More Nellie?

Here are some other facts about me that I have somehow not managed to share already on one of the thousands of other pages of content about me on this website 😉.

• I am of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue/Ngāti Pikiao) descent. My ancestor Pukaki, is featured on New Zealand's 20c coin.
• I am a rainbow baby in a family of rainbow babies. I was born after my parents lost my brother to stillbirth. My sister was born after a period of infertility caused by medical issues.
• Despite being four years apart in age, my sister and I used to be really close. Unfortunately, she married a man who dragged her into his conspiracy theory bullshit and I just do not have the patience for that, so we no longer talk.
• I grew up in a very LGBTQ+-friendly home. My godfather (and Mum's best friend) was a gay man, and he had some truly amazing friends (incl. drag queens and trans people) that I was blessed to have known as a child.
• I was in my 20s when I found out I was the only irreligious person in my family. I honestly thought my parents were at least agnostic because although I was "educated" about Christianity, God was always just something other people believed in. But it turned out "other people" included my parents and sister.
• I was in gifted student classes for most of my primary school years. I am still mad they never picked up on the fact I was neurodivergent in these classes.
• I used to be have the nickname Turkey Legs when I was younger because I was quite thin and ~leggy~, until a few years into high school when my metabolism shat the bed. I eventually got to a weight that was considered to be "morbidly obese".
• I used to be a cross-country runner, and I even had Olympic distance running ambitions at one point.
• I also tried out almost every team sport available to me when I was younger, but I never found one I truly enjoyed.
• My first celebrity crush was Michael Jackson. Other celebrities I had major crushes on growing up included Zac Hanson, Scott from Five, Ryan Phillippe, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Lauri from The Rasmus, Kimberley from Girls Aloud, Ville Valo, and Spencer from Panic! at the Disco. You can probably detect a preference for feminine energy with this list.
• My natural hair colour is a medium mousey brown, but I have been colouring it black since I was 16. It's probably actually 95% grey now if I were to let it grow out.
• I am missing two of my adult teeth, still have one of my baby teeth, and I've only had one wisdom tooth come through with room to spare. One of my missing teeth caused my diastema.
• I love tattoos, but I don't have any of my own. Reason: a combination of not being 110% committed to a design I absolutely want on me permanently, money, and never getting around to making an appointment.
• I also dont have any piercings. I used to have pierced earlobes, but I let them close up because when I fell ill, earrings became uncomfortable.
• Celebrities I have been told I look like include (brunette) Anna Paquin, (brunette) Lily Allen, Anna Hutchison (as Delphi in Shortland Street), and (brunette) Christina Ricci.
• I can't feel the tip of my left index finger unless I press (or stab) really hard. I severed the nerve cutting onions when I was younger. I also have a chickenpox scar on my left eyebrow.
• I'm very much a homebody. I like to travel, but I much prefer short, jam-packed trips to long, leisurely trips because it means I'll be back in my own bed sooner rather than later.
• Before moving to the Netherlands, I had never left the North Island of New Zealand.
• Although criminal psychologist was my ultimate career goal before my situation changed, I would have also loved to become a probation/parole officer, an educator for offenders and at-risk people, or an adult & family educator.
• I decided on working in the criminal psychology field at a pretty early age, but some other careers I've considered included high school science or English teacher, "anything to do with animals", speech therapist, and private investigator.
• My first job was a checkout operator/cashier in a tiny supermarket in a very small town. Since then, I have worked as an accounts administrator, financial literacy facilitator, lab technician, document officer and data entry clerk.
• I share my birthday with quite a few awesome famous people and holidays around. My favourites: Devin Townsend, Skye Sweetnam and Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) in the Netherlands.
• I am mildly allergic to cats, wool/lanolin, and pollen/bee stings. I also have an alcohol intolerance, which means I don't drink.
• I am a "flexitarian". I eat mostly plant-based, but my body has trouble processing non-heme iron, so I eat meat 2-3 times a week.
• I was a thumbsucker until the age of 20.
• I want to donate my body to science when I die.
• I am a "try everything once" kind of person, but if it sucks or is difficult the first time, I probably wont do it again.
• I'm a trivia junkie. I will stop and look things up if they come up in conversation and I dont know about it.
• I am rather proud of my handwriting, and I get complimented on it a lot. I worked very hard to get my pen license as a kid.
• I really love the idea of living in a tiny house, but having a very large husband with an even larger board game collection puts a dampener on that idea.
• I have been on New Zealand television quite a few times.