Triple Threat

I happen to believe that there is a direct correlation between quantity of butter shown and quality of a post written.  Butter is better - can I get an "Amen, Paula Deen!"?  There's a lot of butter in this post - it might just knock your socks off.  

Exhibit A: Yup, it's confirmed, get ready for an awesome post 

and an even better recipe.

Just in case three sticks of butter wasn't convincing enough, how about a GIANT bowl of milk chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips?  Three kinds of chips = a triple threat.  Get it?

 Oh you weren't sure just how big the bowl of chips was?  Let's compare it with the bowl of cookie dough.  Who doesn't love an equal ratio of dough to chips?!?

(Disclaimer: All that butter in the first picture was not just for one recipe.  I used it to make a huge batch of cookies as well as a small batch of muffins.) 

 Here are some of the finished cookies.  Did you know that muffins and cookies like to hang out on cooling racks together and discuss current events.  

On this particular day they debated about the use of applesauce as an oil substitute in brownie recipes.  They also spent a bit of time talking about the pros and cons of silicone cupcake liners - sure they can be used again and again but they can be a pain to clean!

As good as these cookies look, they tasted about a million times more delicious.  This is one of my new favorite cookie recipes and it came from someone who knows just a bit about baking -

Bakerella - the queen of cake pops!

You should really try her recipe.  I used peanut butter and bittersweet chips instead of white chocolate and butterscotch ones but try whatever combination you want - customize your cookies!

Let Me Break It Down for You

Don't you just love midterms?  They really bring out the best in everyone.  Midterms allow us to see how people deal with stress.  You've got those quiet, withdrawn individuals who spend more time in the library than anywhere else.  There are those people who seem to think they are the only ones in the world with exams to study for and assignments to complete - they also believe complaining is their job and they strive to make sure everyone knows just how much stress they are under.  Let's not forget about the angry people, muttering under their breath between classes and ferociously flipping blue-book pages during tests. 

It doesn't matter how you deal with stress because we're all ultimately working towards one thing.  The end goal of all this stress is Fall Break.  Glorious Fall Break.  That two day hiatus from class that might not seem like much to others but for students, it is the ticket to sanity.

For me, breaks are always perfectly timed with when I'm really starting to get sick of the whole school deal.  I'm tired of coming back and finding that the door to Eagle Landing is broken (again) and I have to walk around to the other side.  Yes, this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but when you're late for a meeting and you need to grab something from you're apartment, it's an annoyance.  I'm tired of eating a naked burrito (no tortilla, por favor) every Monday and Wednesday at Seacobeck.  Sure Friday breakfast sandwiches add a bit of variety to my lunchtime fare, but sometimes the biscuits are dry and as a biscuit-enthusiast this is incredibly upsetting  I'm tired of setting my alarm early so I can complete a reading assignment before class only to hit snooze six times and annoy the heck out of my roommate.  I'm even tired of logging onto Facebook to procrastinate doing homework - thank goodness I have blogs to follow and Pinterest to keep me distracted and unproductive!  Now I'm sure you are tired of hearing me complain.  This only strengthens my point - it's time for break, people so let's just power through the next two days!  Good luck on your exams, assignments, etc. and I hope your Facebook newsfeed is more entertaining and distracting than mine.

Minor Details

On Sunday I bid a sad farewell to my math minor.  After going back and forth for days about what to do about my courses this semester I finally came to a set decision.  My math course just had to go.  Dropping it meant I would not be able to fulfill the requirements for a math minor before graduation, but it also meant not taking six courses this semester/preserving at least some degree of sanity.

The thinking process I went through to get to my decision varied.  There were moments of panic and irrationality where I questioned just what kind of impact not having a math minor would have on my life.  Some thoughts I had were, "WHAT IF I CAN NEVER GET A JOB WITHOUT IT?!?", "WHAT IF I DECIDE I ACTUALLY DO WANT TO GO TO GRAD SCHOOL (I don't want to go, I mean, I really don't want to go) AND THEY WON'T ADMIT ME?!?", "WHAT IF THIS MEANS I'LL BECOME A LONELY OLD WOMAN WHOSE ONLY COMPANY IS CATS?!?" - I was not kidding when I said irrational...

And then there was a moment of clarity, dare I say an Oprah-worthy "aha!" moment - on second thought, I don't dare, it's great that Oprah gives away cars and stuff but sometimes she can be a bit much.  Anyways, the point is, I will survive without a math minor.  I will survive, find a job, go to grad school if I end up changing my mind, and hopefully I will not become a crazy old cat lady (I prefer dogs, so really there's a larger chance of me becoming a crazy old dog lady).  I will survive and gosh darnit, I just might thrive!

The stress that came with my decision reminded me of my senior year of high school.  Remember that time when every quiz/test/project/assignment appeared to be the most pivotal event of your life.  College applications and the acceptance/rejection letters that followed really brought out the crazy in people.  One of my teachers senior year gave us this advice, "Girls, just don't stress about it."  Well that's helpful...not.  Another teacher decided to postpone a lecture and share some words of wisdom.  She reassured us that while high school is an important time in one's life, it is certainly not the most important time in one's life.  She sympathized with the stress we were feeling but also reminded us that one assignment would not make or break our academic careers and although rejection letters can be real Debbie-Downers, one acceptance letter is really all you need.  Basically she reminded us that there was more to life than a high school GPA - sometimes at an all-girls Catholic high school, you need to be reminded of the obvious.  Guess whose advice made more of an impact?

So this weekend, when I was contemplating my future, I just tweaked my history teacher's advice and realized that my life will not be solely determined by the minor degree I earn, or fail to earn, during four years in college - as long as I complete my major, right Mom and Dad?  Sure, it would be great if we could all "not stress" but, that's not feasible.  Instead we can choose to step back and take a closer look at what truly matters - hint, it is not your high school GPA.