If showing all my cards means everyone gets to see that I cared, that I loved them, that I was excited to be here, then fine.

No matter how hard we try to be liked and loved by everyone in our lives and everyone we walk by, we all are the bad guy in someone's story.

Running filled a hole I didn’t even realize I had, but it filled it differently than anything else before.

It was a story about someone who kept choosing growth. Someone who took the hardest parts of his life and used them as proof that he was capable of more.

If five years of knowing Lyndsey has taught me anything, it's this: I hope I make people feel the way she has always made me feel—safe, celebrated, and completely at home. If I can do that for even a handful of people in my lifetime, I'll consider it a life well lived.

If anyone in this world deserves to be celebrated, it is, without a doubt, Jason and Heather Roenne.

New things have come into my life and old familiar ones have popped back up. Here is a list of some of the things I am all about and completely into right now!

I got my first tattoo with my sisters earlier this year. I absolutely love it! I've been wanting a tattoo for many years and this one specifically for about 3 years. I don't think all tattoos need to have a super deep meaning, but this one really does for me. Here is that meaning...

I know true love, true devotion, true friendship, and true selflessness exists because I have her.

Speak to yourself kindly, fill your head with fuel and positivity, and remember that no one talks to you more than yourself (take that seriously).

The same way those animals learn to stand. The same way the grass comes back. The same way the trees bloom like nothing ever happened.

If I become half the woman my mom is, I will consider my life a success.

I'm not talking suffering for the sake of suffering. I'm talking doing things that matter to you and bring joy to lives around you regardless of the effort required. You are worth fighting for.

Moving your body is not a consequence for existing. It is not payment for eating. It is not a sentence handed down because you want to look good in photos.

God wouldn’t make a heart as soft as mine, or build it like this, without making someone else who can hold it gently and courageously… right?

I look like my mother so of course I've been told I am beautiful. I've been called strong, smart, kind, athletic, bubbly, and many more. But there is a specific conversation I had my senior year of college that made me think to myself "I've done what I was put here to do."

Sundried tomatoes, tiny kittens, the smell of grass after it is mowed, a clear night sky where you can see the swirls of the galaxy, music that hits your brain just right, a perfect Pinterest board

I think that literature has a way of sinking deep into my bones. I feel words in a very strong and real way. I don't know if it is because of the stories, the way words are strung together, or something else. But I know that when I read words on a page, it impacts my brain more than a spoken word ever could. With this in mind, let me go through a list of the books that have influenced me the most throughout my life and why (where applicable). Little Kid (3-7 years old) Cordur

I used to think strength looked like exhaustion personified. Like being the busiest, the most worn-out, the one with the longest to-do list and the least sleep. I wore being tired like a badge of honor. If someone asked how I was, I think half the time I believed the honest answer was “busy” or “stressed.” I thought that proved something. I thought it meant I was working hard and doing more than everyone else. But this past year taught me something very different: You don’t h

These are the truths I know and have learned in my 24 years of living and loving: