31 Facts on my 31st Birthday

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Friday is my birthday! I’m the big 3-1.

Exciting, right?

I’m not a huge birthday celebrator when it comes to myself. For others, I love to do it up big. For me, though, I prefer just a low key birthday.

Since random facts are one of my favorite posts to read, I thought it would be fun to give you 31 factoids for my 31st birthday!

  1. Have I ever talked about my family? My parents live up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and my younger sister (by 2.5 years) lives in downtown Chicago. I love my family! It stinks being so far away from them now, but thank goodness for FaceTime. And I’m really blessed to absolutely love my in-laws! They are so much like my own family that I feel right at home when we visit!
  2. Here’s a true random – I have never watched The Sound of Music or Gone With the Wind all the way through.
  3. If I had to choose to watch one show or movie, forever and ever, it would be the Anne of Green Gables movies. They are just so sweet!
  4. And if I had to choose one book series to read, over and over, it would be the Mitford Series from Jan Karon. Also just so sweet! (A new book is coming out this Fall!)
  5. I grew up wishing I could be Amish. But an Amish girl with a TV. Is that possible?
  6. I could watch ANY sporting event. I love sports! Particularly football.
  7. But I only played volleyball in high school. And really anyone could be on the team… I was an amazing server (underhand only… but I was awesome!) but then got rotated out as soon as I got to the front line.
  8. I have a large scar on almost all of my left arm from burning my arm with hot tea (ironic) when I was 7 months old. It’s what makes me unique!
  9. I play the piano and the flute. I also sang in choirs all throughout my younger years.
  10. I played in orchestra for two years when I was in college.
  11. I was in drama all the way up through high school. I even won the “best actress” award my senior year!
  12. The part I played for “best actress” was portraying a crotchety old German grandmother. I swear I only got the part originally because I could semi-successfully pull of a German accent, because I certainly don’t fit the crotchety part!
  13. I can pretty convincingly do any accent.
  14. I have NO problem speaking in front of people. Even if it is spur of the moment.
  15. But ask me to sing or play an instrument solo? I get the worst stage fright! We’re talking hands shaking, knee caps wiggling… horrible!
  16. In college I majored in Marketing. I also never changed my major once.
  17. I went to a small Christian university in southwest Michigan, right near Lake Michigan.
  18. I met my husband on our first week as college Freshmen. We started dating the first week of our Junior year.
  19. My husband (then just a friend) caught me when I fainted at Sunday Mass at Notre Dame. It was an alumni weekend, plus home game… standing room only…. It was our “how we met” story, even though we had officially first met several weeks prior.
  20. I would rather have a salty snack instead of a sweet one.
  21. Morrel mushrooms give me the heebie jeebies.
  22. I am always tossing and purging things. I can’t handle piles of things.
  23. I always knew I was going to be a SAHM when we started to have kids.
  24. When I was growing up I wanted to be either a teacher or an astronaut.
  25. My mom was my teacher for several years. She taught me subjects in 4th, 7-10th grades. I went to a small Christian school from 1-10th, so I saw her a lot.
  26. I had the nick name “The Duchess” my freshman year of HS because I had a sizeable crush on Prince William. (and… may still do? But that just may be an entire family crush now!)
  27. I always wished that my birthday was during the school year so people would say “Happy Birthday” and I could have a class party.
  28. I didn’t get to experience the “Happy Birthday” greetings until we moved to NC and I worked in an office.
  29. I quit my job on my birthday in 2013 because I was planning on being a SAHM. And decided the best birthday gift I could have was a “last day of work”. And it was great! I got “Happy Birthday and we’ll miss you!” all day!
  30. If you come to our house, chances are there is classical music playing. I usually have it on from the morning I get up until bed time. (In fact, you’ve probably heard it a few times in vlogs)
  31. When I first started my blog, I was terrified that people I knew in real life would find out. I was worried people would make fun of me! I’m over it now, but it was a crippling fear!

So there you go! It was hard coming up with 31 facts that were mildly entertaining or interesting!

Any surprising things? Anything similar to you? Let me know!

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28 comments

    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      I’m still a tad terrified… and my heart jumps when someone follows on IG! HAHA! I want to say “you know… this is my blog! You will be disappointed” 🙂 Thank you!!!

      Reply
  2. Megan says:

    This was so much fun to read. Based on your videos and vlogs, I can see the drama skills. Thank goodness that early accident didn’t turn you off of hot tea.

    Reply
  3. Whitney says:

    LOVE this!! I haven’t read the Mitford series but I’ve heard so many good things about those books. I’ll have to put that on my list. There weren’t any surprises – I can totally see you being an actress! 🙂 If you’re going to watch one of those movies, I suggest Sound of Music. It’s a great one – while Gone With The Wind is also a classic, it’s so sad. #spoileralert

    Happy Birthday, Katie!!! <3

    Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      You must read the Mitford series! They are such lovely reads. I’ll watch Sound of Music, you read book 1 of Mitford 🙂

      Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      I remember telling myself that he at least is married someone with a similar name! Katie vs. Kate… you know, it was easy for him to get confused and accidentally marry the wrong girl with a K. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Jess says:

    OMG the class birthday party! YES! Summer b-days get so short-changed! Did you get to celebrate your half-birthday at least? That’s what we did in grade school 🙂 And I have never seen The Sound of Music all the way through either, despite many of my friends being intensely passionate about it!

    Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      We never did half birthdays!! My husband grew up with that, but I didn’t. So truly, I never got to celebrate my birthday with others besides family until I was a full blown adult! And it was thrilling 🙂

      Reply
  9. Michelle says:

    Happy Birthday to you! Gone With The Wind, a favorite of mine and a long movie so if you have the time worth the length. Summer birthdays as a child, I feel bad for those students who have them for the same reason you did, so I celebrate their birthdays at the 1/2 way mark so they feel special too during the school year. Then of course the other students think they get a half birthday celebration.

    Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      How sweet to do 1/2 birthdays for the summer kids! I would have been so grateful as a child! But it definitely seemed weird as an adult having everyone around me wishing me a happy birthday. Just wasn’t used to that! HA! Thank you!!

      Reply
  11. Mariah says:

    So, I have tons of comments and I figured it would be easiest to number them so they stay somewhat in order, haha.

    1. FaceTime is a huge blessing for distant family! We use it all the time!
    2. What?! You have to watch The Sound of Music all the way through. Now!
    5. I used to pretend I was Amish as a kid! I think it stemmed from a love of the Little House on the Prairie books, haha.
    6. I love to watch sports too! Particularly baseball and football (and always UK basketball 😉 ) but strangely, my husband doesn’t really care about them!
    9. I had no idea you played an instrument, let alone two! I always wished I could play the piano, but I can play the guitar. I sang in choir and did theatre from a young age as well 🙂
    14. I wish I had that talent! I can act and sing in front of thousands (I’ve done it!) but if I have to prepare a speech I have full on panic attacks! Weirdness.
    21. Me too! But they taste so good! Actually, anything with lots of holes like that freak me out. It’s a real phobia, though! Trypophobia. Don’t Google it though. Trust me.
    22. Same. I can’t handle the clutter.
    26. Glad I’m not the only one who loves the Royal Family! My hubby makes fun of me for it!
    30. We do that too! We have Beethoven on vinyl and Pandora playlists on the ready haha.
    31. I am totally feeling that fear now! I think I’m just worried about public failure or making a fool of myself in some way. How did you get over it?

    Thanks for sharing all your fun facts! I might have to do one myself for my 21st in a couple weeks!
    Mariah @ Faith & Fashion
    http://www.faithandfashionblog.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      OK so I LOVED reading through all of these!!! Thanks for taking the time 🙂 We’re sort of the same person! HAHA!

      As for blogging fear… I’m over it, kind of. I still don’t really post any of my blog stuff on my personal FB or really talk about it. But I don’t get nervous if anyone brings it up to me. So that’s progress! I didn’t want to get over it though HA! I was forced to! One day my blog IG account randomly linked up to my personal FB account, and all these people I knew started following me, all at once!! I panicked, and was so nervous to post anything blog related on IG for weeks. But I just decided one day to do it and who cares what people think! But your fear is/was exactly my fear – that I would be a failure or just be silly in others eyes.

      But I figure if blogging and blogging/vlogging about what I like is fun, then who cares what others think!

      And you are not just 21?????!!!!! You young whipper-snapper, you. 😉

      Reply
  12. Whitney Jordan says:

    Happy {belated} Birthday!! Such a fun list – I didn’t realize your background in acting. I’m not surprised because you are darling on camera. I love your outlook on your burn from your childhood. I hope Olive feels the same way about her scar as she gets older. I also loved your fainting at Notre Dame & your hubby catching you 🙂

    Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      Thank you! Yes, I’m apparently hard wired to act but not to play instruments in front of people. So crazy! And I pray Olive feels the same way, too. I wasn’t always so excited about the scar, but it’s what makes me me! Our fainting story was told so many times on our wedding weekend. It was quite the story, and it was the talk of the school for weeks 😉

      Reply
    • Katie @ Cup of Tea says:

      Pool party! That’s a good idea! We never had a pool, but that would have been a fun idea! And hooray for fellow volleyball skills. (well, kind of skills in my case…)

      Reply
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