Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Presidential Enigma

Well another four years has zoomed by and we find ourselves back in the boat of needing to vote for a president again.  I have never been one for politics, but believe it or not twitter of all things is making me far more in tune to what is happening this year.  Or maybe it is just because I am growing up and now want to pay a little more attention.

Four years ago I was not impressed with either choice.  I didn't see McCain doing anything other than keeping us in bed with the oil companies and probably drilling as more as he could find holes to pull it out of, no matter the cost of the environment.  I kind of liked Palin oddly enough, but it may just be that female rebel spirit that I liked.  And as for Obama, I really didn't see him doing much of anything, and I can't say he proved me wrong.

I remember the Obama campaign with all the optimism and sunshine and butterflies and clean coal.  Really-clean coal?  Give me a break.  They even tried to make coal sound like sunshine and butterflies.  There is maybe some slightly-less-polluting-than-what-we-are-currently-using coal.  But last I heard what he was really talking about was China coal.  Uh yea we have a lot of coal here, and the emissions from the transportation that you will go through to get it here? Does not make it cleaner.

He like everyone else shied away from really pounding home alternative energy.  I am pretty sure that if I got to play president like some of these people get to, I would have the entire western US going to geothermal energy.  Why oh why are we paying heating and cooling bills in an area that has so much geothermal potential?  Iceland runs its entire country practically on alternative energy, and a lot of that is geothermal.  And yes, Iceland is one of the most geologically active places in the world, but the western US has this big o sleeper named Yellowstone.  And I would venture to guess there is plenty of heat far and wide from that beast and the other outlying geologic activity.  There is absolutely no reason that there shouldn't be more alternative energy out there.

I don't know who the Dems plan to send out to the party this year, whether they will stick with Obama or send out another.  But if it is Obama, I am begging the republicans to put out a halfway decent candidate.  I know that almost every president has had their issues and made their mistakes, but all I know that Obama has done is played golf and gone to Hawaii like every other month.  Oh yea and tried to pass a health bill that a lot of people didn't want.  He did at least get some legislation that might allow me to stay on my dad's insurance until age 26...that at least could be potentially beneficial.

Now, as for even suggesting anything like the DREAM Act, I would have liked to have seen him impeached.  Illegal population is growing because we are allowing it to continue, I don't necessarily think that means we should give them college for free.  I have no issue with people coming here legally. 

The republican nominees so far are making me uneasy.  I really don't know a lot about them, but so far the whole thing has just seemed like a big name calling fight like a bunch of elementary age kids arguing.  Get over it. 

Tonight, Mitt won the Florida primaries, and he tweets that everyone should remember what it is really about: Beating Obama.  Ok really? Your whole reason and joy of winning is to beat Obama? How about change America? Fix our debt issue? Fix our illegals issue? Find ways to educate and get OUR OWN PEOPLE jobs.  Or FEED OUR OWN KIDS.

Or find a way to make young teens stop having freaking babies left and right.  And for that matter, stop the five generations of welfare living in the same house and driving Escalades.  Or all the people cheating the system to get food stamps.

We have MUCH bigger issues than simply beating Obama.  If Obama won't fix them then yes it does start with beating him but to make it sound like that is the only goal was a terrible way to word it and quite frankly lacked maturity and integrity.  But there has been so much mud slinging already in this race that perhaps integrity is already a lost cause.

The point is, I really don't want to see this election botched.  Obama got in, he got to be the first black president and golf all the time and vacation and whatever, but the next person who gets in (I do not care about race or religion or anything else for this statement) needs to be ready to get to work.  Get to work on the debt.  Get to work on revamping our foreign aid.  And fix the systems that are constantly being taken advantage of. 

And KUDOS TO YOU Indiana, for moving forward with drug testing for welfare people and for politicians.  That is something I consider a step in the right direction. Pin It Now!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Jenna Plays Barista

So I am currently suffering from a scorched tongue.  Jenna got the brilliant idea that she should try to make a hot caramel apple cider...what I failed to recall was that I ALWAYS burn my tongue on Starbuck's hot caramel apple cider.  Oh, and I so geniously put it in a thermal mug.  Maybe in an hour I can actually drink it haha. 

I think some people have lost their sense of adventure.  A lot of people look at things and they don't think they can do it, make it, achieve it, whatever.  Some people I bet wouldn't even try to make a hot caramel apple cider without a recipe or something.

Pfft.  Recipes.  They are more like guidelines anyway. 

Anyway, I think it is important to have a sense of adventure.  I don't have the best one as I really have no desire to get on a plane and fly across the planet.  But I do think that fear will hold you back from a lot in life. 

Maybe I see a little too much potential in things sometimes, I sure was that way with a lot of my ex's.  I saw way more potential in them than they really were ever going to live up to.  But I think your entire life is a blank canvas and it is the ups and downs that paint a picture on it.  It's like Nike always said, JUST DO IT.

Now in other news, Kroger had Chobani blood orange flavor.  It is new and I cannot wait to try it!  My sense of adventure this year has been in cooking exploits.  In a small college kitchen I have attempted pesto fish, cheesecake, steak, and chicken various ways, along with others.  I have created random pasta dishes, mastered the art of the breakfast skillet.  It has all in all been a really fun time.  I want to make a cookbook or an app or something and let the other college kids out there know that cooking can work in a tiny kitchen haha.

I am also in the process of applying to grad school.  I really only can go if someone will give me a grad assistantship so I am hoping hoping hoping to get one.  If anyone reading this wants to also hope and pray for me, I would appreciate any extra vibes being sent my way.  Hopefully I will have GOOD news in Mid-March about an assistantship.  I really hope so. 

I was scared to go away to college.  And I have excelled here.  I was scared to apply to grad school, and hopefully I can make it happen again. 

Here's lookin' at you, kid. Pin It Now!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

It's the Little Things

Every year I walk down the Valentine's Isle in a grocery store.  And every year it bums me out.  Every year I feel the sadness and tinge of pain from losing something I loved.  Losing something very close to me...

I LOVED those cherry kit kats.  They only had them for like a year or two.  But MAN they were good.

I had a great little weekend in.  I stayed at school instead of going home.  I did really very little that was truly productive, but what I did do I really enjoyed.  For instance, I finally finished one of my books that I have been reading forever. And I finished it while drinking hot tea, of the honey ginseng green tea variety.

Republic of Tea, for anyone thinking it sounds like the most fantastic tea ever, which it is. 

So yes, I drank like 3 cups of it, and it was fantastic.  Five minutes, the most perfect of brewing times. 

Also, I made a delicious pasta.  I made roasted tomatoes to add in it, and the pasta had chicken and pesto and mushrooms, and toasted pistachios.  Delicious.  Perfectly fantastic. 

I am usually quite antsy if I stay here on the weekends, now granted I will probably be going insane by Thursday.  But it was a really nice and relaxing weekend.  It iced here fairly bad, but it all melted off today just in time to go gallavanting at walmart.  The favorite college past time.

But all the cooking and delicious food made me think of something.  It is no wonder that there is an obesity issue in America.  The cheap food is the crappy food like Banquet junk and frozen questionable food and fatty filled lord knows what meat on a dollar menu burger.  And I don't even want to get in to the quality of cheese that people are using. 

Has anyone else noticed that pizza cheese used to actually uh...MELT? You know, you warm up leftovers and you had hot bubbly cheese? And now you just have warm....something? (cheesefood?).

Meanwhile, the good quality burger at grocery stores is like 5-7 for a one pound container and fresh produce is through the roof and quality snacks are at a premium...but don't worry, cake snacks and preservative filled chocolate covered somethings are always just a buck or two.

REALLY?

Let's not gripe about healthcare until we are fixing the issue.  Maybe if we actually taught and idolized heathy eating, rewarded healthy eating even, we wouldn't have nearly the amount of healthcare cases that we have now. 

Just sayin'. Pin It Now!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Same Knife Different Finger

On Friday, I went to wash dishes, and by the way I hate washing dishes.  So I grab the biggest knife we own to clean it and I geniously sent it flying into my finger. It created a little knick, and later on when I was driving home I figured out it must have bled.  There was a lot of dried blood on my finger.

So today, I was making some spectacular cheeseburger pasta.  I added BBQ sauce and it was delicious.  However, while I was chopping up a few slices of bread to fry up like croutons I managed to cut a tiny piece of the tip of my finger off with that same large stinkin knife. 

What does that knife have against me anyway?

I am addicted to amazon prime instant streaming.  I have watched tons of Grey's Anatomy.  I should be in bed right now actually, I am super incredibly tired, and yet here I am watching more Grey's.

However, I started an internship.  It was really fun today, although might have been much better without being insanely tired.  But my bosses are very nice, and I actually got to talk to the lady I work with about the books I am reading about faith and heaven.  And she gave me interesting magazines on sustainability and green issues. 

Should be interesting and full of shenanigans! Pin It Now!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Teach Me How To Tebow

You are correct.  Something else someone is writing about Tebow.  Well get used to it.

Here is what I do not understand.  Why again is there anyone who doesn't like him?  I mean you can say he needs to keep his religious opinions to himself if you want, but don't so many of the players point to the sky or similar things that are in reference to God?  And really, it does happen to be a country of free speech.  And the football is not the government, so there really isn't a separation of church and state issue here. 

I am ecstatic Tebow is in the game and quite frankly I hope he becomes one of the greatest football players of all time.  I am thrilled that everyone has a player to look to who isn't a thug, works hard, doesn't have life handed to him on a silver platter, and keeps his head up.  He was never a diva demanding more time, money, or a trade. He was a good sport when he had to ride the bench while Orton choked the last couple of seasons.  And he is just a good guy.  He is only in his second year and he is already making plans to build a hospital to take care of kids.  Give the guy some credit here.

I would much rather an impressionable young child to look up to Tebow than look up to Roethlisberger.  Or Ray Lewis.  Or Plaxico even.  I would far rather it be a Tebow jersey hanging in my closet than a DeSean Jackson jersey after how big of a diva he has been this year.

The point is, why is everyone so offended by a legitimately good guy?  It makes no sense.  Most of it I feel is a media spin issue of course.  But still, the guy is one I would love to know, would be incredibly proud to call a friend, and would have no hesitation in introducing to my friends and family and professors.

(Some of my past friends/boyfriends I have hid from said people as I was not proud to know them.  Sad but true)

I look at Tebow and I want to be like him.  I want to not be the best at something but still love it so much that I never give up.  I want to have so much faith that I could take all the pressure and attention he does and not bat an eye.  I want his faith.  I know he probably has bad days just like all of us, but I am thoroughly impressed.

So forget Dougie.  Somebody please, teach me how to Tebow.  Because that is the kind of person I want to be.  I think he is one worth looking up to.

Oh, and my car is fixed! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

And So It Begins

My classes for the semester have started up, I have panicked profusely, and have finally decided that they are going to go alright.  And here is why:

My prof was going through some basics in the Revit program we are going to use in my architecture course.  He draws a rectangle.  And that is all.  And a guy in the front row is already lost.

"How'd you do that??"
"What did you do again?"
"How do I get there."
"I'm lost."

Understatement of the century.  There is literally a button that looks like a rectangle when you go to draw walls and floors and whatnot.  It is not a hard concept.  So since I have spent the last few weeks panicking like crazy about not being able to cut it in my intro to Revit and CAD courses, I think I will definitely be ok.  Revit is really just a lot like KidPix and Zoo Tycoon and Rollercoaster Tycoon and Sims all mixed in together on crack.

In other news, a professor told me to not sell myself short on grad school. She nicely suggested University of Minnesota, UCal, and similar.  The problem with this is...

I have literally no desire to go away.  More than a couple hours and I am out.  I just have no interest in it. 

However, I have read more and more on the University of Louisville's Master of Urban Planning and it looks legitimately interesting.  And if I absolutely haaaave to do grad school, I really think I want to do a program like that.  I would love to help design urban buildings, cities, venues, whatnot.

In yet more news, I refriended my ex on fb, about puked reading all this stupidly mushy fb posts, and redeleted him haha.  Not that I am proud of this, but it is rather funny.  First off, I got to see him say on fb the exact same bogus mumbojumbo he said to me *oh I have never felt like this before, blah blah blah*.  And I got to see him have all kinds of pictures and posts that he used to make fun of his best friends for.  It's really weird though, since she is still in highschool and he is like 23.  But I can't blame her, there are many times I have considered dating older too.

Although unlike her, I plan on going for older male with ambition, a degree, and a career.

Not to sound harsh, blame it on the woman scorned and all that jazz :)! 

And in final news, there is the nicest scruffy haired boy in two of my classes.  We have actually talked, which is weird for me since I sometimes get a little introverted around boys who are in the least bit cute.  He is a frat boy though, but I am sure some of them have potential ;).  I really like these construction boys, and my profs have been super nice. 

So begins the tale of a GIS girl who stumbles in to the land of construction and design, to wonder (adorably) through the halls in her trench and designer boots, in search of new software, a crazy new project, and a scruffy haired classmate to entertain her.

Did I mention he is from nearish to where I am from? Pin It Now!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Silver Linings, Hearts of Gold.

Today was not my day. At all.

My delightful Christmas Break ended today, and I really did not want to come back.  I am not going to be in my element as much this semester because I am taking classes only in the Tech Building and none in the Science Building that I am so used to.  It is weird.  Extremely weird.  So I packed all of the rest of my stuff up and waffled around at home, not wanting to leave.  I was not sure why I felt so weird about leaving- I assumed it was just because I don't really like leaving wherever I have become accustomed to.

In hindsight, I think I should have taken it as a warning.

I am driving north on the interstate towards my friends house to drop something off, and along the way my cruise control goes completely out.  Cruise control is my absolute favorite feature on any vehicle.  I would take cruise over a radio any day.  Maybe not over AC/Heat, but I consider that a necessity.  Regardless I called my mom to let her know what the deal was.  In the back of my mind, I said to myself, what if I turn it off and it won't come back on.

I hate that little voice sometimes.  It's like she foreshadows the future.

I got to my friends house, hung around for a bit, went to leave, and of course it wouldn't start.  I called my mom again, called my dad, and waited.  My mom was on her way, and my dad just googled what could possibly be wrong.

Now I know that there was most likely not a whole lot he could do, but if it had been something like a fuse or a plug or something pretty small like that my dad could easily fix it.  But I am really not sure that it ever crossed his mind to come see if he could help.  Granted, he was probably 200 miles or more away...but my best friends dad I really think would drive that far if I was stranded.  My dad, however, turned off his phone a couple hours after it happened.  He had talked to me about the fuses and stuff and googled a few things, but when I tried to call him after the second time my car broke down, it went straight to voicemail.

It kind of bummed me out.  I mean really...is my best friend's dad gonna have to walk me down the aisle some day too at this rate?  He was, after all, getting ready to drive over and look at my car as soon as he got off work.  Which he had already worked nearly 12 hours.  It meant a lot to me that he would even consider it.

My mom came and saved the day, like always. Hopefully the issue with the vehicle is just a little electrical glitch.

I finally got back to my apartment which should have been a 2.75 hour drive or so, six and half hours after I had started heading toward it.  I got in and made some pasta, and realized I had never eaten lunch.  I also practically messed up my pasta beccause I decided to throw in colby jack cheese which really does not work with italian herbs at all.

A short time after I got back here, I saw yet another silver lining.  I turned on the Broncos Steelers game about 4 minutes before it ended.  And spent most of that four minutes cheering, panicking, jumping, and celebrating as the Broncos took it in to overtime.  I got excited when they got the toss.  And I jumped up and down when Tebow threw that gorgeous pass and Demaryus Thomas ran for an 80 yard TD, sealing the OT win.  Best.  Game.  Ever.

And then I find out that Tebow throws for 316 yards...3:16, very interesting! His average yardage was 31.6, yet another 3:16.  Either that is the most entertaining coincidence, or it is one outstanding sign.  Either way, it made my day a lot better.

And the Steeler's day a lot worse haha.

I look back on today though, and it really does make me smile in the long run.  I have family and friends who will always be there for me, no questions asked.  And I am not mad at my dad, he is who he is and does what he does, but without his genetic input I would not be on the planet.  And that is really all I need in life.  

TEBOW TIME! Pin It Now!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Resolutions, Schmesolutions.

Every year, billions of resolutions are made, and every year, billions are abandoned.  I am awful about it.  I think New Year's is that time of year where we really reflect and look back and know exactly what it is that we *should* do and where we *should* go with our life.  So we start out trying, and most times figure out it is a lot harder to change than to stay the same, and so we go back to doing whatever it was we had been doing before.
Hopefully I can break some of my bad habits.  My resolutions are as follows:
  • To not date another boy that makes my brain flatline.  I am a fairly smart girl, and I am just going to have to face the facts that I cannot be happy with another guy who I cannot debate things with, who doesn't know anything about current events, or doesn't have useful bits of information to bring to the table (though not the only thing I would look for in a guy).
  • To learn to cook healthy, delicious, savory food.  I am pretty good with desserts, I even make a legit low-cal cheesecake that no one would ever imagine was lowcal.  But one cannot live on cheesecake alone (sadly), so to the land of savory I must travel.
  • On a more serious note, I want to be able to help people more.  To see what they need and help where I can.  I want to do things that make me the kind of person that sets a good example for others.
  • And probably most important, I want to really decide what I think of everything about religion, study it better, and live accordingly to the best of my ability.
While reading the Steve Jobs Bio he had said that one of the biggest mistakes religious people make it living too much based on faith instead of actually living like Jesus lived and being an active person striving to do good and make a difference.  Don't so many of us end up like that, religious or not? We sit around saying things like "if it is meant to be it will" or "it will all work out" instead of going out and making it happen.  Yes God very much could force humans to do everything that they were supposed to, but what would the point of that be? I very much believe in free will and that we were given this gift so that we could move and be an active person dedicated to making things happen. God gave us the tools, and even more importantly, the ability to use them.

I am looking forward to 2012, though with some intimidation toward it.  I have to find a job or go to grad school, which means I have to find a job or find a full ride scholarship/full tuition to a grad school.  I really can't afford a lot, and really need to find some place that can basically pay for everything.  No pressure right? Ha. 

To whoever reads this, I hope your New Year has started well, and that you are able to achieve whatever goals you are after.  Or at least learn from the ones that you can't.  I feel like the best life lessons are learned in failures and times of trouble. 

Oh, and no, I do not believe that 2012 is the Mayan Doomsday.  Pin It Now!