A Very Lucky Girl

I'm a big believer that it does not have to be a new year for me to start something new. But coincidentally, 2014 and 2015 have both begun with changes on the horizon. Last year, 2014, I began an international journey. On January 3rd I left my comfortable American zone and traveled to Dundee, Scotland. Over the course of the six months I was there, Dundee became my new comfort zone and I was terrified to return to America after all of the changes that had taken place in me overseas. But I did it. I settled back into a routine in America and received my Bachelor's degree in December.  I thought I had a job, a clear direction for life post-graduation, but I was mistaken. The DHS position that had been offered to me in November, pending my completed transcript in December, was yanked away in an email that I received a few minutes before one of my finals. It informed me that they had found another candidate for the job. Needless to say, I was furious and frustrated...

A twelve year old said these ominous words to me yesterday. We were playing a game that involved guessing movie titles based on clues and I was sucking at it. Why? Because they were all "the latest" Disney movies. I think the last Disney movie I saw before Frozen was rewatching Mulan. I'm not up to date on Brave or How to Train Your Dragon or any of the other hot commodities in the elementary school world. And so this twelve year old mocked my knowledge with laughter and a declaration of "you don't know these because they didn't exist back in your day !" Excuse me?  Repetez s'il vous plait? When did I become old enough to have "back in your day"'s thrown at me!?  The same twelve year old went on to talk about how one of his teachers at school is 24 (aka 2 years my senior) and married. And then asked when I was getting married. I told him boys are icky, present company excluded. And then I spent my Saturday night in a hot tub with ...

I have been so much better in the past about keeping a regular blog schedule. At least two posts a week, like clockwork.  But here I am, on the brink of a new semester, and it has been almost a month since I last wrote for A Very Lucky Girl.  I haven't stopped writing. I still journal regularly. I have written and rewritten essays for the Fulbright application. I write emails daily. I still find myself when I arrange words into coherent sentences, art in strings of black and white. I started to blog about my Florida trip and began constructing a back to school post in my head.  But neither one seemed to grow me as a writer. I don't see the point of A Very Lucky Girl if I'm not challenging myself.  Someone asked me yesterday if I ever wrote stories. Fiction. I had to say no. I've never even touched the genre with my own words. I devour it when I read, it's my favorite type of book, aside from the travel memoir, which is rapidly escalating in my word-hungry eyes....

Words are weird. I can sit down and type out strings of words that mean something to me in record time. I trip over my fingers because those words have been inside me for so long and I'm anxious to spill my feelings in a tangible, manageable, form. But when I notice I haven't blogged in a while and it's time for a new post I am often stumped. Not because my blog posts are meaningless (although I did write about Tinder...so you be the judge), but because I'm nervous to share all of me with all of you (John Legend reference YES). Maybe you won't like what I have to say. Maybe you will criticize it. Maybe you'll think differently of me. Writing is risky. Writing is permanent. I need only to scroll back on my own blog to find posts with words I wouldn't write now. My words are permanent outward expressions of a constantly changing person. The words I'm currently most worried about are my two essays for the Fulbright ETA funding. I need to write a personal...

I danced around my home yesterday morning, torn between laughing hysterically and crying of pure joy.  Why? The direction of my life was so fantastically validated.  When I first started researching the Internet for information regarding teaching English as a second language, I signed up for emails from a job listings site. Just for kicks. I felt sure I would regret the enormous influx of spam, but instead I found something wonderful.  One morning, when I was taking that damn Ancient Art of War in June, I scrolled through the options of the day in my email and found a listing for online volunteers needed for a program in Rio de Janeiro.  Considering I have high hopes and crossed fingers to get into the Fulbright program, destination Brazil, I jumped at the chance to become more involved in this pursuit.  I sent the woman my resume and a short blurb about me and why I was interested.  She responded quickly and set up a Skype chat with me for Thursday,...

Have you ever had a day where your entire life just made sense and you knew you were right where you were supposed to be? That was Tuesday for me. I thought I would take the time to share a bit about my terribly thrilling 8 AM class every morning this summer. Thankfully, it's a short class and the final exam is on July 3rd, just in time for me to celebrate my freedom with the rest of America on July 4th. But until then I'm stuck in Dale Hall Room 107 every weekday from 8-10:10 AM. Those last ten minutes are especially excruciating. The class is overwhelmingly male, most likely due to the subject matter: The Ancient Art of War. Our textbook is actually called "With Arrow, Sword, and Spear." Riveting, right? The majority of the points are received for attendance and group participation and I find myself asking the other 4 members of the my group (again, all male) to explain the battles over and over to me. I'm hoping they continue to find it endearing/not ann...

It's been a busy few weeks. America is far more stressful than Scotland. Most likely because I didn't have classes that counted or a job in Dundee (I actually still haven't found a job so totally willing to wash someone's cat or something). Moving to Norman has dominated most of my time. I gathered my life from what seemed like all corners of the United States, from OKC to Houston, and I still have belongings coming from Louisiana in July. I'm in love with our little grey cottage situated on Brooks Street, only a mile from campus and a mile from Campus Corner bars. Could the location BE anymore perfect?!  I couldn't wait to move to Norman, but now that I'm permanently here, it is filled with memories from the last two years of my life. Places that once made me smile make me cringe as I drive past. There are certain CDs I don't listen to anymore. There were so many plans that are no longer going to come to fruition.  I fully trust that this change...

I have so many plans for myself. I want it all. I want to travel, I want to learn, I want to graduate, I want to be successful, and I want to share it all with everyone.  I've recently felt so inspired to succeed. Maybe it's the presence of adversity. Whatever it is, I choose to embrace the future. Nothing is holding me back except my own insecurities. I'm not invincible, and failure is always a frightening possibility; but there's no reason why I can't try anything. "Go hard today, Can't worry about the past Cuz that was yesterday."  Present goal: Teach myself the entire "No Diggity" rap from Pitch Perfect so I can sing along to the Riff Off. Why can't A Very Lucky Girl be a Boomer Bella?

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."-Someone Really Smart I honestly don't remember who said the above, but it resonated in my head all day last Monday while I mulled over a possibility. It was a possibility that I was hesitant to share with anybody, because what if it didn't pan out? But I realized that the people in my life are here to share in the joys and the disappointments.  So here goes *virtual deep breath*, I sent in a piece to the Glamour essay contest.  Please ignore the blurry: I was struggling for breath on a 15.0 incline and 4.0 speed during my treadmill workout. I thought, what could it hurt? And took my hands off the heart rate tracker for a split second to snap a photo of a possible future.  I debated with myself all afternoon, but finally forced myself to submit a very revised version of my Addison's Disease essay that evening. I'm a realist; I don't expect anything to come out of my meager offering to the written wo...

Have you ever noticed that some people are just BORN to do something? That they have a unique talent that they have discovered and are utilizing said ability in ways to impact the world around them? You don't listen to Norah Jones sing and think, "wow, that girl woulda made a great zookeeper. It's a real shame." You don't hear Justin Buchanan speak to you as your youth pastor and ponder, "man, he really could have made a great astronaut." You don't read Miranda's  blog  and say, "She missed her calling. Dental hygienist was right up her alley." You don't view Megan's photos  and lament, "it's too bad the Jamba Juice career is over, she could swirl a Strawberry Surfrider like no other." They have all discovered what they do with unabashed excellence, and they do it to their full potential. Doing your best at something doesn't make you THE best. But excelling at your unique skill? There isn't anot...

Who knew that "Beowulf" could house so much modern wisdom? I applied yet another line from the dragon-infested tale to my own life. "Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done." Lines 287-289 I talk about what I want to do with my life often. I've done nothing to accomplish these long-term goals.  "I want to study abroad." Okay, then do it! What do I need to do first? Where do I want to go? Who should I talk to? I finally put some action behind my wishes and signed up for an informational meeting on September 20th, after deciding that somewhere in the United Kingdom would be the best bet for furnishing my English Literature degree. "I want to be an editor. I think." Okay, well what does that require? How do I find out if that's even something I want to do forever? I had a brainstorm the other day and ah-ha! the Writing Center! I emailed them a few days ago inquir...

Would you rather be able to see your future but not be able to change it or see everyone else's future and not be able to tell them? Savannah unleashed this question on our hall last year during a rousing game of "would you rather." I was stumped. I can see the downside of both flipsides. Why would you want to know of possible impending doom in your own future and not be able to take action against it? Why would you want to know of impending doom in another's future and not be able to warn them? I think I would much rather see another's future though. Because the question says nothing about whether I could change their future. I just wouldn't be able to tell them that I was helping. I was inspired by that one question and googled several other tricky options. I found the mother load: Would you rather eat only Nutella or only bacon? Is this for real? I have an "i love bacon" magnet on my fridge. Gimme that pig, crispy, of course! Would you ra...

Snap, crackle, pop y'all! I've got my first real live vocal hater! I received my first negative comment about the blog a few days ago on my post about my black and white opinions.  First, I'd like to give a shout out to Commenter 12321; thanks for the page view! It's heartwarming to see that number increase everyday, knowing my words are affecting people. And clearly they affected this individual, based on the sizzling remarks. The way I see it, having someone disagree so maliciously means that I'm saying something remarkably real. They've every right to their opinions, just as I have to mine. They also have the right to share those opinions via social media, like I choose to do.  They certainly got one thing correct, I do love some Curlz MT font. However, I'm much too naive of a blogger to figure out how to make use of it, plus I personally find Curlz much harder to read and I'd rather my readers be able to decipher my embarrassment of a blog. The ...