One Year Later

It's been exactly one year since I've graduated from college...one year. I can't believe how time flies. And sadly there isn't much to show for that year that I've been out of school, but I'm happy to say that I'm not too disappointed. I can be grateful for the fact that I am employed, I have a roof over my head, and working towards a few goals. I do wish that I was doing something with my degree, that I wasn't living at home and had a car of my own, but all within due time it will come my way.
One roommate is in grad school, another has married and moved to Kentucky, another is living at home working, and the last one has moved out of her parents house and is working in her field. All in all I think we're doing pretty good. I'm still in shock that it's been a whole year since college life. It really does feel like a few months ago that I was at school.
I was looking at PostSecret today and Frank, the man who started the project, has been asked to give a few commencement speeches so I thought I'd share a few of the postcards that he was given and had has posted on his site in honor of all the graduates graduating this year.

Be Wise Enough Not to Be Reckless, But Brave Enough to Take Great Risks.

In the Real World You Have to Wear Shoes.

Perhaps the Most Important Lesson That I've Learned Is That You Should Never Argue With An Idiot. The People Around You Might Not Be Able to Tell the Difference. 

No Matter How Far Wrong You've Gone, You Can Always Turn Around. 

Everything Worth Knowing Leaves Bruises. 

Hopefully this next year will be more productive. Congratulations to all of 2010 Graduates!!

Tuesday Tips

Spring is here! Which means that our Spring Organization Sale is going on! Today I'm thinking along the lines of recycling. Now that NY accepts water bottles, aka poland spring, for 5 cents, there's more to take to the bottle returns.

Here are the options that the store has for recycling RECYCLE! But I'll tell you all about my favorite one.

This is a Simplehuman 13 gallon trash/recycle bin. It's slim and can really fit into most spaces and looks great! It has two bins. The black side is a 8 gallon section and the blue side is a gallon section. This allows you to switch it up any way you want. Use one side for bottles, the other for cans. Use one side for trash and the other for recyclables. Use one side for food trash, the other for paper. It has a lid lock so when you're pulling the bags out the lid doesn't keep falling down and slamming your hand. I love that feature. I absolutely hate when I'm yanking on the bag and the damn lid keeps closing on me. It also is a soft closing lid, which means when you step off of the pedal, it slowly closes without making an awful loud bang. Another feature, it has a bag clip inside to hide the excess bag. It's a stainless steel can, and it has the fingerprint proof design. It doesn't keep all of the fingerprints off, but it is a lot better than most stainless steel cans. Lastly, it's on sale for $129.00 regularly priced at $179.00.

A few other things to mention...right now there is a promotion going on that if you leave comments (good or bad) on any products that you have used/own you'll be entered to win a $500 gift card! So say a few things and bam you're entered. Quick, easy and helpful.

Another promotion is that you can enter to win a $1,000 dorm room make over, so if you have anyone going to college, it's a great opportunity. And speaking of college, you can sign up to get an exclusive invite to college night sale. It's only open to those that get an invite and the whole store is practically 30% off. It's a crazy night, but one of my favorite events. The best part is that you don't have to be in college to go. A lot of parents take advantage of it. We usually have them in July and August, right before college starts.

Seems to be all for today!

Sunny's

 I've been thinking a lot lately about school and how my life was a bit different when I was there only a few months ago. I am figuring out how to adjust to this new lifestyle, but with more responsibility and views on life. I am so grateful that I was able to spend 4 years away from home in new surroundings filled with wonderful people.
Growing up in a household where I wasn't the happiest child, I dreamed of the days where I would be able to leave and be on my own. As a requirement by my parents I had to attend school at least 2 hours away. This was to ensure that I wouldn't be home every weekend, but close enough that I could come home if something came up. I knew right away that I would be going further than 2 hours away. I wanted to escape being home and under my parents supervision. Little did I know that I would hate to travel the distance. I found a school as far as I could be in the state of New York, so I could attend a SUNY school. A tiny town that was as big as my neighborhood. They drove tractors down the road and had snow that would require you to use a snowsuit to get to classes dry. This is the wonderful school that I chose. There were many times, many many times, that I questioned why I chose to go there, but in the end I remembered that I was loving every minute of it.

I have met so many people, fantastic people while I was away at school. I have formed life long friendships that I know I could count on for anything. I would travel those 8 hours in a heartbeat if I knew they needed me. A group of girls that I met freshman year, became my family throughout the 4 years and it was hard to leave them behind. Now that we're all going in our separate directions, I know that we'll do everything possible to keep in touch. There was also a group of guys that I met my junior year that became like brothers to me. A lot of mornings were spent sharing stories about the previous nights activities and confiding in one another about embarrassing moments or not such great decisions, but in the end we were always there for one another. Sunny's is a local "nightclub" in town. It was the place where we could go freshman year as under-aged college students. It quickly became the place to go whenever you felt the urge to just dance. Our final year, we had a house about 200 steps away from the front door of Sunny's. It brings back a ton of memories.
Turns out that by escaping the home I grew up in, I have now distanced myself from a family that I miss everyday and am too far to just stop by and say hi. Now it comes down to emails and text messages, with a few phone calls here and there. They know that they can call me anytime. I guess the purpose of this post would just be to simply say that I appreciated being away at school and the friendships that I built. I wouldn't have done anything differently, regardless of how things have turned out so far. My friends mean the world to me and I will do anything for them. Some friendships are slowly sliding to the wayside, but that doesn't mean I don't cherish those moments and memories. I don't view it as losing a friend, but just someone passing by that I may see again. I am hoping for a reunion this summer. I may be going to surprise a friend who is walking the stage in May, I'd love to be there to see him finally finish. So here's to college and the greatest memories that I can hold on to while I make even bigger and better memories with the next chapter of my life!

Dedication to my friends whom I know I can call up at 1am if I'm lonely: "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum

Quote of the Day: "When I want friendship defined-I look at my friends"