The Joys of a Book Club

One of the joys of being in your twenties is the ability to experiment with all sorts of ideas and passions. My most recent experiment is a book club. You may be thinking, “book club? I thought those were for older women who drink tea and little sandwiches,” Well actually, I have no idea what you are thinking. But what I was thinking is detailed below—and this is most certainly not your grandmother’s book club!

I was fortunate enough to form a bond with a few girls in college, and we are a close-knit group. Post college we live near each other so it is fairly easy to meet up with a friend one-on-one. However—aside from birthdays—it is hard to meet up as a group. That is where my book club idea came to mind. Meeting up as a group to discuss something as enjoyable as a book would surely give us a chance to also catch up on each other’s lives. In order to make the idea a reality, I thought up a few guidelines:

·      Invite any and all friends who are interested in discussing books
·      One rule: choose a book that will facilitate discussion
·      The person that chooses the book should host the discussion

The book we discussed.

·      Rotate book chooser/discussion hosts every month
·      Be open to inviting whomever would like to join

They are pretty simple guidelines, right? I have learned a few things from forming this book club that I will share with you because after all your twenties are about trying out new ideas! A person needs patience for new ideas to work. Some people will be too busy to read the book; some may not meet on the discussion date. But if there is one thing I have learned in working towards making this club work, is that you shouldn’t give up. If you have a passion or a great idea, work toward its fruition tirelessly because the outcome will be worth all the trouble!

Goodies!

Today I had my first book club discussion meeting! Only four out of the usual six of us were able to meet today, but we still made it work. We discussed "Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin. I set up the patio deck outside to look nice and inviting for the guests. I baked pink lemonade cookies, made homemade guacamole, and made homemade iced tea (for the first time.) Thankfully, a friend of mine brought food as well (what a hospitable gesture!)

Patio deck ready to go.

About five minutes into our discussion amid dark clouds, it began raining. And not just sprinkles, this was full on heavy rain! I was thinking, “of course this would happen!” But I thought of what I said before. If you want something to work, don’t let anything get in your way. So we came inside and discussion began for about an hour.

Pleasantly surprised, I began taking notes. Here are some of my thoughts:
 ·      You don’t necessarily need to have discussion questions, you can just ask what people thought of the book, the ending, etc.
·      It is helpful to focus on the characters of the book
·      Keep asking questions and for people's opinions

Throughout the discussion I began getting a clearer meaning of the book. It helped to talk through issues like character development, themes, character motives, and more. Towards the end of the discussion I was reminded why I started this book club. Not only was it a way to get back together again as college friends but it was a chance to talk intellectually and share our thoughts about a book. In this day and age it is easy to focus on shallow things like celebrities and gossip what with the many facets at our fingertips feeding us all this information. But if you can set aside an hour a month to discuss something as simple as a book, you won’t regret it.

I am pleased to say that my first major experiment as a post college-grad twenty something year old was successful! At the end, somebody volunteered to choose the next book. I am glad I was able to share this idea with you and I hope it inspires you to do something as against the grain as this!

Got my iced tea and cookies!

The Joys of Looking Back

So, it's June 24th. Which I just realized means that it has been one year since I departed for Bilbao, Spain to study abroad with UMW! Wow, does time fly! If you're interested in reading about what I encountered while studying abroad, I blogged about it here. I had such an amazing experience and met some great friends--those five weeks are always going to be with me! While I was there, I did a variety of things. I studied abroad in Bilbao, Spain, which is a beautiful valley of a city with a river running through and enclosed by mountains. Its geography is fantastic!

I went with a group of 32 other students from my university and met many other students from universities in other states like Michigan, Nebraska, and Illinois. In addition to living in the residence hall and going to the Universidad de Deusto, the large group of students studying abroad visited Madrid, Toledo, and San Sebastian, among other places. I found these visits very educational and documented most of them in my blog.

Over all, I learned a lot about studying abroad in a foreign country. How different cultures work, how to live on my own (including taking care of myself when I got sick!), and various other skills I picked up. It has been a great year and I know one day I will go back to Bilbao to visit!

As for now, I have begun a scrapbook to document my trip. If you're ever in the craft mood, I suggest attempting to make a scrapbook. I believe it is the most quintessential craft! But, it takes a long time. It has taken me ten months to get up and moving on this scrapbook business. I'm still not done with my Spain scrapbook but it's my first scrapbook and I have learned more about doing crafts through this experience.

Here are some tips I have picked up from scrapbooking so far:

1) Buy a scrapbook and filler sheets (I have a red book and two shades of gold filler paper to represent Spain)

2) Decide upon the photos you want to share. Sometimes it is easier to share with others the photos you want to share in case your audience may not find them interesting. For instance, I ran a list of 65 photos with my sister, who was able to easily decide some photos were not as interesting as others. (A photo of my dormitory room was not intriguing!) After all, a scrapbook is a chance for you to share an experience through photos, text, and stickers with others who may not have experienced the situation with you.

3) Begin organizing the photos by which page you want them on. I was able to do this by deciding on what each page was about--I've got the visit to Madrid on two pages, a page on my University, etc.

4) Order the photos. I used Snapfish because I heard the quality is good and it is less expensive than going to a store with a USB to print out photos. I ended up purchasing about 42 or so photos.

5) Once you have the photos, begin cutting them so they fit the page and there is enough space for text. I average about two photos a page.

6) I chose to write titles on each page and did so using alphabet stickers. I did this because I am very particular about my handwriting and did not want to ruin the pages.

7) Once you have the titles down, begin sticking on the photos and stickers!

8) Write in the text for each page, if you need to explain anything.

9) Let everything dry and make sure everything is in order.

10) Share with family and friends!

I am so excited to finish my scrapbook and be able to share with all my friends and family my study abroad experience!

My scrapbook.

The beginning of my scrapbook.

Another page in the book.

On another note, I had some summer fun! Today, I cut up a baby melon for the first time, and I photo-documented it for fun. Here are a few of the photos! Happy Summer!

Struggling as I cut it!

Finished product!

The Joys of Being in the Kitchen

Since moving back home and having a limited number of things to do, I have found much joy in being in the kitchen. I have always loved cooking and baking--I can even remember my first experience with baking! I was following in the footsteps of my sister, something I found I did often as I have two older sisters.

The oldest was trying to bake bread with my mom and I joined them in the kitchen. All that fancy preparation with yeast and such rendered me confused as a young child but nevertheless I attempted to emulate my sister and make my own version of bread. I was given a little yeast and dough and rolled everything up to make a little piece of bread. I popped a few raisins in for fun, and voila--it was placed in the oven. I waited excitedly and anxiously for my "bread" to be ready. I had not been supervised much while baking so it was my own special project. When it was time, and my mom took the bread out of the oven, I held my fresh raisin bread roll in my hand, enthusiastic to share with everyone. I will always remember the next part of this story as a defining moment for my dad. I hurriedly ran up to my dad to let him try my raisin bread. He took a bite out and said "wow! This is amazing!" I was pleased and encouraged. Then I took a bite out myself. It tasted disgusting. There are no words to describe how bad that bread roll turned out to be. But, that was about fifteen years ago and I have learned a lot since then!

My passion for cooking and baking doesn't come from a certain experience or memory. I have always loved food. I love that it brings people together, how exciting it is to eat out in restaurants, but most of all, I love that it is like a science. Measuring ingredients and mixing or whisking a certain way really alters the outcome of the recipe. It is always exciting to be able to see the fruits of your labor on the dinner table enjoyed by all.

Throughout the years since that raisin bread accident, I have acquired an apron and some cooking finesse. Maybe it was being in college for four years or my love for culinary arts, but I have found that I have improved at cooking and baking, and have quite a few recipes to share with you on this blog!

Meatless Monday dinner--my accomplishment!

So far this summer, I've made a breakfast smoothie consisting of bananas, peanut butter, and raspberries courtesy of Cooking Light. I have made a summer salad, dabbled in Thai stir-fry, and baked a double layer German chocolate cake! My favorite conquest was the other night--I was pressed on time and had to make family dinner. I grabbed a few items from my refrigerator
and made a memorable and delicious dish that is sure to become a staple in the house.

As I continue to blog, I will be sure to highlight and explain the recipes I have tried out and created on my own complete with photos (I love to take pictures and to photo-document!) I love Cooking Light recipes, so that is where I get most of my dishes. I have a secret--I follow Cooking Light on Pinterest and pin great dinner recipes to my new Dinner Ideas board--it's a great way to hold on to a variety of recipes for a day when you don't have any ideas for what to make for dinner!

For now, I will leave you with a Cooking Light recipe I am SO excited to pursue! When I was in college, my love for chicken wings blossomed but I always felt guilty eating them. The fried crispiness and oil reminded me that even though they are tasty, wings aren't the healthiest. So I am very glad to see this recipe, and will blog again to let you know how my version of it turns out!

Until next time! :)

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

I'm glad you have stumbled upon my outlet, something I hope to utilize as I explore the joys of being a twenty-something year old! The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences, discuss my hobbies and show them to you, and to document my exploration through young adulthood.

The original idea to create this blog came to me a few weeks before I graduated college. I began thinking about that one marvelous, perfect day when I would walk past my peers and grab my

diploma.  I was so ready--commencement day 

2013 undergraduate commencement. Courtesy of UMW.

for me was the first "big day" of my life. You know, big days? I would say weddings and the birth of your first child fall into the "big day" category. So I was pretty excited. But being a natural worrier, I started wondering how the day after graduation would be for me. Would I be sad, hopeless, unenthused, wondering where I would go from that point on? I had no job prospects for after graduation and was afraid for that postclimactic feeling on that Sunday. But somehow I knew that same day would be just as exciting. It would mark the beginning of the rest of my life. Even though I would return for higher education, for now the real world had begun! I was excited and decided perhaps I should document the beginning. And that's why we're here...A month later. I am slow on the uptake but I aim to please, so here it is--the conceived idea in formation!

So come with me as I explore the beginning of the rest of my life and find the joys of being a twenty something year old!

Note: exclamation points, emoticons, and capital letters will be highly utilized in this blog. I LOVE being able to share my excitement with people and am a fan of doing so virtually :-).