2 memes {4 things & 5 ways}

Since my laptop has only recently come back from the dead, I've had some catching up to do where blogging is concerned. Rebecca tagged me with this meme about fours and I still need to do L. L.'s meme about fives, so here I go, in numerical order for blog post #198 on this, my first blog.


4 things I was doing 10 years ago:
* Starting my first year as an R.A. in the Thompson dormitory at Biola
* Grieving the loss of my cousins, Bryan & Mikey (he was nearly 17 years old & liked to be called “Mike”, but he will forever be “Mikey” in my book!)
* Reading roughly 2,000 pages a week (because that's what happens when you're an English major and in an honors program)
* Having late night roomie chats with Christin

4 things on my to do list for today (since I am now home, these are things I've already done):
* Make coffee
* Go to work
* Go to the gym
* Fold laundry

4 things I love about being single (modified from the original 4 things I love about my husband):
* I am free to manage my time and my finances: trips to Ireland, time with my girlfriends, spur of the moment weekend trips, etc.
* That apostle Paul knew what he was talking about. Being single is such a gift. I could list a lot of really cool things about it, but generally speaking, there's something really amazing about it being just Jesus and me (and I love that I've got some really amazing saints to look toward as examples of fierce and holy women of God).
* I've learned to become independent in the best of ways and have learned a lot as a result.
* I get to sleep in the middle of my queen-sized bed.

4 jobs I have had:
* Food server
* Camp counselor
* Customer service rep
* Lead training & support specialist

4 movies I have watched more than once:
* Breakfast at Tiffany’s
* Moulin Rouge
* French Kiss
* Juno
(This list could be way, way longer!! We watch a lot of movies at my house)

4 places I have lived:
* My parents’ house
* A dorm room @ Biola
* A studio apartment in Bellingham
* A duplex with Kaari & Melissa

4 place I have been (this year):
* Winter Park, FL
* San Jose, CA
* Mount Baker
* The naturopath’s office (yes, it is here in town, but I've been there so much, I think it deserves to be called out on its own)

4 places I want to visit:
* Ireland (19 weeks, 2 days & counting!!)
* France
* Greece
* New Zealand
(this list could be a lot longer, too)

4 television shows I watch (darn the expanded basic cable!!):
* CSI: Miami
* Jon & Kate Plus Eight
* Gilmore Girls
* What Not to Wear

4 things you may not know about me:
* I once took a hip-hop dancing class with my friend Peggy.
* I had all four wisdom teeth out when I was 26. The bottom two dry-socketed. Ouch!!
* I've taken the LSAT (but never applied to law school).
* I recently reserved the domain name kirstenhaaland.com (no website yet; just the domain name). I know you wanted it, but that's too bad. I beat you to it.

4 People I'm tagging:
* Kaari
* Sarah
* Tammy
* Christin


5 ways blogging changed my life:

1. Reconnecting with friends from college.
I remember first being introduced to the concept of blogging about 3 years ago. I was a bit of a blog voyeur at first, checking in on Jessica, Rebecca, Jennifer, and Christianne. It didn't occur to me to start my own until a couple of months later. Reconnecting with these friends has not only revived these friendships, but made them even deeper than they were before.

2. Connecting me with new friends.
If you had told me when I first started blogging that I would find new friends, I either would have laughed, become very, very frightened, or both. It continues to baffle me how I can so deeply love and cherish people I've never even met. There's Terri, with whom I had an almost instant affinity and whose presence in my life and in the world makes me breathe a little easier and feel a little bit saner. There's Heather who is feisty and funny and smart and somehow gets me. Because of blogging, I met L. L. who inspires and encourages me in my writing and in so many other things. There's Nathan, who is just a genius and has such a tender and generous heart. And Tammy. Oh, Tammy! What is there to say but that she is raw and real and hilarious and I love that she's willing to say what almost no one else will.

There are so many others with whom I've crossed paths and connected with who mean the world to me. And now I absolutely cannot imagine a world without them.

3. Awakening to the call on my life.
It was through having this outlet of blogging that I reawakened to the truth that I am a writer. It's come in fits and starts and I still have a ways to go, but after attempting so many other paths in vain, after trying on a number of other ill-fitting identities, blogging helped me rediscover the one that was truly me.

4. A new addiction.
I can't seem make it through a day without checking blogs. Once upon a time, I did other things after finishing work and working out. But I cannot, for the life of me, remember what I did before Blogger (and Facebook).

5. A sense of community like none other.
I don't doubt for a minute that what is shared in this space is real and true; that somehow, the Body of Christ is alive and well in this space. I find in this space so much affinity and encouragement. I am challenged and inspired and introduced to brand new things.

If you're still reading this, consider yourself tagged.
:o)