Change Can Be Good

One of the lessons I have been learning this year is to embrace the changes in my life. Change can be scary and often feels like the wrong thing, but whether it is right or wrong, you’ll never know unless you try it. If something in your life feels wrong or you feel you could be happier, a change might be in order. After you take that step, don’t immediately retreat back to the way things were.

Be brave.

Give yourself a chance to trust yourself.

This isn’t always an easy thing to do, believe me I know. Over Christmas break I decided to make a change in my relationship and try being on my own. After over two years with the same guy, I instantly felt like I made the wrong decision. I was out of my comfort zone and could only focus on the way things used to be. With the help of my friends and mom, inspirational Pinterest quotes, and the lyrics of Ingrid Michelson, I decided that I needed to trust my instincts and see what would happen.

In the past month, I’ve become a more independent person and am more willing to accept challenges and opportunities that lead to unforeseen places. I’ve branched out more, have made new friends and I have gained self-confidence.  I can’t fall back on my boyfriend to continuously act as my confidence boost- I have to find it within myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle at times with the fact that we are no longer together. The change is really hard. I also like to think that after I have more time to focus on myself, we will get back together. But the important thing to remember is that I would have never known if I hadn’t embraced the change. Without taking that step, I would never know the personal growth I could have or what else was out there for me.

Change is foreign and scary but sometimes one small step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life.

New Year, New Me

Every year on January first people all around the world set New Years resolutions. Many people set measurable goals such as lose X amount of pounds or go to the gym X times a week. I normally fall under this category as well, however this year I took a different approach to my resolutions. This year I plan to be gentler on myself.

I often beat myself up about not doing something perfectly, not knowing where I will intern, what exactly I want to do with my life, not continuing things I used to love, not having control over everything in my life or not being as healthy as I wish I was.

What I’ve realized is that I may not have it all together, but I am doing my best. I’m only human and I can’t possibly have it all figured out. I may not know what I want to do with my life or where I want to go after graduation, but I’ll figure it out as opportunities present themselves and I continue to grow both in what I’m learning and personally.

The past two weeks I’ve been working on this resolution by taking time for myself outside of my school commitments. I’ve been playing piano a lot, something I’ve always loved but have felt I needed to put aside to work on things for my future career. But the thing is, in order to live a full life you need to make time for what you love to do, things that you aren’t evaluated or graded on- things that just make you happy. I’ve also been going to the gym more and also working on not allowing events outside of my control to bother me as much as they used to.

My resolutions may not be able to be measured in a spreadsheet or visible to the world, but I will know if I’m making progress. And ya know what? If it isn’t a fast process or I lose my way sometimes… it will be ok because I’m doing the best I can and that’s all I can ask from myself.

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Hey readers! Sorry for the long leave of absence, finals week at school was crazy and then I cut back on media usage while home for Christmas to really enjoy time with my family and friends. However I have learned quite a few lessons over the past few weeks, which I will pass onto you!

The first lesson blossomed out of a very unfortunate incident during finals week. Throughout the course of the semester I had been working on a project for one of my advertising classes. We had to present a designed book with all of our media suggestions and strategies for a campaign. The book was over 20 pages and I had spent around 30 hours on it. I was just about finished when on Tuesday afternoon… my computer crashed.

Panic washed over me as I frantically tried to retrieve information but after multiple trips to computer stores nothing could be salvaged. This meant I was going to have to completely redo my project that I was supposed to present Friday morning IN ADDITION to another project I had lost that I needed to present the Wednesday morning.

I went through many stages that afternoon starting with disbelief and transitioning to despair, defeat, anger, and finally intense focus and drive. I knew I had to get the project done so I equipped myself with coffee, snacks, redbull, and a power playlist and started in on the lost work. Work began at 7 pm and as I powered through the night I started to have a sense of accomplishment. By 9 Wednesday morning I had finished both projects, changed into my business attire to present the first, nailed the presentation and then headed to take a few more finals before finally going to bed at 7:30 that night. I had been up for over 35 hours but by the end of the day I was extremely proud of myself for what I had been able to achieve.

The main lesson that comes out of this is ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR WORK! My faith in my computer is completely gone and I now save everything in at least three different spots, including two cloud applications. But in addition to this obvious lesson I also learned that when you are faced with seemingly impossible tasks, have faith in yourself. I now know that if my boss assigns a huge task with relatively little time to do it, that I can accomplish it. I have more confidence in myself now and despite a horrible 35 hours, I trust my abilities way more.

So know that you can do anything you set your mind to and you will come out victorious!

Home for the Holidays

Holiday season is among us which means lots of food, time with family and friends, relaxation and the warm and fuzzy feelings that come along with winter holidays. One thing that I love about coming home from school for Thanksgiving and Christmas is getting to see old friends. Living seven hours away from home and high school friends can be really hard and it is easy to let the distance in miles create a distance in our relationships but I’ve discovered that with some work it’s possible to actually become closer despite the distance.

My freshman year of college I barely spoke with people from high school. We were all wrapped up in our new lives at school with new friends, no parents around, and basically living on our own. On birthdays we’d exchange brief phone calls and occasionally we’d text or Facebook each other, but these small exchanges were rare. When we came home for breaks nobody took the initiative to get together and if we did see each other, it felt sort of awkward because it was like we were in different worlds didn’t know how to connect other than talk about things that happened in high school.

Sophomore year things changed. I have a lot of friends at school that are still extremely close with people from high school and when I thought about old times or looked at pictures it would make me so sad that we had drifted apart. I knew that I didn’t want to lose these people but if something didn’t change, it looked like we were headed down that path. I started messaging friends more and made sure that we all saw each other over breaks. Conversations got easier and we all started figuring out ways to connect without having to rehash high school.

Now in my junior year I have visited a friend at school in Chicago, two have visited me in Indiana, and we all see each other every time we are home. I talk to at least one of them almost every single day and the snap chats are constant. Believe me, it took a lot of work to get back to this point and still requires work to keep it going. It’s not easy to coordinate a get together with 6 or 7 college students home for Thanksgiving Break. Everyone has family stuff going on and different time requirements, but I’ve taken it upon myself to text…and retext… and retext the plans to everyone until we find something that works for everyone. Despite the work and sometimes frustration from coordinating, it is most definitely worth it. Last Friday as we all smashed onto one couch, took goofy pictures, played simon says and laughed till we cried, all I could do was look at these people who mean so much to me and be thankful that although hundreds of miles separate us, we’ve grown closer together.

Make Time to Make Memories

As a student who is very dedicated to my school work and grades I know that life in school can seem overwhelming. There are so many days when I feel like finishing all of my assignments, studying for exams, and working on group projects just won’t get done because there’s too much. It can be very stressful and feels like all you can focus on. But what I have to sometimes remind myself is that years from now I’m not going to remember all the nights that I avoided friends, going out, or laughing historically in the living room. I’m going to remember working hard at my grades but I’m not going to remember individual times, it’s just going to be one big blur of studying.

When I force myself to take a break and do something random on a weekday night like staying up till 3 a.m. live tweeting a High School Musical marathon with my sisters, or seeing a play, or celebrating a friends 21st birthday, I know that I will always remember. I know that when I look back on college, those are the nights that I’m going to remember and look fondly on. Tonight I went to an event with my sorority sisters where we paired with a fraternity and learned different ballroom dancing styles. We all dressed up, gathered in the big ball room, had little appetizers, and had a blast learning dances and getting to know each other.

Moral of the story, keep your grades up. Don’t fall too behind in classes and neglect what you are responsible to finish. However with that being said, don’t neglect your friends. Don’t be afraid to put your homework aside to have a fun time because if you’re a good student, you will always find time to get it done. Make time to make memories.

Tough Choices

If there’s one thing you can count on in life, it is that you will be sent plenty of curveballs. There are so many choices in life that we are asked to make and some of them are huge decisions that can affect the rest of your life. This is one thing that I struggle with, seeing as I can barely decide what movie I should watch. When you’re 18 you are asked to decide if you want to continue schooling and if you do, where you want to spend the next four years of your life. Not only that but you have to choose what you want to do for the rest of your life for your career. Who at 18 can possibly know that? I thought that I did, but because of the twists and turns I’ve gone through in life, I am now on a completely different path.

Choices in relationships happen all the time and can be hard to think about. Do I want to put in the effort to continue my relationships with friends from high school? Do I want to focus on my future and let go of the past? Am I truly happy in my relationship, or am I just comfortable? These questions can be really hard to answer and can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed and empty of answers. However in times like these, it is important to think about what will make you happiest. You’re happiness is what should drive your decisions in life especially in tough decisions.

Last year I was faced with choosing between transferring schools and continuing to pursue my dream of theater, or staying at my current school, figuring out something else to study, and still being surrounded by my friends. I couldn’t possibly imagine my life without my friends in it but at the same time I couldn’t imagine loving something as much as theater. In the end I knew I would be unhappy without my friends and my support system so I stayed at Ball State and began exploring new career options. I now am studying advertising and absolutely have fallen in love with it.

An anonymous quote that I remind myself of when things in my life are changing and I worry about how they will end up is

“Don’t be afraid of change. You may end up losing something good, but you’ll probably end up gaining something so much better.”

Change is inevitable but keep a positive calm outlook and trust that things will work out for the better.

It can be scary when change in your life is happening. But it can be even scarier when it comes down to you to make a decision that lays out how the change will go. I’ve been struggling with some decisions in my life and find myself thinking about them all the time and trying to figure out what will make me happiest, but the honest truth is that I don’t know. I’m unsure of the best thing to do and don’t really know what I want. I stumbled across this quote the other day and it really put things into perspective for me and is helping me work through this change in my life and hopefully can work for you, when you find yourself in a similar position.

“When faced with two choices, simply toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you. But because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air, you suddenly know what you are hoping for.”

“Friends”

My favorite TV show of all time is “Friends” because I love the characters. Watching the show you feel like you’re part of the gang and whenever I watch, I always have a warm fuzzy feeling. If I’m having a bad day, I will instantly turn to “Friends” and watch as many episodes as it takes to make me feel better. I own 4 seasons and have watched all 10 seasons all the way through probably 4 or 5 times. The show also somewhat brought me to one of my very best friends, it was one of the first things we talked about when we met each other and I made her watch all the episodes and we’d talk about the characters and their lives. Each character has their quirks and makes them seem like real people, not just made up characters.

Luckily, I have friends in my life that are similar to the characters in the show. They all would be there for me no matter what and have characteristics that fit those in the show.

Meet Ashely, she’s the girl I mentioned above and is one of my best friends. She is my Monica. She’s extremely organized and everything has to be clean and perfect or it stresses her out. However she still loves me even though I am not the world’s tidiest person. She’s also pretty competitive, and if we are going to do something we are going to do it all out and be the best at it. Monica also is very family oriented and values serious relationships. She is loyal to her friends and boyfriend and Ashely is the same way. I know I can turn to her for anything just like Rachel (Green) can turn to Monica. She listens to me, gives me really good advice, makes me laugh, and is my partner in crime.

Next comes (my) Joey… Caleb. Caleb and I have known each other since kindergarten and decided we should probably be friends in middle school and have been best friends ever since. Like Joey, Caleb is very handsome and has no trouble with the ladies. Both of them are funny and always have a comment on whats going on. Caleb’s very smooth like Joey and even if he doesn’t know what’s going on or what to say, he’ll come up with some smooth comment that makes you question what you’re saying and usually makes you laugh. Joey has a heart of gold and hates to see his friends upset. Caleb has been there for me in the good times and bad and always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. Now we live seven hours apart but he still manages to make me laugh everyday and I know that he will always have my back.

Moving on to Phoebe… Phoebe is one of the goofiest characters on the show because of her out there comments and quirky personality. My Phoebe is Liz. Liz is one of the craziest people I know: she always has something to say and jokes around all the time. Phoebe is sometimes considered childlike, innocent, and the “weird” one of the group. At the same time, “street Phoebe” is one of the toughest chicks around. Liz is very sweet and innocent with a goofy personality that will always keep you smiling. Though she holds onto that innocence, she definitely has a tough side also and is very protective of the people she loves. Phoebe always comes up with funny simple ways to make people feel better like making a mess so that Monica can clean it up to make her feel better when she’s sad. Liz is the same way and while she might not have super deep advice to give like Monica, I love that she’ll just say… “let’s go to taco bell” or “wana eat a whole roll of cookie dough?” She is a bundle of joy and I don’t know what I would do without her in my life.

Chandler is one of my favorite characters in the show because he has clever jokes and often you have to be paying attention to catch them. Chandler is my friend Grant. Grant is another middle school turned lifetime bestie and if you pay attention is hilarious. He doesn’t make super obvious jokes, and takes time and pride in his comments and jokes about things. He can be awkward in situations just like Chandler and can usually be convinced to do things. He tries to put on a tough guy persona, but anyone that knows him well, knows that he is a teddy bear. He can always be counted on and is extremely loyal, just like Chandler. I love him dearly and am so thankful that I’m lucky enough to have him in my life.

And finally we have Ross. Ross is my boyfriend Wesley, who shares many similar traits as Ross. Both are very into knowledge and learning as much as they can– and sharing it with the rest of the group. Often Ross annoys the rest of the gang because he knows the scientific names, history, and everything about everything. I can always find Wes looking up information on things that he doesn’t know and then stores that knowledge and can recall it on the drop of a hat. Both are nerdy and but that’s what makes them so cute. Both are also extremely stubborn and competitive. Ross never ever wants to admit that he is wrong and will go to extreme lengths to prove his point. Wes is the same way and will never give up if he think’s that his view of something is right… even if it is as minuscule  as an opinion on Harry Potter. Although they have that side to them, they also have a very gentle sweet side that wants to protect the people they love and make sure that they are happy. If something is bothering me, Wes will do whatever he has to to make it better and will help me through anything. Just like Ross and Rachel, Wes and I are in a relationship, and have deep feelings for each other.

And that makes me Rachel. I identify with her on many levels, including that we share our name. She is very into fashion, and decorating, and is a social butterfly. She also wants to make it on her own, she is very independent and takes pride in what she accomplishes. She cares for everyone very deeply and wants what is best for them. She also sometimes makes bad decisions and relies on her friends to pick her back up. Luckily for me, and for her, our friends are always there for us.

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween is one of the most fun holidays because it makes it totally acceptable to dress up for a night (or for college students basically a whole week) and have a blast! Halloween is filled with scary movies, costumes, candy, haunted houses, carving pumpkins. I for one love dressing up and will jump at every chance I get. I recently was looking through old pictures and decided to show you guys the evolution of my Halloween costumes. I found pictures going back to Freshmen year of high school- don’t judge. haha enjoy this little Flashback Friday for Halloween!

First I present my freshmen year of high school costume. My friends and I decided to go as the elements (we knew there isn’t a flower or ice

element but we didn’t want to leave her out of the group).

For my sophomore year I went as a flapper- big step up from my thrown together fire costume. Also every costume I’ve worn, I’ve made myself or was an old costume from dance recitals.

Junior year was another recycled dance costume and I went as Michael Jackson with my sparkly jacket. It was a bit of a stretch and no one really knew what I was suppose to be, but hey it was free and made marching in the parade for band pretty easy and warm.

When senior year rolled around, the movie “Easy A” was really popular so I used yet again another old dance costume (the black corset), sewed a red A on and went as Olive Pendergast.

Finally the time comes when I leave high school and move on to when Halloween gets really fun again- college. Freshman year I went as a flapper again and made my boyfriend go with me as gangster.

Last year we chose another couples costume and he went as a firefighter and I went as the dalmatian. Ironically my best friend and her boyfriend went as the same thing without even knowing!

And….. This year I have two costumes!! The first I wore out last night- it was a sort of candy corn girl dress?? Not entirely sure but I found it in my friend’s basement so I made it work.

Tonight I’m going as a gypsy to my sorority’s social and I’m sure pictures will be posted on my Instagram so follow me there too!

As I mentioned I love to dress up and between high school homecoming, college themed events, and dance recitals have provided me with plenty of opportunities to follow themes and raid the costume closet….

The picture on the left is from my high school senior year homecoming. The theme was 90’s cartoons and we dressed up as the power puff girls. The picture on the right is from my competition dance season junior year of high school. We had a routine that followed the story of Alice in Wonderland and I was a mad hatter.

Above on the left I dressed as a flapper again for a Gatsby social for my sorority. On the left the theme was white trash- as you can see we got pretty into it.

One of my favorite, most recent themes was a Barbie theme. Barbie is apparently wonder woman and has held every occupation and worn everything under the sun. I managed to find an astronaut costume and went as space Barbie.

I hope you all have a fantastic Halloween and get the chance to dress up, eat lots of candy, and get your spook on!

Delicious Dinner Made Easy

As a college student I realize that the combination of our time delegated between school, work, and student organizations mixed with our love of bed and Netflix, making dinner that’s not a bowl of cereal or mac & cheese isn’t too common. Growing up my mom always made a great meal for dinner every night, so now that I have a full kitchen at my disposal I want to continue eating that way. So I’m here to tell you that really tasty meals can be cooked quickly, are pretty easy to make, and the ingredients are cheap!

After I came home from class, I curled up on the couch and began watching the movie “Julia and Julia” which tells the story of a woman who attempts to work her way through Julia Child’s cook book, making all 500some recipes in one year. She also blogs everyday about what she is making. Watching this I was inspired to blog about what I was making for dinner and show how easy it is!

I made roasted potatoes, acorn squash and salmon. So to get started you are going to want to marinade your salmon. I used soy sauce and honey but you could use whatever you want.

While it marinades you can start working on your potatoes and squash. The first step for making the squash is super simple- just stick the whole thing in the microwave for 5 minutes! After you do that you can turn to the potatoes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and while it’s warming you can get them ready. You need to wash them and then take a knife and cut out all of the “eyes” or little bumps on it. I like to use red potatoes when I cook them this way, but baking potatoes would work as well. After you’ve cleaned them, you can start slicing them. The thinner you slice them the crisper they will be. Super thin slices may even come out like a potato chip! I like mine a tad thicker so that the outside has a crunch to it, but the inside is soft. After you’ve got them sliced how you want spread them out on a cookie sheet. Try to avoid overlapping them too much or they won’t get that nice crispness. Spread some olive oil on them and then put some Italian seasoning on for a nice flavor. I also like to add rosemary and salt to mine as well! After you do that you can stick them in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Then turn back to your squash. Cut the squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds from the middle. Then get a glass dish and put about an inch of water in the bottom. Put the squash in the dish with the cut side down and stick back in the microwave for 15 minutes.

When your potato timer goes off, putt the cookie sheet out and flip the potatoes over and stick them back in the oven for a few more minutes. You can cook the potatoes as long as you want, it all depends on how crispy you want them!

Finally you can put your salmon on the stove. Put the salmon and a marinade in a pan and cook on medium low for about 5 minutes. You’ll want to flip the salmon over about halfway through. The way to know if the salmon is done is when white stuff seeping out of it. It’s the fat that is cooking off and when you see that you’ll know that it’s done.

When you take the squash out of the microwave you’ll know if it’s done when the squash is soft and is easy to stick a fork into. Once it’s done add some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to it. There isn’t any real measurements for these ingredients, it’s just however much you want! Once it’s melted scoop the squash out and mix it all up.

Squash- done. Potatoes- done. Salmon- done. It took me about 30 minutes to make and I was watching Netflix while I did it, so you don’t even have to give that up to have a great dinner.

Hope you all try this out and enjoy!

Lovin’ the Leaves

 

So loving fall has been portrayed by the public as something “basic” and is meaningless because “everyone loves fall”. Personally, I don’t find that a bad thing- who cares if everyone loves fall? Everyone loves it because fall is AMAZING. Fall has many wonderful aspects: pumpkin patches, apple cider, bonfires, Halloween, sweaters and boots, cuddling and pumpkin flavored everything. However one of  my favorite parts of this great season is the changing leaves. I have a slight obsession with spending time outside on nice days, in fact being inside when the weather is nice is my biggest pet peeve. Even if I have nothing to do outside, I’ll just go sit out there so that I don’t feel guilty about being inside. This kicks into high gear in the fall because I know that warm sunny days are coming to and  end as winter moves in. Another reason why this is heightened in the fall is because I want to soak up every minute of the colored leaves.

The beauty of the leaves is all over, sometimes in a single tree that almost seems to be on fire with the vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows. Sometimes the beauty comes in the form of a whole hill covered with trees or a path lined with all the season’s colors.

View from my camping spot in Wisconsin over Fall Break.

When the leaves fall around me as I walk by or I hear the crunch of the leaves under my feet I can’t help but smile. It is hard to put into words the feeling that it gives, but it seems to be the essence of pure simple happiness. When I see a large group of leaves on the ground, I instantly have the urge to run through them or throw them in the air. The other day I was riding my bike in a residential area just off campus and saw multiple people raking leaves- not to jump in, but to bag and throw away— FALL HATERS was all I could think as I rode by.

I even go out of my way to see these leaves, including taking 45 minute drives purely to enjoy the leaves on the backroads of my hometown.

This mild obsession with fall and the leaves may be silly but for a few weeks, something as simple as a leaf can put a smile on my face and to me that’s something to fully enjoy.

My hometown of Galena, Illinois