Get to Know Me Tag!

I was tagged by the incredible Zuky @ Bookbum Zuky for this tag. If you guys haven’t checked out her blog yet, you definitely should! She runs an awesome blog, and her tor.com Thursday meme is super fun!

I love learning more about the bloggers I follow, and I love feeling like my followers know me, so I’m pretty excited for this tag! Let’s get to it!

---

The Vital Stats:

Name: Ryann

Nicknames: Ry, Eli. My 3-year-old nephew also calls me “why-ry”

Birthday: February 5th! Which is both Mexican Constitution Day, and occasionally, Super Bowl Sunday.

Star Sign: Aquarius

Occupation: Student; substitute teacher

---

Appearance:

Hair color: Pretty dark brown. I tried to dye it once, but the color didn’t show up well on said dark hair.

Hair length: It goes about halfway down my back. It’s a teensy bit longer than it was in that picture up there.

Eye color: Blue! Their blueness (?) kind of changes. Sometimes they look REALLY blue, other times they’re kind of steely gray, sometimes they’re kind of turquoise-ish, and if the light hits them just right, they look glow-in-the-dark blue. Basically, their blue scale depends on the lighting and my mood.

Best feature: I would have to go with my eyes. I like that they change colors, and I like that, depending on my mood and how I hold my face, they help me accomplish anything from the “you-done-messed-up-and-now-you’re-gonna-pay-for-it” look I sometimes give my brothers, to the “I’m-a-sweet-and-fragile-butterfly-please-don’t-hurt-me” look I have also had to give to my brothers.

Braces: I don’t have them anymore, but I used to. It. Was. HORRIBLE! I had my braces for three years, and had just about everything imaginable: headgear (aka metal sleep depriver), a palatal expander (aka the thing that literally breaks part of your mouth), and a herbst appliance (aka THIS HORRIBLE CONTRAPTION!). My mouth basically felt like a Terminator for grades 7, 8, and 9. But now I have straight teeth and you can actually see my jawline, so I suppose they were worth it.

Piercings: I have two piercings in both earlobes, but I can’t even remember the last time I wore earrings.

Tattoos: Not yet, I’m still working up the courage (and the cash). But I know I want at least three. For sure, I want “From the ashes, a fire shall be woken” (LOTR quote) along my collarbone. And a sort of minimalist lion on the inside of my left elbow (either something like this, or this), cuz, ya know, Aslan. And after that, I get really torn between an itty-bitty compass right where my wrist meets my hand, something like this on the back of my neck, or something like this on the shoulder opposite the LOTR quote. I could go on for a while, but if you’re really curious, feel free to go check out my Tattoos Pinterest Board.

Right or left: I’m right-handed (please know that I typed “write” and then “wright” before I finally got the right “right” :P), but I played violin for so many years that my left hand is a lot stronger and does most of the work outside of writing.

---

Firsts:

Holiday: There were a few my parents have told me about that I don’t remember. The first one in my memory was a family camping trip. I remember it because my dad took me for a walk in the woods, and was teaching me about animal tracks and such, when we stumbled on a little clearing filled with deer. 4-year-old Ryann thought that was rad in and of itself, but then a couple of coyotes came out of the woods and started trying to test the deer. They would chase one a little ways to see if it was sick or hurt and worth the hunt. I am glad to say that no animals were harmed in the making of this memory; as soon as the coyotes saw that the whole group was pretty healthy, they stalked off to find another meal. But it was such a cool demonstration of nature, and so utterly new to my 4-year-old self, that it has stuck with me as clear as day.

Best Friend: My first best friend was a girl named Casey. We became friends in kindergarten because we were both a little weird. She was a suuuper tomboy who always wore a backwards Miami Dolphins hat and refused to wear dresses or skirts or anything. My only siblings are brothers, so we clicked over the fact that neither of us would ever want to play house with the girls, but the boys did everything they could to keep us from the blocks. But we kind of grew apart in fourth grade; I don’t even think we’re Facebook friends now that I think of it.

Award: This is kind of cheesy, but when I was in elementary school, we used to have “First Class Kid” awards. Each teacher would pick someone from their class they thought was an exemplary student, and for the next two months, they would have their picture on the “First Class Kid” wall, and they would get a certificate for free ice cream from our local ice cream place. In all honesty, all you had to do to win was follow the rules in the most basic ways, so it wasn’t all that special, but I did appreciate the ice cream.

Sport: I started basketball and soccer at about the same time. (Though neither of those compares to the best sport: volleyball)

Concert: So, my dad has a degree in music, and is a huuuge music nerd, and taught us to be as well. (My little brother and I are both kind of those snobby people who are like, (cue nasally voice) “We don’t listen to what’s on the radio, we listen to real music like Holst, Haydn, and Vivaldi.” But then we also listen to stuff like this, so we’re not really music snobs, we’re just… well versed, I guess.) Anyway, for my birthday (and my first concert) my dad took me to see the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra play Appalachian Springs (comp. Aaron Copland). We sat in the third row, so I could see all of the string players’ mechanics; their bow control, their vibratos, how fast their fingers moved. I fell in love with stringed instruments and decided to pick up the violin.

---

Favorites:

TV shows: Parks and Recreation, Lie to Me, New Girl, Firefly :'(, Sherlock, Attack on Titan, and Death Note. There are probably more, but that’s all I have off the top of my head.

Color: Turquoise

Song: Oh gosh! At the moment, I’d say, maybe “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity,” but my favorite song/music genre changes almost hourly.

Restaurant: There’s this place in my city called Red Sun, and they make this appetizer that I get every time, without fail, called stretched bread. It’s basically fancy bread with a sweet Guinness beer reduction, and a cheddar beer deep. It’s basically bread, cheese, and beer all rolled into one, with shallots on the side, and I LOVE it.

Shop: I really like Teavana, cuz tea. The only bookstore we have near me is B&N. I don’t know, I don’t really do a whole lot of shopping unless I need something, and then I just go to wherever I think they’ll have it.

Books: There are so many to choose from! Obviously The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. I’d also go with The Name of the Wind, No Matter the Wreckage, and The Picture of Dorian Gray (one of the few classics I like).

Shoes: As far as shoe brands go, I don’t have one. For specific pairs, my first favorite is a pair of boots my dad got me (he has pretty good fashion sense). They’re a sort of faded brown, lined with wool, and you can fold down the tops if you want. They’re warm, comfy, and cute, so I wear them almost every day. For summers, I have a pretty old pair of sandals. They’re not that cute, but they are incredibly comfortable, and I like them because they don’t get gross or uncomfortable when they get wet, which is a big deal for my summer time.

---

Currently:

Feeling: Really tired. I had to get up early to take my dog to the vet for some routine shots, and I’m pet sitting for this lady, which means I’m pretty much living at her house and making sure her cat is fed. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, except that I’m really allergic to cats and forgot my allergy medicine. So sleeping has been a little difficult the past few nights.

Single or Taken: Single as a slice of cheese

Eating: At this exact moment, nothing, but as soon as I finish this post, I’m making myself some BLTs!

Thinking About: Don’t judge me, but, as I’m writing this, I’m thinking about Moby Dick. My last paper for college was “A Battle of the Sexes: Colonized Maternal Identities in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.” I was really proud of it, and my professor submitted it for an award, and they’re supposed to be announcing the winners by the end of this week. I’m basically mentally looking for flaws in my paper and wondering how many mistakes I made. It’s great -_-

Watching: Impractical Jokers. I can tune it out to do this post, but it makes me chuckle when I’m paying attention

Wearing: Running pants and a long gray sweatshirt. And lime green socks.

---

Future:

Want Children: This is gonna make me sound really callous, but not my own kids. I really, REALLY, don’t like babies, and I don’t want to be pregnant or give birth. (This is usually when people ask, “But what if your future husband wants kids?!” Well, if he can find a way to carry and give birth, and is willing to get up when this 0-4 year-old needs care at 3 am, then sure, let’s go for it. Until then, no thank-you). But I would adopt kids. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I would make a great parent, and there are plenty of kids in this world that need a home without me making another one. And, once kids reach about 4 or 5 years old, I start to love them.

Want to be married: Yes, please!  I love weddings, and I like the idea of the government having a bunch of official love documents on people.

Careers in mind: I wish I knew. I’ve yet to find a job that makes me really want a career in that field. I’m hoping to explore the publishing/editing field a bit more this summer, and then there’s the possibility of being an English teacher. But I’m still not sure. And I keep trying to remind myself that that’s okay.

Where you want to live: Honestly, I love New York State. I would want to travel around a lot, but I would want my home base to still be in this area.

---

Do you believe in:

God: Yep

Miracles: Yes

Love at first sight: No. I think people can feel a connection, or intense infatuation, but love needs to be developed over time.

Ghosts: No

Aliens: Kind of? I believe in the possibility of other life, but I don’t think I’m ever gonna run into ET or anything. Basically, I believe more than Scully, but much less than Mulder.

Soul Mates: Again, kind of? I don’t believe that, out of 7 billion people, there is only one meant for everyone. But I do believe that there are certain people in your life, romantic or platonic, that are meant to be there, if that makes sense.

Heaven: Yes

Hell: Yes

Kissing in the first date: If you’re asking about me specifically, I don’t think I would ever kiss on the first date, because I’m super shy and awkward. If you’re asking about first date kisses in general, then live your dreams. If you want dat booty on the first date, or even five minutes after meeting someone, why should I care?

Yourself: Sometimes. I have good days and bad days.

---

I tag you!

 Sofii @ A Book. A Thought. / Angelica @ The Book Cover Girls

 Jasmine @ How Useful It Is / Sophie @ Blame it on Chocolate / Savana @ The Biblio Life

If you’re not interested in doing this for whatever reason, don’t feel like you have to! I know life can get pretty crazy sometimes!

---

Thanks for reading! Do you disagree with me on any of these points? Is there anything else you want to know about me? Let me know in the comments below!