Q + A - THE ANSWERS

Thank you so much for all the lovely questions you asked me in my Ask me Anything post. I have had a vast amount of fun answering them all (my goodness you sure are curious.. I mean... anyway- you'll see what I mean, lol) and now we have them - the answers!

I answered all of them. (There are substantially more questions than last time, wow!) There was actually a surprising number of double ups so I didn't answer the extra ones.

Like last time, I've broadly arranged them into the categories to which they fit.

Enjoy!

Personal Questions / Questions about Me or My Family

Do you like it when people give you nicknames?
I actually do rather. If it isn't a horrible nickname of course... 

Are you a procrastinator?
Yes.

Have you read The Lord of the Rings? If so, how long did it take you?
I have read the Lord of the Rings. It probably took me about an afternoon per book. I honestly don't remember because it was many years ago. I read the Hobbit again recently and enjoyed that rather more than I thought I would. The Hobbit is way more awesome than the trilogy. :P And yeah I'm aware that's an unpopular opinion. :P

Have you ever played any sports? 

I certainly have. I can swim, have been part of an athletics club, done gymnastics, played tennis for a few years and netball for quite a few years. I don't play any sports currently.

Who is your best human friend who is not in your family?
Well, probably none of my readers would know her! Her name is Kate, she's two months older than me and absolutely lovely. :)

How tall are you and everyone in your family?
I am 5 feet and 4 or 5 ish inches, lol. Everyone in my family is probably around about 55- 60 feet in total. (Haha I'm aware that's not answering the question :P The answer is I don't actually know everyone's heights)

Do you drink tea or coffee?
I don't like tea or strong coffee, I'll occasionally have a mochachino if the opportunity presents itself. Mocha's are great.

How much money do you have?
I have some savings tucked away in a bank account. 

Do you have many friends?
How many is many? I would say I have many friends. Not bucketloads, but my friends are wonderful so I don't need bucketloads. :) Besides, who is counting friends???

What do you usually have for breakfast?
A lemon and honey drink, maybe cereal, maybe toast, maybe leftovers from the night before. 

How much time do you spend studying each day?
Probably not as much as I should, lol! Half an hour or so music practice, most of the morning studying and some of the afternoon as well. Depends on how much time I have.

Do you, or anyone in your family get pocket money?
We don't get pocket money, but we do have to do housecleaning (every week) which we get paid for.

How many hours of housework do you do a day?
Ummmmm.... I have no idea. I just help at random times of the day and also fold the washing when the stack gets big and people start complaining of not enough clothing, lol :P

What is the latest you've ever gone to bed at?
Like 2 o'clock or something maybe?

Does your family ever get fish and chips? If so, how many scoops of chips do you get?
Occasionally we do. Not very often. I normally consume between a half and a whole scoop.

What makes you feel loved? 

Spending time with people

When people take the time to get to know me and don't just class me as "one of the Smithies"

Hugs

Good conversations

What is the best compliment someone's ever given you?

People have given me all sorts of lovely compliments. The one that always sticks with me, however (and I actually have NO idea why because it's kinda random, lol) is when after I complained about something squishing my nose, my friend was like, "you've got a small nose, too". I don't even know why I think of that particular compliment, just because I've never thought of myself as having a big nose!! lol :) I'm weird sometimes. 

How many times a year do you make dinner for your family?
When Mum's tired and the other girls are busy.

How heavy are you, and how heavy is everyone in your family?
Now we're getting serious! Why on earth do you want to know my weight?? I'm between 30kgs and 60kgs, does that answer your question? How heavy is everyone in my family, probably about 500kg? Ish?????

What's the longest you've ever slept in?
I'm not much of a sleeper-inner. I can't bear to stay in bed past quarter past eight! 

What's the earliest time you've ever gotten up in the morning?
About 4 o'clock I think.

What do you play with your brothers and sisters?
Good question. It depends on which brothers or sisters it is. If it's any of my 'close in age' sisters, Abbie, Danella and Sophie, it will be a board game, card game, general chat or fashion advice. :P If it's just Danella, it's usually us making music together. She plays either the piano, flute or harp and I play either the violin or piano. It's lots of fun.
If it's Ben or Johnny, it will be a board or card game or doing something active (like hockey, frisbee or cricket in the backyard) together.
If it's Lydia, it might by playing with our Sylvanian families with her, it might be playing with her hair, it might be reading her books, it might be dressing up, jumping on the trampoline, playing houses, hospitals etc, or doing ballet with her.
If it's Caleb or Jacob, it will probably be one of the 'Lydia' category but with the exception of Sylvanians, ballet and hair. :P It also might be one of their favourite games like Pop Up Pirate or Memory.
If it's Jana, it will be reading books, jumping on the trampoline, dancing, carrying her around doing whatever I'm doing, piggybacks, 'horsy' rides, taking her outside to play in the sandpit etc.

How many minutes/hours of free time do you get a day?
Two hours, forty-seven minutes and twelve seconds. Well actually I don't know. It's different every day. :P

What's the furthest you've ever run?
I am hopeless at long distance, so probably round our block a couple of times, lol.

Faith/Christianity/what I believe / thought provoking questions 

What is one thing that makes you really sad?
When people don't realize how blessed they really are and take things for granted. I also hate it when humans cause unnecessary suffering for other humans.

When was the last time you cried?
Two days ago.

Have you ever thought you were about to die?
No, never. Oh actually, the thought fleetingly passed my mind during the Christchurch earthquake back in 2010. That was kind of scary.

What's the bravest thing you've ever done?
I really don't know! Playing my violin in front of people requires some serious guts though.....

What's the most difficult choice you've ever had to make?
I had to make a really tricky choice a few months ago. Took a few sleepless nights and some serious prayer but I think I made the right decision in the end.

If either you or your best friend had to die, who would you choose?
Of course I'm going to say me. I'm not going to be all selfish. However, if it was a split second decision in a life-or-death real life situation, I honestly do not know what I would choose. I am a selfish creature. I do not know that I could honestly say I would choose myself. I sincerely hope I would when it came down to it, but yeah.

How old do you want to be when you die, and how would you like to die?
How would I like to die. Shivers. (No that's not the form of death, that's me shivering at the thought.) Peacefully, of course. Who wants to be tortured to death or be ripped apart by sharks? I would like to know death was imminent so I could say my last goodbyes, make sure my family have picked nice photos of me to put up at my funeral, etc. And hopefully at a ripe old age! But all these things are in God's hands. It's really not my decision, haha. :)

If you could think of something that would make you cry what would it be?
Someone I love passing away... really tender touching moments.....God touching me....

Do you have a young man interested in you, or are you in a courtship with anyone?
I am not in a courtship with anyone, no.

What church do you attend, if any at all?
I attend C3 Church Christchurch with my family. It's a great church.

Have you ever dealt with insecurity or thinking you're not worth anything or maybe ugly in your life, and if so, how did you deal with it?
I've dealt with a bit of insecurity here and there, just you know, looking in the mirror and not liking what you see... I think it's something a lot of people struggle with. I wouldn't say it's been major, but it sometimes crops up here and there. And yes, I deal with it by affirming myself through Scripture. Trying to see myself as God sees me, as His beautiful daughter. 

What do you think is just so unfair?
Life. :P

(I just had a thought - I could have renamed this section "Dying and Crying Questions" :P)

Questions about my favourite things / 'Would you rather' questions

Would you rather be smart and ugly or dumb and beautiful?
Ooooh this is such a good question! Haha! I'd probably have to go for the first one, just because I'm not sure how dumb I'd be if I really was beautiful and the thought of being really dumb (Like not-knowing-your-own-name-dumb) scares me. Besides, my closest friends and my family would still love me even if I was ugly. And I'd still be smart. :) 

What is your favorite book?
The Bible of course! It's such a great book. You should read it sometime. 

What is your favorite day of the year?
MY BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS OF COURSE.... how was that not obvious

Would you rather have fingers as long as your legs or legs as long as your fingers? :p 

Oh dear, both scenarios sound kind of depressing!! I wouldn't like being really short so I guess I will say fingers as long as my legs. Then, too, I could reach stuff without getting up from my chair. Maybe that wouldn't be all bad. Lol. Good question!

What is your favourite book of the Bible?
Isaiah.

What is your favorite riddle?
Go look at my "About Me" page. :P

What are your favourite worship songs?
I love lots of worship songs! I can't pick one favourite, but I love these ones.
- I Exalt Thee
- Great is Thy Faithfulness
- As The Deer
- How Deep the Father's Love for Us
- Glorified

Question(s) about blogging

What is your favorite blog that's not yours?
I really like Olivia's Fresh Modesty blog. It's a great fashion blog. I have lots of favourite blogs though... You can find a whole lot of my favourite blogs in a list on the sidebar. 

[Really] Random questions

If you had to choose to live without one of your five senses, which one would you give up?
Hmm. Probably either sound or smell. Maybe smell. Yes, smell. I feel like it's the one that would be the easiest to give up (not that any of them would be easy to give up!). 

What is your most bizarre talent?
Not sure. I can do the splits... is that bizarre? Also I can whistle. Someone told me recently that whistling is a dying art. That's sad. Whistling's awesome.

What is the most dangerous thing you've ever done not counting skydiving?
I have honestly got no idea, sorry.

How many words per minute can you type at? How many words per minute can you read at?
I checked it a while ago and it was 92 wpm typing speed. Reading speed I'm not sure.

What's the fastest you've ever biked?
35 km an hour maybe? 40 perhaps. Not sure.

Have you ever dreamed you could fly?
Yes I have, and it is pretty awesome. :) You should all try dreaming it sometime.

Have you ever dreamed you could breathe under water?
Nope.

What is the thing you have drawn most recently?
This. All completely freehand. 

Which film would you rate a perfect 10 out of 10?
The movies by the Sherwood brothers. Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Courageous, Flywheel and the latest (BRILLIANT) one, War Room. Every Christian should see them.

What is a passion of yours that you can't talk about because no one around you 'gets' it?
Haha there's a really silly one... it's spelling and the English language. I love words. My sisters are great, playing games like Boggle with me. But in my wider friend circle, it's mostly homeschoolers, and there's this big stereotype that homeschoolers can't spell. So no one really has very good spelling and it kind of annoys me. That was such a ramble sorry!

What's been your best birthday ever?
I loved turning 15 and 16, both those birthdays were on a camp and everyone made it really special. Turning 17 was pretty awesome though, I was at home but I had to go to work. My two coworkers made my birthday incredible... one of them gave me this LONG handwritten letter about how much I meant to her and I still read it often because it is just so sweet!!!! Katie, you're awesome by the way, if you're randomly reading this. :D

Can you tell us another of your jokes and riddles? You seem to know heaps.
Hmmm... okay, here we go. 
What's white and can't climb trees?
A fridge. :P

What's been the biggest fright you've ever had?
I do not know, honestly. I've had several big frights.

How do you start a conversation? 

If it's with a girl, I often compliment her on something she's wearing. That's a good conversation starter. If it's with someone else (or I've already complimented her) then I'll talk about anything - the weather, ask them how they've been, ask them what's the best thing that's happened to them all day, ask them what they're doing on the weekend... etc.

What is the longest time you've gone without sleep? ;)
Hours and hours.

Have you ever wished that you could go invisible?
I certainly have. I often think it would be dreadfully useful to be able to go invisible! But you know what they say - eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves, lol.

What is your very favourite baby's name? 

That's my secret! Haha. I like traditional Biblical names for boys, and for girls I like long pretty names. 

What would be the best birthday gift that you could ever receive?
That is a very good question. I'm not actually sure, to be perfectly honest with you.

What's the fastest you've ever driven in a car?
Me driving, 115 km an hour. Someone else driving, I'm not sure. 120 maybe?

What's your time in the hundred metre sprint?
When I was 11, I was timed at 17.7 seconds. I would have no clue what it is now. Probably a bit faster than that.

Are you the fastest in your family? If not, who is?
Not counting Dad or Mum, I have been the fastest pretty much my whole life growing up. Danella often gives me a pretty good run, but I can usually beat her. However, my brothers are now very speedy, so I'm not sure I'll be able to retain my title for much longer!

What's the longest book you've ever read?
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss seemed to go on and on. The Bible is a pretty long one too, does that count?!

What's the longest movie you've ever watched?
I have no idea.

Questions about my future

What do you want to do for a career?

At the moment I'm studying to be a legal executive/secretary, so I'd like to get a job in a law office at some point. I'd also quite like to do mission work at some point. And of course hopefully get to be a mum at some stage!! :) It all depends on God's plan, really.

How many kids do you want to have? 

The perfect number.

What is one awesome thing you would do if you were Prime Minister of New Zealand?
(okay, I'll confess. I asked this question to myself :P) 
I would make everyone who has a house with road frontage plant a blossom tree on their lawn.

Do you plan to play any sports in the future? 

My Dad is part of a volleyball team. I'd like to go along to his games and maybe even join in at some point in the future. I haven't really done much volleyball at all so that's something I'd like to do. I'd also like to be able to play soccer to a reasonable extent... not sure if I'll ever pursue that but anyway!

If you could travel to any one country in the world where would it be? 

I'd love to go Israel and get to walk around where Jesus walked. That would be amazing. Other than that, the US has always fascinated me. At some stage I'd like to go over there. 

Would you rather travel back in time or go into the future?
I would probably rather go into the future. I already know what's happened in the past, I do not know what's happened in the future. Therefore since I am curious I would rather see what happens in the future.

Thanks so much for asking me questions! I hope you enjoyed reading my (sometimes frustrating) answers. (But seriously guys, honestly, why do you want to know my weight?!) And that Prime Minister question, my goodness!! (oh wait, that was the one I asked myself).

Anyway, thanks for asking, and I hope you have a fantabulous day.