Five on Friday

Today, I'm off to State College, PA for a little family reunion and the arts fest at Penn State (hoping it doesn't completely pour the whole time), but I wanted to link up with April, Christina, and Natasha for a little Five on Friday. I'd love to start making this more of a regular thing, so people, hold me accountable!

Anyway, lets get started with my Five on Friday!



One

Thursday night, I finally cooked dinner for myself for the first time in a few weeks #lazy, but I make the best roasted asparagus. I forgot to take a picture, but for anyone interested, here's what I did:

Ingredients

• frozen asparagus (I got mine from Aldi, mainly because I never use fresh fast and it's just me) 
• Olive Oil 
• Salt and Pepper to taste 

1. Pre-heat oven to 420 degrees 
2. Cover a baking pan in foil for easy clean up. Lay out however many pieces of asparagus that you want on the pan.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and toss a bit
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, moving around occasionally. 

This was so good, and so easy!



Two

I am obsessed with tee-shirt dresses. I found one at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and never wanted to take it off. Thankfully, Old Navy also has a bunch of cute ones, so I had to pick a few up two weeks ago when they were having the $8 dress sale.

Swing Dress (Here) fits loose

High Neck Swing Dress (Here) Fits loose (not too many sizes or colors left) 

Three 

I have had so many issues my my Galaxy S6 Edge.  I switched from an iPhone because I wanted a change, but now, I've had more problems with my phone than ever before. I'll be getting a new phone in a few months and want to know, should I get the Google Pixel or the iPhone 7? Any opinions or reviews of each? 

Four

Over the past few months, I've fallen in love with podcasts. Right now, the only two I listen to mostly are The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey and DAIS by Rachel Hollis of The Chic Site. Does anyone else listen to these and have suggestions for other podcasts similar? I wasn't a fan of Seriel so I'd like to stick more to like the "meet and greet" podcasts with different guests. 

Five 

I just have to share how beautiful Western PA can be in the summer. This was from last Sunday when we went out to a local park. My fiancé wanted to fly his drone around so we rode out on his duel sport to a great park and found a beautiful area to fly it around it for a bit. What you don't see in this picture is that two seconds later, the battery ran out and it fell into the field with no way of figuring it out where it was (it is about the size of an adult hand) so we spent the next 10 minutes combing the field to look for it. 

Anyway, I'm off to State College and family time. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and Western PA finally dries out… maybe. 

-Sydney Liz 

How I Feel as I am About to Graduate

Today, I finished student teaching. Today, I finished my college career at Westminster College. Tuesday, I will start substitute teaching. Next Saturday, I graduate. At this stage in my life, everyone is asking "How you do feel?" or "Aren't you so sad that college is over?". My answer to any of these questions is "I feel great" and "No". Sure I'm anxious that I don't have a job for the fall yet. Sure I'll miss having people around all the time and the fact that I'm never alone. I've loved the last four years at Westminster. I've met some of the best people, I've taken classes taught by amazing faculty that have gone from professor to mentor, and I joined a sorority that will forever have an impact on my life. But…

I still have so much to look forward to. I have an apartment I'm moving into. I will start substitute teaching and will be on my own in the classroom, something I've wanted for forever. I am searching for my own classroom where I can teach children and do things "my way". I just got engaged and get to look forward to planning a wedding and a life with an amazing guy. How could I not be excited for all of the wonderful things that are to come for me?

So I wanted to blog about this stage in my life because I know that one day I will look back and want to remember what this time felt like. One day, I might have a daughter who is at this same point and wanted to know what Mom felt like when she was here. Or, this post might reach someone else who is at my same stage and feeling the same way, but feeling guilty that she doesn't think that the best four years of life are behind her and she's excited to see what the next chapter holds. I'm not wishing away my time until I graduate. I'm just saying that graduation day does not mean the end. It is only a beginning.

So to end this post, here are some of the amazing pictures that were taken from my engagement and the best birthday present ever.

-Sydney Liz