Taylor Swift’s 22

This past Thursday I turned 22 and needless to say I was not excited about it. I truthfully thought everyone forgot about it and I was also not ready to not be able to say I was 21 anymore. I felt that it was a end to a chapter of my life and it meant we were closer to graduation. Birthday’s have always been a big thing for me since I was a only child but now that I am older and hopefully more wise I think its not about the gifts or how many people come to your party it is about the people who are there to celebrate with you.

With no expectations I did not “advertise” my birthday like usual and just hoped for the best. This is when I realized I have the best friends in the world. At midnight on my birthday my friends came rushing in with a ton of balloons, and I LOVE balloons. I woke up to have a relaxing day got some gifts and then went to a night club with all of my friends. It was truly the perfect birthday.But it didn’t stop there, they then through me a surprise party the next day with all my friends I had not seen before. Not to say you should not have any expectations because I always have high expectations, but not worrying about the petty birthday things actually taught me a lot. I had a great time and I don’t feel as bad about turning 22.

Graduation Caps

So this week I picked up my cap and gown which was scary, like this is actually happening! A tradition that most girls follow are to decorate your caps. In high school I had a lot of fun doing this with my friends and I am excited to do it one last time. I have been using pinterest to see what types of things I can put on my cap. I want it to be creative  but also encompass me. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas and here are a couple of my favorite!

I know I defiantly want to put a thank you to my parents, my sorority letters, and my monogram on the hat somewhere. All of the above caps are very different but each of them shows off a little but of my personality. What are you thinking of putting on your graduation cap? What are the essentials that you want to show off about yourself on your cap?

Regardless of how much I do not want to graduate and go into the real world my mom made a good point about graduation. It is a time to celebrate a really big accomplishment. I was lucky enough to accomplish it at this beautiful school that I call my home. I cant wait for the weekend to spend it with my closest friends and family to celebrate our accomplishments!

Senioritis…

As 29 days till graduation is upon us I am slowly losing motivation to do any type of work at all. This is bad because it could affect my GPA, and I do care about doing work but I feel in my last 29 days I should spend my life to the fullest as a college kid. I want to explore HPU campus like I never have before and do it with the people that I know I am not going to be able to just text and ask if they want to hang out.

I know I am personally dreading the real world. I am scared I am not going to be able to have fun after college.Also, in less than two weeks I will be 22. Everything just seems to be happening all at once and I can’t stop it or slow it down so I at least want to be able to enjoy it. So as I finish this blog post to go live out the rest of my college days making memories I encourage you to do the same!

Easter Time

I cannot believe that it is already easter. This year has gone by incredibly fast but I am so excited to go home to Connecticut this weekend to celebrate with my family! I am especially excited because we are having family over our house which means I get to cook and bake ( I am sure I will regret saying this when I am older). For today I decided to look up some great and easy recipes everyone is sure to enjoy for easter while I am planning on what I am cooking.

First I am starting at pinterest, this is such a easy social media platform to use. I type in easter recipes and a ton pop up. Recipes range from breakfast to dinner. My family tends to do brunch because what is better than breakfast and lunch together. One of the first things that caught my eye was the mimosa bar. This may not be food but I think it is a great addition to Easter Sunday.

For the Mimosa Bar you just get multiple types of juices, fruits to garnish it and of course champagne. Hopefully mine will look as cute as the mimosa bar below.

Another great recipe for Easter Sunday are deviled eggs! I used to hate these but now they are my favorite and this recipe gives it an extra cute touch!

Here is the recipe

• Hard boil eggs and peel
• Here’s a “Make Life Special” Extra:  If you would like to have the chicks different colors, dip the peeled eggs into a mixture of 1/2 cup water and some  food coloring.  Immerse the eggs, one at a time, into the dye mixture for a few seconds or until the desired color is reached. Dry each colored egg on a paper towel.
• If you want the chicks to stand alone on a plate, cut a thin straight slice from the wider bottom end of each egg so the egg will stand straight.  You don’t have to do this step if you want to nestle the chicks on a plate with “grass” made from shredded lettuce or spinach as shown in the photo.
• With a sharp knife, cut the top third off each egg and remove the yolk.  Mash the yolks in a bowl and make your favorite deviled egg recipe.
• Refill the larger bottom portion of each egg ( using a small spoon or a small zip lock bag with a corner snipped off).  Mound the the  top of  the filling and cap with the top egg portions.
• Add a tiny triangle of carrot to each egg for the beak.  Use bits of black olives or capers for the eyes.
• You can also insert a sprig of fresh dill into the top cap for a tuft of feathers, if desired.
• Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

The last recipe I will share with you today is this easy dip that you can set up to look like a bunny!

This is a easy recipe and it can feed a lot of people. It is also relatively healthy because you can put a lot of different vegetables around the bunny. Its easy to want a vegetable on Easter after the easter bunny drops off all the candy!

The recipe:

Ingredients

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise 1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped Directions Combine all ingredients and chill for about 2 hours.

I hope you all have a great Easter Weekend and eat a lot of good food!

Learning from my internship

This semester I have a great internship that gives me insight into the profession I would love to be in when I am older. They have entrusted in me a lot of responsibility which is great but I never really knew about real deadlines until this internship.

For school the deadline is the due date and thats it. For internships and the real world projects have to be done before the due date and work is not getting graded to be fixed. The deadline means there are no second chances. I found this out the hard way when I was trying to get the mailing list in order for the due date. I did finish it but I did not double check for issues because in my head the work was done. Thankfully, my supervisor understands that I am a intern and helped me learn from my mistake and also fix the mistakes.

This taught me a great life lesson that I will remember as I am getting my first job and trying to do my best work. One thing I am glad about is that while I am working I wont have a part time job and taking 16 credits. Also, I will have 40 hours a week to get my work done. Even though making mistakes sometimes makes me feel embarrassed I just remember that everything is a learning experience and I can prevent it from happening again by learning from my mistakes!

Spring Break After Math

Hello WordPress World!

I made it back from Cancun, Mexico safely and it was a blast! Surprisingly enough I learned a little bit about myself and Mexico during this trip.The first thing that I learned about myself is that for a 21-year-old I am very lucky to be such an experienced international traveler. I know Mexico is not totally international but my past experiences going to Australia and Europe have trained me to be a good traveler!

Now about Mexico! If you ever choose to go to Cancun I have some wonderful ideas for you! First if you are not looking for a college spring break kind of time then do not go to Cancun during the month of march. I saw a couple of families during my time at the hotel and it is not a family place to be during this time. Plus all the prices are crazy expensive. This leads me to my next point if you go on spring break in Cancun expect to pay a lot even if you paid for an all-inclusive hotel! There are still opportunities to go out and do a lot of fun things but it will cost you! During my time there I swam with dolphins, relaxed, saw some Cancun historical sites, and took a ton of pictures! Below are some of the pictures I took!

Lastly,One thing that I found interesting is while I was in Mexico and I was on my social media I actually saw some businesses on twitter. They are not as developed at social media marketing as in the US but it is fun to see the different ways different countries advertise to their consumers.

Till Next Time!

Spring Break Baby!

As midterms come to a close it only means one thing! Spring Break!!! This year for Spring Break my friends and I decided to go to cancun. At first I was hesitant because of the bad rap that Mexico has gotten, but I have done my research and Cancun is a very safe place for tourists.

I wanted to talk about common issues when traveling and hopefully give some insight on how to solve them!

Issue #1: Packing. Packing has always been an issue for me. I love to pack my whole wardrobe because why not? What if I need something I forgot? Lets all be real only about 1/8th of our suitcase is used while we are away! Make sure to pack just some of your favorite clothes to be sure you will wear them and to be sure room is not wasted. Also you will be able to bring souvenirs back!

Issue #2: Saving Money. Having a budget while going somewhere fun is difficult, but being on spring break is also about relaxing. Don’t focus on how many things you want to fit in, plan one or two really exciting things to make sure you remember to also relax! By focusing on relaxing you will spend less money and you will still be happy! I promise!

Issue #3: Trying to get a big group to do all the same thing. Going with a group could be an issue because of multiple different personalities.Try making the group smaller to about three or four people. Insuring you have a big enough group will keep you safe while not worrying about trying to please everyone in the group.

Where are you going for spring break and what are your tips? Where ever you go for spring break, I wish you safe travels and that you have a great time!

Dun Dun Dun… Midterms!

As midterms near closer students start to wonder where the first half of the semester went. Well have no fear, since I am a senior I have complied some great study tips for all sorts of tests and projects.

Here are my top 5 tips:

1. My first tip might be a risky one but depending on your work ethic procrastinating is okay and it is natural for it to happen. For most people as the deadline moves closer they are more concentrated at the task at hand. This isn’t to say that you should start it the day before but starting a project two weeks out is not always necessary.

2. Try the 50/10 rule when studying. This rule is that for every 50 min. of studying one does they get a 10 min. break. Most likely check social media cause thats what my generation likes to do. This rule is also great because I know especially for me after a couple of breaks I am already caught up on my social media, and I also get into my work so I am less likely to take breaks.

3. There are different kinds of studying for each school topic. For math, practice makes perfect. For History, creating a timeline poster out works great! For general knowledge like psychology, flash cards are the winner. The tip here is to just show that you have to modify your study habits depending on the topic. If you are having a tough time doing well in a class, try and be creative with study habits and change them up. Maybe the way you are studying just is not helping with your memory.

4.Studying with friend is a great way to learn and understand information. By teaching information to someone else or even just talking it out helps the person studying understand better. Caution: Only study with friends who have studied before, this way you are not wasting time trying to get people caught up.

5. Lastly, Always study the night before the test. Many people think that pulling an all nighter will work but psychology studies show that sleeping the night before helps input the information in your brain. Also, having a full night sleep will help improve your physical, mental, and emotional parts of your body.

I hope these tips help you do well on your midterms! What are some of your favorite tips for fellow midterm takers?

Snowdaze

So remember how I said sometimes it gets nice in North Carolina during the winter? Well this week we had about an inch of snow and about three inches of ice, or at least it seemed that way. Not only did we have 1 snow day, we had two! Not only this but Guilford County Schools were off the whole week including presidents day! Im from the north so I was prepared for this weather (Nonslip shoes, heavy coat, gloves) and was ready to proceed with some snow day activities!

Snow days, especially in college are fun! The night before our snow day we ended up sledding with our cushions ( Sorry HPU) down some hills. Boy, do those things go fast! Even though it was freezing rain outside it was a ton of fun and it was like a high point community event! Since it was a snow day the next day people had no concerns or worries and may have possibly stayed up later than expected!

The thing about snow days in North Carolina is once there is snow on the ground people are basically immobile for a couple of days!  Since we were stuck to the campus my friends and I had to make up some snow day activities! My snow day consisted of tons of movies, making chili, and some nice hot chocolate! It was a great relaxing day after being sore from sledding. What are your favorite things to do on a snow day? I personally do not mind the snow but for all of you snow-haters out there what do you guys like to do on snow days?

6 more weeks of winter.

After Punxsutawney Phil told us that there was 6 more weeks of winter I have been craving for spring. Last Sunday was beautiful with sunshine and the temperature being 70 degrees. Now, North Carolina weather is anything but stable. It could be 80 degrees one day and 15 degrees the next. But, the warm weather gets me excited to do spring activities such as bike riding, swimming, and hiking. Hiking is one of my favorite activities especially during the fall and the spring when the flowers and trees are beautiful.

In North Carolina there are tons of options for hiking.I personally have been to Hanging Rock State Park and Pilot Mountain. Hanging Rock State Park has a ton of trails, one of which actually goes down to a waterfall. On a warm day people like to swim in the waterfall or feel the breeze from it. This walk is on a very man-made path but it can be challenging. Some of the inclines at this park can be challenging but my personal opinion that almost anyone can take it! The views at the top are amazing and are worth the climb!

Most recently I went to Pilot Mountain. My friend and I decided to do the strenuous trail. This trail was man-made but it was very narrow and it definitely felt more like hiking. While we were walking there were rock climbers, who, I give a lot of credit to because I could never do that kind of thing. Below is a picture of me right off of the trail! Luckily this was on one of those nice Carolina winter days!

Since I am so excited for the spring weather and to do more hiking I decided to research some other fun trails in North Carolina. According to Everytrail.com these are the top 10 rated hiking trails in North Carolina! This website tells you about the trails, how easy or hard they are, and the duration of a normal hike which I think is a nice feature!

1.Waterfall Tour of Hanging Rock State Park, N.C.

2.Blue Ridge Parkway to Grandfather Mountain summit

3.Summit trails at Pilot Mountain State Park, North Carolina

4.Stone Mountain Loop – Stone Mtn. State Park – N.C

5.Campbell Creek and Lanier Falls Trails

6. Uwharrie/Dutchman’s Creek Trail Loop

7.Harper Falls – Wilson Creek area

8.Little Creek Trail at Raven Rock State Park

9. Linville Falls-Erwin’s View Trail

10.High Falls and Triple Falls Tour – Dupont State Forest

This is only one of the things that is great to do during the Spring! But, I am always ready for a new adventure so I am interest in what kind of things do you like to do during the Spring?