My Week in Collage: July 25-31, 2011

Follow Friday: Love146

Happy Follow Friday, yall! This Friday, I decided to spotlight an amazing organization called Love 146. Love 146 is an organization that works to end child sex slavery and exploitation.


Modern day slavery still exists in the form of human trafficking. This sad crime is occurring at a startling rate. In fact, 2 children are sold every 60 seconds. UNICEF actually estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked annually. Often times these children are used as sexual objects and raped against their will. This enormous trauma can lead to HIV or other illnesses, psychological and emotional trauma, loss of educational opportunities, loss of family and community, increased vulnerability to further abuse, and a range of other negative things! The part that sickens me the most is that often times menus are provided at the brothels with pictures of the children, what acts they will perform, and the cost. These children are treated no better than a piece of meat. People should not be sold. Luckily, Love146 is doing research, and providing preventative and after care for victims of human trafficking.


There are SO many different things you can do to help out Love146. Here is just a list of a few different ways:
           -Spread the word. Tell people about Love146.
           -Become a partner. Contribute financially.

           -Get educated on the issue. And share with others!
           -Check out what the lovely Bethany Galeotti has to say about the cause!
           -Purchase this adorable and super comfy shirt designed by Joy, with proceeds going to Love146!

And make sure to visit the official Love146 website to find out more information, read about how they got their name, view videos, and find out more ways YOU can help! “Because every little thing deserves to be loved.”

Busy and Braindead

Hey yall. Sorry I have been so absent lately. Lots of fun things going on here, which means I have worked two long days in a row. Yesterday was a 10 hour day and today was 14! So when I have time to catch up on life and regrow some brain cells, I will be updating!! Hope everyone is having a great week!

My Funk

I am now going on day 7 of “the funk”. It all started last Monday when I worked a 15 hour day on Eastbound and Down. I had a great day on set, then came home and immediately went to bed. I woke up on Tuesday in the strangest mood. I was exhausted, delirious, and in a horrible mood. And I have been in a bad mood ever since. I don’t know what it is or what’s going on (and no, it’s not that time of the month, so don’t even go there!). I have been so easily annoyed by people and very quickly frustrated and snappy. Something just isn’t right. My hair won’t lay right, my clothes don’t look right on me, and half of the time I can’t tell if I want to cry, laugh, or scream. Maybe I’m just overwhelmed by the fact that in the next 3 weeks I have to go to 2 weddings (both requiring travel), dog sit for 3 dogs, host some out of town guests, do lots of packing, prepare for school to start, study 15 chapters, and move my whole life to Charlotte. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been in this flipping house with my parents for the whole summer. (Love my parents, but no person in their right mind should live with their parents for more than a few weeks after the age of 18). Maybe I’m just going crazy? Who knows. I’ve tried being around friends and being by myself. I’ve tried napping and staying awake. Eating healthy and eating chocolate. So far, I have not found the solution to my funk. But I’m hoping that as time goes on my funk will just disappear and the more normal me will come back-suggestions are more than welcome.
 But until then, I will just watch this video over and over again- because I love the song, the dancing, and the show! So here you go, Glee kids! I will gladly give up my funk!

Follow Friday: The World Food Programme

It’s Friday! Yahoo! This week has stretched on for what seems like forever. It has been hotter than Hades outside. For the past few days it has been literally too hot to go in the pool, and if you stay outside for more than 2 minutes, you turn a nice shade of red. Today the heat index was a scorching 112, but luckily it’s supposed to cool off tonight, and only be 111 tomorrow! Ha. But really, all sarcasm aside, I have been wanting to do a new feature every Friday on my blog called “Follow Friday”. Each Friday I will pick a charity, cause, or organization to write about in hopes of informing people and getting the word out there! So to go with this weeks theme of ‘ridiculously hot’, I thought I would do my Follow Friday on The World Food Programme.
Currently in Somalia is in a severe state of famine. They are actually seeing the worst drought and famine they have had in 40 years! According to UNICEF, this drought is “the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world”. As the search for food and water continues, people are walking up to 30 days just to find relief. Those who are lucky/strong enough to survive the journey, end up making it to refugee camps only to find that they are also out of food and water. A camp in north Kenya that usually houses 90,000 people is now attempting to serve about 382,000 malnourished individuals. With little to no resources and a rapidly decreasing amount of hope, about 1 in 5,000 people are dying of starvation and malnutrition each day. Because of this alarmingly high number, agencies such as UNICEF, the Red Cross, and The World Food Programme are running out of supplies quickly. It is estimated that around $300 million is needed to help this horrible famine within the next two months to prevent it from spreading to other countries.
Now, I know that I was complaining earlier about how horribly hot it has been here. But at least I have food and water and air conditioning. These people aren’t asking for bathing suits, candy bars, or other frivolous things. They are asking for the necessities of life. They NEED food, water, and hope. And they need it quickly. YOU can help in the following ways:
-In the USA: Donate $10 to efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word AID to this number: 27722
-In Canada: Donate $5 to efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word RELIEF to this number: 45678
-In the UK: Donate £3 to efforts in the Horn of Africa by texting the word AID to this number: 70303

For more information of how you can help you can check out this website. Please. Even if you cannot give a lot, considering giving what you can. Every little bit helps.

*Also, I have had a lot of people asking me if they can buy one of my sketches. If anyone is interested having a sketch and would like to donate to this cause, that would be absolutely amazing! Feel free to leave me a comment in the comment section with an e-mail address or other contact information.

"Nobody can do everything. But everybody can do something."
　

The end of one stage, the beginning of another...

I want to start this post with an apology. If I ramble or don’t make sense it is because I am exhausted and haven’t made sense all day (see previous post for proof). But I’m gonna go for it anyways:

Summer is coming to an end. In the next few weeks, one of my best friends will be moving back to school and I will be making the move to Charlotte. This summer has been weird. It’s strange moving back home after college. It was strange traveling so much. And it’s strange to be moving and starting new school. I wasn’t quite sure about how I felt about the end of summer until recently. But I have decided that I’m sad and slightly scared. It’s the end of a lot of things. After middle school, most of your friends stay in the same district and go to high school with you. After high school, things start to change. Most of your friends go off to different colleges but we all come home to the same place. Now that college is over, we are all moving on. Spreading out. Yes, there will always be Wilmington to come back to, but will this place stay “home” for all of us? The future is uncertain for a lot of us. I trust my friendships and I know that they’re strong, but it’s still scary to think that we are splitting up and moving on in different directions. The end of this summer signifies the end of childhood (yes, I’m aware that I’m 22 and ‘childhood’ probably ended a while ago, but for the sake of my point just go along with it). So am I excited to move and start nursing school? Yes, of course! But am I sad to be leaving my best friends? Am I anxious to see where we all end up? Yes. So here's to bittersweet endings and new beginnings.

Yawning

Hey guys!
Sorry for the lack of updates recently. This past week I worked a 12 hour day and a 15 hour day, so I've been working and sleeping a lot! One thing I have learned from being on set this much is that yawning is, in fact, contageious. Last week I passed yawns back and forth with Ms. Sophia Bush and yesterday I literally sat for 15 minutes and continually passed a yawn back and forth with one of the crew guys. Yawning is like a terrible game of ping pong that just goes back and forth and back and forth. Why? What is the science behind that? Do tell!

Consistently Inconsistent

I love when people do themed blog posts. I love the organization and the routine of knowing what is coming. I have thought many times about doing some weekly posts...keyword being thought. Some of my ideas were:
-Music Monday, where I would list a few songs I have been listening to lately
-Wardrobe Wednesday, where I share some outfits and clothes that I have been thinking are super cute
-Follow Friday, where I would spotlight a charity or organization that I think deserves some recognition and followers.
Unfortunately my musical selections and fashion sense can be pretty boring. So for now I will continue to be consistently inconsistent!
Any suggestions? Anything you’d like to see?

Drawings!

So, recently I have gotten back into sketching and have been posting a few sketches on Twitter, Facebook, and even sold a few for a charity auction. I SO enjoy sitting down, putting on my "Angsty Sketching" playlist, and just drawing. I have also had a few requests to mail people some sketches, which is totally not a problem! I don't even mind customizing them, if someone has a favorite quote or something they would like. So I decided to post a few drawings here on my blog, and if anyone is interested, don't hesitate to let me know!

True Colors?

"Be confident. Too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren’t. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is only when you accept everything you are--and aren’t--that you will truly succeed."

I love this quote. I wish that we could all live by this quote. I wish I could live by this quote. Just even the first sentence. Be confident. It doesn’t say try to be confident or maybe be confident. It is a direct request, a command. If only it were that easy to speak confidence into existence. The next part says “too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren’t”. First of all it says that comparing ourselves is a waste of time. How true. Don’t we all compare ourselves though? I can’t even begin to think of how many times I find myself comparing myself to other girls on TV or in advertisements. “If only I had hair like hers, or a waist like hers, or a face like hers”. Well, “everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses,” believe it or not! While you are busy comparing yourself to another persons appearance, maybe someone else is comparing themselves to you. Maybe someone longs to have legs like yours, even though you think they are lanky and chickeny. Or maybe someone admires your arms, even though you think they are too bulky and muscley. But better yet, what if someone admires your personality, your compassion or your sense of humor? When we truly know ourselves, inside and out, we can better understand our strengths and even being to accept our weaknesses. So why do we continue to compare ourselves to other people who are comparing themselves to other people and so on and so forth? Why can’t we accept that we are beautiful in our own ways with our own strengths and weaknesses? Why is it so hard to have confidence in ourselves? And lastly, is there really a person out there who has figured out the secret to understanding that true beauty comes from within? Would that person care to share? Don't be afriad to show your true colors!

Pediatric Oncology

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with the St. Jude commercials! The faces of the children who looked so hopeful, yet so sick was always interesting to me. How could those children smile when they were fighting such a hard battle? I think that those children are heroes and that's why I've always found pediatric oncology interesting. However, I thought a lot of things were interesting as a child, ice skating, roller blading, tree climbing...all of those things were potential professions in my 7 year old mind. Now, as a 22 year old, I have officially signed up for classes in nursing school and am looking SO forward to working in a hospital soon. I know I have to do my rotations and who knows, maybe I will end up loving cardio or neuro. But as for now, I cannot wait to work in pediatric oncology and work with little heroes every day!

But why?

Much like an annoying 6 year old, I’m a curious person, and lately I have had lots of question, so I decided to compile a list of 25 things that I don’t understand. Enjoy!

25 things that confuse me:
1. Why do we take required naps in kindergarten when our toughest activity is coloring, but we have no time for naps in high school?
2. Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
3. Why do boys have adams apples?
4. Why do paper cuts hurt so much?
5. Why do teachers assign so much homework if they just complain about grading it?
6. What makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a vegetable? Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
7. If birds can fly as high as they want, then why do the fly low enough to get hit by cars?
8. Why do onions make you cry?
9. What the heck is leap year and why?
10. How does the internet work?
11. Why do you always have to pee when you’re hiding during Hide and Go Seek?
12. What’s the deal with jellyfish? I can see through them, but I don’t see a brain.
13. Who says money can’t buy happiness? I think they’re wrong.
14. Why do doctors leave the room when you’re changing if they are gonna see you naked anyways?
15. When Athiests go to court, do they have to swear on the Bible?
16. Where did Donkey Kong get his name? He is not a donkey.
17. Who discovered milk and what were they thinking?
18. Why don’t we digest corn? Are we really supposed to be eating it?
19. Why are yawns contagious?
20. Why does your heart stop when you sneeze?
21. Why has no one figured out how to make a windshield wiper that can reach that little triangle on the windshield?
22. Why do men have nipples?
23. Why are most foods that taste so good usually so bad for you?
24. Why do doughnuts have holes? I want my moneys worth!
25. How is Casey Anthony walking free? And who killed her daughter?

Happy 235th Birthday to America, Happy 22nd Birthday to Me!

Happy family vacation/4^th of July/birthday weekend to me! Today I got back from family vacation, and boy is it good to be home! My parents and I, along with another family and their adorable 2 year old son, went to Ocean Isle Beach this past weekend for a vacation and a wedding. One of our friends got married on Sunday, so we spent the weekend relaxing, spending time together, and enjoying the wedding festivities. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding and so different from any other wedding I’d ever been to! On the 4^th of July, which is arguably my favorite holiday, we went into town and watched a little parade and got ice cream…for breakfast. Then we spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing games, and hanging out before an indoor cookout, followed by some fireworks on the beach. It was fun to get to hang out with my family when my dad wasn’t stressed about work or waking up at 5am to go run a triathlon, and my mom wasn’t sitting by the computer waiting to receive an e-mail from work that she could complain about. We actually all got along and no one killed anyone. Yay! Then Tuesday was my birthday! I have mixed feelings about this birthday. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great day and I had a blast with my family and 2 best friends. I just don’t think I want to get older. But I can’t stop time, so 22 I will be. For a whole year! Luckily, as old as I may turn each year, America will always turn older than me the day before ;)

E! True Hollywood Story

“I’m the greatest star- I am by far, but no one knows it!”

I would say it was right around the time that Kelly Clarkson won American Idol that I began to feel a desire to make something of myself. Kelly winning showed that an ordinary girl from an ordinary town could make something of herself and win over America with talent and a sweet personality! As abnormal and strange as this may sound, ever since then I realize that I kept a mental montage in my head of what my E! True Hollywood story would look like someday. I imagined my Dad talking about my dance recitals when I was younger- about how I was shy until you got to know me and then my personality would really shine through. Or I could picture my Mom talking about how I have always been very dramatic and light up on stage or in front of people. Heck, I could even picture my 7th grade English teacher talking about how she had to yell at me to stop singing in the middle of class. It wasn’t until recently when I talked to my friends that I realized that most people aren’t thinking of their Hollywood story. I think my overwhelming desire to be a part of something big is much stronger than most people my age. And some days I think “it’s gonna happen. I’m going to get discovered somehow.” And other days I get discouraged thinking about Selena Gomez, Lucy Hale, Chloe Moretz, Dakota Fanning, and other child stars who are much younger than me who have already established themselves. I’m going to be 22 in less than a week and I have done nothing. I probably will do nothing in the acting world because that kind of thing happens to other people. And although that may be true, I can’t help but to think of what could be. Maybe I need to grow up and get my head out of the clouds and face reality, or maybe it’s okay to dream just a little bit longer.