2: Five things you didn’t know about me

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2020

I’m starting off this blog posting month by sharing 5 things you might not know about me; as an introduction for any new readers (come say hi!), and to share some new random facts for anyone who’s been around for a while longer. I have shared random facts in previous years, if you want to find out more (herehere, here, and here).

1. Hi, I am Sandra – but I go by San on the Internet. I grew up in Germany but moved to the US in my mid-20’s. I live in Northern California with my husband Jon, who I met during an exchange semester here in the States many moons ago. I wrote a little bit about my move to the US a few years ago, and about the decision to come to California in the first place. ,

2. I am terrible at making decisions. I’d like to think that generally I “know what I want”, but I often let other people make the decisions. I prefer not to impose my choices on other people, which often leads to other people imposing their choices on me. That is not a big deal when it comes to picking a restaurant for dinner (I am usually cool with almost anything), but is not so good when it comes to decisions that impact me more heavily than where I eat a meal on any particular night. Something I have been – and will still be – working on.

3. Things that (rarely) come up in conversation, unless your microwave breaks and you tell your friend about the dilemma about how much you rely on the microwave every day: yes, I heat up the milk for my coffee in the morning. I drink my coffee “café au lait”-style (with a milk-coffee ratio of about 40:60). And since I like my coffee hot, I have to heat up the milk. Makes sense, right? Tell me I am not the only one.

4. I theoretically like the idea of dressing up and wearing high heels every once in a while, but you’ll probably almost always see me in shorts and sneakers or sandals. I feel like I almost never have the opportunity to get dressed up, this year even less than usual.

5. I’ve been friends with my oldest friend since Kindergarten. We both ‘scattered’ around the world after high school, but whenever we get together, it’s like we saw each other just yesterday. I miss having friends close by with whom you’re at ease like that.

Share a random fact about you in the comments!

  1. I love that you’ve had a friend that long! My husband has a group of friends since kindergarten too and I think that is so cool. I do not. LOL. I only learned to start making friends after college.

    Random about me – we don’t have a microwave and never have! I don’t drink coffee, but I love making chai lattes at home (no where near as good as one from Starbucks, ha).

    1. That is random that you don’t have a microwave. Do you have a toaster oven instead? LOL (I find people have either one or the other… but you can’t heat up milk in toaster oven).

  2. I put french vanilla creamer – 1T/cup – in my coffee so I do not warm that up since the coffee to creamer ratio is such that it doesn’t cool down my coffee. Something about me is that I only like coffee hot/warm. I do not like cold brews or even coffee flavored ice creams!

    1. Well, that makes sense that you don’t have to heat up your creamer, if you only put so little in your coffee. I “wish” I liked the flavored creamers, but ever since I weaned myself off sugar in my coffee, I find these too sweet for my taste.

  3. I’ve known you on your Blog since before you officially arrived, I think.
    Mmmmm. Something you might not know about me after all these years? Well, this year, I lost 59 pounds and I have discovered the joys of wearing leggings!

    1. OMG, I know, we’ve been following each other for such a long time, Maribeth!
      Congratulations on losing 59 lbs. Wow! That’s an accomplishment, you must feel amazing!

  4. LOL – No. 3 got me by surprise, as you know.
    Not sure if there is stil anything you don’t know about me…..

    1. Hahaha, I am sure there is still stuff we haven’t talked about LOL

  5. My childhood friend and I have kind of lost touch. This year she didn’t even send some birthday wishes. It’s sad so I am happy you still have a connection. I didn’t even own a microwave – we used to but only to make popcorn- I learnt to do that in a pot. But I do get that the milk should be warm so the coffee is not cold totally legit to use the microwave for that.

    1. I am so sorry that you lost touch with your friend. It’s hard to know when relationships fizzle out.

  6. My random coffee facts: I take mine with a splash of half & half. I only have one cup a day but the size of the cup can vary quite a bit;-)

    1. My mugs are always on the larger side ;)

  7. I also love my coffee to be hot! We don’t have a microwave but a month or so ago we decided we might get one – they are so convenient (now I’m looking forward to hot milk in my coffee after reading this post) :)

    That is so cool you are still friends with your oldest friend and distance hasn’t changed that.

    1. Oh yay, I thought this was totally silly, but you’re the second person telling me that they’ll heat up their milk from now on … :)

  8. I use creamer in my coffee and it comes right out of the fridge! But I don’t use enough that it would cool down the coffee anyway. Plus, I usually drink iced coffee. I typically make a big 12-cup pot and will drink a mug of hot coffee, and then pour the rest into a container and put it in the fridge. Then, I’ll add ice cubes to a glass and pour in the cold coffee for iced coffee over the next 4-5 days. I’m not sure if that’s weird to do or not, haha. My roommate does it that way and she turned me on to drinking iced coffee like this!

    1. Great way to do it if you’re into iced coffee, I guess. I drink iced coffee in the summer, but I generally tend to like hot beverages more. ;)

  9. I never knew your full name! You learn something every day… ;) Also, completely get the heating the milk thing for your coffee. Back when I was an early coffee drinker (I no longer drink it, which is another story), I did the same thing. I completely agree with you that the milk:coffee ratio is critical to determining whether the additional heating is necessary. I don’t know that I ever analyzed my ratio so specifically though! Ha.

    1. I am glad to hear you also heated up your milk when you drank coffee… LOL I don’t feel so crazy now!

  10. I am absolutely number 4. High aspirations, definitely not carrying it out on a regular basis, especially in 2020. lol I feel the same way about 2. I also feel like having to make unnecessary decisions (like choosing a restaurant) is cluttering my mind. When I’m stressed (which is almost always), I feel like I’ll just get too overwhelmed by having to make that choice and it will lead to a meltdown. Probably dramatic and not true, but it does feel that way. I don’t like making unnecessary decisions, lol.

    1. Unnecessary decisions should be eliminated. LOL

  11. Hi San! Nice to online meet you!

    I love the topic of decision making. I’m fascinated by how we make the choices in our lives, and what information we use to make them. I’m sure being decision-avoidant has been hard for you, and seeing that it’s something your working on is really interesting to me! Good luck with it!

    1. It’s definitely an interesting topic. I’ve often thought about why I have a tough time making decisions esp. when other people are involved and I think it comes down to being a people pleaser.

  12. Those kinds of friends are the best!

    Random fact about me that is relevant to your interests: I took part in a student exchange when I was 13-14. A girl from Darmstadt Germany came to live with my family for a month in the summer of 1982, and in the summer of 1983 I went to live with her family for a month. Germany has been my favorite country (aside from the United States) ever since.

    1. Oh wow, random but very cool. Do you still speak any German? And have you been back since the early 80’s?

  13. Hi San! Nice to meet you via Melisa! Love reading these things about you.

    1. Hi Jana, so nice of you to stop by and nice to meet you! I just clicked over to your blog as well and I wanted to leave a comment (or two), but wasn’t able to…. maybe you want to look into this? I can’t seem to find the comment form under your posts.

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