Explore the Eastside

A day in the wonderful town of East Grand Rapids, it was amazing to explore the newly remodeled Breton Village, we shopped in Lululemon, Anthropologie, JB and Me, and a couple other stores. For lunch, we enjoyed the wonderful Anne's House and then quickly shot a couple photoshoots before the crazy snow storm began. I was in my Downtown Field Jacket from J.Crew, a cute cream top from Loft, black Pixie pants from Old. Navy and brown boat shoes from Sperry's. A comfortable outfit on a cold winter afternoon was a way to go! Enjoy

Spring semester has just started as I can't wait to express the joys and triumphs that it brings. I will be doing a blog post soon about it within the first couple weeks of school. I hope everyone had a wonderful first day back to the routine. 

Wicked- The Broadway Musical

It has been a dream of mine to see a Broadway musical especially by the name of Wicked and on Tuesday October 24th, it came true. My Aunt Susan bought us ticket to the Wicked show so it became a girl's night out. The show was at the DeVos Performance Hall in downtown Grand Rapids at 7:30pm. With seeing the Wizard of Oz as a child, I knew the concept of the prequel for the musical but to finally understand on why the characters are reason that they are within the musical is eye opening. I highly recommend seeing Wicked whenever it comes to your town, it is definitely worth the money. I wore a simple cream Vineyard Vines cashmere sweater with dark J.Crew toothpick jeans and cute tan booties with small heel attached. It was raining outside so I wore my orange raincoat to keep me dry between traveling times. I kept my jewelry every simple to my Kendra Scott Elsa pendant with my Pandora rings.

I was so excited that last week was fall break for Aquinas and I wasn't stressing over midterms or final papers. Even though last week went by really fast, I'm glad to have a break from reality now that my credits will be dropping down from 18 to 14 now that my two quads have ended. The stress levels will at an all time low with now more time for blogging and homework. I hope that fall season may still be upon us as winter may be coming closer than what we thought.

Homecoming With A Twist

Being now an alumni of Thornapple Kellogg, it always has became a tradition to relive memories around the old stopping grounds of Middleville. Homecoming is a big deal filled with a main street parade, tailgating with family and friends, and Friday night football. This year of football got a new coach with new expectations. A close mentor and teacher Jeff Dock took over the football team with hopes of changing the team dynamics. I admire him for always taking a challenge and going head strong into them. Since in Michigan, the first day of fall was a high of 90 degrees, shorts and a tank top became an essential for the heat. I wore a simple orange tank top/crop top that I bought from a local consignment store in Grand Rapids and white boardwalk pull-on shorts from J.Crew Factory. These shorts are very comfortable and versatile to wear. My tank top was long enough to not show off my stomach but covered the hemp of the shorts. I accessorized with a J.Crew Factory layered circle necklace, my Relic watch, a pearl bracelet and a couple Pandora rings.

Unfortunately Friday morning, in a simple soccer drill, I rolled over the ball, heard a "pop" and down I went clutching my ankle. As being a soccer player, my ankles have always been an issue but this time was different. My ankle swelled up like a baseball ball instantly as Matt (our trainer at Aquinas) quickly made me ice my ankle. I have honestly never seen my ankle get a large as it did. Matt quickly went back to the athletic training room (that was across campus) to grab a walking boot and crutches to stabilize the ankle and be my transportation for the next couple of days. Three days later, there is still swelling in my ankle but hopefully can get X-rays by today or within the week.


Homecoming at Aquinas was over this weekend as well. Since we don't have a football team, many fellow alumni, current students and teachers come out to the soccer games on Saturday while enjoying the beer tent and other activities around campus. As I stated before the temperatures were near high 90's which meant on the turf was ten degrees hotter. Our game was originally suppose to be at noon but the heat index was low 100's so we had to make a quick decision to delay both the men's and women's games to later in the evening. Our game got delayed till five in the afternoon, when we arrived the field was still in the high 90's and we delayed it for thirty more minutes. We finally had our game and lost 1-0 to the third ranked team in the NAIA. It was difficult to sit on the sidelines but it was awesome to see other teammates step up to the plate when time was needed.

This homecoming was definitely one for the books as I have never hated crutches this much in my life. The ankle is still on the mend as there is still some swelling but I still may need X-rays. I hope everyone's upcoming week into October goes great!

Picking the Right College for You

While choosing the right college for you can be the most nerve wracking situation that a senior goes through as the process is long and hard. My college story is unlike anyone's. In October of my senior year, I had my dream already set with attending school at Olivet College to continue on playing soccer while the thought of studying Education (like my mom). During the week of my graduation in May, Olivet decided after many hard years within the hardship of the education system and low numbers in the classroom for Education major in the upcoming years, the college itself called it quits of the major all together. I was devastated with the news that my new major was dropped. I had to decide whether to say and possibly take my basic courses at Olivet or transfer to a new college before fall semester starts. Being absolutely clueless on what path to take or what would be considered the “right path”. My mom went to a bridal party of a family friend and ran into the Aquinas College Women’s Soccer assistant coach who told me to come check out the campus and the team. So in the middle of June, I took a college visit to AQ and found my home. I don't think that I would be happier anywhere else. I fell in love with the openness of the campus, how in a small range the buildings are and the freedom of not being home but still knowing that I can go home whenever I wanted to.

                                            Types of Colleges:

With my college process throughout high school, I had two list for what types of colleges that I would have wanted to attend. One list was if I wasn’t playing soccer and the other was of colleges that I would consider for playing soccer. The type of college that I wanted for being a traditional student would be a larger college and probably join a sorority. I would be probably be at Central Michigan University, studying a major that would be involved with children.

When deciding a college to play soccer for, it was completely different as I wanted a smaller college that would be more personable with my professors and coaches… I also wanted to have a life outside of soccer instead of it being a full time job while being at a Division 1 or 2 school. Being at a NAIA school, it’s not about traveling around to different states almost every weekend or during the week (of course, missing school) but more being local and traveling a couple of hours to play games. Typically we spend a weekend playing multiple games (conference or non-conference). This year we will be spending the first weekend of school and soccer in Chicago playing two teams (one on Friday and one on Saturday). It is a new change that will be happening this fall and I cannot wait to share with you on my adventures.

Ultimately, it is your decision whether what type of college you are wanting to attend. Take as many college tours as you want to get the experience of a small, medium, or large campus. Also, do a pro/cons list if you are unsure on the decision you are going to make. Do make sure that the college of your choice has your major or at least a route to be similar with your interest. As I am a Psychology Major with the Concentration of Child Life, my major of Child Life is slowing being organized to become its own title. Plus it is your life and your decision in the end (do not forget about that)!!

                                                 Class Sizes:

One things that I really enjoyed about Aquinas is the adaptability of the different sizes of the classrooms. With the ability to have smaller class sizes, I wanted to be personable with my professors whether than not just being a random person that a professor may not know. The class sizes are so different than being at a large university as my smallest class was eleven people and the largest class would be forty people.  Many of my classes are standard while spending two days in the classroom once a week, others have been half online and then days in the classrooms. Be open on the willingness to adventure out with your classes to experience which professor is a great one or a not so good one. There has been plenty of professors that I have experienced that were absolutely amazing, who helped me develop as a student and professor that I struggled in their class who also did not want help their students even visiting their office hours. With the topic of office hours, if your professors does have available office hours, GO TO THEM! I cannot stress it enough, if you do not understand material or have additional questions... GO! Professors love having students come to their office.

                                        Extracurricular Activities:

Find a college that will be able to make you happy in all situations within the social aspect. Whether you play IM sports (Intramural) such as soccer, basketball, or volleyball it will more or less keep you entertain and looking forward to in the week. At Aquinas, we have a convention called Saint Slam where all the clubs and organization basically recruit new members for their group. Of course, there is free food and tons of free items to take back home or to your dorm room. Also, dorm life is a lot of fun and probably one of my favorite memories while staying at Aquinas. I still keep in touch with my freshman roommate who is still one of my best friends, meeting her was a blessing!

I hope the beginning of school goes smoothly this next week or so (unless you started today)! Enjoy your last week of summer! Study hard and get your rest!

Summer Seersucker

At the beginning of July, Lauren James had their annual BIG SALE! I was up at one o'clock in the morning, and I was impressed by the amazing deals. I’ve always lusted after their striped Bow Shorts. They're adorable, and have hints of the classic seersucker. I read countless reviews about sizing. I ended up choosing to buy the shorts in a large for extra room around the thighs and waist. I am always nervous when buying from a company online, when I cannot physically try on the items in my cart. My risk must have paid off, because I’m in love with these shorts! They fit like a glove. The length is not too short, but not too long; a comfortable and classy mid-length. The shorts are perfect to wear while walking downtown in Grand Rapids, and staying comfortable and cute while having fun. During the summer or spring, these shorts would be essential to wear. I'm already obsessed already, and can't wait to buy more from Lauren James!

Traveling downtown Grand Rapid is always wonderful when finding hidden gems around the city.

Your Day Just Got Better in Lauren James.

Daily Life of A Student Athete

People ask me "How do I have to manage being a student athlete?" During the fall, my schedule is completely crazy and full of soccer and school. Times get stressful when it seems like all due dates come together with barely any time left to finish them while having soccer games once a week then one on the weekend. In the fall, soccer become my full time job along with being a student.

I start the morning off with practice from 9-11am, then classes start at 1-4pm, along with finding time to eat and study turns to a long day. When the game during the week, especially away games can become stressful as the possibility of missing class becomes an issue. At Aquinas, our coaches always believe that school comes first as that was the reason we came to this school to further our education.

During season, I'm constantly staying in contact with my professors of my schedule for the week. Emailing back and forth of assignments that I may possibly miss if our bus time is during class. Professors are typically understanding of college athletes and their schedules but also hold us to a higher standard to complete papers, assignments, or to know the material that would be missed during lecture. Professors will respect you more when you continue to make the effort to communicate on your conflicts and questions.

I live by organizing my life into my Lilly Pulitzer agenda where I write down all the assignments, paper due dates, test dates, along with my soccer and work schedule. My agenda becomes my best friend especially at night when figuring out the next day. I don't know how some people can just remember what assignments are due when they don't write anything down.

As a commuter (I will be living at home for the year), I have tried to organize my schedule to only have classes on certain days to give the rest of the weekdays to catch up on homework. Also it will give my body take a break from the craziness.

If my body is beaten up or strained from game day or practice then I will often go visit our athletic trainer's room to do slight physical therapy, to get rolled out before and after practice, or to get taped on whatever muscle needs it (I have terrible ankles and had knee surgery December of 2015). Our athletic trainer for soccer knows many of the soccer girls really well as we basically live in the trainer's room.

Being a college athlete is a blessing as I met amazing women who have the same amount of passion to commit on playing college soccer. Playing a college sport has taught me life lessons of patience, commitment, and toughness (mentally and physically). I seriously don't know how we (student athletes) survive on most days. It's a miracle.

Paisley In The Park

I absolutely love traveling downtown Grand Rapids, especially in the spring. Michigan weather constantly changes and when I say it...I mean it. It finally stopped raining after a week long of showers to have one day that the weather was beautiful out. So Ellie (my sister) and I headed to explore downtown and the museums of Gerald R. Ford and the Grand Rapids Public. We ate lunch at the Sundance Grill and Bar which was super yummy! I kept my outfit very simple to finally break out my Victoria Beckham Pleated Blush shorts and an adorable navy blue J.CREW Painter tee. I really wanted to bring the adorable pattern within the shorts with a simple top.  I kept my jewelry to just my Kendra Scott Elsa Necklace, simple pearl earrings, and my Pandora birthstone ring. I am definitely excited to continue to wear these shorts more within the summer.

The whole collection is on sale at Target so definitely keep your eyes out in the clearance section for Victoria Beckham pieces. I am very happy to share the simple pieces that are for sure bold enough in any closet. Cheers to the summer sales!