Generation Now

We live in a social media driven world. There so much good that can come from that, but there’s are so many bad things that come instead.

People are bullied. You can post a photo that you think is cute or funny, then someone can comment things like, “Why would you post this?” “Who wants to see that?” “Kill yourself. Lol.”

You feel self-conscience in your own skin. Girls go on social media and find photos of Angelina Jolie or Selena Gomez and think, “Wow, why don’t I look like her? Why am I not as skinny as she is?” And it’s not just celebrities that we see looking like that. We can go online and see girls in our classes flaunting in bikinis on the beach and wonder why our hair is a jumbled mess when our classmates look like Victoria’s Secret Angels.

(Don’t think this only applies to girls. Since I’m a girl, I don’t know what goes on in a guy’s head, but I know that body image isn’t confined to one gender.)

Feeling like you aren’t popular enough. You go on Instagram and see that you have a couple of new followers, which is awesome! You’re finally up to 230 followers! Oh, but your classmate, who posts the same things as you, has 687 followers? What are you doing wrong?

I want this blog to be a happy place on social media. I want people to be happy when they read my posts, to be able to relate to what I write.

Yeah, I struggle with the same things on social media. I haven’t been bullied to the extreme, but I know people who have, and it sucks for them. I have seen photos of girls I know, and my favorite celebrities, and wondered why I didn’t feel as pretty as them.

But nobody should feel like that. Our generation should feel like we can do anything no matter what we look like. You like someone? Tell them. You think you look cute today in that outfit? Flaunt down the hallways like you’re Beyoncé. 

Bring up your generation with what you say. Be a light in the darkness.

Glitch

Getting Through Finals

I have senioritis and I’m not even a senior yet. All I know is, I want this to end. 

I love summertime more than anything, but it feels like this year, even though it’s almost May, the summer holidays aren’t ever gonna get here.

It’s hard for me to get through exams and all of the preparation for them, but I have some hacks that might help you.

Five Helpful Tips to Power Through Your Finals:

1. Make a study calendar. You can go to Walmart and find a small notebook or a calendar in notebook form. I write down what classes I need to study for each day, how much time I need to set aside for each subject, and, when finished, I put a gold star sticker on that day. (It may seem juevenile, but it works for me.)

2. Drink coffee. I like coffee, but some people– a lot of people– don’t. I use my Keurig machine with the Breakfast Blend (maybe it’s Breakfast Roast, I can’t remember right now because we’re out), two French vanilla creamers, and however many teaspoons of sugar I need. If you don’t like coffee, just drink something with caffeine. I don’t recommend Mountain Dew though. That causes cancer and kidney stones.

3. Have bribes. Not for your teachers, but for yourself. I put ten dollars at the end of each chunk of notes that I’m studying that day, and once I’m done, I go out and get something to reward myself. (I read and write way to much, but oddly not enough, so I go to Books-a-Million quite a bit.) If you don’t want to spend much money, go make yourself a sweet treat and share it with your family. (JK, keep it all for yourself and binge on “Thirteen Reasons Why.”)

I hope this helps you a little bit! And thanks for the support from the last post, it really means a lot.

Glitch

Epcot Adventure 2017

Hello, everyone!

I hope you all had a great time with family and friends over the spring holidays.

Easter this year was later than normal, so my spring break was the week leading up to the holiday, and I had the opportunity to go to Disney World for some of break! Needless to say, I was thrilled. I was disappointed that we would only be in the Parks for two days, but I knew we could get a lot done.

I highly recommend going to Epcot on Monday like we did. As it’s the start of the week, everyone else in Disney will want to go to Magic Kingdom to start their trip off right. When we went, the park was virtually empty.

We got to Epcot right before “Rope Drop,” so it looked like there were more people there than there actually was. There is a small marching band show thing under Spaceship Earth at 9 (or when ever they open the day you go), and when they’re done, they lead you into the park. It’s very cool.

Reminder: If you are not staying on Disney property, make sure to check and see if there were extra magic hours that day. We did not stay on property, but there wasn’t an earlier opening time that day, so everyone got in at the same time. That wasn’t the case when we went to Magic Kingdom, however, but that’s a different story.

I went with my best friend and her mom to Norway immediately after we got into the park so that we could ride the new Frozen ride. My friend’s dad and brother, and his friend, walked over to TestTrack because the line wasn’t supposed to be long. Unfortunately, they ended up waiting for like forty-five minutes (in one spot) because the ride was having technical difficulties. (Chances are this won’t happen to everyone.)

The girls waited about 10 minutes for Frozen Ever After, and the ride was actually really fun; I highly recommend it. When we walked out, I checked the wait time, and it was already up from ten minutes to fifty! Better get there as soon as possible than to wait.

When we got to TestTrack, we got into the single rider line, which is always your best bet. We ended up waiting forty-five minutes because the ride was still being difficult. The time flew by fast, though, because we got into a conversation with a lady in line behind us who was there with her daughter, and they nice and fit well with our personalities. I rode TestTrack twice that day, and the other times were a lot quicker than the first.

We then mad dour way over to The Sea and rode the Finding Nemo ride (which honestly isn’t worth it, but I was just along for the ride, so I couldn’t complain). We had three FastPasses that day, and our first one was at 10:50AM for Spaceship Earth. When you get to the FP line, you will think it’s WAY too long, but the majority of the line you see is actually the standby line circling around. All in all, we waited about eight minutes.

We just went ahead over to The Land for our next FastPass (Soarin’), which didn’t start until 12:15PM, but it was a long walk over in that direction. (We also stopped by the Lightening McQueen topiary because, well… #kerchoo.)

Now, I just have to take a moment to rant about Soarin’. I didn’t know until we were in line that they had completely changed it since 2015, which is the last time I was in Disney. It used to be Soarin’ Around America (I think), but now it’s Soarin’ Around the World.

Let me tell you, that ride took my breath away. I have no idea what I was expecting, but whatever my expectations were, they were nothing compared to what I saw. I can say that I gasped for every single scene change because the images were as phenomenal as they would be in real life. It was flawless. (And the “smell-a-vision was SO STRONG.)

After that, we went to the World Showcase for a quick snack in Norway. I don’t recommend the Lefse which is what I got. I’m not sure what it was, but there’s is something off about it. 1/10.

At 1:20PM we had our first Character encounter, which was the last FP of the day. We met Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie. Mickey was first, and he took our hands Andy kissed them like a gentleman, then wished me a happy birthday. (I was wearing my birthday pin even though my birthday had been a few days before.) Goofy was very silly, but gave the best hugs to us. Minnie was my favorite of the three. Even though she couldn’t speak to us, we had the best conversation with her. She was “talking” about how much she’s loved our floral ears, which we had made for the Flower and Garden Festival, and she gave these little dainty hugs, just like you would expect she would.

The next part of the day, and the rest of the day, my friend and I (I’ll just call her Blondie since she was Disney Bounding as Rapunzel) worked our way through the World Showcase. We walked through Canada and Britain, then we met Alice from Alice in Wonderland. (Her meet and greet times are up in Britain right in front of her garden. I highly recommend meeting her; she was the best character of the whole trip.)

In France, we bought ice cream and sat in the bakery to chill for about thirty minutes. We then met Aurora in France (because apparently that’s a French fairytale), then took pictures with the topiaries in France and Morocco.

In Japan we got this really yummy shaved ice, and it had some weird name that I can’t remember. Just ask around when you go, it’s worth it. We sat in America and ate that and some California Rolls. (Don’t overdo the soy sauce. I accidentally did on my last roll and I almost puked.)

We went and took some pictures of Italy but didn’t stay. Instead, we went to Germany. There we met Snow White, and while she had everything on the outside fitting a Snow White description, something about her attitude was off. The only reason we even wanted to meet her was because we thought it might be our friend workin as Snow that day.

At this point it was about 6:30PM, and we still had two hours until our dinner reservations at the Mexican Restaurant. We had enough time to walk around China which was good, because I had to find a present for a friend. Her favorite character was Mushu, the little dragon from Mulan, and LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING.

I WENT THROUGH EVERY SINGLE DISNEY RELATED STORE IN DISNEY SPRINGS, EVERY STORE I COULD FIND IN EPCOT, AND EVERY STORE I COULD FIND IN MAGIC KINGDOM, AND THERE WAS NOT ONE PIECE OF MERCHANDISE FOR MUSHU ANYWHERE.

I’m still mad and it’s been two weeks.

Anyway, we went back to the same area we met Mickey and got in line to meet Baymax from Big Hero 6. While we were in line, we went on the Disney Parks app and saw that the wait to meet Anna and Elsa was only 25 minutes when it was usually up to over an hour.

We bolted back to Norway.

Anna and Elsa were exactly as you would imagine they would be. We met Elsa first. She was calm and collected, exactly as a queen should be. She told us that Olaf loves the spring time, except he always sends his carrot nose flying when he sneezes, and Sven always eats it.

Anna was a whole different story. She was very socially awkward, exactly as I wanted her to be. And her poses for the pictures were SO CUTE.

We went to dinner at the restaurant inside the Mexico Pavilion pyramid. It was really good! I got a cheese quesadilla with the best chips I’ve ever eaten. The beans were also really good, but they threw me off because they were pitch black. It was strange.

We left the park an hour after they closed, and the park was virtually empty. There were still a few stragglers, but I’m glad it was that way, because we hadn’t really good spot for the fountain show.

That’s right. There is a fountain show.

I had no idea such a thing existed until loud music started playing over the sound system. The water started shooting up with the music, changing color as it did. I was really pretty.

So there you go, my Epcot adventure!! I didn’t like Epcot until this trip, to be honest, but I’m glad I got to experience it, because it is now my second favorite. (Magic Kingdom will always be my favorite.)

If you have any questions about the parks in general, please let me know!

Glitch

My First Prom Experience

Hello, world!

As I’m sure you all know, it’s prom season. I’m a junior in high school, so I JUST and my first prom at my private Christian school, so…. it was something else. (By the way, the photo here isn’t of me or anyone I know, I just googled it.)

I asked a friend of mine to come with me. He is a sophomore, and he is only a friend. (Especially after that night.) I asked him a month or so before prom because I thought it would be fun, and it was, except that I thought that I was kind of babysitting him the whole time. He kept wondering off to other groups even though he was my date, and while I did have a ton of fun, I felt restricted by a lot of things he did.

As it’s a Christian school, we aren’t allowed to wear hella cute dresses. Well, I thought my dress was beautiful, but I wanted something that wouldn’t fit the dress code at all.

Yeah, you read that right. We have a prom dress code. It’s ridiculous and makes me laugh when I read it. We can’t have strapless dresses, the dresses can’t show our midriff, the dresses can’t be more than two inches above the knee (my friend had one that was an inch above the knee, and the administration still didn’t approve it), your dress can’t be lower than your armpits (in the front), and your back can’t be below your bra line in the back. (My dress was below that, but somehow I got it approved.)

Overall, my prom experience was great! Even though they didn’t play a lot of current music like you expect to hear at a prom, they played Disney and throwback music, which is all I really ask for. Actually, they did play The Wobble and they kept all the words in, but I don’t think the principal understood what it was saying…

At one point, the DJ (who was a student’s dad) played “Breaking Free” from High School Musical, followed by “Gotta Go My Own Way,” “Get’cha Head In The Game,” and “We’re All In This Together.” It was legendary, especially when two guys acted out GGMOW.

What about you? What was your first prom experience like?

Glitch

Sudden Loss

A much different topic than what I usually write about, but something happened in the past week that broke my heart. 

A 16 year old boy in my town died of the flu.

Yeah. It shocked me, too.

You probably think I’m overreacting, saying it broke my heart, but his death hurt me. Not because I knew him, because I didn’t, but because a very close friend of mine was his best friend. It hurt me because I saw my friend hurting. She still is.

You don’t hear about people dying from the flu. I’m sure there’s more to the story, and I want to know, but it’s not a question people are ready to hear.

The main thing I keep thinking about is this: what would I do if it had been my sister that died? My best friend? There would have been so much that I hadn’t said that I wish I had, so much I would miss that I had previously taken for granted.

I haven’t done this yet, but I need to. I need to tell everyone I care about, everyone I love, how much I appreciate them. How much they mean to me. Because you never know when their last minute on Earth will be. You never know when you will take your last breath.

What do you do when someone you care about dies? What are some good ways to cope? I want to help my friend, but I don’t know what to say to her. Any advice?

Glitch

Bad Luck with Boys

Hello, world!

I thought it was appropriate to post this on Friday the Thirteenth as this story has everything to do with bad luck.

I’ve been in relationships in the past, but they’ve always ended poorly. Don’t ask me why, I couldn’t tell you.

My first “boyfriend” was named Robbie. We were together in sixth grade, and we never went on dates, so that’s why I have boyfriend in quotation marks. I thought he was cute and nice, and I was devastated to find out he had been “cheating” on me with a girl named Charlie.

Fast-forward to seventh grade. I had moved schools and thought, “Hey, I can start over now with guys!”

Wow, I’m in seventh grade. The relationships I have this year are gonna be great. (I hope you’re reading that with as much sarcasm as possible.)

I liked a guy named Joseph all of seventh grade. I thought we really had something, too…

…Until he told me he didn’t like me at the end of the year.

I gave up trying at that point. It wasn’t until the summer before freshman year that I really had faith that something could come of a friendship.

I was at a summer kick-off party at church with my friends. We were sitting on the ground eating pizza when he walked in. (I’m going to call him Field Boy to keep this anonymous.) I knew Field Boy through church activities, and we were in the same preschool class, but I just never saw him much since we went to different school. Also, his soccer schedule made it so he was never able to go to church events.

I saw Field Boy pretty much every day that summer, and we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. I started to really like him, and everyone thought that we would be dating by the end of the summer.

The Sunday before we started school, I told him how I felt. He said that he didn’t want to date while he was in middle school (he got held back in elementary school, so he’s a grade behind me), but he told me, “Next year, okay?”

Then in the middle of November, he came to church with a girl.

It felt like my world was crashing down in front of me as I watched them sit together. Why could I never keep a guy? Field Boy played with my heart, acting like we would be together at some point.

His relationship with that girl didn’t last for a long time, but he didnt talk to me for two months after they broke up. I’m not sure why, and I don’t think I ever will be. 

The next summer, 2015, was just like old times, and so was last school year and summer of 2016. But then we chaperoned a middle school mission trip, and even the middle schoolers thought we would be dating by the end of the summer, or even the trip! 

I don’t know what’s going on with us now because he has hardly been at church, but I really hope everything between us is okay. I know it’s been two years, but I still like him. Not as much as I used to, of course.

Glitch

New Years Resolutions

Hellos, world!

I know I briefly touched on one of my Resolutions in my last post, but I thought I would put down my other Resolutions.

Top 4 New Years Resolutions:

1. Take care of my body. I don’t mean to work out (cause Lord knows I won’t). I mean to eat better. I used to eat junk food all the time, probably because I don’t know the difference between actually being hungry and boredom.

2. Take care of my mind. This year, I really want to work on clearing my mind and reducing my stress.

3. Don’t get involved in pointless drama. My school is very small, so I get roped into a lot of pointless drama. It brings me down, seeing my friends talk about each other even if they don’t mean what they’re saying. Most of the drama is just based on hearsay, and a lot of the time, the gossip isn’t even true.

4. Don’t be negative. See my last post for this explanation.

5. Focus on YouTube. Yes, I have a YouTube channel. No, I am not going to say what it is. (This is an anonymous blog, after all!) I haven’t been giving my YouTube channel much thought lately, but this year, I want to start posting on it regularly.

I hope this maybe gave you ideas for your New Years Resolutions!

Glitch

Reflecting on the Past

Hello, world!

I know we’re already a week into 2017, but I’ve been dwelling in the past lately, and I would really like to share my thoughts with you.

I used to be a very positive person. I would always try to find the good in everyone I came across, even if others didn’t like them. I would also never think about myself and how I looked when I was with people society deemed “prettier” than me.

Of course, that was around sixth grade, before all Hell broke lose. (Meaning High School.)

In sixth grade, I left public school and started at a brand new private school in town. At first, it was great; I made friends quickly, and everyone was kind.

I realize now, the reason I’m so negative now, is because of the influence pretty much all of those people that I originally thought were perfect had on me.

I still go to that school. (Even though I’m now a Junior!) I’m still in school with all of those people. (We’ve only had one graduating class, and I never really hung out with them.) I have three best friends at school, and they are my best friends outside of school, and they really bring out the best in me.

In the past, as in the past year or two, my generation has immersed itself in what some would call “playful banter,” but I know it to be “self-deprecating humor.” In 2016 especially, I could look at a trash can and laugh, saying, “Ha! Me.” I could mess something up in class, something super minor, and say, “Wow, I hate myself!” or, “LOL, kill me.”

In 2017, I’m stopping that.

In 2017, I’m stopping that negative “humor.”

Because it isn’t humor if you start to believe it.

I don’t want to keep believe lies I tell myself. When I look in the mirror, I want to say, “Yeah, I have acne. Yeah, my hair looks kinda oily, but I am beautiful.”

I’m also going to try to surround myself with only positive people. (Harder thna it sounds, I know.) There are people in my life that I need to cut off, not because I don’t like them, but because they constantly bring me down, and they constantly make me feel like I’m not worth it.

That isn’t healthy, being with those people. Because I am worth it. I’m not the horrible person they make me feel like.

I hope this helped someone out there shine a light on their 2017.

Glitch

Rainy Days

Hello, world!

Right now it’s raining, and I need to say what’s in my mind on this rainy day.

I don’t like rainy days. I won’t say I hate them, because I don’t. I like hearing the rain fall outside when I’m laying in bed; it helps put me to sleep. But if it’s raining while I’m at school, I feel like everything and everyone needs to be in a sad, bitter mood.

I never know what to do on a rainy day in the summer time because I want to curl up in a big, fluffy blanket and drink hot cocoa or coffee. I can actually do that now that it’s winter.

I love to read. I read (or write) whenever I can. I’m also an actual child trapped in a sixteen year old’s body, so you bet I read all the “kid” books. By saying that, I’m not referring to the actual children books. I’m talking about stuff like “The Land of Stories” by Chris Colfer, or “Kingdom Keepers” by Ridley Pearson. I just started rereading the latter, which I originally only finished the first three books, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

It’s books like those that really help me calm down after a possibly stressful day. The greatest book series to read on a rainy day, all series considered, is the Harry Potter book series. I know I’m not the only one who thinks so.

I’ve read the series through one full time. I’m currently old enough that I would be a sixth year if I went to Hogwarts, so I’m rereading the sixth book, The Halfblood Prince. Give me that and my butterbeer latte brew for the Keurig and I’m all set.

I also love coloring. Before the adult coloring books were a big thing, I literally begged  my mom to buy me a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book. (The cartoon character, not the actual food.) I went home and got through three pages before I decided to watch some TV with my mom. But I could color for hours on end.

I also love to write. I don’t know why, but my creative juices really start to flow on rainy days. I have so much to write, so much I want people to know but never want them to find out. Girls, you know what I mean.

Hope you all enjoyed this post! Leave your favorite books in the comments below!

Glitch

The Top 5 Things That Cause a Teenage Girl’s Stress

Hello, world!

Today has been… a day. This whole week has been, really. Not only are we nearing the end of the school semester, but we have entered the holiday season. That means family time. That means presents. That means those God-awful things called finals. I’m not great in school or anything, and I’m broke as heck, so I understand all of the stress that comes with this time of year.

Top 5 Things That Cause a Teenage Girl’s Stress

1. Grades. I know for me this is a huge one. I’m constantly wondering if I’ll be able to pass the next quiz or test, even if I spent the whole night studying for it. I know that my grades shouldn’t define me, but it’s really hard to be friends with all the smart people, you know?

2. Self-Worth. I love social media, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes, though, I wonder if it’s worth it. I follow so many people that I feel are so much prettier than me, who have so many more people following them, or who have amazing makeup skills. I constantly look to social media and feel bad about myself.

3. Money. This one goes back to the previous point. I look on social media and immediately want to go to the store and buy a bunch of makeup so that I can perfect that winged liner look, or go out to the salon and get my hair and eyebrows done so I’m poppin at school the next day. Or maybe I want to buy a present for a friend for their birthday or a holiday. But then I look in my wallet and see that I have four dollars and a paper clip and wonder what I’m doing with my life.

4. Friendships. I see so many of my peers that have friendships that I know they don’t want to be in. But we put ourselves in friendships that we don’t want because we think it might, in some way, elevate our status, push us up a rung on the social latter of high school.

5. Relationships. This sort of ties into the last point, but now I’m talking about romantic relationships. Girls want the perfect relationship, one that you could find on Instagram and fawn over forever. (I’m talking like Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.) If you’re ina relationship, everyone loves your relationship and wants one just like it. But if you aren’t in a relationship, you feel like you aren’t good enough for people, or you’re going to die alone surrounded by your sixty cats.

Now, I’m not speaking for every single girl out there in the world, I’m just speaking on what I know stresses me or my friends out. I hope we can all learn that we are perfect the way we are, and that we don’t need to be anything different.

Glitch