Unknown Facts

I've enjoyed the random facts shared by several of you, so I thought I'd share some of my own!

- I was an absolutely voracious reader as a kid. I'd read up to 5 books at once, alternating between them throughout the day. I'd always have a book or two with me when I went places. Fantasy-quest and such fiction books took up most of my time (whose plots were all people or all animals - David Eddings and Marion Zimmer Bradley vs. Brian Jacques), but I had quite the arsenal of books that revolved around horses, too. I was reading on a 12th grade reading level in 3rd/4th grade.  

- While I'm quite outgoing now, it is absolutely a learned trait. I was a SHY kid. People would try to talk to me and I'd hide behind my mom. Not so much with kids, I'd just be quiet with new people. You'd never guess now if you met me. I'm able to find common ground with most people which gives us something to talk about. I credit growing up in 4-H for a lot of this as it really stressed self-awareness, leadership, and volunteering which led to me learning more about myself and how to be more gregarious.  

- I have a small obsession with succulents and easy-to-take-care-of plants (i.e. no orchids or suchness that needs such a particular light/water regiment). I purposefully avoid the plant section of stores that sell them so that I don't buy more than I have. The last time I went through the plant aisles I came home with 5 new plants, 3 of which were succulents.

- While I'm WV born and raised, my parents are not from here. My mother is from SC and my father is from VA and they met in NC and ended up in WV by complete accident - it was just a stop along the way when my dad was job hunting and they loved it. The rest is history.

- I almost majored in psychology but decided not to because I knew I wouldn't enjoy my job options following school as much. I took a lot of social psychology courses though and enjoy the fact that my job constantly pushes us into courses and trainings that are social psychology based. I geek out pretty hard on the stuff. 

- When not reading, I spent TONS of time outside playing in the woods with my best friends. I climbed a ton of trees, had a fort built in the woods, and basically role played myself through childhood outside. I was most often an adventurer who could speak to animals, but through my phase with the Redwall series, I was often an otter adventuring through with my best friend who was often a badger.

- When I was 3 years old I caught a chipmunk and brought it (proudly) to my mother. Yes, it was alive and unharmed. No, it didn't bite me.

- My most irrational pet peeve is when someone is kicking/tapping a chair/bench/whatever I'm sitting in with their foot. It drives me BATTY after the 3rd tap. Something swells up inside me and it takes a lot of self control to not lash out verbally or physically at whomever is doing it (because it really isn't okay to freak out on strangers, y'know?) If I know the person doing it, I'll cut them off quickly. My friends in HS used to do it in class just to watch me react.

- Beginning in middle/high school, I was much more easily friends with guys than girls. It holds true to this day. Girls are catty bitches. This became really evident to me in middle school as they vied for more and more attention and fought each other to be "queen bee". I tried to simply interact and spend time with those girls for awhile (I did not want to be queen bee, I just wanted friendship) but it went horribly askew in 8th grade (I was bullied mercilessly by some really horrible, horrible humans) and by high school the following year, I rarely if ever spoke to or interacted with the entire lot of them (ever again). Girls I get along with the best to this day are girls that hate other girls. 

I can hold my own around guys and keep up with them physically in all of my chosen sports and verbally in all of the off-color banter that takes place. Much to my parent's dismay, I always had more male friends than female friends. At one point my mother told me, "I wish you'd bring more girls home" when I would bring friends home to visit from school. *shrug* Guys were more commonly into what I was into (adventure sports). And, to my parents disbelief I'm certain, I did not date the very large majority of the guys I hung out with. I can absolutely have a totally platonic relationship with guys. Two of my absolute closest friends in college that I still keep up with are guys and we never dated nor came anywhere close to dating. The mere thought of dating them churns my (and their!) stomach! *shudder* Just friends. For. Real.

- I was a perfect student K-12. At first, it was because my parents pushed me to be the best. Then it was because I wanted them to be pleased. And then I wanted my teachers to be pleased. And then by middle school it was because I wanted to be pleased with myself. I'd turned into quite the little perfectionist. I was that weird kid that liked school. It was kind of a secretive like because it wasn't "cool" to enjoy school after all, but I really did! I favored math and science, but didn't truly dislike any subject. They all had their unique challenges and were fun in their own ways. I didn't really *know* I was doing so well in school against my peers until I received word near the end of HS that I would be salutatorian. To which my immediate first thought was, "Shit. I have to give a speech. A speech in front of a LOT of people. Shit." (Spoiler alert: It wasn't bad and that single event cured me of a lot of my intense fears regarding public speaking. I still get nervous, but I know I *can* do it now.) 

- I was a picky eater growing up. There was a time I didn't even like pizza or popcorn! Now I can never turn pizza down and I'm a popcorn fiend (just ask Dave, he thinks I'm ridiculous). My brother and mother were adventurous eaters, I thought they were crazy - I didn't even enjoy your basic Chinese buffet very much. The flavors just didn't do it for me! 

But now? Now I'm a food fiend. Sushi is hands down my most favorite food. Anytime I'm in a metropolitan area I seek out ethnic foods - Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, Greek, you name it, I want to try it. I'm still a wuss about spicy stuff, but I'm actively trying to get better about it every week!

- When I feel stressed, I clean. Not only do I clean, I re-arrange furniture, I purge belongings, I alter my wall decor. It's kind of ridiculous and I've done it since I was a pre-teen. I have mastered the art of moving large furniture by myself without hurting my back or anything. 

- I don't watch a ton of TV, but my all-time favorite show EVER is Gilmore Girls. I own all 7 seasons and have watched them all at least 20 times a piece. Through college I continually cycled through them all again and again and again. I can quote the shit out of some Gilmore Girls and I credit that show the most for getting me rolling with my snarky quips that have now become second nature. 

The times I binge-watched the most were whenever I was really stressed with coursework or due to relationship struggles. Even following college, whenever I went through a break-up in particular, I would binge watch the shit out of Gilmore Girls. Season 5 is my favorite. I do not like Dean (Jared Padalecki does better work in Supernatural IMHO), I'm hit-or-miss on Jess, and I was always pro-Logan for whatever reason (he's a dick, I know). I Can. Not. Wait. for the late November release of the 4 short-films that will re-vamp the series. SO EXCITED. 

Also, my blog name came from Gilmore Girls. In Omnia Paratus was the motto of the Life and Death Brigade at Yale University. It translates to "Ready for Anything". I started this blog near the end of college when I was feeling really lost and uncertain about what my future would hold so I decided to adopt the motto for myself and charge forward and take control of whatever opportunities I was presented with. I wear a ring on my right hand that I got when I graduated college with the words inscribed that is a daily reminder to just do my best with anything that falls in front of me. I've done well by myself, I think. I'm very happy and very busy and love the crazy life I live.

- Since late-college, I've tried to be a redheaded character for Halloween every year. I've been: Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus (boyfriend was the bus), Peter Pan, Pippy Longstocking, Princess Merida from Brave, and Fiona from Shrek (boyfriend was Shrek).

This segues well into that meme going around on social media re: picking 3 characters you relate to most.

I chose Princess Merida from Disney's Brave (because redhead, Scottish (that's my heritage), rides a horse (with blaze and 4 socks like Q), and has a personality so much like my own (aka strereotypical redhead)), Rory from Gilmore Girls (because I always carried  books around with me and was a goody two-shoes perfect student all through K-12 school (salutatorian in HS) and into college and I opened up more (personality-wise) in college than in high school), and Hermione** from Harry Potter (because, once again, the goody two-shoes, driven nature but also with two best friends that were guys which was most of my life once I entered high school - and Nicole constantly accuses me of having a time-turner).

**Hermione as she is represented in the books moreso than the movies. I love both the movies and the books, but I love them individually. I grew up with the series. I was the same age as the kids in the books as they were being released in the US which made me feel that much closer to the series, I think.

When I first started pondering the character meme, I thought of Merida, Katniss, and Ce'Nedra. Katniss is a little more intense though than what I trend to be and Ce'Nedra (from David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean series) has a much more whimsical coy side than I have ever had.