"The Call" -Kina Grannis cover

I believe in having no need to say goodbye.

-Disney's Princess Creed

I am a princess.

I am brave sometimes, I am scared sometimes. Sometimes I am brave even when I am scared.

I believe in loyalty and trust. I believe loyalty is built on trust, 

I try to be kind, I try to be generous, I am kind even when others are not so generous.

I am a princess. 

I think standing up for myself is important, I think standing up for others is more important, but standing with others is most important.

I am a princess. 

I believe compassion makes me strong, kindness is power, and family is the tightest bond of all.

I have heard I am beautiful, I know I am strong.

I am a princess, Long may I reign. 

This is what a Princess is made of.

5 Weeks? Really?

It's hard to believe I am just now getting settled into my routine in Berea, and I'm into the 5th week. There were a few setbacks that made the process a little tougher than it needed to be, but for the most part I think I've tied up as many loose ends as I can.



I'm a Zeta again! Ok, well technically I always was. But as a Rho Gamma (recruitment guide) I had to leave my sisters and be disaffiliated to remain unbiased during the process. We had a fabulous group of women in our color group, and not a single hissy fit was thrown.

It's interesting for me to think about where I want to go now- obviously I got used to not relying on my sisters quite so much. I got through a trip in Europe, a breakup, some trouble, moving in, and having an awful week of dumb ass moves (seriously, I don't think I was completely prepared for all my classes a single day during that week. I looked like a fool).
So what do I do now? Go back to being a sorority zombie, with no friends outside of greek life? No other interests, no solitary identity? I think I was on a really good track, and I need to keep working on that.

Things I've Done that I'm Proud of, since being a Rho Gamma:

• Joining SCOPE
• Sticking with Ki Kong- that class tried to kill me, but now I'm learning how to kill people. We'll talk about that later, though.
• Finally signing up for guitar lessons!
• Dealing with the big Oops
• Managed to function quite well without needing any single boy (Deeg will argue I'm still having an internal struggle between feeling domesticated and independent, but I'm comfortable with that)
• Finding new music I like! It used to be that I would never find time to make a point to listen and find new stuff
• Putting facebook on my stayfocsd app, so I don't waste so much of my life
• Cookies and Cream Mochas with a shot of espresso. yum.

Some of them are silly, some are just little indicators that help me find who I am. I like trying these new things, regardless. There's something empowering about knowing I could break someone's bones, while also having an informed discussion about various religions while I sip my favorite blended coffee drink and listen to new bands.

I believe in reflection.

Politics, English Majors, and Apartment Living

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog lately; not because I haven't been writing in it, that's not a big deal, but because I've had things that I've wanted to write about and I just never got to it. So, I'll give the condensed version, and hopefully the craziness that is Beginning Another Semester of College will settle.

1. Politics- I know that everyone is sick of the adds and the facebook posts, but I will say this- Having an opinion, even one about an issue that isn't entirely accurate, and being passionate about that opinion- that's beautiful to me. I love seeing people get inspired by a certain issue. From a voting standpoint, obviously it's important to be informed, but just as a person who cares- even if you think Obama is going to start killing the firstborn son in every family- it's awesome for me to see people being so vocal about their views. Cut out the part where it's about a candidate, and what you really see is an individual with a strong concern for a certain cause. Even if its polar opposite of yours, you can, if nothing else, recognize the faith and commitment a person has to this belief. I think it's so rare to find people willing to share some of their core values, and to be so firm in them, and I like that it gets brought out now.

2. English Majors- I am one. I haven't broken up with my communications advisor yet, so I'm currently double majoring, but I'll get to it soon. That will leave me with some nice chunks of empty space that I can fill with gender studies classes and sign language and everything else I wanted to learn while at college. Incidentally, I start guitar lessons on Tuesday, which I am pretty excited for.

3. Apartment Living- is hard sometimes. Lots to clean, I need to go grocery shopping, and there are more responsibilities as roommates. I miss living on the section, but I'm still really really glad I decided to move out. I think this is good for me. Also, it helps enforce the idea that I have a home, thereby making it acceptable for me to stay in it and feel at home.

So those are the main things, before I forget them.

I believe in responsibility.

Growing up: Chapter 1

One of the big, exciting qualities of apartment life is having a big kitchen. Because grown ups use a kitchen. They make real meals, instead of microwavable styrofoam cups. They sit down and have dinner at a table. They know how to cook.

The only problem with my fantasy is that I actually have no idea how to prepare a meal, besides sandwiches and breakfast food. So I can wake you up with waffles, easily, but when it comes to dinner time all I can offer is reheated Pizza.

Enter the boy roommates from downstairs! We spent the evening making garlic chicken with alfredo noodles. I nearly burnt down the kitchen, after putting my pan over the lit stove without having taken off the paper label underneath. Luckily Matt noticed the smoke within the first few seconds, so we were able to save everything- but after that, I wasn't allowed to cook without supervision.

Regardless, we made an excellent meal, and I learned a lot- Doug has an adorable little Italian Armenian grandmother inside him, dying to get out. I made them sit down at the table and we had a nice dinner together, just like in my fantasy adult world. It was really, really nice. Then I did the dishes, Deeg dried, and we all sat down to watch a movie.

I believe in creating a community.