attack of the meme.

Quick update: Emily's surgery went splendidly. They were less invasive than expected, they removed what they needed to (a small mass of fungus from her lungs), and she didn't need to be put on a respirator after surgery (which was a concern). She's recovering beautifully and was joking with the doctors soon after waking up. I believe she has another procedure next week, though I'm not sure the nature of that one. Please keep her in your thoughts!

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I've been meme'd! These questions took me a while, considering I copied them down as soon as I was tagged, which was two weeks ago. I am the queen of procrastination! Let's get to it.

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or as members of your family?
I don’t currently have a pet. The pets I once had were, to me, just animals (sad, I know). My parents adopted a cat before I was born – Nigel, a black cat who was probably an adorable kitten but grew to be a fatty – and he had to endure my toddler years. Needless to say, there wasn’t much bonding going on there. I also didn’t have any emotional or familial connection to my hamster, Lily.

However, that being said, there were a few cats at the shelter I volunteer with that I loved very much. I think that all future pets I’ll have will be loved like family because they would actually be mine.

2. If you could see one of your dreams come true, which would it be?
This is a tough call. It would either be me becoming a wedding planner (or working for one) or opening a dance studio with Ashley. I can’t choose one over the other – they’re both tied for my big Life Dream.

3. What is the one thing that you hate the most?
Vomit and vomiting. Sorry if you expected something profound. I do hate many other things, but nothing more than that.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Donate to charity. Pay off anything I could for my parents, and probably give them both a fair bit of spending money, just for being awesome. Pay off anything necessary by my aunts/uncles/cousins. Buy a new car. Buy a house. Buy my parents a house. Give some to my friends for whatever they wanted – paying back loans, tuition, buying a house, or a dream wedding. Open a dance studio. Make sure I never work another day in my life except towards something I really and truly want. Save for my own wedding and for my hypothetical children’s college tuition and weddings. Buy every silly thing I’ve wanted and considered expensive thus far in life, like a snazzy laptop and phone.

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
The right music and space to really dance. I mean like, sweat it out, pull some muscles, do moves I can’t really do, look completely ridiculous but feel like I’m the most elegant creature on earth, honest-to-goodness dancing. Either that or baking.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
In my experience, it’s being loved. They’re both almost equal, but the feeling I get from knowing that I am loved is one that isn’t exactly paralleled by loving someone. Maybe it’s because, for me, loving people comes easily. Nobody is obligated to love me, so when they do, it’s something really special.

7. What is your bedtime routine?
I start by settling down with some quieter music. I’ll either shower or just put on pajamas and wash my face. Then I brush my teeth, turn down my bed, do some yoga and stretching, read a quick Bible verse, occasionally read a bit of something else, then set my alarm and turn out the lights. I also mix some TV-watching in there sometimes, but only if I really can’t fall asleep.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
I wish I had a cute, romantic story, but our actual first meeting was back before I could’ve ever fathomed that we’d be dating. It was my junior year of college when he was visiting Natalie (his sister, for those who missed that memo) at our townhouse, and since he arrived while I was in the shower and Nat’s room was right next to the shower… I greeted him wrapped in my towel. (He claims to have no recollection of this, which, I don’t understand how you forget something like that, but maybe that’s just me because it was embarrassing.)

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?
My life would be complete if I could watch Travis Wall or Billy Bell choreograph a routine from the start. I’ve seen their work in terms of the final product, but to see them toy around with choreography and watch how it comes together would blow my mind.

10. What kinds of books do you read?
Mostly light and fluffy fiction, though I don’t read nearly as much or as often as I should.

12. What’s your biggest fear?
Failure. It’s easy to pick that because it’s an overarching fear. It covers my fear of not being able to hold a job, losing all my money and being poor. It covers my fear of losing friendships because of my failure to keep in touch. Even the idea of failure sends me in a tailspin, which is why I’ll often opt for not trying in the first place (see: college career, improving my health, finding a job).

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?
Nope. I have no desire at all to visit outer space in any capacity. So bring on the Doritos!

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
I would rather discuss the absurdity and vagueness of this question, but I won’t. My answer is single and rich. Poverty terrifies me and being married essentially means nothing in and of itself. Even if we’re equating marriage into love, I still stick with my answer.

Here’s why: if we’re talking about making this decision right now, as happy as I am in my relationship, I am nowhere near that commitment level. If I were single, I would be happy to remain relationship-less if it meant avoiding poverty. The only difference would be if this question were posed when I was in a deeply committed and loving relationship, and even then, that person would have to be pretty freakin’ special.

(If that seems harsh, I should say that I’m assuming that being “poor” means that, for whatever reason, I’m incapable of making money no matter what I do. And the level of poverty is the kind when you barely have enough food to eat and don’t have running water, etc. I’m sorry, but no amount of love from a guy is going to make that okay.)

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Hit the snooze button and go back to sleep.

16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?
He’d be taller. Not that I have a problem with the height difference (I absolutely don’t, for everyone reading who knows him and if he happens to be reading this [in which case he better fess up to reading my blog]), but I honestly can’t think of anything else I’d want to change. So that’d be it.

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
I quite like my name. When I was younger, I wanted my name to be Stephanie. I guess if I had to choose now, though, I would pick… Bella.

18. Can you forgive and forget, no matter how horrible the offense is?
I forgive extremely easily, and I’ve never been offended strongly enough to not forgive somebody. I can’t say how I would react if something horrendous was done to me, but I would make my best effort to forgive. I never forget, though. My mind is a steel trap in many ways, specifically with regards to things that affect me emotionally.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?
As long as they were made fresh every day and weren’t sitting as leftovers in my fridge, I’d eat Italian sub sandwiches forever.


I don't have anyone specific I want to tag. Feel free to steal these questions and answer them, though! Or, if they're too intimidating all together - pick one from the list and answer in the comments.