That is awesome that she is thinking ahead like that. So many young adults don't do that. Personally, I am SO thankful to my mother for refusing to help with college costs unless I picked a useful degree. I also think it's really hard to know at 18 what you want to do with your life, as I don't think most young adults have the life experience to really know. I think everyone can agree that what you picture your life being at 18 and what it ends up being at 30+ are often quite different. I know it was for me. I majored in Economics and it allowed me the opportunity to go into a variety of different fields, from marketing to investment banking to even entrepreneurship. Understanding numbers and how they work can apply to anything in any industry. I am a huge proponent of the quantitative degrees - math, economics, programming, etc. These fields will never, ever go away because they can be applied to anything and any new technology that evolves. I have so many friends who majored in degrees like communications, marketing, history, journalism, etc. because it was their passion or interest at the time, and while I can appreciate that, they also have incredible stress because they can barely pay their bills, much less save for retirement or children's education. Student loans are also crippling - I know people with $500 a month loan payments and it is an incredible burden. All that being said, I agree with all of the above with regards to lifestyle and priorities. For myself, my #1 priority is financial security over job satisfaction, at least for now. I'm 31 and my fiance is 37 and through our jobs and savings, we've already saved enough to send our (future) kids wherever they want for college, and for our family to live completely debt-free. This was all done 100% from good jobs, working hard and savings...no inheritance or lucky investments. We live a simple lifestyle. Our house was expensive but that's just standard for where we live. I drive a 12 year old car and buy my clothes at Target. Before I met him he used the same particle board furniture from his college days. :) He still wears tshirts from 1992, lol. It's all about priorities. But there are trade-offs. He loves his job but I don't like mine. But the way I look at it is that for me, financial struggling would be as stressful as this job, so I am saving and saving to someday pursue my own passions. Working hard in a job I didn't necessarily love from college to now also allows me the privilege of being able to stay home with future kids, which is a big priority for me. Again with trade-offs. If I pursued my interests early on, I probably wouldn't be able to do that now. But I also hate going to work in the morning. Another thing to consider is that in 40+ years there's a good chance there won't be social security anymore so retirement savings needs to start as young as possible. Also, no matter what she picks, please emphasize the importance of internships and work experience in college! It really, truly can make the difference between a $20k job out of college and a $50k job out of college. Your starting salary will very often pave the way for future salaries, at least in my experience where new jobs can only pay a certain percentage higher than what you were previously making. I couldn't find any internships as I was ignorant of the importance until it was too late to apply for the ideal ones, so I reached out to local businesses and volunteered my services in exchange for being able to put it on my resume. Things like basic data analysis in the real world vs. a classroom can really make a difference after graduation. My friends who dedicated themselves to studying instead of trying to work at the same time had a really hard time finding jobs after college.

Well, I'm sitting here eating your cookies, Roselin, and have to say thank you for a delicious new recipe. These are really delightful, crispy, great flavor and texture. They're sure to become a standard in our house. I wondered as I was shopping for ingredients what would happen with substituting regular oatmeal or as Lorna mentioned, Irish oatmeal. Have you tried other oatmeals or does the cooking in butter require the texture of the instant? I have an entire box of regular sitting in the cupboard and it looks so forlorn. Sue

I know the name says French Toast, but what is the finished dish like? a bread pudding? It certainly sounds interesting. How many people does it serve?

thank you momof4, that is my point exactly. I didn't think using the word protect would cause such controversy, but then look who started the controversy... nitpicking over the word I used. Really?? and the last I heard, women also hire attorney's. I'm sure there are women that have husbands/boyfriends that help them protect their interests legally. I'm working on a case where an ex husband is going to serve his ex wife papers related to their divorce. The ex wife is now in a relationship with a former District Attorney. I'm pretty sure that her boyfriend is going to guide her if she doesn't already have a lawyer. He may tell her what her rights are and explain the legal process to her if she doesn't already know. Lots of people don't know about the legal system, even when they do have a case.