It's Called Political Activism not "Like"ism

Politically my generation must be a "like" generation because I am convinced that 75% of us believe that "like"ing something on Facebook actually does something.

"Like this photo of the firemen if you appreciate what they did"

"Share this video to stop animal torture"

"Repost this if you are sending your thoughts out to the victims"


Sorry guys but that really does little to nothing. The firemen probably don't know their picture is going around, dog beaters aren't going to stop because you posted a video and saying your condolences on a facebook page is a pretty lame way of saying you didn't want to get off the couch to actually do something for them.

I read this article last night from mindpetals.com about overreacting and David makes some really good points.

Vulnerability: It can Change Your Life

I just watched this amazing TED talk video:

And wow. While watching this I realized that the reason my life is the way it is today is because of how I looked at my self and how I looked at being vulnerable.

The Writing Book that Actually Tells You What to Write

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks

As a creative writing major, I've read a lot about writing. There are the craft books, the character construction books, the short fiction writing books, the famous writers about writing books. You can usually get a couple things out of each of them but at the end of the day most of the time you're still wondering what to write and when. I have always been left with the feeling that they didn't really explain what to do.

Story Engineering is different. Brooks condenses all of the sporadic advice to a solid layout of what makes up successful novels and screenplays.

Going Greek

Don't just shut your brain off during this post.

Give me the courtesy

I am not a stereotype.

I'm not the bimbo in that college show.

I'm not the girl that will get killed first in that horror movie.

Let me show you what my sorority means to me.


Age 14: I told my parents I wanted to join a sorority because it looked "fun". Parents laughed and said there weren't any sororities at BYU (where they thought I was going to go).

Age 16: Turned off by the stereotypes. Legally Blond and House Bunny didn't really have me appreciating blond girls with pink sweaters. I didn't want to hang out with a bunch of dumb girls who only cared about their nails.

Age 18: Freshman year, I missed rush week and I felt oddly sad, even though I hadn't thought about joining a sorority in a long time I felt like I had lost something. Next time.

Age 19: I see a few advertisements for rush week and toss the idea around. I go to the page, the $20 fee is enough of an excuse for me to let my fear of rejection stop me from going.


Then I met Shayla. Aside from being a wonderful friend, mentor and fellow christian she was in a sorority. Not only was she in a sorority but she was everything in my mind that wasn't "sorority". Independent, forward thinking, political, level headed, down to earth, and most of all REAL.

4th of July

Just a "my life as I know it" post.

My time with Evan for independence day was really fun! Evan has a tradition of hosting for his friends as well as usually purchasing a toooonnnn of fireworks.


The tradition continues.


We invited over his friends.

Cheesy filter, I know. Sorry

We had food and libations, and of course, icecream! It was wonderful :)

Then we busted open the neon sparklers Evan got (he thought of my love of sparklers)

they weren't as neon as we were hoping

Homosexuality in the Bible

This is the most in-depth look at the biblical scripture and its context relating to homosexuality in the bible that I have ever seen. I think he looks at it quite fairly. If someone made a rebuttal with this much research and contextual history I would be glad to watch it as well, but for now all I can say is this:

It is our job to love. It is not our place to scorn or judge, we are not on the judgement seat. There is no reason on earth to ever treat someone with scorn or abuse and it does no glory to God to cast stones. Love thy neighbor. I will try to bring good fruit to God through love and faith. What will you do?

Questions? Comments? Feel free to drop me a comment below.

Love,
Carly

Update on Study Abroad

University of Innsbruck

As most of you know I've been planning to study abroad in Innsbruck, Austria during spring 2013.

I'm happy to say that it is still very much my plan. I hadn't done much other than meet with a Study Abroad counselor because I had been planning so far in advance. And now I've finally taken a real first step: I've completed my Study Abroad application!

It was probably very foolish but I decided to do the application at 3am the other night. They asked about my Academic work, language profiency, international experience and which classes I would be requesting in short answer boxes as well as two references with their emails. I also wrote a personal statement of 300-500 words answering this prompt:

Introduce yourself and explain your goals for studying abroad and for integrating into the host culture? What specific situations from your past (i.e., coursework, job experience, travel, intercultural experience) have helped you prepare to accomplish these goals? 

Well let's see how I did:

'Merica Style: The Stars and Stripes

The 4th is coming up and I figured I would kick off this month with a little 'merica.

Some girls have really got their 'merica pride out! Rockin the style!

If you're looking for some red white and blue here are some great pieces!

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Miss America Sling Backs $168