About Keenie Beanie

The short story: I'm an American living just outside Windsor with my English husband D.  Early in 2012, we moved to England from Portland, Oregon after just about completing an interminable remodeling project on a little Cape Cod-style house that I christened "the little shack on the prairie."  I've turned 29 eleven times so far (which, ironically, means my age is one year less than one assumes when I say that). I often get carded to buy beer at the grocery store, so I think I can carry that off for a while yet. I'm a licensed CPA - hence the beanie part of my nickname - but can't do math in my head. I enjoy good books, photography, snowboarding, surfing the interweb, and more DVR'd TV shows than are strictly good for me.

The slightly longer story: I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I'm the only biological child of four siblings - the other three are a brother adopted from Vietnam, a sister adopted from Costa Rica and an African American brother from Pittsburgh.  (My mom got a lot of strange looks when we were out together).  We all moved to Oregon when I was 14.  My family isn't very close-knit, so I have created my own "family" in the form of a few dear friends I know I can rely upon if I ever need anything.  (Bless you, my chosen sisters.)  Unfortunately, they are scattered about the globe, so I consider this blog an open letter to them.


I met my husband D when he was living in the Cayman Islands and working for the same international firm as me - though I was based in Portland and traveling all the time.  That company funded our long-distance relationship until I moved to the Caribbean for a few months.  We married on a trip to New Zealand and moved near to his family in England but after less than a year, he got itchy feet again and we moved back to Oregon.  He promised me five years there and after sticking it out for eight whole years, an eternity for that man, we found ourselves moving back to Blighty again.  This time, he's promised me three years, then I'll have my British passport and who knows what's next for us... I have no crystal ball.

The random facts:
  • I am an unfailing morning person.
  • I don't like coffee.  
  • I love waffles.  
  • My pet peeves include slow drivers in the fast lane and people on the radio who aren't paid to talk on the radio.
  • My favorite color is pink.
  • I really am that blond.
  • I love shiny sparkly things...
  • But I hate shopping for shoes.
  • I could toast marshmallows as a competitive sport...
  • Which is about the only competitive sport I would excel at, since I suffer from a severe lack of physical coordination.
  • I love my husband's sense of humor and the way he smells after a straight-razor shave.
  • I am convinced I will meet a tragic, untimely end if I ever try whitewater rafting...
  • But a little part of me really wants to try skydiving...
  • Which is ironic because I've tried bungee jumping and never want to do it again.
  • My favorite punctuation marks are ellipses (duh, see above) and I found when I googled it for correct spelling they are also called wielokropek in Polish, meaning "multidot."  I'm not sure which is cooler, the Polish word or the English translation.
  • Me in seven words: Smart girl - precious little common sense sometimes.