Summer bucket list

A couple weeks ago I decided to make a summer bucket list. Now I’ve completed a couple of them so I guess in a way it’s cheating. I also added some of the things I never did from my bucket list I had back in 2011.

I wanted to think of 24 things to do in honor of my 24th birthday (this week).

Let me know if you want to do any of these things with me! =)

 

1. See Vanderbilt play in the Regionals and Super Regionals (completed 05/31/13-06/03/13 and 06/08-06/09)

2. See Carrie Underwood perform at the Grand Ole Opry (completed 06/07/13)

3. Make myself a Vanderbilt themed birthday cake

4. Participate in the Glo Run

5. Check out a book club meeting

6. Go cosmic bowling – 10 pin style

7. Check out CMA Festival (completed 06/09/13)

8. Bake cupcakes for work – preferably these (http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2009/03/cookie-dough-cupcakes-topped-with-cookie-dough-frosting.html) or these (http://www.cupcakesgarden.com/turtle-cupcakes/)

9. Go to movies in the park

10. Volunteer at different events

11. Acquire as many free t-shirts as possible from volunteering at said events

12. Make at least 2 pinterest crafts for my bedroom

13. Go to Falls Creek Falls

14. Make homemade ice cream

15. Experience bonjo java breakfast

16. Go to a Nashville Sounds game

17. Go to a Nashville Farmer’s market and then have a picnic in the park

18. See a drive in movie

19. Pick my own fruit

20. Go to the World Music and Food International Festival

21. Make pizza from scratch

22. Go to the Bluebird Cafe

23. Go to at least 1 meetup event that puts me outside of my comfort zone

24. Have fun!

You Are Appreciated

This past week I started working a temp job at an insurance agency. Now to say the job is less than glamorous is an understatement. Essentially I’m barcoding and scanning documents and folding letters. At first I really struggled with the pride issue of having gone to such a great college and now doing tasks that are below what I did even as an intern at different companies. But, I have continued to remind myself that it is just temporary and it’s providing me with a much needed paycheck.

Earlier in the week while at work a woman came up to me and said “Are you Michelle?” I answered “Yes” a little hesitantly as I feared that I was about to get in trouble for doing something wrong. Instead she told me about this thing called prize patrol that the office has and how you can get a prize if someone writes to her and says that you’re doing something well. I ended up getting this – which is one of those little stacks of paper/notepad where there are inspirational words like dream and believe. It was really nice and definitely made my day!

 At first I didn’t really tell people that I got a temp job. I was kind of embarrassed and felt that it wasn’t a big deal. But, I know the people at the office are impressed with how detail oriented I am (I even picked up on some typos on letters while I folded them this week) and they like that I work in a fast yet accurate manner. It’s been really hard to get accustomed to my role in the office and I still do struggle with a lot of things while there but it’s good to know that even if I don’t feel like I’m doing anything exciting and not contributing much to the world that I’m appreciated.

Isn’t that what we all want in life? To feel like we’re important and making a difference in someones life?

Life Lessons – Life is Fragile

Last week I was babysitting for a new family and while there one of the goldfish died. At first I kind of brushed it off because I know that goldfish have short life spans and die all the time. But, then I started thinking about life and the fragility of it.I thought about how some people know from the beginning that their life span is going to be shorter (whether it be from a genetic condition, disease, etc). But, most people have no idea when or how they’re going to die – until maybe they’re in the midst of an illness. But, as humans we’re expected to live a long time. Many people expect to live well into their 70’s or 80’s.

I started to think about all the things us humans do throughout their years. How we develop relationships with family and friends and how we figuratively and literally grow throughout the years. How we go to daycare, school, extra curricular activities, dances, graduations, college, parties, etc. I thought of all the experiences (good and bad) I’ve had and how I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

While looking at the goldfish I also started to think about how sad it must be to be confined to a small plastic container for your life. I thought of the places I’ve been able to travel to and how every day I can decide if I want to visit a craft store, go to the gym, go food shopping, watch tv, etc. Yet, the goldfish is stuck and forced to see whatever is placed around him. How sad that must be.

Then I started thinking about how the goldfish is fed some little flakey food. The poor fish get the same food every single day. I mean I don’t think they even have “treats” for fish like they do for dogs and cats. I started thinking about all the foods I’d had to eat that day. How I had just had a freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookie and how delicious it was. How sad it would be to be forced to have the same food every day.

Then I started to think about how when people buy fish they have a variety of price levels to choose from. I think the goldfish are usually the cheapest as people know they won’t live very long – I don’t know if the other fish are really more expensive because they’re expected to live longer, that’s just what I’ve assumed. But still, who knew that a $.09 fish could make me think about life so much?

 

Happy Memorial Day and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all that have served this country, past and present! So thankful for all the sacrifices you have made and I greatly appreciate all that you do to keep us safe!

I feel the need to share a picture of the baby geese that just hatched in my apartment complex! I believe there are a few more eggs that should be hatching any day now but these are the first little guys that I’ve seen! They look all cute and fuzzy!

Today I made my favorite chocolate chip recipe for a party I’m going to tonight! Really I just look for any excuse where I can use my kitchen aid mixer (that I named Kenny).

I have a few tricks that I’ve learned along the way to really make the cookies delicious! First off, make sure that the butter is softened and that the eggs are at room temperature! It just works so much better! Also, refrigerate the dough for a little while after you make the batter and before you bake the cookies. I’m not entirely sure what this does but my roommate my senior year of college always did it and I swear it makes the cookies even better! What I love to do before I refrigerate the batter is to form the cookies in a roll like this.

Then I either put the dough in the refrigerator (if I’m going to use it in the next few days) or I put it in the freezer if I want to store it longer. Then, once I feel like having a cookie I just slice off a chunk – almost as if it were the store bought roll and then I can bake however many cookies I want at a time! It works out great!

Here’s the recipe and yes they have the word “Best” in their name, but I think it can honestly claim that title – unlike all the other things that claim to have the “best” coffee, pizza, etc when in reality it’s just mediocre.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

I’m hesitant to give a number on how many cookies each batch can make because;

1. Everyone likes their cookies to be different sizes

2. I’m guilty of eating a ton of cookie dough while making the cookies

3. I eat more cookie dough while baking the actual cookies – washing my hands frequently so as to not get your cookies all germy

4. I’m trying not to make the whole batch at once so instead I just grab fistfuls of dough from the freezer as I walk by

So make the cookies as big or as small as your heart desires. Cook them for a minute or two less if you want them to be soft and gooey (how I like them) or keep them in for another minute or two if you like them to be brown and crispy. It’s your batch of cookies – it’s really all up to you!

Life Lessons – follow your heart

In regards to jobs, I feel like I’ve heard a million different things from a hundred different people throughout these past few weeks.

Should I take a job that feels sketchy and I don’t feel safe at? Should I take a job that just doesn’t feel right?  Should I take a job that’s going to increase my anxiety and not allow me to have real breaks? Should I take a job because it offers health insurance? Should I? Should I? Should I?

Some people have said “yes” others have said “no” and I think other people are just as confused as me.

As of right now I haven’t accepted any job offers. I’ve just been really uncomfortable with the offers and things just didn’t seem right at all. I know that I need a job and I know the economy is hard and I should be thankful that I got offered a job, but there’s something to be said for not feeling safe in the environment. I know I need money and health insurance, but at the same time I don’t want to jeopardize my safety or my health for a position.

In the mean time, I’ve learned about the Hands On Nashville website which is AMAZING and has allowed me to start volunteering with organizations that I’ve applied for jobs at!! It’s also allowing me to network some, make new friends, and to stay busy. I’m starting to think I might be able to make a t-shirt quilt with all the free t-shirts I’m going to acquire this summer!

I’m also babysitting a TON! This weekend alone I’m babysitting for 3 different families which is going to involve a lot of toddler chasing!! The babysitting jobs also pay a lot more than the two jobs I’ve interviewed at so I guess that’s a plus too. Currently I’m getting paid to do what I’d be doing if I wasn’t babysitting – watching Vandy baseball on my computer!!! Life is good!

For now, I’m trusting my intuition that I haven’t yet been offered the right job for me. I know it doesn’t need to be my “forever job” and I know I probably won’t love it, but there’s something out there waiting for me! Here’s to hoping I get offered one of the positions I’ve applied for with a non-profit soon!

Sidenote: I think it’s important to celebrate the moments of brilliance we all have… I just realized that my tv has a spot where I can connect a cable from my computer to it. Now as soon as I can figure out what kind of cable it is I can watch Vandy baseball games and Red Sox games from ESPN3 (online only) onto my tv! The players won’t look like ants anymore!

You are the master of your fate

A time for growth. A time of change. A time to learn about who you really are. That’s what your 20’s are all about – or so I hear. For a year now I’ve been stuck in between deciding if I wanted to stay somewhere that was “comfortable,” but where I was unhappy or if I wanted to branch out and try moving to Tennessee which in many respects would pull me out of my comfort zone, but would also bring me closer to friends. So, with the help and encouragement of family and friends I decided to spread my wings and fly (or actually drive the 18 hours to TN but you get the point).

I’ve been in Nashville for a couple of weeks and am trying to get acquainted to life here. I’m still waking up incredibly early every morning and still almost always turning into the wrong apartment complex but I’m getting by.

I’m learning that you can’t choose what makes you happy and you can’t really choose what you like to do.  You have to listen to your gut and follow your instincts. Here’s to hoping I have a smart gut!

This blog is going to chronicle lessons I learn about life while I try to find a job, find my passions, and pursue happiness. It might also include cute pinterest crafts and recipes that I try! =)