Feeling Thankful!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it was the first holiday in quite some time that I truly enjoyed. My sister, mom, and I went to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 again. Just as awesome as the first time. :) Then, my sister and I colored at home while watching A Year Without a Santa Claus. I ended up going to bed really early and cuddling with my dog. It was such a great, chill day.

Today is our real Thanksgiving dinner! It's a day late because some of my uncle's family flew in today, so now that everyone's here, we're going to celebrate! Right now, I'm watching Elf  which, if you know me at all, you know is my absolute favorite Christmas movie ever. Actually, it's just one of my favorite movies in general. So as my Aunt Tracy freaks out while prepping the turkey for tonight, I'm writing to tell you what I'm feeling thankful for today!

I created this nifty collage for my post-of-the-day on Facebook yesterday, but I think it fits very well for this post too! (I'll try to go in some type of order of the pictures in the paragraph below.)

I'm thankful for my hilarious roommate, Haley; my beautiful puppy, Brady; the endless amounts of concerts I get to go to and bands I get to meet; my annoyingly perfect (and sassy) sister; my Internet friends- who have become in-real-life friends; Kenz MY BABY; movies that have utterly changed my life; Anjelica, Annastacia, Sabrina, Manny, Ben, Keoni, Michael; Young Life; my fantastic and perfect mother; my tattoos (and future tattoos); Komiac family; TAYLOR- my longest friend; the building of equality in the world; the 2nd East girls at school (my floor rocks); where I live; DIEFA THE LOVE OF MY LIFE; Shannon and Natasha- who are also great concert buddies; the Disney/Universal trip I got to go on; my Disney girls; and the college I get to go to.

Never in my life have I been this happy and content. Every day when I walk out of my dorm, I think "I love where I live." Every day! How cool is that? I'm so lucky.

And the support system I have? It's crazy! I've got friends back in Michigan; friends in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky; friends from high school in Washington and friends from college here too; and all my Internet friends- some of which live nearby and some of which are from all over the world. Not to mention my awesome pen pals from all over Europe.

I know that an insane amount of people have got my back and that they all want to see me do well in life. It's such a good feeling to know I'm loved. And trust me, I'll love them forever.

It's true that I've been through a lot of difficult obstacles, but all those hardships created the person I am today. And I like who I am- yeah, I'm working on some stuff, but we all are. I'm proud of what I stand for and who I'll stand behind. I'm a work in progress, a lover of life, and a very thankful girl.

Happy holidays, everyone! 

-Jordan xx

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jordan_Winans

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/jordanashleywinans

Vlogging YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/jordanwinansvlogs

Tumblr: www.battle-wound.com

Instagram: @wtvr.jordan

College Update #2 + ADVICE FOR HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS

There are 2 different parts to this blog (as you can see in the title), so I'd first like to start off with the advice I have for high school friends.

I've visited my high school a few times to say hi to the dance team- and being back in that building brings on a lot of thoughts. I was there today thinking about what I wish I could go back and change, so now here I am, writing this blog.

Okay, right. So. High school. You're stuck there. You have absolutely no choice but to show up and attend class and it sucks. It totally does. I hated every minute of high school. But I wish I could go back and tell myself something along the lines of: "You're stuck here. But it's only for 4 years which, in the grand scheme of things, is not very long at all. And while you're stuck here, you have 2 choices: to try and make the most out of every day, or to be completely and utterly miserable." I chose the 2nd option. I wish I could go back and choose the 1st.

So to my lovely high school friends out there... I'm about to sound like every annoying adult you've ever met. You've just got to get through 4 years. Think about how long the average life lasts. Chances are, you'll be around for a long time and you'll look back and those 4 years will seem like a blur. They do to me- and I've only been graduated for a few months. Life gets better. I'm so happy that I stuck it out and made it because my life is really awesome now.

High school can be great. You just have to try to make it great. And I know you can. You've got this. 4 years and then you're free. Make the best of those years because you don't want to be the one looking back and regretting things. Go to football games and participate in spirit days and be friendly to strangers in the hallway. Be the best version of you that you can be. Your future self will thank you for it later.

NOW- College Update Part 2!

We had a "Hues of SPU" color run! It was so great. It was the first time that I had any type of "bonding experience" with my floor too.

We went on a retreat! My dorm building (Ashton) took a trip to Camp Casey on Whidbey Island- which is owned by our school. It was a fantastic time and I really got to know a lot of girls on my floor better. We even won one of the games! The location was stunning and making new friends was so much fun.

I started going to Young Life at The Inn- which is in U District. There, I joined up for a small group- which is pretty much a Bible study. There's a group of us and we're all freshman girls. 2 of us are from SPU and the rest are from UW. They're all really lovely people and so far, I'm really loving the time we spend together.

So, of course I've been to a lot of concerts recently. There was Bad Suns and The Neighbourhood. It was awesome. There were quite a few Twitter friends there too- so that's always nice!

The Neighbourhood really surprised me because they were totally better live and that usually doesn't happen. It was a really wonderful concert.

Twenty one pilots were brilliant. Such amazing performers. It was a really fun night- even though I was totally exhausted from having Bad Suns and The NBHD the previous night.

Echosmith opened for twenty one pilots! They're  so amazing live, and they're also really kind people. It's always nice meeting bands to see what they're really like. And it's even nicer when they turn our to be humble and welcoming.

My USEM class is great! One day, we all walked to a bakery, got coffee, and then had class right by the water. Absolutely amazing.

For Halloween, I was Tris from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth!

On Halloween, my sister- Jenna- and I went to a concert for Against The Current. They were kind and fantastic, as always. It was Jenna's first front row experience, so that was cool. And the bands' costumes were incredible!

The most recent concert I went to was Halsey. She's my absolute favorite artist of the moment and it was rad to be able to experience my first concert of hers with some awesome Twitter friends and my sister. I hope she comes back soon. I'm completely obsessed with her music and everything she stands for. If you haven't listened to her music or seen her tweets, I suggest you go do those things. You won't be disappointed!

All in all, things have been going pretty well. I mean, there's a ridiculous amount of homework and my to-do list is never ending, but oh well. I've been blessed with some phenomenal experiences. I'm so lucky. College rocks. My roommate rocks. My floor rocks. My Twitter friends rock. Life rocks.

And I'm happy. I hope you are too.

-Jordan xx

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jordan_Winans

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/jordanashleywinans

Vlogging YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/jordanwinansvlogs

Tumblr: www.battle-wound.com

Instagram: @wtvr.jordan