Thirty.

In honor of turning the BIG 3-0, I've decided to post 30 things that you might not know about me. And believe it or not, this was Jeremiah's Idea! I know I'm surprised too! Ready? It's gonna be long! :)

1. My real name is April. April Amanda (Barlow) Hardman. My parents have always called me Mandy but for doctors appointments and legal things, I'm April. Born in March, named April. They had a mutual friend who was on a mission at the time. They told him to send names (boy and girl) and they would choose one. The only name he sent was Mandy. :)

2. When I was in 5th grade, Jeremiah was my 'boyfriend'. Yep. We held hands on the bus and sat next to each other. He always wore camouflage pants and I had a dream when spending the night at my friends house that I married Jeremiah. I told her about it and she said - NEVER gonna happen. We broke up because his uncle made fun of him because he hadn't kissed me. Many moons later, we actually started to date and got married. Circle of Life, baby.

3. I have 2 Aunts who are only a few years older than me. Growing up, I idolized them (let's be honest, I still kind of do!) My aunt Stacey (my mom's youngest sister) would stay with us during the summer. She would go on dates and I think because no one else was there to 'brag' to, she'd tell me about them. She's tell me about the boy's car, if they kissed, etc. I loved it. :) I think that's what made me want to kiss boys. Her stories were awesome. :)

4. Contrary to what some may believe (because I may or may not have made up stories when I was younger), my first 'real kiss' was at age 15. And I hated it. I even said 'oh gross'... The relationship lasted a whole 3 weeks. I didn't even care. But, to this day, I still don't like the girl he was obsessed with.

5. I was scared to be an 'at home mom'. I knew how to work. I knew my job well. I was good at it. I also had issues staying at home with Archer and DarTanion when Archer was born. Dang postpartum. But when Archer was 18 months old and needed surgery and I took a week off to be at home with him, I knew I could do it. And I enjoyed it. Up to that point, I sort of swore off having another baby for a while. After I stayed home with him and enjoyed it and saw that I could do it, I decided I could have another baby. I told Jeremiah and he agreed and we decided that when I did, I could stay home with the kids. We started trying right away. I went to work, told my boss that I was trying to get pregnant and when I did, I would go on maternity leave and not be coming back. Turns out, I gave him a year's notice. Robyn was born 1 year after.

6. When I was younger, I had a blood disorder called henoch-schoenlein purpura. Basically big bruise looking spots all over my legs. It was evil and it hurt. The doctors didn't know what it was. Lots of blood work, lots of worry, lots of unknown. I eventually 'grew out of it'. I don't know how my parents did it, but I don't remember them really being too scared about it (or letting on to ME that they were scared). I appreciate that. :)

7. I love my friends like I love my family. Chances are, you probably already know this. But when I make friends - and I don't mean just acquaintances, I mean we hang out and do things together type friends - it's a forever thing for me. I will do whatever I can within my means to make you happy, to help you out, to love you and all that comes with you. You become my family that I chose. And I love you. And I'm grateful for that. :)

8. I take WAY too many pictures. We're talking a couple hundred a week. I blame it on my awesome phone. It has a 5 mega pixel camera on it and well, that means I always have a camera on me. I used to carry my camera (which is 12 mega pixel) but my purse was always too full... And with my phone - it's always there! :) So we have a whole hard drive on our computer dedicated to JUST pictures. And it's awesome.

9. I love music. I will often choose a 'theme song' for the day / week. Sometimes it might not have anything to do with that day, other than I heard the song and loved it. :) Music has a way of transporting you to a certain part of your life and making you remember how you felt at that moment - good or bad. For some reason, angry songs make me happy. :)

10. I'm scared of getting older. Bodies breakdown and wear out and it hurts. I've seen friends and family get older and have to go through more and more medical issues. And I'm scared. Scared of the pain and the process. Life is scary.

11. I take Zoloft. I'm not afraid to admit it. It has really helped with my anxiety and my thoughts. I'm able to be a better mom, better friend and better spouse because I'm not freaking out at the drop of a hat. Just ask my friend, Jennifer. We went out once and I got sick. For the next 3 times we went out, I would worry so much that I would get sick that I actually MADE myself sick! I still go thru that when I get really excited for something, that I worry I will get sick and miss out and then I end up making myself sick. Not really fun. But the Zoloft helps. So does the occasional Xanex. So for all the haters - keep your opinion to yourself.

12. I hated Human Resources. Hated it. Something I probably shouldn't admit right now since I'm looking for a job again (so that our family will have some health insurance), but I did. I always came home stressed out. I hated thinking about the people who I had known for a while losing their job and insurance and livelihood. I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. I'm a nice person. I like everyone to like me. HR was NOT for me and I hope to avoid it in my job search. Cashier, greeter - something simple and not life altering would be just fine with me.

13. I miss old friends. Even the ones who really screwed me over. Ones that lied to me. Cheated me out of things that were mine. Ones that stole from me. Ones that did all three! But they all had a quality that made me like them. And those qualities, I miss.

14. My dark side exists in Dr. Mario. :) I'm a nice person until it comes to a little competition in Dr. Mario and then I get evil. I even swear! It works me up and gets me excited and it's a rush! Man.. I'm kind of sad that way, I guess. :)

15. I miss the attention I used to get when I was young and skinny. I liked the complements and the flirting. I didn't act on it, but it was nice to be hit on...

16. As cheesy romantic it may sound, Jeremiah really is my best friend. I can tell him anything, he makes me laugh when I'm sad (or any time, really) and he helps me out. He has a million great qualities that he doesn't always let others see. I'm glad that I had a weak moment in high school and started kissing him. :)

17. I am actually really thankful for the trials in my life. The small, day-to-day ones and the big ones that I have had to face and over come. I'm a big believer in choice. I try to make a conscience decision to do good and to be positive. I believe that I have grown a lot from everything I've had to face. From fights with friends, to baby scares, to babies being sick. I've grown. I've overcome. And I'm stronger because of it.

18. I'm happy to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. :) I've had my share of rebellion and struggles and trials in religion, but I've always came back. And I've always found peace and comfort. God is good. :)

19. I have a need to be needed. I like to feel useful. I think that's why being a mom is so great to me. :) They ALWAYS need me. :)

20. My favorite band is Aerosmith. I've seen them live 3 or 4 times. They are fantastic live. I love going to concerts. If I had lots of expendable money, that's what I would do with it. See as many live shows as I could. Let's see if I can name all the people I've seen live... Aerosmith, Kid Rock, KISS, Jimmy Eat World, Melee, Army of Freshmen, Bowling for Soup, Motley Crue, Poison, Lonestar, John Anderson, New Kids on the Block, Lady Gaga, Natasha Beddingfield, Boys II Men, Cheap Trick, Ratt, New Found Glory, Dokken, Chris Ledoux, Sawyer Brown, Vanilla Ice, and MC Hammer. I think I'm probably missing some...

21. I don't usually eat breakfast food for breakfast. I'm a 'real' food person all day. Give me left overs from last night's lasagna or pizza and I'm happy. Sometimes I'll do breakfast, but normally, I'm totally happy with leftovers.

22. My family has a tradition of shooting our Easter eggs instead of eating them. We take them up on a mountain, sit them on top of a milk jug and shoot. I'm a great shot. Better than some boys I know. :) Also, I've killed a deer before. My dad made me. He said if I didn't, that I couldn't go to Homecoming, so 3 shots later and we had a dead deer.

23. I'm 5 ft 5in tall. I'm 183 lbs (did I just write that down for the world to see?) I wear a size 15 - 16 in pants (that too?). My shoes are about an 8 1/2. And of course, the measurement that matters most? :) 38 DD.

24. I've had some great best friends in my life. Sandy Turner, Teresa Sanders, Jedd Shepherd, Michelle Davidson, Kelly Cook, Jeremiah Hardman, Angie Neal, Mandy Smith, Beeno Zaccardi, Jennifer Sweat, Jessie Post, and Heather Bagley. I've had other friends, but I think that these ones are some that truely affected who I am today. They are all awesome people. You should meet them all. :)

25. My mom wanted to name me Shasta Lee (if I was a girl) or Sheldon Z (if I were a boy). I'm glad I ended up being Mandy. :) I hope our kids will be okay with our 'weird' choices in names.

26. Some of my favorite movies are: Almost Famous, Can't Hardly Wait, Empire Records, Clue, Saved, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Zoolander, and other goofy funny comedies.

27. I am an obsessive person. If I find something that I really like, I tend to become obsessed. In my youth, I watched General Hospital. When I was old enough to know how (aka high school), I recorded the episodes that were on during the day so that I could watch them when I got home. I missed school (and my mom let me) when Lucky 'died'. I was depressed for a whole week. He was my favorite. Then I bought videos someone made of all of Lucky and Liz's moments together. We watched them on my bridal shower. I was a member of 3 different fan clubs.. I've finally given up GH and I'm glad. Now I have other obsessions...

28. In 6th grade, I was one of the Class President's for Mr Crittenden's class. I also won a trophy at the end of the year for 'most athletic'. Now, if you know me at all - you know I'm not athletic. But I tried. And apparently, that's what they wanted! :)

29. I've had glasses since 3rd grade. I didn't get contacts until I was 19. I wore them pretty steadily until I quit my job. Now it's a handful of times a year. Glasses just work for me. I probably won't be able to get Lasik to 'fix' my eyes because of how bad they are. And they are still changing. I'm 'not a good candidate' for Lasik... Oh well. :)

30. I was hospitalized in between 3rd and 4th grade. I had a root canal done and the dentist punctured my sinus. The infection in my tooth spread, went up to my sinus and was attacking my eye (and draining out of my newly pierced ears). My face swelled and I was taken to the hospital. It took a big nurse, my dad and mom to hold me down while they put the IV in. Twice. I did NOT want that in.

SO... Did you read it all? Do you know all about me? Do you have more questions? If so, just ask. I'm pretty much an open book. :)