The Real Deal

As you all are reading this, it is my 23rd birthday!  This year has been absolutely crazy and definitely not what I expected to come from it, but I've loved everything about it and wouldn't change anything (except maybe the global pandemic part...).  I always love to reflect on the past year and see how I've changed.  Each year I feel like I'm growing more and more into myself and I genuinely really like who I'm becoming.  So here are just a few things that I've learned in the past year, and I can't wait to see what 23 will bring! MAN PLANS, GOD LAUGHS //  I've really learned the truth of this in the past year.  I did not see myself taking an unpaid internship after graduating from college.  But that internship opened so many doors for me.  It gave me incredible experience, taught me what I wanted in the future, introduced me to one of my best friends, and gives me great volunteering opportunities.  I also took my first adult job at the...

Long time, no post!  As usual, school got the best of me, BUT, I'm here for a little update!  Last Sunday, May 19, I graduated Cum Laude from Bradley University. It still feels so surreal to me!  I've talked about this on my blog before, but I had a really really hard freshman year.  I called my mom and wanted to transfer at least once a week, I was homesick all the time, and became a shell of my former self.  It was a huge transition and instead of pushing myself, I drew myself into my shell and waiting for something good to happen to me. But you know what?  It got so much better.  I started meeting the right people, joined so many organizations and got more involved in organizations that I was already a part of, and finally started to find myself.  I now have friends that have become my family, and it was so incredibly hard to leave them.  I've had the most amazing professors and faculty who I feel have truly prepared me for my fu...

Lately, I've been feeling kind of down.  This is the first summer I've been home from college where I truly feel like an adult.  My friends from home are all heading back to school way early, my friends from college are five hours away, and I'm working 9 to 5 Monday through Friday.  I've been feeling kind of lonely the past few days and have even been thinking "Am I going to be this boring for the rest of my life?" The answer is no, I am not going to be this boring for the rest of my life.  I'm at a weird in-between stage in my life, and the frustration from it is so frustrating.  In honor of this feeling I've been having lately, here is a list of some things that make me happy, in hope that they'll make you happy if you're stuck in a rut, too! ONE // Reading I've mentioned this in multiple posts, but I've always loved reading, ever since I was little.  Book stores were like heaven to me, and I would have to be dragged out.  ...

Ever since my freshman year of college, my professors have always told us "say yes to every opportunity".  I remember sitting in class thinking, "That's dumb, why would I say yes to something I don't want to do?"  And because I didn't listen to this advice, I struggled throughout my first two years of college. If I didn't want to do something, I just decided to do something else or nothing at all.  And it wasn't just job related things, it was with sorority events, going out with my room mate and her friends, and even going to study or the dining hall with people.  Without even trying any of this, I said "no" because I decided that I "wasn't that person".  And because of this, my freshman year was miserable. My sophomore year I was living in my sorority house, and was determined to change this.  I wanted to have fun, make friends, and actually enjoy being at school.  And I finally stopped saying no.  I still wasn't...