...crossposted from Facebook:

Because I kept on getting tagged until it seemed easier just to do it... ;)

1. When I was 2-1/2, I started preschool and made a best friend right away. She's still my best friend, 29 years later, even though we're living in different countries and don't get a chance to talk nearly often enough.

2. When I was 5, my dad read me The Lord of the Rings, and I fell in love with fantasy forever and ever and have never changed my mind.

3. When I was 6, I wanted a brachiosaurus as a pet. (I would have chosen a brontosaurus, but brachiosauri seemed cooler because less popular.)

4. When I was 6, I started piano lessons. I played for years without too much commitment, then suddenly had a breakthrough and fell in love with it. I took lessons for 13 years, and really miss having a piano in the house. One of my biggest goals is to live somewhere with a piano again one day.

5. When I was 7, I decided I wanted to be a writer more than anything else. I've never changed my mind.

6. When I was 8, my dad read me Pride & Prejudice, and I fell in love with Jane Austen and the Regency period.

7. When I was 8, I went to summer camp for the first time, and my mom sent me with a copy of Jane Eyre to read while I was there. I read it obsessively, and I still re-read it every few years.

8. When I was 10, I started playing the French horn. I played for a few years, didn't think I was getting better, and found the whole process so frustrating that I used to keep books I hated next to me as I practiced, so that I could throw them against the wall to vent my frustration during the session. I begged my parents to let me quit, but they said no.

9. Then there was a breakthrough when I turned 13, I fell in love with it, and ended up devoting the next 10 years to the horn, majoring in French horn performance at the Oberlin college conservatory of music and planning to be a musician as my "day job" as well as writing.

10. I finally realized, halfway through undergrad, that I didn't want to be a professional musician after all. It was one of the most painful decisions I've ever made, but it was the right decision to make. I added a double major in music history and made plans to follow that career instead.

11. The week I graduated, I stopped playing the French horn. I haven't been able to let myself play it again. I wish I could.

12. I always wanted children, as far back as I can remember, even though I could never come up with any good, logical reasons to have any. Now, even though I'm utterly exhausted all the time, I am so happy to have a baby, especially one as charming and delightful as Mr Darcy. :)

13. And yes, he probably will have a younger brother or sister some time in the future.

14. I grew up with an average of two dogs and three cats in the house at any given time. I always planned to have both when I was an adult, but all through high school, I was a Total Cat Person. I preferred cats to dogs by miles.

15. Then I went to Vienna at 21, was surrounded by dogs, and something clicked. I've been a 100% Dog Person ever since, and although I still like cats - and love my family's cats - there's just no comparison for me.

16. At various points in my life, I've wanted to be an astronaut, a lawyer, a paleontologist, an actress, a musician, and a professor as my day job (while always wanting to write as my "real" career).

17. At various points, I've worked as a camp counselor, a graduate teaching assistant teaching music history, a high school English-language teacher in Vienna, a daycare teacher, a receptionist, and a website editor.

18. I grew up without a TV - that's one of the things Patrick and I have in common. As kids, we both thought it was totally unfair. We made up for it by watching way too much in college.

19. Then we both decided we didn't want to have a television in the house. We haven't had one for the past 6-1/2 years and haven't regretted it...

20. But I guess Mr Darcy probably will be just as frustrated about it as we both were. Oh dear.

21. I've been a fulltime writer for the past 1-1/2 years, and it's the best job ever.

22. My favorite city in the world is Vienna, Austria. I lived there for a total of 2 years, and I love it.

23. I thought hard about staying in Vienna for good, but finally decided against it because I thought it would be too hard & tiring to translate everything I heard for the rest of my life. England was a perfect compromise - still in Europe, but speaking my native language (or pretty close).

24. Every day, I miss my first dog, Nika, who died much too young. Every day, I feel lucky to have Maya, who's been with us for over 2 years now and gets sweeter every single day.

25. Every day, I feel lucky to have the life I do.

***NOTE: I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this. Have fun!***