Roast Chicken with a Side of Life

First, the chicken. Lately these past few months I have been feeling very Martha Stewarty. Baking cupcakes. Finding recipes. Trying new foods out. Crafting. Today was no different. I slept in till 1, as I usually do, jumped out of bed and said "By golly, I'm going to make a roast chicken for dinner." To the kitchen I scurried with great determination. I gathered parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Sadly, I was out of sage. I cleaned the chicken and stuffed betwixt the skin a most curious concoction of the aforementioned spices with the addition of butter. If there is anything I have learned from cooking, everything is always better with butter. Biscuits. Popcorn. Noodles. See? I chopped up some carrots and potatoes too then tossed them in the broth. It reminds me of a stew! Straight away into the roaster it went at 375. And such brings us the picture below, of roasting chicken with carrots and potatoes.

And now... to life.

I have been truthfully growing restless these past few months. Lack of a true job, lack of true direction for a master's degree, and lack of much of anything has led me once again to dream of traveling the world. I have discussed with one of my friends the plausibility of us traveling together at some point in the near future. He's apprehensive to say the least. Understandably so since we've only known each other for a couple years and he is very much rooted to his pace of life as it is. I think long term travel (4 months or more) scares him. I have always had that call though. I have always had the ability and want to just pick up and go. I like the day to day differentiations in the sights, the people, the food, and the weather. I long to feel the throb of culture around me. Culture different than my own at least. So I suppose I shall see what shall come of this dream that has been with me since the age of 16. I wait with baited breath to see what is cresting upon my horizon.

My Before-I-Hit-The-Big-3-0 List

1. I want to travel across the entire globe. I want to see everything there is so see in every country. I want to take pictures of amazing sights to have them hang in my home later on.

2. I want to bungee jump.

3. I want to rock climb.

4. I want to white water kayak.

5. I want to sky dive.

6. I want to get married.

7. I want to have kids.

8. I want to scuba dive.

9. I want to surf.

10. I want to ski.

11. I want to own a boat.

12. I want to snowboard.

13. I want to amass 1000 books.

14. I want to sleep on the beach with someone I love.

What do you want to do before you round off another decade?

Ode to Self

I think one of the greatest accomplishments in life is finding yourself: finding who you are, finding your way, finding what you want to be and where you want to be in this life. Too often we are pushed and corralled into decisions, situations, and places where we never intended to be whether it's a well meaning family member insisting that you go to college to become a lawyer for fear that you'll amount to nothing or situations which were thrust upon you in which you never really had a say and you had to roll with the punches. Far too often in life we are encouraged to grow up in a hurry. We felt guilty for playing with dolls at the age of 15. We slowly stop using our imaginations. We more and more are faced with seeing the world as it really is and dealing with problems rather than letting ourselves be content and imagine. Me? I haven't stopped imagining. I haven't grown up really. I still believe in happy endings. I watch kids movies every chance I get. I do goofy things just because without it, life would just be boring. I have a list of all the places I dream of going and seeing which I maintain frequently. Looking at my life right now, I don't know where I will be in 5 years. I don't know what position I will be in. Right now though I'm happy. I know what makes me happy. I do what makes me happy. I reinvent myself often always seeking a better version of me. Eventually when I am tired of my current state I may change... but nothing or no one shall push me to do it.