Pics Or It Didn’t Happen

Picture this: three girls, hand in hand and in mid-air just before they splash into the beautifully blue water below them…an impossibly delicious-looking waffle, topped with whipped cream and perfectly sliced strawberries, posing on a wooden table with a crisp white tablecloth, on a balcony overlooking the city at the break of dawn…a man in…

Making Choosing Life A Reality

“Choose life.” It’s a simple motto but a significant endeavor. I often see it posted on signs and hear it chanted at pro-life marches, but how does this choice play out in real life? Sometimes the choice is easy. We see excited parents-to-be posting ultrasounds on Facebook and having gender reveal parties for their tiny,…

What We Don’t Say Matters

Have you ever asked yourself how the words and actions that you say and/or do affect others? I think sometimes we are guilty of saying or doing things that we don’t recognize the effects they have on the people we encounter throughout our lives. I chose to talk with some other friends about the situation…

47 Reasons to Love

On August 10th 2005, my sixth little brother was born. August 11th 2005, my family was told he had Down syndrome. At the age of twelve I had no idea what this meant. Due to this, I assumed he would never be able to talk, walk, or laugh. When I went to the hospital I…

If The Body is a Gift, I Must Admit, I Didn’t Like Mine

Ever since I could remember I was hyper aware of my body and would study it in front of the mirror. I was a very insecure little girl always listening to my family call me “gorda” which is an endearing term in the Latino culture for “big-boned” . Once in the fifth grade, my teacher…

Being Unreservedly Yourself

“Christian heroism, and indeed one perhaps sees little enough of that, is to risk unreservedly being oneself.” -Soren Kierkegaard Growing up in this culture can have a way of making us forget who we are and what we have been created for. As a kid, I was super into music, art, and being straight up…

If I Respect Myself, Why Does Modesty Matter?

When I hear this question I immediately think of my past self that too had this same question. This only became more prevalent when I started working out and noticed how much my hard work was paying off. I know some girls can relate that while getting dressed we can many times really notice and…

Friendship with the Complementary Sex

We both left feeling unheard and rejected. My friend and I recently met with an important group of people, but left without getting a chance to share our ideas. I asked my friend what her thoughts were regarding the experience, and she expressed that, “they asked us for our opinions, but did not give us…