#askHTC – 29th Birthday Q&A
It was my birthday on Monday and I turned 29! WHAT?! WHAT EVEN IS THIS MADNESS? To be honest, it’s freaking me out a little that I’m in the last year of my twenties, but everyone says that the 30’s are the best, so I’m hanging on to that. Anyway, I asked if anyone on Instagram had any random questions for me on my 29th birthday so we could do a Q&A post and I received quite a few! So, here are my answers to questions about my guilty pleasures, how I approach balancing my life, and if we’re going to try for kids again or not!
29th Birthday Q&A
What are your guilty pleasures?
Listening to Christmas music year round. Yep. I went there. But nothing makes me happier then belting out O’ Holy Night in the middle of my commute to work on a Tuesday in May. My guilty pleasures also include watching Bachelor in Paradise, wandering around TJ Maxx for no reason, and buying a lot of fruit and never eating it before it goes bad.
What is your favorite genre of book to read/movies to watch?
My favorite books of all time are the Harry Potter books, but I weirdly don’t love reading fantasy as much (mainly because nothing in my mind can beat Harry Potter.) I used to teach High School English, so I still read a lot of Young Adult literature and I love historical fiction. In terms of movies to watch – I also love to watch historical fiction (Pride & Prejudice, anyone?) and Indie movies (500 Days of Summer is one of my favorite movies of ALL TIME!)
What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate Malted Crunch from the Thrifty brand you get at RiteAid. Trust me – it’s amazing.
How do you find time to balance your Instagram & life?
HA! I’m probably the least balanced person in the world when it comes to this and I constantly feel like I’m behind in life or in my business/Instagram. I honestly think that “balanced” is pretty much the same word as “perfect” and there is just no way anyone can truly balance it all. However, I find that the best methodology for me to follow when trying to get everything I need to/want to get done is to think about what balls I’m juggling. Everyone is juggling glass balls and tennis balls and when things get a little chaotic, I worry about just keeping my glass balls in the air and don’t stress out about dropping my tennis balls. Why? Because tennis balls will bounce back up!
So, every day, I have to figure out what glass balls and tennis balls I’m juggling and which ones I can drop if necessary. Do I drop the laundry tennis ball because I can do it tomorrow? Maybe! Do I drop the sponsored Instagram post that’s due for a brand? Absolutely not! It really helps me prioritize my projects when things get a little crazy!
Do you have a blog post or something that talks about your childhood cancer?
Yes! I have a ton of them! You can read about my diagnosis here, about why cancer complicates my birthday here, and thoughts and emotions about being a 12-year cancer survivor here!
Does your birthday month get any easier by the year, or is it still challenging?
Both. I’ve been going back to therapy and working on finding safe & healthy coping mechanisms that help me get through March in a more positive way and that’s made the last few March’s better for me. However, I still deal with extreme sadness and guilt throughout the month and my coping mechanisms simply help me get out of those trenches faster. This year, March was decent for me. Since we were going through the house listing and selling process, I was really busy and that helped me not think too much about other things. However, I still had some days where I was incredibly sad and emotional and depressed. My actual birthday was great, though, because of all of the love I felt from my friends, family, and followers!
Do you plan on trying for kids again in the future?
Yes! We definitely want to have kids and that’s part of our plan! It took me a long time to work through the emotions and trauma that came with our miscarriage, but going to therapy has really helped me get to a safer place mentally so that I can feel excited about trying for kids again! We’re working through a few health issues right now, but fingers crossed we’re able to announce a pregnancy sometime this year!
How did you & Dustin meet?
We met in college! We had a couple of classes together, and on the first day of the semester, I wore a blue bow in my hair and he noticed it from across the lecture hall. The next day we had different classes, and I wore the same blue bow (I’m an outfit repeater, sorry) and when he walked into the class, he immediately recognized me. On the third day, he sat next to me and introduced himself and said: “I think we have a couple of classes together.” We spent the rest of the class writing notes back and forth and by the end of the hour, he had my number.
What religion are you?
I am currently an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
What is one of your favorite qualities about yourself?
I absolutely loved this question and this was the topic of my whole birthday dinner discussion with Dustin. Very rarely do I stop and think (and give myself credit) for the things I’m good at or the things I like about myself. I’m constantly focused on the things that I want to improve on or the things I want to be better at. But to sit down and identify something I like about myself? What a fun challenge. One of my favorite qualities about myself is that I’m a very good sister. In fact, that’s one of the things I feel like I’m absolutely owning at in life. I’m the oldest of four and I absolutely adore being a big sister and I love that I live close enough to my family to actively be a big sister to my siblings in adulthood. I also feel like I’m a really loyal friend and I hope that’s something others think I am, too!
Whew! That was fun! Thanks so much for indulging me and making me feel important enough to answer questions about my life. I’m so excited for my 29th year and all the things to come. Cheers to making it the most vibrant one yet!
