Rylan at 10 Years Old

Rylan at Ten Years Old

• favorite color: blue
• favorite food: shrimp alfredo
• favorite dessert: buckeyes
• favorite thing to do: play video games
• favorite video game: Pokemon Ultra Moon
• favorite subject in school: science
• favorite book series: Percy Jackson

What is the meaning of life?

• to live with Heavenly Father again

What do you want to be when you grow up?

• an astronomer

What makes you happy?

• family

What are you afraid of?

• creepy clown killers creeping in your closet with creepy chainsaws

If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

• I would say unlimited money, but now that I think of it...world peace

What is the funniest word?

• purple

What is the hardest thing to do?

• go to a planet that's really far away

What is the easiest thing to do?

• breathe

What is the best thing in the world?

• Breathing! No, no, family.

What is the worst thing in the world?

• Don't write this down, but I say it's Eli's face.

What makes you mad?

• Eli's face. Um, um, let's see...Cole and Eli annoying me.

What is the meaning of love?

• red (This is how Robbie answers all questions.)

If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?

• I would split it into three halves. One for me. One for charity. One for me.

Cole at 14 Years Old

Cole at Fourteen Years Old

• favorite color: green
• favorite food: I don't have one. (Eli says, "You're turning into your father...")
• favorite dessert: cheesecake
• favorite thing to do: play basketball
• favorite video game: I don't have one
• favorite subject in school: Social Studies. The teacher is the best.
• favorite book you read this year: The Light Fantastic 
• favorite music: the music he wrote himself

What is the meaning of life?

• 42

What do you want to be when you grow up?

• a music engineer

What makes you happy?

• No Eli. No, don't put that. Lots of things make me happy...Like spending time with my family and seeing a movie or something.

What are you afraid of?

• Having appendicitis. I get scared of that all the time. Every time I get gas, I assume it's appendicitis.

If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

• To be immune to appendicitis. To have my career made out for me. And world peace.

What is the funniest word?

• fard

What is the hardest thing to do?

• stopping eating when I need to stop because otherwise I'm going to get sick

What is the easiest thing to do?

• stub your toe

What is the best thing in the world?

• love

What is the worst thing in the world?

• non-love

What makes you mad?

• non-love

What is the meaning of love?

• to be happy

If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?

• I don't have any particular interest in spending money on anything in the world except when I'm at the grocery store check out line. (This is an answer that he stole from Eli. The real answer is that he would buy lots and lots of name brand clothing.)

Eli at Twelve Years Old

Eli at Twelve Years Old

• favorite color: red
• favorite food: burritos
• favorite dessert: cheesecake
• favorite thing to do: sleep in
• favorite video game: Star Wars Battle Front (PS4)
• favorite subject in school: language arts
• favorite book you read this year: The Outsiders
• favorite music this year: Ed Sheeran

What is the meaning of life?

• to return to Heavenly Father

What do you want to be when you grow up?

• an architect guy

What makes you happy?

• When I don't have to wake up early in the morning to go to school. And elephant jokes.

What are you afraid of?

• Crabs. And bad elephant jokes.

If you had one wish, what would you wish for?

• Cole to get appendicitis.

What is the funniest word?

• fard

What is the hardest thing to do?

• whistle

What is the easiest thing to do?

• eat

What is the best thing in the world?

• food

What is the worst thing in the world?

• Rylan. Wait, probably the hour and a half on the school bus.

What makes you mad?

• When the school bus is late. (What makes his mom mad is when the school bus is early...)

What is the meaning of love?

• personal space

If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?

• make it rain

A Hard Day for Dreaming

This is a novel I wrote once upon a time. It's been gathering dust in a google drive for a few years. If you're not doing anything with the rest of your Christmas break, you could read it. I'm pretty proud of it.
...

A HARD DAY FOR DREAMING

In her last semester of college, Emma Whitacker is torn between two men. She feels a connection with steady but stoic Thomas thanks to their shared love of indie bands, and when he tells her that he loves her, she believes she has found true love. But when her friend Will impulsively kisses her, her confused feelings leave her questioning how you know when you've found The One. Ten years later, married to one man but dreaming about the other, she can’t help but wonder, “Did I make the right choice?” Pulled between the past and the present, Emma contemplates what it means to fall in love, to be married, and to become a mother.