A couple of brave souls asked me questions this week, so here ya go ;):

Goofy Girl asks, “What’s the most valuble experience you’ve had so far?”

I actually feel like I’ve been blessed with many valuable experiences. I come from a very loving and supportive family, I was educated at one of the best private high schools in the nation, and I’m currently attending one of the top 30 universities in the nation. There have been so many doors opened for me, that it’s hard to pick just one valuable experience. But hey, this is my blog, I can write about whatever I want! So I’m gonna give you the top few most valuable experiences.

A kind of broad one - every June when I was growing up my dad would have to go to a convention for work for about a week (usually the week of my birthday, June 7). This particular convention is always held in a different city, so every year Daddy would bring Mama, my brother Bo and I along with him! Though this took place over many years, I’m going to lump it together as one valuable experience. Some of the places we went include New Orleans, Washington State, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, San Antonio, the Grand Canyon . . . all sorts of places that I was studying in school. I really felt like school came alive for me because I’d study about a place, and then a couple months later, I’d go there! I can’t emphasize enough the value of travelling with children. There are probably a lot of things that I missed because I was younger, but the experience of feeling like what I was learning in school was important was priceless. I think that my sense of patriotism and my respect for our nation is a direct result of travelling with my family when I was young. Plus it doesn’t hurt that we almost always got along, so the trips were always a lot of fun!

While I have had very valuable and wonderful schooling in the past eight years or so, I was raised in very rural (very hick) south Georgia. I attended a very poorly financed public school until I was ten years old. There were some good things about that (like the fact that I was the most motivated, and therefore viewed as the smartest, student . . . literally, in fifth grade they gave me a plaque that said I was the smartest student in the school, how ridiculous it that . . . if you know me now, then you’ll know just how uneducated everyone else is, cause I’m not that intelligent), but I think that one of the reasons that I value the education I have had is because I know what it could have been like had I not had the opportunities that I have had. Many students who are educated in the private school system take for granted the top notch education that they receive, and they feel entitled to the opportunites and opened doors. I don’t feel like that at all. God has blessed my family in being able to provide this education for me, and I see that because I know what the other way feels like too. Are there things I am still blind to? Of course . . . I HAVE had unique opportunities, so there is an element where I don’t know what it feels like to truly struggle. But I feel like I know that there is struggle, I’ve seen it firsthand, and there’s an understanding there that a lot of people miss out on.

A very difficult experience that I’ve has changed the course of my life is the fact that both of my parents have had cancer. When I was a sophomore in high school, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy (radical on one side, simple on the other). This was devastating for our family, but not one of us regrets that it happened. We had always been close, but we are so much closer now because of all that we went through. She passed the five year mark this past fall, and is still in remission. Then, freshman year of college, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This was almost more terrifying than when my mom got sick, because I was at college, and I couldn’t see Daddy and hug him. It was a very difficult semester for me. He had his prostate removed that spring, and we will soon be upon his three year mark of him being in remission. A lot of people said that they felt so bad for us since both my parents have had cancer, but all four of us have said that if it had to happen to any family, we’re glad it happened to ours. God knows that we are strong in Him, and that we love each other very much, and where this might tear a family apart, He knew that we could handle it. Both my parents are in great health, and if you met them in real life, you would NEVER know that they had been sick. It’s truly a miracle.

And I can’t not mention the valuable experience that I am currently having. MagicMouth Productions is a theatre company that two of my best friends have started this year, and I feel so blessed that they have pulled me in with them. They’re still the two co-founders, but the three of us are working as a team to get this production company up and running, and to get this amazing show on the stage. We’re creating a new, innovative form of theatre . . . we’re combining theatre and “magic show” in a way that has never been done before. I’ve never felt so impassioned about a task that’s been given to me, and I know that this is going to be something truly great. I’m currently in the middle of one of the most valuable experiences of my life, and that is awesome.

If you’re still reading, I’m impressed, LOL! I’ve got one more question to answer, and this one is a little bit more light-hearted. Running2Ks asks, “What made you start blogging, and what keeps you going with it–what do you like best? Is it what you expected?”

I’ve have ALWAYS been a writer. I was entering state-wide writing competitions back in the first grade (and won)! I’ve kept a journal since I was seven, and I wrote a book in middle school (think Baby-Sitters Club - it was 160 pages). But once I got into high school and college, I began doing so much writing for school that I didn’t have a chance to do much for pleasure. In high school I began to get addicted to the computer. It started with The Sims, AOL Instant Messenger, and doing the layout for my high school newspaper (I was Editor-in-Chief). In college I found my way to an MSN Group (Sunshine Sigs), which got me turned on to graphic design. This led to me starting a website, then starting an online business, and then it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. About a year ago I somehow stumbled upon WordPress and thought that it would be neat to have a little blog to post updates to my website with. Well, once I figured out how the thing worked and got started, the writer in me got going, and it turned into the blog that it is now. I didn’t really come into blogging with any expectations - I just figured it would be fun for me to do, and if a couple of my friends read it, great! But now it’s turned into something that I truly enjoy doing, and I love the connections that I make through blogs, meeting new people, and just the community that blogging has. I feel honored that people actually read my blog, have an interest in what I have to say. I am so thrilled to have taken on the Thursday Thirteen because it’s such a cool little community. And to be honest, all this blogging has got me wanting to write again - really write. Once I graduate, I am looking forward to getting back into creative writing, possibly even writing another book, or revamping the one that I did before. So yeah, all that from blogging, haha!

Alright, I’m sure everyone’s had enough of me, so I’m gonna go now. Just some food for thought! I’d love to answer more questions or discuss more topics, so please, keep them coming!!!