The end of this chapter.

It has been way too long since my last post and as usual a lot has happened. I am sitting here on my couch in good ol' Monmouth Oregon. It's Monday, it's finals week, and I am THIS close to being done with my undergraduate career here at WOU. In January I start the next great adventure of my life when I go to work at the Oregon State Capitol. I am more excited than words can express, and yes - I am a little afraid. It's hard to believe how quickly my time here has gone by, and how many absolutely amazing experiences I have had here. I have made lifelong friends, people that I know will be part of my life forever. I have had the best Professors and the most interesting (and difficult) classes. I know that no matter where I go or what I accomplish Western Oregon University, the town on Monmouth, and the people who have taught and inspired me will always be part of who I am.

To be honest, I am sad. I am very sad. I love school, I always have. I know that this doesn't have to be the end, but it does symbolize an end for me. For the past 16 years all I have known is school, school, school, with some summer here and there. And now I am looking out at a blank slate. What comes next? What do I want to do with me life? More importantly, who do I want to be in my life? This is not an easy question to answer, and all along I had this silly idea in my head that life would just figure itself out. And it does, to a certain extent, but there comes a point where you have to decide. What comes next?

Everything I have learned over the past 3.25 years here will go with me wherever my journey takes me, this I know for sure. But there is something more I am taking with me, and that is the knowledge that no matter what happens, no matter who or what I become, everything will be okay. Those of you who know me well know that I have always worried about the future, but I have decided that it is not my job to worry about what my life holds. I have a great God that has already done that for me. 

To all of you who have been on this journey with me from day one, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have all been here through my ups and my downs, and for that I will always be thankful. I cannot wait to see where the rest of our lives take us. And for those of you who came along a little later in my college career, you are just as special to me and have taught me how to love life more than I did before. And to my family, thank you for shaping me into the person I am today, thank you for loving me no matter what, and thank you for instilling in me a sense of humor and love for the people around me. 

So, this being said, I am looking forward to finishing out this week strong. I know there will be tears, of joy and of sorrow, and I know that this too is okay. I am allowed to cry, it is okay to mourn the ending of this period of my life. Something new is coming, not something better, just something new. I can't wait to talk to my kids about my college years, I have some awesome stories and some amazing friends that go along with them. This ride has been amazing, and the great things is - it's only the beginning. 

And the world keeps on spinning

It's been awhile, I know, and so much has happened in the last few weeks that its going to be hard to explain it all!
First and foremost in the past month my relationship with God has deepened and grown so so much. It has been an amazing and humbling experience and I am reminded daily of how much He loves us and how He has made us each perfectly for a purpose. I am so excited to see the path He has designed for me and to continue to build a loving relationship with Him.
So...other exciting news? My internship with Century of Action is really taking off! I am so thrilled to be part of this amazing project at this memorable time in the history of our great state. Every day I wake up excited to see what the day will bring. I love what I am doing and I can't wait to see how it all pans out over the course of the year! Woo hoo! Check out the project I am working on by going to centuryofaction.org and clicking on the Follow the Sash link on the left side of the page! Get involved in this project and become part of Oregon history!

12 for 2012

Somehow it is 2012...I have no idea how this happened because I feel like it was just yesterday that I was thinking about how weird it was going to be to write 2000 instead of something with a 19 in front of it. Does that make me sound old? No? Okay good...

2012 is going to my year. How do I know? Because I am going to make it my year. No, I will not make a resolution because they inevitably fail. Instead I am going to write a list of things, a kind of bucket list, that I will accomplish this year. In sharing it here where someone is bound to read it and ask me how my list is going, and I will be proudly report on my progress. So, here it is. The 12 things for 2012.

1. Go to Church every Sunday.
2. Read my Bible every day.
3. Be more thankful - let people know that they are appreciated and valued.
4. Be more active - I already have aerobics classes on my schedule :)
5. Stop procrastinating. 
6. Spend more time in real life and less time online. (This means you Facebook)
7. Write letters.
8. Call my Grandma and my Dad once a week.
9. Take more pictures. They really do last a lifetime.
10. No more meaningless crushes.
11. Go on more walks and take time to appreciate the outdoors. I do live in Oregon after all...
12. Learn to love myself for who I am, all the time, no matter what. 

Some of these are hard, others will be easy. I am printing out this list and posting it in multiple locations as a constant reminder to myself of the things I need to do this year. Please, ask me about them. I will want to tell you about it! 

Define: Crush

  Crush: 

When you have a crush on someone it means you have developed a strong desire for another person. Eventually it may grow into true love or your feelings might wear away so don't jump into conclusions and mistake a silly crush for love. A crush might make you get butterflies in your stomach, shy, and blushful. Your crush can also cause you to do silly things like stalking him,figuring out his/her sceduled classes, looking at his/her Facebook a million times a day (even reading all his/her comments), collecting every piece of information you can on him/her, and other obsessive things. There is a reason why a crush is called a crush though. It might hurt to find out your crush is taken--OUCH! But if you are truely still into this person DON'T let that stop you. There is still hope for the future. Until your desired lover is single again try developing a frienship! That way you'll always be an option. Good luck! ( :  Ps-Don't go OD on the stalker thing. Not only is it a turnoff--it's also pretty darn creepy...

(2.) v. the process by which people are killed when thrown beneath a steam-roller or other placed in between two solid surfaces with force being applied toward them that the body cannot withstand. Ahhhh urbandictionary.com  always has the best definition of words. Its funny how well these two definitions define the same word. It's a word I use often: crush.  If you know me well, you know that when I develop a crush, its pretty darn intense. It may only last for a week, but for that one week, I am obsessed. And then, at the end of that week, something always happens to break that crush, and then I feel like I am being slowly squished by a steamroller. This happens often. It seems like by this point in my life I would know how it was going to end. I would know not to let it happen. But, over and over and over again it happens. And I can't stop. I so wish I could, life would be so much easier. So...I am going to try very very hard to not let it happen anymore. I hate the crush cycle, I hate feeling down and blue every time it happens. I don't want it anymore. I am happy with things the way they are. I have the best friends anyone could ask for, a family that loves me unconditionally, a job that is beyond fulfilling, classes that intrigue me, and a future that can't wait for.  Now that that's out of my mind, I can sleep the night away in peace, listening to the rain hit my skylights. Love, Tayleranne P.S...there is something wrong with my blog. I don't know why the words are highlighted in white :(

This term is flying by! I know I have said it before, but holy buckets! How is this happening?

I was walking to class this morning, looking at the beautiful leaves changing colors right before my eyes.  This campus seriously catches on fire in the fall, the trees are the most amazing colors, so bright and awesome.  I wish I could just stop, make a pile of leaves, remove any spiders, and then roll around in them. I have a feeling that doing that would make my day infinitely better.

Every fall I am reminded how natural change is in our lives. In some way or another we all resist it, because it's scary, but it has to happen.  We see the trees go through an enormous change every fall, and can they resist it? No way, they embrace it, it is how things are supposed to happen. So why am I always pushing change away? I need to learn to be like the trees, and accept the change with bright, beautiful colors.

If you are wondering why I am going on about change, it's because a lot of it has come my way in the past 5 weeks, and I know that so much more is on its way.  The next few years will be packed with changing times, changing places, and changing people. I want to be ready when it comes, I want to be happy when it comes, and I want to thrive in those changes.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Take time to admire the beauty of fall while you still can!

<3 Tayleranne

Never alone...

It has been a good amount of time since I last posted, and while a lot has happened in the past few months, I really don't feel like re-capping it all. So...I am not going to.

That being said, I just wanted to share a song with anyone who chooses to read this, and actually pays attention to what I am saying.  Never Alone, by Lady Antebellum has been on repeat on my iPod for the past few days because it is a constant reminder to me that we are in fact, never alone.  Lately I have been feeling a bit down and out, lonely, unimportant.  This song reminds me every time I hear it that things are never as bad as they seem.

Listen to the lyrics carefully, and know how true they really are.  <3

Little bits of advice...

I came across this bit of wonderfulness yesterday in the strangest of places, Amazon.com.  But, I like it a lot, so I thought I could share it with anyone who actually cares to read what I have to say!

Below is a guest post by psychologist Dr. Mardy Grothe, author of six books of qoutations. His newest book Neverisms is a comical, and at times even instructive, collection of things never to do.
When people say things like "Always do your best" they're engaging in the time-honored practice of exhortation. But what is the proper term for strongly-worded attempts to discourage people—as when people say things like "Never ruin an apology with an excuse." The proper term is dehortation, the opposite of exhortation. That word is rare, though, so I've coined my own term for these kinds of strongly-worded cautionary warnings. I've also used it to title my new book. In Neverisms: A Quotation Lover's Guide to Things You Should Never Do, Never Say, or Never Forget, you will find nearly 2,000 pieces of "dissuasive advice given with authority." Some are ancient, but with modern relevance.


1) "Never dare to judge until you have heard the other side." --Euripides, 5th century B.C.
2) "Never promise more than you can perform." --Publilius Syrus, 1st century B.C.

Some come from modern, and even slightly unexpected, voices:

3) "Never dull your shine for somebody else." --Tyra Banks
4) "Never let go of the fiery sadness called desire." --Patti Smith

Even legendary sports stars have gotten into the act:

5) "Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit."--Wilma Rudolph
6) "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." --"Babe" Ruth

Some have an impressive metaphorical quality:

7) "Never cut what you can untie."--Joseph Joubert
8) "Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts." --Alice Walker

And some are beautiful examples of paradoxical phrasing:

9) "Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right." --Isaac Asimov
10) "Do you wish men to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself."--Blaise Pascal

The conclusion? Never underestimate the power of a neverism to improve your life.