Author: sarah

As the year is coming to an end, any New Year’s resolution plans?
I have a few resolutions that I am going to try and accomplish in the new year.
First, I want to spend less money on frivolous things.  I love makeup, but I really need to use what I have and stop adding tons of products every time someone is having a sale.  I also need to stop buying groceries just because they look good, even though I have no idea how I am going to use them (although there are websites that will tell you what to make if you give them a list of ingredients).
Second, I want to stop caring so much about other people’s opinions of me.  If it is constructive, that is one thing, but constantly telling me that the things I like are stupid, lame, ugly, etc., it doesn’t help me improve myself and it doesn’t improve my view of you either.
Third, I actually want to be serious about getting healthier.  I know it is going to be hard to get to where I want to be and it is going to take time, so I need to work on changing bad habits and being impatient about results.  I have already made a few small changes (drinking more water and using my FitBit), just have to set a goal and create a plan to achieve it.
Fourth, start working in a career field for my degree.  I’m hoping the interview I talked about a few days ago is my path to this one, but if not, I will keep sticking to finding something where I want to be.  It will come, I have always been a late bloomer.
I think that is enough for now.  These may change but this is what I think at the moment.
Until tomorrow…
 
 

What is a favorite hobby? 
Other than shopping for makeup, because you know every girl has to have 1,000,000 lipsticks.
Cooking.  I LOVE cooking!!  Being in the kitchen makes me happy.  I love browsing recipes, selecting ingredients, and making a complete dish.  The feel of the knife in my hand, the sizzle of the skillet, the aroma in the air as each flavor is developed.  Everything about cooking makes me happy (other than our overly sensitive smoke detector, that I have set off 3 or 4 times since we moved here less than a year ago).  I also really dislike a glass top stove when I have been used to gas.  You can’t blister on a glass top, it just won’t work.
I love trying new ingredients and recipes.  It is just very fun to change up from the regular course of food.  Before I met my spouse, I was very apprehensive to try new things.  Ask him about the time he took me to an Indian restaurant the first time and I was utterly appalled by the entree I ordered until I tasted it, then I was in love.  It was Saag Paneer, which if you don’t know is pureed spinach and farmer’s cheese.  It looks like wet lawnmower clippings, but it tastes absolutely delicious.  Thus began my love of Indian food.  So much so that the first time I saw Ghee in a store, I shrieked and my mother thought there was something very wrong with me.  Nope, just never thought I’d be able to find that in store.
I also have developed a serious love for the slow cooker.  Always thought they were just for old ladies.  Yeah, no, not even close.  I use mine a couple times a month and will probably use it more now that winter is coming.
I could go on and on, but I’m sure you will get bored after awhile.  So, here are some of the favorite recipes that I’ve tried thus far:

• Coq Au Vin
• Beouf Bourguignon
• Chickpea Masala
• Ratatouille
• Cuban Sandwiches (the pork in this recipe is amazingly simple and DELICIOUS!!)
• A lemon, butter white wine sauce that goes great with fish and potatoes
• Spicy marinara

There are plenty more, but I’m going to make myself something to eat because I’ve made myself hungry 🙂
Until tomorrow…
 
 
 

Anything you are excited about? 
I have an interview coming up in a few weeks that could very well be everything I was hoping for to start my career in the financial industry.  It would put me in my ideal city (potentially) doing work that would support a cause that I believe in.  It would take stress off of my spouse and it would make me feel like I was finally contributing to something, instead of sitting on the sidelines.
Other than that, there isn’t really anything I can think of that I’m excited about.
Until tomorrow…

Do you ever feel conflicted when someone you admire comes under controversy?
Yes, I do.  I don’t think that I couldn’t sit and wonder about whether or not it makes me a bad person to listen to Michael Jackson’s music or still enjoy shows with Kevin Spacey in them.  They both made mistakes in their lives, but I feel as though I am supporting the art and not necessarily the person behind it.  Yes, it is their art, but much more went into it than the deeds they are accused of.
I do still struggle with it though, from time to time.  Everyone makes mistakes, but some are just greater than others.  But supposedly, time heals all wounds.
Until tomorrow…

Do you prefer to be an educated, opinionated person, to just be an opinionated person?
Yes, I prefer to be an educated, opinionated person.  I feel when you are better educated in your argument, you can make a better argument and it is easier for people to understand your point of view, as long as they are willing to learn it.
If there is a person who is dead set in there ways, no amount of facts or logic will help them to see a different way of looking at things.  These are the people who “know” things and it drives me absolutely crazy.
They hear from such and such, who is the most credible person ever, and that is the way things are.  They don’t need to research because they know that the person knows what they’re talking about and that’s all that matters.
Until tomorrow…

Do you take things too personally?
I do more than I wish I did.  There have been certain times in my life when I thought that people were only doing something in order to attack me.  I feel less like that nowadays, but there are still times when I wonder if someone is just trying to hurt me, even if it is through a very small, insignificant gesture.
I think we all have times in our lives when we are going through a course of bad luck and therefore, anything that happens to us during that time has to be the work of someone who is purposely trying to get us.
During my time in college, I was unable to get an internship with one of the major accounting firms in the area.  Some people close to me started to speculate that someone who I considered a friend was going into these firms and telling them about what a terrible person I was.  To me, there are two things that seem very wrong with that theory:

1. Have you considered how that would make the person look to the company?  Who would really want someone to work for them that comes in with a bad attitude like that and who in an interview immediately starts talking crap about someone?  No one, because nobody wants a problem employee.
2. How awful of a person must you think I am that people would be so quick and willing to start spreading lies about me?

I think the truth about the internship situation is that I don’t interview well and I learned too late that even low-skilled jobs still count for experience in the professional world because it gives the firms a point of reference as to what they can expect from you.
There is only one firm where I believe I was not given an opportunity because of a vendetta, but that wasn’t from someone in my circle of friends.  It was an employee who felt slighted by me for something I was involved in.
I honestly think that nothing opened up for me here because the universe knows that while I love where I live (the city at least, not a particular fan of our building), I really want to be somewhere else.  As of now, it looks like things might be moving in the right direction for that to happen in the coming year.
Until tomorrow…

Do you find it more pleasant to spend the holidays with a few select people or do you prefer large gatherings?
I think I prefer a little of both.  I don’t mind being around people, but I hate putting on clothes and going somewhere.  I would be perfectly okay with just staying in my pajamas all day and cooking a two person feast.  If I am cooking myself it means I can experiment with new recipes that I know other people may not be open to.  My husband is generally open to trying new recipes, unless they are really out there.  Although he has developed a taste for tofu and soy chorizo, so maybe I could get him to try a cauliflower turkey?  Not really interested in that myself, but I like the occasional challenge in the kitchen.
Really tired today because I decided to take a nap at 9:30 last night and then wake up and bake a dessert to take with us.  Ended up staying up until 5am so that it could properly cool.  Then to get up at 9:15 this morning and yeah it is more than a little draining.
Currently getting snubbed by my MIL’s pekingese and hoping that my fantasy football team can come up with something today.  We shall see.
Also, waiting until 6pm for the ULTA Black Friday sale, because I need to add to my collection of a couple hundred lipsticks.
Until tomorrow…

If you could be in any career field, what would it be? (Assume anything you choose, you are the best in the field.)
If I could do anything, it would have to be a college professor of history or a writer.  I think I could actually be both, given the fact that anything I want to write about would have to do with research about something in the historical area.
History has always been interesting to me, but I have never been encouraged to take that path as a career.  I can still have it as a hobby though.
On second thought, dream career would be working at the Smithsonian Institute in the American History museum.  Yeah, it all ties together and I think you see where I am going with this.
Until tomorrow…

If given the opportunity to see how different choices would effect your life, would you proceed with it? 
Absolutely, not even a question.  I would like to make sure of things because I do the “what-if” thing enough to drive myself crazy.  So yeah, given the opportunity, I think I would totally do it.
The other thing is, it would be nice to know what else I should have done when I was younger, so I can learn from the mistakes that I have made in the past.
But I would really like to know if there is anyone who wouldn’t take advantage of something like that, if it was really possible.
Until tomorrow…

Have you ever had someone tell you not to do something, only to turn around and tell someone else to do it? 
Yes.  There was a time when I was younger that I was not in a good place mentally.  Maybe it is just regular teenager stuff, but I thought there was something very wrong with me and wanted to talk to someone about it.
Told this to someone I trusted, and they told me it was stupid because it would place a stigma on me for the rest of my life.
Fast forward a few years, and this same person is telling someone else that if they feel like something is wrong, they should go talk to someone.  No talk or stigma and no hesitation.
What I have learned from this experience is to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself against most people.  There are only a few chosen people who I let my guard down for completely.
Until tomorrow…