If you are reading this the day it is published, it is currently my 31st birthday. Which is just wild. I know I have an 'About Me' page on here, but I think with all the book reviews and book talk, sometimes people don't know the other little things about me.
I decided to do some fun facts to share with you, a break in the book reviews, but also to give you all a little but more info about me!
I grew up outside of Chicago
I pretty much lived in the same place from when I was born until I left for college. That being said, when I chose to move away it was first to Indiana, then North Dakota, then Minnesota. I grew up in a western suburb of Chicago, still Cook County, and definitely loved it there. It was nice to be close to a major city, while also still being far enough way. I'm not a big football/baseball person, but I am definitely a hockey person and spent a lot of time being a Chicago Blackhawks super-fan. Though now I will admit to watching the Wild a lot too. When I moved from college to ND and then ND to MN, I was basically home in Chicago for 10-12 days from my graduation to starting my job in MN.
My 'day' job is working as a meteorologist.
Now, I'm sure this one is kind of obvious, based on the name of this blog and some posts in the past, but I always think it's kind of a fun fact. I currently work all overnights, though that will be changing in May. No more vampire life for me. I work mostly in the aviation sector, writing forecasts for airlines and airports. 2024 is the start of my 9th year, and I still find it really fun. I hope to venture more into the weather world on this blog, but sometimes its hard because reading and writing are my escape from regular life. I have been in love with the weather about the same amount of time I learned I loved to read and write. My inspiration definitely partially stemmed from 'Twisters on Tuesday' at age 6.
Before choosing meteorology, I wanted to be a writer.
For the first little bit of high school I was pretty determined to be a writer, looking at schools for creative writing instead of meteorology. I did however, switch to looking at meteorology schools between sophomore and junior year, which is much more specific to schools. Even with mostly studying math and science, I still do have a creative writing minor. I feel like it kept me sane when doing all the math, which is notably not my favorite subject. That being said, I still write for fun a lot, and would love to publish a book one day, at least once I can get my thoughts together and get an entire one written.
I have been on two 10-day storm chases.
While in school, I went on two summer storm chases that lasted 10 days and went throughout the plains. If you don't know, a lot of storm chasing is driving, watching the weather and waiting, so much waiting. It was a fun time and to see how the storms and things develop in real time is really eye-opening. But man is there a lot of waiting and trying to figure out ways to pass time without losing your mind in a corn field.
Connected to previous, but I've seen one tornado
And it wasn't while storm chasing during the summer. My first and only tornado was the one that hit Rochelle IL in 2015. It is the only time I've clearly seen a tornado and have also immediately seen the impacts of one. It was an emotional experience, with a lot of lessons learned while trying to get back to the school. We saw damage less than 10 minutes after seeing the tornado and that is a lot for anyone, but especially those trying to study and have a passion for the weather. It showed a lot of us that we had a job that did effect people's lives and property, and we have the responsibility to make sure they know the weather so they are safe.
I worked in North Dakota for 3 Months
I currently live in Minnesota, and I adore it here. But before I moved here, I did an internship in ND, working with their weather modification project, which helps with hail suppression over parts of the state. Hail can be really damaging to property and crops, and being able to suppress how large it gets means farmers saving money and crops. It was a fun experience, though I definitely learned I need to be within 20 minutes of a Target or just anything that makes a place feel 'real'. Small towns are definitely nice, but it was quite the change from Chicagoland.
I have a (chonky) cat named Gizmo
Another thing that will not be shocking to anyone who knows me in real life, but I have a pet cat! He is basically all that is pictured on my normal Instagram and his adorable face takes up most of my camera roll. His name is Gizmo, he is 17lbs of love. His favorite hobbies are napping and eating, his favorite toys are a wooden honey spoon and 'foofs' and his favorite human food is chicken tenders from Canes. (His birthday is August 3rd if you would like to send him chicken.) I adopted Gizmo about 1 month after moving away from home for my job and we've been little anxiety buddies ever sense.
I play tennis!
One of the other thing I fell back in love with when I moved to Minnesota was tennis. I have been playing since I was around 6 years old, but didn't play in college, which was a whole different thing. When I moved to MN I joined some tennis lessons, and eventually a tennis league, that meant getting back into a game I loved. I definitely am enjoying it more as an adult, because I don't have as much of the teen angst in me. Its fun to get exercise that way, and I like being able to keep playing a sport I hold near and dear.
I love concerts.
I am an extremely introverted person, which is why doing an 'about me' post is really stressful. But I am a huge fan of concerts, and music in general. I like a mix of pop-punk/rock to metalcore to Broadway. I love going to concerts and seeing these bands/artists live. My most seen bands include, Paramore, Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, though Waterparks is getting up there as well. I'm hoping to see Sleep Token and Bad Omens a lot more too, hopefully soon. I love the community of concerts and its probably one of the only places I'm not terribly introverted.
I started playing guitar at 25.
You can ask my parents, but I begged for a guitar most of my teenage years. I love rock music and wanted to learn how to play, but never got one. That was until I had an adult paycheck and decided to learn how to play. I took guitar lessons for a while and have learned some of my favorite songs. I am not the best guitar player by any means, but I love how relaxing it can be. I have both an acoustic and an electric guitar and just got into the world on pedals for my electric. I like being able to say I can play music and I'm glad I decided to get an guitar with one of my 'big kid' checks.
I'm sure there is more I can add, but this feels like a good look into my life. Thank you for being loyal readers of this silly little blog and I hope you come back soon!
I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about me!
And if you have any questions comment below!
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