Blog Challenge Day 3: Your Favorite TV Show

     This is actually a little difficult so let me just give you the short list.
   
1. Boy Meets World
     This show is just great all the way around. It's funny and light hearted and then deals with real life issues and lessons the next minute. It has wonderful, hilarious, wise, and real characters. It's just a show about growing up. It also has the greatest love story ever, Shawn and Cory (obviously), haha....but really Cory and Topanga are great. Nothing will ever rival the friendship between Shawn and Cory though. Eric is always there to make you laugh and then to make you cry and Feeney will always be there do guide you through life. It's full of laughter, tears, question, answers, growth, and change. What more do you want in a show?

2. Gilmore Girls
    This show is just so great. I could binge watch Gilmore Girls for days...in fact I have. I am totally team Jess, by the way. There is so much sassyness in that show and it's funny. It has my personal favorite will they, won't they relationship in all of TV history. I like to pretend that Luke and Lorelai are back together. Watching Rory grow up and change. Rory and Lorelai's relationship. Emily and Lerelai's relationship is fun to watch. I personally love Richard Gilmore. It's just a great show for young women...actually for any women to watch. Filled with very strong and very different women. To me it very much so presents the, all women are fantastic and powerful, message and I for one love it! It shows a real family with real issues but, despite all of the silence and fights and years of not speaking, they do still love each other. Also Luke....if nothing else watch the show for the incredible, sarcastic, grumpy, yet loving, and generous Luke Danes. The man is pretty much the greatest. Who's excited for the Netflix reboot?!?!? I know it'll be wonderful and it will also rip my heart out. RIP Edward Hermann aka Richard Gilmore.

3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
     If you haven't ever watched this....do it now. This is totally one of those shows I watch for the side characters and to cry out all of my pent up emotions. Buffy is good, I like her but if I'm honest Buffy is the last reason I watch the show. The first reason is Xander Harris...aka ultimate best friend in the world. He's hilarious, he is always there when someone needs him (like dark Willow :'( :') ) That episode gave me all the feels. He has wonderful words of wisdom. Xander is the glue that hols everyone together. He also has really really sad things happen to him. Which makes me bawl. His relationship with Willow is my favorite relationship ever and I totally shipped them...basically until Oz showed up because Oz and Willow were perfect. Then Oz left and Willow became a lesbian, but not the point. Xander and Willow being best friends is incredible because they are the best of all best friends. It's safe to say I'm pretty in love with Xander. Willow...I love Willow. I love Willow because I am Willow...just not gay. I feel for Willow. I identify with Willow. I wish my hair would look like Willow's. I just Willow. Then Oz was around for a while and Oz was perfect until he left. I watched for Oz for a while because he was just so mellow and chill and always relaxed. The whole two times he wasn't totally chill it made you jump (literally I jumped when he threw the vase and the time he yelled) and sometimes cry. Giles...everyone needs a Giles. Giles is like the perfect dad who's not actually your dad. Anya, Spike, Dawn, even Jonathan. Buffy is for sure one of those shows I watch for the characters. If you ever need a good cry just watch season 6.

4. Dance Academy
     This a teen age drama show set in a ballet school. I love it. I actually enjoy watching the dancing and honestly I enjoy getting caught up the ridiculous friendships, relationships, rivalries, etc. It's not really funny but it's not sad either. The end of season 2 and beginning of season 3 will absolutely rip your heart out but other than that it's your pretty standard show geared towards teens and I love it. I will say this. Of all the shows that I have watched all the way through Dance Academy has the most fulfilling series finale. It could have gone and it did end with me going, "wait I need more! What's happening with so and so..." but it had one of the better wrap ups and closure moments of all of the shows I've watched.

5. Baby Daddy
     Baby Daddy is just funny. Plain and simple. It's about a young single dad raising his daughter with the help of his brother and best friend. It's just funny. I watch it because it's funny. It has the mandatory love triangle and gives you people to cheer for. (Totally want Danny and Riley to be a thing!!) It has it's moments that are serious and maybe even make you tear up but it's a comedy through and through.

     So there it is ladies and gents. My short list! Hope you enjoyed!

Blog Challenge Day 2

Blog Challenge Day 2: Something You Feel Strongly About

     This took me a while to decide on. My default subject was to write about Sex Trafficking because I feel so passionately about that, that I want to dedicate my life to fighting it. However, sometimes that seem to be all I talk about so I wanted to give something else a shot. The next thing I automatically thought about was the current treatment of law enforcement but I also don't feel like I can adequately keep a level head when presenting my case. There are many other things I could discuss abortion, education, guns, religion, etc. Yes, I have strong feelings about all of these things but it's not what I wanted to write about. I'm going to talk about teen pregnancy, at least in a sense. I'm not going to talk about how it's bad and should be prevented. Yes, I think it's a mistake for teenagers to get pregnant. I want to prevent teen pregnancy, and yada yada yada. But, I'm not going to harp on that. I want to talk about what schools should be doing to help pregnant teens and teen moms stay involved in school and help get them to college.
     When I was in the High School my school was one of the highest in the nation for teen pregnancies percentage wise, at least that's what I was told. I don't know if that is accurate, but it sure felt that way. It was not be any stretch of the truth to say that the majority of the girls in my class had a pregnancy scare and some a pregnancy that ended with either a miscarriage, an abortion, or a baby. (Duh those are your options when it comes to being pregnant.) I knew of a lot of girls that had babies and dropped out of school, or had babies and graduated but didn't go to college, etc. I knew of a lot of them. It's always sad, like "awe she dropped out of school bummer." I never really thought about what was actually happening, and then my friend got pregnant.
     For the sake of this blog we will rename her and her boyfriend Abigail and Samuel. In reality I was closer friends with Samuel and Abigail and I became friends by default. Let me tell you this is not one of those stories where she gets pregnant, drops out of school, and her life is ruined. I don't know how she handled college with a baby because I graduated and moved before she did. She did however stay in school and didn't just get by, she participated. She stayed involved. She remained in her clubs, and kicked butt in them I might add. She won competitions. Despite becoming a mother at such a young age she thrived in school. As opposed to many of her peers who, after getting pregnant, let that completely take away their education and experiences. I have never been pregnant and so I don't know how difficult it can be. I do know that a child completely alter and changes your life and honestly, when you're a teenager it isn't exactly a good thing. I imagine being kid and mother is extremely difficult and that is why many teen moms completely drop out of school and lose sight of their bright futures.
     A comment was made to me while I was still in high school in regards to Abigail and it left me speechless out of anger. There was mention of Abigail still participating in various activities that put her in front of a large portion of the student body. The third party member of this conversation said something along the lines of how Abigail should basically be removed from any extra curricular activities and not allowed to participate in such things because it's glorifying teen pregnancy. (Samuel of course was never mentioned as being removed form such activities...but whatever.) I was so angry. Glorifying teen pregnancy?!? Yes because every girl watched her hobble out onto the field, visibly miserable, three times her normal size, struggling to carry an instrument, and thought, "I want that!" No, no one thought that.
     Again, I am not encouraging teens to go out and get pregnant. I'm not. I am saying that these activities were the only thing Abigail had in the midst of this that made her stay involved and want to continue her education. She was already facing a huge life altering thing, something that set her apart from her responsibility free peers. Kicking her out of extracurricular activities would have humiliated her and ostracized her even more. Very probably would have pushed her to drop out or decide since high school was so difficult college and anything more than a minimum wage job. How many other girls had dropped out because they were ostracized just like third party person was suggesting should be done with Abigail.
     This blog doesn't provide any real solutions and isn't very well put together and eloquent but it is something I feel strongly about. I think when teenagers make a mistake and end up becoming parents we shouldn't shun them and make it harder for them to do things we should encourage them and help them. Heck, put those pregnant girls in the school play and let them march across the field with a trumpet. Babysit so those dads can play football or sing in the choir, whatever. Yes make them take responsibility and stay home with the baby when they used to go out, but there's a balance. I think we should do what it takes to make these kids stay engaged and reach their potential despite what happened and not discount them because of it. Maybe if we would get over the initial shock and disappointment of what happened and focused on the fact that they need help and support to move forward and then provide it we would see things in society as a whole begin to change for the better.
   

Blog Challenge Day One!!

    I have decided to do the 30 Day Blog Challenge!!! However, here is my disclaimer, it will not be for 30 straight days because I don't have internet every day. Bummer...so I basically just have all of the things necessary for the 30 day blog challenge and I'm going to do them in order to a) write more frequently and b) so we can all get to know each other a little better. So here we go.

DAY ONE: Five Ways To Win Your Heart

Five ways to win my heart...man here goes.

1) Read books, read books I recommend to you and then discuss them with me! Recommend books to me. Just books!

2) Let me ramble. I have many interests and obsessions. I like so many books, bands, shows, movies, and people. I never just "like" something, I obsess. I'm going to analyze fictional characters, and tell you about the same singer everyday for a month. Just listen. Let me talk. Let me go on and on about Anne of Green Gables, and Casey Breves, the difference between Spiderman movies and Spiderman comics, Captain America, and Dance Academy. Eventually I will stop and it'll be your turn. I know you probably don't care but the fact that you listen makes me feel good.

3) Remember what I'm passionate about and ask me how it's going. This is the serious stuff. Like my passion to fight sex trafficking. Ask me about it. Remember it.

4) Chocolate and Gummy bears. Seriously, it's that easy.

5) Initiate conversation but don't force it. As all of my friends can attest to I am very introverted. I love my friends and I like hanging out with people but I also really really like time to myself. I even really like being with people, without being with people. I like it when I can hang out with someone and talk and laugh....and I also really like it when I can sit in the same room as someone and daydream or read or whatever without being interrupted.

     So there we have it. Day one of the blog challenge done and now you know 5 ways to win my heart should you desire to do so. I'm out!!

~ Carrots

First Thirty Seconds of Becoming An Adult

     For Christmas my roommate got be a huge book composed of 642 writing prompts. It's a book I had been wanting forever. Every single time we went to Target I would grab it and flip through and look at all of the prompts. I would always pick one and verbally flesh it out into a story or give my answer. I would spend the majority of the car ride home thinking about whatever prompt I had picked out. Since Christmas it's safe to say I've spent hours sitting over that book writing and imagining. Despite all of the time I've spent with that book I'm not even close to having 1/4 of the prompts answered.
     There's one writing prompt that I've attempted to start several times but I haven't been able to. The moment you realized you were an adult? I've sat at the table staring at it trying to come up with an answer. Surely I've had this moment. I'll be 22 in a few short months. I've been out of the house, heck out of the state, for almost 4 years. I've failed miserably at college, failed at relationships, paid bills...oh so many bills, had jobs, been laid off, gotten a tattoo, had speeding tickets, I have my own place, I've had surgery, heck I'm a youth leader at my church...that should all equal being an adult. Yet through all of it I have never had a moment where I've been like, aha so this is it, the moment where I'm no longer a child. I've just continued to see myself as growing up. Today I think I had the first thirty seconds of that moment.
     Today was Operation Bucket List...okay so that's what I named today because I like naming things. My cousin, Caleb, is leaving for the marines in just over a week. Today was the last opportunity we would have to hang out and spend time with each other before he leaves. Caleb and I have been best friends practically since birth. Just check out this adorable, yet extremely blurry picture, just to see how far back we go. That's me trying to carry him, even though we're the exact

same size. We spent the afternoon together just hanging out. We went and got ice cream, spent a few hours wandering around Vintage Stock, watched shows about ghosts, talked about anything and everything, debated about ridiculous things, played the piano, watched youtube; we did practically everything we could manage to cram into a few hours. A lot of the things we've done since we were little kids (barring any outside activities because it's freezing). We just spent the day being us.
     Caleb and I didn't grow up down the street together by any means. In fact the closest we've lived to each other is an hour. But, that didn't stop us from growing up together and always being there when it counted. The conversations on the phone that lasted until 3 am because life was hard. I met his most of his girlfriends, and he always new which guys I liked. We knew everything about each other. I used to joke around that he knew me better than myself. When Caleb was going through a hard time; through family stuff, the loss of friends, etc I was there and I mourned with him. When he was the most kick butt percussionist in the state, when he got a scholarship, and got award I was there to celebrate. I can't think of a single time when I needed him that he wasn't there. When my grandfather on the other side of the family passed away Caleb came and sat with me through the funeral. This last September my appendix ruptured and my fantastic roommate took me to the hospital. She called my parents, and no one else, but they would take a while to get there because they lived in the next state over. Who showed up unexpectedly until my mom could get there? Caleb did, and he came back every day that I was in the hospital (until he got strep throat because that would have been a bad deal). We have always been there to support each other and carry each other (literally before my surgery when the pain was so bad I couldn't walk on my own) through life. To quote my favorite Anne Shirley we are in every sense of the word, "kindred spirits."  There has never been a point in life where I thought I would have to do life without him. Until today.
     After the day was over we hugged, said goodbye, and he left. As I watched my best friend of 21 years drive off I realized this was our last day together. Our last day as friends and it hurt like crazy. Don't get me wrong I am extremely proud of him for joining the military, and I am ecstatic to begin my Thailand adventure but that didn't make it any easier. I know, you're thinking, he'll be back. Yeah he will, he'll come back in May for 10 days exactly and then he'll leave again for 3 weeks. Then he gets his station, maybe here, maybe somewhere else. It doesn't matter because then I leave. I'm moving to Thailand this fall and who knows if or when I'm coming back. As I stood outside in the snow, waving goodbye to the other side of my coin all I could think was, "so this is what becoming an adult feels like." I'm not saying that I feel like a total adult or that I'm there yet. However, for me realizing that I won't always have my best friend by my side was officially the first 30 seconds of the, The moment you realized you were an adult writing prompt. Today I officially left part of my childhood behind.

Life Is An Earthquake

     Sometimes in life we feel empty. Things get messy and confusing. Life hurts; mostly it hurts because it changes. Things shift and you have no control over it. It's in the little things like who sits next to who at Christmas dinners. You notice it when suddenly conversations become about what's in theaters instead of your dreams and naming stars. Growing up is one big tectonic plate shifting and shaking your world and just when you think things are going back to normal, you think things are slowing down, everything comes to a screeching halt. What no one tells you about sudden stops is that there's still momentum that crashes everything that's left into the ground. It hurts and it's painful.

     You pick yourself up off of the ground and brush the dust off. Scrambling around trying to gather everything you hold dear. It looks different for everyone; gluing the pieces together that is. Sometimes it's sharing with someone you don't even know. It's sacrifice and giving of yourself. It's letting old dreams die and trying desperately to find a new one. It's fighting with everything you have. It's climbing until you fall down exhausted and then forcing yourself to go one step more. 

     More often than we'd like to admit there is no putting it back together. It's changed and it will never be the same again. We get angry and lash out. We feel abandoned. We become depressed. We curl up inside of ourselves and mourn all that we've lost. We scream, kick, cry, and hit. We try to make sense of everything. We close our tear filled eyes and pray that when we wake up we realize that it will all just be a bad dream. It's not. This is life. It changes us and knocks us flat and it sucks. It hurts and sometimes it leaves us feeling empty and defeated and confused. We want to give up. Stop trying. Just lay down and never give up. That's just how it is.

     I get it, I understand. Here's what I have to say it sucks. It will and you don't have to pretend like everything is okay. Kick, scream, and cry if that's what you need to do. It's okay to be upset. What's not okay is to give up on yourself. Never...ever give up on yourself. You can keep going. You can and you will.

Happy New Year

     I just wanted to take some time to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you have a great one. As I look back on this year I am in awe. There were times this year when I thought I wasn't going to make it. I thought I couldn't handle the pressure and I thought I was just going to give up. There were also moments of insurmountable joy and incredible memories to look back upon.
     This year was hard I lost friends and other people I cared about. I started a new job and ventured into new and scary things. I battled things I never thought I would have to face in ministry, work, friendships, and my own personal life. My appendix ruptured and I was in the hospital for a long amount of time because everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had heart breaks and sad days. There were times when I sat in room and cried in despair and there were times when I screamed and through things against the wall. It was by no means an easy year. It was draining, stressful, confusing, and emotional.
     It wasn't all bad either. In fact in some ways it was amazing. I was accepted for an internship in Thailand starting next summer. I had amazing adventures with my friends and family. I made incredible friendships and memories. My "baby brother" was born and my family gained two new children through foster care. I went to PBR and explored Devil's Den. By God's provision 95% of my hospital bill from my surgery was covered by financial assistance. Christ revealed his love and grace to me over and over even though I failed him time and time again. I spent time with those I loved doing what I loved. I read new books and wrote new stories and began brand new chapters in my life.
     No this year has not been easy but it has been rewarding. I just want to say Happy New Year and give you some hope. This year had moments that I thought I couldn't survive but I did. No matter what has happened or what will happen you can survive. You will survive. Yes life hurts sometimes but it is also a joy sometimes.
     If I spend so much time in distress over my hospital bill that I miss the joy in having a baby brother to love then I'm really not living am I? So, no matter what happens or comes your way take time to enjoy the mountain highs even while you're stuck in the valley. Happy New Year!!

Disney Challenge

1. Favorite Movie
     Tangled, it's my favorite movie period...not just my favorite Disney movie. I love it!
2. Favorite Princess
     Rapunzel (obviously)
   

3. Favorite Prince

     This is actually a little difficult...okay, so my favorite Disney man is Kristoff, but he's no a prince..at all. He's not even married to Anna, yet so he can't actually count as my answer. So my favorite prince is Flynn, because now that he married a princess he is in fact a prince.

4. Favorite Song

     This is a tough one! There are so many good songs and so many I would consider my favorites. However, if I have to narrow it down to just one I would have to choose Tale As Old As Time  from Beauty and The Beast

5. Favorite Kiss

     My favorite kiss is totally Kristoff and Anna...it's adorable, and awkward, and he asks permission. It's a winner.

6. Prettiest Princess

     Merida from Brave it would be because I have curly crazy hair and I've always wanted to be a ginger but I just think she's gorgeous and I want to look like her.

7. Favorite Castle

     It's a pretty big tie between the Tangled castle and the Cinderella castle

8. Saddest Moment

   Saddest Disney moment is in Lilo and Stitch either when Nani chases the spaceship that has Lilo in it or when they take Lilo away from Nani. 

  9. Favorite Couple

     Totally Kristoff and Anna

10. Best Hair

     Rapunzel

11. Favorite Animal Side Kick

     Jack Jack and Gus Gus from Cinderella...I've loved them since I was little!

12. Favorite Non Animal Side Kick

     Can I count the magic carpet from Aladdin?

13. Favorite Outfit

     I love Belle's ball gown....it's just so amazing. I want one just like it.

14. Favorite Villain

     Scar, he's just a good villain. He's sarcastic, and malicious...and dang he's great.

15. Favorite Romantic Moment

     There are so many romantic moments in Disney history but seriously Carl and Ellie's entire love story from Up is the most romantic...and the saddest thing ever.

16. Favorite Singing Voice

     Flynn or Kristoff

17. Best Eyes

     We'll give this one to Prince Eric

18. Favorite Name

     Flynn Rider....I will probably name my son that

19. Favorite Soundtrack

     Tangled

20. Funniest Moment

     For me personally I think the moment in Mulan when she asks Shang if he wants to stay for dinner and her grandmother yells across the yard, "Would you like to stay forever?" Is hilarious!

21. Favorite Quote

     “You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

22. Bravest Heroine

     Mulan....hands down Mulan

23. Favorite Dance Scene

     Carl and Ellie <3

24. Favorite Parent

     I know she's not really a parent but I'm giving this one to Nani because she's just a kid herself and is having to be a big sister and mother to Lilo.

25. Favorite Lyrics

     Just the whole song...At Last I See The Light

26. Most Magical Moment

     My favorite "magical" moment will always be the carpet ride in Aladdin.

27. Best Wardrobe

     I personally like how Jane from Tarzan dresses

28. Favorite Sequel

     This isn't technically a sequel...but Cinderall 3 A Twist In Time is fantastic!!! If you haven't seen it go watch it.

29. Favorite Overall Moment

     The whole lantern/boat scene in Tangled.

30. Favorite Happy Ending

     It's a tie between Flynn and Rapunzel ending up together and Nani getting to keep Lilo!