9-5...?

Back in college, I would bake, go to the gym, travel, hang out with friends, do whatever my little heart desired...whenever I wanted to. Sure, a few classes were sacrificed along the way, but college only happens once, right? Right. I feel like I studied in grammar school to get into a good high school, studied in high school to go to a good college, studied in college to get a standard 9-5 job that paid my bills (and hopefully a little more). Now I don't know when the standard "9-5" ended or began, but all I know is I work 8-6:30 every day and every hobby I ever had went flying out the window.

I decided to start this to kind of keep track of the few times that I get to keep these hobbies alive. Just a quick overview of what the broad term of "hobbies" is in my book.

I LOVE to bake. I found this little fact out back in college when I didn't want to study, but felt guilty leaving my apartment. A few dozen cupcakes and many racks of cookies down the road...I realized I really liked it.I had "baked good's Friday" back at my old job and definitely wished I had a way of tracking what I made, people's reactions, what I would change...low and behold, we have this.

When college ended and my parents deserted me in New Jersey alone (kidding, kinda?), I moved into an apartment by myself and realized I had to eat somehow. A few Pinterest pins and multiple grocery store trips later, I realized I can, indeed, cook. And I actually enjoyed it.

Now, when you enjoy spending every minute of your free time in the kitchen, that usually leads to a few side effects that make me often think "Maybe I should put the hand mixer down and head over to the gym...". So this isn't necessarily a hobby, because at 23 I have accepted I will never enjoy going to the gym. Ever. But my goal this year (and on...) is to just be happy with my appearance and hopefully run a 5k this year. Therefore, I want to use this as my own personal way to keep track of how I am doing in this aspect.

Lastly, I studied abroad in Ireland from January 2010-June 2010 and if you have ever had a conversation with me, you know that I utterly obsessed with it and the experience I had. Besides the fact that Ireland is the most beautiful place on the planet (see?), I got to travel a ton. I went to nine countries in Europe and loved each of them. But now, thanks to the tight reigns on dad's credit card nowadays and that silly thing called limited vacation time, I haven't been back. I'm trying to make a point to incorporate that more into my life again and I am hoping I can use this to help me remember it in case Facebook ever goes under.

Hope a few people decide to join this journey with me!