4.0 GPA, which I consider one of my greatest achievements. It was a goal I made at the beginning of 7th grade, and it was an amazing feeling graduating knowing I'd kept that goal.
           ***Update: I graduated college with a 3.88 GPA- another accomplishment I am very humbly proud of.***

5. I watch a TON of TV. It's one of the ways my family bonds together. My favorite TV shows are (in order): Gilmore Girls, LOST, FRIENDS, and Bewitched. ***And Psych- thanks Kinz & Tom!!***

6. I also LOVE to read. Since the list of activities is limited (I'm not going to be joining a sports team anytime soon... it's just not in the cards. Plus I wouldn't even if I could- I hate sports.), I read. When I really like a book I can finish it within a couple of DAYS. Even 500 page books can be read in 2-3 days. This is where the night owl thing really comes in handy. I especially like romance books.

7. Along with entertainment, my family has certain movies that are "Jackman Family Classics." Among these are: The 'Burbs (if you haven't seen, or even heard of this movie... then you are missing out one of life's greatest pleasures!!), Father of the Bride I and II, Three Amigos, and others- I just can't think of them. 

8. My ALL TIME FAVORITE song in the whole wide world is Leaving by Agnes Poetry. They're a Utah local band (from like the 90's, they've split up. I've heard them from my siblings.). I know of this song because they play this song at the end of every high school dance. I have some amazing memories with this song!!

9. I LOVE Brian Regan. He's hilarious, and I quote him often with my brother. (I give him 2 thumbs WAY up!! 4 Stars!!!!)

10. My absolute favorite place in the whole world is Lake Powell. I've gone 2 times a year since I can remember. Rarely have I missed a year.

11. My favorite thing to do at Lake Powell is look at the stars. They are GORGEOUS!! 

12. My other favorite thing to do at Lake Powell is sit in the boat at sunset and read. 

13. Sunset in my favorite time of day. It's the prettiest, and not to hot or cold.

14. I LOVE chocolate. Especially M&M's. Actually when I was little, I couldn't pronounce M&M's right, so I said "M-e-M's."

15. I love popcorn!!! And it can't be light on the butter!!!

16. I can read lips. This is due to the fact that I'm partially deaf, so when I was younger before I got hearing aids, I would read lips to help understand what people were saying. Even to this day, after about 13 years WITH hearing aids, I still look at people's mouth while they are talking. If they cover their mouth, or I can't see their mouth for whatever reason, it makes it so much harder for me to understand what they are saying. 

17. Because I'm partially deaf and do use hearing aids, I like music and movies loud!! I hate it when I go to someone's house and they watch TV or movies with the sound way down. 

18. My mom is my best friend in the whole wide world!! I swear sometimes she knows me better than I know myself!!

19. My Aunt Taunie is like a second mom to me. She came everyday for a year when I was born to help my mom care for me. Because of this we were really close. I would sleepover at her house all the time, and we'd have pretend cooking shows, and popcorn parties. She still is my all time favorite aunt!!

20. I have received two blessings from two different apostles. One from Elder (now President) Eyring, and another from Elder Scott. Both were for major back surgeries I was about to have.

21. I have had 4-5 surgeries (depends on whether you count my trach or not). I've had 2 back surgeries (both times putting rods in my back. I have 2 rods going down the whole back), a hip surgery, a leg surgery, and a trach. Despite all the surgeries and time in the hospital- I have never broken a bone. On my own, doctors have broken some for me during surgery, but I've never done it myself.

22. I have what is called Stickler Syndrome. You've never heard of it before, and probably never will for the rest of your life. It's a VERY rare disease that affects the skeletal system (among other things) and causes me to have really large joints. That's why I can't make a fist. 

23. My family makes fun of me for being handicapped. Now before you start in on the "Oh my gosh!! That's so horrible and mean!!" I love them for it. It forces me to get over the fact that I'm handicapped ("disabled", "specially challenged", whatever the heck you want to call it.) and get on with my life. If you can't laugh at yourself... then you're in a sad position in life. Now- this is not to say I'm fine with making fun of people. It's quite the opposite. My family does not mean what they say in the slightest, and the minute that they would mean it- then we'd have a problem. They only say stuff like, "Thanks for getting the handicap parking, Jess. That's the real reason why we keep you around." or stuff like that. 

24. Because of the way my family treats me, and how I've been raised- I think of myself as "normal." My family also views me as normal (which allows them to make fun of me) and sometimes forget that I'm handicapped.

25. The Gospel means absolutely everything to me. Without the Gospel I honestly don't know how I'd make it through this life in one piece with any semblance of happiness. Knowing that I can live with my family forever, one day have the perfect body I've always dreamed of, and live with my Heavenly Father again-makes this life worth it- that's what keeps me going. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!