"If this isn't nice..."

There aren't many quotes that affect me as mush as this one does. I first came across it my Senior year of high school, and I didn't think much of it. Once I hit college, though, I knew it. 

There were times when I would be having a sleepover with my new best friends, and think about how nice it was and how nothing could top it. 

I would gain acceptance and respect from a professor and this quote would come to my mind. 

I would go to a concert with one of my best friends at the time, and after a very long time of things not being right, they would be. If that wasn't nice, I don't know what was.

My friends would throw me a birthday party, somehow managing to surprise me. They took the time to go out of their way and be extra careful to make sure I didn't catch it. While they were singing me happy birthday, I thought to myself, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

I was by myself in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It had just hit me. After everything that I have battled mentally and emotionally over the past four years, I realized, those weren't huge, determining factors in my life anymore. And you know what? That was nice, and there isn't anything that could top it.

And to this day, all of those moments are still nice. Those people may not be in my life anymore, or at least not in the same way that they were then, but the memory remains the same. I like that I'm not searching for these moments. I just know. Whenever I'm doing something that qualifies, I just remember, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is." I love it, and I hope I never stop noticing it.

Internship Update

Now that I have accumulated almost fifty hours at my internship over a few weeks, I feel like I am now able to make an accurate judgement of where I've been placed.

With that being said, I love it. Love it, love it, love it. I don't think my school's social work office could have put me anywhere better, although they did try. Where I am at now is so laid back. They understand that there are going to be gaps between what we have learned in our classrooms and what is actually happening in the real world. My supervisors are willing to give us the time to learn what we are doing before setting us stray. They know so many resources and so many tools to help clients. It's amazing. I couldn't imagine being anywhere more beneficial that where I am now.

So far I have just been in the food pantry of the agency meeting with the most frequent clients. This has been so rewarding for me. I can see how being around other people is helping the clients form their own sense of community of support. They rely on each other and help the others out when it's possible. Their kids know each other and are growing up together. I can truly see how the pantry is helping the families out with more than just food.

Although I love being in the pantry, I absolutely cannot wait to have my own clients. It's a little difficult to have my own caseload since I am only there on pantry days, but I know that sometime soon it is going to happen. It's funny that I am so eager for clients now since I was so scared of them before.

I know this internship is going to teach me so, so, so much, and I can't wait to see what I'll be learning over the next few months.

Down in the Dumps

Lately, I have been feeling a little down in the dumps. I don't know what it is, but it could definitely be a factor of working, working, working and barely having any time off. Good thing I have developed a system to help me out a little when I get into these moods. As a social work major, we have all developed weird little methods that help us out when we're down. The helping professions are very emotionally taxing, so working on yourself is essential.

What I have done to cope with my feelings is simply dedicating a folder on my computer to pictures that are inspiring, funny, or just simply things that I like. In case whoever winds up reading this is a little sad today, I'm going to share a few just for good measure.

There are many, many more pictures after the cut, but I hope these few give you an idea!

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind

Part of my 101 in 1001 list is to answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind," but doing it all in one post is a little much. So, here are the first five, I guess!

1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?
I think I would be about twenty, which is how old I am now. I'm still not completely sure what I'm doing, but I am definitely starting to feel a sense of responsibility for myself and for my future, which is something that people in their first two years of college tend not to have. I'm searching for opportunity everywhere, yet I still have to call my mom whenever I think something goes wrong. Twenty seems like it's the age where all of this stuff happens.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
Definitely never trying. Failing just means that you are one step closer to figuring out something that will work.

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don't like and like so many things we don't do?
I guess we do things we don't like just because we have to. I'm not the biggest fan of studying, but I know I have to do it because it will lead me to getting to do things that do want to do. I don't know why we don't do the things we like to do though. I understand the time and financial limitations, but something as simple as sleeping on sheets that smell wonderful all the time or sitting by the pool reading a cute book shouldn't be ignored.

4. When it's all said and done, will you have said more than you've done?
As of right now, I've said more than done, but I am working on changing that.

5. What is one thing you'd like to change most about the world?
Coming from a completely selfish standpoint, as a woman I would just want women and men to be more equal.

This week has been really stressful with some things coming to an end and new ones starting. Nevertheless, here are seven things that brightened my spirits this week.

1. MTV's newest show "Are You the One?" is great. This show takes twenty people (ten guys and ten girls) and has them professionally matched to find out who their soul mate is. The catch is: they don't know who their match is, so for the entire season they have to figure out who their "perfect match" is. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

2. This is probably the best list of life advice that I have ever seen. My favorite is probably, "Yard by yard, life is hard. Inch by inch, life's a cinch."

3. Itching to go on a trip? Business Insider definitely isn't helping on that front. The compiled a list of 100 trips you need to take in your lifetime, and I am pretty sure that I need to take them all tomorrow.

4. I'm still in love with Laguna Beach, so the fact that Lo Bosworth took almost a half hour to answer questions on her YouTube channel is a huge thing to me. You can watch it below, but be warned, it's pretty long.

5. Seth Meyers. That's about it. I can't wait for his new show!

6. I am a huge believer in Sundays. I take my time when I wake up and do everything nice and slow until about seven when I realize I have a lot of homework to get done. This article truly grasps what I want out of that day, considering it is one of the one and a half days I don't have to work in a week.

7. I finished number nine on my 101 in 1001 list! I'm slowly making progress now!

Feeling Distant? Lean In.

Last Thursday I went to Cru with two of my friends. I really wasn't feeling it that night. I had been at my internship all day then immediately sat through a three hour class after being on the bus for an hour. I was tired, hungry, and ready to go home. Instead, I pushed through and went to the college kid's version of church, and man am I glad I did.

The message that night was that if you're asking for help, trying to hear God's voice, all you have got to do is lean in. You need to get a little bit closer to see what is going on. When you lean in, you focus all of your efforts in on what you're trying to listen to. To me, that is so powerful. God is never out of leaning distance, and that is comforting.

I think leaning in can come in handy in so many other situations also. Are you trying to work in a competitive industry? Lean in and try emailing somebody for some advice. Lean in and volunteer at a related event to get your feet wet. Are you trying to learn something new without actually taking a class for it? Lean in and read a few articles about it. Lean in and just trying to do it yourself.

Leaning in can be so helpful for many things that we can't even imagine. I know that just jumping in can be scary, but there's no way that just focusing your efforts is going to hurt you.

Try it with me: lean in.

Don't Break the Chain

Let's be real for a minute: I have broken the chain, started again, then broke it, and now, believe it or not, I'm starting it again.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, Don't Break the Chain is something that was first introduced to me in one of Charlie McDonnell's YouTube videos. Basically, you print out a calendar of the year, pick a task that you want to do everyday, or at least on set days, and put an 'X' on the calendar for each day you do it. Eventually, once you do it enough, you're going to have a chain of X's like Charlie does on his. Plus, once you get so many, you're not going to want to miss because you just don't want to break the chain.

Luckily, Karen Kavett has got us covered with cute calendars to start our chains on. Just print them out and you're ready to go! I know I'm going to be using mine for going to the gym, studying, and blogging.

I have a good feeling about this. I know everybody needs a little time management and organization help in their lives, and this seems like a fun way to do it.

First Week of the Semester

So, last you heard from me, it was the day before the semester started. I had every intention of blogging throughout the week, but obviously that did not happen. With the rush of work, medical issues, class, my internship, and checking in with friends, there was just no time to write!

Never fear, though! This week I am going to be making a lot more of an effort to write. Now that I know, roughly, what my schedule is going to be, I should be fine.

In the meantime, here's what happened last week:

Monday: I started off the semester at the health center! A ton of blood vessels in my body just decided they were going to rupture, so that was fun. Immediately after that appointment, I went to work.

Tuesday: I worked the majority of the day. I went back to the health center in the afternoon, and everything turned out to be fine! Then I had my internship seminar class later that evening.

Wednesday: I basically just hung out at home all day and did the homework that was already assigned. Despite the doctors saying that there was nothing internally wrong, I was still told to keep it easy to make sure I wasn't aggravating anything.

Thursday:  I went to my finance class that evening and then Cru with my friend Emily right after.

Friday: Once again, I worked. Then I went to dinner with one of my friends later that night.

Saturday: This was the big day! I started my internship today, and I learned so much. In fact, I learned so much that I fell asleep almost immediately after getting home around six.

I did a lot last week, but I am definitely looking forward to how everything plays out in the coming ones.

Stay tuned!

Spring Semester Eve

It was the night before classes

And all through the dorms

Not a student was sleeping

They were all at the bars

I don't know about you, but the Spring semester is the hardest for me to get into the swing of. We're all still in the holiday mode, and there just isn't that first day of school excitement that comes with the new classes in January. Despite all of that, I need to do well this semester, and I'm not completely sure how I'm going to be able to make that happen because of everything I have going on. I do know that this is going to be the semester of organization though, and here are a few tips for anybody who tends to struggle in that department.

Color coding: Adding color to my agenda is not only fun for me, but it's a ton of help. I can flip to a certain day and automatically know what is happening in each area of my life without a lot of thinking. The Lord knows that when I'm stressing, I'm not the best at thinking. The picture above isn't my planner, but mine looks really, really close to it (minus the Knicks games).

Date//Class Number//Class Topic or Agenda//Assigned That Class//Due That Class

Syllabus Excel Sheet: I can't explain how much time this winds up saving me each week. Basically in the beginning of the semester, I take the schedule from each of my syllabi and put it all into one Excel sheet. This leads to me not having to search each of my syllabi several times a week, and I always know what is going on in each of my classes. When I'm done with it, I upload a copy to my Google Drive. Then I print one out to carry with me in my bag at all times, one for my desk, and one that goes next to my calendar on my wall. I never have an excuse not to know what is going on, and it is great. 

Finally, just put in the time. Although it seems like college is some weird competition to see if you can watch an hour long TV show in twenty minutes. The answer will always be that you can't. The same goes with your papers and exams, you're not going to get your A's if you don't just put in the time. Nothing is worse than fumbling through all of your work, looking for one paper that has instructions, and losing twelve in the process. If you give yourself an adequate amount of time to finish projects and study, you're going to be more organized also.

Saturday Seven

1. Hart of Dixie might be the cutest show I have ever seen. I just started watching it on Netflix, and despite only being a handful of episodes in, I am absolutely hooked. Rachel Bilson and Scott Porter's characters need to get together ASAP.

2. I know Call Me Maybe is so two summers ago, but I recently came across this cover of it again. It is still as good as it was a year and a half ago and I can't stop listening. It doesn't have the pop sound Carly Rae Jepsen perfected, but you will definitely see yourself singing this version a few hours later.

3. Am I the only one who is still struggling to finalize my New Years Resolutions? I know I just posted my 101 in 1001 yesterday (which can be viewed here), but I'm a list girl. Plus, I just don't feel right without them. In the meantime, here is a list that seems to really have a handle on what resolutions are intended to do.

4. I wonder if I can make these with my newly found limited Photoshop skills. The new semester will be starting soon.

5. Not counting this season (which has surprisingly been good), Taran Killam has been the sole reason I have kind of cared about SNL in the recent past. If this video of him reenacting Robyn's music video for Call Your Girlfriend doesn't prove why, I don't really know what will.

6. The Fiesta Bowl happened! This was UCF's first (and last) BCS bowl game ever, and I could not be more proud of this team. The Knights shocked the nation (excluding Central Florida, of course) and won by ten points! I can't wait for next fall, also known as my last football season as a student, to see how they're going to build on this.

7. And always remember:

101 Things in 1001 Days

I have never been a big on making bucket lists. To me, I see them as a list of things that would be awesome to do, but since there isn't any end date on it, it is highly unlikely for it to actually happen. I think that just sucks. If I'm going to make a list of things I want to do, I don't want to have my mind keep pushing it back because I think I have all of the time in the world. That is why I love 101 in 1001 so much.

The whole 101 Things in 1001 is perfect for me. It allows me to set the perfect short-term goals without being overwhelmed. Basically, if you've never heard of it before, you have to make a list of 101 things that you want to do. Make sure they aren't too off the wall. These need to be attainable goals without being so simple that it isn't any fun to accomplish them. Then obviously they need to be completed within the 1001 days. I feel like that makes sense.

The 1001 days translates roughly to 2.75 years, and if this time period isn't going to be the most interesting of my life, I am clearly doing something wrong.

Check out my list here!

Missing Home

I have only been back in Orlando for two days and the homesickness is setting in. I don't get to see my family very often and the past week and a half has been great, but I can't help feeling sad that that was going to be the last time I saw them until probably July. Now, my family and I aren't as close knit as most. It's just knowing that everybody else is going to see the people they're closest to in March, at the very latest, is killing me. I miss familiarity. I know, I know. I've been in Orlando for two and a half years, but crazy enough, arguments with my family are actually comforting.

Are there any good homesick remedies? Can somebody please help me out?

Happy New Year!

This may sound completely cliche, but I can't believe it is already 2014! While this past year has been nothing but completely wonderful to me, I know this next year is going to be even better than before. I'm looking forward to my internship, my big 21st birthday, and, of course, baseball season. There are so many things that I have coming up that I have never encountered before, and I am more than my fair share of nervous. I'm not going to sweat it though, because this year, I'm going to be fearless.

In most situations, I am so shy. Everything makes me nervous. My anxiety, nine times out of ten, is completely out of control. This year I'm going to work on all of that. My irrational fears are completely internal and I'm done.

This is the year of me going out after what I want no matter how uncomfortable it may make me. 

This is the year that I am fearless.