Some days, I'm just proud of myself. Not because I've done anything particularly special, but because I went a whole day without wallowing-- and, friends, I'm a wallower. It's the small victories.
Today, I gave myself a manicure and watched this week's episode of The Biggest Loser. *this isn't necessarily deserving of a pat on the back, but it was a good start to my day either way*
Today, I ate very healthy. *pat*
Today, I made myself go to the gym, and it felt awesome. *pat*
Today, I got seven chapters into my latest read: Forrest Gump (oh yeah, it's a book, and a good one so far). *pat*
Tonight, I went to dinner with a friend and had a much-needed catch-up... and split a much-needed slice of cheesecake (since we split it, I don't feel like it totally wiped my healthy-eating day). *pat*
Tonight, I went to Target-- which is like my least favorite thing in the entire world. Mass markets. Ugh. *pat*
And now... hopefully... I'll end my day with another productive, non-wallowing activity of the homework persuasion. My laptop is out and on my lap where it belongs, so that's a step in the right direction.
And tomorrow, some friends are coming into town, and I'm thinking it's going to be a solid weekend... and hopefully, the sun will be out and warm.
I'm in an oddly good mood right now-- which, considering I just suffered through a truly awful "musical" episode of Grey's Anatomy, is kind of a miracle.
"When does a woman become an adult?... We grow up when we see our life and our role from God's perspective; when we thank God for the role He assigned us and begin to see our cup as a gift instead of a cross; when each morning we ask, 'God, how can I glorify you today in my given role?'"
- Linda Dillow, from Calm My Anxious Heart
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Timeless Tuesday
On the surface, I'm as cool as a cucumber.
As I type, I'm sitting in class listening to my professor lecture. I have my textbook open next to me, dutifully glancing over from time to time as though I'm double-checking the prof's latest statement. Every now and then, I even make a point to look up, make eye contact, and give a solid nod or pause and frown just a smidge to give the impression that I'm really chewing on the matter at hand.
In reality, my mind might explode at any moment.
I've been in this building, on this floor, since 9 this morning. The only times I've gotten up are to run to the lou once or twice and to meet the Jimmy John's delivery guy out in the hallway-- we're very close, Jimmy John and I. My "sit bones" have made a dent in my not-so-ergonomic chair and the weird inside button on my trouser waist has made a less than adorable indentation on my stomach. All this stillness makes me want to kick off my heels and cartwheel down the hallway. Do something, anything, that would pick up the pace a little bit.
It appears that time is standing still on this Tuesday, pun intended.
I feel like I'm in a 90s teen sitcom watching the minute hand on the clock tick by slowly and audibly, like as soon as the bell rings we'll all run out into the hall and spontaneously bust into a musical number. Okay, I went from Saved by the Bell to Grease mid-example, but that's because my mind is in overdrive to compensate for my body's never-ending stillness.
As I type, I'm sitting in class listening to my professor lecture. I have my textbook open next to me, dutifully glancing over from time to time as though I'm double-checking the prof's latest statement. Every now and then, I even make a point to look up, make eye contact, and give a solid nod or pause and frown just a smidge to give the impression that I'm really chewing on the matter at hand.
In reality, my mind might explode at any moment.
I've been in this building, on this floor, since 9 this morning. The only times I've gotten up are to run to the lou once or twice and to meet the Jimmy John's delivery guy out in the hallway-- we're very close, Jimmy John and I. My "sit bones" have made a dent in my not-so-ergonomic chair and the weird inside button on my trouser waist has made a less than adorable indentation on my stomach. All this stillness makes me want to kick off my heels and cartwheel down the hallway. Do something, anything, that would pick up the pace a little bit.
It appears that time is standing still on this Tuesday, pun intended.
Naked.
So lately I'm trying to be a bit more 'green' with my eating habits. Mentally, I know that it's the more nutritionally-sound choice, and I honestly feel different physically when I'm stuffing myself with fruits and veggies rather than chocolate chip cookies and, well, anything chocolate and baked.
In my own apartment where I handle the grocery shopping, I've done really well-- being at home is another story: Mom and Dad aren't subscribing to the green fad I'm in, and those Raisinets are awfully hard to resist-- and I've actually enjoyed making fresh salads in lieu of nuking a Lean Cuisine.
On Tuesdays, I'm on campus from 9-9 which makes this little experiment a bit more difficult. It's one thing to pack a sandwich for lunch; it's another to pack a day's worth of meals and snacks. So I'm trying out some pre-packaged routes: snack packs of baby carrots, string cheese, roasted almonds, and my latest find... Naked juice.
Naked juice is an all-natural, 100% juice smoothie with the motto, "Looks weird, tastes amazing." Pretty much the perfect summation of this new find. This 'blended juice smoothie' comes in a variety of flavors, but today my Naked juice is called 'green machine' and it is, in fact, green. Specifically, it's the color of green bean baby food. Sound delicious? Allow me to expand.
On the back, the ingredients are conveniently listed: 2 3/4 apples, 1/2 banana (sustainably grown and harvested), 1/3 kiwi, 1/3 mango, & a hint of pineapple. Oh, but that's not all! Other ingredients (called 'boosts') include broccoli, spinach, blue green algae, garlic (odorless, supposedly), barley grass, wheat grass, ginger, and parsley.
I don't know about you, but I feel healthier just reading that list. Maybe not exactly salivating over it, but healthier nonetheless. Truly, it's actually very good. Like, really good. I just wish I had finished it before I read the ingredients... now my palette is desperately trying to identify the parsley and blue green algae undertones (I learned that at the winery!). Yum.
In my own apartment where I handle the grocery shopping, I've done really well-- being at home is another story: Mom and Dad aren't subscribing to the green fad I'm in, and those Raisinets are awfully hard to resist-- and I've actually enjoyed making fresh salads in lieu of nuking a Lean Cuisine.
On Tuesdays, I'm on campus from 9-9 which makes this little experiment a bit more difficult. It's one thing to pack a sandwich for lunch; it's another to pack a day's worth of meals and snacks. So I'm trying out some pre-packaged routes: snack packs of baby carrots, string cheese, roasted almonds, and my latest find... Naked juice.
Naked juice is an all-natural, 100% juice smoothie with the motto, "Looks weird, tastes amazing." Pretty much the perfect summation of this new find. This 'blended juice smoothie' comes in a variety of flavors, but today my Naked juice is called 'green machine' and it is, in fact, green. Specifically, it's the color of green bean baby food. Sound delicious? Allow me to expand.
On the back, the ingredients are conveniently listed: 2 3/4 apples, 1/2 banana (sustainably grown and harvested), 1/3 kiwi, 1/3 mango, & a hint of pineapple. Oh, but that's not all! Other ingredients (called 'boosts') include broccoli, spinach, blue green algae, garlic (odorless, supposedly), barley grass, wheat grass, ginger, and parsley.
I don't know about you, but I feel healthier just reading that list. Maybe not exactly salivating over it, but healthier nonetheless. Truly, it's actually very good. Like, really good. I just wish I had finished it before I read the ingredients... now my palette is desperately trying to identify the parsley and blue green algae undertones (I learned that at the winery!). Yum.
Weather or Not
This little seasonal transition seems to be confusing people.
People watcher that I am, the one upside to my million-mile hike from the parking lot to my building on campus is the ample number of people I get to observe on my way to and fro. It keeps me current on the campus fashion trends and usually how un-trendy I am in comparison. (I'm always the last to hop on the Trend Train, and by then the engine is already disappearing into the horizon)
On most days, there's a pretty common theme based on weather. In the fall, you have skinny jeans, oversized cardigans, tediously-styled-casual scarves, flats or boots. In the winter, you'll see a combination of Uggs, leggings, Nike running shorts, long-sleeved t-shirts, and Patagonia pull-overs or there's the option of throwing an extra layer over your fall duds. Come spring, Chacos are pulled out across campus to be paired with the Nike shorts and t-shirts or there's the option of the cuffed skinny jean with a t-strap sandal.
The silver lining of the Nike short phenomenon is that any girl on campus is ready to run a marathon at a moment's notice. So there's that, I guess.
The weather lately is throwing people off, though. I'm willing to cut some slack for those who, like me, have taken the majority of their winter clothes home to Mom and Dad to exchange them for a more spring-y wardrobe. However, just because you've now got your short-shorts and tank-tops in your closet doesn't mean you must take them out for their first spin in 2011. There's still time, friends.
As I walked onto campus this morning-- ninny that I am, I'm wearing closed-toe shoes and a turtleneck; it's 50 degrees and gloomy out, after all-- I saw the entire spectrum of seasonal dress splattered across campus. There were leggings and giant t-shirts, Patagonias and jeans paired with Chacos, cut-off jean shorts and flip-flops with-- wonder of wonders-- wife beater tank tops. There is not a season of the year that is appropriate for both Ugg boots AND Chacos. One of you is miserable, but hey, fashion is sacrifice, right?
Listen, kids, I know you worked hard on your tan over spring break, and I'm thrilled to see that your New Year's resolution to eat no more than 400 calories a day is finally starting to pay off, but we've got a long road ahead of us in the spring and summer. No need to put all your cards on the table now. I pinky-promise there will be ample time to sport your Chacos and your teensy-tiny shorts in the coming months, but for now... I'm cold just looking at you. Check the weather, or just look out your window. It LOOKS cold, for crying out loud. We'll be lucky if we hit sixty degrees today, and our friend the sun isn't even going to bother getting out of bed.
But seriously, I'm very impressed by the intensity of your tan and your very shapely legs. My own pale legs would be envious except they're really busy today... you know, being all warm and whatnot inside of my weather-appropriate pants.
People watcher that I am, the one upside to my million-mile hike from the parking lot to my building on campus is the ample number of people I get to observe on my way to and fro. It keeps me current on the campus fashion trends and usually how un-trendy I am in comparison. (I'm always the last to hop on the Trend Train, and by then the engine is already disappearing into the horizon)
On most days, there's a pretty common theme based on weather. In the fall, you have skinny jeans, oversized cardigans, tediously-styled-casual scarves, flats or boots. In the winter, you'll see a combination of Uggs, leggings, Nike running shorts, long-sleeved t-shirts, and Patagonia pull-overs or there's the option of throwing an extra layer over your fall duds. Come spring, Chacos are pulled out across campus to be paired with the Nike shorts and t-shirts or there's the option of the cuffed skinny jean with a t-strap sandal.
The silver lining of the Nike short phenomenon is that any girl on campus is ready to run a marathon at a moment's notice. So there's that, I guess.
The weather lately is throwing people off, though. I'm willing to cut some slack for those who, like me, have taken the majority of their winter clothes home to Mom and Dad to exchange them for a more spring-y wardrobe. However, just because you've now got your short-shorts and tank-tops in your closet doesn't mean you must take them out for their first spin in 2011. There's still time, friends.
As I walked onto campus this morning-- ninny that I am, I'm wearing closed-toe shoes and a turtleneck; it's 50 degrees and gloomy out, after all-- I saw the entire spectrum of seasonal dress splattered across campus. There were leggings and giant t-shirts, Patagonias and jeans paired with Chacos, cut-off jean shorts and flip-flops with-- wonder of wonders-- wife beater tank tops. There is not a season of the year that is appropriate for both Ugg boots AND Chacos. One of you is miserable, but hey, fashion is sacrifice, right?
Listen, kids, I know you worked hard on your tan over spring break, and I'm thrilled to see that your New Year's resolution to eat no more than 400 calories a day is finally starting to pay off, but we've got a long road ahead of us in the spring and summer. No need to put all your cards on the table now. I pinky-promise there will be ample time to sport your Chacos and your teensy-tiny shorts in the coming months, but for now... I'm cold just looking at you. Check the weather, or just look out your window. It LOOKS cold, for crying out loud. We'll be lucky if we hit sixty degrees today, and our friend the sun isn't even going to bother getting out of bed.
But seriously, I'm very impressed by the intensity of your tan and your very shapely legs. My own pale legs would be envious except they're really busy today... you know, being all warm and whatnot inside of my weather-appropriate pants.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Music Monday
I could listen to this song a thousand times... and I think I'm actually getting close to that limit.
It also makes me want to dye my hair really, really red.
Been there. Done that. Not pretty. Must. Fight. Urge.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Weekend Update
All week long, we watched the weather. Almost daily, David, Annie, Morgan, and I touched base about the coming storms. Thursday and Friday we fretted and argued over who had to make the executive decision: to brave the storm and go to Six Flags or to postpone. Once you're excited about a trip like this, it's really, really hard to postpone. But, all the signs pointed toward massive storms. So, by mid-morning on Friday, we knew what we had to do.
Luckily, my Friday night plans were far from ruined: Chasley and I met up with my friend Ashlee for dinner at one of our favorite downtown bistros and gorged ourselves on a three-course meal. Needless to say, Chasley and I spent the rest of the night laying in my bed and watching E! News in an attempt to move as little as possible.
Come Saturday morning, I felt affirmed in my decision to call off our Six Flags trip. By lunch, though, the sun was shining and my phone was blowing up with complaints. We all knew it would happen this way; if we had gone, Atlanta would've had a full-on flood. Since we didn't though, it turns out that the 60+% chance of precipitation and isolated thunderstorms was a false alarm. Story of my life. I redeemed my Saturday by heading to Huntsville with Spence to meet Chasley for dinner and then meet up with her work buddies and a few other familiar faces for a little live music. Naturally, the live music was in a dive bar, but the band-- Ugly Stick-- was actually pretty good and covered some of my favorite 90s music. Meanwhile, though, the smoke haze in the air almost suffocated me... that was a worthy price to pay for the people-watching entertainment provided, though. This place was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the avid people watcher. Women in their mid-forties gyrated with their cell phones firmly clipped to their belts-- fashion-forward AND convenient. Mohawked guys in their early twenties waited patiently for the occasional Rage Against the Machine cover. And young computer nerds fresh off their jobs at the Arsenal made plays for the numerous Cougars out for a night on the town. Priceless.
Today I have been worthless. I have kept my nose in book 3 of my latest fantasy novel series-- Percy Jackson & the Olympians. In between chapters, I have caught up on DVR'd episodes of my favorite guilty pleasure reality series: Real Housewives and Bethenny Ever After. Truly, it's like a train wreck; you just can't look away. Now I've traded in my chapter breaks for packing up my spring wardrobe to haul back toThugaloosa Tuscaloosa. After an uneventful weekend at home, my feline companion and I will head back to the old grind tomorrow morning, spring clothes and litter box in tow.
Luckily, my Friday night plans were far from ruined: Chasley and I met up with my friend Ashlee for dinner at one of our favorite downtown bistros and gorged ourselves on a three-course meal. Needless to say, Chasley and I spent the rest of the night laying in my bed and watching E! News in an attempt to move as little as possible.
Come Saturday morning, I felt affirmed in my decision to call off our Six Flags trip. By lunch, though, the sun was shining and my phone was blowing up with complaints. We all knew it would happen this way; if we had gone, Atlanta would've had a full-on flood. Since we didn't though, it turns out that the 60+% chance of precipitation and isolated thunderstorms was a false alarm. Story of my life. I redeemed my Saturday by heading to Huntsville with Spence to meet Chasley for dinner and then meet up with her work buddies and a few other familiar faces for a little live music. Naturally, the live music was in a dive bar, but the band-- Ugly Stick-- was actually pretty good and covered some of my favorite 90s music. Meanwhile, though, the smoke haze in the air almost suffocated me... that was a worthy price to pay for the people-watching entertainment provided, though. This place was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the avid people watcher. Women in their mid-forties gyrated with their cell phones firmly clipped to their belts-- fashion-forward AND convenient. Mohawked guys in their early twenties waited patiently for the occasional Rage Against the Machine cover. And young computer nerds fresh off their jobs at the Arsenal made plays for the numerous Cougars out for a night on the town. Priceless.
Today I have been worthless. I have kept my nose in book 3 of my latest fantasy novel series-- Percy Jackson & the Olympians. In between chapters, I have caught up on DVR'd episodes of my favorite guilty pleasure reality series: Real Housewives and Bethenny Ever After. Truly, it's like a train wreck; you just can't look away. Now I've traded in my chapter breaks for packing up my spring wardrobe to haul back to
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
it's not easy being green.
Aside from the outstanding beauty of South America, one thing stood out to me most: the food.
Duh.
If you check those pesky little stickers on your produce before you flick them into the trash, you'll notice that a lot of them say Peru or Chile or any number of countries in South America. Instead of a crowded Wal-Mart produce section of imported fruits and veggies, Chile has blocks upon block of open-air farmers' markets piled high with a rainbow of nature's bounty (now, doesn't that sound like a commercial? next degree option: advertising). During our week there, we dined daily on fresh fruits and incredible salads-- can you imagine a world where fruit has no off-season? A summer tomato sandwich everyday, peaches that fall off the pit in the middle of winter...
So I decided to bring this little trend home with me. As soon as I arrived back in Tuscaloosa, I went to the market and stocked up on every fruit and vegetable that looked edible. It was so exciting at the time: a head of romaine lettuce instead of salad-in-a-bag, lemons and limes to create my own salad dressing, Greek yogurt for a morning parfait, a mango straight from Peru... I feel healthier just thinking about it!
I say it was exciting at first because right now, having had a salad and hummus for lunch, what I really want is a giant Twix bar. Or a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Or a warm chocolate chip cookie. See, the sad thing is, as much as nature has to offer, I'm a chocolate addict. Even sadder, I can't remember the last time I went more than 24 hours without chocolate.
So this is going to be a struggle, the whole green thing. I mean, I enjoy it while I'm eating it; it's making the choice to eat it that's a killer. I've given up red meat, cut back on carbs (sandwiches are kind of a must on days when I'm on campus), limited myself to one diet soda a day (zero caffeine = serious headache), and am trying to replace desserts with natural desserts like fruits and nuts. This little diet of sorts is in no way permanent-- I'm more likely to give up showering forever than to give up chocolate or the occasional cheeseburger-- I just felt like a little detox was due. We'll see how this goes...
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