When I’m Not Reading featuring Linds of Bibliophile Brouhaha

When people ask me if I believe in love at first sight, all I have to do is point to my kindred spirits, like Linds from bibliophile brouhaha. We are both just a big ol’ bag of emotions, and we love to share about it (and maybe even cry a bit; the good kind of cry). Which lead me to pounce on her and get her over here to share about what she does when she doesn’t have her nose in a book.  

When Missie first asked me if I would participate in her When I’m Not Reading (and blogging) meme, I’m not going to lie – I sort of freaked a little. My life is interesting to me because I fill it with things I love to do (and obligations – bah!), but interesting to others? Well, we shall see!

First of all, I have a pretty great full-time gig! I am an Enrollment Manager for a local university, and I like what I do. I used to work with incoming undergraduate students, but now I work with people coming back to get their Master’s degrees. I got my own Master’s degree with a goal of becoming an English teacher in mind – turns out I’m horrible in the classroom, so that didn’t work out, but I am SO glad to have fallen into what I do. Working at a University gives me access to a great library and lots of different classes. I haven’t taken advantage of that last one, but I am hoping to take a web design class eventually so I can improve my blog. I also am thinking of picking up a second Master’s after my wedding happens in January, eh but we’ll see. I think I’d rather read!

Speaking of my wedding, that’s starting to take up more and more of my time. I am a fairly hands-off kind of girl and not a planner by nature. So, I gave myself PLENTY of time to put together my wedding (we’ve been engaged since August of 2009). I just picked out my flowers the other weekend, and I am so excited to see the centerpieces – they are going to look something similar to this:

It’s not all fun and games, though – it’s a lot of careful planning and data keeping. The RSVPs are starting to come in, so I’ve been keeping track of meal choices and also started the seating chart – so not my forte, but it’s necessary. MY HTB (hubs-to-be) and I are having our reception at The Grand Hall at the Priory – cheesy name for beautiful old, German Catholic church and monk’s house. The monk’s house has been converted into a bed and breakfast, and that’s where my HTB proposed! We are very excited to have our reception in the same spot. Here’s pics from a recent wedding that my photographers shot there if you want to see what it looks like.

Otherwise, I am a books, music, news, history, art and film geek to the nth degree. Basically, if it’s in the realm of Humanities, I’m all for it. I am fortunate to live in a city with a TON of great museums and a fabulous library system. If I don’t have a book in my hands, I have music or a favorite movie on. I love documentaries, film noir, and having my favorite TV shows on DVD. My fiancé and I have Alfred Hitchcock nights, or Mad Men-a-thons with old school drinks. My friends and I don’t go out nearly as much as we stay in with good movies, old shows and so-so wine. Here’s a favorite of ours to watch and get nicely sloshed to:

Another thing I occasionally do is collect gently used books for Operation Paperback. This is a non-profit that collects books for soldiers stationed overseas, and they also fulfill special requests from soldiers’ families, as well as for personnel working with children and hospitals in places like Afghanistan. I just held my first, small book drive through my office and will be sending off my shipment this week! It can take a bit of work to collect, organize and prepare a shipment, but I love being able to combine a passion of mine with nonprofit work.

As you can probably tell, I am a person who likes to have ‘projects’. My major and favorite project is, of course, my blog. It keeps me disciplined, motivated and feeds my passion for reading. I miss my former life as a journalist, so it also helps fulfill my need to collect and share information, as well. I am a HUGE advocate for education of all types, but particularly for issues affecting adolescent and young adult women. I also have been working on a personal project to get an online giving circle up and running. Once I am settled into married life, I hope to have more time to give to those two things.

So, that’s me in a nutshell. If I could extend my day into 48 hours or go without sleep, I completely would! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me. Thanks so much, Missie, for having me over – always lovely to visit with a book buddy!

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials, Linds. I hope you share some pictures with us of your big day. If you haven’t checked out Linds’s blog yet, bibliophile brouhaha, please do so soon! She has this feature called Thursday Literary News Roundup, and it is so full of win. It’s like a treasure chest for book lovers/readers.

To find out more about When I’m Not Reading, click here. Would you like to be featured on When I’m not Reading? Well, I’d love to have you. Please, feel free to contact me. Or share with a post on your website/blog. Make sure to add your link below in the comments and I will go check it out.

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Posted at 6:00 am  •  Labels: 2010, featured blog, Guest Post, When I'm Not Reading