I love me some March Madness.

WARNING: This post is abnormally long; I felt like I had a lot to say to end the month of February. Sincerest apologies.

This lady is SO ready for March. First of all SPRING BREAK and MARCH MADNESS!! (I told you I was a sports fan.)

Also, I realized this evening that I have just kind of been going through the motions the past two months, and that's no way to take on a year that has endless potentials.
I mean, I started off great taking a road trip to Phoenix and all, but somewhere along the way I kind of got stuck in a routine. This is NOT acceptable, Miss Battiest!

So here's to March!

• NO MORE GOING THROUGH THE ROUTINE. If you're going to do something, have a purpose for it. This includes sitting on facebook.
• MORE COMMUNITY SERVICE! I'm in two organizations that make community service easily accessible and what do I do? NOTHING!
• ONE BIG/little DATE WITH EACH little INDIVIDUALLY! That equates to one a weekend--yikes! Better work on #1 soon (haven't seen her since before Christmas break). (And roommate, this also means that spring break DOES NOT count.)
• APPRECIATE YOUR WORKOUTS. No more slacking because you don't feel like it. Get your ass up and MOVE! (This past week being forced to relax has taken its toll on me. I'm dieing here!)
• WHATEVER YOU DO NEXT YEAR, BE HAPPY WITH IT. This means being in Tulsa taking classes or being elsewhere teaching classes....ps I find out about Teach for America tomorrow...wish me luck!

Whew! Glad that's out of the way. Now on to more fun stuff :)

First off, I just want to recognize all the new readers! Within the past week, I have gained 10+ followers. *happy dance* I never really think the stuff I have to say is that interesting, but THANK YOU!

With spring break coming up, and me not getting to work out for two weeks, I did a little online retail therapy this weekend. I don't buy for myself often, but sometimes you run across deals you just can't pass up. I'm a lover of the store Vanity, and they are having a spring break special, buy one get one half off. Typically their full price stuff is a little more money than I'm willing to part with, but they have these shirts on sale! So I bought 4! They're very plain jane, but I will totally wear them this summer! It'll be a nice break from my typical t-shirts!

I also bought a very pretty necklace from this etsy shop. I was first introduced to etsy back in August or so, and in October or November I put a lot of necklaces in my "favorites." When I logged back in on Wednesday, there were only two necklaces that hadn't been sold. One of them I didn't really like, so I bought the other one. In my eyes, I was meant to have the necklace! It arrived in two days! That's right, it was in Norman before I was! Here's the necklace:

I couldn't find my camera to take a picture of it, so this is from the transaction details.

I love it. I'm so happy I didn't talk myself out of buying it.

And last but not least:

The very pretty, very funny Shay of Laugh Until Your Cheeks Hurt awarded me with this fun blog award:

I always like awards! So here are the rules:

Since I have now accepted this award (which she so fantastically named the smelly armpit award), I have to list five things about myself. However, only one of these facts will be true! The other four have a bit of truth in them, but are ultimately incorrect. Think you can guess which one is real?

This in fact, makes me a liar too Shay!

1. My favorite color is purple, my second favorite color is green.

2. I have visited 20 of the United States (including driving through them). 

3. The University of Oklahoma was the only school I applied to.

4. I don't drink pop ("soda") very often, but when I do my pop of choice is Dr. Pepper.

5. I've been hospitalized twice.

Can you figure it out? I tried to make it a little difficult, and if you know me and you know the real answer don't spoil the fun for everyone else! GEEZ!

Well poo. I, like Shay, forgot to tag people in this award. Here are my 5:
1. roommate at "I Like Bread" in Mandarin (Wo xihuan mianbao.) because maybe if she gets an award she'll blog more consistently.
2. Big at 1000 Different Pieces for the same reason as roommate
3. Chrissy over at Chrissy in America because she is one of my newest addictions
4. Jamie over at The CP because she is also a newest addiction
5. And the new mommy-to-be Jessica at Happily Ever After because I just miss you and I said so.
--also, it's not required to tell why you tag people, that's just what I do because I'm cool like that.

Okay I lied, ONE MORE THING! Don't forget to check back tomorrow! I have my very first ever Tell the World Tuesday! It's a good one, and the woman who was my guinea pig is sure to make you laugh!

(Also, sorry for throwing all the links at you today. Okay now I'm really done I promise!)

Sunday: a little more Funday than last week

Today is so much better. 
I got some very much needed needed sleep after getting sick yesterday.
After the game, I came home and passed out for about 4 hours. I then was up for about an hour to watch the beginning of the Duke-Virginia Tech game (which VT WON. Awesome.). Then I went back to sleep (around 9 ish) until 3:30 this morning.
Once I woke up at 3:30, I stayed awake for about half an hour and then slept until 6:45. I was awake from about 6:45-7:30. Then I crashed until 10:30 this morning.

Now the only thing I'm feeling is groggy from too much sleep and starving. Good thing Mimi (my grandma) made spaghetti for after church. There's a big steaming plate waiting for me at the table!

I will be returning to Norman this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to all my classes this week except for the work out ones.

Happy Sunday everyone! It's Comment Love Sunday at FTLOB. Hop on over and find some new blogs to read!

My Saturday adventures

Today wasn't very good.

I ate pancakes for lunch/breakfast (I didn't get out of bed until noon). We all got into the car and headed toward my brother's game. Once we were about halfway there, I was super nauseus. As soon as we got to the school, I got sick.

My brother's team lost by 6. They played their hears out, and I hurt myself yelling for them. It wasn't my fault, I wish you could have understood how terrible the officiating was.

At one point, my brother got headbutted in the chest and thrown to the ground, and because he tripped a guy dribbling to the other end, they called a foul on Jake. We were in double bonus, so #12 was supposed to shoot 2 free throws. At the other end, after a commotion mid-court, #21 lined up (he's their best shooter) and took the first shot. If you do this in a game, which is cheating, the team who sent the wrong person to the line is supposed to get a technical foul and only one shot. Neither happened, they let #12 go back to the line to take two. It was awful.

That was just the big thing they had problems with.

Losing sucks, but to lose like that is 10 x worse. I felt bad for the team.

I came back home and slept for 4 hours, and now I'm eating dinner before going back to sleep.

How were your Saturday adventures friends?

No one REALLY likes sitting at home...

I think I'm trying to do too much too soon. But I promise I'm resting friends.

I'm sleeping a lot, the pain meds help that out.

But yesterday I had to go watch the baby brother play basketball. With my Christmas break being away from home, I only got to watch 2 or 3 games the entire season. And I don't get to come home very often because of money issues, and the fact that it's my senior year as well.

Since I am home and have nothing better to do, I went along with the rest of my family to watch Edith, MacKenzie, and Jacob play basketball. It's playoff season, and they're in the games to where if they lose, they're done for the season. Unfortunately, the twins (yes, Edith and MacKenzie are twins) lost their game. They should have had it, they went into the locker room at half time up by about 20 points and ended up losing by 10-11. It was sad. Kenzie and Edie came out crying, which I can understand but I also wanted them to remember that they have two more years before it is completely over.

Picture of the kids' mugs again

Jacob's team won by 8 points. They will be playing again today at 3. I want to be there for him because I wasn't there in football.

So with that being said, I will be going again today to watch the brother play basketball. I will probably be too tired again once I'm done, but at least the pain meds help me out.

And all you readers who are saying "Mal, get some rest!" I know. But I don't know what to do when I have nothing to do. I don't know how to rest 24/7. I promise though, I'm going to take the week off next week, no work out classes for me!

Plus, I want to be healthy for spring break that's coming up March 11. I've been planning on this trip for a couple years now.

If you are a storyteller, go join Lindsey's blog hop at TexaGermaNadian. I'm signed up!

I have been blessed with so much more than I deserve

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I have never denied that I am blessed beyond measure. I haven't always known of how blessed I am, but as I am getting older I understand and prize my blessings more and more each day.

With that being said, if you ever want to find out how many people care about you, have something happen to you like an emergency appendectomy.

The house mother and Josalyn were stressed out trying to get me to the hospital. The roommate was so upset when she found out I had appendicitis that she couldn't go back to sleep, and it was roughly 4 in the morning after she had passed out from being so exhausted. I can't tell you how many people have called, texted, and written on my facebook wall since I went to the hospital on Sunday night. Even people who I've only thought of as people who are a little more than acquaintances have checked in with me almost daily to see how I am doing.

However, along with that you also have people who ask about you publicly, I guess to show others that they "care," but have never tried to contact me personally. These are people who I know have my number and who I thought were my friends. I guess that's part of what comes with it.

I can say though, that for those of you that have been calling/texting/e-mailing/tweeting/facebooking/skyping me to check in on me are amazing. I am blessed beyond measure to have each of you as my friend!

And yes, that even includes some of you blogging friends, as I have been getting get-well e-mails from some of you! My readers/bloggy friends are just as amazing and bless my life just as much as my real-life friends. Thank you all so much!

mundane routines

So my days are like this:

Wake up to use the bathroom. Eat. Take meds. Sleep for HOURS.

The cycle never ends. The pain meds they gave me knock me on my butt, so I've put off taking them for a few hours today so I can try to catch up on e-mails and various things I need to do with school.

I am at home with my family, and will be staying here until the end of the weekend. I am not allowed to climb stairs, and when I'm at school I live on the second floor. Hopefully I will be able to return to semi-normalcy once Sunday rolls around so that I am able to get stuff done before spring break for school.

Thanks for all the encouragement and well wishes guys! Hope you are having a great week!

Sunday was not so Funday.

Here is a timeline of my Sunday-Tuesday:

• 12 NOON: My friend Josalyn and I went and ate lunch at a semi fast food Mexican grill called Chipotle.
• 1:00 p.m.: We headed across the street to campus to go into the gymnasium to the gym.
• 2:00: Wrestling dual began.
• 4:00: Wrestling dual ended, my stomach starting feeling funny. I thought this was because I got too hot in the gym after eating Mexican food.
• 6:15: I had spent the past two hours preparing for my phone interview, and my stomach did not feel much better. I pop in a couple Tums to help ease it to get through my interiew.
• 6:40: My interview began. Stomach still felt funny so I thought maybe I was more nervous than I realized.
• 7:01: Phone interview ended. Decided I probably needed to eat.
• 7:30: I arrived at the apartment where APO was hosting a baked potato dinner, and made myself a baked potato.
• 8:00: Stomach was feeling worse, so I sat for about 5 more minutes before I left.
• 8:15/8:20ish: I got home just in time to get sick. There went my dinner. I took some Pepto Bismal for the nauseated feeling.
• 8:30: saw the PB again.
• 9:15ish: Josalyn and our house mother put me in the guest room in case I have something contagius. Stomach pain is so bad I can barely stand at this point. Stomach hurts worst on my right side now.
• House mother and Josalyn look up the symptoms of appendicitis at this point because they are afraid that I might have it.
• 10:00 I have now called my mother twice, talked with our friend of the family who is a nurse tech, and have had my symptoms googled/webMDed. Friend of the family and Josalyn say I need to go to the hospital and have everything checked out.
• 10:30: Arrive in the ER
• 11:30 Have a blood and urine test to make sure there are no bacterial infections in my intestines. At this point, I can only lay down if I'm curled up in the fetal position, and I had my first-ever IV put in.
• 12:30 a.m. (Monday): Results of blood and urine tests come back okay, am instructed to drink something to prepare for the dye for my CAT scan
• 1:35 a.m: Went back to take my CAT scan
• 3:35 a.m.: My ER nurse comes in to ask how my pain is. I let him know it's coming back. He says "It should be because, well she'll tell you, but you have appendicitis." My response: "yayyyyyy."
• He then left the room and I burst into tears.
• Doc came in and let me know I have appendicitis, it hasn't ruptured, and the surgeon on call will be doing surgery on me on Monday morning.
• I called my mother. She woke up my grandmother. I talked to my grandmother on the phone, she told me she would be leaving Tulsa soon.
• Josalyn tried to call the roommate, but the roommate was conked out. So Josalyn called her roommate and had her wake up mine.
• 3:40: Chris showed up with a blanket and hot chocolate for Josalyn. He stuck around and lightened the mood by making us laugh. Well I giggled because laughing hurt.
• 4:15ish: Roommate arrived.
• 7:30ish: My mimi arrived, just in time for a surgeon to come into my room and inform me that there are no empty beds in the hospital, which is why I am in the ER room still
• I was asked if I minded being transported by ambulance for free to the Moore center for the surgery.
• Katy goes back home to get some sleep.
• 8:45ish: I finally fall asleep
• 9:30: I get woken up and moved to a gurney to be transported to Moore.
• 10:00: I arrive in Moore and am taken straight into OR prep room
• 10:15: I start heading back to the surgery room. I remember being wheeled there, asked to move beds, and to stretch out my arm.
• 11:30 I wake up from surgery and am about to wet myself. I can't go until I wake up. Finally wake up, and going makes me nauseus.
• 12 NOON: I get to my room where my Mimi, her sister, my two aunts, my brother Jared, and my uncle Ryan are waiting for me. They head out to get lunch and let me sleep.
• 2:45: Mimi and her sister get back from lunch. I am told that Jared will be staying the night with me to bring me to Sperry when I am released, since I am not allowed to climb stairs.
• 4:30: everyone starts heading back home
• 5:00: I finally decide to eat something
• 5:30: roommate arrives with Sam, my laptop, and my phone charger.
• I plug in the phone and it goes crazy (Thank you to everyone who called, texted, and wrote on my facebook wall or tweeted at me!)
• I continue to eat while they are here
• The visit until they have to leave around 7:15
• 8:00: I get a little bit of sleep
• 9:00: Mom and brother Jacob arrive
• At some point, the nurse asks me if I want to be taken off my liquid diet. Yes please, as in like 6 hours ago. Jared gets me crackers.
• They visit until they have to leave around 10 (Jake has school and mom has work on Tuesday
• 10:15: I fall asleep
• 10:30: The youth pastor from my church back home and a kid that goes to OU that graduated from my high school stopped by to visit. Jared didn't wake me because I hadn't been sleeping much throughout the day
• 11:00: I wake up to get vitals checked. I am informed of my visitors.
• 12:30 a.m. (Tuesday/today): I finally fall back asleep
• 3:30 a.m.: I am woken up for vitals again
• 4:00 a.m. I get taken off my electrolyte IV
• 7:30 I am woken for vitals.
• I texted my family and friends to let them know about the diet and IV

Now I am just waiting to speak to the surgeon at some point and see when I will be released. I will be going back to Sperry with my brother for the rest of the week while I recover from surgery

See why Sunday was not so Funday??

p.s. here is a silly picture roommate took of me at about 5 in the morning. I said "I'M A MARTIANNNN"

I love weekends. Period.

So I have no classes on Fridays, which means I have a 3 day weekend every weekend. It's very nice for the weekends that I want to go home because I can head home on a Thursday afternoon and get to spend the entire 3 days at home.

This weekend would have been an excellent weekend to do just that. But being the good sister that I am, I made the 2 hour drive to home and back on Tuesday night so that I could make it to my baby brother's basketball senior night. I was almost in tears because I realized that my baby brother is graduating from high school this year. It just doesn't seem right.

So the trip home pretty much sucked all the money out of my bank account. Good grief I can't wait until I get my income tax return and my scholarship from the Choctaw nation. (Actually, I just checked my money account online and apparently my scholarship came in this week. So I can go pick it up Monday! YAY!)

Anyways, so because I am a lazy bum a senior and trying to get the most out of my last year as a college student, I decided that the fact that I wasn't going home wasn't going to ruin my weekend. I got some much needed rest on Thursday night/Friday morning by sleeping in. Then I got in a much needed 2 mile jog. But it killed me because I was still slightly sick. I had to stop to walk a couple of times because I just couldn't breathe.

Yesterday was baseball opening day for the Sooners. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sports fan. I love all sports. I love watching competitions. I love the games that the crowd really gets into. I just love it all. Naturally, I went to opening day. I got there an hour and a half before it started to watch warm ups. I watched the boys kick butt. It made me miss being a manager for the 2006 pirate team, as I became good friends with so many of those boys in that season alone, including becoming best friends with Sean. But I digress.

We left the game a little early because I was helping keep score for the OU Women's gymnastics meet, and I needed to get some grub and change into business casual attire. If you've never been to a gymnastics meet, you really should go! I enjoy watching both sexes compete, they both have good things about them that are unique.

For the men, everything is all about power. Their tumbling routines are such high flips and stuff that I am amazed every time I watch! They also have the rings and high bar events that are pretty legit on their own. You get to see 6 events within one meet. For the women, everything is done with finesse. And they have the beam, which has always been one of my favorite events. You get to see 4 events within one meet.

Then to top off my evening last night, I went out for a much needed dancing night with my best friend Jos, and we hung out with all of our guy friends too. We got dressed up and went out. I saw my supervisors there and ended up hanging out with one of them all night. I probably should have stayed with Jos because the night was supposed to be for her and I.

Today I spent the first half of the day trying to recuperate from my very late night last night, then got fed by Sam at Crossroads, a restaurant on campus. I then drug her to the women's basketball game against Texas for the "Pack the Place Pink" night. We put a beating on Texas. Which is ALWAYS awesome! (If you aren't from this area of the country, then you will have NO idea how HUGE the OU/TX rivalry is.

I finished up the written portion of my Teach for America application, and tomorrow is more sports! Baseball at 11:30 a.m. (if I don't sleep later than that), followed by bedlam (OU vs OSU) wrestling, and then I have my Teach for America phone interview around 7! Wish me luck!

Just a Quick Update to let you know I'm still alive!

Hey guys,

Sorry I have been MIA for the past couple of days. I have been ill and yesterday got kind of bad (after I took a nap).

I am starting my first round of exams, I had a piano exam yesterday and I will have another exam today at 3 p.m.

The weekend will be nice and relaxing, and sports galore! I'm going to the baseball opening day tomorrow, followed by women's gymnastics, and then rounding out the weekend with OU/OSU bedlam wrestling.

The good news part:
So Way back in October when I first started posting consistently, I mentioned that I wanted to apply for Teach for America (I have even had discussions with some about this goal too.) I turned in my application on Feb 4, and found out this past Tuesday evening that I made it past the first round and have been invited to a phone interview! I will be doing my phone interview this Sunday, and from there I may be selected for a final in-person interview the week of spring break. So exciting!

Second, I was featured over at FTLOB on Tuesday! I was super pumped to see my header when it popped up in my google reader! (And hello to the new commenters/followers that came from there! THANK YOU!)

Third, yesterday I was featured on Scenic Glory for her "In Her Shoes" feature. I knew this one was coming, but I was anxious to see what photos she would use for my feature.




If you haven't checked out FTLOB or scenic glory yet, you need to! That is where I have found a majority of the people I enjoy reading and people who inspire me.

I've also met a girl who I would probably call a close friend through For The Love of Blogs as well. She's a fantastically beautiful lady.

So go check out my features, and check out the blogs themselves as well! You'll love them!

I will update more this weekend when I'm not trying to study for tests, do laundry, and overcome being sick!

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend!!

Thank goodness that holiday is over.

Friends,

I'll be the first to admit that I have some reservations about love. I don't think it's too bad of me to feel this way because I've been hurt in the past, I've been used, I've been cheated on. I know what I want, I know what will make me happy, and I'm not entirely sure that I will find anyone who is willing to go on all these adventures with me. (And if by some chance I do find that person, I'm snatching him up quick.)

I HATE Valentine's Day. Everyone says that just tells the world you're single. So what? I hated it when I wasn't too. My whole thought on it is that if you really care about someone, tell them every day! Take them to a nice dinner or buy them flowers randomly, instead of on a day where everyone in the world is getting flowers and a nice dinner. To me, that's more thoughtful than getting them on Valentine's Day. (And it's quite a bit cheaper as well.)

I know some people love this holiday, a chance to go all out for the one they love. Reading people's updates helped me feel the love they were radiating from this special day. But I just don't like it.

I got 2 valentine's day cards yesterday, and honestly the best one I got was the handmade one. It's very pretty, and to me it's more heartfelt:

This mediocre scan does not give the card justice to how beautiful it really is.

Last night, roommate helped me remember when and why I started hating Valentine's Day.
It's all about expectations.

When I was in elementary and even middle school, everybody got to decorate a box and return home at the end of the day with lots of little cards and candy in tow. Valentine's day is the best ever when you're a kid.

Then in high school, you only got something if your parents, friends, or significant other sent you something. Okay, no big deal.
But my sophomore year changed my view on V-Day. I had my first semi-serious boyfriend on this particular Valentine's Day, and he had a very nice evening planned for us. He was two years older than I was, so he was all about treating me well on this day.

He planned a nicer dinner at an Italian restaurant in the downtown area of his hometown, so that we could get a break from our usual dinner dates. He gave me roses that he picked from the neighbor's rose bushes (which I thought was more thoughtful than anything else).

Little did he know the Italian restaurant had a special menu just for this day, which was SUPER expensive and had things neither of us liked. I asked him if we could leave and just go to "our restaurant" that we ate at every time. After much convincing, he finally consented. But then he didn't talk to me much the rest of the night because he was upset that the evening didn't go as he planned. That alone kind of ruined the night for me. It easily could have been spun into something to laugh about.

Fast forward to V-Day my junior year, and I had been "talking" (what is it with high schoolers and this term?!)  to a boy for about a month or so. I wasn't expecting anything from him, but at the end of the day I got a notice saying I had flowers. I immediately thought my mom and aunts had chipped in to buy me something (why I didn't know). I was happily surprised when I got the two red carnations from him. But then I went to the basketball locker room, and he had also given two other girls the same thing. I still loved my flowers and nurtured them until they died, but the two other girls basically berated the boy for getting all three of us something. It kind of made me feel like I didn't deserve them.

That same boy from junior year was also my "valentine" my senior year, and he wanted to take me out. I refused and basically asked him to take me out to dinner on a different day for two reasons: 1. I hated the holiday, and 2. We both were playing basketball on that day. So we went to our favorite sit-down restaurant (Chili's) a day or two after. It was a nice "Valentine's Day" date, and I enjoyed that more than anything, just because he allowed me to hate the holiday and still did something nice for me :)

So folks, two bad Valentine's Days in a row can cause for any person to become a cynic. That explains my hate for the holiday.

Now St. Patrick's Day? That's my kind of holiday! I'm always Irish for a day... :-D

Love Letters - a blog hop

via scenic glory

So, I no longer have the 30 Days of Truth meme to do daily. I think I might have forgotten how to blog. So I figured, what better way to "jump back into blogging" than to participate in the "Love Letters" that is being co-hosted by scenic glory and For the Love of Blogs? (warning, this is my attempt at being a little humorous)

Dear cold medicine,

Honestly, you have been my savior today. I woke up this morning definitely NOT feeling like P.Diddy, and instead feeling like death's ass. I couldn't breathe, I had a sore throat, and my nose would not stop running. That is definitely not attractive, especially at 7:30 in the morning.

This cold took me out and made me have to miss my second class of the day, but you were waiting patiently for me to return home and ingest you. I was running a fever at that point, and the acetaminophen within your tiny capsules helped relieve that fever.

Once I woke up from my nap, you made me feel well enough to be starving, but without you I probably wouldn't have eaten.

I'm very sorry that I went to spin class and made every ounce of progress you made on getting me better disappear. And thank you for being there when I returned from spin class, patiently waiting for me to ingest you again.

Can you help me out tonight when I attempt to play basketball? We barely have enough people to play, and I'm really needed for the team.

Love,
Mallori

30 Days of Truth: Day 30

Day 30: A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.




Dear Mallori,
First off, I am so proud of you for being brave in exposing so many things about you, your life, your background, and your hopes for the future. I must be honest with you, at first I didn't know if you'd be able to make it through it all. I'm so glad you did, because all along the way you made a lot of self discoveries that will help you grow exponentially as a person. You should definitely do this again in 5-10 years.

With that being said, I am just going to list off everything I love about you. I don't want to explain them all.
Here goes...
The color of your eyes, your height, your teeth, your smile, your hair, your ability to be completely serious when you need to be and the ability to be as goofy as you want, your drive for your education, the way you love your family, the way you love your friends, the passion you have towards things that make you happy, the way you complete things when you set out to do them, how much you love running and reffing, the way you never did let people in your past bring you down,
AND FINALLY,
I love that you know exactly who you are, what you want to become, what will make you happy, and how you will not change any of it for anyone but yourself.

You rock girl!
-Mal :)

Okay, that felt a little narcissistic. But it's all true :-S

30 Days of Truth: Day 29

Day 29: Something you hope to change about yourself, and why.

I don't mean to sound like I'm conceited, but honestly overall I am pleased with myself. It has been a difficult journey getting to where I am now, but it's definitely worth it.

With that being said there are two things I'd like to change.
1. I'd like to see clear skin when I look in the mirror every day.
2. I'd like to lose about 20 lbs within a year.

I want to change the first one because it really sucks being 23 and having acne problems. Since I have fairly good skin otherwise, I never learned how to put on makeup properly so I can't really cover it up that way. And I'm tired of getting new scars on my face from it.

I'd like to lose the weight because I feel that the weight it would put me at would just be a healthier option for me. If I only drop 10 pounds, well that still puts me at something a little more healthy than where I am now. My overall goal is to have a long, happy, healthy life, and being heavier than I should be would prevent me from being able to do that.

I honestly think that once I graduate from college and get into a healthier lifestyle that the weight won't be an issue. I know the things I'm doing wrong now, but it's super difficult to change when I have the 500 thousand stressors from being a student. Only 91 days!

30 Days of Truth: Day 28

Day 28: What if you were pregnant, or got someone pregnant, what would you do?

First off, I can't get someone pregnant (sorry, wanted to throw a little humor in there).

This one is a little iffy. If you had asked me this six months ago, it would have been a simple answer, one most wouldn't agree with. But now, now that I am ninety-two days away from graduation, it's a pretty easy answer. I mean, I wouldn't be showing by the time I graduate. So my answer to being pregnant is this: I would give someone else the opportunity to raise this child. It's not that I don't want to have children (well, I kind of just want to adopt), but I am just not at all in a place that I could give this child a decent life.

I really think that I would want it to be a closed adoption. I wouldn't want to put that kind of stress on the adoptive parents, always wondering if their child is going to leave them in search for their birth mother. I don't want my children to struggle financially. It would be irresponsible of me to try to raise a child while I'm still trying to figure out what it is that I want to do with my life.

However, seeing as how I am not married nor do I have a boyfriend, the chances of me getting pregnant are slim to none :)

February 9, 2011 marked the day my heart was broken.

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to inform you that around 4:30 p.m. (CST) on February 9, 2011, my heart was hurt forever. If you haven't been following me very long, go back and read this post. I'll wait until you get back.

doo doo doo, doo-da-doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-DOO doo-doo-doo
(Jeopardy! theme song)

Okay I'm done being silly. Back to heart hurting.

So as I read that again, I realized that post did not give my obsession with kay-ee-dollarsign-ha any justice. Seriously, I have been obsessed with her since "Tik Tok" came out. As soon as the album came out, I bought it on iTunes. Because I bought it on iTunes, I got a free download of a remix of "Blah Blah Blah." Because I was a fan of her on twitter, I joined her fansite. Then because I was a member of the fansite, I got a free download of "We R Who We R." Then she released album number two, and you best believe I paid almost $10 for 9 songs, with one of those 9 being a remix of a song off her first album. To say I'm a fan is an understatement.

To me, parties are not complete without a couple Ke$ha songs on the playlist. Mixed CD's are not complete without an upbeat Ke$ha song (even if it's a playlist to tell someone you're secretly in love with them). I love the beats, and the lyrics are so damn catchy that I find myself singing them all the time!

What I love about Ke$ha is that she is a crazy drunken (maybe coked-out) girl, and she knows she is and is okay with it. She doesn't care. She's Ke$ha.

When I found out she was coming to Tulsa, I almost peed my pants. seriously. Her show was originally scheduled for a Saturday. To me, this was perfect because I could go home for the weekend, and maybe even drink a little at her concert.

BUT NO. Somewhere up the totem pole, they decided Ke$ha no longer needed a Saturday show in Tulsa, even though the tickets sold out the week they went on sale. Nope, her concert is now on a Monday. MONDAY! That's blasphemy.

But what does a crazy obsessed psycho fan do when a show is changed?
Tweet about it. Twice:

• @keshasuxx your Tulsa show changed dates? It being on a MONDAY is going to make it difficult for me to be able to attend :(
• @keshasuxx just crushed my dreams of seeing her in concert. I have been excited about this since November 19, 2010. :(

Then I went to her fansite and commented on the date.

Then my friends tried to cheer me up by posting parodies on my site. No thank you. As a crazy obsessed psycho true lover of all things Ke$ha, the parodies are insulting.

There may possibly still be a decently good chance I will go to the show. But now I don't know that I will get to go all out and dress the part, since I will have to leave OKC after classes and then return back to OKC so I can go to class on Tuesday (it's a 9:30 capstone class, no way I can skip *sadface*).

I guess we'll just see how much of a crazy obsessed psycho true fan/ lover of all things Ke$ha I am.

le sigh.

30 Days of Truth: Day 27

Day 27: What's the best thing going for you right now?

It's so hard to pick ONE THING that is the best thing going for you right now. I have been stuck on this truth for quite some time, and I still am not sure what is the best thing going for me.

If I had to just throw something out there, I would say it's being young and having no responsibilities. I will be graduating from college in May, and I don't have a serious boyfriend, I'm not married, and I don't have children. Both of my brothers will have graduated from high school by June. I love my family, I love spending time with them, but they also want me to go out and live and make my own mistakes and do what it is that makes me happy (I'm so blessed to have the family I do!). So basically, I have nothing tying me down once I graduate. Yes, I do want to continue my education and go to nursing school, but that necessarily doesn't have to happen right away.

I applied to Teach for America. The program basically takes college graduates and puts them into lower-income communities all across America and prepare them for teaching to help eliminate the social differences in education. I do not necessarily feel like I am "called" to be a teacher, but I want to be an example to students across the nation that it doesn't matter where you grew up, a higher education IS possible. I grew up in three different low income communities, and here I am about to be a college grad.

Since I have no real responsibilities just yet, I am able to pack up my things and go teach somewhere for a couple years before I begin nursing school. I'm really excited about the possibility, but I'm trying not to get too excited because there is no guarantee I will be chosen for the program.

30 Days of Truth: Day 26

Day 26: Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?

I unfortunately can answer yes to the first question. I know, some of you may be thinking "Mal, you're only 23! What on earth has happened to you that was so bad you wanted to end your life? Don't you know there's so much more in life?"
And my answer is yes. Yes I understand now just how young I am. Just how amazing my life has been, and that really, nothing so bad has happened to me. Yes I know that life has so much to offer, and I cannot begin to express just how thankful I am that I know that now. But this has not always been the case.

When I first returned to my hometown, I was lost. My parents had just split up, I lost my best friends, I was no longer around my cousins Stephanie and JR (who actually kind of tormented me), and I no longer had gymnastics everyday after school. To me, that meant my life sucked.

Fast forward a couple years (okay like 5 years), and I thought I was in love with a boy named D***** and that he was my whole world. We would have children and of course our first son would become D***** the III. So dumb. Anyways, during this time I was starting to have problems with girls that I called my best friends. Throw in the fact that this boy told me I wasn't pretty and that if I was only half as pretty as my best friend ******, then maybe, MAYBE I'd one day get a boyfriend. Hello 13 year old emotions and hormones, nice to screw you up and scar you for a while.

On top of that, I was starting to hate my mother. I don't exactly know why, and that relationship mended during my high school years. I do remember not liking her for some reason. Ultimately she was the reason why I never tried to end everything, just because I knew that there was no way she would be able to pay for a funeral (I had a sick mind).

I never had a suicide attempt. I just thought about it a lot, and I wrote about it a lot in my diaries. I have since burned those diaries because that is something awful to go back and read. I know that part of my life, I don't want to read about it.

And that boy? We're kind of friends now. I say this because I told him about what he said to me and how that made me feel, and he's spent the past 4-5 years apologizing and trying to make up for it. But now he is engaged and I rarely hear from him. This isn't the first time it's happened, but I've learned to just let everything go.

After all, everyone knows that the happy girls are the prettiest girls, and I'm probably the happiest and most content with my life now than I have ever been. Does that mean I think I'm the hottest thing to walk the planet? Definitely not. But I know that on my own, and when people cut me down the way he did, I just write them off. I don't need their negativity.

30 Days of Truth: Day 25

Day 25: The reason you believe you're still alive today.


This one has taken me about a week to think about, and I'm still not entirely sure of any of my answers except one.

The first answer is my education. I yearn to learn. No I'm serious. I love learning new things that interest me. Me wanting to get a higher education helped me persevere.

my soon-to-be alma mater

The second is because of this guy:

We dated at a rough time in my life. I was dealing with losing best friends, losing new friends, causing hurt in others, and a lack of confidence in myself. But he was there patiently encouraging me. He didn't have to. In fact, it irritated the crap out of him that I had lost confidence in myself. But he still stood by me when I needed it most.

The last reason is for these six people:

My four cousins and my two brothers. Without them, my world would mean nothing. I love all six of them very deeply and crave the days that I get to spend with them, even if it's doing nothing. They are the reason that I am absolutely positive of that I'm alive today. It also stands true for the rest of my family. Here lately, I haven't been as good of a daughter as I should be, but it's because I've got personal issues that I'm trying to work through in order to change that.

Now that I have made some amazing friends, I am still alive for each of them. They are what gets me up in the mornings. They are what make me laugh and smile throughout the day. They are the ones I cry to. They are the ones I love almost as much as I love my family. And they are the ones that I can never have enough time with.

Those amazing friends should know who they are. If it weren't for my family and friends, I don't know what I would do.

I want to feature you!

My dear friends,

As I have been hopping around the blogging world, I noticed that a lot of people have one day a week where they do something special for each reader to look forward to reading. I've seen things like Zombie Sunday, In Her Shoes, My Neck of the Woods, Feature Friday, etc. With me finding so many fun blogs to read, I decided that I wanted to share the love with those of you I thoroughly enjoy reading. I know I have featured friends' blogs the last two Fridays, but me just telling you about them doesn't really help those of you who read my site know them. So, I want to create a fun place for each of you to have a post about YOU here on my blog. I'm all about spreading the love.

Because I love each of these little features so very much, I'm going to adopt a couple questions from them, and try to throw in random ones of my own (so that it doesn't look like I'm trying to copy you all). The day of my feature is going to be on Tuesday, and it is going to be called Tell the World Tuesday. We can try it for a couple weeks and if my faithful readers aren't too crazy about the idea we can just scratch the thing and I'll start all over with brainstorming. I want this to be a place you enjoy visiting.

I am even going to have a button for me to share, and one for you to share if you'd like!
(you'll have to excuse the child-like cartoon, I am no artist!)

Left button will be at the top of my post each day.
Right button will be yours to add to your posts/blog.

So with that being said, if you would like for me to feature you, therefore getting you MORE exposure, please let me know! You can either leave it in a comment on this post, or you can email me at mbattiestOKU{at}gmail{dot}com.

Tell the World Tuesday will begin March 1, 2011 for two reasons: I need time to finalize the questions you will be answering, and I always like beginning things on either the 1st or the 15th of each month.

I can't wait to hear from you!

30 Days of Truth: Day 24

Day 24: Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just put song titles and artists and a letter.)


Today's truth comes along with a little anonymity. If you are my friend, you KNOW I love making mixed CDs, and that I put a lot of time and effort and thinking into each of the songs I add to the playlist. Also, because I enjoy making playlists, today's playlist isn't toward any of you that I call my closest friends (I couldn't pick just one of you!). I will explain after the songs why I made it for this person.


The playlist:

1. You Make me Smile - Uncle Kracker
2. Beautiful - Akon
3. Sexy Can I - Ray J
4. Just a Friend - Mario
5. Fallin' for You - Colbie Caillat
6. My Paper Heart - All American Rejects
7. In my Head - Jason Derulo
8. Beautiful Disaster - Kelly Clarkson
9. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg
10. Disappear - Hoobastank
11. Here in Your Arms - Hellogoodbye (this has significance with "I like / where we are / when we drive / in your car")
12. Your Guardian Angel - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
13. Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
14. Anything but Mine - Kenny Chesney
15. You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift
16. Your Love is my Drug - Ke$ha
    and finally, what is a mixed CD/playlist that doesn't include my favorite:
17. I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness

The letter:

Dear JJ,

You will find a list of songs above that say a lot of the words that I haven't been able to. We have had classes together for about 2 years now, and I have always thought you were super nice. But something happened last semester. You were more kind in ways than I could have ever imagined, and you let me cry to you (without making fun of me) when I told you about that incident (that I mentioned in Day 04). Unfortunately, I will never give you this playlist, or tell you that I am in love with your smile, your bantering back and forth with me, or that I think you're a beautifully amazing person because of one tiny little fact: You have a girlfriend that you care about deeply. PLUS, I don't want to make our friendship awkward because even though I want something more right now, I truly cherish the relationship that has grown between us just in the past 5 months or so.

I can't wait to work on our group project together this semester, and can't wait to walk across that platform stage with you in May. I hope you bring someone else as much friendship love as you've brought me, and I hope we stay in touch once we no longer have classes together. I know that once you get into PT school, you'll make a good Physical Therapist because you've been there.

Stay strong, stay positive, and always smile :)

-Mal

30 Days of Truth: Day 23

Day 23: Something you wish you had done in your life.


Seeing as how I am only 23 years young, I think it's pretty safe to say that I have mostly lived a life with no regrets. Because of today's topic, I want to do this again in 5-10 years or so, and see how my answers differ from today.

If I had to pick one thing that I probably should have done, it's simple, really:
I wish I had followed through with being recruited, and played basketball at Westminster College.


Upon looking at this site to find the links to the separate pages, I realized that the coach who recruited me isn't even on staff anymore, and hasn't been since what would have been my second year on the team. That means that I probably would have left when he did, because I really liked him a lot.

I don't really regret not going. I have made a home here in Norman, and I love how large the University is, even though I didn't love it at first. I just wish that I would have turned down the opportunity to play for the right reasons. I was listening with my head and not my heart at that point, and unfortunately made the decision not to go for other people.

I know now that if I had chosen that path over this one, I would have been awfully homesick. He guaranteed me that I most likely would not get to return home for Christmas. That's just not acceptable.

Plus, without me being here, I don't know that I would have made the amazing friends that I've made!

Enter my friends' giveaways!

I pause 30 Days of Truth to share of TWO fellow bloggers of mine who are hosting giveaways. (It might even count as three.)

First, the lovely Angie at Living Aloha ended her 29 Days of Giving with hosting a giveaway for her readers. She has chosen to give a very beautiful necklace to one lucky winner that has a touch of the island within it. I will post a picture here  but you can also visit this post here.

What I love most about this necklace is the pretty bottle of black sand included in it. Overall it is such a beautiful piece of jewelry, and it would be perfect to remind the winner of warm sunshine.


The second friend (friends?) that is hosting a giveaway is Sam at Love Never Fails, with the assistance from the oh-so-talented Valerie from Threads and Thoughts and Things I Love. I have been following Sam pretty much since I started blogging consistently, and very soon after she mentioned Valerie a couple times in her blog, I fell in love with Threads and Thoughts Things I Love. Valerie is so amazingly talented, and she can sew so many things, not just clothes (although I'm not sure why she would ever want to stop sewing clothes). She even made her own pretty winter coat! She's so humble about her talent, and she even assists friends with sewing projects over skype!

Okay, anyways, here is the picture of the skirt (modeled by Valerie) that one lucky winner will receive, custom made from Val herself!

I love how cute and feminine it is, and it looks to be a skirt that can be pretty versatile in how you wear it! You can get the full details of the skirt giveaway here.

Both giveaways will be picked via random . org, but I just wanted to write a post dedicated to each of these giveaways because ONE I love both of these blogs and giveaways, and two, I want to encourage my readers to go check out both (or all three!) of these blogs. You're sure to be inspired by them all!


Don't forget to participate in this week's photo swap! This week we have a theme!

My Saturday adventure was quite fun :) hope all of yours have been as well!

Happy Weekend Friends!

30 Days of Truth: Day 22

Day 22: Something you wish you hadn't done in your life.


Here's a small little story about the VERY BIG thing I did that I wish I had never picked up.

I don't really know where or how it began, I just remember that it was a habit during my sophomore year in college...I honestly think it started when I started dating a guy who worked his ass off to get my number.
Anyways, I'm not proud to admit, but at one point I started smoking. It was an awful addiction.

Then I started hanging out with people who smoked. And when I would go to bars and stuff, I made cool new friends just from being outside and smoking and introducing ourselves to each other, because so many people would shun us for being smokers.

Then one of my best friends in the sorority house started smoking, so I had a smoking buddy. There was one godawful night that we went through about a pack and a half together (heavy drinking was involved). I'm pretty sure we got nicotine poisoning from that night.

Then I started dating a different guy who was also a smoker. And he chain smoked. Every time he would light one, he'd ask if I wanted to smoke. I smoked just about one for every three of his cigarettes.

Once I decided I wanted to run consistently, I quit. Just said, "Okay, once I've had these last three, I have to give it up for good." Cold Turkey. It wasn't that bad for me, but the social pressure came in a couple times for the remainder of that semester, and I tried to smoke a couple times at parties but it gagged me. My lungs were reminding me (painfully) that I was serious about running and quitting smoking.

I can be around smokers, but the minute I try to take one puff, I choke and gag. But I haven't looked back since, and I wish I had never become an addict. The quitting part was a big step for my health, saved me a lot of money (I smoked cloves, and they ran about $7/pack), and I'm glad I quit.

Fab Friend Friday version 2.0

Like I promised last night, I am featuring another blog today for Fab Friends Friday (hosted by For the Love of Blogs). First off, if you are not a member there you should do it. I've met some pretty amazing people with some pretty amazing blogs just from being a member of that site. Because of this site (and another mutual bloggy friend) that I bring you my fab friend from today.

I had a really hard time trying to decide who I wanted to feature today. I have quite a few friends in real life that are on blogger, and quite a few of them update fairly regularly. But I decided today that I wanted to introduce to those of you a friend I made recently on the internet, just because I think she's a pretty cool person!

Todays Fab Friend is the wonderful lady named Lindsey over at TexaGermaNadian: My life in 3 countries

I found her through a mutual blog friend KY over at Travel Babbles when she was hosting her Around the World Wednesday.

Lindsey chronicles her life living as a Texan (she doesn't judge me for being an OU student!), a German (her hubs plays hockey in Germany), and a Canadian (hubs is originally from Canada and they visit there regularly during the summer). I enjoy reading her posts about the way things are for them in Germany, and if I must say so she's quite gorgeous:

She has a way of writing that's pretty witty, and a lot of times I feel like she kind of talks the way I do. We both agree that each other writes the way we think, and that it's pretty cool to find someone like that.

She's always reading and commenting on my posts, and she always replies back to my comments on her own posts. She's basically what you would want in a blog friend, and doesn't neglect the friendship (as far as I can tell! [And Lindsey, I'm sorry if I'm putting a lot of pressure on you!])

So head over to TexaGermaNadian: My Life in 3 Countries and show her some love. Read a couple of posts while you're there, they are sure to make you giggle (they sure do make me giggle almost every day).

From here on out, I think I'm going to rotate how my Fab Friend Friday works: real friend, new internet friend, real friend, etc.

30 Days of Truth: Day 21

Day 21: (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?


There is no fight in this world big enough to stop me from rushing (safely) to the hospital in this instance. I don't care what it is he or she said that hurt me enough to consider a big fight, in the end they are my best friend. And, it's typically times like these that make you realize just how much that person means to you.

I would probably find someone to drive me, because I tend to get hysterical when a freak accident happens.

Sorry today's truth wasn't very long or interesting, but that's all I've got for today's.

A blizzard? In the midwest? YES I KNEW THAT.

So in case you haven't heard, the midwest region had a blizzard beginning on Monday evening. What does that mean for this lady who hates cold temperatures, wind chills and snow? It means four days of cancelled classes only to be filled with being an old lady. And by old lady I mean, I sat in my bed for around 36 hours reading books or watching movies and accompanying that with glasses of hot tea. I'm not your typical 23 year old and that's okay.

I did give my eyes a rest yesterday when I went to watch our men's basketball team take on the Baylor Bears, and can I say that it was the perfect break from the house. One, I heart me some basketball, and two it was a damn good game. The final score was Baylor 66, OU 73 but the score doesn't give it justice to the feel of the game. The crowd even did the wave during one of the TV timeouts, and that's something that doesn't happen too often inside our basketball arena (football, now that's a pretty impressive wave). Because of the weather, the game was postponed from Tuesday evening, and they had free admission. Not many students came out still, but I very much enjoyed sitting in the very front row where I could see the sweat drip off of the beautiful Cade Davis' face. And trust me, it was beautiful.

I'm probably the only person in this house that does not have cabin fever. I would much rather stay in my comfy bed all day than leave. I hate getting bundled up, and I hate how hot I get once I get inside again. So these days without class have been perfect so that I would not have to bundle up.

But it is going to be oh so difficult to find motivation to be productive in classes for next week. And I still have 2 or 3 homework assignments I need to do. lamesauce.

I hope that those of you who have gotten to stay home because of the weather have enjoyed your days off as much as I have. And if you didn't get any time off, well I hope this weekend coming up is as restful as you need it to be.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Fab Friend Friday feature. I can't wait to start spot lighting all of my lovely friends each week (and no, this technically won't be my weekly thing that I mentioned in this post because I am borrowing the hop from For the Love of Blogs). I also have a pretty laid back weekend coming up with a few adventures planned for Saturday afternoon. I hope you have some fun adventures coming up too!

Happy almost weekend friends!

30 Days of Truth: Day 20

Day 20: Your view on drugs and alcohol.


Today's truth may be a little lengthy, so please bear with me.

My thought on drugs is that for the most part, they should be illegal. I really wish our nation would legalize marijuana, not because I am a user myself but because I feel that there are so many things that could benefit from legalization. We would be able to empty out some prison cells that contain inmates whose only crime is the production of marijuana. It would leave these cells open for people who have committed other crimes like murder and rape. I also think that if it were legalized, then there would be a way to regulate it and tax the crap out of it. I also believe that if it were legalized, the stigma of "doing something bad" might lessen, and maybe less people would be doing it. I also feel like it would cut down on crime against the people selling it from their drug lord.

The things that I understand about marijuana make it hard to understand why it is illegal but cigarettes are not. Cigarettes have so many additives and chemicals, and they alter brain function. They have chemicals in them to make them addictive. I was told that marijuana does not, and that it is a pretty natural thing (I'm not exactly sure of this).

As far as other drugs go, I believe they should stay illegal. They alter brain function and can cause people to do things they wouldn't normally do. But this is where it gets touchy, because if marijuana were legalized, I'm afraid more people would try other drugs that are a little more harsh on the body, like heroin, meth, and cocaine.


If I were to completely go along with the "alters brain function" thing, then I would have to say that alcohol should be illegal too. But that is not my view.
I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, a nice cold beer in the summer, and a mixed drink or two when I'm going out with friends. I feel that when it is consumed responsibly, alcohol can add just the right flavor to any dish without causing harm to the consumer. And red wine has fantastic health benefits (when drank correctly).

But the issue with the abuse of alcohol is what I have a problem with. Too many families are torn apart by drinking and drunk drivers. I am all for alcohol, but I'm all for drinking alcohol responsibly. If you have the money to spend at a bar, put some aside and get a cab ride home if you've had more than one drink. Rotate who is being a Desginated Driver every time you go out. Don't leave without everyone. If you are DD, make sure your friends aren't consuming too much. It's not that hard to be safe about the consumption of alcohol.

I also believe that if you are 18 and go straight into the military service, then you should be able to consume as well. If you can fight for our country, why can't you drink too? But I don't believe this should be extended to everyone who is 18. When I was underage, I wanted it to be 18. But now that I have had a couple years of being able to drink legally, I see the importance in the delay in legal age.I don't think a majority of 18 year olds are mature enough to deal with the implications of drinking.

But once you are of age, please enjoy the tastes as much as I do!

30 Days of Truth: Day 19

Day 19: What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?


I'm going to go with religion on today's truth. I just don't feel that I am active enough in politics to give an honest and educated answer.

I think that religion is a good starting place to figure out what it is about your spirituality that is important for you. All my life, I have been raised a Southern Baptist in the heart of the Bible belt, and have attended church since I was out of the hospital.

Like almost every person growing up with, it was expected of me to attend any and all church services and functions. Then when I turned 16, I got a boyfriend and started skipping out on services. I didn't get into trouble, and it was at this point that my family said I was "old enough to make my own decisions." It was a shock.

I think that each religion offers its own good things and bad things (at least the ones I've been in contact with.) I don't think I personally have a right to say who is wrong and who is right. I firmly believe that religion and spirituality are two separate entities, and my conviction on this is even stronger now that I have taken a course that required a term paper over what we believed to be our spirituality.


I guess in all, I'm pretty accepting of any and all religions. I do not believe that some of them are teaching correct things, but who knows if my "religion" is correct? I guess when Judgement Day comes (another event taught within my religion), I will have to answer for my wrongdoings, and maybe even for my tolerance. But that is between me and the God that I believe in.

30 Days of Truth: Day 18

Day 18: Your Views on Gay Marriage


This is where I might get some grief from those closest to me.

My views are liberally conservative typically, but this is where the liberal comes out a little bit more.

The Bible does say that homosexuality is a sin. It says it in the Old Testament, so according to my religious beliefs it's wrong.

But my personal beliefs says that we shouldn't judge people. I feel like the only person who is allowed to judge others is God. I'm not saying that I am guilt-less when it comes to judging others, but in the end I will have to answer for my own sins.

If two people are happy and want to have a piece of paper that says they are legally bound to each other, why does it matter if they are gay or straight? And if we're going to start saying who can and cannot be married, why can't we do it with straight couples? So many marriages in today's world end in divorce. straight marriages end in divorce. From the few homosexual people I know, they put more thought into what it is he or she is looking for in a mate. I feel like if we would just let homosexual people get married, maybe straight couples would be able to ask them for advice for happy marriages.

I'm not saying all straight couples hate each other and all homosexuals shit sunshine and rainbows. I'm just asking for some equality, hell, it was given to women and people of color.