Andy :-D

So I admit I’m watching the MTV movie awards.  But that’s because I love Andy Samberg.  He is hilarious!!

Today was a very productive day!  I finished my whole counseling write up paper.  I also finished another small paper, and am now working on a costing project for a fake menu I had to write up.  I’m gettin’ there!

I had a very snacky afternoon.  My roommate and I went on a Costco run mid-day where we got some good samples!  Asiago cheese, chip & Wholly Guacamole, Santa Barbara salsa fresca (I love this brand of salsa – they’re always so tasty!), Kashi Honey Sunshine & Go Lean crunch cereals, Food Should Taste Good multigrain chip (yummm!), a lentil & mixed bean curry soup, and Quaker simple harvest granola bars.  Dang!!  Quite the buffet there.

I was still hungry this afternoon though (or probably snacky from so much school work!) so I snacked on carrots with LF salsa ranch dressing and made myself a pumpkin smoothie. I also had a few delicious brown rice & whole grain tortilla chips.

Dinner was a Mexican bowl creation:

Kashi fiery fiesta pilaf, refried black beans, roasted garlic tomatoes, sauteed onions, Mexican cheese blend, & light sour cream.  With a huge bowl of broccoli on the side.  I picked up a 3-lb bag at Costco today so I’ll be on broccoli overload!!  My Mexican bowl looks pretty small, but filled me up very quickly.  I’m still full!

After dinner treats included:

Cookie dough salt water taffy & one of these babies:

a butterscotch Sees sucker.  I always get so munchy when I study or do schoolwork all day!  Hence why I’ve gone through almost a whole pack of gum today!

Anyone else just find the need to chew/eat something while studying?  It’s so annoying!!

And thank you guys for your encouraging comments earlier.  I plan to see another doctor while home since we know of some good reputable ones there.  I’ve been to 3 doctors already though, and they all told me to just rest it, or do easy runs.  But that hasn’t helped.  Easy anything bothers it!  Thank you again, I was just having a rough morning – it comes and goes.

My friend did text me that she finished in 4 hours 43 minutes.  Slow for many of you out there, but it was her first, and I’m so proud of her!!  She promised to show me her massive blood blister on Tuesday 🙂

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Visual Marathon

It’s kind of a rough day/weekend here.  This was the weekend of my planned marathon that I was training for – SD rock & roll.  It’s weird to stop and think at times “Now, I should be in SD anxious for tomorrow” or “I would be running right now”.  A friend of mine in my classes is down there running, so it was strange this morning to think at that very moment, she was doing the marathon I was so excited for.

I had a mini-breakdown yesterday in the gym locker room.  After I walked down the stairs and my knee had sharp twinges, I just sat and cried.  After mysuper slow and super short “run”/walk last weekend, it has really been bothering me this week.  It’s hard to come to terms that there seems to be NO way that I can run for months, and maybe even close to a year.  At times I don’t think I’ll ever do long distances/marathons again.

Then I feel so stupid and like such a downer because there are people out there in such worse conditions.

Sorry to be such a debbie downer.

In other happier news, my roommate and I went and saw the movie Up last night in 3-D!  It was soooo cute and really funny!  I highly suggest it :-D.  This morning I woke up to sweep the downstairs (Sunday = chore day and my chore this week was sweeping!), had a delicious bowl of cereal:

The mix included:

• Blueberry Muffin Mini-Wheats
• PB Puffins
• Shredded spoonfuls
• Ground flaxseed
• Almond milk

I normally have a spoonful of almond butter or peanut butter in there, but I had a scoop of PB on the side afterwards.  I finished off my box of mini-wheats!  1 box of cereal down….1 million to go!!  I then ran to the library (not literally ran, obviously!) to drop off my books that were due by 11.  The rest of the plan today includes:

• Finish my essays & projects (I have 4 due this week!)
• Costco – I’m out of bread & the house is out of paper towels!
• Laundry
• Clean/organize my room!  It’s stressing me out.

Better get working on these papers!

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Lame-O

I’m lame and stayed in on Friday night to do HW.  My roommates pressured me for a good 2 hours to come out, but honestly:

1. I don’t like to drink very often because I get awful hangovers even from just a couple drinks.  Then my whole next day is wasted!

2. I’m a huge heavyweight.  It takes me a good 5-6 drinks to even get a buzz.

3. I knew it would be awkward at the bars because my one roommate has her “boy-friend” here, and my other roommate would be off chattin’ up all her guy friends!

4. I have an insane amount to do this weekend!!!

I may kind of regret it right now, but I know I won’t regret it tomorrow!

Our power came back on (YIPPEE) so I was able to upload pictures!

Vanilla & Butter Pecan froyo enjoyed on my way to work:

I snacked on a couple of orange slices before I had my lunch…

Lunch: (well more like a snack – had it at 3:45 and it was pretty small)

It was tasty enough, but I wasn’t too impressed.  I love their low-fat bean & cheese burrito but this one seemed kind of bland to me.  So I added a little bit of spicy salsa to it 🙂 although it’d probably be awesome with some guacamole.  I do love how gooey their tortillas get when cooked though :-).  I still have another one in my fridge (buy 1 get 1 free), but probably won’t purchase this particular flavor again.

I hope everyone else is having a much more exciting Friday night than I am!  Party it up!!

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Power Outage!!

So I was in my room mid-day when BOOM there was a huge cracking sound (almost like a gunshot) from outside and our whole house’s power went out.  Seconds later, my smoke detector started going crazy (I guess because it’s electrical so it was going off).  My roommates and I spent a good 30 minutes trying to disconnect the dang thing.  Apparently there was a fire at a house up the street.  I’m not sure exactly what happened or how it caused the outage though.  I just hope it comes back on quickly – for my perishable food’s sake!!

Luckily I was heading to work (where I nanny) soon so I’m able to use their internet.  Unfortunately, I’m not on my computer so I don’t have any pictures to upload!

Today started out with a breakfast of 3 slices (they were pretty small slices – the ends were included) Cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel (the last of my loaf!) toasted, with Trader Joe’s Flaxseed Peanut Butter, Boysenberry jam, & sliced banana on top.  Generous amounts of coffee with almond milk and a little bit of half & half were included.  I really like almond milk in my coffee – it’s quite delish :-).

I planned to hit up the gym after my 8-11:00 class, but I went to a professor’s office hours, which took longer than expected.  So I decided to do a quick 20-minute upper body workout with my weights at home.  I also got a 20 minute walk in back to my car from school.

With the power outage, I had limited food options for lunch!  I grabbed a Cedarlane couscous & vegetable burrito to cook at work and eat there.  I’m not hungry yet, but when I do eat it, I’ll let you know how it is!  And I stopped and got a Vanilla & butter pecan frozen yogurt at one of my favorite yogurt shops on the way.

Oh, but I did try a Raisin Almond soyjoy bar in class that a student was handing out for one of her presentations.  BLECH!!  That thing was awful!  Never again I tell ya.

Well, it is now 3:04 and Ellen is on, so I plan to go watch that – I love her!  So hilarious :-D.   Pictures of foods & updates to come!

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Josh Gracin!

I had quite the surprise today when I found out Josh Gracin was performing at our U.U. hour (when clubs and usually a small band perform every Thursday from 11-noon in our University Union).  Josh Gracin!?!?  I love him!!  For those of you who don’t know him, he is a country singer who was the 4th place finalist on season 2 of American Idol.  Even though I didn’t watch the show then, I loved his music when I started getting into country.  Anyways, I was stoked and cut my gym trip short to go see him!!

And I definitely pushed myself to the front to get his autograph & a picture afterwards 😀

I’m so glad I was completely sweaty from the gym 😉

So that was my exciting news of the day!

Gym workout included:

• 30 minutes stairmaster level 10-11
• 15 minutes easy elliptical and bike (barely any resistance)
• 30 minute ab work & teeny bit lower body

Today was also my roommates birthday!  Unfortunately we all had late classes, so we couldn’t celebrate too much, but I did make her some awesome brownie cookie bars.

Oooey Gooey Goodness

All right, I admit I had a little help from my friend Mrs. Crocker…

Sorry Jenna!  It was a busy school day.  No time for scratch made brownies!  We also had pudding pie:

All these yummy treats followed my sweet dinner of French Toast.  (I had a sweet-filled night of treats!)  That’s what I was craving, so French toast is what I had!

Cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel soaked in a mixture of egg, almond milk, cinnamon & vanilla extract.  Cooked, and then topped with honey almond cream cheese, boysenberry jam, & some almond butter.  And drizzled with blueberry syrup.  I used the last of my Banana Nut Cheerios on top of it :-(.  But I cannot (I repeat cannot) buy anymore cereal!!

Well I am uber full right now (and slightly sick feeling from brownie batter & lots of brownies) and have 3 lenghty research articles to read by tomorrow.  Just remember…TOMORROW’S FRIDAY!!!

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Tag, You’re It!

Matt and Mary both tagged me in their blogs!!

1. Once you are tagged post a picture of where you blog.
2. Feel free to tell us a little about your space, or explain certain items in more detail. Or not.
3. Link back original post.
4. Tag five other bloggers to show their blogspots.

My desk in my room.  And my ghetto old, slow computer (but I’m getting a new one soon eeee!!!)  I also often blog/use my computer from my bed:

I love that backrest pillow :-).  My roommates named him “Humph” (short for Humphrey) my freshman year because that name reminded them of a camel, and for some reason my pillow also reminded them of a camel.  So Humph it remains!  I obviously love pink as well.  Pink & orange together!

What are you wearing right now? my pajamas – candy cane & stocking shorts (xmas themed) & a blood bank donor t-shirt

What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? I just read an article about milk vs. soymilk for post-exercise protein synthesis for my sports nutrition class.  Current book I’m reading is Bright Lights, Big Ass (that author’s books are HILARIOUS).

Do you nap a lot? Occasionally…I do when I work and the little girl is also napping.

Who was the last person you hugged? My mom or daddy!

What’s your current obsession/addiction? Hot chocolate (every night!) and froyo

What was the last thing you bought? A birthday card for my roommate and gum at Longs

What are you listening to right now? My dad ramble on about the 2 computers I’m considering buying

If you could have a superpower what would it be? Being able to do any possible task/wish at any moment (so then I could wish for any desired superpower needed at that precise moment!)

What time do you usually wake up? Between 6:30-8.  Sometimes 9.  Now that I’m not running in the morning it’s closer to 8.

Name one thing you can’t live without?My family – I really wouldn’t be here without them

What time is bed time? I aim for before 11.  Ideally around 10.  Obviously it’s way later than that now – I couldn’t sleep.  Weekends whenever!!
If there was one place you could be right now where would it be?On a vacation, completely away from school.  Tropical would be nice!

Tag…you’re it!: (I’ll try and tag those who haven’t been tagged yet!)

Alison from Mama’s Weeds

Sarah from Running to Slow Things Down

Megan from Eating Rabbit Food

Katy from I Do Run, Run, Run

Christina from Mindful Living

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Tempeh Goodness!

I’ve had a long productive morning – well I guess it is already 2:00 pm!  Today will be a picture day of glorious eats, I’ve gotta warn you!  Breakfast started with Pumpkin Oats:

Made with egg, almond milk, cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin.  I then mixed in peanut butter & topped it off with Banana Nut Cheerios and some light cream cheese (I thought it would be like frosting?  Weird).  Mmm it had been too long since I’d had pumpkin oatmeal!

Coffee- to-go in hand, I was then ready to hit the road to drive to my presentation!

Okay, so it was only a 15 minute drive – but still!  Farther than school!  My partner and I presented to about 8 seniors all about a healthy breakfast.  They were cute!  All asking questions about good choices, fake sugars/sugar free products, alcohol-free beer ( 😀 ).  That was enjoyable!

I then walked around a bit since it was a quaint town by the bay.  And I stumbled upon a health foods market.  Curious, I went inside and was greeted by a delicious looking menu and lots of interesting products (think raw, vegan, etc).  I’m been really interested in vegan/raw products lately (not completely, and I’m not going raw or anything at all), so I decided to splurge on a little lunch :-).  Man I could barely contain my excitement the whole drive home about my food!  I ordered a Tempeh Veggie Taco, Veggie Spring Roll, & a Raw Cookie.

At first glance, I was all “Wait – they gave me the wrong thing!  I ordered a taco, not a salad!”

AMAZING huh??  I dug a little deeper…

Oh, there’s the tempeh, quinoa & sprouted tortilla!  It is a taco!  Well, pretty much a giant salad on top of a tortilla!  haha.  It was SO good with cilantro dressing.

After much eating, I was finally able to actually fold and eat it as a taco!  That thing filled me up, so I decided to save my spring roll for dinner.

Veggie spring roll (filled with veggies & tempeh):

I did have room for some of this raw cookie I was interested in trying out:

It was…interesting.  It had a weird first taste, and then the aftertaste tasted like cookie dough.  Slightly.  I’d much rather have an actual cookie though!

I was also super stoked about these 2 finds:

I’ve been wanting to try this Artisana Cacao Bliss butter, but haven’t found it in any stores around here (even our local organic/health food store).  Yes, it was quite pricey, but it was my splurge and it’s better than ordering offline!  I also got some Tempeh to make some of my own meals.

Well, that’s my day so far!  I don’t work today (I normally work all day Wednesdays), so I’m heading to Office Depot to check out another computer.  Then it’s project/study time all afternoon!

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Yay for short weeks!

Man was it tough to get up this morning or what!  Thank goodness it’s a short week :-D.  I think an early bedtime is in order tonight (especially since Law & Order: SVU is a rerun!).  Hit up the gym today after class – and booo my knee was bugging me.  I did:

• 33ish minute treadmill incline 2-5%,  3.5-5 mph (varied) **my treadmill turned off on me before I got to see the exact mileage/minutes!**
• 30 minutes Elliptical going at a decent pace
• 15 minutes stairstepper (what exactly is this thing called??) Level 11
• 25 min. upper body strength
• Some leg lifts, donkey kickbacks, and calf raises

Today was supposed to be an abs day as well, but I decided to do more cardio.  I was in the “sweat-it-out” mood!  I’ll do abs tomorrow.

I was starving afterwards.  I usually just have a snack when I get home around 11:30/12:00, and then a late lunch at 2:00ish, so then I can last until dinner at about 7:30 (late classes!).  But I decided to just go ahead and have lunch today right when I came home.

Baked potato topped with vegetable chili, pepperjack yogurt cheese, & globs of light sour cream!  (There’s more sour cream underneith the chili too.  And an actual potato under there somewhere!).  I love sour cream (it’s part of my condiment love – strange, yes).  My favorite brand ever is Naturally Yours (comes in a cow print container).  It’s the only FF sour cream that tastes reasonably good!  But I’ve never found it for sale down here at school.  I always stock up when I go home though 🙂 Anyways…enough of my sour cream ramblings!  All followed by a piece of dark chocolate :-).

My midterm wasn’t too bad!  🙂 I knew I could B.S. my way through it since it was a short answer type of test based off of an article we got ahead of time.  But I was super hungry during the test (my early lunch didn’t work out too well!).  I did have a couple afternoon snacks: a BBQ ranch salad around 2:30, a Chocolate Brownie Z-bar (soooo good!!) at 5:00, and blackberries & blueberries.  I was ready for some grub when I finally got home at 7:30!  I snacked on blueberries while I made my dinner.

Stir fry veggies over quinoa topped with Spinach & 4 cheese pasta sauce, parmesan cheese and nutritional yeast:

Mmm, it’s been a long time since I’ve had quinoa!  I made a huge batch to have extras the next couple days!  Now to work on my presentation that’s tomorrow!  These last couple weeks are killer packed with projects.  But that leaves my finals week extremely stress-free!  Woohoo!!

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Ben & Jerry’s Rip-Off!

Check out what I opened my Oatmeal Cookie Chunk Ben & Jerry’s container to:

(That one little bite was from me)

What is this??  My container wasn’t all the way full?!  For how little ice cream you already get for how much money, I want every bite I can get!

I woke up today all stoked for Santa Barbara – but my roommate was sick 4 times last night :-(.  We ended up not going.  I figured it was for the best and I could work on all my projects.  But that didn’t happen either!  Procrastination at its finest!  I did spend a majority of my day trying to order off of American Eagle online (free shipping & 15% off today!), but their site was down!  Hopefully the deals last until tomorrow – I found some cute shirts I want!!

Knee Update: It’s been feeling MUCH better after Saturday’s run than my run 2 weeks ago.  Slight slight ache, but nothing too bad at all!  I did go on a short 25 minute walk (half up a steep hill) this morning, and it was bothering me during that.  But at least it’s not aching while I’m sedentary and sitting.  Improvement??  I’m thinking of buying a knee sleeve or some type of strap.  But I honestly have no idea if that will help anything.

Well I guess I should go study more for my midterm tomorrow – I’ve only looked at the stuff for like 15 minutes.  Eeek!!

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Technical Sunday

My Sunday plan was gym and then homework all afternoon.  But I spent my Sunday researching and looking at computers.  Completely not how I planned my Sunday to go!  I woke up to a big ol’ bowl of oats:

The mix included:

• 1/2 c. oats
• 1 c. almond milk
• Egg
• Cinnamon
• Couple spoonfuls of PB
• Spoonful of almond butter
• HBO cinnamon clusters
• Ground flaxseed
• Sprinkle of brown sugar

Phew!  What a bowlful!  I planned to go to the gym soon after, but my dad texted me that today was the last day to buy this cheap computer at Costco.  So I had to go check out and compare the two computers he recommends I get.  So my afternoon was spent examining computers at Costco and Best Buy and then researching them online.  I still can’t decide between the two!  There’s a 12 inch super thin/light one and a 14 inch one – argh!

My snack at 3:30 was intended to fuel me through my coming up gym workout:

Kashi blueberry waffle topped with some honey almond cream cheese, peanut butter, and boysenberry preserves.

But I was awaiting a phone call from my dad, and before I knew it, it was 6:00 and I was tired and hungry!  So I just did 25 minutes of quick upper body dumbells and some ab work here at home.

Dinner consisted of the other half of my California Dreamin’ sandwich from last night, and a HUGE salad with feta cheese, onion, and BBQ ranch dressing.  With a side bowl of honeydew melon.

I did find some more good buys today!  New running shirts (or just exercise shirts in my case right now) at Costco!

32 oz blueberries for $7.99!! My absolute favorite fruit ever and that is dang cheap!  Ralph’s also had raspberries for $1, and I decided to try out these Cedarlane couscous vegetable wraps.  I love their bean & cheese burritos, and these were buy 1 get 1 free, so being the bargain shopper that I am, I thought I’d check them out!  I obviously get excited over good finds and good deals :-D.  Hey!  I am a college student on a budget here!

The roommates and I planned an Angels & Demons movie night, but it looks like maybe that’s not going to happen.  We have a big day tomorrow (Santa Barbara road trip!) so maybe we’ll just take it easy.  Woohoo for 3-day weekends!

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