My name is Shaelyne but I'm really not from the fairy fort.

Sometimes, I'm pretty hard on myself.  Like these past couple weeks where I have had to cancel 3 photo shoots because of this dang uncooperative weather and then I convinced myself (let me remind you again that I canceled the shoots) that I was "a photography failure".  I don't know why I do these things.  Thankfully I have a husband willing to listen to my ramblings and tell me I'm awesome when I need it most.  Anyway, in the midst of my self-pity I got this from my friend Julia:

And it made my day.  That was all it took.  A friend telling me that she thinks I'm interesting enough/my blog is interesting enough to hear 7 random facts about me.  Julia, you may remember is a photog buddy of mine.  And she rocks.  She has wrote possibly my favorite blog post ever about seminary sweaters.  Okay, it's really not about sweaters but it's about seminary life and totally a "breath of fresh air" (as one reader responded) for any seminary wife to read.  You should check out her blog about photography, crafting, decorating, and life in general.


So here goes for my 7 random facts:


1. I was a country girl growing up.  Yep, that's right.  I grew up feeding the horses and cattle before I left to catch the school bus, climbed the trees in our yard, searched for arrow heads in the field behind my house, picked fresh fruit and veggies out of the garden, went hunting and turkey calling with my dad and even had my very own heifer named "Victoria".  Shocked?  I'm sure you are....

Me and my dad after dove hunting.

2.  Just to further prove my country girl past, I used to think Garth Brooks was really cool.  And I really thought he was singing to me in the song "Shameless".

I thought he was saying "Shaelyne".....

Seriously, who wouldn't think Garth Brooks was cool with this color block shirt??

3.  I have been to 4 different countries.  My senior year I was lucky enough to go to England and France to visit my cousin that was studying abroad at the time.  In college I went to Belarus and Lithuania on a mission trip to teach ESL.

This was taken in Belarus after 2 full days of traveling and no shower.  Yuck.  It was also about 10 pm when this photo was taken.  Can you believe how bright it still is outside?

4.  I was on dance team in high school.  I actually took tap, jazz and ballet classes throughout most of my childhood.  However, I didn't like ballet.  It was too slow and I wanted to be like Paula Abdul.

"Straight up, now tell me do you want to love me forever?"  Okay, enough of that.

Check out Paula's dance moves in "Straight Up".

Our high school dance team before a competition.  Check out our uhhh....cool outfits?

5.   People often ask me where my name comes from (and how to pronounce it. SHAE-lin).  Most assume that the name is either biblical or a family name.  I remember looking through a baby book for my name when I was a kid, curious about the meaning, thinking it must mean something really cool like "runs like a gazelle" (which I don't) or "majestic" (yeah, notsomuch).  To my surprise I found that Shaelyne means "from the fairy fort".  Oh, now would be a good time for me to also tell you that my name is Irish.

Don't believe me?  Check it out here and here.  However, one other additional interpretation of the name that I enjoy is this one.

6.  I really hate ketchup.  Don't judge me because I hate America's favorite condiment.  I can't help it!  Just the smell of it  Just thinking about the smell of it makes my stomach turn. 

7. I worked for 7 years in restaurants.  What can I say?  Waiting tables payed the bills.  The restaurant I worked at the longest period of time was Wib's Drive-In in Jackson, MO (my hometown).  I worked at there through high school and also part of college.  Wib's is a great place to work.  Despite the absurd amount of ketchup used in the restaurant.  The owners are the best bosses I ever had, the employees are friendly, the customers have been eating there for years and the food is unique and delicious.