Transformation

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how" -- Friedrich Nietzsche

The triple birthday celebration went well last Friday. Everyone that I've talked to post-partying said they had a lot of fun. Probably going to be the last big birthday celebration that I have. I wish I had taken more photos.

I think I'm going to take a hiatus from this blogger and dig up the old paper journal to record my thoughts, wishes, feelings. I've just been going through a lot of self-discovery and feel like it'd be easier for me to be completely honest about everything if I didn't post it for all to see and judge.

I woke up this morning realizing that I'm really 25. Not to say that every 25 year old (or 26 - 30 year old) has their life in order and knows what they want, but I just feel like I need more time to work on my goals and to figure out how to achieve them. I just want to feel accomplished and successful.

I will probably post a new picture, link, recipe every now and then, but updates and personal entries will probably not return until after the semester is over (May).

Hopefully I will be able to get most of my life in order and figure out where I need improvements and how to accomplish them. Self-reflection is a good thing, right?

Birthdays and Love

My birthday was on Sunday. I had a nice relaxing day at home, basically studying. I also got to chat with my three best friends for a couple hours, which was really great. I miss them a lot. I went for dinner with my parents and then had a celebratory cupcake from sugar + sunshine bakery in pboro (chocolate cake with strawberry frosting). Based on the candle count, I turned one. Friends and family asked me what I wanted as presents for my birthday, and of course I told them to not get me anything. In reality, the things I appreciate the most are birthday cards. Nowadays people always email each other, which is fine, but I write a lot of snail mail, and I always feel like it's more personalized when you have a physical card that someone took the time to write out to you.

Monday was Valentine's Day. I had a terrible morning, but went out to get groceries, picked up Jeremy from work, and went back to his apartment to cook him a three-course meal. Meal consisted of:

Appetizer: Sesame Shrimp over avocado with Passion Sauce (oven-baked shrimp over fresh avocado slices and a sweet and spicy raspberry sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds)

Entrée: Chicken with a Lemon Brodetto over garlic spinach (seasoned chicken breast, lemon sauce with shallots, and spinach sauteed with garlic)

Dessert: Lemon Ricotta Granata (lemon ice slushy topped with sweet ricotta, fresh lemon zest and sprinkling of dark chocolate)

Unfortunately, there was no time to eat the dessert since I had to rush out to get to class on time. And I literally RAN to class...

If you couldn't tell, my gift for Jeremy was this meal and a card. In return, he wrote me a poem.

Valentines Day has always been my favorite holiday, only because it's near my birthday. It's so interesting to see the spectrum of reactions and celebrations on valentines day though. It ranges from singles moping about and dreading being alone, to singles celebrating not having to spend money and worry about this hallmark holiday, to couples expressing more love for one another, to couples spending ridiculous amounts of money on wining, dining, flowers and sweets. One thing I don't like about this day is that it often gives people the impression that there's only one day a year where you should express your love for your significant other. Luckily, I have Jeremy, who I know loves me everyday. :)