What will I be

There is this preconceived idea, implanted in all of youthful minds that I find unsettling. I remember one of my first assignments as a first grade student was to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I drew a picture of a librarian. We love asking young kids what they want to be when they grow up; in hope to inspire them to think outside of the box, explore all the career options, and provide us a little entertainment from their innocence. Then we go along and group every stage of the lifecycle into cookie cutter categories. Junior high, high school, college. At the end of every stage, we graduate and at every graduation speech there is this feeling of, “wow, my life is starting now, I am one stop closer to starting my life.” I have an issue with this. I am on my way towards my senior year at Cal Poly and it’s a common theme for peers, family, or teachers to ask what will you do after you graduate. I am excited for my future and the potential job or internship I will start, but as many other will declare as they inch closer to graduation I am not eager to commit to the standard job on the market. I am not competing to improve my resume in order to get the high paying job on the market. Some instantly classify this behavior as noncommittal, unprofessional, risky, unorthodox. Well I classify my behavior as innovative, inspiring, and hopeful. I live in a place and time where information is instantly available and learning new skills or even becoming a master in certain subjects doesn’t take having a degree. There is endless potential to explore new places, new opportunities, new projects and I am tired of so many people settling for something below their capability because they think they have made it to the “grown up” stage where you are suppose to clearly answer, “I am a librarian,” and if that statement is not made soon after graduation, you are shamed. I value hard work and having a job is something I look forward to, but I see so many people loose their passion and lust for life in the midst of the career decision time. I take on projects and new jobs in order to fuel my fire, to really grow as a being. What is a job, if not the opportunity to make a difference with the utilization of your hard work and most of all passion. With all the resources we have it is time to get innovative and start living a life worth living. 

I say I am too busy..

There I go again, once more falling off the face of the blogger planet and becoming inconsistent and then nonexisistent. Well as I sat in my apartment, pondering the idea of whether or not I really wanted to put pants on for class, I decide I should blog again! Lots have happend since March of 2013.. Wow really it's been THAT long?! I have traveled far and wide, eaten great food, explored my intuition, and have gotten lost amongst the daily todos. I am still the dreamer, fueled with ambitious passions and a hope for a better tomorrow. 

Yogurt, Dates, and Baking

Yesterday and today i have experienced wonderful baking moments. Yesterday I wanted to bake cookies for my friend and decided to try yogurt cookies, because I have been seeing recipes flying around the Internet for awhile. They turned out AMAZING! The best cookies I think I have ever made. Nice crisp on the outside, sweet flavor, and a wonderful melt in your mouth center. Today I decided to make a no sugar healthy fudge.I had a lot of skepticism on this one because the only ingredients are nuts, dates, cocoa powder, bananas, and honey. But WOW, yet again I am blown away by the flavor! Here are the links to the recipes I tried out, if you get the time I recommend giving them a shot.

Yogurt chocolate chip
http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/34221/yogurt-chocolate-chip-cookies

"Fudge"
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/02/15/healthy-eatmore-fudge-chocolate-bars/

Procrastination.

It finals week which means finding things to do other then bury my head in notes and books. So far I have bought juggling balls, therefore I have been practicing my juggling. I have touched up my résumé in hopes of getting a second job for spring quarter. I have blogged. And I have made food. I haven't shared my food adventures in awhile so ill pass on this delicious salad I made for the week.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup quinoa, cooled
1 can garbonzo beans (I baked mine for 15 min with a little parm and garlic for extra flavor)
3/4 can corn
3/4 cup chopped bell peppers
3 green onions
7 cherry tomatoes, quartered
Basil for garnish

Lemon Basil Dressing (I eyeballed everything so this is my interpretation of how much you should use)
3 tbsp chopped basil--I use a lot because it is so tasty
Juice of one lemon
Tsp honey
1-2 tbsp basaltic vinegar
3-5 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder


It is a simple as chop, mix, stir, assemble, cool, and serve!

Throwback

The past couple weeks have been very hectic for me. I have always heard that when life isn't going the way you expect, look towards the future to all the wonderful possibilities that are ahead of you. Sometimes that doesn't work though, and through this weird time in my life I found that reminiscing to my younger years was more therapeutic for me. I stumbled across some old pictures of me and I can't help but smile when I look through them.

~beyond the chaos, children are smiling~

formal.

Dancing is so fun! I had formal last night at Old Port in Avila and it was fabulous:) I took my friend Brennan, we have been friends since WOW last year. It was a blast getting dressed up, drinking good drinks, chatting, dancing, etc.


~beyond the chaos there is time to dance~

Blankets of snow

I love the snow. It may because everything appears to be blanketed in perfection, because it promotes playfulness, or because it brings out everyone's cuddly side. Those reasons and many more are reasons why I had a great weekend in Sequoia. I went with an amazing group of people, learned skills that I can apply to future snow adventures, ate delicious backcountry food(so many trail mix burritos!), and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

memories:
Casey's crazy driving
Trail mix burritos, chilli, awesome oatmeal
Jammin the harmonica @ Panther Gap
Weird sandwich factory dreams
The sunset
Boiling snow for water
Wet socks
Sketchy ice
Self arresting(big kid excuse to slide down hills)



~beyond the chaos, there is something ew to learn~