Passionate About...

I have been charged with finding things I am "passionate about" to post on this blog (*waves at Kessie*). I wasn't really sure where to start. I could dive right in on a specific topic, but I figured I'd give ya'll a heads up as to what you may be in for first.

So here is a list of things that tend to get Kat on her soap box:

Natural foods. In my family, when buying packaged food we do not bring home stuff with: high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, artificial colors or flavors, aspartame or other artificial sweetener (this includes "invert sugar"--the "invert" part does not happen in nature), impossible to pronounce chemicals (even if they are shortened to cute little abbreviations like BHT), or ingredients that should only be found in containers in the garage. Here is a clue--read the outside of a tub of Cool Whip. What you see there, we don't buy. Cool Whip, btw, has no actual food in it.

Natural medicine. This means trying to deal with things nutritionally and with healthy lifestyle choices whenever possible. It does not mean I never go to the doctor or I refuse all forms of Western medicine. But I will NOT take a drug if a natural alternative is available. I search first and foremost always for vitamin deficiency issues or allergies. And my experience has been that natural cures usually work better and faster.

Other natural-y stuff like staying away from nasty chemical cleaners and pesticides. Simple as this: I don't want to be poisoned. I've had cancer once. Not something I care to relive :P.

(If you don't know why this picture is
here, I'm not explaining it.) 

(Aside--you may not know I had cancer, so that last statement may have you kinda going, er, uh... It's okay. No need to walk on eggshells. It was cervical cancer. I did chemo and radiation, and it's now gone. It sucked worse than anything I've ever experienced, but I'm seven years cancer free. Boo-yah!)

Homeschooling. And by that, I do not mean I am some public school hating freakazoid mom. I am passionate about homeschooling MY kids. I am passionate about kids being schooled in a way that makes them thrive. For my family, that is not public school. My kids thrive here, where they can learn at their own pace and dive into the things they are passionate about.

Organizing. At one time I gave serious thought to becoming a professional organizer. I have a superpower that allows me to analyze three dimensional spaces and work out creative ways to use that space efficiently. Ask my husband how many times he's said, "There's no way that will fit," and I have made him eat his words. I think out of the box. And speaking of boxes--get me into a store that sells storage bins and you will see me salivate.

Art. I am an artist, and ya'll know that. I'm not a huge art expert, though. Art history was never of real interest to me, and I can't name/identify all the different styles of art or go into deep descriptions of all the various media. But I love it. I love creating it, I love looking at it, and I love seeing other people's drawings and the steps they take to go from blank canvas to finished masterpiece.

Beetles. Why they are so interesting and why I draw them. I know. It's weird.

Creation science. Okay, so in my post about things I won't post about here, I included Creation science. But it IS a passion of mine. I've had a few church speaking engagements on this topic in years past. My college degree is in biology and I am fascinated by the scientific evidence for Creation. Like I said, I tend to consider it a bit too preachy for here, but I may touch on some of it if I feel so inclined. It did, in fact, influence my writing.

Ah, writing. That's kind of a given, though, eh? But what I'm thinking is, I will find ways to show how I've worked my passions into my writing. That might be the way to kind of tie things in here. Since I started this blog because of and for my writing.

And since writing is on the list, I want to add kind of a subset here of things related to reading and writing. Topics I may want to expand upon:

Magic in fantasy stories and why it is NOT EVIL. (Oh, wait, I already did that :P.)
Dragons, and why they are the freakin' coolest creatures ever.
Why I like sci-fi in movies but generally not in books. With certain exceptions...
Book cover art--things I love and hate.
What made me fall so head over heels in love with the Harry Potter books.

So there you have it. My passions. Oy, I have a lot of work ahead of me. Anyone got a particular topic you want me to start with?