People don't believe you when you say you're in love in tenth grade. It's dismissed as something small and insignificant: something you'll grow out of the way you grew out of Barbie dolls and pink dresses, of crayons and playing tag. And, most the time, it is small. It is insignificant. But, sometimes, it's something more. Sometimes, it really is love.
Read MoreThe 7 Best Summer Moments
Read MoreI've spent the past three months living in Boston and having one of the greatest summers of my life. It was seriously unforgettable and I had so many wonderful moments that I will always remember. Here are seven of them.
8 Things I Learned While Visiting NYC for 2 Days
I was born in New York. For the first few years of my life, I pronounced "dog," as "dowGUH" and spoke at the speed of lightning, which, hey, was pretty impressive for a two-year-old with freakishly tiny ears and a minimal amount of hair. After moving to Idaho and living there for 17 years, I lost the New York dialect and, thank God, my hair grew in (I still have awkwardly tiny ears), but, despite the loss of my accent, New York has always been my home.
Read MoreLife is Beautiful
Read MoreI could fill books about everything I think is wrong with me. For example, I have awful nails and hands the size of a medium-built five-year-old. I'm terrified of ketchup. It's impossible for me to transfer people to voicemail on the phone at work.
Five Boys You Will (Almost) Date in College
This guy is pretty much a huge tool, but it takes you awhile to see it. He's a bro and he tries too hard, but you weren't looking for anything serious anyway and it's kind of funny how he tries to be so cool. Eventually, though, he stops the player act around you and starts to be sweet. So, so sweet. He doesn't have enough confidence to be this way around anyone else, so you're the only person who sees it. No one believes you that this side of him exists.
Read MoreSandpoint, Idaho
Read MoreToday was a pretty gross day in Massachusetts and I had no energy because I spent all weekend at a music festival and apparently, being twenty-one constitutes me as being an old person now because my knees hurt from standing and jumping and doing all of the things that make concerts so fun. So, I spent the day making Mac & Cheese and deleting old emails while singing really loudly to myself. In the middle of all that excitement, I found the speech that I wrote about Sandpoint and why it's one of the most beautiful places on earth.
The 5 Types of Kisses You Should Experience
Mike and I dated from April to June of my eighth grade year and when we broke up, I was devastated. I'm pretty sure this was the first time my heart had ever been broken and I hated it. It was the worst, especially because we broke up over some dumb misunderstanding (which, let's be real, is what most middle school break up's are over). Because we had started out as best friends before we dated, Mike and I tried to hang out after our break up, which was kind of hard because I was still pretty upset that we were no longer together and I also still hearted him big time and I was 99% sure that he wanted to get back together too.
Read MoreWhy Working in Student Media is Fun
I Couldn't Think of 5 Songs I Liked, So I Did This Instead
I was trying to do this thing where every Friday, I posted five songs that I liked and why I liked them and why people should listen to them, but then I only ended up doing it twice, because Friday's were surprisingly busy days for me during junior year and, also, I went through this pretty embarrassing phase where I only listened to One Direction and Nelly, which was a confusing time period in my life and I didn't want to subject anyone to that shame and horror.
Read MoreCannonball
Read MoreI was on dance team a long time ago, but it was an experience that completely changed my life. Coach Smith is a woman that transformed who I am and I will always admire her. She didn't only teach us how to be strong dancers; she taught us how to be strong people. There's no way that I could have gotten through high school without her love and support. Coach Smith is retiring this year and I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of her team for six years.
Free Will & Determinism
The following was written as a problem set for my Honors 296 class, a class that focuses on the differences between the quantum world and the Newtonian world and how that is interpreted in our every day lives. I think. I'm not really sure, most of the stuff goes pretty far over my head, so I spend a fairly large amount of time waiting for 1:00, when the girl that sits behind me and Emily starts eating every day. But, I got a pretty good grade on this paper, so I guess I know what I'm talking about. Kind of.
Read More10 Perfect Moments
Read MoreWhen we first moved into our house at the end of August, my roommates and I started a sticky-note wall filled with all the dumb and inappropriate phrases that would come out of our mouths. Although eventually it was removed because phrases like, "It would be like having sex for America" and "I used to watch Power Rangers and eat my boogers" seem much less funny when parents come to visit, there was one phrase I said that I will always find true:
"I knew it was one of my favorite moments because it glitters when I think about it."
The Strangest Text I've Ever Received
One time, I met a guy in the alley by Jimmy Johns. It was not as creepy as it sounds.
Allie and I were coming back from the Chug, which (side note) is the best place to ever end your night in Muncie. It's an oddly magical place, but like, if magical meant that Cinderella's ball was held in her basement and college kids had written on all the walls of the bathroom in Sharpie and there's an 88% chance someone in the room has a face tattoo. That kind of magical.
Read MoreMy Brother Slept Through the Marathon
Read MoreMy younger brother Jonny is notoriously late for everything because he sleeps more than anyone I know. When we were younger, he actually used to fall asleep in the shower before school, causing our entire family to be late for the day’s activities. Monday was no exception.
Chels & Jen Attempt to Video Blog
Chelsea Kardokus and I once tried to start a video blog while we were in London, covering the Olympic Games for the Chicago Tribune. It didn't last long.
Read MoreThe Backstreet Boys Will Always Be Better Than One Direction
Read MoreToday, I delivered a persuasive speech in my Comm 210 class about why the Backstreet Boys are better than One Direction. It may be the most accurate thing I've ever written (except for anything I ever did at the Olympics, because, let's be real, Alex probably would have killed me if we published any false facts. That would be a tragedy on par with Shark Week being cancelled).
These Are 5 Songs I Like
I listened to this song on repeat for a solid three weeks when I walked to class. It made me want to play the bass, but then I remembered that I have freakishly tiny fingers, so I settled on wanting to learn the ukelele instead. This song also tricked me into thinking I can play the drums because I would air-drum on the way to class. While I've now come to terms with the fact that I drop drumsticks too often to become a professional drummer, I'm fairly confident I would fit in really well with Bombay Bicycle Club as soon as I get a black, wide-brim, floppy hat and high-waisted paisley shorts.
Read MoreA Short Story About Something (Or Nothing)
Read MoreLast night, I literally had the strangest experience. (And, when I say literally, I really do mean that because both my brother's are super-freaks about using the word "literally" in a figurative sense, so I only use it in legitimate situations). Anyway, I went to sleep and had this dream that I was very sad from a bad break-up and I was writing a blog about being very sad from said bad break-up.
My Mom & the Modern Self
This is an excerpt from a project I wrote for my Honors 203 course about the modern self and what defines a human being as an individual. I focused my project on my mother because she has made incredible life sacrifices for the betterment of our family and I look up to her in every way that is possible.
Read MoreA Brief History of Some Boys I've Kissed
Read MoreI was short, you were tall. Holding your hand was too awkward because of our height difference. You kissed me at the fair. You were the sloppiest kisser I ever had. You heard me tell someone that and we never spoke again.