Get to know me!

Good morning! You know I'm an author and all that, but today I decided to let us get a little more personal. Here are 5 random things about me that you might not know:

1. I grew up in Oregon but live in Arizona which is funny because I looove water activities. Growing up, we spent a lot of time at rivers, lakes, and the ocean. The ocean is actually one of my favorite places to visit and I'd love to live by one some day.

Even though I live in Arizona, we have plenty of access to water activities. We have a pool which provides many months of swimming each year. We also have some lakes around us. I even visited one yesterday!

2. I collect 2 different things. Even though I'm not a fan of fantasy, I love fairies. I collect fairy figurines. I also collect autographed novels. My collection includes some bigger names like Jennifer Ashley, but all of my autographed books are important to me. A friend of a friend just visited Phoenix. We had plans so I could meet Gina Ardito, but I ended up sick during her visit. She left me an autographed book for my collection. This made my entire month even though I am so sorry I missed meeting her.

3. I am such a mushy romantic type of girl. Even though I write romance, I prefer watching true crime documentaries on TV. I also interned for a criminal defense attorney which I loved doing.

4. When I was young I was really into dance. I took tap, jazz, and ballet. I also did baton twirling and performed in a parade. Besides an occasional Zumba class, I don't dance now. When my daughter was little I tried getting her into some sort of dance. "Nope," she had said, "I only do soccer. Dance is too girlie." So I let her play soccer. One day she decided to take a ballet class. She fell in love with dance and now (almost 15 years old) she attends a performing arts high school for their ballet program. She taught her ballet class last week and wants to open her own dance school some day.

5. I love to give back to my community. I was a Girl Scout leader for 5 years. I have also done other community service activities such as serving food at a soup kitchen, donating my hair to Locks of Love, and participated in many clothing drives. When we outgrow our things, I don't sell them. I give them to needy families. When I moved from northern Arizona down to Phoenix, I had to downsize my belongings. I owned a  home child care at the time. I gave all of my extra baby stuff to a single mother who couldn't afford much for her new baby.

Anyway, now you know a little more about me. Please leave a comment so I know you stopped by :)

Wendy Ely