Everything You Never Knew You Wanted To Know About Ava

Welcome back, my loyal readers.

Have I ever mentioned that you are some of my favorite people?? Well, you are. Love you guys 😘

So many people have been writing “100 Facts About Me” posts to celebrate certain numbers of subscribers, and I thought I’d try my hand at it!! I have much cause to celebrate, for I have 48 subscribers on WordPress and 147 on Substack. The thought that so many people care to hear what nonsense I have to say just blows my mind. I hope I’ll never take you for granted.

Some of you may already know some of this information, but I never promised new facts, only 100 of them. Always read the fine print, m’dears.

100 Facts About ✨Ava✨

1. I’ve been homeschooled my entire life and I’ll die on the homeschool hill.
2. I have twenty-something houseplants named after fictional characters that will definitely not all fit in my college dorm; don’t tell them that most of them will be left behind.
3. I played basketball for two years, ending in fourth grade.
4. I’ve played zero sports since then.
5. I just don’t like drinking water. It has no flavor. It’s like…nothing. Just liquid nothing.
6. I have a nasty habit of requesting more library books when I’m stressed out about things, resulting in more stress when I have fifteen books out and don’t have the time to read them.
7. My favorite berry is the blueberry (probably).
8. I’ve seen Josiah Queen twice in concert!!
9. I love going to camp, but I hate the team games (which is usually the entire thing camps are centered around 😐)
10. My entire wardrobe is in shades of blue, green, and grey. Great summer colours, I know.
11. I will quote Adventures in Odyssey at any time, without warning; I do not care that I’m far out of the target audience range at this point.
12. My favorite music artists are Josiah Queen, Jenna Raine, JVKE, for King & Country, and Owl City (I have a separate Pinterest board for each 🤭)
13. I am far too afraid of stinging creatures and those that look or sound suspiciously like they could sting me.
14. I have Pinterest boards for three people I’ve only ever met online and three for people I know irl
15. Oh and I have one for myself too 👀 it’s so aesthetic, I love it.
16. I have a board for ducks (inspired by Isabelle Knight) but it also has other cute animals in it because I only pretend I’m good at organization.
17. I love breakfast, but frequently I’ll eat a smaller breakfast than I’d like because I’m too picky.
18. I rather think that cats are far better than dogs.
19. I once concocted an entire fairy-tale backstory for one of our cats.
20. I used to catch toads and write stories about them. All their names started with the letter “T” but I have no idea w–oh, perhaps to alliterate with toad.
21. I love love love getting mail, but my ten-ish pen-pals are all busy teens and don’t always remember to write me back 😭 (I’m planning a mail tour on the blog soon though, so stay tuned 👀)
22. I have pen-pals in Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, and Oklahoma.
23. I can’t imagine a world without music and listen to an average of eleven and a half hours per week.
24. My most frequently used emojis are: 😭😁🫡😂🙃😊👀
25. My favorite wildflowers are chicory, spring beauties, and (these aren’t technically wild but they totally count) tiger lilies
26. I have a playlist dedicated to songs with the same titles, and another just for songs with numbers as the titles.
27. I’m such a procrastinator, but also a perfectionist. It’s a killer combination 💅
28. Just over the summer I watched all the Spider-Man movies (and when I say all, I really do mean all) and he’s now my most favorite-est superhero.
29. I forced myself to like peppermint tea because tea and books was such a stellar stereotype.
30. I prefer rainbow sherbet to actual ice cream.
31. I found somewhere around one hundred dollars while cleaning my room this week.
32. I have secret aspirations to create a Pinterest board for every letter of the alphabet.
33. I have similar secret aspirations to follow an artist on Spotify for every letter of the alphabet.
34. I once stole a book from the library.
35. I have a picture of myself with Spider-Man 🤘🕸️🕸️🕸️
36. When I was a sophomore in high school, I flippantly said I was going to attend a certain university. My brother actually ended up there and, sure enough, that’s where I’m headed now that I’ve graduated high school.
37. I love love love the stars, but only as an aesthetic and a whimsical thought; the idea of going anywhere near them requires too much science, math, and lack of oxygen for my personal taste.
38. The clothes I actually wear and the clothes I want to wear are two entirely different styles (if I had my Pinterest board of outfits no one would recognize me 👌)
39. I have kept a steady journal for three years now and have the most fun playing a game I like to call “What Was Ava Doing a Year Ago??” (still taking suggestions for a new name for said game)
40. Hence, I journaled before it was cool™️(before Emma M. Lion swept the interwebs with Lionhearts and journalers :D)
41. I give each of my journals a name. The last one was named Hawkes (my love!!) and my current journal is Haddie (short for Hadassah) O’Ryan. I realize that Hadassah is Hebrew and O’Ryan is…well, not, but I care not for how mismatched they are. I have really good reasons for both these names. Trust 😉
42. For my 13th birthday, I got to go to Florida with my parents (no siblings allowed!! or friends…I tried 😔)
43. As a result, I brought home gallons of shells and still have no idea what to do with them all these years later. I’ve always wanted to just go out in our woods and plant stashes of shells to confuse people in the future.
44. I used to make little fairy houses out of leaves, sticks, rocks, dirt, etc. out in our yard.
45. I adore fireflies; tell me what’s not to love about little flying glimmers of light in my backyard.
46. Once (when I was but smol) I decided I would count one thousand fireflies out my window instead of sleeping. I didn’t know a hundred twice was two hundred, not a thousand, so I did indeed get some sleep that night 😀
47. I am most put out that there is no cinnamon roll, dandelion, or firefly emoji. How am I to properly express the levels of whimsy I desire?!?
48. I had no idea that this was going to take so much brainpower. I would like to offer my sincere apologies and congratulations to those who have accomplished this massive feat before me.
49. I have never filled in the about page on my Substack page, even though I’ve been meaning to do it since April. At this point, I’m waiting to do it at the same time as I update Always Ava’s about page.
50. I would rather be a raven than a raccoon. Wings and feathers >>> paws and dumpster diving.
51. I’ve eaten three string cheeses in a day and could do more if put to it. Don’t test me.
52. I’ve also eaten nearly an entire blueberry carton on my own (could have, too, if my siblings hadn’t descended upon it)
53. I’ve worked at the library for two years now and strangely enough, it’s helped with my talking-on-the-phone skills. Next up: facetime.
54. It’s also showed me that even librarians, queens of books and quiet and solitude, have to have people skills. If you happen to encounter me after my eight-hour Friday shift, please forget it happened. One can only people for so long before the smile-wreathed resting face starts to crack.
55. In our past Christmas plays at church, I have been the “villain” in all but one (when my little brother stole the part I wanted). I find it much easier (and much more fun) to play someone who is nothing like me than someone who has no personality, just lines.
56. After reading Keeper of the Lost Cities about a year and a half ago, I dug out a few of my stuffed animal friends and started sleeping with them again. Those of you who’ve read the series know that basically every character secretly has a stuffed animal that they hide from all their friends. It’s hilarious.
57. I have no idea what my life was like before I knew Jenna Raine and her music existed.
58. My favorite songs from her newest album (SQUEEEE NEW MUSIC YAYAYAYAYY) are Guilty as Charged, Boy Friend, Used to Pray, and God Made Him.
59. I rarely clean out my Liked Songs list in Spotify. As such, it’s basically a time capsule of the songs I liked and overplayed over the past year or so.
60. My little sister got me 100 Grand (the candy) as part of a going-away-to-college gift and it’s actually the most clever and hilarious thing ever, considering the cost of said college.
61. My Substack publication name comes from a conversation I had with Journey Bloomfield about my pen name vs. my real name. She said that in her mind, I would always be irreversibly Ava and thus a legend was born.
62. Both my Substack and WordPress blog names are somewhat ironic, considering I shan’t always be Ava and the pen name isn’t technically irreversible, either.
63. My bottom right front tooth has a chip taken out of it, thanks to my older brother and an overpopulated trampoline. He tried to convince me that it wasn’t actually chipped, but when you can literally feel that part of your tooth is missing, that line of reasoning doesn’t go over very well. It was a valiant effort on his part.
64. I’m tired of shipping Emma M. Lion with any of her Alchemy. I don’t care anymore; I just want all of them to be happier than they’ve ever been. I wish them all love and books and cozy fireplace chats and tea that remains the proper temperature and journals that never wander off. Oh and maybe some scones, for good measure.
65. I’m stellar at archery (not really, but I’m better than your average non-sighted archer).
66. Perhaps influenced by this, I used to have a slight obsession with Robin Hood. Just call me Maid Marian 💅
67. I read 263 books last year and have read 126 this year. I may have a slight reading problem 👀 think of it this way–it could be much worse.
68. I have a habit of leaving papers and bookmarks in my interlibrary loan books. Once my friend Madi was reading a book I had recommended to her and mentioned that someone had left a bookmark in it. She started describing it and we were both highly amused to discover that it was mine.
69. I’m sure you know at this point that I’m a poet of sorts. Well, you have access to the premium version of poet Ava. When I was younger, the only type of poem I wrote was haikus. Strings of haikus. Very poor ones. They’re fun to read now but extremely cringe.
70. I can’t figure out how to add images to the middle of a list, so you’re stuck with this very boring-looking and endless stream of words. My most humble apologies.
71. I love Dr. Pepperrrr (Cherry Dr. Pepper, if you have it)
72. I would rather have fruity, gummy candies than chocolate or caramel. Alas, ’tis true. I don’t hate chocolate, but I just would rather have Air Head Bites.
73. The same rule applies to my ice cream. I don’t want chocolate or caramel or nuts or suchlike in my ice cream; fruit or nothing. Also…I don’t appreciate chunks of stuff. Blizzards were not created with me in mind.
74. My favorite movies are Anne of Green Gables, Tangled, the Chronicles of Narnia (I don’t even care that much that the last movie is far from the plot of the book), the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pride and Prejudice…oh and I really do like Spiderman too 😀
75. I just found a YouTube miniseries type thing called Green Gables Fables and I’m so intrigued and never related to something so much in my life. I should make a pseudo-vlog-type-thing pretending to be Anne of Green Gables, y’all. Who would watch??
76. I simultaneously want my ears pierced and also desperately don’t want them pierced. All the good jewelry seems to be earrings…but it sounds painful (and have I mentioned I hate change?).
77. I want at least three kids when I grow up.
78. My favorite verse is probably either 2 Timothy 1:7 or Romans 8:38-39.
79. I own two signed books from two of my favorite authors–Sara Ella and Nadine Brandes.
80. WHEN I FOUND OUT NADINE BRANDES HAS WRITTEN/IS WRITING A SEQUEL TO WISHTRESS I FREAKED OUT FOR A SOLID HALF HOUR I TELLS YOU!!!
81. I have been known to paint all my nails entirely different colors. Would recommend; just the amount of controllable chaos one needs in one’s life.
82. I have never dressed up as anyone for Halloween, but if I did, I would definitely be Anne Shirley.
83. I have a code name for my future husband.
84. Last year, my most listened to artist and album was Dario Marianelli, the composer of the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack. I accidentally skewed the results by listening to the soundtrack on repeat while doing writing assignments for school. Whoops. Josiah Queen and Jenna Raine, surely one of you will take the prize this year.
85. I cannot, absolutely cannot, do my own hair. It’s one of the great tragedies of my life.
86. I do not like raisins. Or peanuts (and peanut butter). Or sour cream. Or spicy things. Or Mexican food.
87. I’m not that picky anymore though!! Trust.
88. The latest I’ve stayed awake is three in the morning. I’ve been known to say that someday I want to stay up all night reading, but I’m not sure how manageable or sustainable of a goal that is.
89. They say succulents are easy to keep alive, but I’m here to tell you that if you try hard enough, it’s actually quite easy (I’ve killed at least four).
90. I do not wear pink. Well, I used to, when I was but smol, but now I hold to Anne Shirley’s theory of pink for redheads. I’m also not a big fan of wearing red or orange, but I don’t have a literary reason for those.
91. I have never, ever broken a bone. This is probably because if we’re doing something even the slightest bit risky, I will be the person chilling on the side.
92. I love books that make me cry, unless it’s my math book 😐 math is responsible for more of my tears than the entire MCU franchise.
93. Someday, I would absolutely love to travel to London. However, I’m afraid the version of London I’m in love with no longer exists. I would need a time travel machine as well as a plane ticket.
94. I dislike how one is categorized as either a Swiftie or a hater; bc I would like to be a mere casual enjoyer of one or two of her oldest songs and the stereotyping irritates me.
95. I’m an introvert and enjoy staying home. Outings are fun, but I really like my room (and my books).
96. I prefer silver jewelry to gold.
97. I once kidnapped a small toad and tried to keep him in a bucket of water in our garage as a pet. I cried when my mother found out and made me let him go 🙁 I just wanted a creature…
98. I love love loveeee the rain.
99. I have never been outside of the good old US of A. Never. But I’ve driven across a good portion of it!!
100. I have an odd affinity for the six-spotted tiger beetle. Go look him up. He’s kinda gorgeous (for a bug).

Coda

To those who stuck around for the full hundred, thank you so much. And thank you to all of you lovely subscribers and followers—you’re so amazing!! Thanks for taking a chance on me!!

Lastly, there will be no post on Saturday. I’ll be quite busy moving in to college that day. Next Saturday, though, I should be back to reevaluate some posting schedules and suchlike. See you then!!

Always,

Ava ✨