About Me

1.  I was born on May 15, 1980.

2.  My given name was Stacey Alida Rich.

3.  Justin asks me how I like having to spell my new last name out for people… “L-A-W-L-I-S”… but the truth is, I always had to spell “R-I-C-H” too, for some reason.

4.  Customer service people always hear my last name as Wallace.  This annoys me, especially since I spell it out immediately and they still think it’s Wallace.  UPDATE:  A long-time friend just realized my last name isn’t Wallace.

5.  My mom was in labor with me for 36 hours and they still had to drag me on out (I still have a light scar from the forceps).

6.  I am extremely hypermobile.  All my joints bend a little further back than they should.  This means I get to gross people out at random intervals.

7.  My husband says that if the kitchen sink is empty, the coffee table is cleared off, and the bed is made, I’m a little more at ease in my world.  He is especially attentive to giving me a hand in these three areas.

8.  If I get a compliment on an item of clothing, my favorite thing is to be able to say I got it for mad cheap.  I got a few pairs of cargo pants the other night for $4 a piece, and I was very proud.

9.  By the way, I got a killer deal on my wedding dress. 

10.  My favorite drink at Starbucks is a 1% no-whip mocha, nonfat, with whip 140-degree black and white mocha grande skinny hazelnut latte.

11.  I have not mastered the art of getting out to the car (or even to my seat, if I’m hanging out) without spilling said mocha.  Probably should I have finally learned to leave the whipped cream — it seems to act as a buffer mechanism.  Starbucks now hands out little green plugs for the holes in the lid.  It’s nice to arrive at my classroom not covered in coffee.

12.  I have one brother, Kevin James, 2 years and 10 months my junior.  He is one of my favorite people alive.

13.  If I am watching a movie and am having trouble placing an actor I recognize, I’ll run into the computer room and imdb.com them so I can enjoy the rest of the movie. 

14.  If I can place them with no assistance, I feel like I’ve won.

15.  I accidentally flushed my glasses down a toilet once.  Don’t ask.

16.  If I had a free plane ticket anywhere on earth right now, I’m pretty sure I’d go to Ireland.  I take that back.  Right now, I’d go to Hawaii.  In the summertime, I’d go to Ireland.

17.  I drive a 1996 Mazda 626 2006 Vibe.  I know.  Pretty impressive.

18.  I have to buy the lightest makeup shades possible.  I am, according to Cover Girl, Classic Ivory.

19.  I have never tanned in my life — I only get sunburned, or if I used my brain and put on sunscreen, more freckles.  My husband thinks this is cute. 

20.  Whenever I move, my books are the first thing I unpack and get into order (alphabetical).  I feel comforted immediately.  Wherever my books are, I am home.

21.  My husband is 6′5″ and has bright blue eyes.  I like that.

22.  I eat food more for the condiments than for the food.  I am known to put Catalina salad dressing on chicken pot pies, barbecue sauce and sour cream on baked potatoes, ranch on my pizza, and ketchup mixed with mayo on just about anything.

23.  Since I was little, I’ve always liked croutons with salad dressing.  No salad, thanks.

24.  If we run out of ketchup, we’re either going to the store or we’re making something else.

25.  I tend to get people started on the sour-cream-with-chips habit.  Try it sometime.

26.  Whenever we’re at a restaurant, J and I order waters with lemon.  Justin gives his lemon to me.  I put salt on the lemons and eat them, much to his disgust.  On our first date, he found this habit particularly charming.

27.  My favorite authors are Anne Lamott and Frederick Buechner.  I like people who can tell good stories.

28.  My favorite color is blue.

29.  I don’t really like shopping with other people because I feel this weird sort of pressure the whole time, feeling as if I’m taking too much time perusing.  Julie is probably one of the only exceptions to this rule. 

30.  Some of my favorite words are precipice, peruse, duplicitous and rad.

31.  I bought a t-shirt last night that says “I put the R in rad.”  It cost $3.50.  Justin thought it was cool.

32.  Music is a big part of my life.  I have played the piano since I was five, the guitar since 2000, and have sung publicly since I was four years old (my dad has it taped).  I played the clarinet for seven years, but haven’t touched it since the day I graduated high school.

33.  My guitar’s name is Bebhinn, which is Celtic for “lady with a sweet song.”

34.  If I ever get a new guitar, I’ll name it Steven.  I had a dream once that Steven Tyler led worship at my church.  The scarf was tied around the mic stand and everything.  It was pretty incredible.

35.  I am embarrassed to say that in my dream, right before he got back on his tour bus, I told Steven to tell his daughter Liv that I thought she did a great job in the Lord of the Rings movies.

36.  Yeah, I had a crush on Aragorn for a while.

37.  Justin’s birthday is exactly three days after mine.  He was born the day Mt. St. Helens erupted.

38.  My favorite flowers are gerbera daisies and stargazer lilies.

39.  I am approximately one-half Irish and one-half German, though I claim the Irish side far more.  *Some* close to me would say that this suits my personality. 

40. I hate Bill Parcells, coach of the Dallas Cowboys Ben Roethlisberger, QB for the Steelers.  I don’t really have any particular reason for this, other than that I love watching him lose — he’s such a sourpuss.  Whenever I see him lose, I always yell at the TV, “Look at him take it!  Right up the kazoo!” watching him squeak over the goal line during the Superbowl vs. my Seahawks.  That, and he’s a total potatohead. Being that football is a relatively new addition to my sports repertoire, this amuses Justin to a great degree.

41.  One of the best things I ever did for my marriage was decide to take an active interest in football.  I’m serious.  Some of Justin’s most loving glances are reserved for just after I get caught up in yelling and cursing at the TV during a fumble or a pick.

42.  I have a child’s aversion to foods touching or mixing.  Potlucks are a nightmare for me, all those casseroles.  Sick.

43.  My favorite meal at Wendy’s is a #4 (Big Bacon Classic Combo), hold the lettuce onion and tomato, with (of course) a Diet Coke.

44.  As I sit here and type this, I am slightly disturbed that so many of these items have to do with food.

45.  My favorite trips include: Whistler, B.C.; Mazatlan, Mexico; Lake Cushman, WA; Washington, D.C.; Bend, OR; Cayman Islands; Bay St. Louis, MS; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

46.  Having spent so much time in jobs somehow related to customer service, I tend to be patient with customer service people, especially if they’re swamped and there’s no one to help them, or if they make a mistake but are apologetic, if they’re new, etc.  Conversely, I get extremely annoyed with downright rude or inattentive customer service.

47.  When I was about seven, our tent trailer rolled down a hill into Finnin Lake on our camping trip.  This will live on in family legend for all time.

48.  I’m a list-maker.  Whether it’s buying groceries or packing for a trip, I always feel better if I’ve made a list.

49.  Sometimes I feel so much better having made a list that the satisfaction is enough to postpone doing whatever it was that I was making a list for.  To-do lists often have this ill effect.

50.  My favorite actor is Tom Hanks.  For a long time, Castaway was my favorite movie.

51.  My favorite movie is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Braveheart and Little Miss Sunshine are in my top five.

52.  I can’t watch horror/gruesome murder movies.  I get nightmares.

53.  For some reason, I have no problem with sometimes-gory war epics.

54.  In the movie Titanic, I used to laugh when that one guy fell of the back of the boat as it was sticking way up in the air and he “pinged” off the propeller as he made his descent.  Horrible, I know.  If you remember what part I’m talking about, you probably were among the sickos who laughed.

55.  My favorite board games are Scrabble, Jungle Rummikub, and Taboo.  UPDATE: I recently discovered The Farming Game.  It’s amazing.

56.  I can’t do Sudoku to save my life.  I am puzzled by people who enjoy it.

57.  I am good at English and History.  Not so good at Math.  I thank my lucky stars that the only math I had to take in college was Math for the Liberal Arts Student.  Which was pretty much learning to balance a checkbook.

58.  I am what is known as a “klutz.”  I’ve broken my arm, my foot, one or both ankles, cracked a rib, been knocked unconscious overnight, and most recently, torn my right MCL.  This is in addition to numerous stitches, sprains, dislocations of random fingers, etc.

59.  My favorite work of fiction is Pride and Prejudice.  As far as the movies go, the BBC version is WAY better than the new one.  I LOVE me some Colin Firth.

60.  Nothing ever brought out the book-binger in me quite like the Harry Potter books.  I read the final installment eight hours one Sunday, with mild interruptions for things such as bathroom breaks, food, etc.

61.  I was once attacked by a mentally ill person while getting ready to help lead worship at a church.  It remains one of my weirdest stories (and I’m not really sure I want anything to ever beat it).

62.  I make really good Chicken Marsala.

63.  I am currently a Medical Historian at a plasma donation center.  Don’t ask me how I got into this line of work, because I have no idea.  I still look at my purple scrubs in astonishment.

64.  I want to have a couple kids someday, but we are a few years out from that adventure.  A huge joke with our friends is that we are going to name our first child “Bloodface Lawlis.”  My maid of honor, Julie, mentioned Bloodface in her speech at our wedding, and you could tell who’d heard it before because there were little ripples of laughter among the tables.  I still can’t believe she did it.

65.  I am allergic to animal dander, especially in cats.  I tend to forget this, however, and pet said dog or cat and inevitably end up touching my eyes at some point during the course of our visit with friends.  This is bad news.

66.  Despite this, I really really really want a dog.

67.  Although I always used to make fun of my parents for settling in front of the TV for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy each night, we’re yelling out “Who is ____________?” on a regular basis.  Everytime a Daily Double hits, Justin jumps off the couch, pumps his fists, and yells “THE DAILY DOUBLE!!!  ALRIGHT!!!” at the top of his voice.  This is obnoxious, but still hasn’t lost its charm with me.

68.  We watch Dr. Phil.  Regularly.  I have no excuse for us.

69.  The best concert I ever went to was a U2 concert in Seattle a few years ago.  I consider it a spiritual experience.

70.   I enjoy taking pictures.  One of my favorite experiences was taking an amazing camera down to Bay St. Louis, MS, nine months after Katrina hit.  I love having such tangible reminders of my time spent there.  I hope to now own an amazing camera of my own someday, and then my friends and family won’t know a moment’s peace.