Home for the Holidays

Holiday season is among us which means lots of food, time with family and friends, relaxation and the warm and fuzzy feelings that come along with winter holidays. One thing that I love about coming home from school for Thanksgiving and Christmas is getting to see old friends. Living seven hours away from home and high school friends can be really hard and it is easy to let the distance in miles create a distance in our relationships but I’ve discovered that with some work it’s possible to actually become closer despite the distance.

My freshman year of college I barely spoke with people from high school. We were all wrapped up in our new lives at school with new friends, no parents around, and basically living on our own. On birthdays we’d exchange brief phone calls and occasionally we’d text or Facebook each other, but these small exchanges were rare. When we came home for breaks nobody took the initiative to get together and if we did see each other, it felt sort of awkward because it was like we were in different worlds didn’t know how to connect other than talk about things that happened in high school.

Sophomore year things changed. I have a lot of friends at school that are still extremely close with people from high school and when I thought about old times or looked at pictures it would make me so sad that we had drifted apart. I knew that I didn’t want to lose these people but if something didn’t change, it looked like we were headed down that path. I started messaging friends more and made sure that we all saw each other over breaks. Conversations got easier and we all started figuring out ways to connect without having to rehash high school.

Now in my junior year I have visited a friend at school in Chicago, two have visited me in Indiana, and we all see each other every time we are home. I talk to at least one of them almost every single day and the snap chats are constant. Believe me, it took a lot of work to get back to this point and still requires work to keep it going. It’s not easy to coordinate a get together with 6 or 7 college students home for Thanksgiving Break. Everyone has family stuff going on and different time requirements, but I’ve taken it upon myself to text…and retext… and retext the plans to everyone until we find something that works for everyone. Despite the work and sometimes frustration from coordinating, it is most definitely worth it. Last Friday as we all smashed onto one couch, took goofy pictures, played simon says and laughed till we cried, all I could do was look at these people who mean so much to me and be thankful that although hundreds of miles separate us, we’ve grown closer together.

Make Time to Make Memories

As a student who is very dedicated to my school work and grades I know that life in school can seem overwhelming. There are so many days when I feel like finishing all of my assignments, studying for exams, and working on group projects just won’t get done because there’s too much. It can be very stressful and feels like all you can focus on. But what I have to sometimes remind myself is that years from now I’m not going to remember all the nights that I avoided friends, going out, or laughing historically in the living room. I’m going to remember working hard at my grades but I’m not going to remember individual times, it’s just going to be one big blur of studying.

When I force myself to take a break and do something random on a weekday night like staying up till 3 a.m. live tweeting a High School Musical marathon with my sisters, or seeing a play, or celebrating a friends 21st birthday, I know that I will always remember. I know that when I look back on college, those are the nights that I’m going to remember and look fondly on. Tonight I went to an event with my sorority sisters where we paired with a fraternity and learned different ballroom dancing styles. We all dressed up, gathered in the big ball room, had little appetizers, and had a blast learning dances and getting to know each other.

Moral of the story, keep your grades up. Don’t fall too behind in classes and neglect what you are responsible to finish. However with that being said, don’t neglect your friends. Don’t be afraid to put your homework aside to have a fun time because if you’re a good student, you will always find time to get it done. Make time to make memories.

Delicious Dinner Made Easy

As a college student I realize that the combination of our time delegated between school, work, and student organizations mixed with our love of bed and Netflix, making dinner that’s not a bowl of cereal or mac & cheese isn’t too common. Growing up my mom always made a great meal for dinner every night, so now that I have a full kitchen at my disposal I want to continue eating that way. So I’m here to tell you that really tasty meals can be cooked quickly, are pretty easy to make, and the ingredients are cheap!

After I came home from class, I curled up on the couch and began watching the movie “Julia and Julia” which tells the story of a woman who attempts to work her way through Julia Child’s cook book, making all 500some recipes in one year. She also blogs everyday about what she is making. Watching this I was inspired to blog about what I was making for dinner and show how easy it is!

I made roasted potatoes, acorn squash and salmon. So to get started you are going to want to marinade your salmon. I used soy sauce and honey but you could use whatever you want.

While it marinades you can start working on your potatoes and squash. The first step for making the squash is super simple- just stick the whole thing in the microwave for 5 minutes! After you do that you can turn to the potatoes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and while it’s warming you can get them ready. You need to wash them and then take a knife and cut out all of the “eyes” or little bumps on it. I like to use red potatoes when I cook them this way, but baking potatoes would work as well. After you’ve cleaned them, you can start slicing them. The thinner you slice them the crisper they will be. Super thin slices may even come out like a potato chip! I like mine a tad thicker so that the outside has a crunch to it, but the inside is soft. After you’ve got them sliced how you want spread them out on a cookie sheet. Try to avoid overlapping them too much or they won’t get that nice crispness. Spread some olive oil on them and then put some Italian seasoning on for a nice flavor. I also like to add rosemary and salt to mine as well! After you do that you can stick them in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Then turn back to your squash. Cut the squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds from the middle. Then get a glass dish and put about an inch of water in the bottom. Put the squash in the dish with the cut side down and stick back in the microwave for 15 minutes.

When your potato timer goes off, putt the cookie sheet out and flip the potatoes over and stick them back in the oven for a few more minutes. You can cook the potatoes as long as you want, it all depends on how crispy you want them!

Finally you can put your salmon on the stove. Put the salmon and a marinade in a pan and cook on medium low for about 5 minutes. You’ll want to flip the salmon over about halfway through. The way to know if the salmon is done is when white stuff seeping out of it. It’s the fat that is cooking off and when you see that you’ll know that it’s done.

When you take the squash out of the microwave you’ll know if it’s done when the squash is soft and is easy to stick a fork into. Once it’s done add some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to it. There isn’t any real measurements for these ingredients, it’s just however much you want! Once it’s melted scoop the squash out and mix it all up.

Squash- done. Potatoes- done. Salmon- done. It took me about 30 minutes to make and I was watching Netflix while I did it, so you don’t even have to give that up to have a great dinner.

Hope you all try this out and enjoy!