Day 16: Getting motivated is hard.

During the winter, anyway.

I just spent a week at home, the semester ends and I'm back home in just three weeks, and it was nineteen degrees outside when I walked to class this morning. Why I would actually want to do anything, I don't know.

Possibly one of the most over-used memes ever, but I'm too lazy to find a different one.

Wish me luck surviving finals...

Lesson learned: getting motivated is hard.

Day 15: Some things never change.

After three and a half months apart... 

Kat, Sarah, Ally, Erika, me, and Emily.

Lesson learned: some things never change.

Day 14: Always have a back-up plan.

You know, for that time when you road trip two hours down to Tucson to pick up your best friend from U of A and find that there's a major accident on the northbound I-10 and you therefore cannot drive back the only real direct way home...

Long story short, we may or may not have made what should have been a two hour trip home into a three hour trip home, complete with near death experiences and driving the wrong direction in the middle of nowhere. At night. In the dark. But it's okay.

Lesson learned: Always have a back-up plan.

Also, I had my first experience with a "T-Loc" tonight? (Apparently that's what those hip U of A kids call the Tucson locals...) He was definitely on some sort of hard drug and paying for his gas station cigarettes with change that he poured out of a prescription pill bottle. I mean, who needs a wallet anyway, right?

Day 13: Scottsdale is a very, VERY different place than Columbia, MO.

I forgot that being home meant I actually have to look cute all the time... I have officially left the world of oversized t-shirts and Nike shorts and re-entered the world of designer jeans and brand new BMWs. Oh my.

Scottsdale Pains Twitter

^^That about sums it up.^^

Lesson learned: Scottsdale is a very, VERY different place than Columbia, MO.

Day 12: Nothing beats the connection you have with your family.

I know this is super cheesy, but singing and playing guitar hasn't been the same without my sister. We just have this chemistry that nothing else will ever really compare to.

So now we're back on YouTube and it just feels really great. I'm just really happy right now, ya know? (It definitely helps that I just happily gained about 20 pounds from my first In-n-Out trip since returning home...)

Our cover of Taylor Swift's new single, Begin Again.

Lesson learned: Nothing beats the connection you have with your family.

Day 11: How to make people at the airport think you're famous.

Wear the whole beanie/hipster sweatshirt/skinny jeans combo, bring your guitar as a carry on, and buy a Venti Starbucks drink. And have a friend do the same and walk around with you.

But really I can't count how many times I heard "Are you guys in a band?!" today.

How to make people at the airport think you're famous? Lesson learned.

And, on a side note, ERHMAGERD I'M HOME I'M HOME I'M HOME.

Day 10: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is awesome.

Just watched 50/50 for the first time... Obsessed. And then there's 500 Days of Summer and The Dark Knight Rises and he's just perfect okay?

I'm currently on a fast track towards a delusional sort of exhausted. Goodnight world.

Lesson learned: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is awesome.

Day 9: Work hard, play hard.

As cliche as it is, I feel like, after the amount of hard work I've put in over the last few days, I deserve to play hard. Between quizzes, class reading, projects, and research for my next MOVE story, I've been ridiculously productive all week. (Also ridiculously good at procrastinating, but that's beside the point.) After my interview with EOTO in fifteen minutes, my 3:30 pm J1100 class, and my online journalism quiz after that, I'll be set to return from my week of hermit-ish ways for one last night of fun here at Mizzou before I go home for Thanksgiving break.

And I'm stoked.

Lesson learned: Work hard, play hard.

Day 8: Ed Sheeran increases productivity.

Not statistically true in the slightest, but listening to him has been working for me this evening.

Please. Drown yourself in his ginger wonderfulness.

Lesson learned: Ed Sheeran increases productivity.

Day 7: MizzouWireless sucks.

To all the upperclassmen here, this is sort of a "....duh" moment, but I hadn't experienced the wifi frustration firsthand until today. When I was working on a big Spanish project. Which is due tomorrow. And all my partner and I needed in order to finish the project was an Internet connection. Ugh.

Lesson learned: MizzouWireless sucks.

This, though.

Day 6: Paychecks are wonderful things.

As if I didn't know that already...

But really, I just picked up my fifth story pitch at MOVE, meaning I'll start getting paid for my writing for the school paper from now on. An income at last. Even if it is only about $10 a week.

Lesson learned: paychecks are wonderful things.

P.S. Actually just sent my mom a text with the money bag emoji in it. My life...

Day 5: Don't be afraid to shake up your routine.

I feel like when I started at Mizzou, everything was new and exciting and, each day, I woke up with this complete and total readiness for whatever the day held for me. But as the year has progressed, I've fallen into a sort of rut. I do the same things everyday, follow the same routines, walk the same routes to my classes... I even eat the same foods half of the time. (Really though. Don't get me started on how much I've eaten at The Shack lately.)

So this morning I decided to shake it up a little bit by walking a completely different way to my stats class. Even just making that little change put me in a significantly better mood.

Since then my day has been kind of unintentionally different from the norm. I got the chance to intern at MOVE magazine this evening, and the whole experience was new and just really fun and interesting. I learned a lot about the editing process and what goes on behind the pitch emails and late production nights, which, as dorky as it sounds, I find really cool.

Now? My roommate and I just completely rearranged our room for the hell of it. There's a ton more space and the new setup is actually really refreshing. Definitely a change for the better.

Lesson learned: Don't be afraid to shake up your routine.

Check out our awesome dorm room. It's as awesome as a dorm room can be, anyway.

Also, let's completely ignore the fact that I ate at The Shack again tonight...

Day 4: The future doesn't always have to be scary.

I feel like there's this common misconception that our futures have to be regarded as daunting. Because our futures are uncertain, they must also be frightening. However, I don't think that's always the case.

Two of my good friends here at Mizzou and I have been scoping out places to live next year, and I think we just may have found the perfect house. All we've done is send in a request for more information (who even knows if the place is still available, or if it will ultimately even be what we really want), but I'm already stoked.

I mean, the complex allows for pets. And the place has a front porch. A front porch. And, best of all, it's not a residence hall.

Is it wrong to be excited for the unknown? I think not.

Lesson learned: the future doesn't always have to be scary.

Longleaf 3 Bedroom Cottage - Cottages of Columbia

But really. Check out that porch.

Day 3: Absentee voters get short-changed.

And by that, I mean I feel gipped because I didn't get an "I Voted!" sticker in my ballot envelope when I voted two weeks ago.

That aside, here's to being 19 and able to vote this election. I sort of, kind of feel like I'm making a difference.

And with that, I'll end the election talk. (I'm sure your social networks have seen enough of that today.)

Lesson learned: absentee voters get short-changed.

Day 2: Daylight Savings Time is dumb.

I realize we're only one day into this whole time change thing, but I am so thrown off by it. I mean, honestly - how is it only 5:15 right now? I still have a whole evening ahead of me - which I should probably spend doing homework but probably won't anyway - and I'm ready to go to sleep. (Okay, I will acknowledge that going to bed at 6:15 would be equally as pathetic as going to bed at 5:15.)

I'm starting to think my homeland has it right... No DST for Arizona. Those smarties.

Lesson learned: Daylight Savings Time is dumb.

I'll leave you with this.

Sure, Benjamin Franklin. Sure.

Day 1: Taylor Swift is always relevant.

Hence my current Tumblr page title.

But honestly, I'm being the most stereotypical teenage girl right now and just straight jamming all of Red. Have been for the last couple hours, actually. It's weird because when I first heard "Never Ever Getting Back Together," I swore the song made me want to punch a baby (or something equally violent and socially unacceptable).

But - damn all her relatable lyrics and ridiculously catchy melodies - I can't avoid the Taylor Swift trap.

Lesson learned: Taylor Swift is always relevant.

The song that inspired the Tumblr title, and the song that I've been shamelessly blaring/repeating for the last few hours... Enjoy.