School...I miss you! I am coming back!

Although I am constantly filled with longings that I terribly hate to admit I tend to put above Christ and I have to fight not to be filled with impatience at this point in my life, I'm loving what God's doing in my life and heart and where He has put me right now (and continuing to pray that He keeps changing my heart to love Him above all his good gifts). This year has been filled with so much change, pain, growth, new friends...it's beautiful. Though I'm not looking forward to the work, I'm excited for starting this new semester and for the people in my classes that I'm going to meet. During the Spring semester, I was so shocked by the sheer amount of friends and people I bonded with in my classes and I'm hoping to have that same thing happen in this upcoming Fall semester. Am I scared that it's going to be my first semester working and going to school full time? Yeah, kind of, but I'm definitely going to learn the art of commitment. Goodbye Pinterest and Facebook, hello studying all the time! I can honestly say that I'm soaking up these last 2 weeks (less than two weeks) before classes start. I'm spending my hours reading, working, relaxing with friends, and bracing myself for the workload (oh, and for having my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday). It's hard to believe it's almost time to start up school again, but I'm getting ready!

2 Weeks With Indi

Let's face it, I've been lazily putting off writing this post for several days (I've been eagerly drowning in satellite television, thanks). I flew into Chicago on Saturday night and we drove to my dad's house in Indi at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning. I visit two to three times a year and I'd only been up once so far this year. Although I had thought work and my summer course would keep me away from my love (Indiana) this summer, I jumped at the chance for just 2 weeks here. Sure, did it involve me flying alone for the first time ever? Yes, but I was willing to finally conquer flying by myself and here I am.

Everyone always asks what I do while I'm up here. Welp, stay up really late, sleep, watch TV, read if I'm feeling especially energized, hang out with my family a lot of the time (dad, step mom, step sister, aunt, uncle, grandparents, etc.), take motorcycle rides, swim (also known as get sunburnt), shop, eat amazing food, take pictures, and the like.
I honestly love it here, even though I think I brought the heat and humidity of VA with me this time. It's not usually this insane hot here. Really? Corn fields just make me oddly happy. There's no other way to explain it and it's so weird. I think it's really beautiful here, but that's me. Two weeks will go by quickly and then work and then school...I'm soaking up every minute of this!

Our Pretty Instagrammed Lives

I've noticed, in general, especially in the blogosphere, people have a tendency to only display what they want people to see: the beautiful, the glamorous, the happy, and the exciting stuff. Instagram is full of it, even my own profile. Facebook is the same way, except people can add a lot more. I'll go a whole week without posting anything on instagram (sometimes Facebook) simply because nothing "exciting and photo-worthy" or beautiful or funny has happened. I don't take pictures of my work uniform or myself before I've showered or the mess in my car (things in there include, but are not limited to: a frappuccino cup, mason jar, coloring pictures, school books that the school wouldn't buy back, etc.) or things that I consider "piddly."  Because, let's face it, my life isn't all that exciting generally. My time consists of working, sleeping, and reading (my friends/followers/readers can only withstand so many pictures of books before they just fall asleep). Now, I'll admit that I love seeing pretty pictures on Instagram instead of those low quality photos of boring stuff, but simplicity is beautiful too. This week I'm kind of challenging myself to Instagram my "not so perfect" life. If you'd like to join, I'd encourage you to do so, on whatever social media outlet you'd like (I'm using the hashtag "mynotsoperfectlife"). I just want to show people that everyone, including myself, isn't perfect. Nobody has it all together.
Maybe you're asking what isn't perfect about Starbucks and books? Well, I've been procrastinating reading a lot lately. I just don't make it a priority and I get busy on my laptop or watching movies. Normally, by this point in the summer, I'd have read a handful of books, but I haven't even gotten through one I don't think. I also have a slight addiction to Starbucks (I'm trying to limit myself to 2 a week). This summer hasn't been very productive on my part, yet school starts again in a little over a month...

Being real

As far back as I can remember, I've been a perfectionist. It's kind of weird because I'm not like that about everything (my parents would most certainly tell you that I'm not very perfectionistic about keeping my room or car clean). That stuff isn't as big of a deal around my family, just because I could never keep up the act. No way, I'd go crazy. Around other people though, I struggle. I struggle to be as collected and put-together as possible. I have trouble wanting my life to look neat and easy from the outside when it's not. Nobody has a perfect life even though all these fancy bloggers and fashionable people try to convince us that they do. 
Somehow, in the past year, I finally just got tired of pretending to be as perfect as possible. It was a constant act to look as good as I could so people would like me or think good stuff about me, etc. I don't know when it happened, but I just kind of realized the sheer pride and ridiculousness of trying to act like that. It may have just been because it's actually been a really tough year and I couldn't keep up the act anymore, or it may have been that I got sick of trying to act like someone I wasn't, or maybe both. I'm not perfect and it's absolute arrogance to act like I am or that I could possibly be in this life.
However, over the past year, especially in the past few months, I've just kind of had to push that mask aside. That isn't how this is. That's not how community works either and it's absolutely ridiculous of me to try to pretend. Slowly, God has been breaking down those walls, showing me how proud and selfish I've been for acting that way. Sure, I still have my stuff, and everyone does, but I'm not fake. Although it scares me, I'm being real and honest about my struggles and imperfections. I don't build walls around myself when I meet people, even though that's scary. It's scary to open yourself up to other people's judgement, but you've just got to remember that their judgement doesn't matter. It doesn't and, though that can be freeing, it's also really hard to actually believe that, but God's judgement is the only one that matters and Christ has made me perfect in His eyes. It's not that I want people to think badly about me, and it's not that I'm necessarily okay with it if they do, but it'll happen, and I'll come to terms with that when it happens I guess.  

"Being real is more a process of letting go than it is the effort of becoming.

I don't really have to become myself,

although at times it feels this way.

I already am what I am.

And that is both the simplest and the hardest thing for me to realize."

Things I could live without...

This is a list of things I could easily live without in my life. Some of these are super weird. You were forewarned.

• Ostriches: They're super creepy, have evil eyes, and I was pecked by one as a child.
• Hot dogs: That's just gross. No. Even ketchup can't help that...
• Traffic: I'm not a very patient person in traffic. I just mutter, "No one loves you..." to everyone that gets in my way...
• Anything that gets in the drain: hair, food, you name it. There's something about it being in the drain that suddenly freaks me out.
• The salad that is practically weeds. People always tell me that iceberg lettuce has hardly any nutritional value and that it's mostly composed of water, but, honestly, I'm pretty sure it's better than most stuff I would eat in it's place. You're actually really lucky I'm just eating salad in general.
• Regular pencils: What is this? The middle ages? Might as well get me some papyrus or the rosetta stone for goodness sakes.
• My dog dripping water all over the floor making it impossible for me to be able to stand wearing socks.
• People wearing leggings as pants. They aren't pants. I don't think anything with a spandex percentage that high should be worn as pants. 'nuff said.
• Those girls that look like models coming to 8am classes. We all know you got up at the crack of dawn to look like that. You ain't fooling me. Look normal/somewhat miserable like the rest of us.  
• Wearing ridiculously high heels to class. There's no reason. I'm not going to tell you what you look like, just wear normal shoes. This isn't New York's Fashion Week and I haven't seen a catwalk anywhere near here.
• Sick people. I'm a total germaphobe. I blame it on my mom. Someone sneezes and I'm flipping out in my head and trying not to breathe their sneeze-air and hand sanitizing every 5 minutes. 
• Children wearing those backpacks that also double as leashes the parents can hold onto. That has "my kid is a brat" written ALL over it.
• Teenagers. (Yes, this includes myself. I'm aware that I can be annoying.)
• Vacuuming: Why does the vacuum have to be so loud? So loud...
• People who go the speed limit...Please? 5 over at least...Some of us aren't just old with nowhere to be...
• People who don't yield...no one knows how to yield here!
• People who go slow in the fast lane.
• People who will not let semis merge: He's trying to get a giant TRUCK on the interstate in a 10 second span of time. Let him out.
• My sister pinching me. She pinches really well and it hurts terribly.
• My friends/everyone else making fun of my love for Justin Bieber. Can I not just have this ONE teenage girl thing?! Good gravy...
• Hashtagging on Facebook...I heard they might get hashtags, but, until then, stop it (I will allow hashtags that post from Instagram or Twitter automatically, but that is the only concession I will make on this topic...). 
• Automatic water faucets and paper towel dispensers. I can't work them. They never work for me. I get the soap and I just wave my hands like a dummy for a long time. The water finally comes on for, what, like 3 seconds? Then the paper towels won't work and I get so impatient that I just dry my hands on my pants like some sort of hillbilly.
• Tucking in shirts. Just having to tuck in my shirt. It feels weird and I can never get it right.
• Watching golf. I'm pretty sure I can pretend to be interested in nearly any other sport. I just cannot do golf. It bores me to death.
• Wrong uses of your, you're, its, it's, and 's.
• Guys who think they're the sexiest thing in the world. I don't need/want to see your stomach every day or even every week on Instagram. Don't be so vain. It honestly looks the exact same as when you posted it last week. Gimme a break. Can I get some pictures of a kitten or something instead of you all the time? Thanks so much...(Actually, even if you were still shirtless but holding a kitten, that would still be a little better...)
• Girls pinning other half naked/anorexic model girls on Pinterest as "inspiration" to not eat anything. Please, how long will that make your willpower last? About 2 seconds until you see cake, that's how long.
• Hipsters. I have my hipster moments, but I'm not too cool for Starbucks. Come on.
• Guys making fun of girls loving romantic comedies. They're so unrealistic and adorable! Leave me alone and let me think that this is how love works for the next 90 minutes...
• Those people who go around you on the interstate and then, once they get around you, I swear, purposefully clean their windows, spraying windshield wiper fluid all over you...
• The fact that Sperry's are called "boat shoes." Everyone wears them. A very small percentage of the population owns a boat or even so much as steps foot on a boat on a regular basis. Can we call them college shoes? Umn, 20-something-year-old shoes? Just trying to be realistic...
• People laughing at me for taking a picture. This is my passion...this is a great picture opportunity...do not laugh at me sir (or ma'am I suppose).
• Creepy guys that drive those white vans that don't have windows in the back. Yeah, sorry, it freaks me out. (Add ice cream truck drivers to that...)
• Old people grabbing my face. You know what I mean, like when they're trying to look at you cause they think you're so cute and grab your cheeks. Yeah, I can't take that. I always feel suddenly trapped and have to fight the urge to uppercut and run. Natural reflex.
• Getting moisturizer/makeup IN MY EYES. This seriously happens way too much. I don't know how I do it, but I always manage to get crap in my eyes and it burns and I scream. True story, bro.
• People don't take me seriously when I yell. I think it's something about being like 5 foot 3. I probably look like a southpole elf (movie reference Elf).
• Pulling my ponytail when my hair is up. It's not for you to keep a handle on me. It's for my hair to be out of my danged face.
• When I show people something on my phone and they take my phone and start going through it. Unless you're like my best friend, no.
• Girls that wear too much eyeliner. You look like a raccoon.
• Those "wife beater" tank tops. I've never seen a person pull one of those off and that's just how it is...
• Weather above 80 degrees.
• Vague Facebook statuses. Like, "I can't do this anymore." Nothing else.
• Lists of things people could live without ;) Just kidding

Cashiering/My first job

Today was my first official day cashiering at my first job (I'm not telling where, don't come watch me). It was actually a lot easier than they make it sound in training. I'll be relieved when I finally memorize all these numbers though. People act like I'm torturing them if I have to look up the code for their dragonfruit. No really creepy guys bought condoms from me or anything. Just a whole bunch of Blue Bell ice cream and wine coolers. What else can I tell you? It's a job. It brings in the mullah and it isn't prostitution. There isn't any job where you won't ever have to deal with stupid people, so I'm not going to complain. I did have this guy ask, "Girl, you be on Facebook?" and that made me chuckle a little bit. My favorite thing about the job? Putting the WIC vouchers and checks in the machine so it can do it's little printer thingy to them! It's SO cool! All the people training with me were laughing cause I got excited, but come on! Technology man! That's cool stuff! Second favorite thing is that the register tells you the exact amount of bills and change to give back! You just have to be able to count to 10 and you're golden. It's so great!

The small stuff...

The little things tend to overwhelm me, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad, but I'd like to focus on the good ones because I feel like I generally take them for granted...
Thing#3's laugh when I tickle her.
Thing#2's weird thing where he has to kiss both your cheeks like he's from England.
Those hugs where you're both holding on so tight and don't want to let go. You just stand there in silence, but it feels like the moment couldn't last long enough. Especially if you're saying goodbye for however many months and I know these hugs all too well.
Perfect, 73 degree days, with small breezes interspersed, sunny, but not burning.
Windows rolled down, a song comes on at the exact moment and explains what you're feeling perfectly and you sing at the top of your lungs.
Baby animals.
Good morning text messages, especially from the boy you like.
Oversized sweat shirts that you can just hang out in and not care at all.
Sweat pants. Yes.
Driving alone, long straight-aways on a country road, night or day, just solitude.
Getting a good grade on a test that you totally thought you failed.
People liking your actual personality.
Walking alone, praying, in silence, just the wind to accompany you.
Finally peeing after you've been holding it for hours in the car.
The sound of the shutter going off. Lightning fast.
The way guys smell when they have cologne on. Oh my!
Randomly breaking out in song and your friends spontaneously joining you.
Protective friends that threaten to beat up anyone that hurts you.
Waking up in the morning to the sun coming up and everyone else being asleep.
Taking off your bra at the end of the day.
Random people asking how you're doing and waving.
Small towns. After growing up here, I think it's so cute and cool when everyone knows each other wherever you go.
Visiting places you've never been before and just being.
A long awaited reuniting.
The "I've missed you more than you could ever understand" hug.
Hating things everyone else pretends to love...
The first day wearing shorts and short sleeves after it's been cold and the first day wearing a jacket after it's been warm.
Inside jokes.
People playing with your hair.
Bed after a really strenuous day.
Naps that just fall over you.
Working for consecutive hours on stuff that really must get done, and not moving, but feeling really accomplished when you finally get everything done.
Telling someone how you really, really feel.
Getting stuff off your chest.
Losing yourself in a book and finishing it in a day.
Remembering something that you had forgotten, but that you were really trying to remember (even though it's usually a day later when you don't need to know it).
Changes for the good.
Curling your hair to make you feel like a real woman ;)
Being accidentally ditzy and people laughing at you.
People calling you "the blonde."
Instagramming your life away.
Amazing and unique hashtags.
Sweet tea (from the south, cause those crazies up north just don't understand).
Northern BBQ
Indiana. Country. The snowy Christmas days. Field after field of corn and the way it's in those rows and looks awesome when you pass by it in a car.
Old people gossiping on front porches.
Babies...Oh, how I love babies!
Sour gummy worms!!!
Popping your back when it hurts.
A/C. Oh my goodness...one of the greatest inventions ever, especially when you live in the blisteringly hot south.
Pretty handwriting.
Cute old people.
Boys that think you're funny and make you laugh too. 
When you're upset and someone seriously tells you everything will be all right.
Not knowing you want to be friends with someone until they barge into your life and become your best friend on accident.
Smelling amazing.
Having literally nothing that you need to do.
Basking in the sun...I can only do this for about 2 minutes though until I just end up getting burnt to a crisp.
Kids/friends falling asleep on you.
Sleeping in someones arms.
Cuddling. Hands-down, one of the best things ever.
Thing#3 using "ask" & "tell" wrong
Doing Yoga.
Making unexpected friends.
The way my mom always knows where my phone is when I lose it, which is very frequently...
Coffee, of course...
Holding little kid's hand...(Not just random children, mind you. I prefer ones that I know and like.)
Office supplies, especially, but not limited to, amazing pens and mechanical pencils
The perfect song...
Making lists of things you love that couldn't possibly fit everything...

Graduation just got real folks...

It's really crazy to me if I start thinking about it. My best friend is graduating at the end of this week and I just finished my first year of college. It feels like just the other day we were still unsure about boys. Wait, sorry, that actually was the other day. Still though, I remember when being freshman in highschool seemed like a big deal. Now? I'm addressing graduation announcements. Honestly, I was never one of those kids who just loved highschool anyway, and I love college. However, there's a certain realness to it now that all my friends are graduating/have graduated and, in a couple weeks, I'll be walking in a cap and gown. It's hard/absolutely terrifying to think that we're nearly adults. We're the next generation and that should scare most people I'm pretty sure. We're growing up and that's crazy to me. I guess I've kind of been dreaming of this day for so long that it's weird to think it's finally here. There's a certain nostalgia to it all.
I'm really pretty sure I'm going to bawl my eyes out while my best friend receives her diploma. It's going to become real to me that this phase of our lives is over. Heck, it's been over for me for a year and, yet, I'm just now coming to this realization. It's not even that I just love being a teenager, because my friends will tell you I don't like it at all. Being a grown up is just scary to me...So, here we stand, on the edge of adulthood. I never thought I'd be sad about this, but it's a good kind of sad, not a I-still-want-to-be-a-child kind of sad. Just a this-has-been-really-nice-while-it-lasted kind of sad...

Not so perfect...

There comes a time in one's life when you kind of just have to let go of trying to be/act perfect. I think, for me, I've let different parts of my perfectionistic ways go at different times in my life. Now, I'm not saying that I'm not still a perfectionist, because if you saw me writing a paper or even this post, you would realize that I am. Don't get me wrong though, there are usually clothes strewn all over my room and I'm terrible at vacuuming, so obviously it's not everything (I just fixed this sentence about 5 times for instance).
You may be wondering why this topic is coming up, so we'll get right to that. I dropped my GPA a little bit this semester. At first, everything inside me cringed when I realized it had dropped some. Yeah, I'm one of those people that is super concerned with her own grades. However, as I started to complain to my best friend about my seeming failure, I realized how fickle and ridiculous I was being for getting so upset about it. As I put it to her, there are people starving in other countries, and I'm living my precious American college girl lifestyle complaining about a couple of B's. It's not that grades aren't important, because they are, but I did try this semester. I'll admit I took a few too many Pinterest/Facebook breaks, but I tried and it's a lesson learned for me. I set really high standards for myself and I'm still not totally okay with the B's, but life goes on and grades get forgotten. The grades don't define me, I make them. They aren't stamped on my forehead the rest of my life thank goodness.
So, yeah, I'm that girl that gets upset over a few not-so-satisfactory-to-her grades, but God's working on me. I'm having to realize that I'm not those grades, I'm who I am in Christ and that is more ultimate than anything else. We all need to believe that more and I'm praying we do.

Me

I'm Alexandra (Ally, Ally-cat, Tbone, etc.). I was born in a little town in Indiana, consisting of about ten thousand people the last time I checked. Through various circumstances, I've come to abide in Hampton Roads Virginia, or as my great grandfather so gracefully puts it, "swampland." Personally, I think he's right and after sitting through handfuls of hurricanes and hearing about the outerbanks getting wiped out every time the wind blows, I always have to wonder why the settlers didn't just keep moving inland, but that's a discussion for another post. I live with my mom, step dad, two brothers, sister, and dog (Dad lives in Indi with his family). My mom is hilariously amazing. We have so much fun and she's smart, helpful, and caring. She seriously loves to clean way too much. I tell her it's weird, but at least our house isn't dirty. My step dad is funny and knows so much. You could ask him nearly anything and he could probably keep a conversation going with you for a while, which can be awesome, unless you're waiting on him while he's talking to someone, then it isn't so awesome haha. My siblings are all younger than me. They can get on my nerves sometimes, but I love them to death and, not meaning to brag, but they are cute if I do say so myself. My oldest younger brother, let's call him Thing#1 (to make it easier and also to spare their names on the internet), thinks I am the least fun person in the universe. Let's just say we get on each other's nerves often, but we can have a good time if we try. My other brother, Thing#2, is really entertaining and has Autism (I'm sure there will eventually be a related post). My sister, Thing#3, is adorable and funny. She is constantly saying something hilarious that my parents and I laugh about. 
I was homeschooled. Although I don't understand how my poor mom made it through educating me, I'm grateful and I loved it. Now, I'm attending a local community college and just finishing up my second semester. Honestly, even though it can be ridiculous at times, I love college (even though I'm currently sitting amongst a pile of books and papers). I started driving about three months ago, which has been freeing and horrifying for my family and I at the same time. I can be really clueless at times, but I laugh at my own sillyness. For instance, it took me two months to figure out not only that I had windshield wiper fluid but also how to use it. My friends laughed, but it's not like anyone told me how and I had no reason to figure it out really (or, at least, I'm using that as my excuse). I hadn't even thought about it. Moving on, I'm a liberal arts major, but I'm planning on going on to study English and eventually Library Science. At least, that's the plan at this point, but you know how that can be.
I'm a photographer. Everything feels better with a camera in my hands. I'm not generally as adventurous as some people, but, for a picture, I can be kind of reckless (generally standing in the middle of roads). I play guitar and sing, neither of which I do very well, but I enjoy music. I love the way the right song can sum up exactly how you feel in that moment. It's kind of my outlet when I just need to breath. I'm addicted to Pinterest, Starbucks, Instagram, texting, sweet tea, and Netflix/Hulu. New Girl is my current favorite tv show, hands down. My favorite recent movie is Pitch Perfect. I've literally seen it probably 7 times now ("I'm horizontal running!"). My friends and I stay entertained by texting quotes from that movie back and forth to each other (yes, we don't have enough to do obviously). On break from school, I read all the time. Jane Austen is my favorite, of course. Can you blame me? My best friend and I have silly sleepovers where we do crazy makeup and make videos of us pretending to be superheros all around the house. I love sweatpants and I have to will myself not to wear them all the time. I generally confine my sweatpants to the house, just so I don't get any lazier. I have a lot of words that I just simply don't like, to be honest they're mostly words with sexual connotations (fornication is one, for instance). Ketchup makes almost all food better, except hot dogs. Hot dogs freak me out (so do ostriches). In fact, my parents tried to chase me around the house with them last week. Yes, apparently that is how they keep themselves entertained. I brake for birds. I save turtles and have been yelled at over a loud-horn by the police for doing so. I lose my phone or the remote once every 5 minutes minimum. All my mom ever hears is, "Mom, where's my phone?" She should start actually hiding it. Wait, maybe she does. New paranoia kicking in. I'm really protective of my family and friends. I love cute old people and I may or may not have taken a picture of one in a grocery store parking lot one day. I should probably keep that to myself... God is my rock, when everything falls apart He holds me together. I hate conflicts with other people. I'm impatient and insecure. I'm so imperfect and I'll admit that. I'm open about myself and my struggles if you just ask. I love the country. I can get overwhelmed by stress and when that happens I go on long walks with Pandora on just to clear my head.
This blog is in the works at this point and I'm still working on some ideas, but I thought maybe you could use a little (or not so little) blurb about me. Honestly, I'm pretty simple.

5 days...

It’s hard to believe that two years ago I was taking this picture for this beautiful young lady. Smart, confident, gorgeous, with an overflowing love for Christ as her king, she has made me smile ever since I met her. When I took this picture, we weren’t nearly as close as we are now. Currently, we are five days away from her wedding, of which she has bestowed the honor upon me to be the photographer. She has been one of the calmest, most collected, and charming brides I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing while in the midst of planning her wedding in a 3 month span. Although she jumped many hurdles in the process, I have yet to hear one complaint and I can only pray that I’m as patient as her when my wedding someday approaches. I’m going to sincerely miss this girl when she moves away with her new hubby, but I’m praying for the best for their future. So here’s to Caitlin! (and I supposed Joe too…) 

Revamping, life, blog, and heart...

Where have I been? Not that I have any followers or anything, but I have been on a kind of sabbatical just thinking over my motives behind and goals for this blog. I noticed as I read through some posts, that I'd made them all especially "put-together" and brag-y, if that makes any sense. It was kind of like I had everything together and all the answers to everything. However, that is not the case and I've realized the pride behind that implication. I don't always get stellar grades, don't spend the time I should studying, take too many Pinterest break, and very commonly have to will myself not to just wear sweatpants to class all the time, and that's just a few things on the list. I've seen the preppy, college girls with their amazing lives plastered all over blogs with spectacular (and I'm guessing very time consuming) posts and pictures and that's not what I want this to be about. I want to be real about my life and, if I'm not, I give you, as my friends, family or kind readers, permission to point that out to me. Now, let's get on with this!

YOLO

I'd like to believe, and I think that I have reason to, that man kind has tried always tried to justify their behaviors, whether wrong altogether or simply wrong in motive. Although many of us know otherwise, many of us would like to think that we have a good reason to act the way we do. I think we'd all love to justify what we do to allow us to think that the bad things we do really aren't that bad at all. We'd like to think that our selfish actions, cruelty, vanity, immaturity, and irresponsibility are "okay" because such and such did this to us or we grew up this way or we've never had this or that.
YOLO, you only live once, is the newest, most popular excuse among teens and young adults for what they do with their lives. It's alright to get drunk, have sex, do drugs, and other self-centered, inconsiderate things because, well, you only live once so apparently you might as well just do whatever. I'm not exactly sure what the person who came up with the term intended, but I'd prefer to assume that it has been largely misconstrued. Instead of using it to party, we should be using it to show love and kindness. I mean, we only live once, right? We should give the $5 to the homeless man on the street. We should help the old lady in the grocery store who is trying to reach that can of green beans. We should hold the door for strangers. We should be showing Jesus' kindness throughout everyday life, in big and small ways, because this is the only life we have.