"Anyone can cook. All you have to know how to do is read."

One thing that is always necessary when studying a lot is taking study breaks. So my big study break today (as opposed to my smaller study breaks) was watching one of my favorite movies, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do (even if you're a guy and am not a big chick flick fan). It's HILARIOUS, and Kate Hudson is hilarious acting like those crazy girls that we all secretly hope we're not. Plus, the fact of the matter is that Matthew McConaughey is such a beautiful man, so it makes this movie 10x better with that.

"You let our love fern DIE!"

Talking about movies, one movie I really want to see that I haven't gotten around to renting is Julie and Julia. The one with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep?

Yeah, that one. I really really want to see it. It looks adorable, and plus, it's about cooking. This Julie character wants to cook every recipe in Julia's cookbook.

Yeah, probably again another chick flick. (Notice the pattern here: I LOVE CHICK FLICKS) But I think it's a great thing to be able to cook, and learn how to cook more than the Kraft blue box of macaroni and cheese or a frozen pizza. (Not that there is anything wrong with either of those, I pull those out every once in a while myself. They're delicious) Regardless of whether you're a male or female, being able to cook is a good skill to have, and people will definitely be impressed. So, since I've been living on my own, I've been trying to cook more "real food".

Granted, with my semi-busy schedule (and it'll probably get busier from now to finals), I eat A LOT of sandwiches and anything I can pack into plastic sandwich baggies (rice cakes, chips, fruit). But my mom was nice enough to give me the big crock pot and the electric skillet (two necessary kitchen staples, especially for quick cooking and cleaning), so I figure I might as well use them, right?

This morning, I made myself some whole wheat blueberry pancakes with turkey bacon. I'm definitely getting better at the whole "not burning the pancakes and making them into a shape somewhat resembling a circle", still have a way to go. And using a skillet with the turkey bacon can be challenging, but again, getting the hang of it. So having that as a positive experience this morning, of course there's going to be a neutralizing factor somewhere with cooking... which leads me to dinner. I attempted to make this crock pot recipe that called for 6 pieces of chicken drenched in barbeque sauce and cooked on low heat for 8 hours. Then 15 minutes before you want to serve, you fry up some bacon, and put two strips on each piece of chicken and top it with a slice of swiss cheese, and cook it on high heat for 15 minutes. Sounds delicious, right? Well, I learned an important lesson: make sure you check on your food every couple of hours if you can. And, to never EVER skimp on sauces used. I DEFINITELY needed to add more barbeque sauce... as the chicken was extremely dry and most of the bbq sauce had turned a nice black color. But I wasn't going to be deterred from trying it anyway. So I put two pieces away (made 3 instead of 6), and put the bacon and cheese on it. And surprisingly enough, it was actually still pretty good, dry chicken and all!

So I'm proud of myself for at least trying to cook decent meals, and I'm on the lookout for my next recipe I want to try (as in a lunch or dinner recipe). I found this DELICIOUS recipe for a New Zealand type cookie dessert, called Yo-Yo biscuits. (Another thing you must know about me: I LOVE everything about New Zealand. I mean it, EVERYTHING.) So I found this recipe, and next time I hit up Kroger, I'm going to get everything to make this. Here's the recipe if you would like to try it:

Yo-Yo Biscuits


Yo-Yos:
175g butter, softened (1.5 sticks)
1/4 cup of sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
¼ cup of custard powder

Butter Filling:
50g butter (0.4 sticks)
½ cup icing sugar
2 tbsp custard powder

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Sift flour and custard powder together. Mix sifted ingredients into creamed mixture. Roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls. Place on lightly greased oven tray. Flatten with a fork. Bake at 180 C (355-360 F) for 15-20 minutes. When cold sandwich together in twos with Butter Filling. Makes 20.


And here's a picture of these YUMMY sandwich cookies:

Wish someone could get me some of these now... or just get me some Tim Tams.

Well I have to get back to studying, enough procrastinating. I do hope that everyone takes some time to cook, even if it's just once. It's a great great great activity to, and it's good because then you get to eat, and who doesn't like to do that? Later, blog world.

I'm Feelin Me Right Now.

Sometimes, it's good to break out some good "girl power" music. No, I'm not talking about the Spice Girls (though I still love the Spice Girls. who doesn't? they were so cool back in the day). There are some artists that when I think of them, I think of girl empowering music. Britney Spears (some of her music), Christina Augerlia (again, some of her music), Beyonce. One of my favorite female artists that make feel that I am empowered to do anything is Kelly Rowland. Yes, a lot of her music is a lot more sensual than girl empowering, I understand that. Heck, look at her latest YouTube video, Lay It On Me: Kelly Rowland - Lay It On Me. (What I really want to know is where do you get a man couch like that? Christmas present!) But, I just bought her most recent album, and there are definitely a lot of songs that remind me that I am a strong woman, and that I can do anything. I'm Dat Chick (favorite line: I'm not cocky, I just love myself) and Feelin Me Right Now are two of my favorites, so if you have a chance to check out her album, I recommend it. Especially if you need a nice pick me up of positive energy in the form of R&B.

The lovely Kelly helped me do what I needed to do for a certain situation that has been bothering me since mid-June. Nothing too big, but you know those things that you know that you need to do something, but can't bring yourself to do it? Like deleting someone's phone number that you shouldn't be talking to, or getting done with something that you really just don't want to close it off. Stuff like that. Well, I finally put the "period" on this situation, and I feel great about it. Never deal with people, situations, etc. that make you feel inferior and low about yourself. The only person that can make you unhappy, inferior, etc. is yourself. Don't allow yourself to feel poorly about you. You are a beautiful creature, and there are plenty of people that love you for who you are. Don't change yourself for another person, it's not worth it in the end, because you're not being true to you. You are the most important person in your life, don't forget that. People will come and go, but you have to deal with you everyday. Wouldn't it be easier if you loved yourself completely?

Are there any people (whether you're close to them or not) that make you feel empowered? Or form of art, place, subject, etc. that makes you feel empowered? Whatever, whomever, whereever, don't let go of them. You may not need them all the time, but they will always be there for you when they're needed. And don't forget to show them a little love every once in a while... everyone/everything likes to feel appreciated.

I'm so happy that it is sunny and cool outside today. Perfect fall weather. Granted, I'm stuck inside with chemistry (my choice), but I love seeing the sun through my three big windows in my room. It makes me want to go carve pumpkins, or go to a farm for apple picking (or something along that nature, lol. you know what I mean). I just want to be outside in sweaters going on a hayride. What are some of your favorite fall activities? Whatever they are, do them while the sun is still prominent. Fall only lasts for so long, so let's make the most of it :)

Back to my inorganic chemistry land. My first exam for that class is this Friday... wish me luck! It's going to be a lot of work to prepare for it. Love you, bloggies. Have a perfect day, and go feel empowered!

It all pays off in the end.

Hello to all the lovely people out there! Yes, I am DEFINITELY in a better, more chipper mood than I was with my last post. Everyone gets down, gets stressed... if you don't, then that's great! But if you do, it's just a human emotion. It happens. The important thing is that you deal with your stress in a healthy and controlled manner, and then bounce back on top! :)

There have been many developments lately that have made me a very happy girl! For example, tonight I had my first exam for graduate school in chemical separations. Thanks to some great friends and some practice exams, I feel like I dominated that exam. (I guess we'll see once I get my exam back and what my score is.) And I haven't felt that good after coming out of an exam in a long, long time. So it feels good to be able to succeed, and now I can focus most of my time on the inorganic exam I have coming up next week.

One big big BIG development when it comes to graduate school: the past few weeks, we've had the faculty come and give presentations on what their research is they are doing, and the ones that speak are looking for students to join their lab groups. I've talked to a couple professors whose research I'm interest in, and I'm excited for the possibilities of each one. However, when I was talking to the first professor, I had told him that I was only a masters student, and we began to talk about that. Long story short, I told him I would definitely rather be getting my PhD, but I thought it wasn't possible. Turns out that if I can get my grades to where the PhD students have to keep it (aka a 3.3 GPA for all 3 quarters, instead of the 3.0 that masters students need), and I pass the intro to research class, then I can talk to the admissions council and the graduate head and discuss the possibility of me switching over to the PhD track! Talk about a HUGE surprise, and what a great, wonderful, fantastic surprise it was! So, obviously if I continue to work hard, I can get into the PhD program and not be too far behind!

So it's been a good week or so for me, school wise. And I'm hoping it's been a good week for everyone else as well!

Positive thought for the day: Work hard, play hard. I know at Centre, we always used to say, Work hard, play harder. But I think the original phrase works better. You shouldn't reward yourself if you haven't made progress in something. Hard work really does pay off. It's a delicate balance, but if you work hard, you definitely need to play hard. Just because not to play too hard (believe me, I know what that's like).

Quote of the day: (since it was Columbus day the other day, and this quote fits in with my positive thought for the day) "By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chose goal or destination." - Christopher Columbus

Whatever you are working toward, I wish you positive thoughts and energy. We can all use some of that. :)

Back to the grind of grad school though. Inorganic and organic chemistry are calling my name :) Good night, all you lovely people.

The cost of an education.

Being in graduate school is definitely no walk in the park. I didn't think it would be, but there are some days where I just wonder why it is so difficult at times. The classes are very invigorating (yes, even Advanced Inorganic Chemistry), and I LOVE being back in academia. There was definitely something missing when I was just working. I just hope that my next job after I get out of grad school has some kind of mental stimulation as well. Otherwise, I think I'll feel like grad school was almost a waste.

Speaking of school, and getting enjoyment out of it, something I've always pondered is the cost of an education. I thought a lot about it when I was at Centre, having it be so difficult and really expensive. Reflecting on my time in undergrad, I definitely thought that the amount it cost to go there was worth it for me personally. But now, being at University of Cincinnati, I am paying about 40% as much a year to go to school here, and get my masters degree. So it makes me wonder, who sets the price on getting a good education? Is it really about the label you get with it? Or is about what you make out of the time you are at an institution?

Another thing I always wonder about: the pricing increase when it comes to out-of-state tuition. As a generation that doesn't tend to stay in one place for long, it seems difficult to go to grad school (especially if you're the one who is paying for it) out of your state. Why do state boundaries have to keep us from achieving the most we can? I understand that without an increase in price, then everyone would attempt to apply to the "big name" schools, but aren't the panel in admissions supposed to handle that? Or why such a large price increase? And another thought: some schools require you to sign a contract that if you are coming from out-of-state, you are required to pay the out-of-state tuition during the entirety of your education at that institution. Isn't that a bit ridiculous? Some people want to move into the area and settle down there, but what's the advantage of going to that university when they're are having to pay a ridiculous amount of money to go there?

... I know this isn't a very positive blog post. More neutral than anything. But I definitely think that regardless of where one goes to further their education, the cost of an education is what you get out of it. Not just academically (which is obviously the most important aspect, after all, that's why you're furthering your education), but emotionally, socially. You can gain tons of networking opportunities, and find something you are very passionate about, regardless of where you're going to school. And I think that always needs to be the forefront of what you think about when it comes to an education: what you gain from continuing your education. Wherever that might be.

Some positivity at the end of the post, for good times sake: I refuse to be afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today! --> from the lovely @RevRunWisdom twitter. Go out and take life by the horns! Don't be afraid of the future, as there are so many possibilities for each and every one of us. We get through it all day by day. And by making the most of everyday, it's amazing what you can accomplish.

Okay, back to lovely inorganic reading and analytical studying! Later, loves.