ordinarily extraordinary

My babysitter, a guy that my parents had trusted to look after me came over one night. He tried to get me to put my hand under his shirt. I didn’t understand. I was told to listen to him and to do as he said, but something was wrong. I was scared. I said no. He kept trying, bribing me with candy. I had no power. Eventually he gave up. But when we were playing, he tried to pull down my pants. I escaped his grasp. I was 4. I was on the bus to school, minding my own business, and talking to a friend. A classmate sat behind me, something he had never done before, and started heckling my friend and I. He reached out and touched my hair, his fingers slowly moving towards the back of my neck. “Your hair is so greasy. You’re so gross and ugly,” he taunted. My heart dropped unto my stomach. I wanted to cry, to tell my teacher, but my friend looked at me and said, “What? You actually think they’re going to do something about him?” I listened to her. I was 12. Every morning for the first

As cliché as it sounds, childhood was such a simpler time. We could run around and get dirty, our homework was MUCH easier, and the only thing we had to stress about was whether or not Gordo was going to tell Lizzie how he felt about her. Ah, those were the days. As a 21 year old woman who has seen her fair share of joys and difficulties, I wish I could go back in time to share some of my wisdom with my 10 year old self. I know how much you worry about people not liking you, people judging you, people thinking badly of you… Do not let those thoughts overtake you. Will some people not like you? Yes. Will some people judge you? Yes. Will some people think badly of you? Yes. But not all will think that. The one person you can trust as a child is the one person you can trust as an adult. Yup, that’s right; Kristin is still your best friend. 15 years later, she is still your rock, your soul sister, your immediate go-to. No matter how long you go without seeing each other or how ma

I am not afraid to admit that I love love. I watch bad chick flicks like it’s my job and I read Jane Austen more than I should. Love is families and pets and friends and couples. Love is beautiful. Love is everything. And I love it. I love L-O-V-E. I’m a hopeless romantic and I am so excited for the day that I get married and start my own family. However, I seem to be stuck. Movies always start at the pivotal moment when the boy and the girl meet. They meet, sparks fly, there’s a catastrophic problem that puts the relationship in jeopardy, all gets resolved, they run off into the sunset together, roll credits. Everyone always talks about what happens after “happily ever after”, but I’m more interested in what happens BEFORE the movies. I’m more interested in that because that’s where I’m stuck. I haven’t been on an actual date in 5 years and it’s hard not to let that affect me. I spend so many nights going over every possible thing that could be wrong with me. Is my laugh annoying