35 Things for 35 Years

Tomorrow I turn the big 3-5. Unbelievable! I’m in that weird vortex where I can’t remember how old I am on any given day…mixed with “I can’t believe I’m turning 35 tomorrow.” But here I am. About to be in another check box of life. No more 30-34 check box. I’m in the full fledged 35-39 age group.

So to commemorate turning 35, I thought I’d share 35 things you may not know about me. I have a lot of new faces around Growing Up Kemper, so let’s dive in and get to know a little bit about me in all it’s randomness!

• My name is Rachel Kemper, a stay-at-home mom of 3 little beauties: Jackson, Colton, and Mya.

• I married my husband, Jerod, 7 years ago in Charleston, South Carolina.

• I grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and didn’t move to Kansas City until 2008.

• I actually got laughed at during an interview for a teaching position because I didn’t have any real experience yet. 🤨 Well, give me a job and then I’ll have some real experience, lady!

• I originally went to college for physical therapy, and was 3 years into a 6 year program (after 6 years, you were only responsible for only finishing your thesis to complete your doctorate degree) when I decided it wasn’t for me. I had almost all A’s but I was getting the feeling that I was more book smart and not as much physical therapy smart. I switched to education my junior year and never looked back!

• I completed my student teaching in Las Vegas, Nevada because I didn’t want to graduate in the fall and not be able to find a position. Elementary schools go year-round there, so I was able to spend the summer completing an 8-week program before the school year began everywhere else.

• I’ve only ever gambled $10 of my own money. Panic.Attack. Not a fan!

• I had to have a conversation with Jerod when our relationship started getting more serious. I didn’t know if I ever wanted kids. Welp! That wasn’t the truth and now they’re actually my career. 🙂

• I’m a devout Catholic, but didn’t grow up as church goers. I didn’t receive my First Holy Communion until I was 21 years old.

• I lost my mother and my father to cancer within 11 months of one another. 🤍🤍

• I have 2 dogs, KC and Sidney. We got KC when Jerod and I first moved in together, and Sidney was my parent’s dog. I told Jerod I wanted to take her after my mom passed away and we’ve loved/been annoyed/obsessed with ever since.

• My alarm goes off at 5am every morning.

• I have a Master’s Degree in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis on English Speakers of Other Languages.

• I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket. *Knocks on every piece of wood around*

• I’ve driven across the country by myself five times.

• My first car was a Nissan Altima that I shared with my older brother. Not only did I have a ridiculous CD player “installed” in the dash, I also drove around with black lights underneath. 🤦‍♀️

• My favorite pieces of clothing are shoes. I could buy shoes upon shoes upon shoes.

• My feet grew a shoe size when I was pregnant with Mya…and they never went back. *It’s a thing. Look it up.* So I will literally need to buy more shoes upon shoes upon shoes. 🙂

• I played softball from ages 4-18. I was an infield position for 12 of those years until my high school coach told me I had to take over for our catcher in the middle of a game. Turns out, I was actually pretty good back there for a 5’2 little high school runt.

• I hate the smell of irises because they made me nauseous when I was pregnant last year. Still haven’t gotten over it.

• My basement sometimes still scares me and I run up the steps as fast as I can because I’m convinced someone is down there hiding.

• And I refuse to watch Dateline or 20/20 episodes because I’m convinced that all those bad stories will one day happen to me.

• I was in my high school’s West Side Story production without ever having to tryout. My music teacher at the time told me I was in automatically because I “looked Puerto Rican.” 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

• My dream vacation is to Italy and Greece.

I am the type that will workout and then eat cookies. I cannot and will not diet. Food is my favorite.

• My favorite days of the year are holiday eves.

• I’m a solid Enneagram Type 3.

• My first and only C I ever got was my freshmen year of college when I stopped going to my “US History Since 1900” class. I thought I knew enough about our history. Apparently not. 🙂 Jerod hasn’t let me live that down.

• Coming up with 35 things to talk about myself is really, really hard for me. 🙂

• I’ve been a list maker since elementary school. I actually had a list of everything I needed to do when I got home from 2nd grade, including “fluff the living room pillows.” OCD, much?

• I don’t have any tattoos and I only have two piercings in my ears.

• I used to be told I looked like Jennifer Garner (I’ll take it!) and then Jerod’s friends used to call me Kara DioGuardi when we first started dating (again, I’ll take it!)

• I was almost a 10 pound baby. 😳

• Making my bed makes me feel like I have a good handle on the day, so it’s one of the first things I do before I leave the room in the morning.

• At any given time, I have at least one household project going on. Currently, I have our kid’s bathroom down to just bare drywall. 🙌

• I have no fears about getting older. I have loved my life, through the worst of my days to the very best. I am proud of where I’ve gotten in life, who I’ve chosen to spend my life with, and the family we’ve created together. This life is beautiful and I thank God that I get to live it for 35 years. Here’s to 35 plus more!

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