Blogger to Blogger

I've been blogging for a long time now and one thing has frustrated me. I get to "know" these other cool bloggers, but it kind of feels one sided. I never get to ask any questions of them. I figured that other people might feel that way too, so I've decided to start this new thing.

Each Wednesday I'm going to have a different blogger answer 3 questions that I've been wondering about them and they'll do the same of me. Should be cool, right? I think so.

First up? Janssen from Everyday Reading

Janssen asked: As a married LDS couple, do you get asked a lot about when you're going to have kids? Because people sometimes say to us that we probably get asked that all the time, but I've only ever had ONE person ask me when we're going to have kids and it was at work!

Katie answered: Actually, I'm pretty surprised and impressed that I don't get asked this very often. Maybe people have received the memo that it's none of their business and if I want to talk about it I will? Or maybe they just think that because I'm older than 23 we might be trying and there might be something wrong with us and it would be really rude to bring it up?

Just for the record (as far as I know) there isn't anything wrong with us. We are just waiting until we feel like it is the right time for us. I actually have a really serious fear that when we are feelin it we'll find out that there is something wrong. Sometimes it keeps me up at night.

Janssen asked: What's your one favorite material non-necessary possession?

Katie answered: Hmmmm, this is a really great question. The first thing that comes to mind is my violin. I love playing it and feel so lucky to have had such awesome parents who invested in my musical education. Whenever I think about my apartment burning down, this is the first thing I think I'd want to run and save.

Janssen asked: You've made me wish on a regular basis that I lived near you so I could invite myself over for dinner and partake of your gourmet offerings. What do you like to cook/bake the most, and will you please give me the recipe so I can pretend I'm at your house?

Katie answered: Wow, what a nice compliment! Asking someone what they like to cook/bake the most is like asking which kid they prefer. Impossible to answer. However, these two cake recipes are so mind blowing that I look for ever opportunity to make them. Seriously, they are both AMAZING! Coconut with lemon curd and Chocolate with Fleur de Sel Caramel.

And now to switch sides...

Katie asked: Did your parents read to you as a kid? How do you plan to share your love of reading with your future kids (if you choose to have them)?

Janssen answered: My parents did read to me a lot. My mom read aloud to me (I'm the oldest) starting when I was about five. I remember her sitting next to me on my twin bed reading the Little House on the Prairie books for hours while my younger sister fell asleep in the next bed over. In fact, my mom read aloud to me so much that year, that she lost her voice completely for about a year and although its fine now, she can't sing very much anymore because she loses her voice too easily. I hope she thinks it was worth it! My dad would occasionally read a book outloud to me and my siblings, if my mom wanted a break for a few weeks. Although he read only a fraction as many to us as my mom did, they are very memorable and still number among my favorites: Cheaper by the Dozen, The Phantom Tollbooth, and Five Children & It.

Also, I was homeschooled at least part time until I went to college and my mom read individually with each of us everyday. The books we read at night were usually more light, while during the day we read more classics, like Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, and a Tale of Two Cities. Most of the classics I've read were with my mom, outloud.

I plan to do the same thing with my kids - read to them all together at nights and then individually during the day, if we homeschool. If we don't homeschool, I'll read to together at night, but probably not during the day.

Katie asked: Close your eyes and hold our your hand. What do you most hope to be in your hand when I tell you to open your eyes back up?

Janssen answered: If you've read my blog for even one second, you probably know how much I love love financial security. So I'm going to say $100,000,000. Do you have $100,000,000 to give me, Katie?!

If that's a no, I'll settle for a never ending gift card to Ross.

Katie asked: People say blogging is narcissistic. How do you respond?

Janssen answered: I can sort of see where people who think that are coming from - why would I think that people care at all what books I read this year or what kind of cake I had for my birthday or what my new living room paint looks like? But on the other hand, for most blogs, there is the chance to respond, to offer opinions, and to really connect with people. I mean, isn't writing a book MORE narcissistic? You expect people to pay for it and you have no where to tell the author what you really think about it.

And lets be honest, half the people who rant on about how stupid blogging is and how they'll never ever ever do it, eventually get their own blogs and then ask us all to come read. Who's narcissistic now?

Now it's your turn. How would you answer one of our questions?