August 31, 2019 What is it REALLY Like Living in Florida? A little more than a year ago, when I first made the decision to move to Florida, I got a lot of the same sorts of questions from people: What are you going to do there? I’m going to work. Why Florida? I went to Florida because honestly, after living in Taiwan and experiencing absolutely not one snowflake of snow in nearly three years, I was not too keen on jumping back into the Chicago frozen tundras again.
August 24, 2019 Which Road Will You Take? As a kid, and even as a young 20-something year old, we get asked the same question: Who do you want to DO when you grow up?
August 17, 2019 Stumbling Sophomores “Come on, I know you don’t want to, but he really wants to meet you,” Angela pleaded as we walked out of the double doors into the fading afternoon sun. Not a cloud was in the sky, but all my books were in my book bag piled high. It would be, as usual, another long day at the library for us.
August 10, 2019 Through the Embers Trudging through the dried up fall leaves, I kept my eyes focused on the orange flames of the campfire. Everywhere else around me was dark and dead, as I would be if I was found red handed.
August 3, 2019 A Simple Choice Every morning, Ted rises at six in the morning. He grabs his cup of coffee, makes some breakfast, and sits in front of the TV to see the news. It’s the same themes, different faces and locations. But Ted enjoys it. It fills his empty home.
July 27, 2019 Why Convenience Isn’t All That Great Once upon a time in a not so far away land and time, I was living in Taiwan. Or as I like to call it, the land of convenience stores, amazing food, and Pokemon Go everywhere you go. But mostly convenience. I used to think that America was the Convenience King, but I was proven wrong. Taiwan is the King of Convenience.
July 20, 2019 Clean Eyes A couple of months ago, there was this ten year challenge going around on various social media, mostly Instagram and Facebook. I remember looking through photos (and yes, I did post one just for fun) and thinking to myself that I literally look the exact same. My hair was more or less the same length, color, and I was more or less happy to the same extent, at least upon first glance at the image. But if you dug beneath the surface, Marie of 2009 and Marie of 2019 are very different.
June 29, 2019 Twenty-Five Tips for Twenty-Five Years Recently, I celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday, and coincidentally, my first birthday in the states in three years. It was weird to say the least, realizing all that had happened in the last three hundred and sixty-five days. My twenty-fourth year was jam packed: living abroad, visiting home, traveling around the island of Taiwan, my first Chinese New Year, moving home, and so much more in between all of the aforementioned.
June 22, 2019 On the Road Again It was only two hours into the road trip and due to poor decisions, both Arie and Sam were curled up in the middle row, snoring and sound asleep. If Mom and Dad weren’t here, I’d consider drawing on their faces in permanent marker. But Mom and Dad sat in the front, talking about what music to play and what we were going to do when we got there. The only thing I cared about in their entire conversation was the topic of lunch. Breakfast had been nothing more than bagels.
June 15, 2019 Another Mortal Monday Directly to my right, an alarm clock buzzed and vibrated the night stand. I opened my eyes, but moved slowly as I waved a hand over the machine, turning it off without even putting a finger on it. The horrid noise stopped and I pulled my pillow over my face. Another glorious school day. At least it was nearly summer vacation.
