Tag: Adult

We’re Not in Neverland Anymore

Published on by BrandiLeave a comment

Over the past several months I have been – as I put it – trying to adult.  I don’t think you turn 18 and suddenly you know how to be a successful adult.  When I turned 18, I was in the pseudo-real world that is college (for some – some people work full time and go to school, I don’t know how ya’ll do it).  A lot of college students start college with scholarships, loans, and/or family money.  You’re an adult, but you don’t do much adulting.  You go to class, eat cafeteria food, hang out on weekends, do homework.  The world calls you a grown up, but you’re really just a glorified teenager.  My freshman year really felt no different than high school except that I didn’t live at home and no one asked me if I had homework to do.

Fast forward to this year.  I live at home and commute 45 minutes to school.  All of a sudden I had to learn to budget for gas, snacks for school (I prefer to bring my own healthier options if possible), and some bills with an average income of $20 per week.  Through this, God has provided tremendously.  He has shown me nothing is impossible if I trust in Him and discipline myself.  By no means am I comparing myself to someone who is out on their own providing for themselves completely.  I live at home and receive occasional financial help from my parents, I don’t have to worry about having a roof over my head or food to eat, but God has blessed me with the opportunity of learning to manage money and start to take care of myself before I really have to when I’m out on my own.

This year I’ve also started to make my own decisions in other areas; being an adult isn’t like middle school where you had gym three times a week.  I’ve taken my health and lifestyle into my own hands, opting for better food choices and an active lifestyle.  I’ve started recycling and doing what I can to preserve the environment, not because someone is over my shoulder telling me to, but because I’m trying to take responsibility for the things I do and the impact I make.  My faith is in my own hands.  It’s on me to seek God and choose to live for Him everyday.

Again, I don’t think being an adult is just something you just know how to do, it’s something you have to learn how to do.  You have to learn to take responsibility for yourself and to manage your life physically, spiritually, and financially. I have been incredibly blessed to start to learn how to manage my life before being on my own supporting myself.  In the past several months, God has taught me so many lessons on being self-disciplined – like waking up on time so I can actually get things done and not skimping on a work out because I don’t feel like.  God has taught me how to trust Him more.  God has blessed me in a season of life that I did not imagine so much growth to come from.

The idea of growing up and being an adult used to sound so unappealing at times. No, I’m not in Neverland anymore, I’m growing up and it’s scary and not always easy, but I have to say, it’s not that bad.

Photo Credit: Andrew Ruiz

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My Adventure Making Dinner

Published on by Brandi1 Comment

I got home tonight and I was in a productive mood.  I let the dog out then I went and cleaned my car – though I have no idea why, it’s really cold out there. Then I had the urge to cook.  There are plenty of leftovers, but I decided to cook. Now, I don’t cook, I never have, but I decided to give it a shot.  So after searching through the cabinets and refrigerator, I decided to make stir fry!

I looked up a recipe and decided to get started.

I found the cutting board, sliced the onions, all was well.

Then the issues came.

All we had was canned vegetables, so I decided to drain them and make do. The problem is can openers and I don’t get along. At all. I got the electric can opener out and after fighting with it for about five minutes I went in search of a manual can opener.  After about five minutes – and a lot of juice on the counter – I got the darn can open with the manual one, though I’m really sure I did it wrong.  I struggled with the next can and then took a deep breath and went back to face my enemy – Electric Can Opener. Somehow, I got it to work and opened the can with much ease and less mess.

Then it was time to cook said stir fry.

I got the vegetables going – no big deal.  Then I realized that I needed to put the soy sauce and seasoning in.  I also realized it was going to be hard to measure and stir said stir fry and that I really should have measured them out before I started actually cooking. So, I did a strange little Open a Container Stir the Food Measure the Substance Stir the Food sequence a few times and put the frantically measured items in.

Ah, the food was done – or so I thought.  I tasted it and it needed more soy sauce and more garlic powder.  So I grabbed the soy sauce and shook some directly into the skillet. And all over the stove. My first instinct was to get frustrated, but instead I laughed and said, “The adventures of learning to cook.”By the time I was done, there were vegetables and sauce everywhere. I cleaned up and then ate.  It actually turned out pretty well!

After I ate, I went to transfer the left over stir fry into a tub.  I then knocked the plastic tub – with food in it – off of the counter and saved it by slamming it into the cabinet door with my body, saving all the food from the perilous land of Floor! I continued scraping the stir fry into the tub, unfortunately sending a bunch of it to Floor. I shooed the dog away and then swept up the poor little vegetables.  Seeing as there was a very high chance that I would throw more food, I propped the broom up on the counter behind me.  I continued transferring the vegetables when I heard the broom falling! Not allowing such a thing to happen in my Kitchen, I quickly shot my leg out behind me and pinned the broom to the cabinet while continuing to scrape the food into the tub standing on one foot.

Needless to say, dinner was an adventure.  A messy adventure.  But it was fun and I chose to laugh about the huge mess I was making (the process was pretty much a continuous mess) and realized that it’s part of the learning.

Like learning to cook, learning how to be an adult is messy, but it’s an adventure.

Photo Credit: Izzy Boscawen