Padd Solutions

• Fondant is frustrating to work with and tastes like Play-Doh…onlysweet instead of salty (yes, I ate Play-Doh as a kid and I know you didtoo).



• No matter how much time is spent Googling cupcake decorating ideas and how much stuff you buy at Wal-Mart to create what you’ve found…it’s not going to turn out how you initially envisioned.We used some of the ideas, but about 60 of the 70 or so cupcakes made illustrate our own creativity coming into play. It’s more fun
  improvising, anyway.

• The recipe only provides guidelines. Andrea knows this… Good thing she made the cupcakes and I just observed. She could just look at the batter and know it needed more this or that… She did well!
  


• Chips and queso = the perfect snack to balance out all of the sweettaste-testing.Making the mess is fun and easy…cleaning up, not so much.



• There is no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening with a good friend, just laughing and having a good time. We all need to take a break and have some fun.
  

Last weekend was busy for the most part, but that would be an understatement. You see, I was in Austin for the annual TJCSGA Convention. Which stands for Texas Junior College Student Government Association. Basically, all the community colleges in Texas who are involved in TJCSGA with their student government get together for a convention that is completely student run, and does a pretty awesome job at that.

Amarillo College this year was president school, and our representative for that was non other than Anthony Najar who happens to be the SGA President of our college also.

But let's begin.

Day 1: Thursday I was early to rise with my luggage all packed and a box full of campaign materials. Although I was worried thinking my luggage would be overweight and I would have to pay a fine, everything turned out to be OK. Making it to Austin was unbelievable considering we were snowed in to go there for Community College day. I feared the same thing would happen again with this crazy panhandle weather. But all was good. The first day was very casual without having to dress up nice. We had icebreakers, massage chairs, our general assemble, and our region meeting. It was pretty exciting to see Anthony Najar as our president for TJCSGA. I was also excited to serve as Region Parliamentarian during our region meetings.

Day 2: Honestly, it's hard to remember what all went on with everything we had to do. Whether it was getting ready for campaigning or going to workshops. There was always something on the table to do. But there was sure a lot of eating going on.

Day 3: This was the day the speech and skits happened. AC decided to do this year a Napoleon Dynamite themed campaign. We had shirts, chap stick, buttons, and gum. I did the speech Pedro did in the movie, Trevor Brown did the Napoleon dance. It was a very memorable moment for me, and a quite funny one too.

Day 4: Sunday. We had our last General Assembly at the Capitol on the House Floor. We also had our elections. The speeches that were given by the board members were very emotional. And we ended the meeting with the new board present, which I am now a part of as AC's Representative for the State Parliamentarian position.

With new things awaiting me next year I find this to be very exciting. And hope to represent AC to the best of my ability.

Trends make me giggle. Someone, somewhere does something that someone else says is cool and before you know it, it's everywhere. Bell-bottom jeans and peace signs in the '70s, big hair and tight leather in the '80s...

I always wonder who really starts these trends. I mean, how do I start a trend that spreads like wildfire? Oh, well.

To get to my point, a recent trend that I have noticed is this "being green" thing that is suddenly the trendy, cute, cool thing to do.

In all honesty, it annoys the heck out of me. Not "being green," but rather the fact that it's nothing more than a trend. We finally seem to be onto a trend that could be somewhat beneficial to the planet...but how many people really, truly understand what "being green" is all about?

I don't really care if you have a peace sign tattoo, own a t-shirt with a the recycle symbol on it or wear TOMS. You're not a hippie. You're not a tree-hugger. You probably don't recycle. You probably don't even know what being environmentally mindful really means.

Okay, okay. I'm stereotyping (and ranting). But how many people go out and buy a pair of TOMS because it's for a good cause? How many people actually understand the process of recycling and actively recycle appropriate materials? How many people actually understand what the entire "green" movement is all about?

So now that you all know how strongly I feel about this (at least I hope you do), I am going to take the liberty to share with you a few tips on actually "being green." Follow these steps and you'll look trendier and cooler than anyone else out there. Dear Mother Earth will think so, anyway.

If you are thinking about taking the environment a little more serious and being a little more appreciative of all that this earth has provided us with, I recommend treehugger.com. They have done a wonderful job of providing practical information about what you can take to be more earth-friendly in every area of your life. They also have several links to other helpful websites.
So, we can't all go out and buy an eco-friendly car and remodel our house so it's solar-powered and filled with pricey new appliances that run on less power and waste less water. BUT, I guarantee that everything on my list is perfectly doable.

Think about these things:

1. Next time you visit the coffee shop, don't use the paper or plastic cup.
If you're going to be there for a while, ask you're barista if they have a cups "for here." They do, and they will let you use them. Your coffee or tea will taste much better in a real cup, anyway.
If you're on the run, take your own tumbler or cup. I understand that cups and lids are made of whatever percentage of recycled materials now...blah, blah, blah... This is fine and dandy, but they still wind up piled in the landfill somewhere and making the cups (from recycled materials or not) uses up a considerable amount of energy.

2. Stop buying bottles of water. Or if you do, reuse them. If cute and trendy is your thing, find a cute and trendy water bottle and make use of it. Plus, it's way less expensive in the long run if you just keep refilling the same bottle as opposed to spending $1 or more every time you are thirsty. You can fill your handy dandy water bottle with other beverages, too.

3. Invest in some cute cloth napkins. Mine are just solid green...but I like them. Instead of going out and buying napkins that will just wind up alongside all of those Starbucks cups and plastic bottles in a landfill, I just own a couple sets of nice cloth napkins that I can wash and use over and over again. Extra points for the cloth napkins that are made of organic materials. This helps cut back on the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides in the environment.

4. When doing laundry, try to avoid the "hot" cycle setting. Cold water is best, but even warm is better than the energy-eating full on hot wash. Wear things like jeans two or three times before tossing them in the wash, and use the same towel a few times too. Avoid the dryer by hanging things to air-dry, when possible, and cut back on ironing (who enjoys ironing, anyway?).

5. Shut off the water while brushing your teeth. Wet the toothbrush, shut the water off, brush, then turn the faucet back on to rinse. Simple enough. Don't take half-hour long showers, either.
Likewise, when doing dishes, avoid leaving the water running constantly when rinsing.

6. Walk or ride your bike. It's good for your body, and the environment will appreciate it too. If you're only going to the coffee shop down the street or a few blocks away to pick up an item or two from the grocery story, walking won't kill you, I promise.

7. Never, ever, ever litter. This one really gets to me. Very little irritates me more than when I'm driving down the highway and see the driver in the car in front of me roll down the window and throw an empty cup or whatever else out. You'll probably run into a trash can shortly after parking, so just leave it in the car for a few more minutes.
Smokers, don't throw your cigarette butts on the ground.
And if you see a big piece of trash, do a good deed and pick it up. You'll feel good about it.

8. Start a recycle bag or basket. Just have a bag in the kitchen that you can drop newspapers and magazines in when you're done with them. You could also have a basket for aluminum cans or bottles or whatever else you tend to use lots of. When it's full, stick it in the car and drop it off next time you drive by those big green dumpster-looking things for materials to be recycled.

9. Take your own bags to the grocery store, or recycle the ones you take from the store. I actually pick up a reusable shopping bag as a souvenir wherever I go. I have a Dallas Cowboys one... and my favorite one is probably my Whole Foods bag from Santa Fe.

These are just a few simple things I try to live by. Nothing elaborate, but it makes a big difference. Imagine if everyone lived by a handful of eco-friendly rules.

The Honors Program here at AC is taking in some new directions for the next upcoming academic year. A more variety of classes are becoming available to reach out to more students. And I find this being very much needed. Experiencing being part of the honors program this semester has helped me realize that more students need to be doing this. I've heard stories about students taking classes they don't necessarily need to graduate, but take them anyway since they are apart of the honor's curriculum. So they reach outside of their majors to take classes.

Judy Carter provides an Honors Seminar course that helps plan things for next year to happen with the honor's program. Being currently enrolled in that class I have gotten an amazing opportunity to help out the class and learn some very interesting things about goal setting.

Next year will introduce a select group of students who will serve as presidential scholars, and specific classes are provided for this group as well.

But on to another note, the honors program takes an annual trip over the summer and this year they will be going to England for eight days.

So what I'm trying to say here is that the honors program provides an excellent amount of opportunities to take advantage of with your stay here at AC. Not only does it look good on a transcript, but it really molds you into becoming a wonderful student. And even though this person was already pretty great I know personally a Hanna Osteen who just may be one of the best persons I know, and I'm glad I do. She's a member of the honors program and many other various activities.

Every year this program is trying to do something to engage new students. When people think honors they think hard classes or maybe that their not cut out to do that, but when in reality everybody has a chance and deserves to take a look in joining. So go ahead and do something outside of your comfort zone and do something different.

Because it may just be the one things to lead your life in a new direction!

A wise man once said, "Friends are God's way of apologizing for our family" and when you really think about it the friends that really matter, they are the family that you make. Yes, some people are lucky enough to be friends with their family but sometimes the people that you share DNA with are the most dissimilar to you. I would like to dedicate this post to all the different kind of friends I have had over the years.

Normally I would talk about something directly related to Amarillo College, but today I have something different in mind.

Ever watch youtube videos? Or better yet, youtube videos of youtube sensations who have over a million views? Did you know they actually get paid for that kind of stuff?

Yes, up to $300,000 or more a year can be earned for these people.

The fact that they get paid a whole lot is not something I really wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk more about my favorite youtube star Natalie Tran who currently does videos on her youtube channel named communitychannel.

Now, I guess I like this person since my sense my sense of humor is a little odd, but it looks like a million others can say the same thing.


The topics of her videos all pertain to situations we do in real life. Well, most situations we do in real life, some of her videos are just the weird things she does that she thinks we do also. She enjoys, "your mum" jokes, and makes them all the time.

At the end of her video she always does a response to the comments she got in her last video that she made. It can be very entertaining at times.












I never really watch youtube at all very often, but I will go every once in a while just to see the new videos posted by this person. Sometimes I'll get carried away and watch 20 videos, and each video tends to be around 3 minutes. Which leads to an hour of watching videos.

I'm not into other youtube stars, mainly because I don't know any others, and I'm OK with that.

If there is any videos of youtube starts that you watch out there feel free to write them down in the comment section.

Until next time...

What's wrong with this picture? According to my degree plan and transcript, I needed a physical education credit in order to graduate in May. Yoga looked most appealing on the list, so I signed up for a class at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. twice a week.

Now, I don't know if you were able to tell this about me, but I love books.

I tend to read all the time.

And this semester has been no exception to that.

I've been on the common reader team this year, and I've read a whole lot of books. Which means I have a list to make.

1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: It took me forever to finally remember the title and not call it, "Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close." This book is by far one of my favorites in general to all the others I have read. The writing just made me want to read more and more. And there were few pages that only had one word on them that made it feel like a page turner, literally and figuratively. Again I don't like to give summaries, just read it, end of story.
2. Blue Hole Back Home: Just read it.
3. Touching History: Ever just read a book and have a sudden fear overcome you even though you knew you were perfectly safe? Yeah, just read it.

One book that caught my interest was the "9/11 Report." it's a graphic novel, and in all honesty I have never read one of those before. It was different, and made me see more than my imagination could create in a realistic way. It's something that I had to have a certain mindset when I was reading it. I would have to say it was very appealing to the eye. I never considered reading graphic novels until I read this one.

But on another note, I did read a book for fun, "13 Reasons Why" it made me think about life, and if a book does that then I'm happy.

Oh yeah, and I won't talk much about the Hunger Games Trilogy, but I've read that and have to say, "Just read it."

And to leave you with something to look forward too here's a list of upcoming blogs from me:

1. Youtube Sensation
2. R U OK?
3. Restaurants
4. AC Honors Rocks!
5. England!
6. TJCSGA State Convention

They may or may not come in that order.

But other than all this I do have to say that this semester is going pretty great. The weather is getting warmer, outdoor activities are starting, and classes are almost over. Of course if you're returning to AC like me next year then you're in for a treat since a whole Institution Theme will take place called "Reconstructing 9/11."

Can you believe it has already been 10 years?

With spring break sadly behind us, and the rest of the semester and finals left to face, I felt a longing for the way things use to be. I want to officially take back every time I ever said I didn’t want to take a nap in kindergarten. I would like to make amends to all the teachers that I drove crazy when I refused to lay down, by taking a nap every day at school now. It is the only fair thing. I did learn a few years ago that children no longer get naps at kindergarten, which saddens me because when they are adults they will not have fond nap time memories.

This blog post however is not about my love of naps, it’s about nostalgia and things that I remember from being a kid that I wish were applicable to me as an ‘adult’.

• Dunkaroos -These were the most delicious snacks in the world. When ever I would open my lunch box at school and see them nestled between my cheetos and my sandwich I would break out in a little dance. Apparently they were discontinued which saddens me to no end. Speaking of school lunches, do you remember the tables in elementary school where the seats are attached to the table and we had to sit boy girl boy girl?
  





• Lunch Boxes-I still have the first lunchbox that I ever got. Actually it looks a lot like this one. I loved this lunchbox. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was my favorite cartoon when I was five. The thing I loved most about lunchboxes was that there was a lunch inside of them. There was no thinking involved. When it was lunch time you were going to eat what your mom had made or you traded with the people seated next to you. There were no lunch plans, worrying about where to go, no you went to the cafeteria opened your lunch box and ate. Bringing your lunch is not so much fun when you have to make it.
  


• Notes from your mom- I want this to be taken as a legit reason for me not being in class. Or work for that matter. I know we are all adults and need to be responsible but sometimes I don't want to get out of bed and be an adult. I want my mom to have power in my life for getting me out of things every once in a while. I also wish that the threat of calling someone's mother still had the same effect. I'm sure there would be no war if mom's had the power that they did when we were children.
  
  


• Toys in meals- I love kids meals, what is not to like about a meal that comes in small portions and includes either crayons, a drawing space or a toy. We need an adult meal. Kind of like a kids meal but with more food and an adult beverage. I loved going out to eat and knowing that there would be something to entertain me while I waited for food.

• Toys and Cartoons- Quick! Think of your favorite cartoon. Chances are if you were a child in the 90's like I was then we thought of many of the same cartoons. I remember when Cartoon Network first started and use to have contest that would let kids vote for what would be the newest show they produced. Such wonders as Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cow and Chicken came from that. Or the shows on Nickelodeon, Double Dare, Are You Afraid of The Dark, and Hidden Temple. Hidden Temple was actually my favorite. That giant stone face made me feel all kinds of smart. You can actually watch episodes of Are You Afraid of The Dark on YouTube. The episode about the house next to the lake where the old man can't sleep because he is haunted still scares me to this day. Speaking of toys I think we should all rebel and make it socially acceptable for us to play. Not build or research or study. Just play, go to the park, swing or go on the slide, anything that lets us be free and just enjoy life. Where we can go out in public with our heads held high after a great game of tag or Red Rover.

This is just a short list of things that I miss from my youth. If I had the time (and if people would read it) I would go on for hours. What are some things that you remember from your childhood? Do you also have a fondness for the same things I do? Do you also miss nap time? Tell me in the comments.

What exactly are these things? Poodles. But not