That time I was the new girl, again.

Today is my first day of my sophomore year of college. Wow, time flies. I started this blog when I was a sophomore in high school so that's pretty crazy, you've been with me through it all.

Today is a familiar feeling. I am a new girl once again, only this time it was by choice, not because my parents made me.

Jefferson Elementary School
California Elementary School
Moreau Heights Elementary School
Pray Woodman Elementary School
Amanda Arnold Elementary School
Russell Middle School
Houston High School
Lee's Summit West High School
University of Missouri
University of Nebraska

That's a lot of different schools, ten to be exact, and yes, I have attended all of them. If you're reading this you probably know me from one of these places.

Today I start school at the University of Nebraska. Many people will ask me why I decided to transfer and the answer is really complicated, but long story short I just wanted to start somewhere new. It's kind of ironic, since all my life I pretty much despised being the new girl. But, somewhere along the way it became ingrained in me. I am the new girl, the new girl is me (just kidding), but I almost feel like I have this inner timer that's like "okay Madison it's time to go, you've lived here more than two years so let's find someplace new."

Regardless, today is still pretty hard. I'm in a different state and I miss my friends and the girls in my sorority, but at the same time I'm glad to be somewhere else. It's a strange feeling, it's like I'm torn between two places. One side of me wants to stay in the same place and keep the same friends and stay away from the unknown, but the other side of me wants to venture out, meet new people, step outside of my comfort zone and break the norms. I suppose the second half won, because here I am.

I'm writing to you today in case that's you, maybe you're the new girl for the first time, maybe it's something you're totally familiar with like me, or maybe it's just your freshman year of college or high school or even middle school. Well don't worry because I have been where you are now, I have experienced all of those things, those tingly butterfly feelings in your stomach, all of it. Maybe you have friends or people that are mad at you because they feel like you left them by moving somewhere new. I've been there too. It almost makes the whole situation twice as difficult because then you feel like you can't talk to those girls who were once your absolute best friends. If that's the case it will all be okay, wounds heal and time helps fade the pain.

Today I would like to leave you with a quote, it seems to have always held true in my life, and I hope that's the case for you too.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

Cheers to new adventures!

Love,

Madison

Song of the Day: All I Want//Kodaline

p.s. Happy new school year! Also, here's some awesome pics of my new roomie, Alex, and I eating some watermelon (:

Just me...

Hello. I feel like every time I start writing a blog post I say the same thing, "wow, it's been forever since I last wrote on here...blah blah...I'm going to start writing more regularly...and then I say something about why I haven't written in a while, and it's usually because I'm always really busy." Well today I'm not going to say all of that. (: I'm just going to dive in, and give you an update on what I've been up to lately.

The last time I wrote I was fresh off a plane from the big apple. Today, it's mid-June and I'm fresh off the work day from my summer internship. Now it's time to let you know what all happened in between...

I finished my freshman year of college at Mizzou. I will be transferring to the University of Nebraska in the fall. Most people don't understand why I would leave Mizzou since it's such a great Journalism school, but to be completely honest I just don't think Mizzou is the place for me. There's a little bit more to it, but that's the short version. Some people will say I'm just going to Nebraska because that's where my boyfriend goes, and yeah that's a definite plus, but it's not why I decided to go there. However, sometimes people would rather create their own version of your story than really listen to what you have to say. Oh well.

My freshman year of college went by really quickly, it was a great year filled with lots of ups and downs and lots of changes. Changes for the better. Sometimes I like to think of it as growing pains. We all know what it feels like when you're little and it hurts sometimes because you're body and your mind is growing and changing and maturing. Well, just because I stopped getting taller doesn't necessarily mean those growing pains go away. I don't think they ever will, but each time I grow I look back and realize I'm a little bit stronger, and a little bit wiser, and maybe it doesn't hurt so bad after all. I suppose that's how I like to look at college and getting older.

I mentioned my boyfriend, Quinn, earlier. Well, everything with Quinn and I is going just swell. Seriously, really great. He's pretty great if you ask me.

In the last couple of months my family experienced two deaths. My great grandfather, and my great aunt passed away within a couple of weeks of each other. It was really sad, but mostly because it just didn't seem real. I wasn't super close to either of them, and sometimes I look back and it makes me sad because I wish I could ask them questions or listen to some of their stories, but I no longer can. It's a pretty sobering realization when the thought of someone crosses your mind, and then you remember they won't be at that next holiday. You won't be calling them up on Father's day because they won't be there to pick up the phone. It's pretty sad. But at the same time it's nice to get together with your family and remember the good times and the nice memories you shared with the ones you love. So in a time of sorrow, there's also joy.

On a more positive note, I started a summer internship at a digital marketing agency. It's pretty cool and I'm excited to have the opportunity to gain so much experience at this point in my academic career. I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.

In between all of that were dinners, and movie dates, and time spent with friends and family. Here are a few pictures to catch you up.

Quinn's birthday breakfast!

Watching Friends on the Quad instead of studying for finals.

Admiring how pretty Jesse Hall is.

Quinn and Anna being silly.

Quinn being goofy at Olive Garden when my dad wasn't looking.

My bestest pal Frankye and I at her sisters grad party!

Quinn and I walking around at the Plaza.

Frankye and I at the Florence & the Machine concert(!!)

Quinn and I celebrating date night with some Jack Stack BBQ.

Friends!

Q and I (again) (:

Me with my friend Lauren, the bride-to-be!

Hope that got you all caught up, for now at least(:

Song of the day: Go With Me // Quinn Mosier (!)

Until next time,

Madison

New York Part II

Wow, I feel like it has been so long since I last wrote on here. So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. For one, I went to New York over my Spring Break!

I went to NYC with my friends Grace, Frankye, and Sydney and we stayed at an Airbnb (basically you rent someone's apartment from them for a couple of days) right by One World Trade Center. Everything worked out great for us, the only thing I would've have changed is to find somewhere that's closer to the subway next time, but other than that we had a really good experience with our Airbnb.

While I was in NYC I got to go to places like Mashable, Teen Vogue, Wenner Media (Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, US Weekly), Time Inc. (People, Food & Wine, Entertainment Weekly, Travel & Leisure, etc.), and I also got to talk to the Co-founder of the Clover letter, and the former Director of Toughness for Columbia Apparel (she just got done traveling the world for 6 months and testing out Columbia's gear, and she's also a writer for Rolling Stone, among others). All of these people were seriously so cool. I feel so fortunate to have gone and had such an awesome experience meeting so many awesome people.

Everyone kept asking me what my goal was for going to New York and why I was meeting so many people, and honestly the answer is so simple: I just wanted to make friends and create professional relationships with people I admired. The people I talked to have all gone through the same crappy prerequisite requirements that I am going through right now, and we have all seen better days and experienced successes (and more importantly, failures) in the journalism world. One of the biggest realizations I came to after meeting all of these people was the fact that they are just that, real people. They all put their pants on one leg at a time just like me. And they gave me some really great advice too, for one, always Be Genuine.

Don't go into a meeting with someone you've never met and just feel like you can ask them for all of their connections, it's actually super rude to do that. When I met the Photo Editor at Mashable she told me something that I thought was really interesting. She said "so many people come in here and immediately start asking me for an internship or for the emails of my contacts, it's rude, and why would I do that for them? It's the difference of someone like that who comes in thirsty for an internship and immediately starts asking for things and someone who comes in with no agenda at all, other than to talk to me about what I do in the industry and how I got here (that's me). For the first person I would email their information to HR, for the second person I would hand deliver their information to HR and give them a great recommendation for a potential job or internship." The way you approach certain things or certain people seriously makes all the difference. I left the building not feeling nervous to talk at all (other than the sheer joy and excitement of being in one of the coolest newsrooms ever).

Another valuable lesson I learned was that every single person you meet, and every conversation you have changes and shapes you into the person you are today. You are not the same person today as you were yesterday, and the person you will be tomorrow is different than the person you are today. Embrace new opportunities and take advantage of any time you can talk to someone and soak in the advice they have to share with you. You can always learn something new, and you can literally learn something from everyone no matter how cool you think they are or not.

It's funny because while my friends were off doing touristy things I was going all over the city for meetings at offices and coffee shops and having lunches, etc. I felt like a real New Yorker. I got to experience things and meet so many people. I am so excited to see where those friendships go and what my next adventure will be.

If you want to watch a super cool video of my trip check out this Facebook post (:

Hope you enjoy.

Madison

p.s. Earl Grey tea is my new guilty pleasure and I ate a $25 hamburger in NYC, but it was totally worth it.

Song of the day: Woodland//The Paper Kites


Rolling Stone Wall


Mashable HQ










Stumptown Coffee Shop in Greenwich Village




Donut in Brooklyn




JIMMY FALLON WAS AWESOME




Me, Grace, and Frankye at the MET


Grand Central Station




Metropolitan Museum of Art


NYTimes Building


Magnolia's Bakery Red Velvet Cupcake


Frankye, Grace, Sydney, and I at the MET


Home.

0

KC River Market.

A few weekends ago, Megan and I decided to go down to the KC River Market on Saturday morning. We were looking for some fresh flowers and browsing all of the awesome farmer's market produce. Megan bought some flowers, but surprisingly I didn't buy anything this time. Usually there are a lot more options, but since it was still late February, a lot of my favorite things aren't in season quite yet. However, it was a gorgeous February(!) afternoon, and Megan and I made sure to document it. 

We took lots of pictures by the white brick wall near the River Market, just around the corner from Quay Coffee. I highly recommend any photographers looking for a random background to take pics against this wall (the pictures always turn out great!). The River Market is kind of a mix between a Farmer's Market and a flea market, but well worth the journey into the city. Hope you enjoy all of our pictures, and if you've never been to the River Market in KC, you should definitely check it out on your next free Saturday morning. There's lots of little shops to discover. I promise you won't be disappointed!

0