Manfull's Handfull

This morning at the lovely hour of 6:45am my adventure abroad began.  I was able to get in one last brueggers fix with my best friends and of course the largest raspberry iced tea money could buy me.  I then figured out how to lock my suitcase which was no easy task to do when you're half asleep and spastic AF. But after saying goodbye to my blind cat, obnoxious dog and my little sister, mom, pop and I loaded in the car and headed to the city of dreams (Cedar Rapids). Where ironically Heidi was just up the esclator from me... Good, she made it. My best friends drove to the airport to see us off and made the dumbest of signs that translated from Gaelic to "goodbye Erin, healthy heart and wet mouth". They said the intent was "mouth watering for beer".. I appreciate the effort guys! Saying goodbye was tough, and moms always know how to get the waterworks flowing from the get-go. Even dad choked up a bit- which of course made me sob. But the tears are dried (kind of...

Its the week before Christmas and all the students were stressed, with visions of finals and teachers and tests. Not a wink of sleep, not a day with out coffee, these students are weak give them a break! With finals being the life ruining week that they are (literally, life ruining), I thought I would make the days a little brighter and better with photos and gifs and videos to create the ultimate study break. #1. Cal Shapiro, lead singer for Timeflies , and more importantly  look at that smile . Can you say Swoon? #2. In a time of stress and lets be honest, a lot of defeat, sometimes the only medicine you need is sheer unadulterated laugher. The best kind, is straight from Fox's  New Girl... because nothing is better than someone having a more awkward life than you. Skip to 4:55 and you'll see why LLS (Ladies Love Schmidt). #3. Puppies . Honestly, is there even an explanation needed for soft, fuzzy, loving animals that provide a much needed distrac...

"You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll also miss the person you are now at this time and place because you'll never be this way again" I'm not quite sure where I stumbled upon this quote, but it's something I've kept in the back of my mind for the last month or so. It's something that struck me, something that glued itself to me with all the events unfolding in my life. In less than a month, I'll leave the only home I've ever known and distance myself from the ones I love the most (except for you Heidz, you'll be stuck with me), I'll be away from family and friends, my most prized possessions, for the next five months, and forced to experience life in an entirely new culture surrounded by unfamiliar faces and places. Studying abroad is something that excites me and terrifies me at the same time. It's something I've dreamed of doing my en...

If there's one thing I want to be in life, besides the co-host of Good Morning America, I want to be the next Sam Ponder . She's incredibly talented, creative, real, and she married seemingly the most perfect human specimen on the planet. I had to write a profile on someone in sports media, and obviously I chose this cool chick. Check it out, even if you don't know who she is, I can guarantee you that you'll want to be her best friend.  So here's to you Sam Ponder, if I ever get the chance to meet you I'll for sure bring some Arby's and an ugly sweater. 5 Reasons Samantha Ponder is not Living in Erin Andrews’ Shadow Erin Manfull She’s the sideline reporter for ESPNU College GameDay, she hosts ESPNU pregame, game, and post game events, she’s beautiful, she’s blonde, and she’s not Erin Andrews. Sam Ponder may have replaced the iconic ESPNU sideline reporter, Erin Andrews, but she’s on track to separate herself from A...

Although there are millions of men and women who deserve endless amounts of praise and thanks for all that they have done for our country, there is one special guy I'd like to thank especially. My dad. It's been years since the man has seen combat, or even been in the cock-pit of his most prized Huey Helicopter, but that hasn't stopped him from sharing his memories with me. Ironically the idiot joined the Marine Corps on a dare by his college roommates, but that dare turned into something much more than a whim.  After more than a decade spent serving our country, my father left the Corps as a Major, and would be one of the highest ranked Marines today if it weren't for me. My dad gave up his career in the military so I wouldn't have to move from place to place, fighting to fit in and becoming detached from society. My dad gave up so much to simply be my dad, and that's something I will never be able to express my complete gratitude for.  My dad i...

There's nothing in life that's more satisfying than when you finally feel like someone understands you. Lucky for me, I finally found my people: and they're fictional. FOXs, New Girl , really just gets me, and is the most direct trajectory of what my life will end up like, almost a 100% guarantee. I can see myself in a few years interviewing to live in a loft with three randoms, and being completely awkward about it, yet loving it. Honestly, their loft is super slick and I'd totally be down to be the illegal 5th roommate of loft 4D with those hooligans and put up with the creepy landlord. For some reason I just can't get enough of this show. The dynamics and chemistry this cast has are absolutely flawless, and full of spark and spunk and stupid Schmidt commentary. This show is quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened in my life, because it finally makes me feel like I'm not the weirdest kid on the block (or at least the Schmidtist). There...

Although the hangover is still problematic a few days after the big 2-1, and the memories are spotted... I did have the best day of my entire life. I was able to bring in this monumental day with just about every single person I care about, and that is something I will never be able to thank everyone enough for. Honestly, it truly was the best. This is just the beginning of a new chapter- one where I don't have to be fearful of those darn Iowa City  police, and I can finally have a beer after a rough week, and treat my mom to a little glass of wine on a Friday night. Without my friends and family, where would I be today? I wouldn't be who I am, I wouldn't have the drive and ambition in my life that I do today, and I definitely would not have made it through my 21st birthday without them. This is an annoyingly sappy post, but here's something a little less sappy and a little more sloppy: I may or may not have slipped off my own party bus, been hoisted atop of som...

And on the 8th day, God created Fall. Why is fall the undisputed best season of em all? Here's a list of why it's so kickass: 1. Leaves are fun AF to crunch and jump in 2. Trees look cool when they chameleon into every shade of beautifulness 3. The weather is PRIME 4. Jeans and sweaters and warm colors, oh my! 5. Thanksgiving 6. Halloween 7. My birthday 8. Football 9. Crisp autumn air 10. Because it's the best There it is, the list of every reason Fall is the best. P.s. If you're a white girl, top reason for fall: Pumpkin Spice Latte from da 'bucks. Totes obvi.

I'm sitting here procrastinating my seven page paper, that's literally starting to burn under my hand right now. But that silly piece of paper can be put aside for just a little bit longer. Because life is too good not to stop and smell the roses every once and a while (Caroline Found you're a poetic genius).  I've recently been getting too caught up in everything going on in my life- and I haven't really had the time to sit here and think about how absolutely magnificent my life is. I've been given the opportunity for education, a family, and a network of the best and most supportive friends a gal could ever ask for. I've been given opportunities I once only dreamed of, and who do I have to thank for that besides those who have pushed me to be where I am today and the Big Guy Upstairs. I have a seemingly never-ending list of things in my life that I am humbled by, and I hope that this list continues to grow: with more friends, family, and me...

Today is the 12th anniversary of the day that changed my life forever. 9/11/2001. That day means something different to all of us, but if you were old enough...it's a day you'll never forget. I really can't explain why, but for some odd reason I felt the impact of the anniversary harder than I've ever experienced before. Maybe it's due to excessive social media constantly reminding me about the horrors and images my 7 year old self was witness to that day- but maybe it's just the fact that I'm finally realizing what I witnessed that day, would still be affecting me over a decade later. Now hear me out. In no way, shape, or form, am I attempting to put my political feelings on anyone or any group of people in this post, but I'm simply stating something that I've been noticing- something that's recently been getting my goat. Today, as I had said before, I couldn't shake the memories that have been haunting me for twelve years. I woke up...

I promised myself I would get back into the swing of daily blogging, not for the purpose of reciting my dumb stories, but mainly because I need to practice how to tell them if I want to be Tina Fey someday. So bare with me as I practice her Bossypants style. I need to do this chapter by chapter and idea by idea, because I tend to be all over the place. Oh! look an ant. And half the time people stop listening to me before I even open my mouth; cut to the Chase Manfull. I'll probably begin my future book with a little background information, casual this-that's that no one really cares about but feel obligated to read. I'll probably being by saying that I'm from Iowa, which is where the readers smile will fade and they'll picture me as a corn cob driving a tractor for the following pages. Then I'll make up some facts because my mom stopped putting things in the baby book at the age of four (she's cool. I like her). I'll have to improvise and say that...

It's spring break. The Florida sun scorched my VERY ivory skin, and I can't really blame anything except that darn SPF4. rookie mistake. However the vacation much too quickly came to an end, tears were shed, and I had to shift gears from spoiled sunny days to the winter hell that is Iowa. As I boarded my flight to come back to the tundra, I had a few difficulties. Lets start with the fact that I had sun poisoning radiating on my chest. So lets take a moment to visualize my bright red chest, being iced by none other than a Starbucks iced tea. logically. So I step onto the plane, and notice that every carry-on compartment above my seat is filled to the brim .. along with the next 5 rows behind my seat. K cool, lemme just put my stuff in the back of the plane. Supa convenient. Anyway,I'm in seat A. Perf, i love the window seat. However there was a middle aged woman sitting in seat C. No problem, I'll just ask if I can slide in and move along with my day. Well the...

We all do stupid things every day; some of us more than others. I particularly do stupid things many times within a single hour. Whatever, I'm pretty confident about all that (name the movie), and I've learned to embrace the awkward. But what really yanks my chain is when people jokingly call me "retarded". No, no, I don't personally take offense to it, but I do take offense for all the wonderful people I have meet who do struggle with metal disabilities. I may not struggle with a learning disability, or mental retardation, but just because I don't doesn't mean others don't. I like to remind people as much as I can that it's not cool to go around saying "that's retarded" or "that's gay". These kind of statements are turning society into a rodent infested hog's nest. These expressions are taking the identity of someone and making it derogatory- which isn't fair at all. Yeah, it's a little awkward when I have...

If you've never done DM you probably suck as a human. But really, you need to do it at least once in your lifetime! A little background for ya- DM is a student run organization that raises money every year to fight the evil that is cancer. This year alone over 2,000 students gave 24 hours of their life to dance (like a boss) to raise $1,529,650,19 all For The Kids! Over the years, we've raised over 12 million dollars! HOW INCREDIBLE!! Well no matter the level of incredible, I still couldn't get awash without embarrassing myself. To start the night off right I was dancing like a fool, probably imitating Beyoncé, and threw my hand back and smacked a camera man square in the face. We're talking entire forearm. So that was within the first hour.. only 23 more left. By the time, oh I don't know, 1 am rolled around, I was called on stage for a competition. I had no idea what I volunteered to do until the guy said, ok now I want you to Skip-it and text at the same time...