The Sunshine Blogger Award

Sorry it took me so long to get around to this post; I’m a little behind because of this deadly cold my immune system let slip through (seriously, immune system, you had one job).

But, without any further ado:

Many thanks to the wonderful Zuky the BookBum for nominating me for this award. She is definitely a ray of sunshine and you guys should absolutely check out her blog!

Rules:

• Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write then 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog

Let’s get started!

Zuky’s Questions:

What’s your favourite book/movie of all time and why did it speak to you so much?

So, if you’ve been following me for any length of time, it should come as no surprise that my favorite book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. (Not the movie, we don’t talk about the movie). I was a pretty fearful kid (it’s gonna get a little dark and a little deep for a sec). When I was probably 5-7 years old, I was the sort of kid who was afraid of the dark, not because of the dark itself, but because I would lay awake all night while my brain tried to convince me that people were breaking into my house to a) kidnap me, or b) harm my family in some way. I don’t know why little five year-old Ryann thought these things, but it got pretty old pretty fast. Parts of TVotDT deal with facing your fears head on, and more than facing them, embracing them as an adventure that only you can overcome. It helped me get over some of my fears, and to this day, whenever I don’t want to do something  because I’m afraid, I’ll whisper some of Reepicheep’s lines to myself (“We cannot now refuse the adventure that is set before us” or “No danger seems so great as knowing when I get back [home] that I left a mystery behind me through fear.”) That’s just one of the many reasons I love this book! (and that was a really long and deep answer to your question, hope you don’t mind!)

What’s the one thing that people always misunderstand about you?

People think I don’t like hugs or I hate being touched, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’m just somewhat particular about who I hug. When I was in high school, I did drama club, and people I didn’t even know were constantly coming up to me and hugging me or playing with my hair or touching my face telling me how I should wear makeup, and I would just kind of be sitting there going, “I’m sorry, have I ever seen you before in my life?” But once we’re friends, I’m like “HUG ME!! LOOOOVE ME!!!”

If you could bring one musician back to life, who would it be and why?

So, I have really only two go-to genres of music (ex 1 and ex 2), so as lame as it sounds, I would probably bring back, like, the first Irish master violinist, or one of the original psalmists, just so I could watch them work and see their process and everything.

If you had to live without one of your senses, which would you give up?

This is such a hard one!! I would probably go with taste. Sight, hearing, and touch all help me learn, and I love the smell of nature and just the smell of being outside. Plus, they say a big portion of taste is actually made up by smell, so I’m hoping my nose will make up for my lack of taste.

How would you spend 1 million pounds/dollars?

I would probably take half of it and upgrade my car and my phone, travel a bit, and buy a second laptop specifically for games, plus a few other things. Whatever was left of that first half I would probably invest so that I could be accruing value for retirement and such. Then, with the second half, I would probably donate to different charities. (Does that make me sound incredibly boring?)

What was your childhood dream job?

When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved animals and wanted to spend all my time with them, but then I realized I didn’t think I would be able to handle some of the more… unpleasant veterinarian tasks.

If you could change one law, what would it be and what would you change it to?

(I feel like I should be more up to date on American Laws…) I would probably change any and all laws that allow people like Brock Turner to only get 3 months of jail time. The whole issue terrifies me, to be honest.

Do you have any heroes? Who are they?

It might seem obvious, but C.S. Lewis is one of my heroes, as is J.R.R. Tolkien. And Joan of Arc is one of my favorite historical figures. And Mary Edwards Walker (who was born and raised only twenty minutes from my house).

Other than books, what are you passionate about?

This is always a tough question for me, because I don’t really feel passionate about much. Obviously I love stories and the written word, but I also love speaking. I actually LOVE public speaking; I love giving speeches and doing presentations. Other than that, I love watching other people do what they’re passionate about, and doing what I can to help them achieve their dreams.

What is your biggest fear?

Well, I’m claustrophobic, so there’s that. I’m also deeply afraid that I’ll never reach my fullest potential, that there will be some unexplored avenue or undeveloped talent that I could have excelled at.

Do you have any pets? PICS PLEASE!!!!

I have my little sass master, Tia. Whenever I try to take her picture, she either rolls her eyes, or else she’s sleeping (so I don’t have any great pics of her). But as soon as my friend Tricia tries to take her pic, she’s all perky ears and happy tails. I love her so much. She helps keep me cozy when I’m reading.

Tia loves books, too!

She always rolls her eyes at me.

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My Nominations:

Angela @ Pooled Ink / Jess @ Beaucoup Books / Vikki @ The Mundane Teenage Life / Savana @ The Biblio Life 

(Four nominations is close to eleven, right?) But seriously, each one of these lovely bloggers is a ray of sunshine so you guys should all definitely go check out their blogs!

My Questions for You:

1. Here’s the thing: I, too, am a sucker for cute pet pictures, so if you have pets and you have pics, I’d love to see them!
2. If you could own any animal, real or fictional, what would it be and why?
3. Which books top your “faves” list?
4. If you could live in any fictional universe, which would you choose and why?
5. Because it’s just about dinner time while I’m writing this, what is your favourite food? Or your least favourite?
6. A genie appears and offers you three, and only three, wishes! What do you wish for and why?
7. If everyone you meet from now on could instantly know one thing about you, what would you want them to know?
8. Have you ever read a book/series so good that you almost wanted to cry when it was over? What book/series was it?
9. If you got to choose your own name, would you keep the one you have now or change it to something else?
10. What’s your idea of the perfect vacation or day off?
11. If you could do any job in the world, what would it be and why?

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Thanks for reading! If there’s anything else you want to know about me, all you have to do is ask!