This is me

I figured, if I’m going to make a blog, I should probably introduce myself so people know what they’re getting into.  That said, I’m going to take a page out of a friend’s book and describe myself using 24 pictures (more or less… okay, it’s probably going to be more.)  This is actually surprisingly hard to do.  It’s surprisingly hard to find certain pictures (like ones of my family, for some reason), and even harder to come up with 24 things to say about myself, hoping that not all of them are superficial.  Well, I gave it a shot.

  So, since I’m describing myself with pictures, I figured I should probably post a picture of myself.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any very recent pictures of just me, so this will have to do.  It’s from about a year ago, so my hair is a bit shorter now, and it was taken in Colorado.  (More about that later!)

Alright, you know what I look like.  But what am I like?  Let’s see what you could figure out by looking at the surface…

This is my room, from two different angles.  Yep, it’s messy.  I’m a little disorganized.  It’s also basically an I-Spy into things that I like.  Can you spot… my favorite band?  Some awesome movies?  A hint about my career aspirations?  My favorite color?  How about something I collect?

(Answers: My Chemical Romance, Inception, Harry Potter, The Avengers, a space shuttle, teal blue, calendars)

Delving a little deeper….

My favorite band is My Chemical Romance, and this is just some of the memorabilia I own.  I also have several t-shirts.  The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is my favorite of their albums, and yes, I did make myself a Killjoy costume complete with a name and a blaster.  Haters gonna hate.

Took this photo at a museum.  What does this say about me?  Well, that’s my life dream in a nutshell.  I want to be an astronaut.

There, I said it.  That’s why I’m majoring in astronomy-physics.

Hey, speaking of college….

  I just finished my sophomore year at UW Madison.  That’s right, I’m a badger.  ‘Nuff said.

Back to some things you could find in my room.

I’m a Christian, and my faith is very important to me.  I’m actively involved in a Christian organization called Cru, and I love it. 

Through Cru, I’ve been able to join a bible study, lead a bible study, go on awesome retreats and mission trips, make amazing friends, and most importantly, learn more about Jesus!

  This is my dresser.  In addition to collecting calendars, I also collect knick-knacks, especially fairies.  I love anything to do with fantasy.

Perhaps this is cheating a little, because you wouldn’t find these lying around, but they are in my room.  I absolutely LOVE to read,

and these are some of my favorite books of all time.  On the far right is one I’ve just started reading.  Yeah, it’s the unabridged version.  It could take a while…

I felt it was necessary to include my collection of cds and dvds because I also love listening to music and watching movies.  My taste in music has been described as ‘eclectic’ (which I think is a polite word for dorky) but, as evidenced by my favorite band, is primarily stuck in what may or may not be classified as “punk rock”.  As far as movies, give me action, fantasy, sci fi, or any combination thereof.  I love the Lord of the Rings; I hate The Vow.  Yes, I’m a female and yes, I hate chick flicks.  (Sandra Bullock movies are the only exception.)

Hidden under my bed is my baby, the beautiful instrument you see in this picture.  I’ve had her since I was in sixth grade and I love her. 

I love making music as much as I love listening to it, although I rarely have time to play anymore.  I also play the piano, but not as well as the violin.

The last thing you might be able to guess just from looking at my room is that I am a child at heart.  I own a wand from Harry Potter World.  I am, in fact, a Hufflepuff.  Treasure Planet, Peter Pan, and Rise of the Guardians are some of my favorite movies ever.  I was 18 years old in that picture with Peter Pan, and I am not ashamed.  If I went back to Disneyland now, I’d get my picture taken with him again.

Those are some things that define me, but people are often best described by other people.  You’ve seen the whats, now meet the whos:

These are my parents, and I love them both very much!

These are my siblings.  My sister Julia, the middle child, and my brother Tyler, the youngest.  They are hilarious and fun, and often drive me crazy.  Because, let’s face it, that’s what younger siblings are supposed to do.

Friends!  Where would I be without my friends?  Nowhere good, I can tell you that.  These are some of the amazing women I’ve met through Cru, who have been there for me for the past two years.  They’re amazing and I’m so blessed to count them all as my friends!

More friends!  Old friends from high school, who I will never forget…       

and new friends from college, who I love dearly and am getting to know better with each passing year.

  And one friend who deserves a section all to herself.  This is my best friend Caitlin, who I’ve known since the sixth grade, and who has been there for me through thick and thin ever since.  She’s amazing and I love her.  There’s really not much else to say.

Of course, no list of friends would be complete without including my lovely animal friends!  That’s my dog Tiny, who I’ve had since he and I were both very little.  He’s old, he’s cuddly, he’s freaking adorable!  I don’t have a picture of me with my pet snake Yuri, who sadly, is no longer around, so a picture of me holding a grass snake will have to do.

Alright, so we have what and who… what else is there to talk about?  I already touched on some things, but I suppose I could tell you more about what I like to do.

This pictures a bit old, but I was in karate for a while and loved every minute of it.  The guy in the middle with the awesome silver hair is my incredible Sensei.  He taught me so much!

Also in the category of things that I love but no longer have time to do falls theatre.

You might not guess it, given that I’m generally shy and quiet, but theatre was a huge part of my high school career.  That’s me in Dracula, one of my favorite plays ever!

  In addition to dressing up on stage, I sometimes dress up offstage as well.  Remember how I’m a child at heart?  Well, part of what that means is that, on occasion, I do enjoy dressing up as characters from my favorite animes and going to anime conventions.  That first picture is me hugging one of my favorite voice actors ever, Vic Mignogna.  Coincidentally, I am dressed as one of the characters he does the voice of.  (Fai from Tsubasa Chronicle.)  In the other picture, I borrowed my friend’s jacket and orange wig to dress as Hikaru from Ouran High School Host Club.  (Yes, I’m Hikaru!  Look how the wig is parted!)

This is probably cheating, because I obviously didn’t take this picture myself.  But I have a tendency to obsess fangirl be very passionate about things that I like, be it books (like the Infernal Devices or the Name of the Wind), movies (Thor, Rise of the Guardians), tv shows (Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time) or certain male characters from said media (Jem, Bast, Loki, Jack Frost, 11, Rumpelstiltskin etc…).  This picture represents my current obsession(s), Les Miserables, and specifically, Enjolras.  Because just look at Aaron Tveit.

But I digress…

I would be completely honest with you if I didn’t address some of my fears.

Some, like these, are more obvious than others.  I don’t know if you can tell from these pictures, but I’m terrified of heights.  In fact, I’m crying in both of these.  I’m afraid of quite a few things, not the least of which are public speaking and meeting new people.  But I’ve recently learned a very important lesson: bravery is not the absence of fear, but the courage to act in spite of it.  In light of that, I try to take a page out of one of my favorite books, and follow one brave character’s example: “Whenever I do something, I pretend my fear doesn’t exist.”

  That lesson was hammered home last summer, when I spent two weeks in Colorado on what’s called a Summer Project (which is basically a fancy word for mission trip.)  I got to do cool (and scary) things like rappel and zip line, as you can see above, as well as learn more about my faith and share that faith with others.  It was an amazing experience, one that really changed me, and one that I won’t soon forget.

All this is great, but most of it’s in the past.  What’s next?

  Well, technically this is also in the past.  (I haven’t managed to get a ride on the TARDIS yet, but rest assured I’ll tell you when I do.)  This is from a retreat/mission trip that I went on this spring, to Panama City, Florida.  It was amazingly fun!  I made new friends and learned a lot.  But what does that say about my future?  Well,  this summer is basically going to be an extended version of that trip.  I’m going on a summer project to Miami for 9 weeks!  I’m so excited.  After that, who knows what I’ll do or where I’ll go?  I love to travel, and one day I want to see Europe.  All I know for sure is that I’ll go where the Lord takes me!

So that’s me in a (rather large) nutshell.  I’m also a bit long winded, if you haven’t figured that out by now.  I hope you enjoyed that, and have gotten a taste for just who I am and what sort of things I might be blogging about.