My philosophy on love and marriage after college

I attended a small Christian liberal arts school where the phrase "ring by spring or your money back" is popularly used. Students and faculty also joke about women attending the school to earn their MRS degree. In fact, the number of couples that get engaged by the end of their college careers is astounding. I cannot remember returning from a single break where I did not hear of someone getting engaged. I am not saying that these relationships are not legitimate, and I am not saying that these relationships will not last in the long run. What I am saying is that these individuals may have different intentions to marry than they may think they have.

Ending my school career is the most unstable event I have ever experienced. I do not know what I am going to do next, and I do not have a boyfriend to share these experiences with. Which leads me to my point, couples who get married right out of college are able to hold on to one stable entity for their future lives. Although they may not know what they are going to do in the long run, they have someone to figure that out with, and no matter what happens, that person will consistently be present. So, my philosophy on marriage directly after college is that it is a stabilizing tactic. It is the one thing people can be sure about upon exiting the bubble and entering the real world.

That being said, I have a fear of entering a relationship at this point of my life. If I decide to date a guy within the next several months, that will become my excuse to live in a certain place, and to perform a specific job. It is almost as if I would be grasping for something certain, something stable. I do not think that those are the right reasons to love someone even if they would be a nice bonus. I want to find a guy after I have sort of established myself in a specific place or at least when I know what I am seeking.

Three Favorite Things About Christmas:

My three favorite things about Christmas are:

1) Peppermint flavored beverages.

There is just something so warming and good feeling about drinking hot cocoa and mochas mixed with some holiday goodness to help bring in the Christmas season. To walk in from the cold, snowy streets into a coffee shop or your own kitchen by the fire is by far one of the best Christmas things.

2) Seasonal Clothing.

Also sometimes considered ugly due to its many contests during the Christmas season. I love that reindeer, bells, Santa, holly, and wreaths can be worn in all shapes and sizes. When I was in high school, I loved it when my te

achers would wear th

e full get up: earings that jingled, turtle neck sweaters with holly on the collars, and well sweaters combining all holiday icons, which also tended to jingle.

3) "The Year Without a Santa Clause"

Christmas just would not be Christmas without this movie. It is a classic. Seriously, I sing the Heat Miser and Cold Miser songs year round, but at Christmas, my fiends and family give me fewer strange looks. If you have not seen this movie. Turn on ABC Fa

mily because they are sure to play it at least 200 more

times before

Ch

ristmas is over.

What I Have Come Home To

I live in a ski resort town. Actually, I live in the center of three major ski resort towns. One nice thing about this location is that it escalates in tourism around every break when I come home. This fact means that my work needs extra help around these times and greets me whole-heartedly back especially around the holiday season.

This holiday season was to be no different. I was going to come home, work full time, make giant tips to help me in my own Christmas shopping, and have enough money earned from this time to return to Arkansas to find another job without a lot of stress.

This holiday season was different. I work for a corporation, and our store's hours were cut drastically within the past couple of weeks. Meaning, I am currently unemployed. I will not have money to rely on when back in Arkansas, and no one here will hire me for the next two and a half weeks.

So, what I have come home to is unemployment; a needle prick of realities that I will probably have to deal with for several months to come.

I am not a blog person...but

I am not a blog person. I don't really follow blogs or really know a lot of people who do. I know that some people have themes like their "top five," or they start one when they are going on an around the world trip, so their friends and family can keep up. I am not even quite sure how a person begins to follow a blog of a person that they have never met. But...

I am a college graduate as of approximately two days ago. I feel like up until this point in my life, my life was going to lead me into this perfect place where I knew what I was going to do and who I would be doing it with. I at least thought that my double major, and decent grades would put me into a position of some sort of security. But...

I have no idea what I am doing. I am 21 years old, and I am looking at my life, and I am just absolutely clueless. That is why I have started this blog. I am pretty certain that almost every college graduate that does not enter any sort of higher education or teaching position after graduation is completely unsure of what lies ahead to sound a bit cliche. I want to write about what I am doing, and how I am finding my future. I want people to be able to read this and feel better about the giant void that awaits them the second they move that tassle to the other side.

If anything, even if nobody reads this blog, I will have recorded some of the most important years of my life: the charming adventures.