This is Me Challenge (p 1)

Your birth and family: 
*What is your full name and how did you get that name?  Do you have any nicknames? Jamie Lee, I was named after my grandfather and the Van Halen song "Jamie's Cryin' " I am without a single nickname that sticks, but have a great number of names that friends and family have called me, however each person seems to have their own name for me.
*What are your parent's full names and birth dates and places? Martin & Barbara were both born in Waterbury, CT
*What is the date of your birth?  Where were you born?  What are some of the circumstances (when your mom went in to labor, how long, her doctor, your dad fainting, etc.) of your birth? I was born the 16th of January, in Waterbury, and from what I was told my birth was uneventful, but fairly quick.
*What are your sibling's full names and birth dates?I have 1 sister, Jennifer Lynn, she is 11 months younger.
*How was your relationship with your siblings and parents? I have an interesting relationship with my parents and sister, and they do not have a relationship with each other... I am the go-between.
*What are some lessons you learned from you parents? Work smarter not harder, and you cant take it ($) with you.
*How did you help in your home? I assisted whenever my mother asked, taking on a lot of responsibilities at a young age.

 
Growing up, early years:
*Where did you grow up?  Describe it. In Connecticut, in a small neighborhood filled with mostly boys, I was a Tom-Boy and fit right in. We came home when the lights came on and made noise and climbed trees and hiked in the woods until they did.
*What was your earliest memory? I do not have many memories of my childhood
*What games did you play as a child? We played sports, and caught bugs.
*Where did you go to school? Central Ave, Saint Hedwig, Saint Francis, Holy Cross
*Who were your friends? Julia, Gayle, Mike, Sarah, Nikki, Maria
*Who were your favorite teachers and why? Mrs. Gaylor, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Stack
*What were your chores? I made my own lunch and had to clean up after myself, anything else, I was asked and I would do it.


Growing up, teenage years:
*What activities did you participate in?  (Sports, dancing, music, arts, etc.)  Explain what you did with each activity.  I played softball, volleyball and basketball on school and recreational teams for a number of years.
*How did you learn how to drive?  What kind of car did you have? I took drivers ed through my high school. My first car was an 87' Monte Carlo.
*Who were your friends? A lot of the same people, plus Tamara, Jana, Melinda, Ronna
*Did you have a girl/boy friend?  Talk about him/her (if your spouse is okay with it!). I had 2 different ones in high school; Greg & Kevin... neither was right, but I thought they were at the time, both were very needy, and somewhat unmotivated
*What did you like/dislike about school? I loved that I  could be involved in sports, student government and the newspaper without being 'labeled'... I did not like that I did not have a niche.
*What was your first paid job? Holiday Hill, American Pie; both as waitstaff, and eventually management
*What were your chores at home? I did whatever was asked of me, and always cleaned up after myself.


College years:
*Did you attend college or a trade school of some sort? I attended a Liberal Arts, small Private College
*How did you choose what you wanted to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a lawyer, a writer and a mom beginning as early as second grade. I realized once I had begun work for the Police Department, that I wanted to be a teacher.
*What did you think was the hardest thing about your chosen profession at that time?  Did it turn out that way? Convincing everyone it was the right choice for me, followed by passing the tests, followed by finding a job... all still hard
*What dumb things did you do during those years? Pierced my tongue, poor choices in relationships
*What good things did you do? Worked hard, studied hard, took care of myself
*Did you live on your own?  How well prepared were you for that? I lived on campus as an RA, until I finished and immediately moved in a VERY small apartment with Matt.
*What life lessons did you learn? Anything worth doing, takes time, effort and is worth doing 100%
*What choices did you make that affect where you are now? Every single decision.

Work:
*What jobs have you had?  (Give details of the dates, places, responsibilities, etc.) Table buser, server, family events coordinator (Holiday Hill) Waitress, manager (American Pie), Customer Service, Cashier (Macy's) Online website programming, (HiTech), Model/Actress (Central Models) Detective Assistant (Hamden PD), Behavioral Interventionist (Aces), Cashier, Assistant Manager (Follett Store), Painting, home restoration (PC Painting), Various nanny jobs, Teaching (1st, 2nd, K & 5th), Curriculum Writing (North Haven/Wallingford), Personal Training, sports education, fitness (JumpBunch), Online Teaching (Educonnect)
*What did you like/dislike about each job? I loved all the people I worked with, I loved learning new things and being challenged. I did not like long hours, and manual labor.
*What did you learn at each job? There is not enough space for the career development, socialization and life lessons I underwent.
*Have you used any of that knowledge in later years? Absolutely, I am who I am today because of all the experience I have had over my lifetime.
*Who were your bosses?  Did you like them/get along? A great number of differently brilliant people, and with all those jobs, I never left one on negative terms.
*Which was your favorite job? The only jobs I would not do again are waiting tables or being a cashier.
*How many years until you retire? A VERY long time.
*Do you have any big plans for your retirement? (If retired: What have you done since retirement?  What's next?) Travel, write and enjoy life.

Marriage:
*How did you meet your spouse?  We went to the same high school, although we did not associate a relationship with our friendship then. We "re-met" in college.
*How long did you date before you got engaged?  How long was your engagement? We dated for 18 months and remained engaged for an additional 18 months before our wedding.
*How did you get engaged?  He had a whole master plan that fell through, because it was not as perfect as he had planned... Instead, he popped the question in our Disney resort room.
*Who did most of the wedding plans?  I did all of the wedding planning, although Matt contributed as often as he wanted.
*Describe the details of your wedding:  the colors, the cake, the decorations, etc. Sweet Pea and taupe. We selected a strawberry shortcake and beautiful floral centerpieces.
*Where did your wedding take place?  Who performed the ceremony?  Do you remember any words of advice given? Villa Rosa & Saint Mary with Father Bob Grant. His Homily was a beautiful memory of a wintery Sunday when the three of us held Mass together.
*Who attended your wedding? We had 250 guests, mainly family and very close friends.
*Where did you go on your honeymoon?  What adventures did you have? Hawaii & DisneyLand, we took helicopter tours, went hiking, zip-lining and explored California's DisneyLand.


Children:
*Give your children's full names, birth dates and places. Jonathan David (12/24, Yale); Katrina Celeste (5/18, Yale); Christian Jacob (1/17, St Mary)
*How did you choose their names? We agrees on middle names, and initials before we picked first names, Matt chose boy names and I, girl names.
*What were the circumstances of each child's birth? All were super quick, natural and totally different. JD, premature and amniotic sac broke several hours before delivery; KC, right on time, doctor assisted water brake, and I literally watched seconds pass before I decided to push; CJ, very late, born in sac standing in hallway of hospital.
*What are some funny things that each child does/did or says/said? I always love the accents the children have and the words/phrases they mis-speak.
*What do you love most about each child?  What are their strengths and weaknesses? JD is a exceptional learner/reader, but fears bees and is easily frustrated; KC is gifted in arts/dance, but fears being alone; CJ is still very young, but he can make the entire world smile in 10 seconds flat, but he is a huge fan of danger!
*What are your children involved in? Karate, baseball, football, gymnastics and dance
*How do you spend your time with your children? Mainly doing schoolwork or art projects
*What are your favorite family activities? Friday night dinner and a movie, or vacationing around the run

Celebrations:
*What are some of your personal and family traditions for each holiday?  (New Years, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Easter, Christmas, etc.) I embrace all the holidays, even the little ones, like "Talk Like a Pirate Day", we spend the 4th in the Cape, and Thanksgiving is always at my home. I enjoy Elf on the Shelf and any other 'games' associated with the holidays.
*What traditions have you carried over from your childhood?  Which ones did you start in your own family? Setting up the tree together, visiting a haunted house, carving pumpkins, all the little things...
*How do you celebrate adult's birthdays? Dinner of choice and cake with close family
*How do you celebrate children's birthdays? Small themed party, that I organize insanely.
*How do you celebrate your anniversary? Dinner on any night remotely close to the date, that we can get a babysitter for.


Home life:
*Describe the places you've lived. 3 tiny apartments for Matt and I until we bought the tiny house that we have outgrown and need to find a new one.
*What was your favorite house or apartment?  Why? We don't own it yet, I love the land and neighborhood right now but the house does not suit us anymore.
*How do you like to decorate? Traditionally, with a hint of modern and a smudge of country.
*What is it about home that you love? my family.


Sleep:
*How many hours do you like to sleep at night? VERY few, maybe 4 or 5
*Do you take naps? Nearly never
*Do you like a lot, or few blankets and pillows? One warm blanket and one flat pillow
*Can you sleep anywhere, or does it have to be in your own bed? I am so tired nearly always that I could even sleep standing up
*What are your favorite conditions for a good-night's sleep?  Does it have to be completely dark and quiet? I like to be warm and cozy except for my head, but I do like it dark and very quiet.


Food:
*What are your favorite foods? Steak, Alfredo, Gorgonzola salad, fried calamari
*What are your favorite desserts? Cheesecake
*Do you like to cook or bake?  What are your favorites to make? I love to cook, anything and everything, I do not like to follow recipes though so nothing is ever the same twice.
*Do you have any food allergies? Nope
*What are some foods you have a hard time saying "no" to? Candy
*What foods do you HAVE to have name brand?  Which can you do generic? Bisquick, Cheeses, just about anything else can be generic
*Do you try to eat healthy? Only, always...
*Do you prefer eating out?  Where? I enjoy the break from cooking and cleaning, I like family style, family friendly and fancier dinners, but not necessarily chain type stuff.

Health:
*How is your overall health? Good, I have problem areas that I am addressing
*Have you had any surgeries? (If yes, give details.) Nope
*Have you had any broken bones?  (If yes, give details.) My nose as an infant
*Do you have allergies? (If yes, give details.) Caffeine sensitivity
*What are you doing to keep healthy now? Diet, exercise and supplements