Monday, May 30, 2011

Amazing Chicken Tacos

Tonight I prepared my first recipe for my family (with a little help from my padre). I told my mom yesterday that she wasn't allowed in the kitchen while it was my meal night. You need to know one thing about that situation.....in my house it's my mom's kitchen (or at least when she's in it). My mom tends to take charge of things, which can be a good quality at times (but others not so much). I've never had a whole lot of experience in the kitchen and my dad tends to be the one who shows me what to do without doing it himself (but my mom's good at teaching me many other things).

I had this plan to pick a new recipe each week to try starting when I came home, but this was my first one (better late than never). Initially I was looking for a shrimp taco recipe (which I found), but then I saw the title Crispy Margarita Chicken Tacos with Strawberry Avocado Salsa (say what?!) courtesy of Jessica's blog How Sweet It Is. I go on there often just to look and drool at the mouthwatering pictures of her many sweet treats, but hadn't really paid much attention to her other non-dessert recipes. The title was pretty much the perfect combination of flavors to suck me in, and I had a feeling my family would be all for it as well. I'll just tell you now that this is one of the best recipes ever. 
SO GOOD AND SO REFRESHING! I definitely ate way too much food tonight.

I started out last night (around 10:30) following the recipe by mixing the marinade and preparing the chicken into strips to soak overnight. Then around 5:30 tonight my dad and I began chopping, breading and making all sorts of messes in the kitchen. We used 4 pieces of chicken, which ended up making a lot of left overs for tomorrow, even between all four of my family members. We also ran into a problem when I noticed we had to place the strips of chicken on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Seems that the only wire rack my family owns is a small one that you prop up around a turkey or chicken. The racked worked fine, but it just meant splitting up the strips into four or so baking sessions. We even started eating before they were all done, but it was totally worth it. That chicken was amazing, especially topped with the strawberry avocado salsa!

This picture is actually from the How Sweet It Is page for this recipe (seeing as I totally forgot to take any pictures). Next time I promise to take some myself to share with you guys.

Overall a success and definitely a recommended recipe.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!



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Hope everyone has a wonderful day with family and friends. The weather in TC today is wonderful!



Sunday, May 29, 2011

2011 Bayshore 10K

Yesterday I successfully finished my first 10K!!

When I signed up around the end of last year, I was running pretty regularly and was super excited to get training and to build up to this race. Unfortunately, as most things like this pan out in my life, I had foot pain, and then knee/shin pain and took a little bit off of running....then pretty much gave up training all together. If I don't stick with it, I get lazy, and especially when it comes in the form of exercise. They say once you get moving it's easier to keep moving and vice versa, which I can prove is right. But I wasn't about to give up on this race (I'd already payed). Plus my dad and I were running it together and I wasn't about to let him down.

The morning started out early... as in 5:50ish early (eww). I woke up to eggs and toast from my dad and started getting ready for the big run. Sam came over to ride with us and my mom dropped us off at the race just after 7 am. It was rainy and cold outside when we first arrived outside of Central High School and people everywhere! I realized then how much of a non-fan I was of crowds, especially when they're all going to be running together. The course took us along the main college road until the turn along the peninsula and the view was gorgeous Saturday morning. Luckily the rain pretty much stopped when the race began, and while running the temperature was perfect....I think somewhere around 50 degrees.

My dad and I promised to stick together and I know he could have run a lot farther, but I'm thankful he stayed with me. We ran till the turn out the peninsula and then I needed to walk for a minute (not for long), until we ran the rest of the first mile. From then on it was a series of runs and walks and a steady pace of my usual just under 15 minute miles. Most people may realize that people can walk miles faster than that, but honestly that's just my pace. For a while on the way back we did strict run 1 minute then walked 1 minute, until I got a horrible pain in my left shoulder/back and broke down in tears. Then I tried to gather myself as quickly as possible, because I felt dumb for crying while half marathoners were passing me.....and old people who'd probably walked the whole race. Yup I felt slow and stupid. I tried to push myself as much as I could but all I wanted was to finish.

Sam ran pretty much the whole 6 miles and KILLED IT! I'm so proud; she did really well and finished in under an hour. My dad and I finished in just over 1 hour and 32 minutes....not my hour and 15 I was hoping for, but happy anyway. The part I hate is when you see the 6 mile marker and just want to be done, but know you have 2 tenths of a mile left...especially when there's a crowd of people watching. We ran in that last little bit and it took me a minute to figure out how to breathe again.

After the race we met up with Sam and spent some time talking while guzzling water and eating wonderful Moomer's ice cream! They really had everything there for people to eat. Bananas, oranges, chips, and a huge assortment of cookies.

I figured Sandy would finish up the half marathon sometime close after 2 hours because she said she'd been running just over 10 minute miles. I wanted to stay and watch her come in, so Sam stayed with me while my parents left to get us some muffins from Green House Cafe. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their lemon poppyseed muffins (they're seriously the best lemon poppyseed muffins I've ever had), and it was really great of my parents to get us some after the race. By the time Sandy finished around 2 hours and 23 minutes we were freezing, but I was happy to cheer her on. She kicked 13.1 mile butt yesterday!

The lessons I learned yesterday were just to never quit and next time train for a race. Training really would have come in handy.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Pre-Race Night

Tomorrow is the big day!

I will be waking up early in the AM to get ready to run 10K, or 6.2 miles. I have never ran that far (not that I'll be actually "running" that far tomorrow). Because I was really bad about training for this race my expectations aren't the highest, but I am going to try my best and hopefully kick some race butt tomorrow!!

When we went to get our packets tonight traffic was awful and the Central High School gym was PACKED. I was a little disappointed in the race "packets" for this Bayshore. Our packets for the Turkey Trot were pretty nice and included not only a t-shirt, but water bottle and a bunch of nice coupons. Tonight we only got our bibs and a t-shirt....lame.

I'm honestly feeling a little nervous for tomorrow, not that I don't think I will finish, but just in the way that who knows what will happen and what running that far/long will be like. My goal is to run it in at least 1 hour and 15 minutes. Plus having to get up so early and run at 7:30, that seems a bit early for these events... who thought this was a good idea? The weather tomorrow is looking a little bleak. It's supposed to be 58 by 6am and there's a 50% chance of rain in the morning :( I should have done some sort of rain dance to prevent it from coming tomorrow.

But for now I just need to get to bed so I can get a good nights sleep and be a functional person in the AM. I wish anyone else who is running the race tomorrow a good luck!!!!



I love this musical.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Walk it out

Big first exam tomorrow in my Intro to Stats class. We got a take home portion today in class and I still need to make up the page of notes.


Typical me scrambling till the last minute (actually I can see me still doing it tomorrow before class, but hopefully not).

At home I usually do my homework in bed, which I know you're not supposed to do, but I've always done it this way. In the winter I move down stairs to the living room by the fire place :) At school though, I was usually pretty good at doing my homework either at my desk or in my green chair. Which reminds me.....


That's another typical occurrence while I'm home.....covering my comfy green chair with laundry until I can no longer use it for it's intended purpose. Whoops!  

Earlier tonight my dad and I went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. After our run yesterday and doing Insanity, my calves have been really tight this week. I keep forgetting to foam roll and I'm almost positive this is a direct cause of not doing that. It's funny how we can hardly get around the streets surrounding my house now because everything is under construction. It's crazy pants in my neighborhood this month. They tore up a whole road just down my block and blocked off another main exit from my house to downtown. This is also a problem for my van (the Junebug), I always pray my car doesn't just fall apart when I have to drive on a rough road...which around here is pretty common (we've got pot holes that are more like craters in the earth). After I did Insanity Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs, my schedule is slightly off because of the few days I missed last week (hopefully I can stay on track after this weekend).

Needless to say I'm beat! Can't wait to get to bed tonight and get tomorrow's class over with. I'm at least glad that I'm almost half way through Stats.....time flies when you're having fun.

Is there someplace special you like to study? Do you study differently when you're at home, versus away at university?

Monday, May 23, 2011

A Bit of Complaining

I literally just googled "running god" to see if there was some sort of mythological god of running that I could pray to in hopes of getting me through this 10K a little better.

I'm just going to take this moment to complain, so I'm warning you this is just the mood I am now in and need to get this out of my system so I can go back to positively thinking about this race and getting myself back to the mindset of "I've got this!" This is just to let you know that if you don't care or are sick of hearing me complain about running, you can promptly leave this page now. I honestly don't mind and this is more for myself than for anyone else. Not to mention that this is by no means a reason to pity me, I've chose to run and put myself through this, and therefore take full responsibility for the pain I'm causing myself.

Whatever hopes I had after running last week's 4 miles with Sam was shattered today when I couldn't even make it hardly a mile (and that was mostly walking) before I wanted to turn around. When we started out my calves were so tight I could hardly walk, but I am thankful that I at least loosened those up a bit. Not to mention the fact that I now have another blister! WTF feet? Where did all my calluses go?

On top of which I have the ever so lovely pain in my right shin that will just not go away... I seriously just think it's going to stay with me forever. I will just have to live with running like a gimp for the rest of time.

Pain number 3....the mystery pain at the top of my left knee. Yup, I have found a new spot of pain in my leg. I honestly didn't think my body could hurt anywhere else. It's just been getting worse and worse since I've been doing Insanity, but I really don't want to stop until I get through the 60 days. I don't want to injure myself further, but I'm hoping it's just like a knot or something that won't end up sticking around.

Pain number 4... the usual hip and knee pain from years of over use and stress from dance.

And to wrap it up my allergies are the worst, and of course I ran out of Claritin so I'm in a haze of horribleness. My eyes itch, my nose itches and is runny, my head hurts, my throat hurts....you know all the usual fun stuff.

Ok that pretty much ends my rant of complaining.

Oh, but just as a follow up my friend Gabby left to go back to Madison today and I don't know when I'll see her next :( Sometimes I don't like growing up.

Saturday, May 21, 2011



I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Mmm, mmm, mmm

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm getting older too

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm getting older too
Oh, I'm getting older too

Awh, take my love, take it down
Awh, climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down
Oh, the landslide bring it down

The Beauty in the World

Tonight I met my cousin Ari for dessert and coffee at The Pie Company's new location next to Horizon Books. It looks so nice in there and my slice of pie was DELICIOUS! Strawberry Rhubarb!


After we met up with Gabby and Sam to go to the Friday Night movie at the State Theater. They were playing American Beauty. It was Ari and Sam's first time seeing the movie; I always love watching people's reactions to certain things.....such as the endings. American Beauty is one of those movies that every time you watch it, you learn something new from it. It had been a while since I last saw it and I don't think I fully appreciated all that the movie had to offer before. Re-watching the movie at a little bit of an older age and a different point in my life has changed my perspective on the film. American Beauty is the type of movie that everyone, at any point, can relate to and get something out of. All the characters in the movie, who seem to live these slightly exaggerated and crazy lives, are actually incredibly relatable in the emotions that they feel. Kevin Spacey tends to creep me out big time, he's just one of those people that plays a lot of slightly twisted characters, but after watching this movie a few times I've actually begun to see Lester Burnham in more of a....positive light (if that's the right word). 

If you haven't already seen American Beauty, it's definitely one that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime; and if you have seen the movie, you should watch it again and see if any of your thoughts toward it have changed.

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday."- Lester Burnham

Slacklining and Baking Parties

Thursday.
there was some of this....


 Gabby the slacklining pro. She can turn around, walk backwards and do all sorts of fun stuff. (The rope is kind of hard to see but if you look carefully it's the green line she's balancing on)

Typical Sam, getting pissed when I want to document our friendship....I should probably be more offended.

 I sit and watch them battle it out for the big ol' prize of nothing.

 Woa Gabby, careful there.

Enjoy!



This is why we're all friends (because we make for such great pictures).

And then Gabby tried to describe with me what she was talking about with her leap frog idea.....
 Me: Uhhhhh...?


 Failure.

 When I saw this Sam explained that we were too boring and so she found something more interesting to take a picture of.....yes, apparently we weren't as compositionally intriguing as a tree.

 I whip my hair back and forth

 Checking out Gabby's new matte finish nail polish.

Then some baking happened....
The worst thing about cooking or baking is all the stuff you have to clean up after. I washed a few of the dirty dishes after we were done, but left all this fun for Friday :)


 We ended up making Monster cookies!!! I think they're my favorite cookies ever....dare I say more than chocolate chip.

Yummmm

They ended up a little over done for my taste. I prefer my cookies more chewy than crumbly.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Coloring Session

1 week of classes down, 3 more to go.
2 and a half weeks of Insanity down, 5 and a half (I think) left.
9 more days left till the Bayshore 10K.
59 more days till my Birthday!!

I do like feeling like I have time during the day now. Since I've gotten home from college, I don't think I've woke up before 11....it was quite relaxing, but I always felt like it was a bit of a waste of my day. By the time I woke up at 1 the day was already half over. Now I'm up at 7, to class at 9 (I like to have a long time to wake myself up), free by 12:15 to do whatever I want. Granted I still wish I had a job to fill my time, but it is a nice soothing feeling just to relax a bit....or relax until I do Insanity and want to punch Shawn T through the screen. I didn't end up doing my workout yesterday because I waited and then Gabby ended up coming over :) Since she's only back in town for a few more days I figured I couldn't ditch her just to get in a workout. We definitely have a ton of fun together, and although we never plan anything specific we usually end up finding something entertaining to do.

Last night after getting coffee we made it back to my house to color! Yes we're 5 year olds and love to color in Disney Princess coloring books. Facts of Life. We enjoyed out late night color fest with a Harry, Ron and Hermione while rewatching the first part of the 7th HP movie. I still can't believe the series is ending (I mean yes the last book has been out a while now, but finishing the movies will mean no more new Harry....sad face.)

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Tonight was also a fun night with friends, but more on that tomorrow!

Is there certain things you love to do with your friends or do you guys just like getting together and figuring it out as you go along?

Peace out for now.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Kryptonite

Please tell me that you still listen to 3 Doors Down as well.....

I still really love this song, it will never get old.

"Fun" Run

So we're closing down on a nice week and a half before the 10K.... I finally dragged my butt out for a run, and not just a little I'll run/walk for a bit until I just feel like turning back, but a 4 mile kind of thing :)

Sam called me yesterday while I was chowing down on my lunch of left over pizza and yummy melon, to ask if I wanted to go for a run with her. Of course I wanted to say "no, I'm good," but finally decided I had to push and see at least how long this race will take me to complete. I really have no great time expectation for myself because all I want to accomplish is getting through the whole 6 miles. My big goal is to just run the full first mile. I ran .45 miles tonight before I stopped for the first time, I was really angry at myself for not pushing a little further because I was at least hoping for half of a mile. And don't get me wrong I walked a good majority of this, but I tried to push myself. I definitely think Insanity has helped me with my stamina. Sam ran a whole extra mile by herself while I stayed and stretched out at a bench/drinking fountain area. So it ended up taking us about 55 or so minutes to do the four miles (personally I don't think it's that bad of a time.

Unfortunately while busting my butt yesterday on the trail, I got some lovely blisters all over my feet....sad face. This is why I miss dancing, calluses are your best friend. I just didn't realize how lame my feet have become in such a short period of time. When I hopped out of bed this morning I could hardly walk because my body just hurts. I was not excited last night to do Insanity at 10 pm after such a workout earlier in the day. I seriously cried a little in the middle of it...

Now I'm just debating on whether I really have to go to this morning class every day or if I can get away with skipping a few (seeing as it's only four weeks I'm assuming that will be a bad idea, but I really don't want to). I woke up today barely able to open my eyes and realized it was only Wednesday....I was really hoping it was Thursday already.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Happy Minds (or Criminal Birthday?).... you can decide

So I feel like I've spent a lot of this weekend watching Criminal Minds, which really equals no regrets there. That show is so addicting and I absolutely love it!! I especially love the fact that it's often shown as marathons on A&E like it was this weekend... it makes it easy to catch up on the episodes I've missed.


Matthew Gray Gubler and Shemar Moore....I'm so glad there are pictures out there like this. Thank you tumblr (ps I'm now addicted to tumblr, I just started really digging around on it this last week).

This morning started out quite nicely with a little brunch birthday celebration for my Grandma :) We ate all sorts of yummy foods like waffles, quiche, and a plethora of lovely fruit. It was perfect, and very filling. I enjoy spending time with my grandparents because it's not often we all get to visit as much anymore. It was also special because my great grandma and aunt Julie also came up to join the fun. Happy Birthday Grandma!

The only bad part of this weekend was the doom of my summer class starting tomorrow..... serious sad face! I can't believe it was by choice that I'm taking this class right now, but I figure if I have to get it over with 4 weeks won't be that long. I've never been one to be happy about math classes, I just find them really dull and boring. I also have a problem with sitting still for long periods of time, 3 hours and 15 minute hell to come tomorrow morning....I'll let you know if I survive.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Geek in Me

So my mom mentioned back on Mother's Day that she wanted to go see Thor, but because my brother and dad weren't going to miss the Red Wings game that night it ended up not happening. Often times my mother goes with my brother to movies like this because they have such close interest in these types of movies. My brother, being the movie goer that he is, has already seen Thor but would have gone to see it again. I on the other hand really had no real interest at all to go. Some movies, take Avatar for example, just don't draw me in. It's not until after someone else pays for me to see this movie that I realize what an art form it is. I still don't really like Avatar, but that's a whole other story. I was pleasantly surprised by Thor and how much I actually enjoyed this movie (it may have had something to do with the fact that Chris Hemsworth is really attractive, or that Natalie Portman was in it).


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If it's one thing I've realized throughout my life is that my mom loves all things SiFi and "geeky" (which is why I really can't figure out why she doesn't like Doctor Who). My mom is an avid book reader and she grew up on the stories that most of my generation has only seen on film. She has a beautiful hardcopy of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit that are sitting in our living room as well as books like Merlin. My mom grew up watching and loving the original Star Wars movies, and I especially remember watching them when I was a young girl (although I haven't seen them in a pretty long while). I LOVED R2-D2, C-3PO and of course the furry Ewok's. I also really wanted to be Princess Leia and loved playing her when I played Star Wars with my friends (mostly because she was a Princess and had "cool" hair). I always wanted Luke and Leia to be together because I thought Luke was cute and, like I said, I wanted to be Leia, but that ended when I realized they were actually siblings (it was a big let down on that relationship). I remember going with my family to see all the new Star Wars movies and all the Lord of the Rings movies.


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As I grew into my teen years, I started pushing these things aside... I started considering these interests "geeky" and instead grew more attached to chick flicks, love stories, and books by Nicholas Sparks (which are basically all the same thing). In my heart I still loved Harry Potter but just didn't think it was socially acceptable to run around pretending to be a wizard (yeah I definitely had an identity crisis during J High). That's probably why most of the people who meet me today wouldn't guess what a big geek I am at heart (don't mind my clearly stereotypical groupings here) and how much I do really appreciate all these stories. I certainly can't claim to be as devoted and as knowledgable as many other avid fans of these series, but I definitely have many wonderful memories and dreams attached to them.

By now you might be thinking, but all Star Wars geeks are certainly not all fans of Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or vice versa, but in the end they're all stories based on good versus evil, something that will always be relatable to any person. They're also just things that I connect in my mind as being part of the geek in me. Which also brings me back to the start of this thought process, comic book stories.

Comic books are another thing that I connect to being "geeky" (I can't clarify this enough that I do realize not all of these things connect for people and that not all of these loves actually make people consider themselves a geek). Unlike other things, there was never a time that I was into reading comic books, and I certainly don't have a secret love of Anime I'm going to profess any time in the future. Superheroes like Batman, Spiderman, Superman....always sounded cool, but certainly never grabbed my attention in book form (I have seen all the movies though). As a kid I wondered, like any other child would wonder, what it would be like to have a super power. I had a friend who was really into the Power Rangers and we would pretend to be them sometimes (I always wanted to be the Pink one). It wasn't till I was older that I even heard of stories like the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, or the Fantastic Four. Most of what I know about these characters are how they've been portrayed in movies. I usually got dragged to these movies with my family and probably wouldn't have chosen on my own to see them. But now that more and more of these characters are being brought into film and the Avengers is due out in 2012, I'm thinking it's about time I start to delve into the realm of Marvel Comics. This way I figure Sheldon Cooper and I will have something to chat about. BAZINGA!


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Friday, May 13, 2011

Sleeping Sickness

Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Maybe i'll sleep when I am dead,
but now it's like the night is taking sides.
And all the worries that occupy the back of my mind,
could it be this misery will suffice?


Whenever I'm feeling certain emotions....sad, tired, uncertain, and like I have no idea how to get myself and my life on the track I want it to be on, I turn to 3 things: music, dance, and art. When I'm in this mood I especially love music like City and Colour, Joshua Radin, Ray LaMontagne and Death Cab for Cutie. I don't know what it is about all these artist but they never fail to become suddenly overplayed when I'm feeling down. I think it's all because they have a way of soothing my mind and providing just enough to turn things around.

Last night as I was laying in bed reading I had City and Colour playing in the background and realized how much I needed a little music therapy. Dallas Green, the songwriter and lead singer for City and Colour has such a way with words, it always amazes me.

- - -
I am so tired right now all I want to do is curl up and sleep. I woke up at 6 am to meet my friend Sandy for a nice run/walk this morning. We chatted a bit and then she kicked my butt at running. Sandy is running the Bay Shore half marathon....that's like twice as long as I'm running. I was originally going to sign up for the half but the spots went too quickly...and now I'm really thankful. Obviously I haven't exactly been training well...or at all for this 10K and I'm definitely hoping on a miracle here. I also spent the rest of my morning doing fun stuff like Insanity Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs...so (not) fun. It is quite a love/hate relationship I have with exercise.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Summer List

As you probably already figured out, I LOVE making lists. They're so helpful and always keep my thoughts more organized. So here's my list of things that I want/need to do during the summer months of 2011.

  1. GET A JOB! 
  2. Ace both my classes at NMC
  3. Get my passport
  4. Run Bayshore 10k
  5. Go on a wine tour for my bday
  6. Go to Chicago
  7. Go visit Gabby
  8. See Chelsea
  9. Walk on the slackline
  10. Have Moomers ice cream
  11. Go on a mini road trip somewhere
  12. Run Cherry Festival 5k
  13. Find a bow tie
  14. Go thrift shopping
  15. Clean out my room
  16. Sell some old things
  17. Go see HP7 part 2 at midnight
  18. Learn a song on the guitar
  19. Knit a scarf
  20. Make a dress and/or skirt
  21. Finish all 60 days of Insanity
  22. Run at least 5 miles a week
  23. Make art...lots of art, preferably in the middle of the open space
  24. Cook one dinner a week
I'm sure there'll be more that I just can't think of at the moment.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother and grandmothers!




Love you Mommysita! Thank you for everything you do and all the support and love you've given me from day one :)

Saturday, May 7, 2011

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

by ee cummings

Friday, May 6, 2011

Doctor Who meets James Bond?

So I woke up this morning at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep...sad face. Instead I spent the morning with the Doctor :) I've finally made it to "The End of Time," which is the end of David Tennant as the Doctor. I'm so sad right now about this fact that I will no longer be watching him and his wonderful take on the character...even though I know it's actually been a while since Matt Smith has taken over. I'm sure I will eventually warm up more to Matt...just like I warmed up to Martha Jones after Rose (she's still my favorite) left and Donna Noble after that (I'm sorry if you don't watch Doctor Who and therefore have no idea what I'm talking about).



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Anyway, the other thing I wanted to discuss was the fact that Timothy Dalton is in this? He narrates the episode and I was trying so hard to figure out who's voice it was. When they showed his face it was like... James Bond?? It's always strange when you associate an actor to one certain character and then you see them in another series or movie.



(He has a lot less hair than he used to)



I want one of these bags!

I love Adele



I love Adele. I love to eat and mildly dislike exercise...especially when I can't move the next day (even though I secretly love that feeling). And I love that she is so confident and really does not seem afraid to tell people like it is. I'd also rather have her make more AMAZING albums like 21 than work to fit into what other people are. I personally think she's gorgeous and love her style.

- - -
I exercised 3 times today! Between Insanity, a run with Sandy, and then dancing... OVERLOAD. Actually I'm not feeling too bad, it was a lot of fun. Those two Red Bulls I drank while busting it down and shaking my butt at Northern Lites tonight will probably have me up for another little bit, even though I half feel like I'm going to pass out while I type this. We went there tonight to support one of the guys I used to work with, Eric, who has been DJ-ing there (he was great!) I haven't danced like that in forever and it felt soooooooo good. I get too anxious to sit still when I go long periods of time without dancing. It's just something I feel like I HAVE to include in my life.

Tomorrow's plan is to get up and get job applications and clean my room...I those have been on the agenda all week and still haven't really gotten done (woops!) NO EXCUSES ANYMORE! Gah

This was definitely a good way to kick off the summer :)

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Brits

I officially started the Insanity workout today. It's safe to say body is in a bit of pain and shock at the moment. Oww. It definitely doesn't help that I did something to my lower back last night and can barely bend over. I made sure to do a much needed foam rolling session afterwards today. Hopefully tomorrow I won't be too bad. The fact that you have to do this thing every day is a little overwhelming.

I have this problem with getting obsessed over things I find interesting. I spend all my time googling people and places, watching Youtube videos and spreading my knowledge. I can't help it, I love learning all I can about different subjects....although I try not to be overly obsessive in a creepy way. I very much try to avoid creeperness in my life.

On to my new obsession: British royalty. I think this is why I avoided the hype of the royal wedding for so long, because I had a feeling something like this would happen. It's really more of everything British in general....which I've always been a bit obsessed with the UK. Always wanted to live in London, I love British accents, I've always wanted to marry a Scottish man, and their culture fascinates me.

This picture made me laugh for a good 10 minutes. It's cute, but I just think it looks so posed and Wills Edward Cullen like hair style is cracking me up.

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Some more gems I found....
That girl is so cute and sounds so mature in this video (I don't know if it's the accent or what). And Wills is always so charming.

hahahhahah

"arctic monkeying around"

All of those ones are videos I found pretty funny, but I did find some really good interviews. Those Princes are definitely charming fellows.



Harry is my favorite (always has been), but Will has more of a timeless good look (I don't think I've ever seen him look bad). I love how everyone marks Harry as the "wild one"...I think it's the ginger hair.

Anyway....maybe I'll update you later with some more information about all things royal family and the UK, but I don't want to go any more overboard than I already have for this post.

Does anyone else get a little obsessive other things sometimes? How do you feel about British Royalty?

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Insanity

So my crazy family roped me into their Insanity training.
...yup as in Shaun T's intense workout system.



My parents bought the DVD package from a guy in Kalamazoo and picked it up when they came the Friday before I left. The guy had both P90X and Insanity and I was really surprised when my parents came back to the car holding the Insanity package; they had been talking about P90X for a while and loved it after borrowing a few of the DVD's from one of our family friends. They must have been in the mood for a good challenge.
Ever since my arrival home they've been pestering me to start the program, but I've been in relax mode all weekend as a lovely break from my hectic end of school schedule I had. So tonight I thought I'd give in and finally take the fit test. Crikey was that difficult. I severely underestimated the level of that fit test (mostly the warm up) and was definitely huffing and puffing. I guess I just figured because it was just a test of your levels it wouldn't be all that hard, but really it was no easy task. I have a feeling I'm going to be in for a real shock with the rest of these videos....or my body will at least.


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Good thing I'm now home where I can't really forget my water bottle. I downed that sucker like it was my job.

Has anyone else tried this workout? What did you think?