Ten Things You Don’t Know About Us

Hi guys! We hope your week is going well! If you’re stopping by from the blog hop, welcome! Winter has decided that it was time to finally make an appearance in Upstate NY. Yesterday we got 8 plus inches of snow over night followed by a downpour of freezing rain and more snow. It’s a mess! Thankfully it’s winter break for school so we haven’t had to venture out at all.

Today we’re sharing some things you might not know about us!

Jen:

• Before I left to stay home with our kids I was a Teaching Assistant for an Applied Behavioral Analysis program, working with kids that are on the Autism Spectrum. I am very thankful for the opportunity to stay at home while our kids are growing up but I do miss the kids I used to work with as well. If I were ever to go back to school I would go for a Behavioral Consulting. This is one more reason that I will be running with Team Up! with Autism Speaks for the Chicago Marathon in October.
• I’m directionally challenged. It’s horrible! We’ve lived here for over 6 years now (and it’s a pretty small area) and I still use my GPS to get around on a regular basis. I can’t read a map to save my life. I have nightmares about having to find my way around a city, or having to use public transportation on my own. Thankfully Travis is very good at getting us around! I once told someone when asked how long we still had to drive as I was looking at a map, that we had “about an inch to go!”Ok, that’s really embarrassing.
• We make our own wine. We got into this a couple of years ago. We use kits that come with juice concentrate but one time I’d love to try and press our own grapes. Each batch that we make yields about 30 bottles and takes about a month to complete.
• I love sewing- actually, crafts in general. I learned while making the nursery decor for Parker’s room and did the same for Peyton. I don’t get nearly enough time to sit down and work on projects and have several things started that I’ll get around to finishing someday. We’re working on getting enough shirts set aside from races to make a blanket out of them.
• I’m terrified of roller coasters. The only one I’ve ever been on is the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios (Disney). Never again. I think I held my breath for the entire ride (that would be me on the bottom right) 

Travis:

• I’m an adult who still loves to play video games. What can I say? I am part of the video game generation and I probably will continue to play for many years to come. I mainly play Call of Duty titles for two reasons. I love them and I can’t afford to go out and buy a bunch of games I may not have time to play. At most, I will buy two titles a year. I have gone about five months without even turning my console on, then I play everyday for a while and repeat this cycle based on the season. 
• I was born in Italy. I am a Navy brat as they say. My mother was stationed in Naples, Italy when I was born so I lived the first part of my life oversees. While I don’t remember anything, I’ve been told that I actually spoke Italian before English because I would go to the local daycare instead of the one on the naval base. As a result, I needed years of speech therapy after returning to the states to catch up on my English. One other thing about being born oversees – I am never able to donate blood in the United States.
• I own my own business. In 2007, my OCD tendencies led me to start detailing vehicles. It started small, and still is, but I have grown my clientele over the years and now have a pretty good side business to supplement my expenses for running races – and purchasing running shoes.
• I love to hunt. Especially bow hunting for whitetails. I enjoy bow hunting for the challenge of the hunt and the skill required to be proficient. Some may not agree with hunting, but it is part of my upbringing and I use venison as our primary source of red-meat, so the years where I don’t get a deer, we go hungry. 
• For the final thing you don’t know about me, I will give you a puzzle to solve. To solve this puzzle, think logically and understand that everything that follows is a fact and true.
  • I was born in Naples, Italy.
  • My Father is Italian.
  • My last name is an Italian last name.
    • So, why am I not Italian? Not even .001 of a percent! LEAVE YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.