Wednesday, August 21, 2013

How Ariel and I are Alike

Earlier tonight I was feeling nostalgic and--at my friend Sarah's very wise suggestion--decided to watch my childhood favorite Disney movie, the Little Mermaid. Being the analytical and comparative thinker that I am, I decided to start listing differing ways that Ariel and I are, in fact, alike. This is what I eventually came up with....a list of 35 ways that I am like Ariel! 

I do hope you enjoy it! 

~~~ 



I like to make new discoveries and I'm easily interested.


I'm usually way more intrigued by something than my friends.


Like I said, easily interested. 


I tend to be forgetful. 


I use my cuteness to my advantage when arguing with people. 


When cuteness doesn't work? Sass. So much sass.


Look at all the bothers I give.
"But who cares? No big deal."


I enjoy tanning and being all "warm on the sand."


More sass.


I love books. 


I love the arts.


I'm very dramatic. 


I'm a dreamer.


My fancy is immediately caught by attractive men.


Ariel may have invented this gaze, but I perfected it.


I like to stare at people when they're unconscious. 
(TOTALLY KIDDING!)


I like to pretend I'm this pretty when I sing.


I don't take people's shenanigans. 


Sometimes I just really need a good cry.


I don't always enjoy meeting new people...or eels.


This is just uncanny.


I get this excited when a cute boy is friendly with me.


I like bubbles. 


I adore balconies. 


I don't like puppets.


I'm not exactly the world's greatest driver.


I get embarrassed. 
A LOT.


I fiddle with my hair all the time. 


I often play clueless.


I get annoyed with guys when they don't show their real feelings.


I look about this awkward when I try to flirt. 


I like to admire people from afar. 


I look pretty dazzling in a blue dress.


I love my daddy. 
(Well, and my mom, too!)


I like to blow kisses teehee xoxo


~~~ 

So there you have it! 35 ways that I am like Ariel! What do you have in common with this little mermaid? Let me know in the comments! 

I love you all. Thanks for reading. 



Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Changing Education Paradigms

As I was preparing to write my ethics paper on education, I looked up a video that my professor had mentioned on the first day of class. I heard it was a very brilliant talk set to super cool animation, so I decided to give it a try. It was very enlightening, and everyone should set aside the eleven minutes and forty-one seconds that it takes to watch this video. 


Prepare to truly educate yourself. 

Video by: RSA Animate 
Talk by: Sir Ken Robinson 
Video found on: 



Saturday, August 17, 2013

Amoré

Sometimes I feel so smart. You know that feeling? The one where you're convinced that when God created you, He spilled the entire bottle of "genius" into the recipe? Yeah, that's how I feel almost all the time. Except for those moments of weakness where I let myself fall for a guy. 

Then I feel so incredibly stupid. 

Don't get me wrong; I love love. To put it simply, love is one of the most incredible gifts that God has given us. After all, 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 
Love never fails." 
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love rocks. However, the stuff leading up to love can sometimes get really messy and--you guessed it--painful. Allow me to elaborate. 

It doesn't take much for me to develop a small attraction for someone. Chances are, if you say "hi" and/or smile in my general direction, I will claim to have a crush on you. This is only true about 87% of the time. (Actually, I don't know how often it's accurate. I totally guessed on that percentage. Moving on...) 

My point is, I like to like people. I love having someone to think about, wonder about, and learn about. But sometimes I grow to like certain people a LOT. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's strong. Also, more often than I'd like to admit, I get hurt. It's not like it's intentional. I mean, I highly doubt that the few guys I've reeeeeeally liked woke up one morning and thought to themselves "hmm, today would be a great day to break Lauren's heart!" Not everybody is that heartless, after all. Even so, I still tend to get hurt. 

I've never been the girl who's the "first pick." Sure, I've had people of the male species (ba ha ha) like me before, but as far as my knowledge goes, I've never been #1. There's either already someone else, or someone else comes along all too soon. It's the same old story every single time. 

Very recently, I let myself fall for this guy I hadn't known very long. He was--and still is, honestly--seemingly perfect. Everyone who knew him had nothing but kind words to say about him. He was always so kind to me, making it easy to fall for him but difficult to tell if he was falling for me or not. After all, sometimes it's really hard to tell if someone's interested or if he's just being extremely friendly. Well, it appears that he's extremely friendly with someone else. Someone else. Wow, big shocker, I know. (Can you feel the sarcasm?)

Aaaaaand now we're back to feeling stupid. It's not like anybody knew that I liked him. Honestly, next to nobody knew. Even so, that doesn't mean that I don't feel like an absolute idiot. I'm mortified that I didn't see this coming. I'm humiliated that I didn't really look before I leapt. If my suspicions about him and this particular "someone else" are true, then I couldn't be happier for them. Honestly, they are both great people whom I care for dearly and I'd be happy that they would be happy. (But part of me would always be like "GEEZ, YOU'RE KIND OF DUMB.") 

I know it doesn't seem like it, but there is a point to this post! Yes, it was partly for me to get out my angst, but it's also to touch on your frustrations. This is for all those ladies and gents who feel like they're unloved, undesired, or unwanted. As awful as most of my crush experiences have been and as crappy as they've made me feel, I've learned from them, I've grown stronger from them, and I've become the person I am today because of them. There's a lesson in all of the trials that life sends our way. You're not alone, and it will get better. The next time you feel embarrassed, awkward, or uncomfortable because of an awful experience with a crush, just remember that this happens to everyone--literally everyone--at one point or another in their lives. 

Every failure allows us to be one step closer to a great victory. Real, pure, honest love is a triumph; and it's worth waiting for. 


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie

Hi, world. My name is Lauren and I like books. No. I mean, I reeeeeeeally like books.

Whether I'm happy, sad, angry, passive, content, anxious, lonely, or surrounded by people I love, books are always there. They are more to me than just a collection of words used to pass the time. Books are like a portal; a passage to another realm. I can escape my own reality and dive into the reality of someone else. Sounds like a wonderful thing, right? Wrong. (Well, partly wrong anyways.)

Let me set this straight: authors will break your heart and crush your soul. They don't feel bad about it, either. In fact, they love it. They thrive on it. They make their money off of it. The worst part? A sick part of me actually enjoys the pain through which writers put me. I subject myself to it over and over and over again because--regardless of the fact that I may cry when my favorite character dies--I just have to find out what happens to the rest of the lot.

Ahh, characters. They can either make or break a story. They are people who did not even exist until the writers created them. They are people whom we feel we actually know. Yet, in spite of the fact that they...well, aren't real (ducks and hides from crazy character fanatics), I love them. Sometimes, I love them more than I love actual people. Harsh? Nah. True? Absolutely. Authors have a way of making some characters so perfect, even with their character flaws. 

Look at Percy Jackson, for example. I would gladly fight Titans with him any day, even though he can be completely irrational and he often makes stupid decisions without thinking first. Regardless, he is such a brave human being who always puts the well-being of his friends and family before his own. Moment of silent appreciation for the writing talents of Rick Riordan. 

Now let's take a look at Jace (SPOILER ALERT!) Herondale. He's rude. He's snarky. He has absolutely no value of personal space or privacy unless it's his own. He can kill demons like nobody's business, yet he's terrified of ducks. But you know what? I. Love. Him. Brava, Cassandra Clare, for writing one of the greatest and most complex characters in modern literature. Regardless of the fact that Jace shows his nasty tough-guy exterior all too often, he has a giant heart and loves so many people with all of his being. Even though it sometimes seems as though he's just looking out for himself, in retrospect, everything he does is for the well-being of someone he cares about. That's what love is, folks. 

Moving on. Who else can we fangirl over other than one miss Katniss Everdeen?! I'm not going to lie, Katniss drove me crazy for about 2 1/2 books in the esteemed Hunger Games trilogy. I mean, come on, for a majority of the series all that goes on in her head is "I choose Gale and the rebellion. NO, I CHANGED MY MIND! I choose pretending to love Peeta and keeping my family safe. Lol jk, that failed, so I choose fighting back and rebelling again. Wait, never mind, I actually might love Peeta for realz and I want to do everything I can to protect him." BACK AND FORTH AND BACK AND FORTH AND BACK AND FORTH. However, in spite of the fact that Katniss' indecisiveness annoyed the living daylights out of me, I loved it. Why on earth is that? Because it's so relatable. Take a look at every teenager that you know. I guarantee that not a single one of them knows exactly who they are or exactly what they want. They are confused, lost, and constantly changing their minds. Katniss is the literary embodiment of every real-life adolescent.

I could ramble on and on about different books and characters and plots and whatnot, but I'll stop here. Point is, books are my not-so-guilty pleasure! Seeing as I read so much, I'm always looking for new stories. Comment below with your favorite books, and I'll check them out!

Stay nerdy, my friends.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

This is Me

Hi, my name is Lauren, and this is my first blog post.

To start off this beautiful blog of mine, I thought I would give y'all a little bit of insight into my life! I'm not going to tell you all of my personal details, but I think it's important for a reader to know a bit about the author; who they are, where they've been, and what they love. Let's begin!

✿ I love God with my whole heart, soul, and strength.
✿ My nickname is Loie.
✿ I'm currently seventeen (and a half, hahaha) years old.
✿ My goal in life is to be this generation's Audrey Hepburn.
✿ I love youtube. I'm subscribed to vloggers from all over the world, and I love hearing what they have to say.
✿ I believe that so long as you use your gifts and talents to the best of your ability and all for the glory of the One who blessed you with them, you can do great things.
✿ I sometimes fall in love with fictional characters.
✿ I claim to hate being around cats, but I really do enjoy them. (Just don't tell anyone I said that.)
✿ I'm a proud Disney enthusiast.
✿ The majority of music that you will find in my iTunes library are show tunes. No shame!

So that's me! There's always something new to discover with me, so stay tuned to find out what goes on in this silly mind of mine.