Why Phi Lamb.

 I've been putting off writing a new blog post since.. Last year. Cool. I just didn't know what to write about but, I thought I'd start 2014 with something ridiculously important to me: Sigma Phi Lambda, my sorority. For those of you who have never heard of Phi Lamb, good! Let me tell you a little bit about it.

 The word sorority means sisterhood, but it sometimes gets a negative connotation due to hazing, the usage of the words 'ritual' and 'initiation' and the partying. That being said, some of you may know that I was in a Panhellenic sorority during my freshman year at Mizzou. I never experienced hazing, there were no violating rituals, and initiation wasn't some crazy party where we danced barefoot in the woods or whatever (you wouldn't believe what some people have asked in regards to my initiation). I am no longer in that sorority for several reasons, one of the biggest being the fact that I never felt like I truly belonged, I never felt that I was home. Phi Lamb has changed everything for me.

 I saw a flyer in Memorial Union about rush this fall and thought it would be interesting to at least check out. I did a little research and found out that Sigma Phi Lambda stands for Sisters for the Lord, which I thought was pretty cool. I'd been looking for a way to connect with some other Christians on campus because a prior commitment to my a cappella group caused a schedule conflict with the campus ministry that I wanted to attend.

 I walked into rush on the first night and I saw a girl from my a cappella group and was seriously surprised. Now that I think about it, I totally remember Erin wearing a Phi Lamb shirt to rehearsal. Erin talked to me a little bit about Phi Lamb and introduced me to some girls and I immediately felt comfortable. I wasn't able to attend all of the rush events, but I could tell from the first night that these girls were so beautiful, welcoming, smart, and full of God's love. These girls were people that I'd dreamed of being friends with years before college started. During sorority recruitment, I'd heard countless women cry about the moment that they knew that their sorority was home and I never felt that until my first night with Phi Lamb.

 Every sisterhood event, every chapter, every Monday afternoon with my prayer group, every crazy banner-painting late-night Walmart run, every pledge meeting, every pledge family dinner, and every time I see my sisters I thank God for the wonderful women that He put in my life. Every single woman in my sorority inspires and encourages me to be more like God every day. I might not be close to all of them, but I am so extremely blessed to be included in a group of people who will pray for me and accept me for exactly who I am. I can't stress enough how much of a positive impact they have made in my life, so rush Phi Lamb. It will be the best decision that you ever make.

I Am Blessed: My Journey Thus Far

 Thanksgiving is only a little over a week away, which means that this is the time of year where we think about what's really important to us. Thanksgiving is the one day that we take the time to contemplate everything that we've been blessed with, but I thought I'd start just a little early this year!
 Before anything else, I'd like to say that I am ridiculously blessed. This year I've seen God work in unbelievable ways in my life and it's been surreal. Even just looking back at what my life was like this time last year is different, I've experienced a paradigm shift. I know that I tend to ramble, so I'm just going to get right to my blessings! (These are in no particular order, I just wrote them as I thought of them.)

• My living situation - In case this is news for you, I'm a live-in nanny this year. It's been a wonderful experience and the best part is that I live there for free! They decided to open their home to me and I could not ask for a better place to live. Which leads me to my next point...
• My job(S) - Yes, multiple. I have three jobs this year and I love each and every one of them. Early this year I started working for Kiss My Southern Sass as the Mizzou campus representative and I love my KMSS family. I've been able build relationships with such strong, beautiful women (special shout-out to my big, Jordan and Jackie, for being awesome). It's a company that was founded and run by college students and it's been a wonderful experience. My second job (but my first priority) is nannying two children! I've learned so much about patience and patience and patience, but even though I have pretty early hours, I love every minute of it. Except for the bathroom stuff, that sucks. I started at Express about two (two and a half?) months ago and I'm loving it. But, I still can't believe that I've been blessed with these opportunities.
• My sorority - On Sunday, I was initiated into Sigma Phi Lambda (Sisters for the Lord)! If you haven't heard of it, it's a Christian sorority and it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. Phi Lamb is filled with such beautiful, Godly women who impress  and encourage me every day with their passion for God. It has inspired me so much this last semester to pursue God in everything I do. Every single person that I've come in contact with in Phi Lamb has been such an inspiration and I could go on and on about it, because I like to talk, but I won't. Phi Lamb has been a game-changer for my life and my relationship with God. I can't imagine my life without Phi Lamb now, especially my sweet, beautiful big, Andrea! The rest of my pledge family is pretty rockin' too (for real).
• My relationship - My boyfriend's cool. I like him a lot. He loves God and makes me want to better my relationship with God. I'm pretty lucky. 
• My cat, Thomas - I never see him, but I put him on here because I'm really thankful for him and I love him. He's like 20 pounds, 9 years old and still kickin'. He's one of my favorite things, but someday he'll like me back. The fact that my parents still have him is a miracle because my Dad was allergic to cats and he isn't anymore. 
• My family - My parents because they love me even though I chose to be kind of far away from home and they pay for my gas! And they do things like drive down to Missouri just because my car wasn't working and they wanted me to have a way to get to class, they were here for less than 24 hours. True love. Also, Jamie's an awesome brother who's growing up a lot. Even though I'm not home to see it, I still love him and creep on his Facebook. All the time. 

When I see a list like this, I seriously wonder why I don't thank God all the time, because I should be. I have so much to be thankful for and I know that I take all of these things for granted. I'm challenging each of you to start celebrating Thanksgiving now and take a minute to look at everything that God has blessed you with, then THANK HIM FOR IT!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

The Healthiest All-Nighter in the World

 It's midterms, so of course everyone is pulling all-nighters or just studying their butts of into the wee hours of the morning. Last year, if I wanted to stay up late I would typically eat a lot of crap and the next day crash harder than anything. While I love Coke and chocolate and coffee as much as the next girl, I hated feeling so sluggish the next day. I decided to be proactive, for once, and googled a bunch of things that would help me stay up and this is what I came up with:

- Apples have a lot of vitamins and minerals in them, also lots of antioxidants, which help make energy!

- Red peppers have vitamin A and vitamin C, also antioxidants. I didn't take a picture of the hummus that I had, but that's another healthy-energy boosting snack!

- Also not in this picture is my organic dark chocolate. Basically, the dark chocolate was there to satisfy my cravings for sweeter snacks. Stuff like candy bars tend to contain refined starches, which depletes vitamin B. Also, the higher percentage of cocoa in your chocolate, the higher percentage of antioxidants in the chocolate.
- The iced lemon water is there to keep me hydrated and is known to boost energy. Lemon has extra enzymes and vitamins in it that will keep you awake.

- Popcorn is there for fiber and it makes you feel fuller, not necessarily awake. I love the taste of the butter, so this is 94% fat free butter on my popcorn. 

- Peanut butter is there because it's delicious!

Anyways, I was still pretty energetic when I started eating this and studying, but I think it works better when you have a significant amount of energy. Either way, the next day I didn't feel terrible. I ate pretty healthy the next day as well and while I did feel like I had a lower energy level than normal, I didn't feel like I was dying! Just keep this in mind this week and I'll definitely be trying this again around finals.

Good luck on midterms! 

Ear Candy: I Choose You

I've been listening to a ridiculous amount of Sara Bareilles lately because her voice makes my heart smile. I've been listening to her when I get ready in the morning, nothing makes a morning a good morning like happy, getting-ready music.  Recently one of her songs really caught my ear and my heart. Most of Sara Bareilles' songs are light, happy love songs, but one song in particular could be used to illustrate the joyful relationship that we should have with God.

What really caught my eye was the statement that her words were "the very first words of a lifelong love letter". Personally, the only love letter that I've received is the Bible and every time I spend just a little bit of time reading it, I rediscover just how much God loves me. Part of the reason God gave us the Bible is so we could read His expressions of love over and over again. The second verse goes on to say that many people told her "you would not come true, just love's illusion" and Bareilles follows it with "you found me and everything changed and I believe in something again."Many people experience a feeling like that when they find God. I experience it each time I admit my faults, sins, and imperfections and run back to God.

The part of the song that hits me the hardest is her admission of her imperfections and how she learns from her mistakes. She says that she wants to prove her love, no matter how long it takes. God doesn't ask us to prove anything to him, but acting in love towards others, worshipping Him, and obedience to His word shows our dedication to the pursuit of God's heart.

Thought Series: Miss AMERICAN

 Miss America 2014 is of Indian descent. By now everyone knows about the "controversy" of her race and know about the criticism she's faced because of her race. People have said that other contestants should've won, blah, blah, blah. It's a huge thing, just because she's of Indian descent. Indian. She's not Iraqi, not Pakistani, not Afghani, she's Indian. First, let me just say she's actually been called "Miss Al Qaeda" by people on Twitter, which is stupid because India isn't even an Islamic country for the most part. 80% of India practices Hinduism, which is besides the point because Nina Dalvuluri is from New York. Miss Dalvuluri is the perfect choice for Miss America for many reasons, let's name a few:

• She's Indian-American and representing one of the most diverse states in the union. 
• She's smart; she went to the University of Michigan, was on the Dean's List, received the Michigan Merit Award, and graduated with a degree in Brain Behavior and Cognitive Science. She's much smarter than the average girl
• She's the second Miss Syracuse to win Miss America since Vanessa Williams (not why she should win, but it's interesting).
• She struggled with bulimia, which is sadly, very common in young girls today. She beat her eating disorder, but to this day hates the word "skinny".
• Her platform is diversity, she's all about breaking down barriers.

 At this point, it's not even the fact that she isn't white that's making people dislike her. If it would've been a Hispanic, Asian, or African-American girl people wouldn't be making the ignorant argument that Miss Dalvuluri isn't American. But brush her Indian roots aside and her story is as American as it gets. A smart girl who struggled with her weight and her body image got a makeover, graduated from college and is now considered one of the most beautiful, accomplished women in our country. Literally, Princess Diaries, except she was overweight instead of having frizzy hair and glasses. So, I would say that our new Miss America is extremely American.

Thought Series: Loneliness

 We all get a little lonely sometimes. It's natural, it's human, and we shouldn't let it get us down because then it turns into something bigger, self-pity. We feel lonely for many reasons, maybe it's been a while since you've talked to your friends from home or maybe you just started college and you're feeling a little unsure of yourself. Loneliness isn't necessarily a bad thing but, our world today can seem like a big popularity contest, due to our addiction to social media. So, if you're feeling lonely, that's ok; sometimes it can give you a couple minutes of "you time" or even some introspection. But, if we all went a little bit out of our way, we might be able to fix loneliness. Make an effort to make someone else less lonely this week. Call someone you normally wouldn't, take some time out of your day to grab a coffee with a friend after class, mail a letter to your best friend in another state. Give someone some "face time" and hang out with them completely unplugged, give them your undivided attention.  You have to give a little if you expect to get anything back.

This is the New Year: Part 1

 The life of a college student is always exciting. Whether it’s going into your sophomore year and seeing your friends again, being a freshman and knowing where nothing, literally nothing, is or being a senior and an old pro, it’s exciting. Being college students, we tend to treat the beginning of the school year like it’s New Year’s Eve. We make resolutions. If I had a dollar for every single girl that said she’s going to work out this year, I could probably pay my tuition until I graduate and maybe for grad school too. Not many people go into a new school year without wanting to better themselves in some way, but for those of you who do: you’re lucky and should probably stop reading unless you want to be bored.

   Honestly, there are a million things that I want to improve about myself this year, but that would be too exhausting and I’m going to take it one song at a time. I have my goals divided in half because second semester exists. I find that it’s easier to achieve my goals if I divide my long-term ones into lots of short-term goals. That makes it seem like I’m making more progress and I give myself more small rewards along the way (MORE CANDY). If you’re still reading this, I’m going to assume that you’re a little curious about my goals and they are:
 

·      Surround myself only with people who will be a positive impact on my life.

·      Eat much healthier than last year (no more midnight cookies or Subway).

·      Study more, even if I hate it. Hard work will pay off with good grades, happy parents, and        a happier me.

·      Gossiping = bad. Don’t do it.

·      See my commitments through, no matter what.

·      Involve myself in more things that interest me.

·      Develop deep relationships with more of my friends. Remember, quantity not quality.

·      Go to sleep earlier so I can wake up earlier, because I’m a nanny and I don’t want to look        like a hobo when I go to class.

I know that this won’t be very easy. It’s the second week of school and I’m already sliding back into some old, bad habits (oops), the difference is that this year I’ve been catching them! Not only am I catching myself when I’m reverting back to my bad habits, but I realize when I’m making myself practice my new habits, which tells me I’m improving. Of course, this year will be a journey, like always.  Luckily, I’m always up for an adventure!