A Very Lucky Girl

I was doing laundry the other day and effectively procrastinating reading Chapter Six for Social Problems when I happened to notice the top 10 most played songs on my iTunes. I commenced furious blushing. WHY must Apple record every single play of my songs? Some of them I am proud of, letsbehonest. But Grove St. Party? Really? And TWO explicitly labeled hits? So THAT'S where the need for a swear jar comes in... Gavin DeGraw's "Not Over You." I wish I could say I played this 1,740 times because I really liked the musical quality. But no. I was a sucker for the lyrics last January when all boys were stupid. Taylor Swift's "Ours." "Don't you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine" are words for any and every occasion so I am only mildly ashamed of the 1,734 plays. It's a bit excessive. Waka Flocka's "Grove St. Party." There are no words. Cady Groves' "Ugly." It could be argu...

Forever, regardless of age. Sharbear and I typically shop for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes this time of year, but life is changing. So when Tyler suggested we grab Christmas Wishes from Life Church a few Sundays ago I was definitely on board. I scanned through the names and requests and landed on one-year-old Isaiah, figuring he'd be easy to shop for.  Except then I got in the car and couldn't brainstorm a single age-appropriate toy. So I texted Sharbear, since she had a one-year-old ginger at one point in life and I figured they are pretty similar to real babies, and asked her opinion on what to get Isaiah for Christmas. Our conversation went somewhat like this: Me: What do one year old boys like? Sharbear: Their mommies Me: Okay, well...he's a foster kid so...next best thing? Sharbear: Things that light up and make noise. Buttons to push. Trucks. Soft things to hug. Me: Older boys like those too.... The observation is completely true. Boys of a...

Remember when I didn't suck at running? I know, it's been awhile. Seventh grade began my cross-country and track career. Paul and Sharbear required a sport of me, and this one didn't require any hand-eye coordination so I decided it was worth a try. I ran all summer in preparation for the cross-country season (it didn't hurt that my coach lived in the bedroom down the hall and would know if I dared to skip a single scheduled day) and the first race at Ravenscroft dawned on an autumn day. I ran the requisite 5K and crossed the finish line in a decent place, much to the dismay of my parents. Wait, Taylor can do sports?  Our St. David's School Varsity girls team finished out that season as State Champions in our division. Sharbear overheard some indignant runner-ups complain, "uh yeah, we could run that way if we hadn't hit puberty yet either." Irrelevant, since we had some talented high-schoolers on the team as well.  Eighth and ninth grade didn'...

I wandered the aisles of Barnes and Noble the other night with Megan Goebel, searching for a book for her to take on her Thanksgiving trek to Kansas. We both walked out empty-handed, but I had an arsenal of photographs on the camera roll in my phone.  I immediately logged into Amazon (yeah they remember me, what's the problem?) as soon as I arrived back at my dorm and searched for the used/reduced priced version of 5 different titles. Bought them all. For the low, low price of $48.40. Damn shipping gets me every time. But I'd rather pay approximately $10 a book than the atrocious $15.99 that B&N was offering. And there's not a single fiction book among my selection! Will wonders never cease... My mailbox should soon be stuffed with words from Ellen Degeneres, Mindy Kaling, and others. A Very Lucky Girl plans to lurk the post office faithfully until her orders arrive.

For so much. So, so much. The blessings in my life so outweigh any negative, major OR minor. I think the number one thing I am thankful for is drugs. I'm talking those little 5mg hydrocortisone tablets, 25mg DHEA pills, tiny halves of fludrocortisone, and the synthroid that I'm slowly getting weaned off of (wean-hate that word. Searched for another and came up blank). My drugs are awesome and amazing and I am so thankful for medical insurance and for parents that are willing to shell out cash to prolong and maintain my fulfilling life. I'm thankful for a heart that's sometimes too sensitive, but one that is often attuned to the feelings of others. I'm thankful for legs that are learning the nuances of running all over again. I'm thankful for people that enrich my existence everyday. I'm thankful for family that knows the value of laughter I'm thankful to work with dedicated and motivated students. And I'm extra thankful for the sucker t...

I'm well into the second step of preparing to study abroad, which in my case is saving, saving, saving. I met with a study abroad advisor a few weeks ago to discuss destination options and we came up with three different ideas. Reading, England. Dundee, Scotland. Hertfordshire, England. I'm already in love with the idea and opportunities that Dundee has to offer. I still need to wade through the process of selecting which courses I could take that would match what OU offers for my major. The worst case scenario would be to come back from a life-changing journey, only to discover that my credits won't transfer. I am determined to graduate in 4 years, after all.  That is one daunting sheet of financial math. And unfortunately, I did all of my math right for once. So I have a question for all of those that have traveled and studied abroad. Is this an accurate assessment of cost? What would cut back on expenditures? Obviously, keeping outside travel to a minimum would s...

I was very intrigued when I looked over the blog statistics the other day, especially by the top ten most viewed posts. Bachelorette Recap: Premiere The Sleeping Dragon What's Black and White? Half a Year "Uhhh...Could You Spell That?" Life Curves Wait...I Said What!? Brother's Getting Old Pisses. Me. Off 5 and Counting What makes those subjects most appealing? Moriah informed me over my visit last weekend that she only reads the ones that have interesting titles. Well, then. Tyler has a possible theory, since two of the most popular posts include him and tidbits from our relationship, that humanity is innately curious about matters involving the heart. The more personal a post is, the more attention it receives. But then that still leaves the Bachelorette Recap sitting in the cold. Because that one is certainly more sarcastic than sappy. When I share the posts on social media, I hashtag the life outta 'em. #Bachelornation is clearly alive and well on...

It's official, I am a trained employee of Fuzzy's Taco Shop. Working brings a new, not entirely unwelcome, dynamic to my free time. That was the main purpose for my midsemester venture into the working world. I'm too good at prioritizing my school assignments...and was left with miles and miles of unscheduled hours. So why not get paid to smell tacos for a few shifts? Exactly. Fuzzy's serves alcoholic beverages so I am in the process of obtaining my liquor license and compiling all of the stories of schwastyfaced individuals into a heartwarming blog post. Stay tuned! I work in constant fear of having to clean up puke. #fingerscrossed I've had two drunk strangers profess their love for me, one tell me "forreal doe, if you ain't married I'm comin' back to talk to ya. I'm serious", and another ask me what special skill I would bring to the table in a zombie apocalypse.  Despite the constantly sticky hands from cleaning up queso (seri...

This budding blogger hit 10,000 page views at 10:24 AM on Sunday morning, November 11th.  I never thought that my meager words would reach so many corners of the world. People in Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Latvia, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Australia, Egypt, Japan, the Netherlands, India, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (what?), Brazil, and several other nations have faithfully lurked averyluckygirl-taylor.blogspot.com.  I don't know how you found me, but I'm grateful to you. For silently encouraging me to do something that I love, even when it gets hard.  And to the 12% of you that are using Internet Explorer...a special shout out to the patience you must posses waiting for the page to load. You should be rewarded.  Why stop now? A Very Lucky Girl could go for 15,000. 

"Can't say I'd say no to being Kate Middleton for a day or 10."-@AVeryLuckyGirl I totally just quoted my own twitter account, but it's totally necessary. I adore Princess Kate and it was a very factual statement.  This is not a new fascination: April 29, 2011 i'm literally watching history in the making. the wedding of kate and prince william. i'm freaking about it. i've been up all night thx to 2 3G chargers [boosts of caffeine available for Jamba smoothies] and 2 cups of coffee. i'm recording it on TLC and NBC and now i'm watching the preshow. i cant even begin to tell you how much i wish i was in london for this. i started a tumblr and i've been frantically blogging about this wedding. i feel like this wedding is continuation of diana and charles' story finally getting a happily ever after. i'm obsessed with finding out what the dress looks like! me and megan hunter are going to be heytelling about it at 3 am. it's ab...

I've learned a lot about Tyler Aaron McKee in the past six months. Born on June 18, 1990, he is a solid 22 years old with two brothers (he's the baby), really cool parents, and truly lovely grandparents. This boy is an Oklahoma City Thunder enthusiast and unbeatable at NBA 2K12 on PlayStation. Unfortunately, his video game skills don't transfer to Nintendo64 Diddy Kong Racing #suckstosuck. When he's not watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" he is stuck on level 30 in Bubble Mania. I'm on level 54, but who's competing, really. He typically avoids spicy foods but manfully swallowed-and claims he enjoyed!-Sharbear's gumbo. He washes down 100 Grand bars and pretzel M&M's with red Gatorade, lemonade, or Dr. Pepper 10. He takes notes in French class with a Bic Atlantis, pointing out the squirrels ("ecureuil, ecureuil!") through the perfectly drawn, symmetrical blinds (he is kinda OCD). Tyler listens to live recordings of ...

If there is one thing that I've learned in 2012, it's that relationships are ever-changing. Whether for good, for bad, of just for a new season in life, it happens. I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea that there is nothing wrong with change. Change builds people, change grows friendships. I've had my fair share of "best" friends. Whether they were best for a season or best for a lifetime is irrelevant. I can't choose the best person that has made me the better version of myself that I am today. It is a combination of everyone's bests. The popular meaning of a "best friend" is juvenile. I think I have at least 4 "best friends" necklaces in my jewelry drawer at home. A Hello Kitty one for me and Samantha, a orange sparkly duck one for me and Callie, a dolphin one (that changes color depending on my mood! omg LyKe we were/are the coolio-est!) for me and Kayla, and an ice cream cone one for me and Ashley. But necklaces don't ...

The lyrics I relate to the most from Norah Jones' inspired political song, is "And I don't know who I can trust." Election years bring out the scum in a candidate's background, and Twitter and Facebook are crowded with updates, making sure that I can't miss the (reputable?) news reports. November 2012 provides two choices for America: current President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney.  I'm going to spare you any poetic political waxing, because I honestly don't know enough about politics to sway any opinions. That's why I'm not on the ballot (among other reasons, I suppose).   The most accurate description I've seen about the election came in an email from Paul. He forwarded a twitter update that he scrolled by on his timeline from the ever-popular account @shitmydadsays:   Justin's dad has a point, and it's one of my favorite personal spins on the election so far this year. I've seen countless status updates disco...

Last Thursday morning I was accosted by a startling headline in the Oklahoma Daily: "Armed man apprehended by OUPD." Talk about disturbing! I rescrolled through my OU email account and checked my phone for any missed OUAlerts. Nada.  According to the Oklahoma Daily , "University police failed to inform students of a man, who said he was armed, on campus last week." From what I understood from the paper, an expelled student, Naasik Ferdous, threatened to murder OU women's soccer goalie, Kelsey Devonshire, for reasons unexplained. Devonshire requested and received extra protection when the threat was realized, but although the almost assailant was spotted "in the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the morning of October 17th", no other students were notified of the potential danger.  OUPD explained their apparent negligence in not using any alert protocol because "the emergeny system to notify students via test there was a potentially armed man on campu...