Learning to Want More

I know the title might throw you off, but I mean just as it says.

People everywhere need to learn how to accept and find the love and friendship that they need. With this being said, everyone needs different things out of their lives. Personally, I need more attention than an introvert, and less that an egomaniac. To some I could be seen as an ego maniac for needing attention, and I am okay with that, simply because I know that is something that I need to be happy in my own life.

Attention is just one of the many facets that come into play when discussing what you need out of your own life. People also need love, friendship, self-care, etc. If in any way you feel these things are not being fulfilled then what's stopping you from seeking more out of your life?

Often times I find it hard and or upsetting to have to disturb the flow of things in order to seek what I need. For example, what if you're in a toxic relationship (friendly or romantic) and this person just makes you feel small and unloved? Is it worth taking a beating mentally just so they don't get their feelings hurt?

If this is EVER the case you should seek out more in your own life. Find what you need. Find who you need. Find whatever makes it so you can live a full and happy life.

If you are in a position of knowing that someone makes you unhappy, why would you keep letting them put you down? I got into the pattern of letting people treat me poorly, and not asking myself why I kept letting them do it to me? My only defense? I wanted more for myself. I felt unloved and not needed, so why would I stick around? I got more for myself

Though separation can be dramatic and painful, time keeps going and life moves on. You are not going to be sitting there on your death bed asking yourself why you ended a friendship because you thought it would make yourself happy. You are going to be thinking about all the wonderful things that you sought out in your own life, and all the wonderful, loving people that you let into your life because you decided you wanted more.

Above is a TED talk on healthy relationships, that I found to be something good to think about. below here is a link to a website that describes types of abusive relationships and their traits, if any of these hit a little too close, maybe you should seek out more: kidshealth.org/en/teens/healthy-relationship.html?WT.ac=t-ra


I wish you all happy loving relationships,
Olivia

Late-Night Thoughts

Good whatever-time-of-day-you're-reading-this! How are you today?

I come come to write fully equip with a stress lined rant, so time to get comfy :)

Okay first of we have the endless night packed with studying, and trying oh so very hard to not frustrate the people around and in our lives, and your sleep deprived body tries to communicate on some level of human interaction you could potentially deem as "nice", also known as finals.

They suck. There is no way around that fact. You could have a 4.00 GPA or a 2.00 GPA, and all the while they would still be stressful. It is the unnatural act of cutting your sleep down by a handful on hours up to a few weeks in advance, so you can have more time to study everything you have learned since school has started.

Of course there are the educational benefits, but that's beside the point when you feel the need to pull an all-nighter to try and shove every little tid-bit of information you think you can hold in your brain.

Okay... enough on that now on to: DRAMA! *DUN DUN DUNNNN*

By no means is this section based off of anything in my life, but seriously why does drama always seem to come up just when you feel like you have a little too much of everything on your plate?

Is that some twisted Murphy's Law I neglected to recognize?

Seriously though, I think that people should just consider having a pause button for any and or all friendships. I don't mean that in the way it sounds, but as in if there was a button where you could just put all problems aside for like a few days, just so something could be done without any other distraction, and you could return to the problem again later.

Another serious benefit to the pause button would be it would give people time to think and actually decide what they think is important to be said, versus just say stuff just out of the heat of the moment.

And I can say with full certainty that I think this idea could of saved some of my older friendships that sorta fizzled out over pent up feelings and aggressive reactions.

\My next topic is: PLEASE TRY TO SAY THINGS TO PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW WILL RAISE THEM UP NOT DOWN!!!

This one comes out of kind of a sensitive place, because I have been told that I used to or still do (I don't really know) have people come to my blog to read what I have to say only to laugh at it and go off and tease it. That hurts. I realize I'm putting myself on display by trying out my feelings, but seriously if you're going to go off and tease me, PLEASE be classy enough to make sure it doesn't get back to me.

I seriously do not care if people want to go around and bash what I have to say, but please be kind to my face, that's all I ask.

That was sorta off kilter from what I wanted to say, but the point is still valid.

What I wanted to say was, if you have people in your life, regardless if you like them or not, I belive you should still be kind and have positive things to say.

I know it is supper hard to make something nice up to say sometimes, but it seriously helps to compliment someone, or share a (happier) thought, or something. On a selfish level it will make you feel better if you're kinder to others and share positive things.


I feel like this is a good stopping point for tonight. Just fyi I do not even come close to being perfect when it comes to any of these things, but they're some of my personal goals, and I would like to become a more positive and  less stressed person.



Anyways, I hope for better days to come,
xoxo
Olivia




* Just roll with it and pretend to hear the dramatic noise in your head.

Some Recipes

If you have ever read my personal bio (on the side somewhere,) you would know that I very much enjoy cooking.

Ever since I was little I have enjoyed being able to create something out of nothing, to me, even now its still just such an amazement to know something that I made will be consumed by others (and hopefully enjoyed.)

Without further adieu, here are some of my favorite recipes I have made:

Classic Cranberry Sauce (source: Food Network Magazine)   

 1 pound cranberries  (about 4 cups)
2 medium oranges
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
kosher salt

 1. Put all but 1 cup of the cranberries in a saucepan. Remove wide strips of zest from 1 orange with a peeler; ass to the saucepan with the juice of both oranges (about 1/2 cup). add the sugar, coriander, and a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup water. bring to simmer over medium heat; cook, siring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens (15-20 minutes).

 2. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cranberries; cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. remove from heat and let cook to room temperature, remove orange zest, transfer to serving dish and refrigerate for at lest 3 hours.

Side-note: when I made this I refrigerated this over night, and I would highly recommend that, because it gives the sauce enough time in the cold to congeal, making it more gelatinous.

Basic Dinner-Roll Dough (source: Food Network Magazine)
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 ounce packet of active dry yeast
4 1/4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 large lightly beaten eggs

1. Warm the milk and 1/2 cup water in a small sauce pan or in the microwave until very warm (110 F.) transfer into the bowl of a standard mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix in the sugar,yeast, and 1 cup of flour until combined but still lumpy. Let stand until the mixture is very bubble, about 30 minutes.

2.add the butter, salt and 2 cups of flower; mix on medium speed until smooth and elastic, 2-3 minutes. mix in the eggs until combined, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl as needed. add 1 1/4 cups flour, mix until the dough is smooth and starts to gather into a loose ball, about 4 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky; if too wet add the remaining 1/4 cup flour.

3. lightly oil a large bowl; scrape the dough into the bowl and turn to coast with the oil. cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Side-note: this is the base dough I used for the next recipe.

Sea Salt Dinner Rolls (source: Food Network Magazine)
Basic Dinner-Roll Dough
Cooking Spray
All-purpose flour, for dusting
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Make the Basic Dinner-Roll Dough. Let rise as directed. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough and pat it into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces with a bench scraper or a chefs knife

2. gently roll each piece of dough into a ball; arrange on the prepared baking sheets. loosely cover with plastic wrap and let stand until puffy, about 45 minutes.

3.position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 370 F. . Bush the rolls with some of the melted butter and cut an "X" into the center of each roll with kitchen shears or a small knife. sprinkle tops with sea salt. Bake switching and rotating the baking sheets half way though, until the rolls are golden brown, about 25 minutes. let cool 5 minutes, then brush with the remaining melted butter. transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yeah so those are 2/3 of my best recipes I have come across, I hope you give them a try and enjoy them as much as I do!

Happy cooking,
Olivia
xoxo






 

Late Night Poetry pt3

Hey so even though it isn't "late-night" as I'm posting this, I did happen to write this at night. 

Regardless this was some stored away poetry I wrote a little bit ago but was afraid to put out into the world. If you have been reading my blog for longer than a month then you will understand my hesitating on an emotional piece like the one below.

If you are new to this weird emotionally charged blog then I'll fill you in on what has been the past...

So basically the gist of it is, some people who read my blog, were um... less than pleased at what I had to say... but I did keep the post up, and I did send out an apology to hopefully soothe things over.

My point in the story was if you know me, please don't send your self into a tizzy over the words I have created, because like most humans, I feel emotion and this is my way of expressing some of my emotional turmoil.

Along those lines, please don't start playing the guessing game as to who this is about because A) I will not tell you. B) Please respect my request to keep this anonymous.

And with that intro out of the way... here is what I wrote:

Stop.

Stop making me feel unworthy of your presence;

You are not holy.

Stop the endless whining;

Life is not perfect.

Stop your discontent for the world;

Open your eyes and see there is more than the dark side.

For each time I thought this, I wonder if I am a hypocrite for thinking so;

My response is yes, I am.

I need not think of myself as any better than the next;

We are all the same on the inside.

I need to think before I speak;

Only letting encouraging words out.

I need to see life for the beauty it beholds;

Letting the optimist out from time to time.

Suppose we’re not so different you and I;

That is just what I needed to hear to change myself.

I hope you have a wonderful day, 

Olivia

xoxo

Dangerous People

Yesterday I did something, according to others was stupid, but I did it regardless. I decided it was time for one of the poisonous people in life to be gone. I did the whole 9-yards, un-added on every platform available, and phone number deleted. And as I did this I asked myself if it was a good idea, and my justification was yes. Yes, it is okay to cut people out of your life that no longer make you happy. Yes, it is okay to save your memories with them, but if you know the happiness you once felt with them has fleeted, and will not return, why on earth would you keep that around?

I don't want to be lectured about what I've done. I'm finally proud of myself for taking charge of my friendships, and cutting out the people who only take from my happiness and not add to it.

If you have a relationship that you're tempted to go back to that you know will not be healthy, DELETE THEIR NUMBER! UN-ADD THEM ON FACEBOOK/INSTAGRAM/ETC!

If they never make you happy, why should they get to be around you?

Thanks for letting me rant, and have a good day!

Olivia

Xoxo