Writing by Rylanne

I don’t talk about books that often (aside from the occasional review) on my personal blog. I have other platforms I use to talk more about books. However, yesterday I realized something that broke my heart. So far this year, I’ve read 70 books. I own over 270 books. I’m not currently home to go through my shelves, but I am absolutely sure that a majority of the books I read and own are by white authors. Now don’t get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with supporting white authors and buying their books. But something that I did realize is that I hardly ever buy or read books from Black authors. I never purposely avoided these books. . . it just kind of happened. I have realized that I need to do better about supporting Black authors and learning through them. There are so many amazing books out there that discuss racism, have Black main characters, etc., in a variety of different genres. I had never sought out these books with intent, and I wish I had. I wish I had realized earlier ...

I really like this quote by Morgan Harper Nichols that says, "You are not too much. You are free to feel and trust: even here, you are worthy of love." (Side note: if you've never read anything by this woman, PLEASE DO. Like, right now. Her beautiful words have provided so much encouragement to me over the past several months, and I highly recommend using her posts as wallpapers on your phone as a constant encouragement :)). Okay, so this post is probably going to be aimed more towards the ladies, but it is most certainly my dream that anyone could read this post and take something away from it- a piece of encouragement for yourself or advice to pass along to someone else. Every morning as I get ready for the day, I look in the mirror. Most days, the first thing I notice is my flaws: my skin that has been breaking out for weeks because of stress, my hair that gets dirty so easily because of how fine it is, the fat around my stomach and chin, or the fact that I feel ...

People have never been my strong-suit. I am awkward, quiet, and don't always know exactly what to say when it comes to having conversations with and reaching out to people. "Introvert" is practically my middle name (you can ask anyone who actually knows me, and they can confirm this for you haha). Getting attached to people is really scary for me a lot of times. There is always that fear of getting hurt. Of getting left behind. Of being betrayed. There are always those "what-ifs?" that come into play with almost any situation we get ourselves into, whether it be relational, educational, physical, etc. "What if I don't get a good grade on this paper or exam?" "What if I push myself too hard in this activity?" There is hardly ever a clear, sure answer to anything. That's a part of life. Uncertainty is just something that we have to learn to accept and live with. And yeah, it's hard. So, so hard- especially when it comes to people ...

Hey there, readers! Long time, no see ;) This last year has been an extremely crazy time of growth and change, and as 2019 has finally come to a close, I just wanted to give a quick recap on the year and some of the stuff I have learned in the hopes to provide some encouragement to y'all who may be going through something in your life right at this moment. Life is what you make of it, and what you make of it alone. Nobody, and I mean NOBDOY, gets to define how life goes for you, and nobody has the right to make judgements about you. You get to make your own decisions and choices, and you should choose what is going to make you happy!! Make the right decisions, but at the same time, be good to yourself- you deserve to be happy. ♥ People are overwhelming. Life is overwhelming. It is okay to take a break and be alone for a little bit. You deserve time alone to relax and recharge. You aren't required to always be out and about with other people. This is something I had been strugg...

For the past several years now, Hebrews 6:19 has been a verse that I have clung to in times of struggle and pain. I oftentimes hold it to be my favorite verse from the Bible, and though this is true, I have recently realized that this verse can be encouraging whether or not I am in a time of trouble. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure," the passage reads. God is an anchor in our lives, so grounded within us that He provides a security in which we can find hope. Most of the time, I find myself reciting Hebrews 6:19 when something stressful has happened in school, in relationships with people, or when things just aren't going right in general. It is the passage I quote when my day is rocky and doesn't go according to plan. In the hard times, hard times, hard times. However, as I have been learning so much about life and my faith the past several weeks, I have realized that this verse is such an encouragement in the peaceful times as well. Ther...

Hello my beautiful, beautiful friends! After two months of no new posts, I am finally back and looking forward to writing more now that I have adjusted to college after one month of being here. I have really missed writing, but I hope that now I can take the next step with my work and reach an even greater number of people with encouragement, advice, and hopefully a smile as well :) OKAY. So most of y'all know that I have been at college for a month now (honestly surprised that I have survived for this long HAHAHA, the homework here is pretty rough. . . for me at least hehehe). In all honesty, being so far from home and having to adjust to a totally new, foreign stage of life definitely was not as easy for me as I had originally hoped. I was so excited to start this new adventure back in August, that I never really stopped to think about all of the things that would change once I moved in and started my classes. Saying goodbye to my parents and siblings in August was for sure...

Hi, my beautiful people. Today I am going to be sharing some really tough and personal stuff. I am not writing to receive sympathy or anything like that, but I am writing because hopefully by the end of this post, I will have encouraged some of you in way you may or may not have realized you needed. :) For those of you who don't know me very well, I graduated from high school a little more than a month ago and will be heading to Liberty University in Virginia in just under two months (GO FLAMES!). Anyways, haha, I am super excited about the future, and while it may seem as though my senior year had been all fun and games just from looking at my Instagram and other social media posts, it has been, in fact, the hardest year of my life. However, I am super happy now and hope to spread some joy to you too! Yes, you. The person who is reading this right now. ;) Now, I'm not going to get into all of the details of this long year just because there really is no need to, but one ...

During the past two weeks, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to and explore Italy and Germany with a group of friends. Though I got back on Sunday night, I am still in shock over my experience and find it hard to write about everything I did and saw during my time overseas; however, I am going to try my absolute best because I really want to share my experience with you all! I'm going to start with our airport experience. . . (: Okay, the flights to Milan, Italy literally suckedddddd. We flew up to Detroit on Saturday for a short layover, but when we got on the plane to Amsterdam, we sat on the ground for two hours due to freezing rain that was circulating in the sky. Because we were delayed for so long getting to Amsterdam, we missed our flight to Milan. Immediately after we landed in The Netherlands (oh, I also thought Amsterdam was in Germany, so it was a fun surprised to find out that it is in fact, not in Germany haha), we sprinted through two gates to make it to the Mi...

Story time! During my sophomore year (so like, almost exactly two years ago haha), I had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica on a mission trip with my school. During the trip, I got the chance to help ticos (Costa Rican children) through VBS and high school programs in schools throughout the San José region. Unfortunately, on approximately the third day of the trip, I got really hurt and extremely sick. I ended up being sick and practically unable to walk for most of the trip and had to sit out of so many activities that the rest of the LCA team got to participate in. However, even though I didn't get to be involved in the "up front" situations such as leading music, stories, and playing games with the kiddos, that didn't stop me from working behind the scenes! For multiple days in a row, I spent hours cutting out kids crafts, sorting items needed for VBS, and organizing medical supplies. Even though I couldn't be as active as I wanted, getting to help out in an...

Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV) says, "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Wow, those are some powerful words! They have meaning to me personally, and I hope they do for you too. For so many of us, our lives are constantly full of busy activities from school, to homework, to sports, to jobs, to friends and family, to just wanting to enjoy life. More often than not, my day to day life just feels like a cycle: wake up, exist, go to sleep. Over and over and over and over and over again. Did I mention over and over again? Exactly. A continuous cycle that never ends and never changes. Life is tiring, isn't it? However, there is hope! Oh, sweet friends, there is so much hope. Cliché, I know, but ...

Hi, friends! If you're anything like me, life is crazy busy and full of time spent with school, homework, college classes, sports, church, and other extracurricular activities. It's been a struggle learning how to balance a hectic schedule this year because I have been involved with so many activities both in and out of school, but I have grown a lot through this season of my life and would love to share some tips with y'all! Specifically, I am going to focus on my school life and how to juggle hard classes while still trying to find time to relax :) 1. Study with friends. One of my favorite things about school is getting the opportunity to be with my friends for seven hours Monday-Friday (and sometimes even on weekends haha). I have every class with a few different groups of friends, so we oftentimes have lots of the same homework and have to deal with same stress levels. . . hehe. If you and your friends have the same class schedule and homework loads, why not get ...