just alyssa

To my best friend's guy: So you're dating my best friend. Let me start by saying, I am NOT your enemy. I know there are tons of girls who are overprotective of their best friends and often interrogate you and might sometimes be hostile, but I am here as your friend. I am here to tell you that I am on your side, because I am on her side. Let me first tell you about our friendship. She and I have been friends for years. I've been there for all the heartbreaks and all the loves. I've seen her at her best and at her worst. We've laughed together. We've cried together. She will eat literally anything I cook and we always eat off each others' plates at restaurants. We stay up late searching new bands and finding new songs to fall in love with. She's always bringing me little gifts, just because that's the kind of person she is. She's that friend who is 10,000 times more attractive than me, but still firmly believes we are equal. S...

There comes a time when you finally hit that age where relationships, kids, and families start to come into the picture. You do the job thing and your life starts to take its natural course....or it's supposed to. The societal norm would be to go to college, meet your dream partner, get a job, get married, buy a house with a white picket fence, and have babies. Voila. You've done it. But what I don't understand is how this went from being a dream to an actual goal. People who get engaged look at it as some sort of success. A success of what? Capturing someone's heart? Finally following what society has shown you to be the "norm"? I, too, have had these same ambitions. They have just looked a little different. I am extraordinarily selfish, in that, I chose not to date in college (setting aside the fact that I literally didn't have the time) because I didn't want it to get in the way of what I was trying to accomplish. I didn't want a distr...

There's 2 things I've learned about life. 1st, nothing is set up to go my way. 2nd, I'll be okay. Sometimes, we grow up, convincing ourselves of the perfect life we will lead. We think, "Well today isn't so great, but 10 years from now, I won't even notice." I'm sure there comes a time when that statement is true, but so far--I remember 10 years ago just as much as I remember yesterday. Our pasts shape us into who are. The experiences we have. The friendships we develop. The faults in all of our perfectly laid plans. Recently, after quitting my job in social work, where I was for the past year, I was told that I looked happier and healthier. Really? After a week in a new position, I'm healthier? My position was definitely a struggle and I knew that. I just didn't realize how much it effected other people in my life. It was emotionally taxing in more than one way. I'm so used to helping other people and trying to be their ...

If there's one thing I've learned in my 23 years of living, it's that sometimes life doesn't go my way. In fact, it rarely does. There are always those days when it feels like literally everything is stacked against me. Like I'm just trying and trying to climb over the great wall of China. Sometimes I grab my climbing gear and go at it with nothing but pure determination. Other days, I stand staring at its height in fear. Anymore, I feel like I've become increasingly weary of the world. The older I get, the more taste of negativity I experience. I've seen a lot of the ugly parts of the world. And sometimes I know I let those ugly parts dictate my life. It's so easy to forget what we're supposed to learn. We should always make things into life lessons. Just learn from it and move on. THAT is soooooooo much easier said than done. But today I sat, terrified, of today's outcomes. I woke up feeling like everything was going to fa...

Breaking up. That phrase is powerful and painful, all in the same movement. It symbolizes the end of something, along with the shattering pieces of hearts. But it can also be a revelation or a fresh start. A friend of mine just went through another intense break-up. She was having a hard time dealing and she asked me, why did we break up? What a loaded question. There are literally dozens of answers to that question. You weren't right for each other. The timing was off. He didn't do this....you didn't do that. Blah blah blah. But the real question here, is "Why do WE break up?" Why do relationships end? Relationships are a topic I'm very comfortable attacking. I give advice again, and again, and again, reassuring people on the decisions they've made. Break-ups are hard. Heck, dating is hard! Regardless of how many times we say that it's not, dating is - IN FACT - a game. The biggest problem that leads to break-ups and arguments ...

In life, failing is inevitable.  Not everything is going to lead us into a perfect success story.  We're going to get knocked down and thrown under the bus many times before we feel like we've truly succeeded in something.  The problem is, those failures lead us to a fear of trying.  Rejection is a cold, evil feeling and rips you to pieces,  leaving you an empty vessel that you try so desperately to fill with something else.  Rejection comes in many forms and as we grow older, we'll continue to be rejected by life.  In fact, we are life's rejections.  We are not perfect nor is humanity.  We are flawed human beings trying to figure out what we want in life. Most of us hope our lives will look like the movies. That we'll all find love with that perfect someone and our lives will just fall into place. Unfortunately, life isn't the movies and we all don't just find love waiting around the corner. We have to go out and ...

Having been a girl my entire life, I can't help but notice the difficulties of being a female that the male gender just wouldn't understand. They will never face these challenges. Perhaps this will give them a new perspective. To all the men in our lives: Here are some problems that are 100% "Girl Problems" (To be clear, not EVERY woman is exactly like this and while this is a generalization to cover many women, it in no way is meant as a stereotype or to be generalized to all women.) **Bobby pins and hairbands --WHERE DO THEY GO?!?! **Need milk, bread, and makeup. Only enough money for one. Makeup it is. **Favorite bra is dirty......can't febreze it anymore **Bathing suits --HUGE issue 1. Bikini tops and bottoms must be bought separately --due to size differences 2. Expensive! 3. Busty girls cannot buy one-pieces :( 4. They leave you practically naked 5. We'll never look like that girl in the magazines **HAIR - Where to begin?? All o...