thebabyperks

I had another post ready to share today but I felt that I needed to talk about this today as I was walking home from the gym and got a notification on my phone.


I really try not to express my political views on my blog. Now if you know me personally you know I don't shy away from talking about my distaste for our current political climate, but I really do try to stay away from it on this platform. You may ask yourself why. I don't want to have to debate through a comment section. I don't like that I have to scroll through Facebook posts from people at my church calling me a "anti-American" for my political views, because last time I checked I was pretty supportive of my country (even in the midst of this turmoil). 

And trust me, I recognize the other side, too. And if you're on the other side, please don't take this as me attacking you. I'm not. I'm simply stating something I don't agree with and I hope you can respect that, just like I respect your opinions. I can respect your opinions and work for change, though.

See, the moment I got this notification I sent this screenshot to my mom. Please tell me how we live in a nation where our leader thinks a possible solution is to arm teachers? Not only do I strongly disagree with this, but I have so many questions regarding it.

1) How are you going to go about funding every public school teacher in the nation with gun training and a gun? (Especially when you're already cutting $9.2 billion in funding for education, according to NPR)

2) What happens if a school shooter comes in and now instead of having one gunman you have 20+ because every teacher is shooting. Think about the difficulties for law enforcement and first responders going into that scene.

3)Think of all of the incidents that could occur with that amount of guns in schools. How many "accidental" shootings, how many "oh a student broke into the lock" stories would come out. You may argue not a lot or potentially less that the going rate of school shootings, but guess what-- 1 incident is too many.

Teachers don't go into teaching to wield guns. They go into their careers to educate the future generations. Never in a million years did I think I'd ever have to be worried about my mom going to work to teach a classroom of 5-6 year olds.

I truly don't understand how President Trump listened to the parents of victims and students themselves and thought that the answer was to arm teachers. 

The answer is obvious but sadly will never be accomplished. Politicians have to put politics aside and put the safety of the nation's children at top priority.

So about your guns... No I don't want to get rid of all your guns. All I want is a little bit more regulation, and guess what all of you people I know who are so passionate about your guns will get to keep them. Would I like to see militarized weapons like the AR-15 not allowed, sure. No person needs a weapon like that. But realistically I think it's fair to ask that you can keep all your guns (of all types) if you just beef up your paperwork.

Some may call me naive for wanting to live in a world where I don't fear my future kids going through a school shooting. "Danger is always out there" is true, but school shootings don't need to be a part of that narrative. 

And some may argue that these people will still have access to guns, but that's inevitable. Drugs are illegal but people still do drugs and ruin people's lives. But if we can get stricter gun laws and maybe save one or two children, that's one or two more children who get to grow up, pursue their dreams, and live the life they wanted. That's two children whose parents who don't have to visit them in a graveyard. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Until next time,
Taylor xx

**All of these thoughts are my own, they do not necessarily reflect the views of my friends or family**

Do you want to know a secret? 

I use my blog posts as an accountability tool. See if I'm being honest I didn't really sign up for my half marathon when I made that post about it. I made the post so that I would follow through on that commitment. I have to stay true to my word when 100+ people now know about it. That's partially why I'm sharing my story today.

If you're one of my close friends you know about my struggle with acne and inflamed skin, feeling sick/bloated, and overall just not feeling 100% of myself. In mid-November I vividly recall so desperately wanting a Domino's pineapple and ham pizza so I ordered one, ate it and felt my stomach twist and turn. So since around that point I began vocalizing to my friends about how I should go gluten free and that I thought I had an intolerance but I did nothing about it.

Surprise- Bread Co's oatmeal is gluten free... but really this photo has no relevance to this post I just needed to put a picture in or else a picture of my skin would be attached with the preview of this post and I didn't want that.

I told myself that over winter break I'd go gluten free but then the holiday treats surrounded me and, trust me, I didn't come close to being gluten free.

That led me into this semester. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I did A TON of research and it was challenging because some was mixed and other things I read made it clear that I had some sort of gluten intolerance. I found hope when I discovered a fitness YouTuber, Sarah's Day. She also suffered with gut problems and hormonal acne similar to mine. As I watched more and more of her content I realized how similar our stories were.

I decided to do a little trial and I went gluten free for 7 days (January 31-February 6). I started to notice an improvement in how I felt both in my energy and mood. But then on February 7 I ate some pasta and I was ready to have that sinking feeling again, but it didn't happen instantly like with the pizza. So I thought "well maybe I'm overreacting." Over the course of the next 5 days (Feb 7-11) I started consuming gluten again. Which leads me to two days ago. I felt so drained and demotivated. I was bloated, unhappy and my skin started to itch again. I talked with my friend Kaitlyn who is gluten intolerant about my symptoms and they aligned with hers. So as of Monday, February 12 I started going gluten free again. 

I've already noticed some positives- my mood improving, my motivation to work out going back up, etc. 

I do still have a dermatologist appointment scheduled to get a professional opinion on my skin, but I have a feeling that cutting out gluten will vastly help. I have documented my skin through photos so if my skin really clears up by the time I go to the dermatologist I will still have pictures to show him.

Here are some photos of me without makeup around September/October. I have more recent ones but they're just me staring deadpan into the camera and I don't really want those on the Internet forever.

Ignore the weird cropping

I am really excited to have a (potential) answer to why my body felt like it did. I know going gluten free will be challenging at times especially when living a college lifestyle but I also know I am going to feel 10x better because of it.

Until next time,
Taylor xx

PS: Even if I am not gluten intolerant, I mentally and physically feel better when I don't eat it and that's a good enough reason for me to cut it out of my diet. When I go home for spring break I will most likely meet with a doctor to see if my suspicions are confirmed.

Hello my good friends, I am back (finally) with another blog post. For some reason the past few weeks have been booked, I never seem to have a free moment.

Most of my friends get onto me because I haven't seen a majority of the "classic" TV shows or movies. I honestly don't know why I don't watch a ton of movies or TV, I really don't know what I do when I do have free time. I have watched shows like "Parks and Recreation," "Criminal Minds" and "Gossip Girl," but usually I choose to watch random documentaries on Netflix. 

My problem may be that I'm picky... if a show doesn't grab my attention and really reel me in, I abandon it. For every show like "Gossip Girl" or "Parks and Rec" there's a show similar to it that I should watch but I don't like, for example "One Tree Hill" or "The Office." Or because I don't have a ton of free time I end up just playing "Criminal Minds" in the background while I do homework. 

I promise I'm trying to work on my knowledge of movies/TV, and that's what I'm writing about today. See I watched a movie that really made me think (and I wasn't expecting it too) and I'm watching a TV show that has truly drawn me in.

First, the movie, or rather the muscial.

"The Greatest Showman" was a movie/musical I thought I would enjoy but then walk out of the theater and forget about. With so much hype I knew I wanted to see it but, again, wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. But even now, 3+ weeks out I have still caught myself listening to the soundtrack on Spotify and thinking about the story. Sure, it wasn't my most favorite movie of all time but I really did enjoy it. I would recommend everyone see it. While watching it in the theater was enchanting, watching it once it's out to rent would suffice, too. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was that it was relatable. Everyone has these huge dreams at one point of their life or another where they make it big, are famous and have everything they could have ever wished for. But then it also addresses what really is your dream, what (or who) are you living for and how much can you push the boundaries to make it. It got me thinking about my future and what I wish to accomplish. 

Last is a Hulu original, "The Handmaid's Tale." I have a student Spotify account which means I get Hulu for free. I hadn't heard of "The Handmaid's Tale" until watching part of the Golden Globes where I saw a trailer for it (and it won best TV drama). Dramas always intrigue me and I thought I would check it out. It is so good. There's a precaution before every episode that it's for mature audiences which I agree they should have, but I would say it's more "raw" than graphic. I cannot begin to describe how "The Handmaid's Tale" has made me rethink how our world today works. Basically, this show is set in a dystopia when the remaining fertile women have been collected (ripped from their families) to help the government officials continue their legacy by bearing their children. But do the handmaids get to be married to these men? No. The government officials have wives who can't get pregnant so the handmaids are there for that "service" and that service only. This series had me invested since episode one and the ideas the show raises are eerily  similar to that of "Black Mirror"-- too close to comfort for one day in the future.

My favorite kind of entertainment is that which makes me think. If I watch a show I want to be engrossed in the plot line, characters, and their future. These two have really done that for me and I wanted to share with all my friends that I am watching more shows (so be proud of me).

Until next time,
Taylor xx