Too Young

I'm finding out that the 20's are a very strange time in a young adult's life. I'm stuck at this age where I'm expected to make adult decisions, and while I seem to be moving through the motions just fine, I sometimes still feel like a teenager who is struggling to find her way.


Take this whole car buying process as an example. I did tons of research before purchasing this vehicle, test drove four different cars, researched dealerships, interest rates, insurance costs, and saved up for a down payment. Is this something a 16 year old could handle? Probably not. (Well, not me at least at 16.) Yet, I still felt so unsure about the purchase, like I should be in my late 20's making this decision, instead of 23.


I'm proud of how far I've come in just a year since graduating, but I'm wondering when the confused teenager inside of me will fizzle out. Does you ever feel this way? How do you cope?

Sorry for this slightly depressing post. I'm headed to Lake Ontario tonight to watch the sunset so I'll have some fun pictures tomorrow to share with you all.

Giant Chicken

One of the great parts about being a post grad is that we have the freedom to make questionable decisions whenever we please, and can usually afford those decisions. Right now Allison and I are searching the internet for a Giant Metal Chicken. You read that correctly, and it is exactly what it sounds like.

I was first introduced to this idea by a friend this morning who sent me a random link. The link contained a hilarious blog post that made going to work an hour early almost worth it. Enter: The Giant Metal Chicken.

As you may remember, I recently moved. My kitchen is currently empty in the way of decor. After reading the above post, I have my heart set on filling the space with a Giant Metal Chicken. A friend and I spent a good amount of time last night trying to find one online. We failed. I am disappointed and stunned that the internet could produce nothing even close to what I was looking for when I searched "giant metal chicken."

There are so many uses for this hunk of metal I don't own yet. I could scare guests. I could scare my roommates. It could hold potholders on its beak. It could be cool. It would require no upkeep. Maybe it could even be used as a bottle opener. The possibilities are endless. But for now, my dreams of owning a giant metal chicken need to be put on hold. If any of you know where I can find one please let me know. It needs to be at least 5 feet tall.

Challenge Us

Allison and I have decided the guidelines for our Benrik Challenge:

• Takes place between July 1st and September 30th.
• Need to complete 75 tasks between the 2 of us
• We must post weekly to update you on our progress
• Tasks are picked at random
• No repeating a task
• No cheating

Now comes the fun part. Will you join us? We want you guys to participate too, and to share your experiences with the challenge. Any takers? There must be some brave soul willing to try right? Right? I was considering calling out names of followers to challenge you personally, but I'm not that mean. However, I do know that at least 3 of you want to join, and you should.

Junk In My Trunk

This weekend, the search for my next vehicle finally came to an end. I'm trading in my 2002 Dodge Neon for a 2008 Hyundai Elantra. I thought I would be filled with joy when I finally found a replacement for the car that has given me one problem after another for years.... but I'm actually feeling very nostalgic. My little red neon was my first car and has been through a lot with me. My last two years of high school, four years of college, and it even survived it's first Rochester winter.

Today as I cleaned out my car, I was amazed at how much I had collected in the vehicle during our 7 year relationship. Here's some of what I found.

-Literally fifty mixed cds. Before the days of the ipod, I made mixed cds for all of my car trips. I can't wait to listen to the cd's and relive my high school years one Dashboard Confessional song at a time.

-Two tripods. Anyone want one?? haha

-Three flashlights. None with working batteries.

-Directions to SUNY Geneseo from the first time I ever drove up alone (I'm thinking about framing those)

-3 tennis balls. I'm guessing these were from the summer Shikole and I tried to learn to play tennis together??

-A picnic blanket

I know soon I'll adjust to my new Elantra, but I can't help but be sad about all of the memories I'll be leaving behind when I drive away from the car on the lot. I hope the Neon's next owner has as many good memories as I have had with the car (and hopefully not as many repairs!!)

An Epic Graduation

This weekend I ventured home to Stone Ridge for my sister's graduation. I must tell you all how proud I am of the Shi-kar, it not only made it to New York and back, but only needed one tank of gas each way! Talk about efficiency, my car has it down!

Anyway, I chose a fantastic weekend to return home considering New York finally legalized gay marriage while I was there. I remember when Mayor Jason West performed 24 gay marriages while I was in high school before someone took legal action against him. He is, to this day, one of my heroes. He was only 26 when he went against what the rest of his state believed in to do what he thought was right. And finally his State has followed suit.

So in the midst of this epic change in my home state, we sat on the lawn of the football field hoping the clouds didn't burst until the diplomas were done being received. One of the student speakers opened with a quote from the Princess Diaries, to which I giggled. Although, his speech was one of the better I've heard at a high school graduation. Finally I got to see my second of three little sisters graduate. I am so proud of her and hope she continues to do great things.

Because of the weather the actual ceremony was postponed from Friday night until Saturday morning. With an unexpected free evening, the Struber Sisters decided to make our own Epic Meal. I don't know if any of you have watched the Epic Mealtime videos. I hadn't until a sister showed them to me this weekend. They include drunk Canadian men making dishes that are both disgusting and amazing at the same time. And every recipe includes bacon and Jack Daniels. They have titles such as Tequila Taco Night and Fast Food Lasagna. Ours was not alcoholic and included maybe 1/8th of the amount of food they used, but tasted amazing none the less. I leave you with one of the videos to watch for yourselves.

The Benrik Challenge

Have you ever heard of the Benrik challenge? I hadn't either until about 10 days ago. I follow College Candy on Twitter and they had a great link to an article about it. Apparently there is a book with 365 days worth of random things meant to put you out of your comfort zone and change your life. Sounds corny at first doesn't it?

But think about it, I know I've had at least a moment every day for the past few months where I feel like I'm not doing anything with my life. The feeling that something has to change or I'm going to go insane. You all can't tell me you haven't had these thoughts since graduating.

Enter: The Benrik Challenge. I bought the book from half.com the day I read that article. It just came in and I am browsing through all the things I may be doing soon. Challenges include things like: discretely flip off strangers all day, spend no money day, pretend to be a tourist day, dress in a power suit and go to lunch alone at a fancy restaurant - introduce yourself to diners as the owner. All of these sound really entertaining to complete.

Allison bought the book as well and we are going to do the challenge together. We haven't decided entirely how we are going to fashion it yet, though. 365 days is a long time and we want to shorten it a bit. We were thinking of having to complete 75 of the tasks by October 1st. What do you think?

Happy First Day of Summer!

What are your plans? My summer will hopefully include: a new vehicle, many relaxing weekday nights, time spent on the lake, walks around my neighborhood, running outside instead of the treadmill, trips to the local waterpark, and picnics.

Mondays are long days for me and yesterday was no different. Aside from getting up for work after my three day weekend, I also taught a piano lesson to a five year old in the evening. Even though teaching is fun for me, by the time I get home I was wiped out. Last night I recuperated from my long day by relaxing on my roof deck with friends.

It's hard to hate Mondays too much when you have a view like the photo above.