5 Things You Don't Know About Me

Today, I am going to do something a little different. I am going to share 5 things about me that not many people know. I've been wanting to do this for a while and then my pal, Amber, over at Canadian Fashionista. She did a wonderful "secrets" post and I figured I would do the same. Here it goes....

1. I LIED ABOUT MY AGE FOR 4 YEARS.
Yup, I did. The funny thing about this is, I didn't say I was younger but older. I started working full time at my current employer when I was super young. It is a University so my clientele is 18-25 years old. I was 23 when I started there, so I wasn't that far off in age from other students. I wanted to be an authoritative figure, but still be able to relate to them. I used to tell them that I was 25, when they asked (even though I was only 23 at the time). I wanted to make sure they wouldn't take advantage of my young age.

2. I DIDN'T GET MY LICENSE FOR A YEAR AFTER I TURNED 16.
Ok, this is a good one. I wasn't able to get my drivers license until about 2 years after I was allowed to by law. This was because I lived out in the country hills of rural Pennsylvania and we were really bored. I took my parents car, one day and drove it to my friends house about 5 miles down the road. It would have been the perfect plan except one of my mom's friends saw me driving. They then said, "oh Donna I didn't realize Brigitte was old enough to drive already". Yup....that's how I just busted. While all of my other friends got their permit when they were 15 and license shortly thereafter; I had to wait a whole 2 years!!

3. I'M THE OLDEST OF 6 AND THE ONLY ONE WITH BLUE EYES.
Interesting fact! I am the oldest of 6 kids and I am the only one with light hair, light skin and blue eyes...can we say milkman?!? JK, but it is a fact, I am the only one. My mom is the oldest of 3 and she is the only one with blue eyes, too. Same rings true for my cousin and my daughter. We have this semi-strong recessive trait of blue eyes and it just pops up all over my family randomly. Do you have any weirdly occurring traits like that?

4. I HAD 5 SURGERIES BEFORE I TURNED 30.
Ok... crazzzzzzy story BUT it's true. I had my son when I was 22 and he was a C-Section. I had a cyst removed from my forearm when I was 24. I had a lumpectomy when I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter and then I had her via C-Section 2 months later. Lastly, I had a cyst removed from behind my ear when I was 29. WHEW... I have a suppper high pain tolerance, so the pain wasn't the problem, but recovery was the worst. My babies, of course, are the highlights of my life. I did have a scary time with my daughter because of the breast cancer scare when I was pregnant with her. They found it when I was about 12 weeks pregnant, but couldn't remove it until I was closer to my due date.

5. I MOVED TO PITTSBURGH TO GO TO SCHOOL AND NEVER LEFT!
True story! I moved to Pittsburgh in 2001 to attend a University for a Forensic Science degree (remember when CSI was so cool?). I hated what it was turning into (the opposite of the CSI show) and changed my major to psychology. I finished up and then continued with my masters degree in Education with an emphasis on drug and alcohol therapy at the same University. A year into my program, a fantastic opportunity was presented to me. I was offered a full time job at the University. I stayed at that job for 7 years. Once I graduated, I realized that I belonged in higher education. I moved to my current position about 2 years ago and on to a new area in University operations. I had both of my kids in Pittsburgh and bought a house here. I love the city and all it has to offer for me and my family. I do not see myself going anywhere else in the near future.


Sooooo... those are just some fun facts that I wanted to put out there to all of you. I want to let you guys know who I am outside of blogging. If you see anything you have questions about or want to know further about, please feel free to drop a comment below and I'll get back to you.