This week I got my "you're all set to graduate in April (as long as you pass the classes you're in now)!" email. I'm 10% freaked out, 20% thrilled to make "grown up" money (hopefully), 30% excited to be out of school for the first time in 18 years, %40 stressed about finding some kind of employment, and 100% pumped to be part of the "real world."
When I was a kid I wanted to be everything from a teacher to a lawyer to a pediatrician to a lawyer again. I went into college knowing I wanted to major in political science but having no idea what I could actually do with my degree. Two years ago I decided to minor in social welfare and started interning at various nonprofits and foundations.
My time at my internships has really been more influential in helping me decide what I want to do with my life than my actual schooling has. My current internship has really changed my focus and made me love something I thought I never would.
All that said, I started to look at job sites in January and felt very overwhelmed. My plan was to move to DC and find a job at a nonprofit, get some experience, then go back to school (hoping that those working years would help me figure out exactly what I wanted to study). Well...things have changed yet again.
Two years ago I interned in DC and read and heard a lot about the Peace Corps. I love the idea of the Peace Corps but not the reality of being alone in one place for two years. That led me to discover Americorps. Initially I though Vista was more my speed (working for an agency for a year through the program) but my time at my current internship has convinced me that I could actually handle City Year. A week or so ago when I started to look at application information for City Year, I stumbled across a new program called Food Corps.
All that said, I am currently working on both City Year and Food Corps apps and hoping this all works out.
Has anyone applied for Americorps programs? Tips? Good resources?
I've always loved macaroni and cheese but grew up in a blue box household. My mom only ever made that mac and cheese in the Kraft blue box. 
(I'm of the school that twists and shapes actually taste better)
Recently, Stacy mentioned on twitter that she'd made baked mac and cheese for dinner. My first question was "Will you be posting that recipe on your blog?" The answer, of course, was yes.
Around the same time (it maybe have actually been the same day), F posted a recipe on her blog for baked mac and cheese.
I took a quick survey of my family (who I planned to cook the mac and cheese for, if I did it for myself I was concerned about the quantity I would consume) and, while I knew they were not fans of spice (I'm not either), I was surprised to hear them say they perfected a mac and cheese without crunchy breadcrumbs on top.
So, for that reason, I went with F's recipe. 
Yum, yum, yum! I had a few issues with mixing the milk and the cheese (my Velveeta did not want to melt) and made a nice mess but other than that it was easy and tasted awesome! The only thing I'd do differently next time is to buy a throw away pan to make it in because the dish I used is going to be a bitch to clean (it's soaking now).
What are your favorite mac and cheese (or pasta in general) recipes?
I've loved to read for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid and couldn't sleep (anyone who knows me knows this is a life long issue), my mom would tell me to read until I fell asleep. That ended pretty quickly when she realized I would stay up most of the night to finish the book I was reading. In high school and the beginning of college I didn't do much reading outside of school work because I had no time. In past years when I have had more free time (summers, for example), I was working and/or interning and just wanted to be lazy when I got home.
By my count (which is really my GoodReads account plus my fuzzy memory), I read about 75 books in 2010. I forced myself to spend most of my free time this past summer reading and it paid off. I also got a Nook this summer which helped! I know that my 2011 will be much busier than 2010. This semester I have 4 classes, an internship (which is sure to be exciting but stressful), work, will be graduating college in late April (which will hopefully lead to a grown up job in DC), and am in 2 weddings (maid of honor in one), so there will plenty of can't miss social events, too.
So, blah, blah, blah. The whole point of this post is my top 10 books of 2010. These didn't all come out in 2010 but I read them last year so I'm counting them.
10) 
Commencment
9) 
The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy
8) 
Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang
7)
The Promise: President Obama, Year One
6)
Half the Sky
5)
Eighteen Acres
4)
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life
3) 
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University
2) 
Goodnight Tweetheart
1) 
The Hunger Games
So what were your favorite books of 2010?
I've decided to start doing Things I Love Thursday for 2 reasons: it forces me to post on Thursdays and I enjoy reading other people's "things I love Thursday" posts.
Peterbooke Dark Chocolate Toffee
So, yeah, this is my work but I never liked toffee before I had this and now it's my favorite thing we sell!
The current Senate in adorable form. It gets hard when you start trying to tell the white, gray-haired men apart but it's fun.
My new watch! I got the black one for Christmas and even though it's cheap (I told my mom I wanted one after seeing them for $12 at Hallmark), I love it! I haven't worn a watch in years and years but I'm obsessed with this one!
Cory Booker
This man is everything that is good about politics. He's been using twitter to help his constituents get out from under all the snow they've received in NJ while the Governor of NJ is vacationing in Disney (no joke).
And finally, Jason Mraz and Tristan Prettyman.
Years ago, these two put this song out. And they just got engaged! I feel like I know both of them (but obviously I don't) so I feel like my good friends are getting married! haha
As I posted previously, this week's Change Your Life challenge is "Ditch and Donate."
I try to periodically clean out my closet and reorganize and/or donate my clothes because I find that many of my things get pushed to the back of my closet and never worn. I cheated a bit on this challenge and starting the day after Christmas (it officially began the 27th) because I needed to put my gifts and the things I bought that day (I mostly got gift cards).
Let me also say that I dream about (and often read blogs about), being a minimalist. Right now I know that there is no way I have the will power for that but I hope that one day (maybe when I'm finally living on my own) I can manage it.
That said, I love this challenge and am glad for the push to do. I love seeing the blogs and tweets of other people involved.
The first thing I did was to go through my closet and pull out the things I never wear and know I will not be wearing any time soon. I found shirts and sweaters that I bought years ago that still had tags on them! Some of the clothes got moved to the front of my closet but most headed to Goodwill. I took a very large garbage bag over there this week.
I didn't even think to take pictures until I was in a rush and about to leave to drop the clothes off at my local Goodwill. As I previously posted, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more and I'm learning things like "take pictures of everything you might blog about" are important rules in the blogging world!
A few days after I cleaned out my closest I decided to go through my boxes. Let me take a second to example that I am a bit of a packrat. I hate to throw out anything with any sentimental or emotional value so I have shoe box full of junk dating back to junior high. I finally forced myself to throw away the Christmas and Birthday cards that date back to 2006 (we're not talking about cards with nice, memorable messages or anything, just generic cards that say "Happy Birthday! Love, so and so." I also found a monstrous stack of movie stubs and concert tickets. The concert tickets went all the way back to my first concert (no joke, it was BBmak in 1999) and the movie tickets went back as far as 2001. Just about everything from those boxes when into the recycling bin or the trash can as they (clearly) had no real value to anyone but me.
I mentioned this when commenting on Monica's blog but I'm becoming increasingly concerned that I am only one serious emotional trauma away from being on "Hoarders." (And I'm only joking a little on that one.)
I also cleaned out my desk but found little to throw away there. That turned into more of a reorganization challenge!
My room still feels a little cluttered but I am planning to continue to clean things out every month or so to work on that issue!
An awesome post about a great way to manage shopping and sale emails without being tempted to buy things you don't need from Katie.
If anyone is still questioning why I adore Jimmy Carter, read this article.
Read Cory Booker's twitter feed to understand why we need more politicians like him. (Or watch "Street Fight," dude's a rockstar).
A cat puts on a bunny hat. Seriously. Just watch it.
We have a crisis of leadership in America because our overwhelming power and wealth, earned under earlier generations of leaders, made us complacent, and for too long we have been training leaders who only know how to keep the routine going. Who can answer questions, but don’t know how to ask them. Who can fulfill goals, but don’t know how to set them. Who think about how to get things done, but not whether they’re worth doing in the first place. What we have now are the greatest technocrats the world has ever seen, people who have been trained to be incredibly good at one specific thing, but who have no interest in anything beyond their area of exper tise. What we don’t have are leaders.
What we don’t have, in other words, are thinkers. People who can think for themselves. People who can formulate a new direction: for the country, for a corporation or a college, for the Army—a new way of doing things, a new way of looking at things. People, in other words, with vision.
Another awesome post from the Invisible Children blog.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I made a New Year's Resolution. I'm not a big New Year's girl (I usually just hang out with friends) and everyone I know who sets them usually breaks them within a few months.
All that said, I'm trying it out this year. I figured that with the big changes coming this year (hopefully I'll be moving and in a job after I graduate in April) it was time to give it a try.
My resolutions this year are:
1) Blog more (and with some regularity).
2) Say no more.
On that first point, I read blogs much more often than I write them and I'd like to change that. I want to improve my writing and I'm a big believer in practicing. I originally started this blog to post about political topics (and have done some of that) but my goal is to just post about everything and anything to get some practice. This semester will be crazy (school, my new internship, work, all these damn weddings) but I'm going to aim for updating at least twice a week.
The second resolution will no doubt be more difficult for me. I am one of those people who feels guilty about everything (thanks Catholic church!) and hates to tell people no. I always want to help people and make them happy and have a very hard timing not doing everything I am asked to do. Next month I will be starting my social welfare internship and I've heard again and again that the key to being an effective social worker is keeping yourself above water. I want to enjoy my last semester of undergrad while being productive and successful. I know that saying no when I am being stretched too thin means that I can be more productive and more helpful to others. The key will be figuring out the balance and getting rid of that silly guilt.
Anyone else making New Year's Resolutions?
