Video of the Week: How to Outsmart A Roommate

This is actually sponsored by a company for Her Campus' Study Break emails, but I just thought it was funny!
In case you were wondering, basically all of the videos I use for my Video of the Week come from the HCSB emails. If you want to check out Study Break, click here!

Video of the Week: "Say Something" covered by Pentatonix

I have a deep love for this song, and this cover is phenomenal (isn't Pentatonix always, though?!). I hope you like it!

Blogging deprivation.

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging lately. I've been really stressed and I've had to make a lot of big decisions lately, so I have sort of put blogging on the back burner.

I just wanted to share some info with you all!

First of all, as much as I love the memories I have at Spring Arbor, I will not be coming back next year. A lot went into this decision and it's just best for me at this point.

Which brings me to my next thing: I will be doing online schooling through SNHU next year, going into social media marketing rather than youth ministry like I was at Spring Arbor.

And lastly, I will be moving back home!! This is my favorite one. Anyways, I'll be moving back in with my mom when school ends in May. I'll be living with her at least for the summer and possibly the first half of next year, and then I'll be getting an apartment with one of my best friends.

I'm really excited to start this new adventure for my life. I can't wait to share all of this with you when it gets closer!

Why I Don't Believe College is for Everyone.

Being in college has given me some interesting insight on the world of college. I've seen people I know for a fact that are extremely smart, book-wise and common sense-wise, fail classes and such. Things like this have caused me to start wondering if college is actually right for everyone.

Just a couple things I'd like to point out here.

College Con:
Steve Jobs. The creator of Tumblr, David Karp. Mark Zuckerberg. The founder of WordPress (which many of you fellow bloggers use), Matt Mullenweg. The founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek.
Do any of these names or sites sound familiar to you? You're looking at the names of five extremely successful people that never graduated college. Some of which didn't even graduate high school.

College Pro:
The average high school graduate will make about $30,000 a year. Just by getting a bachelor's degree, this goes up to $45,000.

College Con:
Those two numbers in the last example have been growing closer and closer together.

College Pro:
Having a college degree makes getting a job a whole lot easier.

College Con:
...that is, if you can find one.

College Pro:
Most college graduates do not regret college.

College Con:
However, some do.

College Con: 
Two words: student loans.

This list alone makes me really think about college. Personally, I don't think college is right for everyone. I most definitely don't think that anyone should be pressured into going, especially right after high school. So many people fail out of college and after working for a few years, return and do amazing.

I also don't believe that college is as worthwhile as many people say it is. The salary gap is closing slowly. Many college graduates cannot find jobs and the ones that do often have entry-level jobs regardless of their college degree.

What are your opinions on this? I'd love to hear.

My {fave} Ladies of Pinterest!

I love Pinterest, just as I'm sure most of you do. My only problem seems to be finding the best pinners that I want to follow.

I thought I'd help you all out with finding your favorite pinners by sharing some of mine! Introducing...

Some are geared toward college students, or family-oriented, but I'm sure there will be at least a couple that you will love.

Here they are:

Studentrate Trends: {not necessarily a girl, but the page is mostly for girls} This is by far my favorite Pinterest page. It's geared toward college students, though everyone can benefit from them. They have the best boards and they have boards for everything! One board, College Trends, they are also asking for people who would like to be pinners and it's my favorite board! It's super cool.

Casandra Linden: She has boards for everything, and as you can see, she likes glitter. and pink. and food. She has several food boards that she pins to the most often of all of her boards. It's the best. I even made a Facebook status about this {I love when I get on Pinterest and see that Cassie has been on because that means my entire homepage will be covered in food.}

Deb Clem-Buckert: she has a lot of great resources for bloggers like boards for different social networks, she has tons of food boards- my fave, and she has just about every other type of board you could want!

Paige Nicole: she organizes her boards really well by naming them things like RECIPES: Slow Cooker, RECIPES: Lunch & Dinner, and things like that. It makes everything easier to find if you're looking for something specific.

Melanie Eccles: I love her Pinterest. She bakes, so there are always lots of awesome-looking desserts popping up. I love how she names her boards too {runner of miles, maker of meals, etc.} and I personally know her, so it makes it all the much better.

Her Campus: This is another board geared toward college girls. They have a lot of really fun boards and they coordinate all of them {every board cover is pink in some way!} very well. I love their Pinterest.

Bailey Marie: Bailey's Pinterest is largely family-oriented. She has a lot of wedding boards {my fave, I love planning my future wedding on Pinterest}, food boards, home-type boards, and kid-centered boards!

Video of the Week: Cats + Abs

This week for the Video of the Week, I've chosen a video done by Cosmopolitan. I received this in an email from the Her Campus Study Break {love, by the way} and I was dying. It's the best video basically ever. Here you go, ladies ;-)



You're welcome.

Off the Beaten Path tour review!

If you're a fan of country music, this concert review is for you!

Justin Moore, Randy Houser, and Josh Thompson are currently on tour together for the Off the Beaten Path tour.

I had the pleasure of seeing them play in Ypsilanti, MI on the 15th!

This was an interesting concert for me because none of these bands are particularly my "favorites." I love country music but these weren't artists I have ever really gotten into. I enjoy a couple songs by each of them, but I am by no means a die hard fan of any of these singers.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by this concert.

Josh Thompson came out first, obviously. He has a genuine and unique sound to him and that is amplified when he's live rather than recorded. He got everyone into the concert very well. I believe Josh will just continue to get bigger and will be a big name just like Randy and Justin someday.

Randy Houser was probably my least favorite of all of them live. I'm not a big fan of him normally and he didn't really sell me on his performance. He has a decent voice but he's not very engaging when he performs. I was a little disappointed.

Justin Moore was actually my favorite. I love his southern accent and I think it's more pronounced live. He has an easily distinguished voice from others and I like that about him. He performs well too, even only for the little amount of time I stayed to see him (not by fault of Justin, just didn't feel well). He is a great performer and I would be interested in seeing Justin play again (luckily for me, he's playing at the county fair in my hometown this summer).

Overall, it was a good concert. It could've been better {especially without the drunk people in front of us that spilled their beers, threw their trash everywhere, and then the girl that was passed out...} but I think it was worth it!

Have the Best Spring Break- at home!

The College Diaries: Spring Break edition!

Thursday was my last day of class, meaning I'm on spring break! 

No more classes until the 17th. I'm too happy.

In honor of this wonderful occasion, I decided to share a few things I thought would help share a few things to make your homebound spring break a little better!

For those of you not at home, you stink and you can have all the fun you want, so let the rest of us sulk and pretend we're enjoying ourselves at home.

Spend a day just hanging out with people. 

Don't go out, don't watch movies, just talk. Heart-to-hearts have a way of making us smile, no matter what your talks end up being about. It's a great way to spend time with those hometown BFF's too (keeping those friendships are lifesaving).

Buy at least one article of clothing for summer.

Prepping for summer is the best way to pretend winter isn't still among us. Get your mind out of this wondrous weather and into summer! :) Maybe even get rid of some old clothes you don't wear too.

Have a home-spa day.

Whether this means alone or with friends, have fun and just chill at home. Relaxing. Nail painting. Face masks. All that good, girly stuff.

Take a good shower.

If your college is anything like mine, which I assume it is in this way, your showers probably aren't the best so just take a nice, long, warm, undisturbed shower at home.

Have a movie day with your family.

They miss you and I assume you miss them, so spend some time actually in the same room and just laugh with them.

Start your own blog!

Join me and make your own blog! It's a great thing to do and gets your mind off the crazy, stressful times we so enjoy {cough, sarcasm} at college. You can even follow me! :)

Have a backyard camp night with your best friends!

Once again, it's probably not warm enough to go outside, but if it is...

Friends from high school are in just the same position you are, so set up tents or something and have a "night out" with your friends. Take a laptop out even, and have a movie night outside.

If it's not warm enough: do it in a {warm} basement or a something!

Have a great spring break! :)

*also part of my weekly College Diaries post*

Things about Home.

Being at college can be the best time of your life. Many people call their college their home.
I'm not one of those people. My hometown will always be Home to me.
Therefore:

ten favorite things: the place I call home.

1. My family is there. 

My family are some of the best people in the world & I'd die without my mom. 

2. My kittens

CrayPrin & Bazinga {Crazy Princess, for those of you that were curious where the name CrayPrin came from & Big Bang Theory is responsible for Bazinga} are the cutest little kittens ever. I love them to death. 

3. The amazing people I call my best friends.

I love the friends I have at college, but once again, home trumps college. My friends at home are my rocks. I don't know where I'd be without these people. They know me better than anyone else. 

4. My wonderful bed.

Let's be honest, a bed with a pillow top >>> dorm beds.

5. There are actually good food places.

I love food. A lot. And food I don't have to make is better.

6. I can actually go do things.

Being stuck on a college campus makes you appreciate simple things like being able to go out and do something.

7. I know my way around.

I actually like driving, but only if I know where I'm going, so home is a nice place for that.

8. I have an insane amounts of memories at home. 

Good friends make good memories. Great friends make amazing memories.

9. I have a room to myself and can be alone when I want.

I love, love, love being around people, but let's be honest, sometimes you just need alone time. 

10. I'm not in the middle of nowhere in a town that's biggest "store" is Dollar General and has a grand total of about five places to eat. 

I miss good food that isn't McDonald's or a 15-minute walk away. 

{this is part of a link-up at Endlessly Beloved}

Video of the Week: Rebellen.

The Video of the Week this week is a great video from Rebellen: Rebel Wilson {Fat Amy} & Ellen Degeneres. Check it out! :)



Do you have a video I should check out? Comment below!

Depression.

Being that I've been through it, I thought I'd share this blog post I happened to find with all of you.
For anyone who doesn't know what depression is like, just read this post. The post is funny, unlike depression, but it's still extremely applicable.
If you have struggled before, read this and try to appreciate that someone actually made me {and hopefully you} laugh while explaining the complete emptiness of depression.

Click here.

Top Netflix shows!

You know when you get bored and go to Netflix but there's never anything that sounds decent, or the exact opposite happens, you get on and there's just too many things you want to watch?

I have these problems far too much for it to possibly be normal, so I thought I'd at least try to help everyone else out too, so here it is:

A Few Top Faves on Netflix

Greek: rated TV-14. This show is a great show that has quite a few seasons on Netflix for those of you that like to marathon their shows. It follows a group of college students involving in some way in the Greek life of Cyprus-Rhodes University, mostly centered around the lives of Casey & Rusty Cartwright, the Zeta Beta Zeta "princess" and her younger, dorky brother in Kappa Tau. This show is hilarious and you can easily relate to the awesome cast. {four seasons}

The Breakfast Club: rated R. Let's be real, who doesn't love this movie? For the few {and crazy} people out there that have not seen this movie, it's one of the most famous {and best} movies from the 80's. It has one of the smallest casts I've ever seen, and it works perfectly. Five students are given a Saturday detention and are forced to sit in a room with just the five of them for the entire day. Many things happen to bring these five together and it's truly interesting to see how the day unfolds. Between the athlete, the basket case, the princess, the brain, and the criminal, it's a very unlikely bond, but this movie makes it work perfectly.

Undeclared: rated TV-14. This has the most star-studded cast I've ever seen. For anyone that enjoys any cast member from This is the End, you'll love this show. Even if you don't there's still a good chance you'll like it. While much of it's cast normally star in some raunchy movie, it isn't raunchy like usual. It's truly funny. It's about a small group of friends at a college that are basically the "outcasts" and it's just hilarious. There are many others like Adam Sandler that guest star in an episode or two. -- sidenote: for any girls that like Charlie Hunnam from SOA, he's in this show, just younger & hotter ;) {sadly, only one season-- what the heck?!}

Baby Daddy: unrated. Don't let the rating make you think this show is "bad," because it isn't at all. It was on ABCFamily, so it's obviously not that bad. This show is about a dad that finds out that after a one night stand, he has a child. It follows the life of this dad, his brother, his mom, and a couple great friends and the crazy things that happen to them. It's such a great show. I've only watched the two seasons on Netflix, but I'm dying to see the rest! If you don't like cliffhangers, I wouldn't watch this show, because Netflix cuts it off at a terrible place. {two seasons}

The Emperor's New Groove: rated G. For those days when you just need a kids show, it's a necessity. This movie is full of hilarious lines and I just love it and have since I was ....5? Either way, it's a great family movie and I love the characters of this show.

The Carrie Diaries: rated TV-14. I'm sadly only halfway through the one season Netflix has {Netflix really needs to work on getting more seasons of the shows they already have up!} but it's already a fantastic show and I've heard amazing things about this show. I haven't seen Sex and the City, but I would really like to after seeing this show {this show is a TV show based off of Carrie Bradshaw from S&TC in her teen years}. You get emotionally invested into this show so quickly and you just don't want to stop watching. It surprised me how much I like this show! {one season}

LOL: rated PG-13. I truly thought this movie would suck and only watched it just to see how bad it would be, but I was completely wrong. It's actually a surprising movie. You would think based on the cover and that Miley {in her more...sane days} was in it, that this movie would be a typical teen movie. It is the exact opposite. There are a lot of interesting characteristics of this movie you don't expect, but it's good. Miley's character & her mom {Demi Moore} have a unique, yet weird relationship, that in some ways, reminded me of my mom and I, though we don't bathe together {such a weird part of this movie-- why?!}. It's good though!

Do you have any that you think are great to watch on Netflix? Comment below & let me know- maybe I'll watch them & do a second part to this, giving credit to those of you that share a new fave with me! 

** check out part two here **

Opportunities in life are rare.

Opportunities in life aren't rare per say, but good ones are.

I just so happen to be super lucky, because I have recently gotten two wonderful opportunities.
\
Have you heard of Studentrate? If not, you totally should have!
Studentrate is a great website that provides deals to college students!
They also have a website called Studentrate Trends, which is really cool opportunities, stories, etc. from Studentrate. Currently, they have an opportunity for girls that love fashion! Go check out the article over at this link!

My second opportunity is that I am now a Her Campus Blogger Network blogger!
Her Campus is an awesome website with tons of articles for college girls and it's super cool. They have "chapters" at tons of different universities (see if your school has one!) and each chapter puts out stories every week. It's super cool! But they also have a Blogger network, where any girls with a blog can join & become part of an awesome, supportive community of bloggers!

I'm already loving these opportunities (and the perks that come along with them!) and I can't wait to see what more happens with them!

Daily Planner printable!

Hey everyone! I've been working a lot this semester on making a list of the things I need to get done so I don't have a repeat of last semester, but I just couldn't find a planner printable that I really liked, so I decided to make my own and share it with you!

My favorite daily planner page was found here, so my design is based on this one, but I had to make the to-do list longer, because I like adding lots of things and whatever doesn't get done, goes to the next day!

To download this as a PDF, click here!

Let me know if you like this design!

YouTube is my friend.

I love YouTube, especially when I find awesome new videos I need to share with you guys!
Video of the week might end up being a weekly thing, who knows? :)
Anyways, here is Sam Tsui's mash-up cover of Let It Go from the movie Frozen and Let Her Go by Passenger. It's amazing!

The college diaries {the eighth}

My birthday was Friday!!

I turned 18 on Friday!

It feels crazy that I'm already 18. 

This is like "the" age. 

In honor of my birthday, I decided to make a list!

The Top 18 Most Impactful Memories of My Life!

 Just to clarify, these are not in order of importance -- they're in chronological order.

1. Dad & Tracie's Wedding: this changed my life dramatically, for obvious reasons.

2. Sims: when I started playing the Sims, I was much younger and it's been one of my favorite things to do since then.

3. My first concert: my first concert was Kelly Clarkson at DTE Music Theatre and that started my deep love for concerts of any type.

4. My sister was born: I was nine and not expecting it at all. I was a happy child. & let's be honest, she's cute.

5. Getting a cell phone: ever since then, I've been glued to my phone(s) because I love talking to my friends and I rarely saw them outside of school.

6. 7th grade drama: I was a very different person in seventh grade and not one that I ever want to be against. I was horrible. Our friend group had daily fights, we were in the counselor's office daily, the counselor and school police officer knew our names; it was bad.

7. First time at youth group: from the moment I met that youth group, my life wasn't the same. I would give any to have that youth group back and those people all in my life again, rather than spread out in several different places.

8. Papa dying: this was world-shattering for me. I had never dealt with death so close before and it happening my freshman year certainly did not help. It was a rough time in my family and I think our family has drifted apart since then.

9. My first party: I have parties all the time now. My house is known for people always being there and Just Dance competitions and we just love having people over.

10. San Diego: this isn't really impactful, but it was my first vacation anywhere and this trip is the reason I'm planning on moving out west after I graduate (not to Cali though-- Phoeniz, AZ area).

11. Family camp: this was the first time I had done any serious volunteering and we fell in love with the kids at VBS that week. I hate when I've had to miss family camp and it's always the highlight of my summer. I love it so much. I might even being working at this campground this summer!

12. Making my Twitter: this sounds dumb, but it's true. I'm always on some kind of social media and Twitter tends to be the most. I have over 24k tweets. I'm addicted.

13. Steven asking me out: January 23, 2011. I came home from church & he had messaged me asking. Three years later (with a few breakups), I love him more than anything. He's my best friend.

14. 16th birthday party: there was a limo, my best friends, and a scavenger hunt throughout my city. It was amazing and I will never forget this.

15. Forming the bestfriendship: Alisha, Abby, Ashleigh and I have always worked well as friends and they've been the most constant people in my life {besides family and Steven} and I would be nowhere without these girls. They're the best.

16. Move-in day: I never would have guessed college would be like this. My life has been a roller coaster since September 2nd. It's crazy.

17. Failing last semester: finding out I was on academic probation really freaked me out and I've just sort of been in shock since then. College is difficult, but I've been working a lot harder this semester on everything college-related.

18. Joining HCBN: truthfully, this is probably the least impactful on this list, but it has helped my blog tremendously and I love HC. The Blogger Network is a great community to be involved in.

Thanks for sharing in these past couple of years of my 18 years with me!

Questions.

• 1. Post a picture of you?
• ^^^
• 2. Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now?
• Of course. I am. :)
• 3. Do you prefer to be friends with girls or boys?
• Boys. By far.
• 4. Would you ever smile at a stranger?
• I tend to do it a lot.

• 5. Can you commit to one person?
• Yeees.
• 6. How do you look right now?
• Not too bad, but not too great either haha.
• 7. What exactly are you wearing right now?
• An SAU t-shirt, jeans, my Northface, & a grey scarf.
• 8. How often do you listen to music?
• Every day.
• 9. Do you wear jeans or sweats more?
• Jeans by far.
• 10. Do you think your life will change dramatically before 2014?
• well...it is 2014. 
• 11. Are you a social or an antisocial person?
• Normally, social.
• 12. If the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say?
• Awkwardly be like "Oh, that's cool."
• 13. Are you good at hiding your feelings?
• Not at all.
• 14. Can you drive a stick shift?
• Ha, no.
• 15. Do you care if people talk badly about you?
• It really depends on who it is.
• 16. Are you going out of town soon?
• Yes, this weekend I'm going home because it's my birthday weekend!
• 17. When was the last time you cried?
• Friday night/early Saturday morning.
• 18. Have you ever liked someone you didn’t expect to?
• Of course I have.
• 19. If you could change your eye color, would you?
• No, I like my brown eyes!
• 20. Name something you have to do tomorrow?
• Go to class. Die.
• 21. Name something you dislike about the day you’re having.
• I did not want to get up this morning, at all.
• 22. Have you ever liked one of your best friends of the opposite sex?
• Isn't that how the best relationships start? Yes, Steven.
• 23. Are you nice to everyone?
• I try to be.
• 24. What are you sitting on right now?
• My friend's bed/
• 25. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat?
• I have.
• 26. Have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have?
• Hasn't everyone?
• 27. Who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night?
• Steven.
• 28. Do you get a lot of colds?
• No, not really.
• 29. Have your pants ever fallen down in public?
• Hahaha, no.
• 30. Does anyone hate you?
• I'm not really sure.
• 31. Do you have someone of the opposite sex you can tell everything to?
• Yes I do! :)
• 32. Do you like watching scary movies?
• Heeeeck no!
• 33. Are you a jealous person?
• Extremely.
• 34. If you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be?
• Hands down, 7th grade.
• 35. Did you have a dream last night?
• Not that I remember.
• 36. Is there anyone you can tell EVERYTHING to?
• Yes.
• 37. Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years?
• I hope so.
• 38. Do you think someone has feelings for you?
• Yes, my boyfriend.
• 39. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?
• Could be.
• 40. Did you have a good day yesterday?
• For the most past, yes.
• 41. Think back 2 months ago; were you in a relationship?
• Yes I was.
• 42. Is your life anything like it was two years ago?
• Yes and no. I'm in college now, so a lot of things are different, but for the most parts, I have a lot of the same friends. So half and half.
• 43. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now?
• Probably cuddling.
• 44. What’s the best part about school/college?
• Being able to hang out with my friends whenever I want. Freedom.
• 45. Do you have any pictures on your Facebook?
• I have TONS.
• 46. Do you ever pass notes to your friends in school?
• Haha, no.
• 47. Do you replay things that have happened in your head?
• Of course.
• 48. Were you single over the last summer?
• Half and half.
• 49. What are you supposed to be doing right now?
• Maybe doing some homework?
• 50. Don’t tell me lies, is the last person you texted attractive?
• Hahaha, my boyfriend? ;)

The college diaries {the seventh}: academic probation.

Well everyone, it's the end of my first full week of second semester!
Today, I thought I'd share some insight into academic probation and whatnot {yes, I am indeed on academic probation- to find out why read this one for sure, this, & maybe this one}.

Academic Probation

First: what is academic probation?

Basically, if you don't know, academic probation is when your school requires you to maintain a certain set GPA or set credit limit and a student fails to meet that requirement. Most schools will have your safety net: academic probation. This is literally your only get-out-of-jail-free card.
Academic probation is pretty much your semester to save yourself. You must raise your GPA up high enough to get off of academic probation {normally a little higher than the required GPA} and pass a certain amount of classes/percentage of your classes.

How does this help you?

By giving you this opportunity, if you're serious about wanting to stay at your university, you get a second chance to prove that. They give you a little push saying "This is your last chance. We want you {and your money} to stay here. Get your act together."

Anything else?

Some schools may add in another detail or two- it varies from school to school. At my college {see this post}, they have us take an extra class called Power Learning to help us figure out what we did wrong, make a plan to change that, give us tips on time management, etc. Is it a blow-off class basically? Yes. Is it helpful nonetheless? Yes. Other people in my class don't seem as willing to work on their problems but as much as I would just love to get kicked out, no.

Do you have anything you want to add to this?

The Liebster Award!!

Look what I got:

The Liebster Award!

The requirements:

• List 11 random facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions that the awarding blogger has posted for you
• Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers
• Let the bloggers you chose know that you have nominated them!
• No tag backs!

11 facts about me:

1. You will very rarely catch me wearing matching socks.
2. I currently don't have my phone {I lost my charger- go me!} and I'm slowly dying on the inside.
3. I'm a tiny bit terrible at talking to new person-- pretty much only in person though.
4. If you give me pizza, Mountain Dew, or Ben and Jerry's, I will love you forever and we can be BFF's.
5. My favorite Ben and Jerry's flavors and the fro-yo Half Baked and Late Night Snack.
6. I hate mint anything. Toothpaste, gum, actual mints, anything.
7. I also hate coffee anything. Coffee, ice capps, etc.
8. I spend just as much time away from campus as I do on campus {okay, maybe a little less away, but I'm gone every weekend}.
9. I would love to be able to work at my home church's youth group after I graduate. It would be the best {especially since my mom is running it right now}.
10. For the first semester of sophomore year, based on credits, I will still be a "freshman" technically.
11. I have song ADD- I rarely will listen to an entire song and not change it until I love it.

the questions from Tales of a Fluorescent Adolescent

1. Who is your style icon?

• I really don't have one. I wear jeans, a t-shirt, my north face, and moccasins basically 24/7.

2. Favorite band/artist that no one listens to.

• Anthem Lights! They cover awesome songs and they have a few CD's of their own!

3. What is your dream travel destination? What do you want to do there?

• I love, love, love San Diego and I'd love to go back. I want to stay on the ocean like last time!

4. What's your favorite mode of transportation?

• Cars. I'm actually a really lazy person {regardless of what everyone thinks when they see my appearance} and I just...no.

5. Favorite piece of clothing in your closet.

• My scarf. It's grey and I literally wear it with everything. I love it.

6. Favorite ice cream flavor.

• I basically answered this in my 5th fact.

7. Top 5 favorite movies.

• Without a Paddle, The Breakfast Club, all of the Fast & Furious movies, Safe Haven, and The Heat!

8. What is your thing? (favorite hobby, notorious habit, something that you're known for)

• Always being with people. Like, always.

9. What is your favorite season and why?

• SUMMER. I hate being cold.

10. If you could live in a different era which would you choose and why?

• Back in the Baby Boomer era. I don't know why, but that time period is just super cute to me and I have no idea why.

11. Where is your favorite place?

• Home. I love being in my hometown with everyone I love. It will always be home to me, not SAU or wherever I may live in the future.

the nominated bloggers:

1. Erin @ Styles I Like
2. Jessica @ A Cup of Jessica
3. Emma @ My Beautiful Messy Life
4. Michaela @ by michaela christine
5. Sarah @ Space, Place, & Southern Grace
6. Mo @ Ollivander Mo
7. Danny @ Danny +
8. Mary @ Secret Obsession
9. Hannah @ fragmented youth
10. Rubi @ When Life Gives You Rubi
11. Lauren @ lauren elyse CAN

questions for the bloggers:

1. What are your opinions on Miley Cyrus?
2. What is your latest Netflix obsession?
3. If you could travel anywhere, where would you pick?
4. Do you have a very small number of very close friends or a variety of friends?
5. What has been your favorite memory this far in your life?
6. Who inspires you?
7. If you had to do one thing over in your life, what would you pick and why?
8. How many kids do you want to have?
9. When you were a kid, what did you want to be where you grew up?
10. If you had to pack up and leave your house right now and could only grab five things, assuming your family and pets get out safely without you, what would you take?
11. What is your favorite pizza topping?

The college diaries {the sixth}

This week for the college diaries, I decided to wait until today to do it so that I could share about my amazing weekend!

True Believers Tour

Friday night, I went to Eastern Michigan University to see David Nail, Eli Young Band, and Darius Rucker!

David Nail definitely rocked even with very few songs. He's a great artist and his lyrics are just fantastic. He's super fun in concert!
Eli Young Band never fails to be amazing! (I've seen them before!!) Crazy Girl played live is just... love. Haha. But really, they put on an amazing show and I loved seeing them again!
However much I don't like Darius Rucker's music, I was pleasantly surprised when he came on. He was wearing a baseball cap which was just really cool and his voice is actually authentic, meaning he sounds almost exactly like he does edited!
I didn't manage to get many pictures but here's the best one I took {apparently I didn't take any of DN or DR}:

Eli Young Band

As you can tell, we had horrible seats but I didn't really care. I got to see a great concert with my boy!

The Roadshow

Saturday night, I went to another concert!!
This time, it was The Roadshow {a Christian music concert with 10 bands-- $10!!!} with my absolute FAVORITE band-- Skillet! I also got to go with Steven to this one too, but Dusty & Dom {two of my best friends} also came.
I've now seen Skillet six times!
But anyways, we didn't make it in time for a few bands but we made most!

Vertical Church Band was pretty good! I wasn't paying much attention during their set because they just weren't my favorite but from what I heard, they were good.

Royal Tailor rocked, as always! I've seen them quite a few times now and though I'm sad they didn't play my favorite song by them, they put on a great show and they're seriously SO FUN. I love them!

Andy Mineo was so awesome too! This was my first time seeing him and I was totally blown away by how good he was! He is a great performer!!

Jamie Grace was also there, but I don't particularly like her anyways so while she played, my friends and I walked around the venue and got some food.

Third Day was next and while I don't really like their music, they have a couple good songs that I can enjoy and they were pretty decent. 

Third Day

Last but not least...

SKILLET!

Skillet

Skillet always puts on the best show and they never let me down on that. They played so many of their songs, though I was quite a bit disappointed when they went off-stage without playing Rise or Comatose, two of their most popular songs. But between John's crazy dancing, Korey's awesome guitar, Seth's amazing bass, the violin, the cello, and my favorite, Jen's drumming, you can't go wrong. I absolutely love every time I see them in concert! 

I only got pictures of Third Day and Skillet and they weren't even super great, but it was too awesome of an experience to be worried about the pictures!

These weekend could not have been better!

I advise you that if either the True Believers tour or the Roadshow tour is near you, GO!!!

Arbor love.

Spring Arbor University

Have you ever heard of SAU? Odds are, you haven't.

I have, however. Spring Arbor is actually where I go to school! 

I blog about college a lot, so I thought I'd give you some insight into this beautiful place.

Just by looking at that picture, I'm sure you can tell that our campus is gorgeous!

That clock is the most significant landmark on campus: the Clock Tower. It even has it's own Facebook. 

Fun facts about SAU for you:

• There are only about 2,000 students at SAU. Five dorms. Three girl dorms, two guys.
• That being said, we have a 3:2 ratio of girls to guy {plus side for you guys out there}.
• We have this statue called the Jesus Reactor on campus. It used to be a fountain... until people put jello mix and bubbles in it.
• The Cougar Den is the main hangout on campus. There isn't really anywhere else to hangout, but it has pool, foosball, air hockey, ping pong, and food. So really, win-win.
• Being in a relationship at SAU isn't exactly uncommon. SAU is big on "community" which basically means spending lots of times with other people. It's not shocking to anyone come Freshman Dating Season {October-December} when you see about 485 new relationship statuses come up on Facebook. 
• There are three things people say about relationships at SAU: "Ring by Spring" being the most common. That basically tells you how many people get engaged during their time at SAU {basically all of them}. Next up, "Don't drink the water." Rumor says that if you drink the water, you will get married soon. So far, I have seen this to be false. I have a relationship and I have yet to drink the water here. My friends that have remain to be single. Lastly, "Guys go to SAU to get their degree, girls go to get their MRS." So there you have it. SAU loves love.

Spring Arbor really is a great school. I love being here. 

It's a super small campus: maybe a ten minute walk from the fieldhouse {the back-most part of campus} to the church {across the street from the front of campus}. It's a nice thing. 

If you want to see some fun things from SAU students: check out these pages...

• Spring Arbor Compliments: anonymous compliments from one student to another.
• Overheard at SAU: random things people overhear from SAU students.
• SAU Confessions: some of the weirdest things you'll ever see, confessions from SAU students.
• SAU We Find Them For You: our "dating page, run by yours truly along with two friends. Complete sarcasm intended with this page. 
• SAU Probs: they retweet all of SAU's students' tweets with the hashtag #SAUProbs. 
• SAU Crushes: occasionally posts anonymous crushes made by students, but mostly just things about love here at SAU.

Can you tell we're big on relationships yet?

But that, in a nutshell, is my college.

20 wishes in 2014.

my 20 wishes for 2014.

{this is part of a link-up}

What are 20 Things you want to accomplish in 2014?

1. Get my tattoo for my birthday!
2. Go to at least five of my planned seven concerts {yes, I love concerts!}
3. Get & use a blogging calendar!
4. Go on the road trip I'm planning with a couple of my best friends!
5. Get my belly button pierced!
6. Get at least all A's & B's for a semester!
7. Have a summer job!
8. Keep up my College Diaries posts every Friday!
9. Get my blog to 5,000 views in a month!
10. Complete at least five of my bucket list goals!
11. Throw a party for someone of some sort!
12. Treat three friends to a movie!
13. Set up a blogging schedule!
14. Make dinner for someone!
15. Buy one random "Because I Love You" present for someone!
16. Have a "typical" girls night- face masks, nail painting, boy talk!
17. Finish two books!
18. Become more active with the blogs I'm following!
19. Pass every class!
20. Make two new {close} friends!

What do you want to accomplish?

Studentrate!

Have you ever heard of Studentrate?
If not, you will now.

One day, I got a follow on Pinterest from a page called Studentrate and I checked it out. They had some sweet deals for students but what caught my attention was their Pinterest. They had boards for everything I liked. It was awesome. I immediately followed then and soon after, became a pinner on their College Trends board!

Maybe a month or so ago, I saw a Pinterest post about becoming a Studentrate blogger! I was super excited and obviously, I emailed Lindsay {the girl in case of that}.

I was so excited when she told me she'd love for me to be a part of their blogger community! If you're interested, it's super cool! It's basically a partnership: you promote Studentrate, they promote your blog! It's a great opportunity & I'm so excited to be a part of this!

Check our their website with lots of great deals, their Facebook, their Twitter, their Instagram, & of course, their Pinterest!

Tips to survive college.

So I realized in quite a few posts, I've talked about last semester and how badly I did.
I just wanted to share with you guys a few reasons why this happened, so that maybe, possibly, you can avoid it.

First of all, go. to. class. Trust me, I thought every morning that I deserved a day off of classes. That way the biggest reasons for the three failing grades, as well as why I had a C and not higher than that. I skipped so many times and it really, seriously screwed up my entire semester, along with my GPA. I've seen one a few websites say "If you attend every class, it's almost impossible to fail." So take that into account when you think "Hm... Another two hours of sleep or class?"

Second, if there's small assignments, don't think that you can get away with not doing them because the assignment is only x amount of points. After 12 assignments that are only worth 5 points, that's 60 points you miss out on. Do the short assignments. Because really, they're short. They're easy and quick. It's an almost painless twenty minutes of your time. Trust me on this, I thought I'd be smart in one class and not do the things that were only two points because "they didn't really matter." If someone tells you this, please for the love of God, slap them and tell them to do their work.

Third, if you're having trouble in a class, don't wait until the end of the semester to talk to your professor. It doesn't end well. At that point, there isn't much the professor can do for you, so it's in your best interest to talk to them when you start having problems. If you don't understand something, most professors have office hours. Talk to the TA. Do something about it though. It's not fun when you contact a teacher at the end of the semester and they say "Well, as of now, I can't do anything to help you but say: study hard for the final." Is it possible to change your grade much with just your final? Maybe. Likely? No.

Lastly, college is a big transition. High school, no matter what anyone tells you, will not prepare you for college. It's a big change, but it's manageable. I just kept looking at it like, "well, it's a big change, so it's understandable if I don't do so good right now." That's not the right way to go about it though. Saying, "Yeah, this is a big adjustment, but if I try and do good now, it'll be a bigger accomplishment and if I fail, then that's okay."

College is difficult. But it's not impossible.

You got this.

The college diaries {the fifth}

So this week has just been a lot of the same things as last week (class is long, it's quite boring, I still have the same class with basically the same work) so I figured I'd do a recap of my social life this past week!

I love J-term because it gives me so more time for the thing I love most: friends.

Basically, last Friday, I went to class, then afterwards, the boyfriend came up and got me to go home for the weekend! I got to spend a lot of time with friends this weekend and it was a ton of fun!

I had to come back to school for classes again for Monday though {lame!} but it was okay I guess. Steven then had lunch with the girls & I on Monday at my college. Afterwards, he took us to the mall and we all hung out & just had a great time!

But the majority of my days during J-term have looked like this:

• Wake up
• Meet up with Liz
• Liz & I go meet up with Caitlin & Alisha
• We all walk to class together
• Class from 8:30-11:30
• Lunch with Liz, Caitlin & Alisha
• Hang out in Caitlin's room {Facebook, music, talking, homework, etc.}
• Dinner with the girls

Then after all of that, it's normally just whatever. Sometimes, we still hang out after dinner. Sometimes, we leave each other and go do homework alone or whatever. 

& sometimes, Nika and Hannah join us for part (or parts) of that.

It's probably my favorite time of J-term. I love being able to see my girls so much along with hanging out with Steven!