Edd’s MANtra: 31 Things I Learned About Javacia In The Past Year

Today, our favorite blogger is celebrating her 31st birthday! And this summer marks the 10 year anniversary of when I first met Javacia. It’s weird, although I’ve only known her a third of my life, it seems like I’ve known her forever. Still, every day I still learn something new about her.

In honor of her big day, I’m going to share 31 things I learned about the wifey over the past year. You’re never too old to learn more about your loved ones. Although some of the things I’ve learned I’d rather forget. Check ’em out.

1. Javacia would rather listen to bluegrass than rap these days. I can’t really blame her.

2. However, one of her favorite songs last year was Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “N*ggas in Paris.” But she has never listened to their Watch The Throne album.

3. As a child, she wanted to be an archaeologist. Why? Because she liked the way the word sounds.

4. The woman huffs cleaning products. I need to call Intervention.

5. For one of her childhood birthdays, her parents took her to ShowBiz Pizza. She was terrified of the singing gorilla. Wouldn’t you be?

6. She has an impressive knowledge of black history that goes beyond the usual cotton gin and peanut butter stuff. In fact, she directed an outstanding black history program at The Alabama School of Fine Arts just last week. She worked 12 hour days for months to pull that off. And speaking of that…

7. She has unparalleled drive – training for marathons, writing freelance stories for Hispanic publications in Chicago, blogging for Georgia Mae and The Writeous Babe Project and running her women’s writing group See Jane Write. And that’s just what she did LAST week!

8. She wants me to grow a beard. Playa please.

9. She is addicted to Foursquare and her weird mayorships. But if you follow her on Twitter you already knew that.

10. In fact, she’s the Foursquare mayor of our local Walgreens. I call her the Empress of Walgreens. She’s there so much the entire staff knows her. They even let her cut lines!

11. She finds muscleheads extremely unattractive. Lucky me.

12. She LUVS cheese. If she’s ever hospitalized there will be nacho cheese in her IV.

13. I think she’s allergic to my home state Virginia. Every time we go to Va she get sick.

14. But I got her hooked on those Va Slurpees at 7-Eleven.

15. In grade school she was constantly picked on by some dude named Promise. So she beat him down one day. He later changed his named to Broken Promise.

16. She’s a total Pinterest junkie. No, I won’t join. Don’t ask.

17. She spends about $20 a week on Goobers. From Walgreens, of course.

18. Javacia absolutely adores her church.

19. She loves her church small group even more. Last year she held weekly small group meetings at our house every Monday night. I usually hid in the bedroom like ALF.

20. She and her family had a close relationship with civil-rights icon the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.

21. Must Love Dogs: Javacia has been hounding me all year about getting a dog. I’m worried I’ll come home and Rex will be gnawing on one of my ties.

22. Her head is too big for most sunglasses.

23. Javacia loves to host parties at our place, but if she’s cleaning up for the big event, RUN FO YO LIFE. She gets a crazy look in her eye and is on a mission. Ask your boy Promise, he knows that look.

24. She has a girl crush on Zoe Saldana.

Image via

Oh lord!

25. She’s a big fan of Alvin Ailey and recently attended a performance. I think she’s e-stalking one of the male dancers. She Think I Don’t Know.

26. After a long day, she loves to curl up on the couch with her Kindle and her bizarre heart-covered blanket. I call it her HBK Shawn Michaels blanket.

What? It’s cozy.

27. Javacia is almost as cheap as I am. After the strap broke on her favorite pair of heels, she conspired with her brother to fix the shoe – by stapling it. Even I’m not that bad.

28. Even though her BlackBerry sucks, she is afraid of getting an iPhone because she’s intimidated by touch screens.

29. You know those candy Valentine hearts? Yeah, the disgusting ones. Anyway, Javacia loves them – but NOT the red and purple ones. We have bags of purple and red hearts all over the house.

30. American Idol Javacia only sang in front of a crowd once – as a kid in church. After her performance people said she sounded just like Toni Braxton. She was so embarrassed by that news that she never sang again.

31. As part of her marathon training, Javacia had been working to run 5 1/2 miles in less than an hour. After months of coming close, Tuesday night she FINALLY reached her goal – she did it in 59:32.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAVACIA!