The last time I did a ToT was April 13th. I’ve missed these!

1. If you could trade lives with another blogger for a day, who would it be and why?

There are so many bloggers whose lives seem a lot more interesting than mine. They’ve seen more success than me and have found a way to make money from blogging. (The ultimate goal, right?) If I had to choose anyone, I would probably pick Caitlin from Healthy Tipping Point because not only is she healthy and active and married to a gorgeous husband, but she’s also found a way to give back to the online community, as well as become a published author!

2. Do you prefer receiving handmade or store-bought gifts? Be honest!

I’ll be totally honest and say store-bought gifts. I don’t think I’ve received many handmade gifts and when I have been given them, they haven’t impressed me. I think you can also put a lot of thought and effort into store-bought gifts (sometimes more so than handmade ones). I mean, I’m totally not a fan of receiving bath & body sets because I think that takes zero creativity. Still, I will freely admit: store-bought> handmade.

3. Would you rather camp or stay in a hotel?

I’ve only been camping once and I’ve stayed in about a billion hotels. The one time I did go camping, I had an absolute blast. I was eight or nine and I just remember how relaxing and fun it was. Plus, nothing beats roasting marshmallows over the fire and making a s’more. (Or two. Or three.) Then again, I love sleeping in hotels. It’s a bit more comfortable. In any event, it’s always nice to get away.

4. What’s your favorite comfort food?

Chocolate. Anything with chocolate. It can turn my mood around like that!

5. You’re having a really bad day at work. How do you unwind when you come home?

I’m pretty good at being able to put work problems behind me when I come home. I don’t like thinking about work when I’m not there. If I do have a bad day, all I really need is a vent session with one of my co-workers or my mom and food. Lately, I’ve been doing better at not letting circumstances give way to gorging on food. But it’s still a big comforting factor for me. I’m just doing it in moderation now, which is good.

6. What’s your favorite chore? (Or, the chore you hate the least)

Probably laundry. I really don’t mind doing the laundry, for the most part. Plus, I find that I put my clothes away more quickly when I do the laundry than when my mom does it. When my mom does it and puts my folded clothes in my room, it usually takes me a week to actually sort through them and put them away. I’m really bad about that.

7. What got you interested in blogging?

I’ve really always had some type of blog. I started off at Diaryland, then went to Xanga, then back to Diaryland. I tried LiveJournal for a while but didn’t like it. When I started college, I started a Blogger blog to document my teaching experiences. Then I went over to WordPress to do a more personal blog. After having some success with that, I went back to Blogger and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve always liked documenting my life, even the silly things I wrote when I was fifteen. It wasn’t until probably a year ago that I realized how big this blogging community is and really started getting involved in that aspect.

8. Are you currently reading a book? What is it?

I’m reading two books currently. I’m reading Perfecting Kate by Tamara Leigh, which is about a girl who begins to change what she looks like to please people. I’m just getting into it but it’s really interesting! I’m also reading When God Writes Your Love Story by my two favorites, Eric and Leslie Ludy. This book is amazing. I can’t wait to do a review of it when I’m done. It’s not changing my view on love, but it’s making me see that my way of going about finding love is not weird.

9. Do you have a favorite artist?

As in art? No. I’m not that into art. Honestly, I see art at Target and think it’s spectacular. Obviously, I have a very un-critical eye for art.

10. Have you ever met someone famous?

I’ve met some local celebrities, like our news anchors. Oh, and on Saturday, I met one of our local jazz singers at a festival I attended.

1. What book, movie or song has made you want to travel to a particular place? (e.g. I went to Prince Edward Island because I was such a Anne of Green Gables fan)

I find it so easy to transport myself to the places in books and movies. So there are so many places I’ve wanted to visit because of how they’re portrayed in these mediums. My top three are: New York City, London, and Italy.

2. Aside from your significant other, who would you want to take with you on a dream trip?

My mom, of course. I’ve never been on a vacation without her and I just have so much fun with her! We’re so alike and we like to do a lot of the same things. We do have our different interests but there’s just something special about traveling with your mom. You can’t get homesick, for one thing. And for another, you build amazing memories that will last for a lifetime. And also, my mom is just plain awesome and I love being around her.

3. Where would said dream trip be to?

It would definitely be New York City. I’m hoping and praying we’ll be able to take this trip in December for my graduation gift but I know how expensive it is so it’s going to take some big prayers. I’ve never been to such a big city and it would be neat to see how I like it. I’m such a fan of the small town that I think I would get irritated easily.

4. If you were hosting guests or providing tips, what three things would you show visitors to your hometown? (Be it where you live now or where you grew up.)

First of all, your first meal would be a Publix sub. Yes, it sounds a little odd but if you’ve never had a Publix sub, you’re seriously missing out. They are so good.

Secondly, we would take a trip down to Clearwater Beach because hello, you cannot go to my town without spending at least one afternoon at the beach. I may not be a big fan of the beach, but I do like taking a trip or two to the beach every now and then.

And lastly, we’ll do some shopping at International Mall because it’s an amazing mall with every shop you could ever imagine. I don’t go there enough, mainly because it’s an expensive mall and the only places I can shop I can find in other malls closer to me. But it’s still fun to look!

5. If you had a long weekend ahead of you, where you head – beach, city or country/mountains?

It would have to be the beach. We don’t have mountains in Florida and going to the city just doesn’t appeal to me. I have to be in the mood for the beach and right now? I’m so in the mood! Once my finals are over, I’ll have about a week before summer classes start so I’m taking advantage of that time to soak in the sun! We have miles and miles and miles of beaches where I live and it’s only about a 20 minute ride to get to them.

6. Do you have a passport? If so, did you get it for a particular trip or just to have, in case?

No, I don’t have a passport. I’ve never ventured farther west than Tennessee, farther east than West Virginia, farther north than Ohio, or farther south than Florida. I want travel more, but it’s expensive!

7. Are there any travel souvenirs you collect? If not, is there something else you collect?

Since I don’t travel, no. I’m trying to start collecting money, but it’s not going so well.

8. If you could name a paint colour, what colour would it be and what would you call it?

I think I would choose a very bright shade of green and call it Stephany Green. And that, my friends, is how creative I am. My kids will probably be named John and Mary.

9. If you were heading away for a weekend city break solo, where would you go? (Forget about practicality here and flight times, assume you can get to any city in the world for the weekend.)

Ooh, I have to go alone? I would probably travel to Boston and visit a very special friend of mine. And she would probably corrupt me. But it would still be worth it.

10. Is there a song or a smell or something that you strongly associate with a particular holiday/place/time, such that it always takes you back?

There are so many songs that take me back to memories:

• Anna Nalick’s CD “Wreck of the Day”: The summer after I graduated from high school and was working at a movie theater. I listened to her CD constantly that summer.
• Wow Hits 2000: Sixth grade when I had terrible insomnia. I really hate listening to any songs on that CD because I get such an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, remembering that time. I hated sixth grade.
• “London Bridge” by Fergie: My first year at college, where I lived in the dorms. I downloaded this song as my ringtone to wake me up and just remember that pretty awful time of my life.
• Francesca Battistelli’s CD “My Paper Heart”: Summer 2008, where I worked as an office assistant at a print shop and traveled up to Tampa two days a week for class. I listened to this CD constantly every day. For once, that was a good time and just brings back lovely memories.
• Ashlee Simpson’s “Autobiography” CD: My junior year of high school when I had just began at the collegiate program. This is probably the best memory I can think of. I loved those last two years of high school and loved my high school. It was such a great experience for me!

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1. If you could travel back in time, would you?  What decade would you visit?

I would. I would love to travel back to the time when Jesus lived here on earth. It had to have been such a special time for believers, knowing the Son of God was within reach. Sometimes, it feels that He is so far away and untouchable. What an honor it had to have been to sit in on His teachings, to watch His miracles from His hands, and to gaze upon His face. We see miracles now, but science tries to explain them away. When Jesus performed miracles, people knew it was Him. I would love to have been there for it. (But I will be spending eternity with my Lord and Savior, so that’s pretty cool as well.)

2. What was your best Halloween costume?  (fun to make? most creative?)

I’ve never been big on Halloween. I don’t like to dress up and I’m not really a creative person when it comes to things like this. I only remember a few Halloween costumes: being a clown when I was a toddler, being a witch in 2nd grade, being an angel in 5th grade. Most of the costumes we got were from Target or Wal-Mart.

I remember that I wanted to be a 50’s girl because the poodle skirt was fabulous.

The last time I dressed up for Halloween was 5th grade, because I went to a church Halloween party and I was the only 5th-grader dressed up. All the other girls just wore regular clothes. I felt so embarrassed!

3. Do you like your name?  If you weren’t called by your name, what would you want to be called?

It’s taken me a while to grow into it but I do like it. I like how it’s spelled differently and couldn’t imagine having another name. It’s uniquely my own.

When I was younger, I wanted to be called “Ruth” because my brother had a name from a book in the Bible and I wanted one, too. I had to choose between Esther and Ruth, and Ruth sounded less grandma-ish.

4. In the past year, what is the BEST recipe you made.  Please share it!

Honestly, I think I’ve made a handful of recipes this year. I don’t like to cook and my mom and I hate planning out our meals (BAD!), so we usually just venture to the store with no meal plan in mind and buy easy meals we’ve had in the past. We need to get better at this.

The only recipe I’ve made that I’ve really enjoyed is mustard pork chops. It’s a fairly simple recipe, which is the reason I like it. All you do is slather mustard on both sides of the pork chops, and then dip them into a Shake-N-Bake mix. (I think you also add some parsley flakes and pepper to the Shake-N-Bake, but don’t quote me on that.) Pop them in the oven at 350 and wait until they looked like they’re cooked. (Yep. I’m the next Rachael Ray. I can feel it!)

5. Look around – what is the nearest object or picture hanging on the wall?

It’s a picture of a waterfall, I think. Somebody gave it to my mom for free and it’s a pretty beautiful picture. I don’t think it really “fits” in our living room but we don’t really have any type of theme anyway. We have the most mismatched house of anyone.

6. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?  Would you recommend it?

Valentine’s Day, I believe. And I wouldn’t. I don’t the it was a good movie. It was cute and funny at times but the story line dragged on and on forever, and then 30 minutes before it finished, they seemed to scramble to wrap everything up nicely. I wasn’t a big fan of it but, hey, what do I know? I loved Leap Year!

7. Did you go to summer camp?  Will you/do you send your kids to camp?

The only summer camp I went to was “Joybelles Camp” with my church. We went for one week and stayed in cabins. The cabins had 2 bunk beds and one big bed for the counselor and her daughter. Mornings were filled with activities, afternoons with swimming, and nights with praise-and-worship. I really, really enjoyed these trips! I had so much fun!

8. What kind of ringtone do you have?

I don’t really have one. Since I lost my phone in November, I’ve been using my mom’s which is probably the crappiest BlackBerry you could ever get. I don’t know how to figure out ringtones or even change my ringtones to the ones that come with the phone. (You can’t even play music on this phone!) So I’m just sticking with the ones we have until I’m up for renewal. (May 25th!)

9. Where is the farthest away from home you have ever been?

Just Ohio. I’ve never ventured past the eastern part of the country, actually. Ohio was not a fun trip as my parents fought most of the time and the only places we visited was to visit my dad’s old chums from high school. I think the only “fun” my brother and I had was with a paddleboat. One of my dad’s friends had basically created a lake outside his house and had a paddleboat on the lake. So my brother and I spent hours on that.

10. Has anyone ever written a song or a poem for or about you?

No. Ah, who knows? Maybe Future Husband will be a songwriter and sing to me as I come down the aisle. (I’m such a romantic! Ick!)

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