More Personality Typing

After much discussion with a very dear friend who is fascinated with personality typing, I took the Color Test and Enneagram Test.

My Color Code Results:

Reds are motivated by Power. They seek productivity and need to look good to others. Simply stated, reds want their own way. They like to be in the driver's seat and willingly pay the price to be in a leadership role. reds value whatever gets them ahead in life, whether it be in their careers, school endeavors, or personal life. What reds value, they get done. They are often workaholics. They will, however, resist doing anything that doesn't interest them.
Reds like to be right. They value approval from others for their intelligence and practical approach to life, and want to be respected for it. Reds are confident, proactive, and visionary; and but can also be arrogant, selfish, and insensitive. When you deal with a RED, be precise, factual, direct, AND show no fear!

My Enneagram Results:
Type 7, the Enthusiast:
Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over- extended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with impatience and impulsiveness. At their Best: they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied.

Sevens are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention. They approach life with curiosity, optimism, and a sense of adventure, like “kids in a candy store” who look at the world in wide-eyed, rapt anticipation of all the good things they are about to experience. They are bold and vivacious, pursuing what they want in life with a cheerful determination. They have a quality best described by the Yiddish word “chutzpah”—a kind of brash “nerviness.”

Although Sevens are in the Thinking Center, this is not immediately apparent because they tend to be extremely practical and engaged in a multitude of projects at any given time. Their thinking is anticipatory: they foresee events and generate ideas “on the fly,” favoring activities that stimulate their minds—which in turn generate more things to do and think about. Sevens are not necessarily intellectual or studious by any standard definition, although they are often intelligent and can be widely read and highly verbal. Their minds move rapidly from one idea to the next, making Sevens gifted at brainstorming and synthesizing information. Sevens are exhilarated by the rush of ideas and by the pleasure of being spontaneous, preferring broad overviews and the excitement of the initial stages of the creative process to probing a single topic in depth.

Sevens are frequently endowed with quick, agile minds, and can be exceptionally fast learners. This is true both of their ability to absorb information (language, facts, and procedures) and their ability to learn new manual skills—they tend to have excellent mind-body coordination, and manual dexterity (typewriting, piano playing, tennis). All of this can combine to make a Seven into the quintessential "Renaissance person."

Ironically, Sevens' wide-ranging curiosity and ability to learn quickly can also create problems for them. Because they are able to pick up many different skills with relative ease, it becomes more difficult for them to decide what to do with themselves. As a result, they also do not always value their abilities as they would if they had to struggle to gain them. When Sevens are more balanced however, their versatility, curiosity, and ability to learn can lead them to extraordinary achievement.
The root of their problem is common to all of the types of the Thinking Center: they are out of touch with the inner guidance and support of their Essential nature. As with Fives and Sixes, this creates a deep anxiety in Sevens. They do not feel that they know what to do or how to make choices that will be beneficial to themselves and others. Sevens cope with this anxiety in two ways. First, they try to keep their minds busy all of the time. As long as Sevens can keep their minds occupied, especially with projects and positive ideas for the future, they can, to some extent, keep anxiety and negative feelings out of conscious awareness. Likewise, since their thinking is stimulated by activity, Sevens are compelled to stay on the go, moving from one experience to the next, searching for more stimulation. This is not to say that Sevens are "spinning their wheels." They generally enjoy being practical and getting things done.

Sevens cope with the loss of Essential guidance by using the “trial and error” method: they try everything to make sure they know what is best. On a very deep level, Sevens do not feel that they can find what they really want in life. They therefore tend to try everything—and ultimately may even resort to anything as a substitute for what they are really looking for. (“If I can’t have what will really satisfy me, I’ll enjoy myself anyway. I’ll have all kinds of experiences—that way I will not feel bad about not getting what I really want.”)

We can see this in action even in the most trivial areas of their daily lives. Unable to decide whether he wants vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry ice cream, a Seven will want all three flavors—just to be sure that he does not miss out on the “right” choice. Having two weeks for a vacation and a desire to visit Europe brings a similar quandary. Which countries and cities to visit? Which sites to see? The Seven’s way of dealing with this will be to cram as many different countries, cities, and attractions into his vacation as possible. While they are scrambling after exciting experiences, the real object of their heart’s desire (their personal Rosebud, as it were) may be so deeply buried in their unconscious that they are never really aware of precisely what it is.

Furthermore, as Sevens speed up their pursuit of whatever seems to offer freedom and satisfaction, they tend to make worse choices, and they are less able to be satisfied because everything is experienced indirectly, through the dense filter of their fast-paced mental activity. The result is that Sevens end up anxious, frustrated, and enraged, with fewer resources available to them physically, emotionally, or financially. They may end up ruining their health, their relationships, and their finances in their search for happiness.

On the positive side, however, Sevens are extremely optimistic people—exuberant and upbeat. They are endowed with abundant vitality and a desire to fully participate in their lives each day. They are naturally cheerful and good humored, not taking themselves too seriously, or anything else for that matter. As we have seen, the Basic Desire of Sevens is to be satisfied, happy, and fulfilled, and when they are balanced within themselves, their joy and enthusiasm for life naturally affect everyone around them. They remind us of the pure pleasure of existence—the greatest gift of all.

Basic Fear: Of being deprived and in pain
Basic Desire: To be satisfied and content—to have their needs fulfilled
Key Motivations: Want to maintain their freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, to keep themselves excited and occupied, to avoid and discharge pain.

50 State Visits Checklist

Goal: Visit all 50 states (Not just drive through!)

Alabama - I visited Orange Beach and Fort Morgan for family vacation 2014
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California - I went to LA in 2013 for a few days, to LA for a week in 2015, and Anaheim in 2011 for a week for a conference and fun
Colorado - I went to Denver for a camp in 2000
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia - Visited with my sister June 2011
Florida - Many times (Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, Blue Angels practice)
Georgia
Hawaii - October 2006 (Spent 2 days conferencing and 6 days touristing)
Idaho
Illinois - Live in Chicago!

Indiana
Iowa
Kansas - Kansas City and Overland Park in March 2012 with my fam
Kentucky - Went to Louisville for an Alternative Break Immersion Trip May 2014
Louisiana - Many times but definitely conferencing in April 2011
Maine - Many visits while I lived in NH in 2009-2011
Maryland
Massachusetts - Many visits while I lived in NH in 2009-2011
Michigan - Several camping trips, a wedding, several Michigan State U football games, and a century ride
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri - Lived there for 9 months
Montana 

Nebraska
Nevada - VEGAS! Both 2008 and 2013
New Hampshire - Loved there 2009-2011
New Jersey - Many visits with my great aunt and uncle
New Mexico - Youth Group Camp 1999
New York
North Carolina - Many visits to see my G-Ma
North Dakota
Ohio - Many visits to see my Dad's family
Oklahoma - Several weekend trips to camp
Oregon
Pennsylvania - Many visits to Philly to see family

Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee - Nashville for a conference April 2014
Texas - Lived there 22 years
Utah
Vermont - Visited March 2010 with the fam
Virginia - Visited Virginia Beach and my cousin's family in June 2011 with Toons
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin - Visited Brian for the Great Taste of the Midwest and enjoyed Madison
Wyoming

Well Read?

According to this Buzzfeed quiz, I am not well read at all:

"You need to find a cozy nook and snuggle up with some more of this list. Or maybe this isn’t your kind of thing. Which is cool too."

I'd like to comment on the bad grammar ("cool too?" No comma?) or share my 2014 reading challenge with buzzfeed or show my goodreads account to prove otherwise, but instead, I've decided to create my own list of books that I think must be read for a person to claim they are "well Read."

1. Johnny Tremain
2. The Scarlet Pimpernell
3. The Great Gatsby
4. 1 book by George Orwell (not both, they're the same idea)
5. 1 book by George Steinbeck (See last comment)
6. NOT A Brave New World. If you need a good dystopian/utopian novel, I'd suggest both Anthem and The Giver.
7. Little Women
8. Pride and Prejudice
9. Great Expectations
10. Julius Cesar, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Mid Summer's Night Dream 
11. Oedipus Rex
12. Don Quiote
13. The Lord of the Flies
14. The Illiad and The Oddessy
15. The entire Narnia Series
16. Charlotte's Web
17. Little House on the Prarie
18. A Wrinkle in Time
19. Gone with the Wind
20. Frankenstein
21. The Hobbit
22. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
23. Something Big has Been Here
24. A Shel Silverstein Book
25. Night
26. The Diary of Anne Frank
27. The Devil's Arithmetic
28. Mick Harte was Here
29. Number the Stars
30. The Outsiders
31. The Harry Potter Series
32. The Face on the Milk Carton
33. The Book Thief
34. The Fault In Our Stars
35. The Hunger Games series
36. Three Cups of Tea
37. The Last Lecture (And watch the video!)
38. The Help
39. Les Miserables
40. The Secret Garden
41. The Little Princess
42. Where the Red Fern Grows
43. Old Yeller
44. Matilda
45. Cheaper by the Dozen
46. Harriet the Spy
47. The Indian in the Cupboard 
48. The Hatchet

Some of these books I did not love, but I think they are considered great works and you must read so you're capable of catching the references and joining the discussion. Also, some of these are not classics. I know. I still think they are good books that everyone should read.

I can't believe half of these books aren't on the buzzfeed list!

My children WILL read these books, even if they're not assigned in school.

My Chicago Bucket List

I created a Chicago Bucket List when I first moved here, a year and a half ago. It's time for an update!

  Here's what I've already accomplished:

• The Eternal Flame on Clark St
• Chicago History Museum
• Tribune Tower (the tower's signature is the exterior collection of stones from other famous edifices, like the Parthenon, St. Peter's Basilica, Notre Dame, the White House and most recently, the Berlin Wall). I also found a stone from The Alamo!
• Shedd Aquarium (Twice!)
• Museum of Science and Industry
• Millennium Park (Crown Fountain and The Bean!)
• The Field Museum
• Magnificent Mile
• Chicago History Museum
• I've eaten Portillo's, and had Garret's Popcorn, Ann Sathers Cinnamon Rolls, Lou Malnati's and Giordano's pizzas
• Taste of Chicago (SO GOOD!)
•  A Cubs game and a White Sox game
• The Lincoln Park Zoo and Zoo Lights
• The Ferris Wheel and Stained Glass Museum at Navy Pier
• Art Institute of Chicago (Happy dance!)
• Comedy Shows
• The 95th Lounge at the top of the Hancock
• The Book of Mormon on Broadway
• I've seen several Story Slams (They're a TON of fun)
• St Pat's Day is Chi/ the River dyed green
• Run the Ragnar Relay and the Color Run
• Been on Multiple Trolley Tours
• Oktoberfest
• Visited Ohio
• A Chicago Fire (Soccer) Game
• Chicago Botanical Garden
• United Center for a Bulls Game
• The Museum of Contemporary Art
• Adler Planetarium
• The Jane Addams Hull House Museum (RMP What What!)

Here's what I still have left to accomplish:

• Tour of Wrigley Field
• The Blue Man Group show
• Legoland Discovery Center
•  LUMA
• Skydeck Chicago
• Chicago Children's Museu
• Chicago Opera Theater (I would die to see The Magic Flute!)
• Joffrey Ballet of Chicago (Maybe the Nutcracker again? I'll never tire of it)
• Willie Dixon's Blue's Heaven Foundation
• The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanuan Culture (It's supposed to have a good exhibit on the Holocaust)
• Trump Towers (Maybe visit the Spa as a splurge?)
• Winter Skating either at Bicentennial Park or  the McCormick Tribune Plaza
• The National Veterans Art Museum
• Museum of Holography
• Galos Caves (15 dollars for a 45 minute Zero Gravity Chair massage and sea salt smelling? Count me in!)
• The International Museum of Surgical Science
• The American Police Museum
• The God Bless America Statue
• The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (Apparently a really good way to learn about Commodities)
• Museum of Broadcast Communications
• National Hellenic Museum
• The Picasso Statue
• The All Saints Episcopal Church
• Buddy Guy's Legends (Blues House restaurant)
• Busy Beaver Button Co. Museum
• Cambodian American Heritage Museum
• Chagall's Four Seasons
• The start of Route 66
• Chicago Hot Glass (Hand Blown Glass Studio that offers lessons)
• Chicago Center for Green Technology
• Chinatown and the Chinatown Gate
• Crawford Steel Graffiti Wall
• DANK HAUS German Cultural Center

And I'm open to any suggestions anyone else has. Who wants to work on this with me?

2014: The Year of Reading

Last year, I made my first "goal." I don't like resolutions... goals are more of something to aim for and easier to achieve if you make them SMART. Last year, I aimed to do one big act of kindness per week, and then post in a blog about it. And I did it! It was a blast! You can see the awesome, fun things I did here: www.KTandTheKindnessProject.wordpress.com.

Last year, one of my very dearest friends managed to read 104 books. We are voracious readers as a group but I only managed to read a third of what she read! This year, my goal is to read 52 books: one for each week of the year. I'm using this post as a way to mark my progress.

1/1 - 1/7 Sickened: The True Story of a Lost Childhood by Julia Greggory

1/8 -1/14 Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

1/15 - 1/21 Bel Canto by Ann Patchet

1/22 - 1/28 The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney I loved this book until they killed off a main character for no reason.

1/ 29 - 2/4 The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer (I got it for like 2 bucks on sale at Barnes and Noble. Brad Meltzer is a wannabe Dan Brown. It's a good mystery but no where near on the level that Dan Brown is.)

2/5 - 2/11 The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James J. Martin, SJ (This book took me AGES to finish but it was well worth my time!)

2/12 - 2/18 S by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst

2/19 - 2/25 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Much shorter than I thought it was!)
This is the point that I officially fell behind... but in all fairness, I read 33 magazines in the first 8 weeks of this year. Catching up soon!

2/26 - 3/4 Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (Caught up here. Also, I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Alice at all. She's a complete idiot.)

3/5 - 3/11 The 9/11 Commission Report - This was SO heavy and yet so worth it. I understand so much more about terrorism, UBL, Islam, politics in the decades leading up to 9/11, etc. I definitely recommend this one! It tool me 3 weeks to read this one so I fell behind again.

3/12 - 3/18 The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (I read this one in 3 days)

3/19 - 3/25 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (This one is a non fiction but it reads like a fiction. Very interesting and worth the read).

3/26 - 4/1 Emma by Jane Austen (Typical Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is still the best.)

4/2 -  4/8 Wild at Heart By John Eldridge (I agree with the basic premise of this book, but disagreed about SO much of it. Homosexuality isn't caused by men who weren't loved enough by their fathers)

4/9 - 4/15 Wild by Cheryl Strayed (I think this is my favorite book that I've read so far this year. Well worth the read!)

4/16 - 4/22 Fifty Shades Darker by EL James (Yup, every now and again, smut is read)

4/23 - 4/29 Fifty Shades Free  by EL James (No comment.)

4/30 - 5/6 The Night Circus  by Erin Morgensten (I couldn't put this down. It was so wonderfully written, the characters were so lovable, the passion was muted, and it was such a slow build. 5 stars!)

5/7 - 5/13 Glitter and Glue By Kelly Corrigan (I expected this to be a fun memoir about what she learned while nannying. It was really a really long essay about how she loved her mother despite the fact that she doesn't like her mother. Whomp Whomp.)

5/14 - 5/20 Ok so I'm officially way behind. Doubting that I'll get one book a week but I will have read at least 3 magazines per week for the entire year! This week's book: Someone has to Set a Bad Example: An Anne Taintor Collection It was quite entertaining and silly and quick.

5/21 - 5/27 Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith  My mother recommended this one. it was a quick read and inspiring, although not life changing.

*Side note: I read another 46 magazines at this point. Stay tuned.

5/28 - 6/3 Notes from the Underwire By Quinn Cummings (This was a quick read and it made me smile, but it was not on the level of Erma Bombeck as the cover suggested it was)
 
6/4 - 6/10 The Trouble with Magic by Patricia Rice (more smut. But enjoyable)

6/11 - 6/17 Tattoos on the Heart by Father Greg Boyle, SJ (I do love reading more about Jesuits and their work. Homeboy Industries is an awesome project that is changing the world, one gangster at a time. I'd definitely recommend this book!)

6/18 - 6/24 Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire (The sequel to Wicked. Wish I had read this immediately after reading the first. I think it would have made more sense then. Still good)

6/25 - 7/1 Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares its Grief, Letters November 1963 by Jay Mulvaney and Paul De Angelis (I really enjoyed this; it opened my eyes up to the time period better than anything else I've read. I particularly loved the letters LBJ wrote to Caroline and John Jr.).

7/2 - 7/8 Milkrun by Sarah Mlynowski (Cute, chick lit, nothing super fancy)

7/9 - 7/15 An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott (I think LMA is quite possibly my favorite author ever)

7/16 - 7/22 Daring Greatly By Brene Brown (EVERYONE should read this book! It changed me so much!)

7/23 - 7/29 The Curius Incident of the Dog at Night by Mark Haddon (I liked the writing style and that it's told from the point of view of a young man with Aspergers but it ended a little too abruptly)

*I read another 21 magazines, bringing the magazine total up to 100.

7/30 - 8/5 Love, Sex, and Other Natural Disasters: Relationship Reporting from America's Finest News Source by The Onion (Hilarious!)

8/6 - 8/12 The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (It took me 4 times to pick up and read this book, despite the fact that Obama is such a great speaker and the fact that I agree with a lot of his politics. It can't be read in short little bits here and there. It needs a large amount of time to make sense. Still a good book)

8/13 - 8/19 Yes, Please by Amy Poehler (this book makes it into one of my top books for the year. She is so profound in addition to being funny!)

8/20 - 8/26 Every Day by David Levithan (I didn't expect to like this one but picked it up at a friend's insistence and ended up reading it in one sitting. Well worth it!)

*I read another 34 magazines, bringing the magazine total up to 134.

8/27 - 9/2Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (I liked this one better than The Husband's Secret)

9/3 - 9/9 The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer (I love this series, despite it being a childrens' series)

9/10 - 9/16 A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle by Liza Campbell (This memoir made me sad. She was never loved the way children should be!)

9/17 - 9/23

9/24 - 9/30

10/1 - 10/7

10/8 - 10/14

10/15 - 10/21

10/22 - 10/28

10/ 29 - 11/4

11/5 - 11/11


11/12 - 11/18

11/19 - 11/25

11/26 - 12/2

12/3 - 12/9

12/10 - 12/16

12/17 - 12/23

12/24 - 12/31