Hello readers,
So, one of the many things that happened while I was not writing the blog regularly (so basically, from February until now) was that I was nominated by a professor to apply for a highly prestigious and selective undergraduate research program at my school. I was highly attracted to the program, and so I asked this professor if she would write the recommendation letter necessary for the application. She agreed, and asked for my application essay so she could keep it in mind as she wrote her letter. Not only did she want the essay for that purpose, but she also wanted to be able to look it over and offer me suggestions. Additionally, she sent me a Word document full of guidelines for writing the essay. We met to discuss it, and she told me all about how she saw me as doing research in the future, being a great candidate for a Fulbright research fellowship, teaching at the university level, working in the field continuing research as a profession, et cetera. So she helped me completely reform my essay, and I figured I was getting a pretty glowing recommendation letter from her, in addition to the nomination, and she's a fellow in the program. She wholly approved of the essay, and so I sent in my application and hoped for the best. The one thing I was worried about was my first semester grades. They weren't fabulous, to say the least. Simply put, I should not have been in Chemistry or Calculus II for Engineers (I'm a languages and arts girl. Come on. What was I doing?!), and I should have worked harder in Philosophy. But I hoped that they would wait for second semester grades to come along, since I knew that they would a) show off what I'm good at, and b) be much, much improved.
I'd been anticipating news recently since a few of my friends who had also applied reported that they'd been rejected via email, and I had not yet received any emails or correspondence. Yesterday, I received word. I had been rejected, but invited to join the program as an affiliate, which seems like a weird in-between distinction where you're invited to the special events and whatnot, and you get guidance applying for other programs this group offers, but you don't get to do the paid research and work with a mentor-professor- which was the big draw of the program. It's not bad, since just to be an affiliate was a selective process as well, and it's better than nothing. But really? Special guidance with applications and invites to certain events? That's what I'm getting?
Readers, in case you can't tell, this was a blow. My father had told me, not unkindly, that he didn't think I had a shot because of my first semester GPA. My mother told me that they'd had no expectations (meaning that they weren't disappointed in me at all), and neither should I have had any. I so badly wanted to prove them wrong and prove that I am worthy of all the kinds of special distinctions and opportunities that I've had up until now in my education and other things. I wanted to have a special place in college and make things like they used to be. I'm not unhappy where I am, but I really wanted this. What's more is that I had started to dream up possibilities and plans and figure out where I was headed next, based on my getting into this. I didn't consider myself "in," but...
And then I know a girl from my high school who also applied to the program. If she gets in, pardon my language, but I will be royally pissed. I knew her all throughout high school. Nothing about her strikes me as passionate or committed. Sure, she's very intelligent. But come on. What does she really care about enough to put in three years' of research and then use it to make a difference? I have passion. I know what I want to research, and I care about stuff enough to put in that kind of work and make it valuable.
But I digress. Those were the kinds of thoughts running through my head last night. My classmate is a perfectly nice girl, and I don't actually know her that well. Maybe she does have passions. Maybe she does really care about stuff. I shouldn't judge her like that. But it is extremely frustrating. Things are just not going according to plan, and lots of stuff just keeps changing. I feel like I'm having a bit of a quarter/fifth-life crisis.
Then last night, I had a bit of a revelation. This will probably show you how privileged I've been thus far, and that I've had it relatively easy, but bear with me; I have something to say. First, I had to remind myself that there are far greater tragedies than an upper-middle-class girl being rejected from a prestigious research program at an elite university. Reality check. Then, I realized that I was just gonna have to work my ass off harder than I ever have before, plain and simple. This is the start of a new girl, the Imara 2.0, if you will. This is a test. How determined am I to prove myself and make myself a better, smarter, fitter, wiser, stronger person? How will I create my own opportunities? How will I distinguish myself from the pack? This Imara will go back to school having read more and knowing more than the rest of her peers. This Imara will go back to school healthier, leaner, and dare I say, sexier than she was in May. This Imara will know herself better than she ever has before. And this Imara will be a better student, friend, athlete, sister, and worker than she was last August when this all started.
Enough of talking about myself in the third person. Every day is another all-important step on the journey. Sure, mistakes will be made. And I welcome them as learning opportunities. But the time is now. The time is now to get up, get going, and move forward. The time is now to take my goals seriously, push myself, and accept the challenge. Every day I want to try and accomplish something new, or at least advance towards achieving one of my goals.
Here are my new mantras: Push yourself. Accept the challenge. Never settle. Make it all count.
Love,
Imara
P.S. In other news, I made cookies again, and my father specifically requested that I stop baking so much because "we really don't need it." That just means I'm really good at it and he can't resist it. :) Also, I jumped rope and did an unexpectedly very hard yoga video. I have a feeling that I will be sore tomorrow. Tough, because it'll be the last chance for me to go running before I have to take a few days off to go on a trip.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Music and fish
Hey all!
I know I just posted yesterday, but I forgot to include a selection of the songs I found myself listening to when I was baking. I basically just put my entire iTunes library on shuffle, and these are some of the songs that came up:
Rip Your Heart Out, Acute
Hometown Glory, Adele
Ventura Highway, America
Shadow, Ashlee Simpson (please don't judge me)
Black Water, The Doobie Brothers
Girl with One Eye, Florence + The Machine (does that make up for the Ashlee Simpson?)
The Second Time Around, Frank Sinatra
Eleanor Put Your Boots On, Franz Ferdinand
Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy, Glen Hansard (from the soundtrack to the movie Once)
Serious, Gwen Stefani
Curbside Prophet, Jason Mraz
Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest
Give Me Anything, The Maine
Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Michael Bublé
Giddy Up, NSYNC
City, Sara Bareilles
No Man's Woman, Sinead O'Connor
Atomism, White Light Riot
Overall, it was very chill, thoughtful music, leaning towards a little sad. Which was weird, because my first choice for baking/cooking is either something happy, funky and oldies, or folksy but upbeat. If you have suggestions, please let me know! I hear Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are pretty good...
Tonight I was left to cook dinner for myself and my brothers. I went with individually packaged frozen tilapia in a lemon pepper marinade, to which I improvised and added a light Parmesan and panko crumb crust. All seemed to be going well, until a) I realized after the fish was almost done that I forgot to turn on the rice cooker, b) I almost gave myself a steam burn, and c) the fish was not done after the minimum cooking time, nor the maximum. It took nearly 20 minutes. And for tilapia, that worried me, because it is a very delicate fish that does not require a lot of baking. But eventually it seemed cooked enough, my brothers did not complain about any cold or slimy parts in their fillets, and no one has gotten sick yet *knock on wood*. No pictures because by the time the food was all ready to eat I was not going to run upstairs for my camera.
Tomorrow may involve yet another batch of chocolate chips cookies, because an elderly family friend (basically, my surrogate grandmother) has requested half a recipe's worth for herself and her gentleman friend. The last cookies of last week's batch have been gone for a few days now, so we'll have another 3 dozen for a little road trip this weekend. Then I think I'll have to hold off on the cookies for a couple weeks, for the sake of my waistline and my parents'/my wallet (I am going to plow through ingredients like a madwoman if I keep this pace up). I'm also hoping to make pasta with pesto sauce for dinner tomorrow night. I will try to have photos of the process for that one.
I applied for six jobs today, bringing my application total up to 8. I really hope that something comes through for me, and soon. I worry that I may be getting addicted to applications, though- even after I knew I'd exhausted my best options for the evening, I kept looking. Ack!
The word for tomorrow is efficiency. I spend a lot of time dallying and sitting on my butt when I could be doing lots of things- sending my résumé to a contact of mine who offered to pass it around if she heard of anything, returning my rented textbooks to their original online site, emailing old teachers and mentors, journaling, exercising, and so on. Hopefully tomorrow I can get up and get moving and get off this beautiful Mac of mine.
Good night, lovelies!
Imara
P.S. Here's a quote to keep you going, especially if you've encountered any difficult or challenging things lately:
I know I just posted yesterday, but I forgot to include a selection of the songs I found myself listening to when I was baking. I basically just put my entire iTunes library on shuffle, and these are some of the songs that came up:
Rip Your Heart Out, Acute
Hometown Glory, Adele
Ventura Highway, America
Shadow, Ashlee Simpson (please don't judge me)
Black Water, The Doobie Brothers
Girl with One Eye, Florence + The Machine (does that make up for the Ashlee Simpson?)
The Second Time Around, Frank Sinatra
Eleanor Put Your Boots On, Franz Ferdinand
Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy, Glen Hansard (from the soundtrack to the movie Once)
Serious, Gwen Stefani
Curbside Prophet, Jason Mraz
Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest
Give Me Anything, The Maine
Put Your Head on My Shoulder, Michael Bublé
Giddy Up, NSYNC
City, Sara Bareilles
No Man's Woman, Sinead O'Connor
Atomism, White Light Riot
Overall, it was very chill, thoughtful music, leaning towards a little sad. Which was weird, because my first choice for baking/cooking is either something happy, funky and oldies, or folksy but upbeat. If you have suggestions, please let me know! I hear Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are pretty good...
Tonight I was left to cook dinner for myself and my brothers. I went with individually packaged frozen tilapia in a lemon pepper marinade, to which I improvised and added a light Parmesan and panko crumb crust. All seemed to be going well, until a) I realized after the fish was almost done that I forgot to turn on the rice cooker, b) I almost gave myself a steam burn, and c) the fish was not done after the minimum cooking time, nor the maximum. It took nearly 20 minutes. And for tilapia, that worried me, because it is a very delicate fish that does not require a lot of baking. But eventually it seemed cooked enough, my brothers did not complain about any cold or slimy parts in their fillets, and no one has gotten sick yet *knock on wood*. No pictures because by the time the food was all ready to eat I was not going to run upstairs for my camera.
Tomorrow may involve yet another batch of chocolate chips cookies, because an elderly family friend (basically, my surrogate grandmother) has requested half a recipe's worth for herself and her gentleman friend. The last cookies of last week's batch have been gone for a few days now, so we'll have another 3 dozen for a little road trip this weekend. Then I think I'll have to hold off on the cookies for a couple weeks, for the sake of my waistline and my parents'/my wallet (I am going to plow through ingredients like a madwoman if I keep this pace up). I'm also hoping to make pasta with pesto sauce for dinner tomorrow night. I will try to have photos of the process for that one.
I applied for six jobs today, bringing my application total up to 8. I really hope that something comes through for me, and soon. I worry that I may be getting addicted to applications, though- even after I knew I'd exhausted my best options for the evening, I kept looking. Ack!
The word for tomorrow is efficiency. I spend a lot of time dallying and sitting on my butt when I could be doing lots of things- sending my résumé to a contact of mine who offered to pass it around if she heard of anything, returning my rented textbooks to their original online site, emailing old teachers and mentors, journaling, exercising, and so on. Hopefully tomorrow I can get up and get moving and get off this beautiful Mac of mine.
Good night, lovelies!
Imara
P.S. Here's a quote to keep you going, especially if you've encountered any difficult or challenging things lately:
Things are only impossible until they're not.
Jean-Luc Picard, 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Adventures with Baking
Hello, readers!
In the past week, I have already accomplished three things on my baking list of resolutions. Yay! I've been fairly attentive to the news, using Time magazine as a way to catch up in detail on various big issues. I'm almost to my limit of NYTimes online articles for the month- :(. I am honestly considering accessing the daily paper through the archives, which I can get into via my school's research resources. A little bit backwards, but hey, I gotta get my news. I've applied for two jobs so far, apparently my parents hooked me up with a babysitting gig in the neighborhood (yay cash job!), and I'm still looking for something that will get me big tips. I started reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen again. I'm almost halfway through it, but it is so dense. But I guess without having a job to speak of, I have plenty of time on my hands. I've also been going to bed early and getting up early. It feels great to have the whole day ahead of you. And I've more or less kicked my morning caffeine habit! My parents switched to decaf coffee in the house and I didn't even know it, so I think it had a placebo effect, and bam- no more headaches. Haven't gotten around to learning the piano yet, and the brothers are still in school, so haven't quite gotten to those resolutions yet. But everything else is more or less in progress.
So, now I'd like to detail some of my baking adventures. Last week, I made chocolate chip cookies, bread, and an incredibly delicious thing called blueberry buckle. The chocolate chip cookies are from a recipe that my mother got from a friend. The catch with these cookies is that you use instant pudding mix in the batter. If you'd like the recipe, please let me know. Somehow it makes them super-soft and chewy or something. Also, the trick to keeping the bottoms from burning and getting all hard is to cover the cookie sheets with undone brown paper bags (grocery bags work, as do lunch bags. One undone brown paper lunch bag actually covers one normal-sized cookie sheet) and then drop the dough on top of that. It must help distribute the heat evenly or something. Don't really know why, but it does work! The cookies are incredible, especially when warm. To keep them soft, store them in an airtight container with a piece of bread (it's a great use of the heels of a loaf of bread, if no one in your house eats them). The bread gets hard, but the cookies won't. These cookies are so so SO good. I have a really hard time when I try to stop eating them. And they are NOT good for you (although my dad did say that they are good for your mental health). They are made with a whole pound of butter and a ton of brown and white granulated sugar- trust me, I creamed the two together myself. But the recipe makes 6 dozen- that's 72 cookies. So seriously, share them with people.
Here are some pictures of my cookie adventures:
Yeah, you do need a REALLY big bowl when you combine the butter, sugar, and egg mixture with the flour mixture.
A couple days later, I baked bread. From scratch. Without a bread machine. WARNING: To all amateur bakers, bread is not something that you can just make when you've got a little bit of time. Maybe it was because I'm a first-timer, but it took me the better part of an afternoon. But if you don't screw anything up too badly, it is well worth it. I thought I may have horribly screwed it up when I didn't mix the shortening and the dry ingredients together before adding the yeast and very warm water. But, no way was I wasting 3 1/2 cups of flour plus two packets of yeast and 2 tablespoons of shortening and starting over. So I just mixed it all up with an electric mixer, and it turned out just fine. I love the smell of yeast- a local freeway went right by a yeast factory for a long time, and that smell means I'm headed into my city and going home. Unfortunately, the yeast factory closed, so now I am left with baking bread to get my kicks. Anyways, you should know that kneading is a pretty big effort- ten minutes solid. You have to knead a lot to activate the gluten. And you have to let the dough rise twice- once after kneading, and once after you've let the loaves rise in their pans unbaked. And then you finally bake it up. And boy, is it good. One loaf and probably 3/4 of the other are gone. Which is a good thing, because unless you're storing it, homemade bread will not last long because it has no preservatives. So eat it up and enjoy it!
More photos:
Mmm. Crusty, buttery, thick goodness. It makes great toast. It's just a Betty Crocker recipe, so if you have either the red or the really old orange Betty Crocker cookbook, it should be in there.
Bread was probably the crowning achievement of my week because yeast is a little fussy to work with (they're not kidding when they say the water must be between 120 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit, by the way- too cold, the yeast won't activate; too hot, you'll kill it. You'll know when your dough doesn't rise.) and it was so time consuming. Also, the house smelled incredible. But a very special thing I made was a blueberry buckle. I first made one last summer with one of my best friends when we went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan together for a week. Since she's going to El Salvador for the summer and starting to save the world, we had to get together before she left to make this together. It's a Martha Stewart recipe (you can find it online), and it's actually not that hard. It does seem helpful to have extra hands though, so try making it with a friend! It's a very dense dessert, a cross between a cake and a cobbler. It's packed with blueberries, which are a superfood, so rationalize it that way when you want a slice with every meal.
Photo time:
Oh yeah. :)
I would love to tell you that I've been a Superwoman when it comes to making delicious food AND controlling my impulses to eat said food AND work off the delicious but more or less unhealthy food. But that has not been the case. Last week was a pretty bad week as far as exercising and food went. As the food intake and production went up, my exercise output went down. Waaayyy down. I like to blame it on the weather. My beautiful Midwestern state cannot decide if it wants to be summer or the bummer that is the early Midwestern spring (i.e., forty to fifty degrees and rainy). I honestly will go running if it is sunny and between 55- all right, 60- to 85 degrees, with not much wind. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm fussy that way. But I'm detoxing this week (see one of my early posts for a definition of my detox- little to no processed foods and a lot of water), and hoping that the weather holds out or that I can find a suitable alternative to running. Maybe I'll just have to suck it up and wear gloves when I bike in the cool weather. The most important thing is just doing something, especially on the days where you really have no motivation. You'll be very happy that you did afterwards, even if you weren't very happy while you were doing it.
Well, my darlings, I hope that you are having a lovely almost-summer and that you have set goals for yourself this summer- even if it's just to do something nice and relaxing for yourself. Keep in touch!
Love,
Imara
P.S. On deck this week for food: tilapia and pasta with pesto sauce. Also, HEALTHY pumpkin cookies and maybe cream cheese brownies. :)
In the past week, I have already accomplished three things on my baking list of resolutions. Yay! I've been fairly attentive to the news, using Time magazine as a way to catch up in detail on various big issues. I'm almost to my limit of NYTimes online articles for the month- :(. I am honestly considering accessing the daily paper through the archives, which I can get into via my school's research resources. A little bit backwards, but hey, I gotta get my news. I've applied for two jobs so far, apparently my parents hooked me up with a babysitting gig in the neighborhood (yay cash job!), and I'm still looking for something that will get me big tips. I started reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen again. I'm almost halfway through it, but it is so dense. But I guess without having a job to speak of, I have plenty of time on my hands. I've also been going to bed early and getting up early. It feels great to have the whole day ahead of you. And I've more or less kicked my morning caffeine habit! My parents switched to decaf coffee in the house and I didn't even know it, so I think it had a placebo effect, and bam- no more headaches. Haven't gotten around to learning the piano yet, and the brothers are still in school, so haven't quite gotten to those resolutions yet. But everything else is more or less in progress.
So, now I'd like to detail some of my baking adventures. Last week, I made chocolate chip cookies, bread, and an incredibly delicious thing called blueberry buckle. The chocolate chip cookies are from a recipe that my mother got from a friend. The catch with these cookies is that you use instant pudding mix in the batter. If you'd like the recipe, please let me know. Somehow it makes them super-soft and chewy or something. Also, the trick to keeping the bottoms from burning and getting all hard is to cover the cookie sheets with undone brown paper bags (grocery bags work, as do lunch bags. One undone brown paper lunch bag actually covers one normal-sized cookie sheet) and then drop the dough on top of that. It must help distribute the heat evenly or something. Don't really know why, but it does work! The cookies are incredible, especially when warm. To keep them soft, store them in an airtight container with a piece of bread (it's a great use of the heels of a loaf of bread, if no one in your house eats them). The bread gets hard, but the cookies won't. These cookies are so so SO good. I have a really hard time when I try to stop eating them. And they are NOT good for you (although my dad did say that they are good for your mental health). They are made with a whole pound of butter and a ton of brown and white granulated sugar- trust me, I creamed the two together myself. But the recipe makes 6 dozen- that's 72 cookies. So seriously, share them with people.
Here are some pictures of my cookie adventures:
A couple days later, I baked bread. From scratch. Without a bread machine. WARNING: To all amateur bakers, bread is not something that you can just make when you've got a little bit of time. Maybe it was because I'm a first-timer, but it took me the better part of an afternoon. But if you don't screw anything up too badly, it is well worth it. I thought I may have horribly screwed it up when I didn't mix the shortening and the dry ingredients together before adding the yeast and very warm water. But, no way was I wasting 3 1/2 cups of flour plus two packets of yeast and 2 tablespoons of shortening and starting over. So I just mixed it all up with an electric mixer, and it turned out just fine. I love the smell of yeast- a local freeway went right by a yeast factory for a long time, and that smell means I'm headed into my city and going home. Unfortunately, the yeast factory closed, so now I am left with baking bread to get my kicks. Anyways, you should know that kneading is a pretty big effort- ten minutes solid. You have to knead a lot to activate the gluten. And you have to let the dough rise twice- once after kneading, and once after you've let the loaves rise in their pans unbaked. And then you finally bake it up. And boy, is it good. One loaf and probably 3/4 of the other are gone. Which is a good thing, because unless you're storing it, homemade bread will not last long because it has no preservatives. So eat it up and enjoy it!
More photos:
Mmm. Crusty, buttery, thick goodness. It makes great toast. It's just a Betty Crocker recipe, so if you have either the red or the really old orange Betty Crocker cookbook, it should be in there.
Bread was probably the crowning achievement of my week because yeast is a little fussy to work with (they're not kidding when they say the water must be between 120 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit, by the way- too cold, the yeast won't activate; too hot, you'll kill it. You'll know when your dough doesn't rise.) and it was so time consuming. Also, the house smelled incredible. But a very special thing I made was a blueberry buckle. I first made one last summer with one of my best friends when we went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan together for a week. Since she's going to El Salvador for the summer and starting to save the world, we had to get together before she left to make this together. It's a Martha Stewart recipe (you can find it online), and it's actually not that hard. It does seem helpful to have extra hands though, so try making it with a friend! It's a very dense dessert, a cross between a cake and a cobbler. It's packed with blueberries, which are a superfood, so rationalize it that way when you want a slice with every meal.
Photo time:
Oh yeah. :)
I would love to tell you that I've been a Superwoman when it comes to making delicious food AND controlling my impulses to eat said food AND work off the delicious but more or less unhealthy food. But that has not been the case. Last week was a pretty bad week as far as exercising and food went. As the food intake and production went up, my exercise output went down. Waaayyy down. I like to blame it on the weather. My beautiful Midwestern state cannot decide if it wants to be summer or the bummer that is the early Midwestern spring (i.e., forty to fifty degrees and rainy). I honestly will go running if it is sunny and between 55- all right, 60- to 85 degrees, with not much wind. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm fussy that way. But I'm detoxing this week (see one of my early posts for a definition of my detox- little to no processed foods and a lot of water), and hoping that the weather holds out or that I can find a suitable alternative to running. Maybe I'll just have to suck it up and wear gloves when I bike in the cool weather. The most important thing is just doing something, especially on the days where you really have no motivation. You'll be very happy that you did afterwards, even if you weren't very happy while you were doing it.
Well, my darlings, I hope that you are having a lovely almost-summer and that you have set goals for yourself this summer- even if it's just to do something nice and relaxing for yourself. Keep in touch!
Love,
Imara
P.S. On deck this week for food: tilapia and pasta with pesto sauce. Also, HEALTHY pumpkin cookies and maybe cream cheese brownies. :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Blog, Take 2
Let's try this again, shall we?
I set a big old goal for myself of blogging once a week. I didn't make it past February. BUT I'm going to restart it this summer!
I just moved back home for the summer. I think I had a very successful second semester- a BIG improvement over fall semester, thank goodness. I am a much happier person. I did not encounter the panic attacks and stress-induced insomnia that plagued me first semester. My grades are much better. I have a solid group of friends who help make my life better. Overall I kept up a healthier lifestyle than I had been living. So life is good.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I'm just going to sit around and let things pass me by this summer. I have big plans, and new resolutions. See the list below:
1. Work out and stay in shape. I have a habit of falling apart as soon as I move home and don't have the same routine I did when I was at school. No more. I will be utilizing my handy dandy to-do list almost every day this summer, and a workout will almost always be on the list. The gratification of crossing stuff off is that big a motivator for me.
2. Cook. I have compiled a list of recipes that I would like to try my hand at. The list has grown to the point that I probably need to do about two meals a week in order to have them all completed before I go back to school and lose all the convenience of a well-stocked kitchen and an accessible grocery store. So I will have to get moving.
3. Bake. This is separate from cooking for me. For me, cooking generally involves non-dessert items. Cooking is for meat and vegetables. Baking is for all that sugary stuff that you can't eat a lot of but you do anyways because it makes you happy. I am going to try to master some basics (chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, bread, a cake), and then move on to more fun stuff (lemon ricotta cake, ricotta pineapple pie, fudge, cinnamon pull-apart bread). All from scratch. I will post photos for this and the cooking resolution so you can see my progress.
4. Read the news. My beloved New York Times now requires a paid online subscription for unlimited access. :( So I will be attempting to read the majority of my local paper, and deciding whether or not the Times is worth my money.
5. Teach myself the piano. My dad received a DVD set of a learn-by-chords method, and I think I will give that a shot in the evenings.
6. Get a job and make all the money I spent this year at school back, plus some savings. ...good luck to me!
7. Read. I never had any time to read for fun at school. I am compiling a reading list for myself, including Water for Elephants, The Corrections, Love in the Time of Cholera, Half the Sky, The Fountainhead, and The Help. If you have suggestions, please put them in the comments below.
8. Play with my brothers and family more. It will get me active, out of the house, away from my beloved MacBook Pro, and forge a deeper bond with a couple of guys that just can't seem to stop getting bigger.
That's the list for now! If you have suggestions/encouragement/comments in general, PLEASE leave them below. There should be a way to comment as a guest if you don't have a Google account or are not on Blogger.
Happy Summer, everybody! Keep your eyes out for new posts.
With love,
Imara
I set a big old goal for myself of blogging once a week. I didn't make it past February. BUT I'm going to restart it this summer!
I just moved back home for the summer. I think I had a very successful second semester- a BIG improvement over fall semester, thank goodness. I am a much happier person. I did not encounter the panic attacks and stress-induced insomnia that plagued me first semester. My grades are much better. I have a solid group of friends who help make my life better. Overall I kept up a healthier lifestyle than I had been living. So life is good.
Of course, that doesn't mean that I'm just going to sit around and let things pass me by this summer. I have big plans, and new resolutions. See the list below:
1. Work out and stay in shape. I have a habit of falling apart as soon as I move home and don't have the same routine I did when I was at school. No more. I will be utilizing my handy dandy to-do list almost every day this summer, and a workout will almost always be on the list. The gratification of crossing stuff off is that big a motivator for me.
2. Cook. I have compiled a list of recipes that I would like to try my hand at. The list has grown to the point that I probably need to do about two meals a week in order to have them all completed before I go back to school and lose all the convenience of a well-stocked kitchen and an accessible grocery store. So I will have to get moving.
3. Bake. This is separate from cooking for me. For me, cooking generally involves non-dessert items. Cooking is for meat and vegetables. Baking is for all that sugary stuff that you can't eat a lot of but you do anyways because it makes you happy. I am going to try to master some basics (chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, bread, a cake), and then move on to more fun stuff (lemon ricotta cake, ricotta pineapple pie, fudge, cinnamon pull-apart bread). All from scratch. I will post photos for this and the cooking resolution so you can see my progress.
4. Read the news. My beloved New York Times now requires a paid online subscription for unlimited access. :( So I will be attempting to read the majority of my local paper, and deciding whether or not the Times is worth my money.
5. Teach myself the piano. My dad received a DVD set of a learn-by-chords method, and I think I will give that a shot in the evenings.
6. Get a job and make all the money I spent this year at school back, plus some savings. ...good luck to me!
7. Read. I never had any time to read for fun at school. I am compiling a reading list for myself, including Water for Elephants, The Corrections, Love in the Time of Cholera, Half the Sky, The Fountainhead, and The Help. If you have suggestions, please put them in the comments below.
8. Play with my brothers and family more. It will get me active, out of the house, away from my beloved MacBook Pro, and forge a deeper bond with a couple of guys that just can't seem to stop getting bigger.
That's the list for now! If you have suggestions/encouragement/comments in general, PLEASE leave them below. There should be a way to comment as a guest if you don't have a Google account or are not on Blogger.
Happy Summer, everybody! Keep your eyes out for new posts.
With love,
Imara
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