Ri

If you want to get to know Ri just a little bit, here is a good place to start…

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and
Wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight and
Who will be her lover?

Can anyone place it? They are the opening lyrics to Fleetwood Mac’s hit song, “Rhiannon,” the song I was named after. My parents decided to remove a few letters, hoping it would be easier for me but then the pop star, Rihanna, came along and confused everyone even more so to my loved ones, I usually just go by Ri. But yes, going back to the Fleetwood Mac song; I did a little more research (and by “a little more research,” I mean, “I Googled this”) to verify what I have been told about my name and I am going to ineloquently paraphrase my findings to say that the song is essentially about a British (specifically Welsh) witch. Knowing that, I feel like it really does give you a small snapshot about me - it explains my love for Harry Potter, which grew into a lifetime love of reading and writing, which led me to Scotland to pursue a Master’s in Creative Writing.

Boom. There it is. All you need to know about me in a few not-so-short sentences. Oh, and here is a picture of me in case you don’t know what I look like:

If that wasn’t enough and you want to know more about me, well, okay then. Here we go haha.

I was born and raised in Irvine, California and have…well, a complicated family structured. Let’s just say the more the merrier but don’t ask me to draw a family tree because there will be too many branches but most of my siblings will be playing roles in the wedding. Growing up in Irvine, people start talking about college very very early (my first memory was fourth grade) so my extracurricular activity list was very long and I felt like I tried everything under the moon at least once - apparently something John and I have in common. I had swimming lessons, tried multiple forms of dance (was horrible at all of them), softball, karate, and ended up long term with soccer on the sports side; played viola until sophomore year of high school (was also horrible at this); but mostly just spent my time studying (what a nerd). But it all paid off, after graduating Northwood High School, I was able to fulfill my dream of going to the East Coast for college. I wanted to try something different before I decided on where I wanted to “end up.” So I chose Smith College, a small liberal arts all-women’s college in Western Massachusetts, and I could not have been happier (or more stressed out).

During my four years as a Smithie, I continued to jam pack myself. After a nasty ACL tear my senior year of high school, I had to choose a non-contact sport so I decided to pick up rowing and whoa, what a change. Waking up at 4:30 AM 6 days a week is not part of the usual college experience but it turned into mine. I was a part of the rowing team, a part of my house community (at Smith, we had houses instead of dorms), and double-majored in English and Italian - even spending my junior year abroad in Florence, Italy. I knew though, after the first few months at Smith, that I would be coming home after graduation - I wanted to be close to that ever-complicated family structure that I knew and loved.

So I came back, worked a little, met a guy, fell in love, went back to school of my Master’s…in another country, came back, moved in with said guy, got a job, got engaged…now we are all caught up! Feel like you know me, at least a little, yet? No? Well, let’s change that! If you are on this page it is because you are important to John and I would love for you to feel you can be close to me too (if you want to be, of course). If you have any questions, or just want to get to know me more, (or are in the area even and want to grab coffee or come over!) feel free to email me at rianawhull@gmail.com.