Thought I’d share: me and the family in our great state of Texas. (And standing in the sight of our future home!)
I’ve decided to give myself a little Q&A. Partly, so you can learn a little more about me. Two, so we can be BFFs, obvi.
These questions are a haphazard mix I found from scouring the interwebs. Brace yourself.
(And if you don’t mind, share a fun fact about yourself with me in the comments below! It’ll be like a virtual version of those horrible get-to-know-you party games that are always awkward. Fun, right?)
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Cry. Just kidding! …Kinda. I warm up milk for my boys, wake up my husband to take over, then put my earplugs in, exile myself to the bedroom, shut the door, and write for an hour undisturbed. It’s the best way to start my day — already feeling accomplished! So when I lay in bed and eat chocolate later, I don’t feel (as) bad.
How many photos do you have on your phone’s camera roll right now?
12,577. HA. And that’s after I cleared out more than 11,000 a few months ago. I am a chronic picture-taker-and-never-deleter. I can’t help it — I love to take videos of my kids doing hilarious things and screenshot things I’ll never remember to look at later. It’s a good (albeit a phone-always-out-of-storage) life.
What is your favorite thing about being married?
Having someone to bring me a bowl of ice cream when I can’t get off the couch. JKJK mostly kidding about that one. But seriously, marriage is the best. I believe it to be ordained of God. It is one of the (many) ways that God teaches and blesses us. I love having someone to be companions with, someone to be by your side as you experience life. And one of the most incredible things I’ve discovered about my marriage to my husband is how we coexist together, amidst difference. We are 100 percent what Ben Rector so perfectly describes as an “iconic duo.”(Check out my June Jamz for this bop.) We are complete opposites, but have devoted our lives to helping each other accomplishing our dreams. We cheerlead each other, motivate each other when we can’t visualize success, and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. He’s the — to my —, the — to my —. We truly go together. It’s the most amazing synergy and I’m so grateful for it.
Five books you would take with you if stranded on a deserted island?
Are you kidding? This question is straight-up MEAN. I would want to take allllllll the books. But if I were forced, like, at gunpoint or something, to choose, I would say:
1: The Book of Mormon — the most inspiring and life-changing book I’ve ever read, hands down.
2. Harry Potter — all seven collectively count as one, OKAY?! I will fight you on this)
3. Jane Eyre — Jane is seriously my homegirl. Her integrity and fortitude always inspire me. I want to be like her.
4. The Truth About Forever — I remember it like it was literally yesterday: one of my best friends gifted me a basket of fun items when I came home from a week-long summer camp. Inside was a copy of The Truth About Forever. I read it and was enchanted — with the stories, the characters, the writing. Cheesy, I know, but it changed me — truly. Growing up, I was always a writer, a journaler, a creator, but when I read this book, I knew writing — and particularly writing novels — was going to be my lifelong dream, my give-it-everything-I’ve-got goal: to create a story so enchanting and influential that my readers would feel how I feel reading TTAF. I read it twice a year, at least. Sarah Dessen, I owe you everything, and I will be your forever fan.
5. Anne of Green Gables — I came to this classic late in life, but it truly has made me a better writer and person. It’s language is otherworldly, the story a complete dream.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal — Okay, I know I’m a nerd, but journaling is so important to me. Like, as important as breathing. And eating. It’s one of my life’s passions and something I consider to be one of my higher callings. This book, that I discovered tucked in forgotten stacks a book sale years and years ago, is one of my most treasured tomes.
2. 84, Charring Cross Road — Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and literally a book you can finish off while doing your time waiting in a doctors office, this thin paperback is utterly charming and magical. It tucks at your heartstrings and warms your soul. It makes you magically nostaglic — for a time you’ve never even lived in and for characters you don’t know. It’s that good.
3. The Tipping Point — Malcolm Gladwell was the first author I got into when I started pursuing journalism in school. His books were factual, but interesting — a combination my adolescent self didn’t know was possible. He is an amazing storyteller (and he has great hair, so double whammy). His books opened my eyes up to so much great creative nonfiction, a genre I scarf up now by the shelf-load. (Plus, he has an amazing podcast, Revisionist History, that I listen to obsessively). His books helped me continue to love learning through books.
Now, on to the next question before I regret the other 1,000 books I didn’t list.
One of your most embarrassing childhood habits?
Hahaha, where to even begin? I shall have to consult the hefty file cabinet on this subject, memories I’ve mentally catalogued by year and intensity of embarrassment. Probably how paranoid I was about accidentally eating bones in food. As a kid, I would be so worried that I would make my mom check in meat for any bones. To this day, I still cannot each bone-in chicken. No wings. No thighs. No Popeyes.
Show you’re binge-watching right now?
I’m trying to go easy on Netflix these days, because you know, responsibilities (ugh), but I have gotten into Once Upon a Time — which I love — and I like to rewatch Stranger Things every few months. (#TeamSteveHarrington)
What personal accomplishments are you most proud of?
1. Developing the best-ever chocolate chip cookie recipe. (Yep)
2. Having twins.
3. Graduating from college.
4. Balancing a freelancing career and motherhood.
5. Serving a mission. Learning Portuguese and seeing others change their lives and come to Christ.
6. Getting published in a magazine.
7. Amassing a ridiculous mental stockpile of useless pop culture knowledge
(Absolutely in this order)
What is your kryptonite?
Queso, state fair corn dogs, and trash mags.
What is your worst habit?
I am a chronic double-dipper.
Who is your alter ego?
Easy. Dorothy from Golden Girls.
If you be automatically good at one thing, what would it be?
Flower farming.
Well, hope I haven’t bored y’all into a coma. And I hope this helps you get to know me a little better. I want to be pals!
Share your interesting facts with me below! (Please.)
