An Ode to Life

Today is my first day of college.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

This girls name is Beth. This is us as freshman. Now were going to college together. AHH! Time flies.

I seriously feel like I could be a little freshman walking into high school for the first time again and do four more years of high school. I would get sick of the unrealistic melodramatic high school atmosphere half way through October if that really were to happen, but on the other hand, that unrealistic melodramatic high school atmosphere did me good for four years. I decided that instead of focusing on one thing that inspired me tonight, I would relate a couple of the little things I learned in high school that has changed me. It is my personal ode to life.

#1. Spontaneity is the way to go. First of all, if you are bored and need something dumb to do, go right HERE! The website is a creative date site that I stumbled upon, but almost everything would make for a good laugh with friends. Or a hot date. Take your pick.

One of the best dates EVER. :)

Sculpture Garden loveliness.

#2. Trust your friends. If they haven't done anything to hurt you, why are you holding back?! You never know how close you can become with a person until you have started to confide your deepest, darkest secrets with them. In my life, I have three people that I know I can trust unconditionally. I tell them everything and I've realized I'm a better person for it. If you limit yourself to yourself, you will never be able to walk on paths that you didn't imagine.
And, if you have been hurt by people, learn from it and move on. It's not fair to judge all the rest of the people in your life off of one person who screwed up.

Best friends a girl could ever have. (Both pictures.) :D

#3. Laugh out loud. And no, I'm not referring to the preteen LOL that worms itself into every text message sent. Laugh at yourself and the dumb quirks that make you unique to the world. Laugh with your friends, and appreciate the happy moments in life. It will be those moments that pull you through the hard times.

#4. Give yourself change. Listen to a new song, wear something you never would have otherwise, eat a mango, do ballet, play frisbee with yourself, just do something different!! :D

#5. Do something for someone else EVERY DAY. It will make you realize how small your life problems are in the grand scheme of the world. Honestly, bad hair days do not compare with starving children in Africa. And you always feel better about yourself when you've made a difference in someone's day.

Volunteering for Special Olympics!

Kind of a long post, but I needed to tell myself that high school wasn't a waste of time and I learned valuable things there. And looky here, I did!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I have officially left for college. Which is a nerve racking experience I tell you!! When you are in the middle of a big life transition and you start internally freaking out, I suggest you:

• Have a good best friend you can call on hand when you start breaking down.
• Force yourself to learn a new hairstyle as it will give your life change that you can control and yet make you feel twice as confident. 
• Go on myyellowsandbox.blogspot.com. It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen and her hairstyles are brilliant (see above post.) :)
• Force yourself to memorize a needlessly long and complicated song. I suggest We Didn't Start the Fire or Love Like Woe. Either will take all of your extra brain power and distract it on a dumb and pointless task. Which surprisingly helps. 
• Pass something of your bucket list.

Great transition Anne Katherine! Today I just happened to pass something off my bucket list. I found the end of a rainbow. And not only did I find one end of the rainbow, I found both ends. I think it was God's way of saying, "Hey. Stop freaking out. Beautiful things aren't just found in your little Andover, Minnesota. So decide to live a little and open your eyes to all the possibilities your new life will bring you." 

The end of a rainbow is surprisingly beautiful. Whenever I imagined it, I pictured a pot o' gold with leprechauns bonding over it. Instead, you find the mixture of two completely different elements, meeting together in the middle to compromise their differences through a rainbow. It truly inspired me. 

So I decided to start listening to God. I'm looking for the beauty everywhere from now on, and I suggest you do the same.

Life is full of God's creative beauties, it's just up to you whether you will be creative enough to recognize them when you see them. Good luck :)