Hedgehog Life: February 2015

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are all having a lovely time with your books, boyfriends, girlfriends, or whoever you hang out with on this designated day of romance and friendship! Because I personally think Valentine's Day isn't just about romantic romance, but also showing friends and family members how much you love them, too!

Anyway, February has been awesome so far! Swing and rock climbing have been going great, and I've also gotten back to archery and fiddle practice! Busy me! I've also started cooking and baking again! My first attempt was a Lime Cilantro Chicken dish, and then I made a bunch of Valentine's Day sugar cookies for my friends. I at first attempted making caramel chews and chocolate, but that didn't turn out quite how I expected it to. Oh well; it was fun to try!

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

In current news, I recently purchased a brand new fountain pen. Yes, it's expensive, and yes, I love it. I have yet to name it (maybe Sebastian?), and I've been wanting to get an expensive, reliable fountain pen for a long time, so it was totally worth it. No more leaking! No more stuttering to a halt in the middle of a sentence! No more shaking it until it decides to start writing again! And oh my gosh, is it smooth! I can't stop writing with it! If I could, I would write these posts!

My new fountain pen! Screw cap and everything!

I also went to my very first Super Bowl party! I'm not really a football fan, though to be honest up until recently I had no opinion whatsoever and was mostly inclined to disliking it because my relatives take it way too seriously. But I decided that I kind of wanted to watch the Super Bowl this year, and a friend invited me to her big family get-together for it! I'm still not a football "fan," but I can see how it's fun to watch. I had a blast! I even found myself cheering for the Seahawks in the end!

So what are my plans for February? Well, I've started the long and arduous task of saving up for my first car! Nothing is official, but I am very much in love with the Ford Fiesta Hatchback. For a new car, it's relatively affordable, it comes in lime-green, a kayak rack (most cars do), and it's sleek and sporty and fun all at once! Plus it looks like an Oliver. ;-)

I'm also seriously considering going back to school. I know I mentioned forensics as a possible career choice, but I'm reconsidering it the more I learn about it. Instead, I'm leaning towards my initial idea: find a secretarial position in a nice office with a schedule that allows me to pursue my passions and that pays a living wage - and benefits. I don't need my job to be exciting; I just need to enjoy it and it has to give me the time to do all those things I love doing! Like dancing and rock climbing and writing and reading - and traveling now and then. So I'm going back to college for some applicable computer classes. I know, in general, how to use programs like Excel and OfficePro and Publisher. But my education on that has been me spending hours clicking on buttons to see what they do, so my knowledge is very spotty and I'm sure I'm missing out on some tricks.

My ideal goal is, in a few years, to have a job that lets me afford a car and a pleasant apartment in a neighboring town that I have always considered more my home than where I live. If I play my cards right, and I am so far, this goal will turn into reality.

So that's all that's been going on in this bookworm's life! Lots of reading and thinking about the future! Hope you all have a good rest of February!