One night since being home, my friends and I all made powerpoints of our love lives and presented them to each other. It made for a really funny Zoom call, and it was weirdly fun to make the powerpoint. While I wont go into detail of what my powerpoint says, I’ll share some highlights from it.

Here is the title slide. I decided to go with the “road” theme, because I saw the premade slides with them and thought it would be funny.

Here’s a photo I included of my ex-boyfriend and I. We’re still great friends to this day, but now it’s funny to think about him in a romantic context.

I also thought it was funny how often I said throughout my slideshow that I was “in love.” Here are some of the best quotes:

“The first love of my life.”

“Love of my life to this day.”

“First college love.”

“In love with him.”

“Fell in love, and out, very quickly.”

And the list goes on. Obviously I tend to hyperbolize, and I still can’t seem to grasp what “love” really is. Maybe one day I’ll get it right.

This post is a list of the top 5 concerts I’ve ever been to. Music is one of my favorite creative outlets, and concerts are probably my favorite events to attend. I’ve been to quite a few in my life, and the idea of them being called off until 2021 is making me incredibly sad right now. So, I thought one thing that may help console me is reminiscing on some of my favorite times.

#5- Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were incredible to see live. Although I had nose bleeds, they are one of my favorite bands of all time, and they sounded incredible. The band had great energy on the stage, and seeing Anthony Kiedis in person is a moment I will never forget.

#4- Kacey Musgraves

The environment where I saw Kacey Musgraves for the first time was incredible. It was at Bonnaroo, a music festival in rural Tennessee. The sun was setting during her set, which made for a perfect backdrop to one of my favorite artists.

#3- Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant is always so much fun to see live. The lead singer, Matt Schultz, is an electric performer, and his energy on stage is unmatched. He also crowd-surfed over my friends and me, which was crazy to experience. Their music is so much fun to hear live, and I can’t wait until I get to see them again.

#2- Young the Giant

My second time seeing Young the Giant was on my 18th birthday, and it was a memorable night. I went to dinner across the street with my best friends before the concert, and I had front row seats at an intimate venue. The lead singer, Sameer, wished me a happy birthday and dedicated a song to me, which was unforgettable. They are one of my favorite bands of all time, making this one of my favorite nights as well.

#1- Tame Impala

Tame Impala, otherwise known as Kevin Parker, is an unbelievable artist to see live. His visuals are incredibly cool, and the beats in his music are definitely best experienced in the form of a concert. I saw him in Austin with some of my best friends, and it was an incredible way to start one of my favorite weekends. Tame Impala is my favorite artist, and I’m dying to see him again as soon as I can.

I’ve been playing The Sims A LOT since being home, and I made a house with all of my best friends from school in it. I wanted to give a virtual tour of our mansion.

First, the outside of the house. Although the front is plain, what counts is on the inside.

Here’s me, trying to get Arden’s attention and her not listening to me.

Apparently I’m feeling flirty…

This is arden playing what looks to be some form of Tetris. Sort of uncharacteristic of her.

Here’s Devin, just vibing in the living room.

And here’s Carley just vibing to some music. I wonder what she’s listening to?

This is Ripley sleeping. Typical.

Here’s Chris sleeping. Again, typical.

And finally, here’s Katie sleeping. I would expect nothing less.

And here’s our last member of the house, Alex, feeling energized and erratic as per usual. I wonder where she’s heading… you never know with her.

Now for the tour! Here we have the kitchen.

Here’s the living room.

And lastly on the first floor, the dining room.

Upstairs is where things get a little unconventional. I decided to make it an open floor plan, so no one gets any privacy. This is the bedroom area, there are enough spots for everyone minus one person to sleep, which encourages the housemates to get to bed sooner.

Notice the dinosaur rug.

Here’s the “hang out” area, including a bar, speakers, some decorations, a toilet, and our showers.

Here we have the bathroom, open of course, with some sinks and one bath. It gets pretty hectic in here.

And finally, outside. Here is Ripley’s garden (she wants to be a master botanist), our outhouse, and our hot tub.

This is the patio area.

Here is the pool.

And last but not least, our foliage!

I hope you enjoyed this house tour as much as I enjoyed making it. My friends and I love to facetime and play Sims to kill our boredom while we’re apart, and playing the game in our virtual mansion is always funny. It’s a good outlet during this pandemic we’re living through.

There has been a trend since we’ve been home for friends to make memes for each other, about each other, using this format:

I love making them for my friends, they’re funny and a great way to to stay connected to my friends while we’re apart. I thought I’d share some of the ones my friends made for me.

This is another ranking post! I’ve been watching a lot of New Girl while stuck inside my house, and I love it. I’m close to finishing the series, and in honor of this, I wanted to rank the main characters from the show- including Jess, Nick, Schmidt, Cece, Winston, and Coach. Sorry if you don’t watch New Girl, as this will not be interesting to you.

6. Coach

Coach seems like an unnecessary addition to the core crew in my opinion. He was in the first couple of episodes, was replaced by Winston, and then returns later on in the series. To me, Coach can be annoying, minus when he becomes the gym teacher at Jess’ middle school. He’s too “tough” for me, and lacks some of the humor the other characters possess. He also tries to date Cece, which was horrible to do to Schmidt (and me, a viewer who wants Schmidt and Cece together). However, I do love Coach, and that he’s a softie underneath his hard exterior.

5. Winston

I like Winston, but he gets a little weird as the show progresses. I blame this on bad writing. While I thought his obsession with his cat, Ferguson, was funny at first, it gets to be a little overdone the more it continues. Same with his inability to get girls. I don’t know why writers felt the need to make Winston the outlier of the group in such an extreme way, but it’s lazy and causes his character to become underdeveloped compared to the others. However, I do think Winston is a loveable character, and he doesn’t irritate me as a person.

4. Jess

I love Jess, but we’re too different for her to be above some of the other characters. She’s loveable and has a great heart, but her quirks can be a little much for me sometimes. She’s not very edgy and her type-A personality can be annoying at times. Also, I question her taste in men sometimes, minus Nick. However, I don’t think anyone else would work as the main character of the show, as she is dynamic and her life makes for interesting storylines. She definitely cares for all of the characters more than anyone else.

3. Cece

I love Cece, I think she’s a bitch in the best way possible. She has qualities I wish I had more of- she’s very straight up and laid back, practically the opposite of Jess. However, they compliment each other very well. I also love her relationship with Schmidt, and her character development throughout the show. I think she gets better as it goes on, whereas I feel like a lot of other characters start to annoy me.

2. Nick

He’s number two on the list, but it’s definitely a close second. Nick, I think, is the most lovable character in the series. He’s clumsy and goofy, and while he doesn’t really have any aspect of his life together, he has a great heart and cares a lot about his friends. He’s humble (not that he really has anything to brag about) and down to Earth, and his selflessness is shown in the episode where his dad dies and the gang goes back to visit his family in Chicago. I love his relationship with Jess, and he’s a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend. Nick also reminds me of one of my best friends from home, which makes me like him more.

1. Schmidt

This may be a controversial, but Schmidt is definitely my favorite character in New Girl. While it’s easy to hate him, I think he’s the perfect blend of angry, funny, asshole, and caring. I think his constant social climbing, OCD tendencies, and other weird behaviors make the show so much more interesting. His soft spot for Cece is one of my favorite parts of the show, and he consistently makes me laugh out loud in every episode. I also think he has the best backstory of anyone in the show, and it contributes heavily to his personality in the present. I always look forward to his storylines, and I’m currently praying he ends up with Cece as I watch yet another episode.

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In this post, I wanted to tell the story about getting my tattoo.

It’s small and on my right foot, and says “SS.” I got this for my brother’s initials, my mom’s initials, and because my dad and I sail boats together- hence “SS” like a boat.

I also got my tattoo with two of my best friends, Katie and Carley, in Austin. We went to Austin City Limits in October, and after our last night at the festival we went to Sixth Street. Initially, Katie and I wanted to get piercings, however after scouring every shop on Sixth Street, we came to the conclusion that they were either closed or the piercers were already out for the night. Distraught, we took a break at Voodoo Donuts.

While at the donut shop, a wonderful idea popped into my head. I proposed my plan to Katie, and after a brief moment of thought, she was all for it. We were going to get tattoos instead! But not any tattoos, lip tattoos. We strolled into the tattoo parlor across the street and met up with some friends from SMU. After learning that lip tattoos were a whole $20 more expensive than regular tattoos, we changed our plan once again, and decided to get regular ones.

As seen in the video, we were nervous from the very beginning. It was a rushed decision, and neither of us had any clue what to get. After filling out paperwork and coming up with designs, it was time to go back on the chair. I was first up, and my original placement was low on my waist- causing me to momentarily panic. It was VERY unsettling to me to have the initials of my family members permanently there on my body, and my tattoo artist was less than thrilled to hear this. He obviously did not take us seriously as clients.

In a split decision, I changed the location to my foot. The tattoo itself took about 2 minutes, and really didn’t hurt at all to me (minus the idea of the needle, which happens to be one of my biggest fears).

Katie was up next, and took the pain like a champ as well as you can see.

I love my tattoo, and have never regretted getting it. Not only does it remind me of my family, it reminds me of my friends. That weekend in Austin has been one of the highlights of my time in Texas so far, and it’s where I became close with Katie and Carley. Since then our friendship has only grown stronger, and I can’t imagine spending all of my time, or getting a tattoo, with anyone else.

I miss being able to wear cute clothes, and I had recently gone shopping right before quarantine for my study abroad trip to France. Sadly, both that trip and the rest of my semester have been cancelled. For this post, I put together some of the outfits I would have worn if I were able to leave my house.

I can’t wait to break some of these out when I get back to Dallas!

One thing I’ve been doing at home is playing the piano. I’ve been playing since I was about 6, and I love getting to come home and have a piano directly at my disposal. Over this break, I’ve been trying to learn some new songs. This is a video of the progress I’ve made in “Ophelia” by the Lumineers. It’s far from perfect and just a snippet of the beginning, but I hope you enjoy!

Some context before this post: I have kidney issues. More than the average person. They started with an infection as a baby, and have continued into my young adult life. I contribute a lot of this to my own stupidity- drinking too much coke and not enough water. I wanted to detail my most recent kidney issues in this post, due to the fact that I’m currently experiencing a familiar pain in my side. I just popped a couple extra strength Tylenols and I’m ready to write.

Kidney Stone- January 1, 2019

New Year’s Day 2019. I wake up next to three of my friends in a bed after a night out- prepared to feel sick, but not in the way I sadly did. I uncharacteristically woke up at around 5am, and felt a sharp pain in my right side. Unable to bear the pain, I went straight to the bathroom, and essentially started crying. I have still never felt a worse pain in my entire life.

I must have woken up my friend Maggie, because she came in to check on me shortly after. I immediately told her something was wrong, and that I needed to go to the hospital. We drove back to my house to get my mom, who was less than thrilled knowing it was a kidney stone, as she has had one before as well. From there, we made the painstakingly slow drive to the hospital.

It took them at least an hour and a half to get me into a room from the waiting room. In the meantime, I was vomiting and crying from pain (as you can tell, I’m super tough and deal well with pain). My mom was telling me to not touch the toilet as I vomited, because it was “disgusting.” Once I finally got to a room, I went through many vomit bags and felt on the verge of death. If I were to have a form of fake identification, my mom almost gave this to the nurse asking for my ID until Maggie stopped her. It was a tough moment to watch.

After tests and IVS and painkillers, it was determined I would need to have surgery to remove the LARGE kidney stone that had formed and was now lodged in my urinary tract. Before undergoing this procedure, I became so drugged up I hardly knew what was happening. I came to with a stint in my urinary tract, alone in a hospital room, still attached to an IV pumping painkillers through my bloodstream.

It was the perfect way to start 2019. This still is the most painful thing I’ve experienced to this day, and I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.

Kidney Stone 2- Spring Break 2019

My pain did not end with my first kidney stone. Just 3 short months later, I went back home for spring break. On the last day of my vacation, I felt that familiar pain in my side, and I knew exactly what I was in for.

My mom walked into my room to see me, again, writhing in pain, and we went immediately to the urologist. After some tests, the doctors concluded that it was a stone, however I was going to have to pass this one on my own. They gave me some painkillers, along with some extras to take to school in case of another stone, and sent me on my way. Luckily, it passed quickly, and kidney stone number two was in the bag.

Kidney Infection- March 2020

Just last month, that same pain revisited me at about 3am after a night out. This time, I was on my own. I spent my morning vomiting, and not from the night before. I knew it was something far, far worse- however I decided to deny this until about 4 in the afternoon. After attempting (and failing) to study, I ubered myself to a medical clinic. After reviewing my history and running some tests, the doctors “did not feel comfortable sending me home,” so I instead got a one way ticket to the hospital. I was sure kidney stone number 3 was on its way.

My friend Carley picked me up and drove me to the emergency room, which was particularly full that evening. Hours of waiting ensued, as well as many test and checks of my vitals. This included a mean nurse drawing my blood, during which I nearly passed out. After finally getting into a room and being put on painkillers and antibiotics, they concluded the supposed stone was instead a kidney infection. They sent me on my way with paperwork and antibiotics, and I slept in my own bed instead of the hospital.

I also almost lost my new wallet on the way out of the hospital. I almost cried.

Those are my most recent kidney experiences. I like to tell them to others in hopes they will feel sorry for me, so hopefully this post did just that. Pray I don’t have another one over quarantine!

Since being home, I’ve been cooking and baking a lot more. I’m notorious for going out to eat and never making any of my own food, so I’m trying to get into better habits while I’m confined to my house.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to cook more. As stupid as it sounds, I always feel proud after I cook a meal, and I really enjoy the process. My favorite dish I’ve made is spaghetti carbonara, because I love pasta and didn’t realize how easy it would be. I also love making fried rice. It’s my favorite food of all time, and I’m trying to perfect making it at home since I have it at least twice a week.

I find cooking and baking to be a creative outlet because when you make a dish yourself, you can personalize it to your tastes. I like trying different spices when I make simple things like chicken, and deciding what works best for me.

I don’t have many photos of things I’ve cooked, but I did make peanut butter cookies today that taste delicious (as you can tell, a few are already gone.)