October 14, 2018 Out of the Box As a young girl, I spent the majority of my time dirtying myself up in the woods of Wisconsin. I loved playing make believe, cutting hair off my Barbie dolls, or jumping off the pier and into Lake Geneva. I was not shy to being dirty, nor was I shy to getting rough with the boys. From a baby to age fourteen, the question of love and who we fall in love with never really bothered me much. As far as I knew during my grade school existence, I’d crushed on a few boys. A few boys had crushed on me. And of course, there were one or two girls who seemed to have feelings for me, but as far as I knew, I didn’t seem to like them back the same way. Over all of that, I played on two hockey teams, so the idea of trying to date was totally off my radar. So I placed myself in the first box: straight. Straight as an arrow. Or so I thought.
October 10, 2018 The Key to a Proper Diet The year is 2011. I was seventeen going on finally being a legal adult, preparing for university and collegiate division three ice hockey. In the spring of that year, I’d written my first real full length manuscript (which I never ended up publishing) and I was attempting to get noticed on other smaller websites or journals. As far as my future appeared, things were looking up. Until I glanced around at the other aspects of my life. Then the truth became more than apparent to me: my diet was inadequate.
September 30, 2018 兩年: A Year of Habits To be honest, I thought that my second year would mirror a lot of my inaugural year abroad. I really accomplished a lot during the first three hundred and sixty five days. I’d participated in producing a short film, went on a short vacation to Mazu, and not to mention all the little trips around the island exploring. But then I look back now at the end of my second year here and I’m even more surprised.
September 23, 2018 Make the World Your Runway It was a couple of weeks ago. A Monday, just an ordinary Monday. There I was, sick and on some strong cold medication, strutting down YiZhong street with my sunglasses on and my hair pulled back into a sleek braid. Half of me was convinced I was going to fall flat on my face in front of a bunch of high school students outside of Family Mart, because my entire body was shaking from the medication. The other half of me felt like I was on the runway at fashion week or something equally as ridiculous. Thank you, Panadol, for that rush of unwarranted confidence.
September 16, 2018 Crazy Girls Racing In the Rain A few weekends ago, the city of Taichung was informed that we would be having no work or classes. That meant for the first time in my entire time here, I had a three day weekend that wasn’t a scheduled holiday. Businesses and malls would be open, but I would not have anywhere or anyone to see. No classes to teach. Nothing. And ironically, it also happened to be the same week I finished my latest manuscript and had given myself a proper break from writing my books. I decided there was only one thing to do: reevaluate.
September 1, 2018 The Waiting Game Is it just me, or does anyone else often go through those periods of life where we crave the company of another person? No,…
August 28, 2018 The KonMari Method: A Short Review About two years ago when I was doing one of my usual Amazon searches through their self help book department, I came across The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: The Japanese Art by Marie Kondo. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what twenty-two year old me thought when I put that book on my wish list.
August 25, 2018 Why We Need Mentors One of the most influential teachers I have ever had was in consumer education class in high school. I remember taking the class mainly…
August 21, 2018 What Sets Them Apart From You Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a self-help book kick. I average about one book every one or two weeks, depending on how…
August 18, 2018 The Beauty of Using Tinder Abroad Back in the states, I remember when Tinder first became a big thing. It started out as just a small dating app that most…
