{"id":1,"date":"2026-04-12T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/?p=1"},"modified":"2026-04-14T05:57:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T05:57:57","slug":"thegirlbehindthewriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/2026\/04\/12\/thegirlbehindthewriting\/","title":{"rendered":"The Girl Behind the Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Hello Friends, and Welcome to My Blog!<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kayla, but my friends call me K (which now includes all of you!) I grew up in a moderately-sized town, with a complicated parent dynamic and many step-relationships to prove it. I was a child of divorce, moved around a lot, and have always felt a bit out of the loop because of it. I’m not telling you all of this for your pity, but rather to lead to the path I am on today: looking at all that I’ve been through as what was meant to be and seeing the good in all of it. That is ultimately what this blog is about. Finding the good in all things, even if life hasn’t exactly gone your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am now almost graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and I have so much to be grateful for. My complicated whirlwind of an upbringing has now turned into a very happy life filled with amazing friendships, lifelong memories, and a very bright future ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everything happens for a reason” became a cliche for a reason. What is living if not for making mistakes, learning from them, and coming out better on the other end because of them? What is living without connection and gratitude for the one life we all get here on this Earth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started this blog to hopefully shift some perspectives towards seeing the good in even the smallest of things; whether that be the smile you receive from a stranger in passing or even the tears you shed when a love is lost. There is always a bright side because even the “bad” teaches you to feel and learn. My hope for all of my readers is to take my thoughts and experiences I share on this page and use them to better yourself and\/or those around you. The world needs more positivity, so why not spread it wherever you can?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So come along for the ride as I live, make mistakes, and learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m so glad you’re here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since we are all friends here, I figured I’d let you in on a couple random facts about me. <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Am A Huge Animal Lover! <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I have two dogs that I love dearly: Bella, who is a Chihuahua and Weiner dog mix, and Benny, who is a Border Collie and Pitbull mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bella<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Benny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But I don’t just love dogs, I love animals of all shapes and sizes: even the idea of them. I spent a lot of my early years spending hours a day finding worms and snails, picking them the prettiest flowers to eat and tastefully decorating stick houses for them to live in. I would beg my mom for more stuffies to pile on my bed, and would dress them up and pet them as if they were as alive as you and I. And before I knew any better, I would even check on the fish that we caught when fishing because everyone needs a friend – never tell 5-year-old me what happened to those fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Young me cuddling my dog stuffy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Young me checking on the caught fish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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A Sugar Glider eating some nectar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I was raised in a family that bred various snakes, reptiles, and marsupials, including but not limited to Bearded Dragons, chameleons, pythons, Gilla monsters, and Sugar Gliders. Don’t ask me why, but my house was even home to a pet alligator! I sadly don’t have a picture of it, but his name was Tic-Tock, after the crocodile in Peter Pan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needless to say, it’s easy to love animals when you’re used to living with a zoo down the hall from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I Love to Travel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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Although I have only been outside of the United States once in my life, I have made the most of all the places I have been. I love going on trips, whether they are short daytrips within the state, or cross-country to a whole new time zone. I love experiencing new places for the first time: everywhere away from home feels like a whole new world and a brand-new adventure! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Me at the Portland Art Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Me at the Chichen Itza temple in Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 I like having a blend of relaxation time, learning about the culture, and adventurous activities when I go to a new place. Art galleries, museums, aquariums, and tours have a special place in my heart. To me, they never get old and I learn more than I ever thought I could while I am experiencing it in real time, not just by scrolling through Google pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My mom and I ziplining on the longest zipline in the U.S. in Oahu, HI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If the option to zipline, snorkel, ride a rollercoaster or drive any kind of off-roading vehicle is available, you simply must know I will accept with no hesitation. What is traveling without doing something a little crazy that you can’t do on a regular day at home? Although sometimes adventure scares me, I know I likely won’t ever get the chance to go ziplining on the longest zipline in the country or go on a famous ghost tour through the haunted downtown New Orleans again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now that we are slightly more acquainted, I once again welcome you to my page and hope you enjoy the content! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feel free to share your thoughts and get to know each other in the comments (also known as, the “Group Chat”).<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Friends, and Welcome to My Blog! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kayla, but my friends call me K (which now includes all of you!) I grew up in a moderately-sized town, with a complicated parent dynamic and many step-relationships to prove it. I was a child of divorce, moved around a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Girl Behind the Writing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thegirlbehindthewriting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.sou.edu\/mullenixk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}