10 things on Friday

I'm stealing an idea from a friend this week for my 10 things topic. Here are 10 things I've done in my life that I never thought I would do:

1. Become a wife and mother before finishing my degrees. I got married before I finished my Bachelor's degree and became a mommy before starting my Master's degree. Someday I'll hit the books again, but until then, I'm happy helping my son with his homework.
2. Ride public transportation in a big city - ALONE. I've ridden the metro in Barcelona and Madrid, the subway in Boston, the "El" and cabs in Chicago and flown by myself to two major cities.
3. Consider having a baby for someone else. Two of my dearest friends have had serious fertility issues. I've prayed and prayed that God would guide me to offer surrogacy for them. Before I ever did, one of them conceived and delivered a healthy baby and the other received a call on Christmas Eve that they'd been chosen to adopt a newborn.
4. Sit at my mother's bedside and actually pray that she would die. She was so sick and deteriorating so quickly, I knew that it was selfish to keep her on Earth. The only way to make her better was to send her home to the Lord. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
5. Quit a job after three days. Everyone makes mistakes. I chalk mine up to post-partum depression. Nonetheless, it worked in my favor and a better job offer came along a few weeks later.
6. Go through a time of depression. I was never actually "diagnosed," but I remember driving home one night thinking "If I fall asleep and veer across the center line, everything will be better." That obviously was NOT the Lord's plan - thank goodness.
7. Consider moving out of Kansas, away from everything and everyone I know and love. We often talk about this - what would life somewhere else be like? And someday we will charter these waters - when and where to is up to the Man upstairs.
8. Gain and lose over 100 pounds. Between my two pregnancies, I gained 130 pounds (gasp, shriek). I'm down that 130 plus 30 more. That 160 pounds is more than one whole of me now. Yikes, people.
9. Get my husband to go on a "ride." He is terrified of amusement parks (he wouldn't even do the tea cups at Disney World). But he loved me enough to get on the Grand Ferris Wheel at the Navy Pier in Chicago. He claims he erased it from his memory, but I have the pictures to prove it.
10. Allow my husband to do the bills. I'm a little bit of a control freak, but I handed over this task about a year ago and we haven't declared bankruptcy (yet).
11. Ok, I'm throwing in an extra one: Writing a blog. Even when my friend started hers and encouraged me to do so, I scoffed. Turns out, it's pretty fun!