The Outer Banks

Hi everyone!

My life as of late has been the most hectic. I mean, that’s not unusual in the life of Sarah Taylor. I’ve been the busiest person I know even before I could walk. I guess that’s what I get coming from a family of people who love to travel. But, there have been some rather, well, I guess they would be significant changes in my life as of late.

For starters, I am now a high school graduate!

Happy days!

It has only hit me a couple of times that I’m going to be completely shifting my life around a lot in the next few months. So far after graduation life has continued on quite normally, if not less exciting than normal, with what I have to work every day and all that goodness. But I haven’t forgotten that I am going to die at the end of this year to what I’m still hoping is going to be a zombie apocalypse. So I have been cleaning the pool I work at thanking the divines for every single disgusting dead spider I have to sweep out of my pool cleaner.

Mostly so far I have decided I am going to greatly miss my few good friends that I have made over my years in high school. I probably couldn’t have maintained even small shreads of sanity without them.

In reference to college, I received my school schedule the other day. It looks pretty aligned with the kind of thing I would be expecting to be doing in my major (marine biology); chemistry and biology and that sort of thing. But I also got put into Precalculus, even when I’ve already taken a high school calculus course. Someone help me. It’s going to be a really unfortunate semester. But only that part. I’m hoping the rest will be something worth remembering. I’m honestly not very nervous about college, which many may find surprising. I just really want it to happen already.

So now, in the midst of my work and video game heavy summer, I am sitting currently on the couch in my family’s rented-for-a-week summer home in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. More specifically, we are staying on Corolla Beach ( which is apparently pronounced “cuh-rah-lah”). So far this has been exactly what I want in a vacation. I did aforemention that I am going into the field of marine biology, and living in landlocked Pennsylvania gives me a great depravity of the beautiful natural wonder we call the ocean. If I could stay all day and night down by the big blue I would.

My days have been the perfect combination of lazy-ness and moving around a bit. My family has been running around doing this and that, tourism things and such, but I’ve only joined in a couple ventures. Mostly just hanging around the beach boogie boarding, longboarding around the neighborhood, playing Frisbee, sleeping, that’s been my days thus far with a  few other things thrown in. Oh, and sitting in the hot tub. How can one forget that. On this particular day I did a more touristy thing: we went and visited the Kitty Hawk memorial, where the Wright brothers first invented and flew their airplane. I probably would’ve been more interested if I hadn’t been half asleep, as I’d gone boogie boarding for four hours the previous day and hadn’t slept well. It was pretty cool though. The best part of my day was driving along the beach looking for wild horses (which we didn’t get to see, sad face) and feeding very hungry and very friendly wild turtles. We fed them pancakes, right from our hands. They enjoyed it well enough. They didn’t let us pet them though.

I’ve been to better beaches, but Outer Banks is not so bad. It’s pretty around here. I’ve always liked beach scenery more than other views. Dunes and waves and muggy, salty air just appeals to me. I was surprised to find how small the beach was, though, with all the popularity is has. It took me a couple days to adjust to. I’m not a huge fan of overdeveloped, suburban looking areas, especially when they are more tourist-y looking places. I would much prefer something closer to Chincoteague beach, which is much less developed. Maybe that’s the ocean conservationist in me. Or just personal preference. I don’t know.

But it’s been fun.

How is your summer going? Any interesting adventures?

Sarah.

A Couple Goals Met

Hello all.

I know I’ve talked about this before, but this was a pretty big event in my life and one that I’m so thrilled I got to do on my last year on earth before the zombies get me. Last week, the founder of To Write Love On Her Arms came to the campus that I live by to speak. Now, he is one of the few people I have honestly been dying to see over the past few years, so it was literally a dream come true when he came out on that stage and spoke. His presentation was very moving: I laughed, I cried, I was so inspired by everything he had to say. It was a pretty life altering event that will be forever stored as special in my memory. If Jamie Tworkowski ever comes to your town, or the whole entire To Write Love On Her Arms team comes, I would highly recommend going to one of their conferences. They are very well presented and very down to earth.  The honesty in the air is very refreshing, and it can help you kick start a bunch  of different changes in your communication or help seeking process.

Also, last Friday, a magical moment I have been also waiting for quite some time to witness was a live showing, called VyRT, by one of my all time favorite bands, 30 Seconds to Mars, introducing new songs and playing old ones in what they called The MARS Laboratory. It was an amazing moment, for quite a few reasons. Firstly, the band and the men who make it up themselves. They were all hilarious, and it was so much fun to feel like I was right there with them while they sang and told jokes and, yes, made vegan pancakes. And the music. The boys were accompanied by a string quartet, which, when combined with Jared Leto’s voice and the beautiful acoustic guitar, made for a stunning performance. And on top of all that, there were chat rooms while the stream was going on, so everyone, people from around the world, could talk and bond and communicate, mostly about the VyRT and the one thing we all love. I laughed. I cried. I was inspired. It was, all in all, an amazing night.

Also, now that it is May, 30/30 is done and over with. Sometime within the next week or so I will pick and choose some of the better poems that I wrote and share. I’d recommend you get out there and read everyone’s writing. It’s amazing what some people can come up with.

So, I knocked off a couple of things on my list.

How have you been doing?

Sarah. 

The 52 Projects

Hello all.

There is a website I want to share with you. It is a website that I could probably only describe as life changing, and in your last year on earth, of course you want everything to be life changing. This website is called http://52projects.com/, and it is basically for what is implied in the title. A guy sometime ago came up with 52 projects that would deepen the appreciation for what you have and expand your horizons. The projects can be as simple as underlining your favorite passages in a book to riding a train to a random place and taking pictures of your destination. All of them provide a somewhat different perspective on things, though. I know I'm definitely planning on trying some of them during the summer when I have more free time. I would challenge you to do the same and see what the projects can do for your life.

Love,

Sarah.

College and Juggling and Poems, Oh My!

Hello everyone!

I’m going to be upfront. Life has been stressful and busy lately. What with graduation coming up and school being that much harder, with all other activities and juggling at the same time personal negatives, it got a bit overwhelming for a while. Nevertheless, I am feeling chipper as ever again and looking forward to getting back on board with my life. It got chaotic and disorganized and I needed to pull myself back together. But here I am again.

College for me has been a big thing lately. Recently, over the weekend, I went to my school, Millersville University, for another open house solely for admitted students. I am looking forward to it. I’m sure most of you have been through this process, and many are going to go through. Experience is the best teacher, I suppose. I wouldn’t be able to do it alone, though. I have many thanks towards those who are helping me get prepared for this step. And a huge step it is!

How was university or graduating secondary school for all of you?

On another note, I got help from a teacher and she taught me to juggle! I know I wrote something like that on here not that long ago, and it was a pretty amazing and rewarding feeling to be able to actually do something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. I still need consistent practice (I am still not that great, but it is a work in progress), but I am not worried. It was a very basic process. Start with one ball, and throw it from the dominant hand to the other hand. The most important part from early on was to develop a good, easy toss that arced right about eye level. My teacher stressed that the most. Once one ball was down, then naturally two came in the progression. The hint that she gave then was to develop a good rhythm with the balls: when one is at the peak of its arc, throw the other. Even speak out loud if you have to. That part took the most practice, but once you had the rhythm and the easy toss down, getting three balls in wasn’t hard at all. The best part was, none of this took all that much time. She taught me in one class period and by the end of the class I was throwing three balls through a couple cycles. But, as I said, practice is key, so I have to be consistent with that.

Also, something that has been going on this whole month: National Poetry Writing Month, also known as NaPoWriMo or 30/30 (pronounced thirty thirty). Basically what happens the entire month is you write one poem a day. It’s a pretty daunting task, but very worth it once you see all the awesome poems that you can produce by the end of the month. It’s a little late in the month for those of you who haven’t previously heard of this, but there is always next year, and I would highly encourage participation. For those who do, I would love to read your poems! I will post a couple of mine on here some other day, maybe on the last day I will post my favorite. In the mean time, link me to blogs you know of or you like, and I will share them on here and take a look. Here is the  NaPoWriMo website: http://www.napowrimo.net/.

It’s nice to be writing again, I’ve missed all of you.

How have you been?

Adieu,

Sarah.

Summer Is Coming

I love summer.
But even more than I love summer, I desperately love Calvin and Hobbes.
I highly recommend that you read this lovely comic.
It is life changing.
It is good to be back.

Never, Never Give Up

Hello all.

This week for me has been an interesting one. Not so much in things done but in things pondered. Every now and then you have to step back from the business of life and give yourself time to think about things, especially when things are going rough for you. I’ve let my laziness get a hold of me again, but during this week it didn’t really bother me. I just need a break from everything to think.

Going to have a really short blog post tonight, with just a simple, simple message: in the face of adversity, keep going, because tomorrow morning the sun will still be shining.

I wanted to share a quote from one of my idols, Sir Winston Churchill, that gives me a good boost of motivation: “Sure I am of this, that you only have to endure to conquer. You only have to persevere to save yourselves.”

In a nutshell, keep going. There is always something better. Life will have its highs and lows, but you will only discover its wonderful highs if you get through the lows. I aim to fight through the lows as well as possible, because I have tasted the sweet, wonderful fruit that is an honestly content, joyful life.

If you are struggling with something, unload it. Cry, play music, run, dance, do something good for yourself. You are doing good. Keep breathing, take it slow, and give yourself a pat on the back. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got this. I’m proud of all of you.

Sas aghapó.

Sarah.

Concert Review: Lights

Hello everyone.

It has been a very busy week for me, both in good ways and bad ways. Yesterday, however, was the best way to end a month and celebrate a leap day that I could imagine. As an avid concert goer, I can never turn down the invitation to attend a concert, especially not one with an artist I enjoy. Yesterday, I had the privilege to go to a concert featuring an electronica artist named Lights. And I’d like to advise you to do the same.

Lights is a gorgeous, tiny Canadian girl, dubbed at birth Valerie Poxleitner, who traveled around the world as a child of missionary parents and has apparently been making music from a very early age. She didn’t show up on the radar until a few years ago, but she has quickly gained popularity and is a rising star. I had heard of Lights a while ago, through a friend’s suggestion to listen to her, but I must say, and I did like her music, listening to it occasionally. After her concert, however, I now consider myself to be a big fan.

I have been to quite a few concerts in my short time on earth, but Lights’ definitely ranks in the top five of the best shows that I’ve seen. The combination of the infectious, bass heavy electronica, her gorgeous voice, and the amazing lightshow was one of the best I’ve ever seen. It was impossible not to enjoy everything coming together in a way so perfect that I haven’t exactly seen in many other concerts. Plus, Lights’ energy is also more than infectious. You can’t help smile at her; she wore a constant grin and was always dancing on stage, and she gets very into her music, obviously enjoying herself. I was in love with the concert after the first few songs, but the one that really seized me personally was her song “Flux and Flow.” Everything fell perfectly in place on that song; not only is it pretty intense to begin with, but the heavy bass combined with strobe lights and laser pointers timed perfectly to the music and Lights just rocking out on stage made it amazing.

The night was wrapped up perfectly when my friend with whom I went and I got to meet her. After waiting nearly an hour after the show, she finally stepped out of her tour bus and my friend and I got her autograph and pictures with her. She was super nice, and her equally fantastic fiancé Beau Bokan of Blessthefall was there as well.

Lights and I.

All in all, it was a beyond fantastic night. If you have never heard of Lights or haven’t give her a listen, I encourage you to do so. And then I encourage all of you to try and get to her concert. You won’t be disappointed.

Have a good one, and make as many adventures as you can.

Sarah.