Author Archives: Emily

Wright Idea

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*I’m sure you guys are getting sick of these introspective posts, but I’m a list-maker at heart, it’s how I clear my head.

The last couple of days have involved entire boxes of mac and cheese and much undocumented challenge straying.  On a good note, they also involved a very positive meeting with a program head.  The only one of my goals I’ve really kept is my break from running, ha!

I feel out of control.  During my horrible teaching experience I became this negative, anxious person and it’s like I don’t know how to find my way back.  My head space very much reminds me of a quote I copied down in my notebook in 8th grade –

Somewhere in the dead of the southern night my life had switched onto the wrong track and, without my knowing it, the locomotive of my heart was rushing down a dangerously steep slope, heading for a collision, heedless of the warning red lights that blinked all about me, the sirens and the bells and the screams that filled the air.

That was from Richard Wright’s memoir, Black Boy.  It’s one of my favorite books; I turn down pages with passages I really enjoyed and that entire books is dog-earred!  Just thinking about that quote helps me feel more like me again.

This morning I’m headed to campus with Adam to do some catch-up reading in the library.  I’m also meeting my friend Katie for coffee at noon.  I’ll be back this afternoon!

Have you ever felt ‘off track’ like me?

This Needs to Be a No Crap Zone

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I’m a little drunk and have a scary amount of work to do tomorrow so I’ll keep this speedy.

I might not have gotten much work done this afternoon but I did have a very calming snack.

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A Tazo tea sample pinched from my hotel room and Frog Hollow Farms cookies.

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And I baked a pie!

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We had an extra Wholy Wholesome WW Pie crust and Adam is a crazy person who has been requesting ‘smores pie minus the actual ‘smores crust.  I followed my grandmother’s recipe, but subbed chocolate chips for bars since that’s what we had in the cupboard.  You better believe I did some nibbling while I cooked.

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Finally, it was time for showers and gussying.  I straightened my hair for the first time in my entire life and I think I like it.

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The semi-formal was at the Samuel’s Grand Manor, which ended up being a very nice spot.  Dinner was actually a sit down meal and the company was great.  Adam is so lucky to be in school with such a great group of people. 

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We hit up the open bar when we arrived; whiskey sour.  [I started drinking and the lights went down so my pictures were pretty much doomed at this point]

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And I had a small appetizer plate.

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Before the bar closed for dinner I had a bourbon and ginger ale.

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Yummy salad.

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Bread and butter.

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Vegetarian entrée.

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Since I don’t eat steak the waitstaff hooked me up with this veggie pasta plate.  I ate all the veggies but pretty much ignored the pasta.

There was ice-cream for dessert but it didn’t look exciting so I gave mine to Adam.  I did however, break into the centerpiece.

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We totally took that candy cane home with us too!

After dinner Daniele delivered the bourbon and ginger that put me over the edge.

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We hung out for a bit, but my foot hurts from my doctor’s appointment and without dancing we ended up leaving before 10:30.  We were actually almost to our house before I had the world’s most intense craving for chicken fingers.  It’s possible we drunkenly made our way to Denny’s (ew!) and I decided that this wouldn’t count towards the Challenge because I didn’t get enough dinner at our pre-planned event.

The craving –

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I ate three and then decided I should probably be done.  P.S. I am totally sick.  Every time we’ve eaten crap this year it’s been confirmed for me that I just can’t.  I didn’t overeat at all (in fact my dinner all total was probably on the small side) but I feel like I’m going to explode.  My body can not tolerate fried food.

I also got embarrassingly excited about this –

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Peppermint hot cocoa?  Yes please!  Honestly, it was worth Denny’s food to be able to sit with my husband.  We talked about my goals and possible plans for next year.  He is so busy and it’s hard to focus at home, it was nice to just sit and talk.

Now I’m going to brush my teeth (and possibly puke) and collapse into bed.  Please, God, please let me wake up and get some work done tomorrow!!!

Sunshine

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Now that I unpacked yesterday, we got up at 9:30 today and went straight to the laundromat to deal with our 4+ loads of dirty laundry!  I packed a Cinnamon Apple Prana Bar to eat in the car.

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Mmmn.

On the way home we stopped at the store to buy some cereal ($2.99; Challenge Balance – $61.15) and I picked up lunch, free.

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Several readers recommended Sunshine Burgers to me but I wasn’t sure about them and didn’t want to make the $5 commitment.  So I e-mailed the company about some coupons and they happily complied. 

I decided to try the South West variety today.  Verdict?  Super-duper impressive, I totally see what the fuss was about.

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I ate two patties, topped with low fat mozzarella, and a heaping side of guacamole and hot salsa.

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So good!  I was full, but I almost went back for a third patty just because I didn’t want to lose the taste in my mouth!  I did however, gobble the last T of cheese while I was making lunch.

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Thankfully, I got some distracting excitement –

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My Foodbuzz box is here!  I can pretty much promise I’ll be eating some sampler cookies for dessert.

Now I’ve got to tackle my loads of schoolwork.  Adam and I are actually going to a semi-formal with his school tonight so it’ll be a late recap.  Happy Saturdaying everyone!

TGI-Cuddle Time

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After my last post, I spent the day making all the calls from my to-do list.  Guys, what the heck am I going to do next year?!

I did some work online and had an apple based snack in the late afternoon.  Yogi tea,

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and a Yoplait Light Apple Turnover.

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I love the chunks of apple in that yogurt, so good!

For dinner I threw together a quick but stunning combination.

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I steamed the brocoli in the microwave and then put it on the stove over medium high heat with a little evoo, tamari, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Meanwhile, I cooked the Garlic and Scallion Annie Chun’s Noodle Bowl according to the package directions.  Finally I combined both on the stove, heating for another 5minutes.  Once the everything was nice and crunchy I broke in 2 eggs and scrambled.  Delish.

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Mine looks so dense because I squeezed it onto a small plate.

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The sauce was tasty, the brocolli is always a favorite, the noodles were crispy, and Bear was a fan.

For dessert (#1!) I had a mini So Delicious.

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After dinner we went to the mall to buy a (very late) birthday gift for my mother-in-law.  We shopped quickly but then spent about an hour walking around.  Next up on the young hot couple schedule was a weekly grocery trip.

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Challenge Balence – $58.16

That bill included a cookie to watch while we snuggle on the couch and watch the new Bones tonight.

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Be aware, there will definitly be popcorn and my last Zevia [:(] in this evening as well.

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Have a great night folks!

Soup, Salad, Samples

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Lunch was eaten in stages.  First, a full cartoon of Dr. McDougall’s Minestrone Soup.

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It was good, but a bit brothy.

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I had a Zevia Twist along the side.

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Second, was a fantabulous salad.

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This salad was socks-rocking; lettuce base, shredded carrot, lite blue cheese dressing, dried fig, chopped pear.

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Stuff

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Good Stuff

  • I woke up at 10 this morning and did some nice whole-body stretching
  • Then I finally finished unpacking, my house feels fresh again!
  • I think I did ok on my quiz and my test was handed back with a 94%

Work Stuff

  • I decided to add *flossing at least once a day* to my goals list, dental hygiene is very important to overall health and mine has been slacking
  • This weekend I need to read and take notes on chapters 7, 8, and 9

Food Stuff

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1/2 cup oatmeal topped with a splash of skim milk , 1t Crofter’s Superfruit Asia Spread, and a 1/4 cup of dried Goji berries.

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I haven’t had oatmeal in forever, and I really prefer it cooked with a banana, but it was a nice throwback.  The berries gave it a nice chew and I’m kind of in love with Crofter’s on anything.

Goal Setting

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Thanks so much for the advice and support many of you gave me last night!

I layed in bed this morning and thought up some goals.  Starting with unpacking my damn suitcase, but thinking more macroscopically as well.  There are some issues that inform these goals (isn’t it amazing that I have complaints I don’t tell you about, I feel like I complain a lot) that I’ll share first –

  • My legs hurt like crazy.  My calf/shin issue makes me scream when Adam brushes my leg and makes stairs horrific.
  • I’m exhausted.  All the time.
  • I have literally not had a bite of fruit this week.
  • I feel stiff, and awful, and old.
  • I haven’t been studying Chemistry enough and I feel my A slipping away.
  • I weigh about 10lbs more than I would like, and have been planning on dealing with this since NYC.

Ok.  Issues aired, here are my goals for the rest of November –

  1. Go to bed by 10:30 at least 4 days a week.
  2. Do NOT do any cardio for the next 7 days.
  3. Stretch at least 5 days a week.
  4. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
  5. Use Caitlin’s idea to waste less time on the internet.

That said, I’m actually not going to be posting today.  I have another foot appointment this afternoon and a Chemistry quiz I’m not ready for before lab (which runs until 9pm).  Plus, you know, the damn suitcase!

No Motivation

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My goal tonight is bed before 9, so this will be quick.  I don’t have much to say anyways.  I am so disgusted with myself that I haven’t been taking care of business.  I used to be someone who thrived on pressure, but now I feel like I completely shut down if I have more than one thing to do.  Plus, why the frick am I so tired?!?  Is it jet-lag?  An oncoming cold?  What??

I have some goal-setting to do in the morning, so I’ll do a quick food recap for now.  I tried a sample from Annie Chun’s for lunch.

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I bulked it up with some shredded carrots.

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And had a Zevia (x2),

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and finished with chocolate chips.

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And later in the afternoon Adam and I took a note from last night’s dinner and ate a humungous bowl of popcorn.

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Blegh.

I need advice What do you do to get motivated?