You asked, now I’m answering!

Anonymous asked:
Why do you use the word ‘goddess’?… it sort of comes across as non-Christian. :/
I’m afraid you may be misunderstanding the definitions of “goddess.” While it often means “female deity,” the word also means “a woman whose great charm or beauty arouses adoration.” And if you’ll look, I don’t say I aspire to be a goddess, period, the end. Nope. Domestic goddess. Literally a woman whose prowess in the kitchen and home arouses adoration. I aspire to have the adoration of my husband, family, and future children in those areas.

Where did you get your wedding dress? It’s GORGEOUS!
At a tiny boutique in Oklahoma City called Pomp & Pageantry. I tried prom dresses on there years and years ago. The dress I ended up with was custom made for someone else who decided they didn’t want it. It took a while to figure that one out, but we realized it when we couldn’t find my dress anywhere. It looks like the skirt of one gown with the bodice of another. It’s by San Patrick and is made mostly of lace, crafted in Barcelona.

Becca asked:
What is the biggest surprise to you concerning marriage?
The biggest surprise to me was how quickly everything about being married felt normal. We hadn’t lived together before our wedding so everything literally happened all at once. It was perfect, I won’t lie. We’ve been extremely blessed and I know that we are both thankful for the great pre-marital counseling that we had. So much heartache has been spared by what we learned about communication styles.

Misti (my long-lost, newly found, second cousin) asked:
What was your favorite tv show growing up?
Tough one, but the ones I remember being excited to watch in the evenings were TGIF shows like Full House and Perfect Strangers. ALF, Family Matters, Reading Rainbow, and Mister Rogers were all favorites.

What song reminds you of your husband?
Man, it’s so cheesy, but “Love of a Lifetime” by Firehouse is it. We made it each other’s ringtone when we were dating and, by accident, it was what we were listening to in the reception hall in our first alone moments after the wedding, right before we ran out to the car to leave. With all that birdseed raining down on us.

If you could have a pet of any kind, what would it be?
I would like a goat, but right now I am really happy with my Scoodle (or Scottie Poo, if you like) and brand new guinea pig (who doesn’t have a name yet).

Do you think you chose the right profession in life? What other path might you have chosen or still could choose?
Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone into marketing. I think I have a good head for it. Which is the countrified way of saying that some of it comes naturally to me. I don’t really have a profession. I have had jobs. Writing is my passion and I plan to stay home and raise a family. And maybe sell custom invitations and stationery.

What is your favorite thing about Oklahoma? I’ve only been a few times and it has been beautiful the times I’ve seen it, but I’m not all that familiar with it.
Everything really isn’t an answer, is it? The landscape. We have everything here. The weather. Again, everything. The sense of family that most people in small towns still have. The richness of culture and tradition.

Jennifer (a former teacher at my high school) asked:
What kind of books do you like to read?
Literary fiction. That is my book snob answer. And classics.

What is your favorite book?
I can never answer this. The last book I read to make it onto my favorites list is No Country for Old Men.

If you were to write a book, what would it be about? Or at least what genre would it be? (Of course, you may have already written a book, and I just don’t know it yet.)
I write Southern Gothic. I like to focus on family dynamics, crazy people, secrets, lies, small town culture, and religion. I have written hundreds of short stories, but never finished any of my novels. At least not by my own estimation. Maybe they are all they ever will be. The first novel-length story I made headway on was an 80 (typed) page manuscript that I carried around in black and white composition notebooks in 7th and 8th grade. All I can say is still waters run deep.

Vanessa asked:
If you could meet anyone, from any period of time, who would you choose to meet?
Either Hannah, mother of Samuel or Elisabeth.