Just a downtown girl...

So the "cool" place to live in the NO is uptown. I just moved a little further DOWNtown, that's right, and have been crazy busy trying to move in and out of my old place. I am moving in with a girl in my OT class from California and we have been so pressed for time with the move. Besides our scary parking lot, and very narrow hallways, it's not so bad. We have a kitchen and a living room and I'll be moving in a loveseat and coffee table tomorrow. It never ends!

In other NEW news, we are starting our second semester of school with the physical therapy students. We will be taking anatomy and cadaver (eek!) lab with them. Anatomy should be interesting, I have never dissected a cadaver before though, so this should be a learning experience for sure.....

I see dead people.

Who am I kidding??? Anybody who knows me knows I love this kind of stuff!!!! I seriously cannot wait to see the brain, and no not in a freaky way but in an OT way so I can better and more fully understand my practice.

Little bit of this, little bit of that

Sorry I have been MIA lately, just means I've been out living my life and have lots to update on. I find I write most on here when in need of a procrastination excuse. ANYWAYS, updates!

1.) I am on semester break and have run every single day since I've been home. Suprised? I AM. The only problem I am beginning to have with running is the weather. I don't care how much motivation or what kind of "breathable" sports wear you have, it is hard to run in humidity. Make that effing miserable. But I've been doing it. Go me!

2.) I am finding myself living a healthier lifestyle! Example: Today I had to get my oil changed. Note that getting my oil changed at Walmart is a task I dread more than running. I would rather run through coals for 26 miles than sit in Walmart for the usual 2 hours (RIDICULOUS RIGHT?) and wait for my oil to be changed while sitting in that little waiting room, texting ridiculous amounts of people to "catch up", and watching old western movies that for some reason are always on replay. But today was a new day! I, without even hesitating, went to the magazine section of Walmart and grabbed 3 healthy lifestyle magazines to read while waiting. I got 2 new recipes and got a little motivation to keep my weight loss going!

3.) I have been riding my brother's bike since I've been home. Props to all the mountain biker girls that can withstand the constant bumping. They must have hoo-ha's of steel. Seriously. Nowww that has been adequately awkward, but on the positive on FLAT ground biking is pretty fun and I've been alternating it with runing so I won't get burned out.

4.) I am learning to cook, so far I've done a pretty good job of it. My problem is when I go into a grocery store I don't think "O-M-GEE I just have to make that nutritious organic pineapple wrap I saw in Women's Health! Gotta get some pineapple!" No, I think "chicken" or "maybe get some spinach and apples today". I need to start expanding my healthy foods. I just don't think about it! In all these recipes healthy food really DOES look better than grilled chicken all the time. I need to start collecting recipes and writing down the ingredients.

5.) My goal for next semester is to be ORGANIZED.

6.) I am learning to trade my indulgences. Example for the day: I wanted pancakes. I saw them everywhere I went. I'm not kidding! So I went home and made some, using whole wheat mix and then realized I wanted not JUST pancakes but chocolate chip pancakes. So what did I do? I added chocolate chips, did NOT add butter, and did NOT add syrup. May sound nasty to you but really ask yourself if sugarfree/fat free syrup is even edible, or if your mind is tricking you! Chocolate chips were worth the lack of butter and syrup, hands down.

BYE NOW, hope everyone had a wondaful Tuesday!

Physiology Shmisiology

Ok. My recent slump I fell into this week has been given a proper ass kicking. Back to old me and I am fully energized.

                                                                           Finals. Get it.

Reason? My Physiology final no longer exists! My teacher gave us the option to take it or not depending on our current grade. There is a God in OT school!

Oh and a little BC powder (green pack) and 12 hours of sleep always helps... going running because the weather is amazing and I added some new songs to my workout list.

Royal Wedding part-tay tomorrow. Will be eating my first ever crumpet and talking with an English accent the entire evening, possibly tipsy? Perfect weekend here I come!

Just a little procrastination

Hello! I have returned from Easter break, more unmotivated than ever. I consumed every temptation thrown my way over the weekend. You name it, I ate it. On the positive, I did run in the park while I was at home which was not easy, the hills and humidity killed me! Anyways, I don't have much to write about other than I'm ready for semester break. Only a few slow slow slowww days left! This post gets the award for the most worthless post ever. 

I'm tired.

I'm unmotivated.

I can't focus. blaaahhhhhhh

Proper punctuation is both the sign and cause of clear thinking

I love lazy Sunday's and usually take the time to catch up on my reading. I have 4 books on my shelf right now I have started and not finished. However, one book I just HAVE to tell the world about is called " Eat's, Shoots, & Leaves" by Lynne Truss, a columnist for "The Times" (a newspaper in London) and she is absolutely brilliant! The book is about her zero tolerance approach to punctuation. As I am typing this post I am trying to take caution in my own punctuation and spelling (as to not dissapoint my new hero Ms. Truss). Anyways, I won't ruin the book by telling what all it entails but I will leave my favorite excerpt from the book so far:          

   "Part of one's despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive stickler. While we look in horror at a badly punctuated sign, the world carries on around us, blind to our plight. We are like the little boy in The Sixth Sense who can see dead people, except that we can see dead punctuation. Whisper it in petrified little-boy tones: dead punctuation is invisible to everyone else -- yet we see it all the time. No one understands us seventh-sense people. They regard us as freaks. When we point out illiterate mistakes we are often aggressively instructed to "get a life" by people who, interestingly, display no evidence of having lives themselves. Naturally we become timid about making our insights known, in such inhospitable conditions. Being burned as a witch is not safely enough off the agenda."

 ***The title of the book was chosen after Lynne noticed a panda defined in an encyclopedia as 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves.'****

As an added bonus the book even comes with a punctuation repair kit full of stickers for comma mistakes you may see everyday on signs! This book is a must read and I am ordering her other book from Amazon "Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today". I promise you will love the book, let your inner nerd run free!

Happy Sunday!

To Do List: Get it together!

Good morning! It is Thursday morning and I have already finished 30 minutes of yoga, eaten oatmeal, and am drinking a cup of green tea this very second! I slept a total of 8 hours (this is rare ya'll!) and feel ready for the day. I have a physiology test tomorrow on the Gastric System (such a lovely system!). I don't have class today and will be studying the entire day. I studied in a Starbucks yesterday and I was suprised how much I accomplished studying outside of my room or the library. I will probably go back today too, I just hate to pay for that overpriced latte-con-fatttay-shiz. I have my own coffee maker at home and my own fat free vanilla creamer...Anyways, yesterday I also bought a Brita water filter! Only 10 bucks and I'm hoping to save some money on water, I drink (and am proud!) about 4 bottles a day! Something about the New Orleans tap water, it's sick, gross, and I can't get used to it. So now we both win, with the Brita filter.

                                                     Water that is!!!!!!!!
*Update on my workout life. I ran in the park 2 days ago and really surprised myself with how far I ran outside. I normally run on the treadmill but the weather has been so nice lately I went to the park and I plan to keep training there. It opens at 5 am (yes! a.m. workouts ROCK) I am such a morning person it's crazy annoying for all you cranky sleepy heads out there. I ran the 1.8 mile loop twice! Ok, some I walked, but only max a minute and it was mainly to look at ducks or to pet a Great Dane named Tiger. Also I am recommending Jillian Michaels' Shred video for anyone who wants to tone up and has little time for a workout. the workout is only 25 minutes long and a killllllller. I moved up to level 2 yesterday...it's painful! I'm so sore STILL and am dreading shredding again.
*Update on OT school: Only 2 weeks left in this semester! WOOHOO! Not that I don't like school, I love it, I do not however share the same love for physiology and am ready to be over and done with that class. I just need a break and luckily we are getting one for Easter next week and I can go home! Some of my classmates went to the AOTA conference in Philadelphia this morning so I will be interested to see what all they learn when they get back. Also it's share a poem day for my interactive reasoning class...We have to "whip out" a poem and read it to people. So here's mine! There was a specific format we had to follow and literally had 3 minutes to do this:
                                                      Smile
                                                  Hello, teeth
                                       A welcome without words
                                                    Open

Cheeeeese! Over and out have a PRODUCTIVE day!

I'm all over the place

Hello bloggies! I haven't written in a few days, and it's because I have been out and about all weekend!To summarize my weekend, I worked the French Quarter Festival here in New Orleans selling Abita beer most of the day Saturday and it was so fun. I really had a good time, and saw lots of new foods, some were questionable in appearance but nothing I wouldn't eat!!! One of my classmates had a friend in town from California so we had a fun weekend going out (indulging) on various alcoholic beverages. I also got to catch up with one of my very good friends yesterday over coffee and he introduced me to my new obsession. WHOLE FOODS. I know, where have I been? The only grocery store back home though is Kroger and Walmart! I've been deprived. I went early this morning to buy groceries and just had the most amazing salad for lunch. Ingredients included:  Quinoa, Bell peppers, Black beans, Sunflower seeds, Zucchini, Mustard seeds, Pico de gallo, Cilantro, and Lemon juice. It was absolutely fantastic!!!
I normally hate salad, but this was more nutty and not so leafy it was perfect.

                                                      It kind of looked like this!!

In other news, I got 4 miles in early this morning before my WF adventure, and I'm not gonna lie, I only ran 3, and walked the last mile. I don't know what was going on but I was just out of whack this morning. Maybe it has something to do with the copious amounts of alcohol that entered my body this weekend?? Nah! I did however walk on incline the whole time for that last mile, and progressed it eventually to a big hill. So I didn't completely wimp out!
*Also a special thank you is in order for Mr. Dewayne Carter, many of you may know him as Lil Wayne. He keeps my butt in line at the gym and I think I can sing every word of his songs on my ipod. If only people knew the vulgarities blaring in my ears as I'm running!

                           Anyways, thanks Lil Wayne, couldn't do it without you.