Greetings and Salutations to you all!

First thing, a HUGE thank you to all of you who contributed to the this Assumptions about Me post.  I loved answering every single one of them :)

Normally, I don't pick up these kinds of posts, but my curiosity monster got past the usual defenses and into the dreaded secret tunnel....and demanded to be fed. *sigh*. I thought I had boarded it up but no matter. And of course, it spawned little monsters that also demanded to be fed too.

And so, shall we go so see the feast I've prepared for them?



- You like your schedule to be organized, but your surroundings can be a mess.
 
GIRL?! Have you been spying on me? Because your assumption is absolutely correct. 

I live for a concrete schedule (which is weird, considering that my blogging schedule is non-existent) but my surroundings would be best described as "hoarders den" or "slob paradise". Literally as I write this, my arms are squishing notepads, papers and clutter.   


- You're a very goal-oriented person.
 
*glances over at the 10-odd goals-related posts that I've written* 

This isn't very obvious, is it?? 


- You like musicals but aren’t obsessed with them.

Girl, you hit it on the head. I do enjoy a good musical, and perk up my ears to hear about them, but I'm not one of those obsessive ones that finds the bootleg copies on YouTube *cough like my sis cough*







You seem to be strong in your faith and beliefs

I've had others tell me this too. Which seems odd considering that I'm not always vocal about them on either of my blogs. To be quite honest, I'm rather envious of others who do put out heartfelt faith and belief posts despite the pressure of the world. 

Maybe it's the firmness of my convictions that pours through? I've had strangers comment in that vein when I've defended my views on modesty.  


You love dresses and girly things, yet seem to still have that wild outdoors spirit.

Absolutely yes, that is true. I was a tomboy when I was younger, and then in my late teens I found my feminine side. I love camping, hiking, and observing nature...but there are definite perks of sitting in a room with an embroidery project or baking a delectable dessert. 


You love having your hands in every place, at least as many worthwhile places as you can reach out to

Whoa! That is such a deep truth for me that I never really realized it until it was put into words. I do love to be in the thick of things and be involved. I've always been a bit of an overachiever (who am I kidding...practically everyone knows that I am an overachiever). I seem to be happiest when I'm spinning a lot of plates, it seems. And I must be a glutton for punishment because I keep looking for more plates to spin.  

If I ever grow up, I dare say that I'll become one of those organizer/committee president ladies that are so busy that they can't breathe. Why that seems so inviting is beyond me at this point....


You seem to have a decent work ethic. 

Would revealing the fact that I graduated magna cum laude be an acceptable answer? Or is this too cocky?




-You're a little closer to your dad than your mom.
 
Actually....not really. My dad and I have had a bit of a rocky relationship ever since I was a teenager. We're really close in temperament, and have opposite views on certain topics (like money) so we actually clash a lot more than people realize. It's been better now that I've matured, but there is still some struggles. 

I've always been a Mommy's girl though. Even when I was little. We forged a close relationship and she's been my go-to person when I'm struggling with life.  


-You like being by bodies of water


GASP - how did you know this??? 

I love being by the ocean - watching it is a great joy to me and it's really inspiring to see the water stretch out to the horizon. 

I've been to Walden Pond too and the sheer beauty of it put me in a happy place. No wonder Thoreau built a cabin there...  

IDK - I just find a lot of beauty in water - be it a creek, a waterfall, a river, a lake or an ocean. 

Now I'm curious.....was it the copious amount of water pictures that gave it away?  


-You sometimes wish you were born in a different time period.

I can definitely confirm this one. For one, past fashions are ten times better. For second, the culture is a hundred times better. For third, horses abound. For fourth, I get to work hard and stop being a lazy bum. For fifth, my social skills would improve tremendously. For sixth, I could get married a whole lot faster. For seventh, the education that I would get would actually educate me. For eighth.....I'd better stop now and get this time machine built because clearly I have thought about this waaaaayyyy too much.






-You like Eowyn. (Heehee.)
 
Girl.....you should know that this isn't an assumption, but a well confirmed fact. Eowyn is my heroine, and we'll leave it at that. 



-Your favorite season is Summer. 

I thought this was also a confirmed fact, but maybe it isn't. My favorite season is indeed summer because I hate being cold and there is so much SUNSHINE. I can't live without the sun apparently. 


-Favorite color is either red or gold.

False, actually! While I do like the colors red and gold, they're #7 and #5 (respectively) in the order of my favorite colors.

My actual favorite colors are Caribbean blue and lavender purple. With pink and silver following those. Think like a Disney Princess color scheme....LOL.

I do like that my journal is red and gold though - easy to find!

 -You don't have a ton of IRL friends.
 
This was true for most of my life. I could actually count the number of close friends I had as a child on one hand. 

As I grew into my teens, I had casual friends through Girl Scouts and 4-H, and then the numbers grew through college and work. Now, I have a circle of casual friends from church that number around 20 or so. 

Close friends though? I'm up to two hands, but there still aren't that many. I'd rather have a few good quality friendships rather than a lot of casual ones anyway.   


-You're a night owl.
 
Well.....yes, that's accurate. I don't mind getting up early if I've got projects to do, but the night time is really really quiet and it's so much easier to write and think. I've grown back into my night owl habits from college and that will probably stay until a job comes on the horizon. 


-You prefer road trips to flying.

Oooh! This is hard. I've done a lot of road trips and not a lot of flying so I might be biased in this answer.

I do love the sensation of flying, and looking out the window at the Earth below (strange how the fear of heights magically shuts off during flying). But, I do hate the hassle that you go through at the airport (security, baggage, waiting for the stinking plane, the crowds, ugh!!!)

Road trips are much more flexible and you can control the factors a lot better, which I like. On the ground, you can also see a lot of detail that you wouldn't get from the air. And you can get out much more safely from a car than a plane.





-You consider yourself to be like/write like a female Tolkien
 
Not gonna lie - Tolkien is a huuuuuge inspiration for me. His philosophy on writing is something that I've taken on for myself as a writer. As for how close my writing is to Tolkein....that I must appeal to future betas to decide!  

-Are proud of the fact that you're a member of RW
 
Yes. Yes I am. I'm going to be flat honest bout that. I'm probably too proud of being one of the OGs of RW, to be quite frank. 


-Talks to cows

YES. I do talk to cows. I think it helps to calm them, to be honest.

I'll be quite honest though - I talk to pretty much every single animal I come across. I'm one of those ones who will approach an animal almost all the time, and hope the human goes away without interacting with me.

I think I have a problem.





-You have dark brown hair. 

Yes, I do! I'd show a picture, but I need to pull it off my phone and edit it and I can't do that until a week from now. And y'all have waited enough for this thing.  


-You have a handful of siblings (say, five or six)
 
You're really close! 

I actually have 4: Matthew, Tyler, Robert and Anthony.  

I know this is really confusing, but the girl I call my sister is not my actual sister. She's actually my BFF. Her family pretty much unoffically adopted me, and I adopted her as my "sister" as she's the closest person I have to a sister.  



-You have a hundred story ideas in your head at once
 
Umm, yes. These can range from alternate realities based on real events, daydreams of what I wish my life to be, to actual novel ideas. 

I think only 20 have actually been written down at any point in time.... 


-You live in the USA, in a pleasant, mild climate with lots of green grass

I can vouch for the the USA part. I mean, I guess that's kind of obvious from the way that I talk (or write? IDK).

Lots of green grass? I can vouch for that too. I live on the East Coast, so there is plenty of grass to go around (lovely for allergies, I'll tell you).

As for the pleasant, mild climate, I must disappoint you. I live on the northern end of the East Coast, so I get to deal with lots of snow, rain, cold and general miserableness for at least half of the year. *bleh*. Especially these last two years?! Can the rain faucets be shut off already??



Would assume that anyone young and very religious would be a bit naive to the world. And also that's not a bad thing!

This answer almost got it's own post. And it may still get it's own post in the future after I collect my thoughts on it.

I disagree with this sentiment. I know of many saints that were young and very close to God and it would be an insult to say that they were naive. There is no way that the young martyr St. Agnes would be so naive as to believe that the Romans would be humane when they killed her for refusing to offer incense. There is no way that 13 year old St. Maria Goretti was so naive that she would let a sexual predator strip her of her virginity.  

I may have lived a slightly more sheltered life than many of my public school counterparts. Sure, my college experience removed some of my naivete, but doesn't that happen to everyone? That doesn't mean that I don't know what persecution, fraud, depression, impurity, etc. are or what they do to people. 

My religion has revealed what exactly the world is in it's ugliest form. And my own experiences can confirm this. To be truly Catholic is to shun naivete.  





-You're a good steward.
 
*blushing and smiling* 

I really cannot give an answer for this one. There are so many ways that I need to improve my stewardship, this list would stretch to Heaven's gate.   


-A sensible cheapskate when it comes to most things.
 
Cheapskate? Yeah. Sensible....ehhhh???

Like, I try not to buy retail on a lot of stuff (like clothes, dishes, books, movies, etc.) because I think the retail prices are beyond ridiculous. Why buy a $45 dress when there is a <$5 skirt at the nearest thrift store? 

That being said...I have been known both to splurge and be miserly. So the sensible part still needs to be worked on a bit *cringes*.  


-You're very outspoken about the things you find important.

I can be...it depends on the audience. I still have trouble speaking up when I should and I have not been as vocal as I could be. I can come off very intense in those situations and so I've kinda backed off until I can speak about those issues civilly. Unfortunately, that never happens in a very timely manner. My temper is biblically opposite of what it should be: quick to flare, and slow to fade. Have to work on that....





So I just wanna say that you seem very REAL. You aren't just some name on a page, you are REAL. Every time I read your posts (especially the ones with your family), I feel like you are really putting the REAL you out there, not just some facade of a cutsie girl who runs a cutsie blog. :P You don't beat around the bush. You say what you think and I feel like you are one of the friends that I just haven't met IRL yet! :) I love your blog. :D


I really wish I could reach through the screen and give you a hug. That makes me feel ten times better about some of the posts that I've done in the past....

I wanted to put the real me out there. I felt I couldn't really give any kind of explanation about my writings if I didn't reveal so many of the personal details that I did.

And once I get money, I'm going to have to come up with some kind of blogger retreat - because seriously, I really want to meet all of you!


And that is that! A thousand chocolate chip cookies for you all as a thank-you present :) *checks the cookie store* eh ehe, guess I'm going to have a few backorders.... *puts on apron*

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine