Personal – Page 10 – For Your Consideration

March 7, 2022March 6, 2022

Rediscovering Guitar: The Passion

I started learning piano in 2nd grade with an unweighted 61-key digital piano, and an assortment of self-guided piano books. Putting time into piano allowed me to join the percussion section once I started 6th grade.¹ Armed with a reasonable knowledge of music, the free time that childhood offers, and experience learning new skills on my own, I began playing guitar in 7th grade.

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They didn’t want to teach you how to read music alongside the several instruments you had to learn.

February 21, 2022February 20, 2022

Practicing Missing

I’ve watched and listened to hours of disc golf content across YouTube and podcasts over the past few years. Since I started playing about 9 months ago, an increased portion of that has been focused on instructional content: specific videos about form, techniques, tips and tricks, anything to help me feel more comfortable and consistent on the course.

Just like with regular golf, putting is the most frustrating aspect of the game. Particularly in disc golf, where you are approaching this relatively large basket and all you need to do is throw the disc in from 20 or 30 feet (ideally), it looks childishly easy. Yet I have a lot of trouble with consistency. Sure, I can make a few, but overall I’m missing in pretty much every possible direction during my round. In fact, both on the course and during my warmup I am practicing how to miss.

February 14, 2022February 14, 2022

Extravagant Dining

Erin and I are working on tighter budgeting, eating out less, all that good stuff. We’ve been pretty good since coming home after Christmas. Going out to eat has become something we plan and budget for; it should be an event, not an excuse to not cook on a lazy night.

To that end, for Valentine’s weekend, we booked ourselves two dining experiences.

January 31, 2022January 30, 2022

Juggling Obligations

I’ve kept myself busy over the last several months. College was the last time I had such a large number of projects and concerns, but most of them were essentially the same. While I would have four or five classes each semester, these all fell under the banner of school, similar to how several work projects are basically the same to me. However, I’ve since begun tutoring and writing curriculum on the side, while trying to maintain some of my other routinized projects. Add wedding and honeymoon planning, and admittedly, some days it feels like I hardly have any time for myself. Working out how to balance all of this is a difficult task.

January 24, 2022

Rediscovering the Journal

My older sister gave me a lovely leather-bound journal one month into sixth grade, when all students in my grade went on a week-long trip to a nature center called Eagle Bluff. She encouraged me to use it to keep track of the experience, and I wrote in that journal for most of the next year or two. Looking back, many entries were a bit dramatic, but I think they were accurate to how I felt at the time. It was my first time using a journal, and in particular my first time doing serious introspection. I enjoyed the process, but eventually lost the habit and didn’t try to pick it back up regularly until college.

January 17, 2022January 16, 2022

2022: Year of One

With a new year comes a new theme. I’ve had this year’s theme prepared since last year, and it rings as true now as it did then. My 2022 will be the Year of One.

December 27, 2021

Seasonal Theme Update

I decided this fall would be my Season of Creativity, since it felt like my Year of Transition had nicely wrapped up at that point. I wanted to give myself the freedom to pursue creative projects, and not get myself hung up on what I should or shouldn’t be doing with my time. I enjoy creating, and I owe it to myself to let that enjoyment come through.

I think this season was a mixed success. I spent more time reading and writing, focusing on creative projects, and letting my mind wander. However, I also gave myself more to do, both in volunteer work and some freelance work on the side. While these both can tap into my creative side, it doesn’t feel quite the same since they are often dictated by others and their established timelines.

However, I still feel satisfied with how the last few months went regarding creativity. While I have more I want to do, I believe I’ve set myself up to accomplish my various goals, and I’m planning on having my theme in 2022 reflect that desire.

December 13, 2021December 11, 2021

Tasty Cookies

We’ve been using a new chocolate chip cookie recipe for several months, but it’s now the holidays and I was able to introduce it to my family. In short, it’s been a big hit. Here’s a direct link to the recipe, with none of the blogging excitement.

A key difference in preparation is that this recipe calls for browned butter. I’d never gone through the process before, but it does provide more depth to the flavor. Comparing it to our previous-favorite Toll House recipe, a few other changes are more sugar and less flour. And, specifically with the sugar, this new recipe focuses heavily on brown sugar, whereas the Toll House recipe uses equal amounts of both.

I’m not big into baking, but chocolate chip cookies have been a holiday staple my entire life, and it’s worth the bit of extra time to make something even better.