A-Z of Me – Part 2

Happy Saturday, friends! I’m back with the highly anticipated (hahaha) second part of the A-Z of me. In case you missed last week’s post–or if you just want to recap–you can read it here.

I saw this posted on Bookishly Brittknee and decided to try it out for myself 🙂

Hello, My Name is …

To begin, my name is Marisa (Ma-riss-uh), but I generally go by Risa. I’m 26 and I’ve been married to the love of my life for two years (three in May). We have an interesting story, but I love it and I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m a huge book nerd (duh) and I’m rarely without my kindle or a notebook. I have dreams of becoming a published author and I’m hoping I’ll be able to publish my first novel either this year or next (really going to push for this year, but we’ll see what happens. *crosses fingers*). I’m terrible at writing about myself, so I’ll just leave you with this fun fact: I can see music in my head (if there isn’t any music playing, I can hear/see music in my head; if there is music playing, I can see that music in my head). I think this is a type of synesthesia, but I honestly couldn’t tell you for sure. I thought this was a common thing until I was about 16 when my parents both looked at me like I was crazy when I casually brought it up as if everyone could do it.

So, without further adieu … let’s dive right into the post, shall we?

(Once again, A-M can be found here.)

N is for notebooks and night owl

The amount of notebooks I have is actually kind of ridiculous, lol. And for some reason, what I have never seems to be enough because I always find an excuse to pick up another one whenever I can.

Also, I’m a huge night owl. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I don’t want to put my book down … but most of it has to do with some pretty crippling insomnia that tends to rear its ugly head once nighttime arrives. There are times I’m able to get to sleep before midnight, but those times are few and far between.

Speaking of owls …

O is for owls

I love owls. They’re majestic and graceful and so stunning, I’m in awe of them. Barn owls are my favorites, followed closely behind by snowy owls (hello, Hedwig!) and barred owls. Ah, I just love them. <3

P is for poetry

I’m a huge fan of poetry. I love reading it, but I especially love writing it. Poetry is a huge release for my emotions and it’s always been another way for me to channel my creativity. I would love to publish a book of poetry one of these days.

Q is for quirky

I don’t think this one needs much explanation, lol. I’ve always been a tad quirky. This is a description I used to take offense to when I was much more concerned with fitting in, but as an adult, I feel that it’s a compliment. To me, being quirky just proves you have eclectic tastes, you don’t necessarily conform to the status quo, and you just kind of follow your own way in life. As my mom has always said, “she follows the beat of her own drum.”

R is for romance

I mean … is anyone really surprised by this one? lol. I love romance. Even if the romance is a slow burn or there’s just a small hint of it–particularly in the young adult genre–I eat it up. I just adore the sweet, the sexy, the swooning, happily ever after type of love story. It’s my jam.

S is for stationery

Much like the notebook situation, I also happen to be a hopeless stationery addict. Paper clips, washi tape, colored pencils, pens, clips, sticky notes, etc. I love it all! Again, I have way too much of this stuff already, but I always seem to manage to pick something else up at any given moment.

T is for trust

Trust is a big thing for me. I’ve given my trust to people I thought deserved it only to find out much later that the thought never should’ve crossed my mind. In my last relationship, my trust was obliterated and it took quite a while for me to realize I could trust my husband–then boyfriend–with my heart. I still have some emotional scars I have to work through, but I’ve thankfully been blessed with an incredibly patient and loving man who wants to help me through these issues instead of giving up. Needless to say, I don’t give my trust out too easily.

U is for unbroken

This is kind of a personal mantra. As you may have read in part 1, I have several chronic illnesses. I have also been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression. Between these various mental/physical illnesses–as well as the challenges life is so good at throwing–it would be incredibly easy to feel beaten down. And honestly? I have my days where I lie in bed all day, feeling spent, exhausted, and riddled with pain … but I refuse to let it break me. There was a time where I may have let it bring me down, but I’m stronger now. Even if I have to give myself permission to take some time for myself, I refuse to let my adversities break me.

V is for video games

While I’m not a huge gamer, I do love me some video games. Sometimes it’s the best way for me to wind down, and sometimes it’s just plain fun. I prefer playing on my 3DS or Nintendo Switch, but I also love playing Black Ops with my husband.

W is for writing, Webtoon, and wolves

I realize it’s totally silly to have three separate answers for one letter, but I just couldn’t decide between the three, so I decided to combine them, lol. W is first for writing, which is one of my major passions. In fact, my biggest dream is to publish a novel, and I’m currently working on my first. <3

Next, there’s Webtoon. I freaking love this app. It’s like the perfect mix of manga and comic books and while I haven’t been using it quite as long as most of the Webtoon fans have, I’m already addicted.

Lastly, I had to include my favorite animal of all time: wolves <3 They’re so beautiful and I’ve loved them ever since I was a little kid.

X is for xenophile

Xenophile – someone who loves foreign peoples, cultures, or customs. (Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group, 2008)

I first want to point out that this is in no way meant as a sexual attraction or fetish and I’m using the non-sexual description of the word.

I would say this fits me pretty well. I’ve always had a huge affinity for Asian cultures, which is another non-surprise, I’m sure. 😛 I find the customs and culture fascinating and I would love to learn more about it.

Y is for YouTube

I spend a lot of time on YouTube–especially after discovering how many how-to videos there actually are on there. Whether I’m watching book reviews, book trailers, music videos, how-to videos, etc., the place is a gold mine for information.

Z is for zoos

I want to make another disclaimer here and say that when I say zoo, I’m not talking about the places that keep animals there specifically for their own gain and not caring for the animal’s well-being. I’m talking about the zoos that rescue animals and give them a better life than they’d had prior to their new residence. We actually have a great animal sanctuary near our home that has taken in so many rescues and given them a better life and you can see that they’re well taken care of. <3

Whew! Well, that was quite the writing exercise 😉 It was also kind of fun to explore these different aspects of my personality. So, if you’re feeling ambitious, why not join in on the fun? ;P

Happy reading!

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