Things I Wish I Knew As A Freshman

So, this year my college let in a HUGE freshman class. My first year, I was one of 1,000 students. This year, there are over 300 freshmen. The campus is so crowded! The lines at the cafeteria are long, the lines at the bookstore are out of the door, and the dorms are at capacity. As I watch them all kind of aimlessly wander, I think about all the mistakes I made when I started college, and it made me wish I'd known better. So, for your enjoyment, or just to clutter up your RSS feed, here's a few of those things.

You don't have to do EVERYTHING in a group of the same people that you see every day.
Seriously, YOU CAN WALK TO YOUR CAMPUS MAILBOX ALONE. Or with one other person. Or with someone you don't go everywhere with. Having friends is awesome. Being surgically attached to the same group of people gets boring, breeds drama, and really limits your college experience.

Wear real pants.
People notice when you never get dressed. Pajamas and sweats are sloppy. I know, sometimes you pull all-nighters, or get sick, and you wear sweats. That's okay...OCCASIONALLY. But seriously. You'll look more professional, cuter, and you'll be a better person if you wear pants.
P.S. skirts are okay too.

Your professors aren't just mean old people.
Some professors might be, but give them a chance. It's in their best interests to see you succeed, so let them help you! This means do the assignments they ask you too, no matter how much you'd rather be making a late-night Cookout run. Burgers and fries will exist after you read that chapter, I promise.

It's OK to be stressed.
Seriously, it happens. Even the straight-A student with her freshly ironed clothes and her perfect hair and her organized binder and her well-kept planner and her clean, fresh-smelling room gets stressed. Just take a deep breath. You aren't crazy, you aren't incompetent, you're human.

No more drama. No, really. Stop it.
Right now, it seems important that what's-her-name said your friend likes your friend who likes your other friend, or that Douchebag McDrunkard passed out on the front steps of your dorm, but IT ISN'T. Granted, upperclassmen engage in gossip to, but don't let it run your friendships. Starting or continuing drama is NEVER good for ANYONE involved.

Go to class, idiot.
I don't care how hungover you are, or how late you studied, or that you need a day to meditate, or whatever. I can tell you from experience that if you don't go to class, you won't do well. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Put on your real pants, pick up your backpack, and go to class. You'll thank me when you get your midterm grades.

Step out of your comfort zone.
Don't rule things out just because they don't look like something you'd enjoy. When I started college, I made fun of the nerds watching Harry Potter in the common room. Later, after tons of drama with my first clique, those guys became my best friends. We've been through thick and thin together, and we're still really close today. I would never have imagined that I would play Dungeons and Dragons, but now I'm doing spot checks LIKE A BOSS.

For goodness' sake, get some sleep.
If you don't, you're going to look like you got hit by a bus. You won't be able to concentrate, you won't retain the things you learn in class, you'll get REALLY grouchy and mean, and eventually you won't be able to keep going. You will exhaust yourself if you don't rest. And on that note:

Take care of yourself.
College is hard, and there's no one else that will take responsibility for your well-being. You have to make sure you eat, and sleep, and take time to relax. You'll miss the best parts of your college experience if you aren't good to yourself.

Stay fresh, Internet freshmen.

The most delicious pork chops I've ever made.

I really wish I had pictures of these to share, they were beautiful. Unfortunately, my camera was dead, and we couldn't wait to charge batteries because we were STARVING  and they smelled amazing. They weren't that hard to make either.

Don't worry, I didn't serve my friends Doug Funny's dog. Also, for those of you who don't know, Teen Nick is re-airing old episodes of shows like Doug, Kenan and Kel, All That, and Clarissa Explains It All. Thanks, Nickelodeon. I needed more reasons to stay awake all night.

Ingredients I used:

• Four pork chops (mine were bone-in, about an inch thick, so that's what the cooking times are based on. I'd love to try them with boneless pork chops, so if you do make them and you use boneless chops, let me know how it goes)
• About 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt and ground red pepper
• About 1/4 cup (four tablespoons) butter or margarine
• About 1/4 cup (four tablespoons) brown sugar

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/4 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

How you make them:

If you have boneless pork chops, hit them a few times with a meat hammer to make them nice and tender. If your chops have bones in them, oh well, they'll still be delicious. Next, mix together the flour, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper and red pepper on a plate. Melt about a tablespoon of butter or margarine in a frying pan over medium heat. Cover the pork chops in the flour mixture and brown them slightly, about three or four minutes on each side. Remove the chops and put them in a baking dish (I used a clear 9X11 glass pan.) Put about 2 teaspoons of butter on top of each chop, and a tablespoon of brown sugar on top of the butter. Cover the pan with foil and bake at around 400 degrees. Mine took about 20 minutes, but it depends on the size and thickness of the meat. 

While the chops are baking and making your house/apartment/commune smell like paradise, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients for the glaze. Cover and simmer over low heat until the sauce gets nice and thick. Mine ended up a little thicker than syrup. 

Remove the pork chops from the oven and pour the glaze on top. Then devour them like a hungry wolf (sorry, Duran Duran references make me chuckle. They have the same name twice!) or eat them politely. The choice is yours. I served mine on top of rice, with a side of green beans, and it worked pretty well. Experiment with ways to serve them, then tell me so I can appreciate your culinary genius.

Eat well, Internet!

I am a terrible blogger.

I'm a horrible blogger for three reasons.

Reason why I suck at blogging number one:
I break the number-one, all-important rule of blogging every time I post. I don't blog about a theme, like cooking, or fashion, or sports, or music. You want to know why? Because I'm too ADD to focus on any one thing that much. I think about too many diverse things. Think about it. I couldn't write about spraypainting my van and disguising myself as a member of a teenage detective gang in a cooking blog. I couldn't post pictures of delicious food (which I'm going to start doing more often very soon) on a music blog. I want the freedom to write about whatever I want. If that doesn't make your RSS feed happy...oh well.

Reason why I suck at blogging number two:
I don't post often. I don't even post occasionally by some standards. I just post when I have the time. This semester should allow more time for blogging, since I'll be spending time at the Coffee House (I'm going to let myself finish, but the Coffee House is the best work study OF ALL TIME) and that means lots of downtime on the computer. Unfortunately, I'll also be a full-time student with a work study job and a job off campus, so don't expect posts at regular intervals.

Reason why I suck at blogging number three:
I'm not that exciting! No, really. I know working two jobs, driving a beat-up minivan, taking business classes and living in a tiny town where even McDonald's closes relatively early might sound glamorous, but it's not. It's not inspiring, and it's definitely not blog inspiring.

However...
I do plan on making time to blog this semester, since it's something I enjoy. I plan on getting back into the habit of taking pictures of EVERYTHING, and I'm saving up for a new camera. I'm hoping I'll be cooking more (goodbye, Kraft macaroni and cheese) and I'd like to explore more interests and blog about them. So, I apologize for being so lame, and I hope you guys are looking forward to next semester's adventures and blog posts as much as I am.

Stay fresh, Internet.