Goodbye, World.

This is my farewell to you all. You probably won't see me for the next few months. In the last five days, my life has gone from depressingly empty (school + nothing = boredom) to oh-my-god-what-am-I-going-to-do full (school + new job + Phi Sigma Pi + Sigma Tau Delta + College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador = AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH).

So yes. Let me explain.

Other than the receptionist position I mentioned in my previous post, I have made a few decisions that will henceforth make me a more involved human. The first is that I decided to join UNT's chapter of the co-ed honors fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. After visiting a few information meetings, a couple of friends and I decided that the people are awesome and the "fraternity" part is really more of a formality than a lifestyle, so I applied. And now for the next six weeks I'm going to be going to Rush class every Sunday and doing service projects/events with all these lovely new smart people.

Secondly, I am applying to Sigma Tau Delta, the fancy-schmancy English major honor society (another fake-Greek organization), which does cool things like have visiting authors speak and go to English conferences. Luckily, this is a relatively minor commitment with monthly or bi-monthly meetings, so this might not be the death of me.

Thirdly, my English major adviser (Dr. Penner's-mother Lyke lolololol) asked me to be an English major College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador, which sounds awesome to me -- talking to incoming freshmen interested in English and basically convincing them that the English program rocks. Right now it doesn't seem like too big of a commitment, just a few evenings here and there, but we will see if I actually have time for it. I really hope I do.

All of these things excite and interest me. I just hope I'm not taking on too much. But either way--wow. A week and a half ago I was spending three-quarters of my day staring at the Internet and halfheartedly flipping through my agenda to see when things were happening (or more likely, not happening). Now I'm employed and a prospective member of multiple organizations and potentially friends with ALL THE PEOPLE! :D

So farewell. I will see you in the summer. If I make it that far.

Cookies and Books

Today I made my special chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal cookies, which are made with all healthy ingredients and are also delicious! This time I even made them with white chocolate chips, which is an interesting twist.

Chocolate-Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies (or Goddess Cookies, because according to Jena, they are what keeps me young, blonde, and strong. [or something.] )

(adapted from Quaker Oats' Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe--you can basically mess with the proportions/ingredients as you like, but this is what I do)

1/2 cup + 6 Tbsp apple sauce (or butter)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1+ tsp vanilla (my general rule about vanilla: always add more.)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or, you know, whatever kind of flour)
1+ tsp baking soda (add a little more because of the apple sauce)
1+ tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal (I use only about 1 1/2 or 2, but it's just preference)
1 cup craisins

Combine apple sauce and sugars; add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Add oats and craisins. Blah blah blah toss onto a cookie sheet in absolutely perfect spheres weighing exactly ten grams each blah blah blah and bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes enough cookies to share with your friends or hoard over the course of a week.

I also read this book:

Which was a very beautiful, human book about ten people who are trapped in an Indian visa office in an American city after an earthquake, each sharing one amazing story from their life as they wait for death or rescue. Read it.

Still, despite all this, my weekend has been excruciatingly boring. Sigh. :-/ I need to do something legitimately exciting next weekend. Like seriously.