The Tough Romantic Questions Part 5

1. Throughout your life, what experiences do you feel contributed most to the person you have become today?
My schooling at a private Christian school from first grade to 9th.
My freshman year at Western Carolina University
My parents' divorce
Having Kate as a sister
Watching "Animal Planet" while growing up

2. Life is marked by a handful of experiences that change the direction we take. What would you say is one experience that changed the course of your life in general?
My parents' divorce. It changed who I was, what I thought "family" meant, who I thought my parents were, and how safe I felt in my home. You never get over something like that.

3. What is an example of one major decision that you have made, and how did you handle the situation?
I decided to uproot myself and live in an apartment at the beginning of August 2010. I wanted to begin the process of starting my own life and live physically independent from my family. No one understood, but I did. I needed to get out of that house. I needed to break away from the situation in which I was living in and begin my own family. That may seem silly coming from a 19-year-old, but it makes sense to me. Sparta and I... yeah, he's a cat, but we're family. And right now during this summer, Morgan, along with Sparta and our new hamster Nutmeg, and I are a family. We're weird and different, but it is the type of bonds and support I wanted to begin and discover on my own. There's no question that it was hard to leave the house I had grown up in. I can tell you a memory for every square inch of that house and yard. But, I needed a change. I needed to grow.

4. Have you had an experience that you consider to be the most embarrassing? Why was it embarrassing?
Any time I've accidentally eaten Splenda. I'm too embarrassed to explain why. I shall only say... I get very, very, very sick!

5. How do you remember your  "first love?"
I remember him fondly. I still love him, but in a different way. MK and I have a strange relationship - it's a mixture of brother-sister, best friends, and a taste of an older romantic couple. I remember us only have one fight, and I have never raised my voice at him. There's something about MK that if my life doesn't work out the way I want it to, I'd ask him to be with me for the rest of my life. We probably wouldn't marry or be intimate. We'd just share our lives together as the inseparable pair that we are. It's why it kills me so much to not be in the same city or even the same county as he is. To be apart from him is to be missing a part of myself, a part I love and cherish wholeheartedly.

6. What type of pet do you enjoy the most and why?
I've had all types: lizards, snakes, hermit crabs, dogs, cats, hamster, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish (both saltwater and freshwater).... And, I enjoy them all for different reasons.
Dogs for their loyalty.
Cats for their playfulness, curiosity, and cuddle factor.
Small mammals for being so freaking cute and interesting to watch.
In the end, I'm going to have to say a horse. Unfortunately, I've never owned a horse... but it's been the one dream I've had my entire life that still stays with me even today. One day, one day...! My dream is to own a Hanoverian... but I'd take any old thing I could ride and care for.

7. What is your opinion when it comes to marriage?
I used to think, "Nope I'm never going to marry." My friends all referred to me as the "future cat lady," and I had completely accepted this. I was going to live as busy journalist woman with my house of cats to come home to... and maybe a few dogs, and a horse! I didn't want to be married. I didn't and really still don't want to have kids. When I thought about my future, all I saw was a reasonably-sized house with a good chunk of land. That was where my happiness lied.
Then I met Morgan... and as our relationship grew and strengthened, my thoughts of marriage changed. My opinion now is that I just want him. If he were to walk over here right now from the kitchen table in his red gym shorts and plopped down on one knees with just as much as a knotted stem from my dying roses from Valentine's Day and asked me to be the future Mrs. Morgan... I'd say "yes."
...We would then celebrate a very long engagement!

"Morgan" sleeping with Morgan the bear