Salut, my name is Kristen, and I love a lot. So I am going to warn you, this is going to be a very long about me <3

There are many things in the world that make me smile. Because of this, my aunt once told me, "Wow, you'll make a great date someday!" We still have a laugh about it when I see her. I was conceived sometime in May, and born on January 21, exactly a month before my due date. I don't remember much before 1st grade, and I hardly remember that. I do remember a few select things with little importance, though. I had a best friend from as long as I can remember until sixth grade, when I found out the hard reality of cliques. I then became best friends with another, who is one of my best friends to this very day. She likes to buy people marbles <3 My other best friend is the nicest person I have ever met. We knew each other before from my violin teacher, but it was very awkward. Over Christmas break 2007, we had a 4 day stint together, and have been best friends since. She makes my world spin, until I puke up rainbows in some random lady's yard on her bike. :)

I realized I liked things a little more than normal when my family bought my father 'Band of Brothers' for Christmas when I was in fourth grade. I could never remember much, because at that age I had the attention span of a cretin. I did remember a lovely actor who captured my attention, but forgot his character's name. In the year prior, when my brother watched the series a lot, I figured out what part he was; thus my love for Eugene G. Roe was born. I did not find out the actor's name until seventh grade, but became occupied with reading instead, and forgot his name again. As my eighth grade year approached around the corner, I found myself watching Band of Brothers on the History Channel again, because of my love for World War II. I saw the part involving Mr. Roe's story, and was enticed into researching him again. This time I made it stick. My friends soon got annoyed with my smitten mind that was tuned on Shane Taylor all the time, and we realized I obsessed. My obsessing was(and is still) not for nothing though, it has paid off. In February 2007, I got Shane Taylor's autograph, with the help of an awesome fansite :) Recently I have also learned he plays football in a English league for the club GorckysFC. He is their leading goal score and beats the runner-up's score by 39 goals. He had put his acting career on hold for a little while, but will make a comeback in the movie 'Bomber' coming out in 2009. He set the path for my other likes and dislikes. My other favourite actors and people who have appeared in media are Jeremy Davies, Ron Livingston, Rick Gomez, Peter Youngblood Hills, Julius Sumner Miller and the guys from Monty Python! :)

As everyone got tired of listening to me about Shane Taylor, I rediscovered hockey on November 22nd, 2006 (day before Thanksgiving!). You might have noticed I said 'rediscovered' if you're still reading this. ;D I got my first hint of hockey when I was super little, and my brother was in high school and played for their ice hockey team. I loved going to the games because it usually meant I could stay up later (and I have also been told I had a crush on someone on the team? Maybe that has something to do with it :P). I was instantly hooked when I watched the Red Wings play the Vancouver Canucks, even though I had no idea what was going on and they lost in overtime. My love for the Red Wings also spawned other obsessions, because I decided on the 24th(of November) that I needed a favourite player. And then I saw Mathieu Schneider, who was being featured for having the longest active points streak out of defencemen in the NHL. He was my favourite player, and I was still a newbie at hockey. :) At Christmas time that year, they had their foreign players say 'Merry Christmas' in their native tongue. And then I laid my eyes on Valtteri Filppula, one of the most gorgeous people to walk this planet, past, present or future. I remember I only gave him that second glance because he said Happy Holidays in Finnish / Suomi, a language which I did not recognize at the time. In January I realized I had liked Pavel Datsyuk for awhile, because he was a good player, Russian and had a sweet name. :) Horrible reasons, I know. On March 13, 2008 (Shane Taylor's birthday!) Darren Helm, from CANADA!!!, made his debut with the Red Wings. He is another of my favourites because we share birthdates <3 My other favourite players include Dominik Hasek, Tomas Holmstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Vernon Fiddler, Christian Ehrhoff, Evgeni Nabokov, Radek Bonk, Cristobal Huet, Ilari Filppula, Andy McDonald, Miroslav Satan, Igor Larionov, Jordin Tootoo and some others that will be worth mentioning another time. My all-time favourite team is the Detroit Red Wings, and I have had the pleasure of watching them win the Stanley Cup twice. I watched them win in 2002, and on June 4th, 2008, I watched them win it again in a hotel room in Effingham, Illinois. They are the best. My other favourite teams are the San Jose Sharks, Helsinki Jokerit, Nashville Predators, Montreal Canadiens and the Moscow Dynamo. I absolutely hate and despise the Anaheim Ducks, Chris Pronger and the Niedermayer brothers. For many reasons. Ask me about them later? :)

Music is what I live for. The beat of every song is my pulse. I will listen to anything, but my preferred favourites are bluegrass, indie / alternative and fiddle instrumentals. I swore to my violin teacher when I first started taking lessons that I would never like fiddle music and bluegrass, but she took me to a fiddle contest where I got twenty dollars just for playing and I started to sing a different tune. Since then, I have never missed a contest with her. This year I placed third in the states of Indiana and Ohio, and fifth in Kentucky. Next year we will be going to the National Old Time Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, Idaho, where I will hope for God's strength in playing. I doubt I'll be that good to win. I do fiddle contests all summer, and jam sessions in the winter. My favourite fiddler is Aubrey Haynie, and my favourite bluegrass bands are Del McCoury, David Peterson & 1946, Bluegrass Album Band, Nickel Creek, Crooked Still, Richard Greene and Bill Monroe. My favourite alltime band is Mobile. They are too good for words. Their songs and lyrics are so moving, it's hard to describe that I am still wowed everytime I turn the CD on. My other favourite bands (that aren't bluegrass) are The Monkees, The Beatles, Gustav and the Seasick Sailors, Vladimir Visotsky, The Zambonis, Lovedrug, Pilot Speed, Weezer and a bunch of others. I also love foreign music such as French, Finnish and Russian songs. :)

I looooooooooove movies. They are amazing. I guess that ties in with my favourite actors, but there are a lot. My shortened list is Amelie, Slapshot, Anastasia, Bon Cop, Bad Bop, Memento, Saving Private Ryan, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Atonement, Singing in the Rain, The Prestige, The Illusionist, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Glory, Spaceballs, History of the World: Part 1, Disney Movies, Indiana Jones movies, Titanic, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd and many more. I have a long list of movies I would love to see also, so feel free to share sometime! :) I don't watch TV very much, except for during hockey season, so my favourite shows are few. They would be NHL Hockey, Hockey Night in Canada, Red Wings Weekly, Red Wings Live, Myth Busters and Jacob Two-Two. And I really like the History Channel. :)

While talking about the amazing Shane Taylor, I mentioned I am a history junky. My favourite time periods are WWII, the Civil War and the era of the Romanovs. I've always been interested in museums and reading about history, unlike other kids from an early age, because of my family. On one of my first vacations we visited Gettysburg, and we still frequently visit other museums. My dad is a Civil War fanatic, which is why I like it, and I have just always liked World War II. I'm not sure what got me interested in the Romanovs, but my favourite is Alexei Nikolaevitch Romanov. Right now you might be asking yourself (if you're still reading, you're amazing and I love you, tell me and I'll send you cakes :) ), 'Who are the Romanovs?' The Romanovs were the last Tsarist family before Communism took over. Surely you've heard of Anastasia? Unlike the animated movie that came out in 1997 by FOX (yes, 20th Fox Animations, NOT Disney, none of them lived sadly ): ). Alexei is her little brother. That is her family, though. :)

I love many other things like goldfish crackers, smashed pennies (which I collect), ties, striped zip-up and hooded sweatshirts, cucumbers, books, the internet, Canada, Finland, Russia, France, England, pictures, drawing, hugs, winning, intelligence and many other things, I can't think of what to type anymore. I think I covered it pretty good though. :)