So making this post was actually pretty difficult because I could list a bunch of things about Taylor Swift that I can relate to. We're basically the same person. I know, I know. A lot of girls probably say that, but I guess that's true. There's something about Taylor that makes it so easy to relate to her. She's incredibly down-to-earth, she's charitable and giving (she's always donating money to charities and helping people like she's a freaking fairy godmother or something magical), she likes to bake, watch shows like "Law and Order" and "Grey's Anatomy" with her two cats, hang out with her "squad" (which is becoming too insanely huge for me to list all of the people in it) and is 100 percent adorable and authentic.

When people always teased her about how she would write songs about her ex-boyfriends, I thought it was stupid. I mean, that's what an artist is supposed to do, write about what they're feeling and what they're experiencing. So gosh darn it, let the girl write whatever she wants to. Besides, she was the perfect go-to during all of my heartaches. And that's the thing! I also endured a lot of heartbreaks throughout my teen years into early adulthood, so feeling close to Taylor in a way was very prominent to me. I just love her -- she's adorable. There are so many things I could say about her, but I'm going to focus on her songs. Granted, I could find a way to relate to basically all of her songs, but here are my top 13 favorites, which have impacted my life in some sort of way. (P.S. I picked 13 because that is Taylor's favorite number.)

1. Fifteen

I heard this song for the first time in the fall of 2009. Yes, don't ask me how I remember that, I just do. I was a freshman in high school, and I felt all of those weird insecurities and I wanted to fit in, but yet wanted to stand out in my own way just like the song describes. I even wanted guys to think I was special and I really wanted them to talk to me - especially the boy I liked. Back then, I had this major crush on this guy that I had met two years earlier, and my crush on him was full blown - I was convinced I was in love. A little later when I was fifteen, though, I met my first serious boyfriend and first love. This song still resonates with those memories of "firsts" for me, and how when you're fifteen years old - everything seems infinite, but it's just the beginning.

2. I Knew You Were Trouble

*coughs* I dedicate this song to my first boyfriend ever because I associate everything about him with this song. And that's mainly because he was obviously trouble. He broke my heart multiple times, played with my emotions, lead me on, didn't know what he wanted, and seemed as though it didn't phase him. I kept running back to him because I was "so in love with him" and I couldn't help but have this fantasy in my mind that we could get back together, even when I knew how toxic he was for me. I knew he was trouble, but I kept going back for more, which resulting in me being burned even more.

3. The Story of Us

This song was my life - seriously. This was one of the Taylor Swift songs that I could relate to on a ridiculously accurate level. After my first boyfriend and I (yes, relationships+me+T-Swift= abundant amount in my youth) broke up, I had to see him in the hallways around school and we even had French class together. There was always that vibe in the room, and that lingering eye contact like there were feelings still settling. I mean, I would literally think to myself "do you feel what I'm feeling right now" whenever we awkwardly made eye contact after I found myself staring at him. Literally, I felt like dying whenever I saw him, and I wanted to know what was running through his mind, because I didn't want to be the only one feeling the way I did. The first time I heard this song, I was literally blown away, thinking MEEEEE.

4. Mean

I was bullied when I was a freshman in high school by a group of girls who weren't exactly my "friends". They took advantage of my niceness and constantly judged me for my unique style and personality. When I first heard this song, I connected it to my own experiences and it became my sort of anthem when dealing with nasty people, like those girls in high school. Girls are mean, man - especially when they're fifteen-year-old girls. But this song kept me going, and made me feel optimistic that me being true to myself and not letting other people's negative vibes would pay off in the long run.

5. Style

The lyrics to this song are practically perfect. I know I keep mentioning my ex-boyfriend, but this song defined most of our relationship, but more in a toxic . . . less romantic sort of way. We were together off and on for about six years, and the main reason that we stayed together was because our peers couldn't see us differently. There was this preconceived notion that him and I were "made for each other", and each time we fell apart and wanted to move on, something kept bringing us back - something that we both couldn't run away from.

6. Out of The Woods

This song, to me, is about finding yourself after feeling lost for so long and underneath someone's toxic spell. There was a time where I couldn't figure out who or where I was, and I felt extremely lost or unsure of everything. There was this guy who I kept risking my sanity and heart for, and each time it just backfired - which left me stranded in this weirdly dark and lonely place full of heartache. It took some time, but I learned to love myself and realize that I don't need a guy to make me feel like I'm alive, but that I truly need myself. I love the words to this song, and the ending where it says "She lost him but she found herself, and somehow that was everything" on the screen, makes me feel incredibly happy and relieved. I'm so glad I can have something this special to relate to. Finding myself after the storm is such a beautiful feeling. I'm beginning to truly love myself.

7. Red

8. Back To December

There was a time after my first heartbreak that I had so many regrets. He had broken up with me and it was brutal. I would flash back to memories in my mind and examine all the things I thought I did wrong in the relationship. Every time I saw him, I would think that maybe he could give me a second chance, because I knew with all of my heart that I wouldn't ruin it or mess it up. This was consistent for awhile, and I craved a second chance and I wanted his attention so badly. I had this dream that him and I would get back together.

9. Bad Blood

I shall dedicate this song to all of the people who stabbed me in the back, or turned out to be a full on mean human beings. This was my "look out, I'm a woman hear me roar" fight song. It would pump me up and get me into a fierce sort of mood, and I was insanely obsessed with it the summer of 2015. Overall, it was all the things I wish I could say to someone who hurt me.

10. The Last Time

"This is the last time I'm asking you this,
Put my name at the top of your list,
This is the last time I'm asking you why,
You break my heart in the blink of an eye, eye, eye"

11. You Belong with Me

This song goes out to thirteen-year-old me who had that raging crush on the boy a grade ahead of me that I met at the pool with my best friend. During the time that I knew him, I found out that he was a total player and was dating this other girl. I was super jealous and found myself singing along to this song because I was the girl who was standing on the sidelines, screaming "you belong with me!" Yes, I was that head over heels girl who wanted this boy to notice me and like me, because I was convinced that we were made for each other. *laughs* Even today at twenty-one-years old, I can still relate to it - just . . . not as much angst.

12. We are Never Getting Back Together

I was dating this guy the summer before my senior year, during the time that my off and on boyfriend and I were not together and I was convinced that I really liked him. We hung out, flirted, went on dates, all that cute seventeen-year-old jazz. But then he got weird and flaky and told me that I was "bad" for him and completely stopped talking to me for awhile. I guess this song was popular then, because I would be belting it at the top of my lungs after he cut me out of his life randomly. "WE ARE NEVER EVER EVER EVVVVEEEER GETTING BACK TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!" I could also relate to this song whenever my first love and I would get back together and then break up. A lot. Which is ironic. I'm sorry for letting you down, T-Swift!

13. Clean

*Bonus:

Teardrops on My Guitar

(because duh)
*flashback to thirteen-year old baby Julia*
ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST.