Day Twenty Five. Write about confidence and how people can achieve confidence.

If I could give everyone I know the confidence they deserve, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Tips on building confidence.

1. Don't leave the house without putting some effort in your appearance. I started noticing that the days I was especially critical and hard on myself were days that I just rolled out of bed and threw on clothes. Now, I love being lazy as much as the next person and maybe this just happens with me. But I would feel like crap all day when I did that. When I actually take a little bit of pride in my appearance I always feel better about myself.

2. For every insult you throw at yourself, think of two compliments.

3. Surround yourself with people that bring you up instead of tear you down.

4. Accept your flaws. You are not going to be perfect. That's what makes you human.

5. You are allowed to feel sorry for yourself and even dislike yourself. What matter is that at the end of the day, you eat some ice cream (or drink some wine) and realize that you are still the best damn person you can be. And move on.

Day 24. Are you a feminist?

Well, I am majoring in Women Studies.

In today's world, which self-respecting woman isn't a feminist?
I know the term has a bad history of being associated with the women who burned their bras, hated all men, and were quite extreme in their beliefs.
That isn't what feminism is about.
Feminism is the belief that women and men are equal.
Why is that such a radical idea for people to support?
If you believe in human rights you should believe in feminism, because it's just a category of human rights. It's really that simple.

Some people that I have talked with don't like the idea of women's studies, because we don't have a men's studies. To them I say this:

We wouldn't feel the need to learn more about women and celebrate our accomplishments, differences, and history if we hadn't been tossed aside, ridiculed, and treated like nothing for centuries. 

Day Twenty Three. Must see movies.

1. Moulin Rouge

2. Phantom of the Opera

3. The King's Speech

4. Atonement

5. All Disney animated movies. ALL OF THEM.

6. Howl's Moving Castle

7. (500) Days of Summer

8. I Love You, Man

9. Robin Hood, Men in Tights

10. Pride and Prejudice

I already wrote a blog a year ago about my two favorite movies (How to Train Your Dragon and Slumdog Millionaire) so that's why those aren't on here.

I really love movies, so I have a lot more I could recommend... But that list would probably be about 50 films long.

Day Twenty Two. A letter to your parents.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for always supporting me, like during my years in theatre, or when I decided to switch majors halfway through college. 

Thank you for loving me through all of my crazy, irrational, angry, and harsh moments.

Thank you for giving me a very happy childhood.

Thank you for for blessing me with four younger siblings.

Thank you for teaching me the meaning of hard work, patience, forgiveness, and love. 

Thank you for all the hugs and kisses.

Thank you for the advice, compliments, encouragement, and sarcastic comments.

Mom,

You are the hardest working woman I know. You are the rock in our family and one of my best friends. You always know what to say, and you give the best hugs, even when I don't want one. 

I only hope I can be half the mom you are.

Daddy,

Despite every disagreement we've had over the years, you are my biggest supporter in everything I do. You've never once given up on me or stopped helping me achieve my goals.

I could never, ever thank you enough for everything you have done. 

Thank you for giving me the world.

Love,

Teaspoon

Day 21. Must read books.

EVERYONE MUST READ THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.
And the Hunger Games trilogy.
Obviously.

1. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hasseini. I read both books in high school and they both left a huge impact on me. Their stories tell a lot about human struggle and triumph, as well as true friendship.

2. Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. All of these are Young Adult literature, but the best on the shelf right now. All have their own very different stories and cover topics ranging from child prodigies, cancer, road trips, and falling in love for the first time.

3. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. One of the most twisted novels I've ever read, but also one of the top five best books I've ever read too. If you don't like drugs, sex, alcohol, religion, the mentally ill, or Medieval Germany you might not want to read this book. Otherwise, you better pick it up right now.

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I already wrote a blog about the movie and the book is just as fantastic. SO READ IT.

5. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. I've never laughed so hard reading a book before.

Day Twenty. What is your opinion on gay marriage?

I should rephrase this question to "What is your opinion on marriage?"

My response is simple: 

I believe that everyone should have the right to marry whomever they love. 

People often use Christian morals to back up their belief in that marriage is only between a man and a woman. When it comes to our government, we can't involve religion in order to decide what is right and what is wrong. People might turn up their noses by me saying that, since I am a Christian, but Jesus told us to love everyone. His message was never about hate. It was one of loving our neighbors as ourselves. How would you feel if heterosexual marriage was viewed as immoral and unnatural and your marriage was deemed illegal? We are not a theocracy, we are a democracy. This shouldn't be a religious issue, or even a political one! I believe that it is a basic human right to marry and by placing laws against gay marriage, we are denying a basic human right to many people in the United States.

I have many friends that are gay and it really upsets me when I hear people say that they don't have the right to marry their loved one. In fact, a few months ago I told one of my best friends that I can't wait for the day that I get to watch her marry the woman she loves. And I know that she is just as excited to see me marry the man I love. 

And since I love to quote my favorite Green brothers, I'll end this blog with a quote from Hank Green from this video that he posted 6 months ago.

"This isn't a political issue. It's just deciding that we're going to treat some citizens of our country differently than the other citizens. And that's wrong." 

Day 19. What makes you unique?

I would say one of my physical features that makes me unique is my curly hair. Curly hair isn't extremely popular and mine can be kinda weird sometimes. 

The above picture doesn't count because I curled my hair with a curling iron... 

I also think that being relentlessly optimistic makes me unique. I won't deny that I have my bad days, but I really try to maintain a happy outlook on life. 

Day 18. Favorite memories.

Since I talked about my childhood a couple days ago, I'll stick with favorite memories from high school  and college.

High School
Senior Prom. Such a great night with all of my high school friends :) AND I got to watch my sister win Princess, after telling everyone to vote for her and her boyfriend!
Visiting Universal Studios with the family during spring break my junior year.
Sooooo many memories from theatre. From camping, to the Z quote wall, to The Distaff Side, to cast parties, to children's theatre, to every single long rehearsal spent at the Dogwood... Some of the best times ever.
Going to see the Jonas Brothers in concert for my 16th birthday.
That one time we had a day off from school for sewage issues.
Senior year was actually kinda awesome in general, because I spent most of my time in Video Communications or being a TA in World History.... so basically doing nothing.
Graduating.

College
Adventures with Anna around Mount Pleasant. Like the one time we snuck into the boy's bathroom.
Meeting one of my best friends our first day at Central.
Seeing We The Kings in concert.
All those Taco Bell food runs during Freshmen year.
The crazy shenanigans Cynthia, Ashley, and I would get into Freshmen year.
The midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two.
Visiting Uncle John's with my friends last year.
Becoming obsessed with playing the Sims and Mario Kart with Meagan and the boys. It kinda took over our lives for a brief period of time.
Going to Chicago for the first time.
The last week of my sophomore year spring semester.
My study abroad experience.

Day 17. Which Disney princess do you identify with the most?

I LOVE DISNEY. 

I think I identify with Belle from The Beauty and The Beast and Rapunzel from Tangled the most.
Belle and I share a love for books, seeing the best in people, and caring for their family a lot.
Rapunzel and I are both big dreamers, a little quirky, and hopelessly optimistic.

Also, Eugene Fitzherbert is my second favorite Disney male after Aladdin...
I must have a thing for Disney bad boys? ;)

Day Sixteen. Write about your childhood.

My childhood was the best. From what I can remember, at least. Growing up the eldest of five proved to be an interesting, difficult, and hilarious. One of my earliest memories is the day my youngest sister Abby was born. I remember Dad rushing downstairs after dinner telling us to finish cleaning off the table, because he had to take us to Aunt Terri's because mommy was going to have the baby! 

Every summer was spent at my Grandma Fren's house with my cousins. I think it was almost every day we would head over there and spend all afternoon swimming, swinging on the play set, running around her yard, eating ice cream, and watching movies. We also had the Peldenrust Pig Roast to look forward to every summer. My dad and his best friend started throwing it a year before my parents got married and it was just a big summer party with food, drinks, volleyball (at the beginning for the adults) and laughs. Later, we added a moon bounce for the kids to play around in. :) Oh! And camping. My family loooooved to go camping during the summer with our friends. We would go for at least a month out of the summer and it was always the best time of the year. And how can I forget 4-H! My family began participating in 4-H and the county fair when I was 7 years old. (I think. My memory is fuzzy). Combined, we have shown cows, chickens, ducks, horses, steers, pigs, and lambs. It was the most challenging and exhausting work during the summer and there were many times I loathed it, especially the one time I was dragged through a cornfield by a cow... but we won't talk about that anymore. However, looking back at years in 4-H, I know that it shaped me to be a more responsible person and it was a huge part of my childhood. 

Living on a farm, fall or "harvest time" was always one of the busiest times of the year. We'd get to ride in the tractor or combine with dad sometimes, which was obviously the coolest. Halloween was always one of my favorite childhood memories. My mom would get all of us kids ready, haul us around in the car to all of our friends and family and we'd always end up at Grandma Frens' house. Now, this was always the best part of Halloween, because Grandma loves to dress up for Halloween. Every year she'd buy a new costume and we would spend all night trying to guess what she might be. She's been everything from a skeleton with blood dripping down the ribs, to a blow-up cowboy. Plus, she always had my favorite kind of sugar cookies to eat when we got there! 

During the holidays, we'd split our time between the Pell and Frens families. We always had Thanksgiving with my mom's family, and then two parties for each side during Christmas. The Pell Christmas was always on Christmas Eve. My Pell family is pretty big... and Grandma and Grandpa's house isn't the biggest, so the Christmas party was always loud, rowdy but a lot of fun. The grandkids loved running around, playing foosball in the basement, and eating some of Grandma's famous cherry cobbler. Christmas morning at my house was (and still is) one of my favorite times of the year. When we were younger, I don't think my siblings slept for more than two hours on Christmas Eve. We would try to stay up all night, watching movies, reading, playing games, anything to pass the time until Dad came home from milking cows and we could run downstairs to open our stockings and then our presents. 

Birthdays were always a cause for the family to get together, eat great food, cake and my dad's AWESOME hot fudge. Seriously, you can't beat it. 

I'm very grateful for the awesome childhood I had. My family blessed me with a lot of great memories :)

My first Halloween.

                    

At a petting zoo in Arizona.

Caitlin, Jessica, and I.

Caitlin, Dad, Abby, Mom, Seth, Jessica, and I.

Cocoa the cow and I.

 Jessica, Caitlin, Seth, and I before the first day of 5th grade.

Day Fifteen: Who is your favorite musician?

My favorite band is We The Kings.
Other bands I really like are Fun, Parachute, Maroon Five, Skillet, and Lady Antebellum.

My favorite singer is Adele.
Other singers I really like are Demi Lovato, Eminem, Lady GaGa, and Michael Buble.

It's an odd mix of musicians, but they all have songs that mean a lot to me. :)

Day Fourteen: What makes you happy?

mountain dew icees.
holding hands.
reading a new book.
playing with little kids.
good grades.
cuddling/falling asleep in someone's arms.
sleeping in.
good hair days.
watching my favorite movies.
fast food runs with the best friends.
finding cute clothes that fit and are within my price range.
the weekend.
traveling.
listening to my favorite songs at high volume.
hugs.
my mom's cooking.
cute ginger guys.
being with my friends.
driving down my road during a sweet, summer night with the windows down and the music up.
crawling into bed after an exhausting day.
concerts.
boys with accents.
random acts of kindness between strangers.
catching up with friends.
family parties.
cooking.
creating memories with the people i love.

Day Thirteen: Talk about your hometown.

I grew up  in Fremont, Michigan.
It's a small, rural town known for the Gerber Baby Food Company that was founded there.
Otherwise, it's your completely average American small town.

We have a lot (probably too many) churches and hair salons.
Agriculture is a huge aspect of our community.
We're the only town in our county with a Wal-Mart.
My graduating class was around 175 and we were one of the bigger classes to graduate in recent years.
It's a generally conservative/Republican community.
A "night out in Fremont" means either
a) bowling or the movies if you're in middle or high school
b) the bar if you're older than 21

A lot of people around my age dislike Fremont. As soon as they graduate they want to get out of town, and it's always amazing how many of them stay around...
My opinion?
Fremont was a great place to grow up. I love the countryside surrounding the town and all of my family lives there. But I will be leaving Fremont for good once I graduate from CMU. I will always enjoy visiting my family there, but I need a place where I can actually put my History degree to use. Especially after living in London I've realized I like the big city. I'm not a fan of public transportation, but there's something magical about the way a city can light up at night.

But don't get me wrong, I'll always be a fan of those sweet, summer, country nights at home too. :)

Day Twelve: Top five favorite song lyrics.

These aren't my all time favorite, since I think that would be impossible, but here are some songs that are my favorite right now!

Adele- Set Fire to the Rain

I let it fall, my heart 

And as it fell, you rose to claim it

It was dark and I was over

Until you kissed my lips and you saved me

My hands, they're strong

But my knees were far too weak

To stand in your arms 

Without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew

All the things you'd say they were never true, never true

And the games you play, you would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain

Watched it pour as I touched your face

Let it burn while I cry

Cause I heard it screaming out your name

Fun- Out on the Town

I set all my regrets on fire

Cause I know I'll never take the time 

To unpack my missteps and call all of our friends

I figured they would take your side

I make the bed, just not that well

Your name comes up a lot

When I talk to my mom

Oh, I think she can tell

I was out on the town

So I came to your window last night

I tried not to throw stones

But I wanted to come inside

Now I'm causing a scene, thinking you need a reason to smile

Oh no, what have I done?

There's no one to keep me warm

So maybe I should put up a fight

I'll call them back and borrow a box knife

So I can learn to live with all the stupid shit I've been doing since '99

And I know I could be more clever

And I know I could be more strong

But I'm waiting for the day you come back and say

"Hey, maybe I should change my mind"

I drink a lot

I'm not sure if that's new

But these days when I wake up from a night I forgot

I just wish that it never came true

We The Kings- Skyway Avenue

She said let's change our luck

This night is all we've got

Drive fast until we crash

This dead end life

Sweet dreams that won't come true

I'd leave it all for you

Brick walls are closing in

Let's make a run tonight

Blinded by the lights

Hold you through forever

Won't let you go

Cause if you jump

I will jump too

We will fall together

From the building's ledge

Never looking back at what we've done 

We'll say it was love

Cause I would die for you

On skyway avenue

She said don't change your mind

Let's leave this town behind

We'll race right off the cliff

They will remember this 

It all got so mundane

With you I'm back again

Just take me by the hand

We're close to the edge

Hunter Hayes- Wanted

You know I'd fall apart without you

I don't know how you do what you do

Cause everything that don't make sense about me

Makes sense when I'm with you

Like everything that's green, girl I need you

But it's more than one and one makes two

Put aside the math and logic of it

You gotta know you're wanted too

Cause I wanna wrap you up

Wanna kiss your lips

I wanna make you feel wanted

And I wanna call you mine

Wanna hold your hand forever

Never let you forget it

Yea, I wanna make you feel wanted

Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch- Sweet Nothing

You took my heart and you held it in your mouth

And, with a word all my love came rushing out

And, every whisper, it's the worst, emptied out by a single word

There is a hollow in me now

So I put my faith in something unknown

I'm living on such sweet nothing

But I'm trying to hope with nothing to hold

I'm living on such sweet nothing

And it's hard to learn

And it's hard to love

When you're giving me such sweet nothing

Sweet nothing, sweet nothing

You're giving me such sweet nothing

It isn't easy for me to let it go cause

I've swallowed every single word

And every whisper, every sigh eats away at this heart of mine

And there is a hollow in me now

Day Eleven: Who do you love?

Meagan and Anna.

Cynthia and Ashley.

Andrew, Corbin, and Sean.

Lil M.

My parents.

My siblings.

Kubra.

My cousins.

Myah, and my grandparents.

Day 10: Highs and lows of the past year.

Highs Points

• The beginning of summer
• Introducing Caitlin at the State FFA Convention 
• Seeing Big Ben for the first time
• Meeting Charlie McDonnell
• The Hunger Games midnight premiere
• "The bunny is going to eat me, Meagan!" 

Low Points

• The end of summer
• Falling off Mount Feeling
• Breaking up
• My Physical Geography class