Just like every other normal person on this earth, I woke up thinking of Julius Caesar.

What? You mean you didn’t?

Don’t you know that it’s the anniversary of his death?!

Ok, ok. I’m just being that Classics nerd that I am.

In honor of the Ides of March, I have to share this:

This might mean nothing to you, but I have had seven years of Latin (yes, seven!), and when someone tells me to say something, I will almost always say this. And what is “this”, you ask? It’s part of a very basic verb conjugation…literally, “I love, you love, he loves.”

Impressive, no?

But really, Latin can be stressful. An example?

You can thank Evan for sharing this site with me. 

(I’m sorry for the name of the website. I didn’t name it that. I don’t like to even post it but I have to give credit for these graphics. Yea, you can call me a prude. I hate swear words!)

So some of you might be wondering why I subjected myself to this torture after I realized that I didn’t want to be a nurse. Well, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of why I chose to study Classics is honor of Gaius Julius Caesar.

1. To better understand our language. That’s right! By learning foreign languages, you learn a lot more about the structure of the English language. Latin and Greek are particularly helpful because so much of our vocabulary comes from them.
2. To become more articulate. When you’re studying the writings of some of the most articulate men in history, you learn the tricks of crafting sentences, arguments and descriptions. I am a very expressive person and I love to write. I have found that through my education I have been able to develop my skills to better communicate my thoughts, feelings and opinions.
3. To think critically. To study the Classics you have to study the works of lawyers, philosophers, mathematicians, army generals and historians. You aren’t just studying words and facts. You’re studying concepts and principles and just about every other miserable thing a college student could imagine. It’s like getting more bang for your buck.

David sometimes looks at me like I’m crazy. Like last night when I picked up Plato’s Theatetus to read, he thought I was losing my mind. What a lot of people don’t understand is that the issues faced by the people of antiquity are the same issues we are facing today—ethical, political and relational issues. Call me crazy if you want, but I’d rather read about how some of the wisest men that ever walked this earth learned from their mistakes so that I don’t have to make the same ones.

Plus, they are actually really funny!

What are your favorite subjects to study? Why do you love them?

Julie, one of my lovely FItbloggin’ roommates and blogger at Savvy Eats, posted an amazing soft pretzel recipe the other week.

Dave and I are seriously obsessed. We make the dough, bake half of it (4 pretzels) and freeze the other half. We each had one and then saved the others for work the next day. And we pull the dough out of the freezer next time we want pretzels!

We really thought that there could be nothing better…until yesterday.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels!

Move over Auntie Anne’s… there’s a new pretzel queen in town!

P.S. She’s actually doing a soft pretzel week on her blog! Ahhhhh!