304/365

Happy Halloween! I spent the majority of it eating ice cream sandwiches and watching The Woman in Black. I hope you had a similarly spooky holiday. And rejoice because now it's completely normal to listen to Christmas music all day. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!" // some kid singing in Walmart

303/365

Is your local "theatre kid" on Saturday Night Live now?

catch you later,
Karleigh

"Rush, Rush. Stress, Stress" // Saturday Night Live

302/365

So the fire alarm keeps going off in my dorm building. On Tuesday night it went off at eleven fifteen when I was studying and today it went off at five when I was taking a nap. I'm not really understanding why it keeps going off, but I -- and everyone else on my hall -- get really annoyed when I have to come out at the most inopportune times.

Side note: I just checked my email and my eleven o'clock class is canceled tomorrow.

All is right in the world. I don't even think I'll be upset if the fire alarm goes off at three in the morning.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” // Albert Camus

301/365

I went to my friends' house tonight and made cookies and did half my homework. 

10/10; would recommend.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.” // Alfred Lord Tennyson

300/365

My feelings change so quickly. I wanted to type out 'lol' there like I was texting you, but I'm not so... Imagine me laughing to myself as I wrote that.

Last night, I was feeling very melodramatic and I was bummed because I literally cannot do well in this one class I'm taking. This morning, I went to a class a level above that hard one and made an A on a paper with far too many structural errors to be given an A. 

And I felt good again. 

Remember that all your bad days have endings; it's nice when this semester feels like it will never end. By the way, is it Friday yet?

catch you later,

Karleigh

Though the mountain may crumble, you will not. // Isaiah 54:10

299/365

This feels like the longest year of my life and the hardest semester that I've ever had. I just... I need a little break I think. But of course, here is when everything speeds up. Five weeks til Christmas break. Can't get here fast enough. And because I need the words of Jesus more than ever right now; you might too. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze. // Isaiah 43:2

298/365

I don't have too much to say today. I should have done more homework this weekend, but I was too lazy. Then I got sick; I got a shot today and I've eaten half a mini-tub of coffee ice cream. This weekend, my mom and I watched Crimes of the Heart. It's a movie with Sissy Spacek -- my favorite -- and Diane Keaton, set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. 

I definitely recommend it.

Also coffee flavored ice cream.

catch you later,

Karleigh

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. // Psalm 121: 2

297/365

Truly, this semester might actually make me hate writing papers. 

Okay, so not truly; however, I'm quite aggravated with how many papers I have to write. I have so many things due this semester. 

Can you hear me crying?

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Even the stars are not immortal, we all must burn." // unknown

296/365

Reason #7694 Not to Smoke:

It's gross. You smell bad and everything else that you own? Yeah, it smells bad too. Your car smells, your clothes smell -- heck, even your cat smells. People don't want to be in the car with you when you smoke. They don't like to walk past you when you are smoking outside. You stink and you are pushing people away from you with each drag of the cigarette that's staining your fingertips.

Reason #8493 Not to Smoke:

It has LITERALLY been proven to kill you. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"There was a young lady named Mae
Who smoked without stopping all day;
As pack followed pack,
Her lungs first turned black,
And eventually rotted away.” // Edward Gorey, Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer

295/365

Test tomorrow and my hand is cramping from writing down the notes for it. Taking a break. Chat tomorrow?

catch you later,

Karleigh

"You cannot use someone else’s fire; you can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe you have it." // Audre Lorde

294/365

Yesterday, I made time to go and see a production of Dracula, which was playing at my school. The cast was made up of well-known actors -- well, small actors but ones you've heard of before; or heard of characters they've played before. Either way, they performed the Halloween favorite in a completely different way than I have ever seen before: as if it were to be played on the radio. Each character was in full costume but used limited movement as they stood behind microphones and read out their parts. You might think this would have been very boring, but it was in fact quite the opposite. I'm just a big fan of plays in general, but if you ever have the chance to see a film put on in a "radio" style, I definitely suggest going. It's a play that satisfies all of the senses.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” // Bram Stoker, Dracula

293/365

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and, while I have not been directly affect by cancer in my life, I know people that have. I find it so very important to talk about cancer and to make it... to make it this thing that becomes less and less scary because when cancer becomes something that we are not so afraid of, we can find more ways to move from it. I know that sounds very Utopian-like, cancer does not just go away. There's so much therapy, for the disease itself and for those that have been emotionally affected by it.

I've had at least four different teachers with various types of cancer and some of my family members have had cancer and some of my friends have had cancer. And most of them are alive and some aren't. It's very scary that something as small as a tumor or a few cells can actually break your body completely down until there is nothing left but the memory of you. 

Please know that once upon a time, my grandmother bleached our dishes so that she wouldn't catch cancer from my great aunt who they ate dinner with and now we know that cancer is moving towards a cure. I'm going to include this video of a woman who struggles with cancer everyday but has never had it; it's quite long but you should watch it if you can. Know that having cancer is not the only way that you are impacted by cancer. And please pay attention to your body; know what is normal and what is not.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of stomach cancer. I decided that nobody should suffer that much.” // Gertrude B. Elion

292/365

This is honestly the most insane week of school so far! I have at least two things due each day and they are all quite difficult, or time-consuming tasks that are worth a good deal of my grade. I think you can be chugging along just fine, not doing the best but making it, and then all of a sudden there are literally so many things to do that you don't even know where to start! It sucks a lot but then it is also really rewarding.

It's true that you don't know how strong you are until you persevere through these crazy difficult times and make it to the other side. Then you get to look back and remind yourself that you've made it through all of this, so you can go through the next week with the knowledge that you are capable of more than you know at this moment.

catch you later,

Karleigh

The flame shall not consume you. // Isaiah 43:2

291/365

In my critical writing class, we are reading a novel by Sandra Cisneros and it features one of her short stories entitled "Eleven." I read this the other day and it is the absolute best thing ever. The entire idea is that while you age, like on your birthday you never feel the new age that you are, you are actually all your previous ages at the same time. While you are eleven, you can be scared and need your mom like your five or cry like your three. You are never without what you were like at other times in your life; you are actually all of those things at once. That's pretty neat, don't you think?

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I am obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her skin." // Sandra Cisneros

290/365

I promise I didn't forget you! I had a lot of stuff happening today -- by that I mean that I started revising an essay that is due Tuesday and I went out to eat with a friend. Sometimes it is really nice to just get away from myself and listen to what someone else is doing for a little while. I don't know about you but I get really caught up in myself and how I feel and what's happening with me so much that sometimes I would like to be without myself for a while. Does that make sense? Sometimes you just don't need to think about yourself for a few hours.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"You’re a beautiful combination of stardust and ocean waves, you are human and it’s okay to mess up." // Katherine Murphy

289/365

Do you know how much it would thrill me if my school would have a selected author class on Oscar Wilde? I'm such a fool for him and his writing. He's probably my favorite when it comes to British literature. So, to celebrate Oscar's birthday, read this really lovely letter that he wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas -- his Bosie. Bosie and Oscar were really in love with each other for a long while, but you needn't know much else about them to enjoy the letter.

My own dear Boy,

I hope the cigarettes arrived all right. I lunched with Gladys de Grey, Reggie and Aleck York there. They want me to go to Paris with them on Thursday: they say one wears flannels and straw hats and dines in the Bois, but, of course, I have no money, as usual, and can’t go. Besides, I want to see you. It is really absurd. I can’t live without you. You are so dear, so wonderful. I think of you all day long, and miss your grace, your boyish beauty, the bright sword-play of your wit, the delicate fancy of your genius, so surprising always in its sudden swallow-flights towards north and south, towards sun and moon — and, above all, yourself. The only thing that consoles me is what Sybil of Mortimer Street (whom mortals call Mrs. Robinson) said to me*. If I could disbelieve her I would, but I can’t, and I know that early in January you and I will go away together for a long voyage, and that your lovely life goes always hand in hand with mine. My dear wonderful boy, I hope you are brilliant and happy.

I went to Bertie, today I wrote at home, then went and sat with my mother. Death and Love seem to walk on either hand as I go through life: they are the only things I think of, their wings shadow me.

London is a desert without your dainty feet… Write me a line and take all my love — now and for ever.

Always, and with devotion — but I have no words for how I love you.

Oscar

That line is so nice -- London is a desert without your dainty feet. I really love that.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying." // Oscar Wilde

288/365

I hate the point in the semester where you suddenly become very aware of how much work has to be done in the next six weeks. Lord, help me. Please send ice cream and emotional support.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, its tides and its depths; it has its pearls too." //  Vincent Van Gogh

287/365

Let's talk about something that we never talk about: representation of women in the media and sex.

Here is one thing that we should agree on immediately: women are sexualized in the media. Women cannot breastfeed in public because the female breast is seen as sexual. Girls have far more dress codes in school and the workplace than boys do. Women often have to worry about what they wear and how they act in social situations that they don't give off the wrong vibes to people (read: men) that could potentially see their actions as sexual and force them into sexual relations. The way that women are portrayed in the media affects how people see women in day-to-day situations.

Here's another thing that we may not agree but need to reach common ground on: Sex education is a must in schools. I know that abstinence is great in theory -- (hey, I believe in it) -- but not everyone feels the same way about sex. Sex to some people is great and not equated with love. Sex to others is only to be experienced with someone that you love. Everyone is different, and no matter what they believe, nearly everyone that decides to have sex at any point in their life will need to have some sort of sexual education class. Condoms, birth control and STD awareness are not going to reinforce the idea that sex is okay with your teenagers. They already know sex is okay, but right now they don't know that chlamydia won't actually kill you and the birth control doesn't work while you take antibiotics. 

Hey I guess I did actually pay attention in my gender studies class this week.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“I flip ahead in the textbook. There's an interesting chapter about acid rain. Nothing about sex. We aren't scheduled to learn about that until eleventh grade.” // Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

286/365

A while back I watched the GOP debate because I think it's very important to be knowledgeable about politics. You have to maintain a level of understanding to vote, and you cannot just vote for someone because they seem like a good idea based on what you've seen in the news. I think it is really important to watch debates and to make educated decisions on who you plant to vote for because this is the your future and your children and grand children's future that you are impacting. So I'm off to watch the Democratic Debate on CNN. I suggest that if you don't watch, you do catch up on the main points tomorrow.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"People are tired of hearing about your damn emails." // Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton

285/365

What's your stance on eating alone?

I'm a big believer in it -- and by that I mean that I eat alone a lot. In college it's not that uncommon. Often times you are running from one class to another and sitting down to lunch is a big commitment when you only have thirty minutes. So I usually eat alone, and I really like eating outside but a lot of people don't like that. So I'm used to spending my meals alone and I'm cool with it too.

Anyway, I elected to eat my Pizza Hut in the union today because I didn't really feel like eating half-cold pizza after walking back to my dorm. So, as I normally do, I found a YouTube video to watch, put my headphones in and started in on my cheese pizza. I was only one slice in when this guy came up to my table. Now, usually someone wants to take one of my chairs. No big deal. I'm one person at a four person table; please take my chair for your larger-than-life friend group. No biggie. I looked up to nod my okay and then he sat down. 

He sat down.

I was perplexed. What the heck, dude? I'm trying to enjoy my pizza with a little Zoella on my phone and you've interrupted my therapeutic twenty minute meal before I have to go back to my dorm and face the studying for the midterm that I have tomorrow. He then waited for me to take out my headphones and start a conversation with him. He asked where I was from, if I had any siblings, showed me pictures of his siblings on Facebook... It was weird. All of it felt very weird. 

After about eight minutes, I closed my pizza box with three cold slices still inside and told them that I had class at five, that I had to go. Now, don't think that I was rude. I wasn't at all. I said it was nice to meet him and then I got the heck outta there. Don't get me wrong; I'm not opposed to making new friends but when I have my headphones in and I'm clearly choosing to eat alone, I don't need you to rescue me -- especially if we've never met before. Oh, and wearing your headphones in public is literally the same as wearing a sign that says "Do not talk to me." Anyway, I ended up eating my cold pizza alone in my dorm room.

catch you later,

Karleigh

“Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river." // Virginia Wool

284/365

I know I haven't really been blogging very well lately. I'm kinda at this weird point right now where I'm kinda sad sometimes and my anxiety is kinda bad and I just don't feel super awesome. I wish I did. I'm trying to focus less on me and more on more important things. Sometimes yaknow how you'll just go a while where you feel like crap? I don't know what else to say about it. I feel like this is telling you a lot about me because I can tell you that I have like anxiety, or that I'm a little depressed and you can be like "Oh yeah, I know what you mean..."

And maybe you do, maybe you feel this way too. I hope you don't, but I have this feeling that everyone does. Everyone, or a lot of people at least, go through these anxious and depressive areas of their lives that just aren't great. They make you question everything you know about yourself and it's really hard. This morning in church we talked about not giving up and that you have to keep fighting until you get to the end. And you have to. You really have to keep going and the only way that you can do this is through Jesus. I had a horrible time before I rededicated myself to the Lord in 2013. And I know that every bad part of right now is preparing me for the glory that you can only feel with Him, for the joy that He brings you. 

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Stop telling yourself that the grass is greener on the other side, because it’s not. It is greener where you water it. So take control of your life and start watering your own pastures and grow your own greener grasses." //  unknown

283/365

You may not know this about me, but I am a huge fan of movies about World War II. Everything in relation to the time period calls my name and so I was scrolling around online last night and I found out about this mini series called Generation War. It's three episodes following the lives of five best friends --two German soldiers, a singer, a nurse and a Jew. It's kinda amazing, to be honest. I read a few of the reviews and some people were very upset about it glossing over the concentration camps -- there are only about two mentions of them -- and the reminders that some of the German soldiers didn't exactly relate to Hitler at all. 

So, I checked out the show because of the time period but I walked away with an even larger urge to travel to Berlin... also reminded myself that sometimes people fight wars, not because they want to, but because they have to.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." // Winston Churchill

282/365

I really struggle with making decisions and adjusting to places sometimes. I used to be really good at it, at adjusting. I did well going from junior high to high school and from high school to a community college. I will admit that moving from a community college to a university has been difficult for me. I don't think that's unusual; a lot of my friends have been going through the same rough adjustment. Every time that you move from one stage of your life to another, it takes its toll on you. It's okay to struggle with all of this -- that's what I have to keep telling myself. 

I'm not alone in these feelings, I know, and I think it's really important to find a way to validate yourself in these moments of doubting how you feel and the decisions that you've made. Find something that fits you. My go-to is to listen to "Trust in You" by Lauren Daigle. I've been listening to it on repeat these last few days. I just want you to know that adjusting is hard, but you can make it through all of these rough times and it lead you to a really bright future.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"There's not a place where I'll go, You've not already stood." // Trust in You, Lauren Daigle

281/365

I have three papers due tomorrow... and a quiz. I'm starting to really believe that all teachers come together to decide on the same due/testing date.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury." // Edward Chapin

280/365

Did you know that way back when, at the invention of trains, men thought women were too fragile to be on a train because they thought that the uterus would fly out of the body? Is that not the craziest thing you've ever heard? I cannot believe that men are always so blind to women's issues and the way that women's bodies work. I am always going to think that it isn't good for men to make decisions about women's bodies and women's health care. 

There are some things that I don't think should be available, like constant access to abortions. I don't really agree with abortions when they are not for medical issues or mental health issues or abuse cases. I do think that women should absolutely always have access to birth control, mammograms and regular check ups. I just don't like the idea that men get to decide what women do with their bodies...

catch you later,

Karleigh

“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.” // Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

279/365

It's midterm season, also known as the worse time of the school year aside from finals. Midterms suck because you don't want to take them seriously because you have a lot of time -- or so you think -- until the end of school and you can not do so well on them and still come out with an A. Well, you are right and wrong. 

Like you can do crap on those tests and it possibly won't kill your GPA, but you are going to come out of the midterms one of two ways: you'll feel inspired to do better for the rest of the semester or you will feel like you can't possibly bring up your grade and you know, academic forgiveness seems like a pretty good idea. 

So, as midterms are here, please take the time to study and treat them like they should be treated. If you have a good grade at midterms, you'll definitely feel better about maybe making good grades at the end of the semester. Good luck!

catch you later,

Karleigh

And when I wake up, you are still with me. // Psalms 139:18

278/365

Do you remember A Goofy Movie? Please go watch this song from it and then educate yourself on this cinematic masterpiece.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"She looked right through me, and who can blame her? I need a new me, plus some positive proof that I'm not just a goof." // Max

277/365

picturesquegoddess.tumblr.com

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Be a good person, but don’t waste time proving it." // unknown

276/365

Some days you don't feel that awesome, but you have to remember that everyday you are working on becoming a better you. It's okay to have bad days, as long as you remember to enjoy the good things on the bad days.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy." // Sylvia Plath

275/365

I drove home today and am enjoying some time with my mom. We can talk tomorrow.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself: ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." // Eleanor Roosevelt

274/365

I'm so excited that it is finally October! We had cooler weather today and the leaves are turning and falling and everything outside screams autumn. I love it! There is something really beautiful about the way that the world changes overnight. You could go to sleep on a hot night in September and wake up to a cool, brisk October morning. One minute the leaves are no where on the ground and then a heavy wind sweeps through and you can't even find the sidewalk. And like the weather changes in a second, so do we. We are constantly growing and learning and evolving. Like the trees, we may shed the dead parts of ourselves and leave them behind to be buried into the dirt. We may go to bed a mess of worries and fear and wake up to the thrill of a new day of just being here, of just being alive. As the seasons change, so do we and I think that is never a bad thing.

catch you later,

Karleigh

"Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!" // Humbert Wolfe