Day 18 writing challenge

30 facts about yourself

1. My name is Hebrew (found in Genesis) and means "God is my teacher" as well as "the hill country" It is where Abraham brought Isaac to make a sacrifice to God and where Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. 
2. I'm named after a woman named Maria (pronounced like Mariah, not "Ma-REE-ah"). Maria Crosby was a woman who my dad spent summers on her and her husband's farm in the Cobleskill area of New York. She told my dad if he had a girl, to spell her name the Hebrew way, not like her spelling.
3. I was born in Burlington, Vermont.
4. I grew up in the smallest city (at one time the country) in Vermont, Vergennes- named after Ethan Allen's friend the Comte de Vergennes.
5. My 21st birthday was 9/9/1999. It was a Thursday and no, I didn't spend the night drinking- I had a community college class that evening. I went to the bar the next night with people from work. 
6. I never got to play varsity basketball because I dislocated my knee a few months prior.
7. I have a degree in elementary education and psychology. 
8. I've been to 25 states and 5 countries. So far.
9. In high school, I played percussion (drums, cymbals, triangle, cowbell, glockenspiel, timpani, etc.) and cello.
10. In the 8th grade, I was about the 6th person asked to memorize and recite "In Flanders Fields" for the largest Memorial Day Parade in my hometown of Vergennes. And yes, I can still recite it.
11. In 2011, after Hurricane Irene hit Vermont, I was a traffic controller (a.k.a. flagger) for 2 months.
12. I have a collection of coffee cups, stickers, pottery, and probably too many other things.
13. I have endometriosis and PCOS. In 2005 I had a cyst on my ovary removed that was bigger than my ovary. They've grown back and burst a few times since then but not that big.
14. I've been to all 14 counties in Vermont and all 16 counties in Maine. I completed my Maine adventure last year.
15. In that Maine Adventure, I completed my visit to all but 5 Maine State Parks. 3 are islands and 2 are wilderness regions that my car wouldn't be able to get to.
16. I've had braces twice.
17. I won a blue ribbon for my sewing in 4-H when I was 11 or 12.
18. I've sat in an F-4 and an F-16.
19. I know how to change my car's oil.
20. I don't have a best friend.
21. I didn't learn how to ski until I was 18. (no, Vermonters aren't born skiing, drinking maple syrup, or know how to milk cows, but I have done all 3)
22. I love old movies- like 30's & 40's and some 50's movies.
23. I've taken myself off of social media- closed my Instagram account and deleted most everything on Facebook, but still have it because of messenger for family. Pinterest isn't social media for me and I don't update my Linkedin and no, I don't Tic-Toc or Snapchat. and I'm not sure why I'm still blogging.
24. I like to garden and cook. I like to travel, learn family history, and go for walks with my dog.
25. I like to read nonfiction- mostly biographies or autobiographies. I also enjoy mysteries.
26. I like a wide variety of music. U2, Pearl Jam, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, Yo-Yo Ma, Rage Against the Machine, Todd Rundgren, Buena Vista Social Club, Miles Davis, just to name a few.
27. I like living by myself. I like it better now that I have my dog Clyde though.
28. I love cheese. And that yellow stuff isn't real cheese.
29. I know how to drive a stick shift. I had a 6-speed manual transmission Toyota that I loved driving until it lost 6th then 5th gears and I had to get a new car.
30. finding 30 facts about myself wasn't easy. thankfully, no one will probably read these.