The Grand 3rd/4th Year Blogiversary Q&A Post!!!

Hello again! How are you all? It's so good to get back to blogging again!

So, guys... Guess what day it is?

It's my blog's 4th birthday!!! And that means of course, much excitement abounds!!!

However... it also means that it's been a whole year now since I first asked for questions for that special 3rd year blogiversary Q&A I was going to do. And, as you can clearly see, I never did actually post that Q&A last year (or by July 31st like I said I was going to in another more recent post... D:).

So, of course, I have been quite disappointed with myself over this. I feel bad for being lazy and not sticking with the plan and working harder to keep my word in posting this for my 3rd blogiversary last year like I said I was going to. So, I wanted to apologize to you all. I will try much harder in the future to post what I say I'm going to post in a much more timely fashion. I truly am sorry, guys.

But, I suppose...... the phrase "better late than never" could be applied quite well in this situation, right? At least I finally AM posting it, even if it is quite late.

Also, before I start with the questions, I wanted to give more of an actual reason of why it's taken me so long to answer these questions, besides using the excuse of just plain laziness...
So, one thing that actually held me up on this Q&A were honestly the questions about what the future of this blog was to be, or what I wanted it to be. And the thing is... I wasn't exactly sure (and I'm STILL not exactly sure at this very moment) what all I want to happen with this blog in the future or where I see it going (but I definitely do have ideas, some in which I will tell about in my answers). So, I guess since I didn't feel like I had a very good answer for those questions, I kind of just skipped over them, answering the rest first. And then, when I came back around to those more thoughtful questions about the future, it seemed like I was never able to put down a satisfactory answer to them. But... NO MORE. Even if I don't know everything, I shall answer these questions as best I can. :)

Thank you SO MUCH to Brooklyne, Faith, and Olivia for all the questions you all asked me last year for this special Q&A! And now... to FINALLY get to answering them!

Welcome to The Grand 3rd/4th Year Blogiversary Q&A, everyone!! Let's gooooo!!!

Brooklyne's questions:

What has been the biggest thing you have learned from your blogging experience? 
I think one of the biggest things I've learned is to not be so concerned with how many or few followers I have. To think more about quality than quantity. And another big thing I've been learning through blogging, too, is to not second guess myself so much by worrying about my writing not being good enough to share with others.

Where do you see your blog in the next three years? 

Okay. So. Here we go... XD

One main dream and goal that I've always had is to write books. So, as I write those books and get them published, I see myself using this blog as one way to help share some of those stories with you guys. In the next three years, I see it as more of a place where I'm sharing more of my stories and testimonies, a place where people continue to be encouraged and reminded of who they are in Christ and how to use their own gifts and talents for the glory of God especially, and a place where I can provide more helps in those areas through my writing, as well as through videos/vlogs, and maybe even graphic design. Also, creating and selling Christian t-shirts is also an idea that my brother and I are thinking and working on right now, so that might become a thing I do here as well.

So yeah, I'm still just figuring it all out. But that's kind of a general idea of the direction I'd like to head.

If you were to give a friend wanting to start a blog a tip about blog design, what would it be?

Hmm, well, one tip I'd give is to not have too many clashing patterns or colors. If you have a header like my current one with a picture with more patterns and things going on in it, you usually don't want to have a really patterny background. I have a basic white, shimmering lights-looking background on mine right now that doesn't clash much with the look of the header but instead (hopefully) compliments it.

What has been the hardest part about blogging? 

Keeping up with it mainly, and posting regularly... as you could probably tell by now! :P Real life has tended to get in the way of this blog many times (which I suppose isn't always a bad thing necessarily as it is more important to focus on our "real life" more than our internet/social media life overall).

What has been the best thing about blogging?

One of the best things has been getting to meet and know so many other Christian bloggers here in the "blogosphere"! :) I had no idea before I started blogging just how many other Christian bloggers were out there writing great, God-honoring things! It's really encouraging to see so many people of this generation out there spreading the good news through the internet.

What made you want to start a blog?

Reading other blogs, my love for writing, and my mom's encouragement were the main reason I started a blog. I had secretly wanted to start one for some time before I actually did, but I hadn't really said anything to my parents about it since I was so busy (and a little behind) with school and other things at the time. So, because of that, I thought they might not think it would be the best idea for me to spend so much time keeping up with a silly little blog. But then one day, my mom and I were talking about blogs and she mentioned to me that I should start one and could put my writing and photography and other things like that on there. So, I gladly told her that I'd very much like that, and got right on it! :)

Dogs or cats? 

Cats. :) (We have kittens right now and THEY ARE ADORABLE!)

(Behold the cuteness! XD)

Sweet or savory? 

Hmmm... It really just depends on what I'm in the mood for at the time. Sometimes I'm just in a mood for sweet things, and then other times I really crave something savory. But if I HAD to choose? Ohhhh..... I guess I'd probably pick sweet... No, savory. Well, again, it just really depends. xD

Winter or summer? 

Can I say both? No? Well, alright. I'll pick summer because of the longer daylight and not having to take time to bundle up before going outside. I enjoy being outside a lot, so summer is a nice time of year. (But I really enjoy winter as well because snow, and Christmas, and sledding, and hot chocolate, and fireplaces, and crisp cool air, etc. xD There's just something great about every season I think. :) ) 

Hot chocolate or coffee...or ice cream?

Oooohhhh. Well, I'm not a coffee person, but I really enjoy hot chocolate and ice cream. Hmm... I'll choose ice cream!

Audio book or paperback?

Paperback. I actually haven't listened to a whole lot of audio books, to be honest... I feel like if I did listen to an audio book though, I'd want to be reading along in the book as I'm listening... which I guess kind of defeats the purpose of an audio book? xD I should probably take time to listen to more audio books though so I can actually have a better opinion of them. :P

Favorite music?

I like lots of different kinds of music! I mainly listen to either Christian or instrumental music. But as for what genre of music... it just really depends on what I'm in the mood for. During Christmas time, it's Christmas music, of course! (And it's almost that time of year again! HOW??) On occasion I like old-timey sounding music (like from the 40s and 50s), especially with Christmas songs. 

I usually enjoy variety in music and not listening to the same sounding songs all the time. But there's always kind of those "phases" that I sometimes go through with listening to certain songs and/or a certain genre/sound (if that made any sense what I just said. xD). Anyway, so a few favorite artists of mine are Carman, Jamie Grace, The Lads, and Steven Curtis Chapman. And a few favorite songs of mine right now are Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman, Five Sparrows by God Rocks, and So Will I by Hillsong.

Please do yourself a favor and watch and listen to this amazingly beautiful lyric video and song all the way through.  <3

Favorite movie (or TV show)?

I have many favorite movies! Once again... it just really just depends on what I'm in the mood for. (Can you tell yet that I sometimes have trouble picking favorites? :P) But okay okay... one favorite of mine is Beyond the Mask.

And as for a TV show, a have quite a few favorites of those as well. But, as of right now, I think my favorite would either be Wanted: Dead or Alive or Daniel Boone. A lot of times older shows tend to have better moral value to them than many shows nowadays, which causes me to generally lean toward liking older shows better. (Not that I don't like some newer ones, too, but older shows will always hold a special place in my heart. <3)

Favorite holiday? 

Christmas has always been one of my favorites!

Favorite color? 

Pink! (Of course, I enjoy many other colors as well, but ever since I was little, pink just continues to be at the top of the list for some reason. xD)

Favorite book? 

Well, my favorite book would definitely be the Bible. :) But I'm assuming you're meaning a favorite fictional one, so... that's a bit of a tougher choice. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher and By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman have been a couple favorites recently.

Favorite author? 

I don't think I really have a favorite author. I have favorite books... but, hmm... Maybe Sid Fleischman? I especially enjoy his different writing styles and characters in the books that I've read by him so far.

Favorite fall/winter activity?

I always like doing things outside (unless it's super cold). One thing I've always really enjoyed doing is sledding and/or playing out in the snow with my siblings. As we've gotten older, we haven't done that as much of course, but I really enjoy it when we do have time to all go and have fun out in the snow together. :)

Favorite hobby?

Writing and coming up with stories has always been a favorite hobby of mine (that I really hope to turn into more than a hobby someday!).

If you could plan a perfect vacation, what would it look like? 

Alright. SO. I would make a basic schedule, especially if I was vacationing somewhere where there are a lot of historic sights and/or places to go see. I would write it down, which thing to see which day, and try to follow it as best I could. On the first day, I might sleep in more, but most the rest of the days, I would try hard to get up earlier in the morning so that I could get out and do as many things as possible and stay on schedule. Now, I wouldn't have a super strict schedule; there would still be some leg room in there to do random stuff and such that comes up, so yeah. It would still be super fun and we would get to see and do lots of fun things!! ;)

So, that's for the basic schedule... but maybe you were meaning more of the kind of vacation place that I think would be "perfect." :P Well, since flying out to Colorado for the first time last summer and staying in a nice cabin out there with my family, I think something like that would be a great vacation! :) Staying in a nicely furnished cabin/house like the one we stayed in with all the lovely pine and aspen trees surrounding it was great fun! The only things that could have been enhanced to make it more "perfect" I suppose would be if it had more of a view of the mountains from the cabin, didn't have other houses so close to it, and had a pool and/or hot tub. I think that would be just about perfect! ;D

(From our trip! It was so purty out there!)

But, you know, there's also a lot more details and such and other locations (like the Swiss Alps, for example) that I'd like to go to as well, but I won't get into all that right now as it would probably take me much too long. :P

If you suddenly received your dream car, what would it be?

I honestly don't really have a "dream car" that I've always wanted. My mom has a Mercury that's quite nice that I drive sometimes. I like how easy it is to handle and the spaciousness of it. I think I would like a car that's similar to that one in a white, light blue, or burgundy red. 

What is one of your goals for this coming year, 2019?

One of my goals that I made at the beginning of this year was to finish and publish one of my stories. *Glances back at how that's coming along* Soooo, yeah... most of this year hasn't seen much progress with that. But I still have like, two more months right? I set myself a sort of unofficial NaNoWriMo goal to get my "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" story at least halfway finished by the end of the month. So, hopefully I can get at least the first draft of that story done by the end of the year... We'll see how that goes though. :P

But now, as for THIS coming year, 2020, I have the same goal again as I had this year: To actually finish and publish one of my stories. (Especially since, at this point in the year now, I don't think that getting a full-length story actually all edited and published by the end of this year is going to be a very realistic goal for me with school, church, work, and everything else going on in my life right now.)

What does a typical day look like for you?

Well, it really kind of varies. But most days, I get up and read my Bible and/or pray some in the morning (Though, sometimes I don't always honestly do the best on that and need to work on doing that better...); eat breakfast; do school; do church work (working on our church's website, sending out church calendars/letters, making event graphics, etc.); do some chores and work around the house; usually help with making supper; hang out with my family in the evening (sometimes playing a game on the computer with my younger brother, or watching a movie/show with my family); and, at the end of the day when I go to bed, I've gotten in the habit of writing something good that happened that day or something I'm thankful for down in my journal. :)

Of course though, there are usually always other extra things that get thrown in different days along with these main things; like sometimes I go to an event or a friend's house, or do other work around the house like mowing or gardening, etc. And sometimes, like today, I even find time to actually write or blog! XD

Do you have any siblings?

Yes, I have three great brothers. :)

Do you live in the city or county? 

In the country, and I wouldn't want it any other way! We don't live on a farm (YET... we've been looking around), but we currently live around a few farms.

(View from our backyard last winter! *heart eyes*)

Faith's questions:

What inspired you to start a blog?

*Points up to Brooklyne's sixth question* XD

What's your favorite thing about blogging?

I kind of already answered this with Brooklyne's question as well, but again, my favorite thing I think is just being able to meet other Christian bloggers through it!

Do you have a vision/projection for this blog one year from now? 

Well, now being a year since this question was originally asked, I certainly didn't envision this blog to be at pretty much the same place as it was last year... which is basically what has happened.

*re-evaluating my blogging life*

But anyway. What's done is done. As for a year from NOW though... here it is:

So, not too long ago, I got more of a vision for this blog that I was really excited about at the time. Part of that vision was for it to become more of a place to help encourage and equip others to use their gifts, the things that they "like", for the glory of God. (Because it's called "I Like That"... get it? Well, maybe it sounded more clever at the time I first thought of it... xD ) But then, a little bit went by, and I didn't do much about this new idea, and then later I was second guessing it and everything... But now, as I'm thinking about it again, I believe that's still part of the direction I'd like to head with this blog, along with sharing more of my stories here, like I said in Brooklyne's question up there.

So yeah, I haven't really taken a lot of time to actually just sit down and lay out a solid plan, but that's a little bit of insight into what I think will be part of my plan for this blog within this next year. In short, my main goal and vision for this blog is simply this: To continue to glorify God and bring others closer to Him. <3

Are you a homeschool grad?

Yes, I am! I feel so blessed that my mom took so much of her precious time to homeschool my siblings and me; it was a wonderful experience. <3

Favorite candy?

Kit-Kats and Twix! Actually, it's funny, I was just talking to one of my cousins not too long ago about favorite candies and he agreed that Kit-Kats and Twix are one of the best, and I was all like...

But I definitely won't turn down other kinds of candy though, especially if they're chocolate-related. ;)

Olivia's Questions:

Have you watched any "newer" musicals, like Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables or anything like that?

No, I haven't watched those, but I have seen Mary Poppins Returns and The Greatest Showman, which I suppose are kind of more "newer" musicals. :)

What is your favorite thing about each season?

AHHHH, there are so many things I enjoy about the different seasons! But I'll try to actually answer the question right and just say ONE favorite thing I like about each:

-In the Winter, I enjoy the snow, and the colder weather, and the coziness of being inside a warm house in front of a fire, and sweaters and fuzzy blankets and warm drinks (hot chocolate especially) and...... (Alright, I'm sorry, I'm already breaking the rules and saying more than one thing... :P)

-In the Spring, I enjoy the freshness in the air, and the newness about everything as things begin to grow and the weather becomes warmer.

-In the Summer, I like being able to go out without having to bundle up warm first, and the longer days, and fireflies, and summer evenings, and picnics, and.... (Oops, sorry there I go again...)

-In the Fall, I like how the weather becomes cooler, the smell and sound of crispy fallen leaves, and the nostalgic feeling of how it's soon going to be Thanksgiving and Christmas once again. :)

Do you ever dream about what your wedding (especially your wedding dress) might look like? ;)

Yes! I mean really, what girl doesn't? ;) (Well, maybe there actually are some girls out there who don't dream about stuff like that, but... well, the majority of girls I think do. xD) Anyway. YES. I do dream about that many times.

I've gone back and forth between whether I'd want pink to be the main wedding color. Pink, as I said before, is one of my favorite colors. ;) I think light pink bridesmaid dresses would be lovely, but I personally wouldn't prefer the groom and groomsmen to have pink ties or bows.... so.... (yeah, I maybe have thought about this some. :P)

And as for wedding dresses... these are some styles that I like a lot:

ALL THE BEAUTIFUL LACE.

But, of course, as I've gotten older I've realized that as much as I want a perfectly lovely wedding and beautiful wedding dress, the true, bigger importance and desire of mine would be to just get to be with the man I love and who God's called me to be with, even if the wedding wasn't everything I initially dreamed it to be. :)

Do you like Disney movies?

I'm not a die-hard fan of them by any means, but I do enjoy some. It just really depends on the movie. Cinderella and Christopher Robin are a couple newer-ish Disney movies that I liked a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~

YES! I did it! I FINALLY finished and posted this Q & A!!!

Thank you so much, ladies for all these lovely questions!! Again, I apologize for how extremely long it's taken me to get to actually doing and posting this. But, I FINALLY got it done...YAY!! And if you took the time to actually read through all of it... CONGRATS! You win a virtual plate of chocolate chip cookies! *Gives out special blogiversary chocolate chip cookies* xD So, thanks so much for reading, guys! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)

Well, I do hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week! Write to ya later, and God bless!

~Faith