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.