Choose Wisely

Man oh man. Has it really been two months since I last posted?! Well I guess the saying is true, time flies when you're having fun. I truly have had lots of fun these past two months. Quick update on my life. College is fantastic. So much better than high school, so hang in there seniors!! Colorado is wonderful. The weather is perfect. It is starting to get cold, and if you know me at all, you know that I adore the cold weather. Waking up and seeing the mountains every day is also a nice touch.
  Ok enough about me. I want to talk to you about a topic that I have wanted to write about for a while now. I want to discuss the topic of choices. I think personally that all life is, is a collection of our choices. That it is why this topic is important. We all make so many choices every day. The neat thing about choices is that every choice has consequence. When people hear the word consequence, they automatically assume something negative, but that is not the case. A consequence can be either positive or negative.  Let's use something super basic as an example..brushing your teeth. Hopefully, you all are brushing your teeth in the morning. If you brush your teeth in the morning, you receive the positive consequence of having nice breath! If you don't brush your teeth, then your breath smells terrible all day, and nobody wants to talk to you, and you get cavities, and your teeth look terrible. Haha, this is a super surface level example but its totally true if you think about any choice you make! Another thing about choices is they absolutely do not just affect you. Every choice you make has an effect on other people. When you brush your teeth, it has an effect on your parents because it will lower their dental bills, and other people will get to smell your nice breath! When you do not brush your teeth, your parents have to pay more for the dentist, and everybody has to smell your terrible breath.
   It would be nice if our choices only affected us personally, but that is not the case. When we make decisions, it is important to think about how they will affect other people. Making choices based solely on ourselves is selfish. I know somebody who made a lot of extremely selfish decisions, and when asked why they would make those decisions, the person responded with "I deserve to be happy." Because of these decisions this person ended up hurting a lot of innocent people, and this person's life will never be the same. The people that this person hurt, their lives will also never be the same. Its important to treat yourself and be happy, but not at the expense of other people.
  I have made so many bad choices in my life. Like one time, i convinced my friend Katie Egbert and my sister Sophia that it would be a good idea to crawl up the drainage pipe underneath our street. That was a bad choice haha. I have also made a lot of good choices, though. I made the choice to come to college in Colorado, and that has been the best choice of my life. I hope that my good choices have outweighed my bad haha but if you tend to make a lot of bad choices, it is not too late to turn that around. I have gone through seasons in my life where it seems like every choice I made was terrible, but looking back I have learned so much from those mistakes. I am not saying it is ok to make bad choices because it is not and I am still suffering the consequences of my bad choices. But id you do make a bad choice, learn from it and try not to let it happen again. I know easier said than done.
    The concept of choice is super cool because it gives us the power. We get to decide what we choose. If you're like me, then you like to be in control, and choices give us that power to be in control. I heard saying a while ago, and it goes like this "Good choices, good life. Bad choices, bad life". Its as simple as that folks. We get to choose the type of life we want to live. It is completely up to us. The life we live, the story we tell, is it 100% up to us what that will look like. No pressure!! I feel like I am rambling, so I am going to end with a quote. Somebody I used to know once told me this "Two natures lie beneath my chest. One is foul, and one is blessed. One I love and one I hate, but the one I feed will dominate," Choose wisely.

Hyde Park High

Oh high school. I don't even know where to begin haha. I attended Hyde Park since sixth grade and this past may my time there has officially come to a close. What a ride it has been, specifically these past four years. I have learned a ton in high school. I learned that being the mascot is not as glamorous as Disney channel made it seem, and that i am way too short for basketball, and that i always get cast as the most awkward parts in school theater productions haha. I have learned that having the opportunity to go to high school with both of your sisters is one of the coolest things ever (Gabby 9th, Sophia 10th-12th). i have learned to not take yourself too seriously, and that it is acceptable to randomly have a light saber fight in the middle of the hallway, library, cafeteria, and in your AP stats class. There are a lot of things i would have done differently. I wore a sweater vest once. I almost failed Latin.I was terrible at all things math related, sorry Mr. Eaton. There were times when i was honestly a terrible friend. I wish i would have connected with underclassmen more. I wish i would've parked my car at the hotel around the corner and drove a barbie jeep to school. I wish i would have gotten on that train that flew by campus everyday. I wish i would have appreciated my teachers better.I wish we would have won state in soccer haha. I don't want to dwell on stuff that i didn't do though, i would rather dwell on stuff that i did do. Kati and Hannah i am so glad we drew mike Tyson tattoos on our face and wore them like that the whole day. Kati i am glad we put flashlights in our shirts and pretended we were iron man. I went to junior prom with a sophomore haha. sutherlyn, Kylie, Meghan, and hannah i am glad that we dressed up like spice girls our junior year. Kati thanks for being my zombie twin.  Danielle thank your making us take a middle part picture at lunch.  Thank you enemies and haters for always pushing me to be better.  Courtney and Matt thanks for pushing me in the pool causing me to get stitches. Omi thanks for going to Starbucks with me even though we were technically supposed to be in class. Thank you MOG for proving that boys can have cliques even more so than girls.
          I am very grateful for high school. There were times that i hated it, but there were also so many times that i loved it. I think that probably the best thing that came out of my high school experience was the relationships that i formed. I think about my lunch table. That group of about ten girls that i spent 30 minuets with everyday. There were times when we didn't really talk about anything and other times that we laughed until we cried. So I thank you Jessie, Christi, Hannah, Grace, Kylie, Omi, Anabelle, Meaghan, Jordan,Whitney and kati. I have learend so much from each of you, even if you some of you were my arch enemies :)
         Thank you to all of my teachers for dealing with my abundance of personality. Mrs. Kent, thank you for showing me that i can be good at english class (even if i do suck at grammar), and for  getting me involved in fine arts.  Mr. Schroder, Thanks for being quirky. Coach Crastina, thanks for showing me how to draw a map. Coach Carter, thank you for loving me so well these past four years. You will always be my adopted grandfather. Mr. Boxx, thanks for keeping the campus safe from kids in the parking lots. Mrs. Demoss, thanks for teaching me all abut roman baths. Moffet, thanks for helping me discover that math was not my strong point. Blanchard thanks for letting me be your office aid, those were good times. Schindler, thanks for showing me super cool youtube videos on the french revolution, and for being a great soccer coach, and friend!!! Polski, thank you for teaching me that Chem is TRY. Mrs. Brock, thanks for letting me call you courtney now, thanks also for filling my brain with knowledge of america, and thanks for being my friend and breakfast dates, Miss Cluff, thanks for helping me pursue my passion of music, I loved you class. Mr. Eaton....Im sorry haha. Carp, thanks for putting up with me for ten years, I love you dude. Miss Sundae, thanks for not failing me in Latin, i really appreciate it. Burcher, thanks for teaching me everything in the world about physics. Mrs. Polanco/ Ms. Bodewig, thanks for showing me that i do not want to go into the medical field.Mr. Woo, thanks for being super awesome. Myhre, thanks for being a great coach and helping me become better everyday, and for also becoming a friend. Last but not Least, Mrs. Kelley. Thank you for making me love to learn. Your wisdom goes so far beyond the classroom. You are one of the strongest people i know, and im convinced you are beyonce.
       Hyde Park is unlike any place ever. It is 10000000000000000 times better than regents. It is a place that offers so many opportunities. A place where community is a core value, and a palce where the school song is slow and boring. Like i always say, "I might not have found my husband in high school, but i definitely found some bridesmaids. Id like to give one final thank you to all of my friends. You guys rock and i will miss you terribly. I would like to give a special shoutout to sutherlyn nichols. You have been my friend since sixth grade, and i love you for that because middle school was terrible. I love you so much and you have been there for me like you cant even imagine. You will always be apart of my life, i know this for a fact. Kati Rae Wheeler....What was high school for us. I seriously dont understand. You are my partner in crime. Thanks for the countless mems. Teachers who had both of us in class, there is a crown waiting for you in heaven. You are the best friend i could have ever asked for. I love you so much. Along with Sutherlyn and others, I am for sure you will be in my life forever, and one day make a fantastic God Mother to my daughter, Wind. Your friendship has meant so much to me, getting to know your family has also been pretty awesome. I know you are going to do great things. I love you.
       To everyone else still at HP, soak it in. Soak it all up. I know everyone says this, but time goes so fast. Like I am writing this blog from college...what. I hope that you dont take HP for granted. Everyone of us makes fun of HP all the time, and say its awful, and that we cant wait to get out, but the truth is there is no other place we would rather spend our four years of high school. Live it up panthers.

Cell Phone Towers

Today it is cold and rainy in Austin Texas. Most people are opposed to this type of weather, but I on the other hand love it. Nothing makes me happier than driving to my favorite coffee shop and enjoying a large vanilla late while watching the rain fall on lake Austin. The water is rough today, there are indeed white caps. It reminds me of the ocean. I am listening to my favorite band. The people next to me are talking about Disney villains and I’m silently judging them. I see a cell phone tower blinking red in the fog. Although I cant see the physical tower, I can see the red lights. My friend Hannah is the one who got me hooked on cell phone towers. Shes obsessed with them. At first I was like what the heck, they’re just cell phone towers, then I really started to observe and think. Cell phone towers are like the light houses for land. I’ve been struggling big time recently with my walk with God. I’m going to be honest, I’ve been very upset and have felt very abandoned. But this day reminds me otherwise. I look at the fog and the misty rain and the cell phone tower and I am reminded that I am very much so not alone. It’s so hard for me to remember that. I have decided that god is like a cell phone tower. That’s not something you hear every day. We as self-absorbed humans take for granted the wonderful things that cell phone towers do for us. Without those cell phone towers you wouldn’t be able to read this blog right now, or play candy crush on your iphone 6 (Gabby). That’s how I have been lately with God, I completely take him for granted. No matter how much we don’t care about the cell phone towers, they aren’t going anywhere. That’s how it is with God. And even though I can’t see the cell phone tower right now, I can see the blinking red light on this cloudy day. Even though I feel like God is not always there I know he is . I have been looking for God in all the wrong places lately. I look for him in worldly things, which I now know is pointless. All it took was for me to look up. To look up at the cluster of cell phone towers blinking through the night to be reminded that looking is pointless, because God never changed, I did.

Valentines day

How do I feel about valentines day? Not a fan. I'm not just saying this because I'm single, I'm saying this because I think it is a man made holiday that serves no purpose. It truly is sad that we have to have a specific day of the year to show love to one another. That should be everyday. It's just a day designed to sell chocolates and flowers and everyone be super lovely. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of love, but I don't need one day to tell me to love. I think that love is something other than flowers and chocolates, love is relational. Trust me, just because you buy somebody flowers does not mean you love them. And agin I'm not just saying this because I'm single. {btw I love being single, because I can do what I want #freeedom}. I know there will be people who disagree with me and that's ok, you do you. I'm just giving my opinion and will love everybody regardless if the love valentines day or not. Who knows maybe my opinion will change when I'm older.

Patience please.

Today I went to chick fil a this morning to order my usual #2 chicken mini 3 count combo meal with a lemonade. I was stoked because I had a gift card and the line wasn't very long. As I was sitting in the drive thru the person in front of me in a white Toyota Prius was literally taking forver. I was able to listen to three Taylor swift songs before she was done ordering. When I was finally able to order I was frustrated but still happy that I got chicken. As I was driving back to school I realized that I was impatient. I think that patience is one of the hardest things to practice in America. Our society is so fast paced and always in a hurry. Even when we are not in a hurry we are still rushing. I was not in a hurry to get to school, because I have first period off. {sidenote to my mom: I WAS NOT SKIPPING}. Anyway I started to think about the last time I just waited without complaining. Then I started thinking about how impatient I am with all areas of my life. I think that patience is a hidden virtue that can do a lot of good. I don't want life to be a blur. I don't want to always be in a rush. I want to be more patient with my friends today. That's my challenge to you all today, is to be more patient. 

Scared.

I'm not really scared of anything. Except spicy foods. I'm scared it's going to burn a whole in my stomach. Anyway I've been really thinking about what to blog about and I've decided to blog about life. I am scared of something else. I have an insane fear that I will be on my death bed looking back through my life and say "wow that could've been better". That would suck. I wasn't to never be bored. Never waste time. I'm going to college in colorado next year and that actually does scare me because I know nobody up there haha. When I was considering my choices for college I looked at Baylor and texas a&m. Both great school but not for me. I could go to A&m be a sorority girl and I'm sure I'd be happy, but that's so safe. When I got into colorado I thought one word "adventure". I don't want to play my life safe!! I am so hungry for fun and adventure. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm stoked. I decided then that since I want to take risk, try new things, so when I look back on my life I can say "crushed it". The end. 

P.s. I gues I'm scared if reptiles too

Chop

Dear readers today I'm going to talk about hair cuts. You know when you cut your hair and you immediately regret it...that's what happened to me about a week ago (feel free to sing that part). Last week over thanksgiving break I was chillin with my cousins and sisters at the local nail salon in Griffin Georgia, when we thought to cut my hair. My super talented rad cousin Amanda is a hair person so she said she could do it for me that afternoon. I was so happy because I thought I could finally look like Taylor Swift!!!! So we head back to my cousins house and get everything set up. Btw I just want to clarify that my cousin is 26 it's not like I let some 12 year old cut my hair. Anywayyyy she put the little apron thing around me and just began to cut. I was freaking out the whole time. After getting about 9 inches cut off I was freaked. I thought it was going to be perf and it's not. So now I am currently taking tons of vitamins to make my hair grow back haha the end.   

Jk. I would never just tell y'all a story about my hair cut, there is a metaphorical life lesson in this. I wanted something different I wanted to change. I thought that since short hair looked fab on Taylor it would look great on me. Ha no. In life when we are going through a bunch of nasty hard stuff we tell ourselves "if only I could have a clean slate" "if only I could have a do over" "if only I could be like this person" everything will be peachy. But that's not the case. We have to learn how to embrace our circumstances and ourselves. Because most of the time a fresh start just makes things worse. We as humans have a tendency to run or be lazy. In my case I hated blow drying my long hair like it took forever and so I was like I'll just cut it all off and it will take like two seconds to dry. Yes, it does take very little time to dry, but it takes like a freaking hour to style and if I don't style it I look like a boy. So I really just made more work for myself. We need to learn how to confront our problems, because just because we run or attempt to change the truth is you'll never get a fresh start or a do over, and your problems will just be there waiting for you once you figure that out. Luckily my hair will grow, but you can't grow a new life. :)