Who I Am Wednesday

Welcome to this week's edition of Who I Am Wednesday. This isn't going to be a cheerful or funny one. It probably won't make you smile and is a downer. If you don't feel like reading I don't blame you but maybe it'll help.


This week's edition is about change. I HATE change. I don't deal with it well. My mother always says to say the Serenity Prayer.
This past week I've been saying it daily. I'm going through a lot of changes lately. Some good, some bad. There have been changes with my body that I've had to visit the doctor about. There have been changes with my roommates and my relationships with them. There have been changes with friendships. I accept that change is a part of life but the changes that are happening now I'm not liking. Nope, not liking any of them other than I'm realizing who is really important in my life.

So basically I'm not feeling like myself, I'm not liking the people I'm around, and I'm in desperate need of my real family (2 weeks until my brother comes to visit, 1 month till the sister is here!!) and my church family. Thankfully I have camp in 1 week where I get to be surrounded by ALL my fav church people and some of my best friends.

I'm sorry for the downer post, hopefully I'll feel back to normal soon.

Getting Back on Track

I've been really awful at this blogging thing. However, I'm FINALLY done with school!!! That will be in a post tomorrow so make sure you come and check it out!!

For today I'm going to show you how to make a few great meals on a college budget. I allow myself about $100/month for groceries. Lately this has been really tough for me because I love fresh produce but it's so expensive! I was talking about this with a friend and she recommended a local store called Aldi.


Aldi is a chain store that opened in 1976. It only carries 1,000 products and is extremely less expensive. I only spend $42 on all my staples like bread, lunch meat, fruits/veggies for a week, cheese and crackers. The best buy was the milk though. I got a whole gallon for only $2.29 and at Meijer it's close to $4!!!

With all my fresh produce I decided to make a salad for lunch.


Look at this beauty! It has 3 different kinds of lettuce, cucumbers, apples, grapes, carrots and sliced roast beef. I also pulled a Janae and put goldfish on top :)

While I was doing all that chopping I also made a salad in a to-go container. This helps on time and the produce stays fresher in the Tupperware.


For the dressing I created this pretty thing. I love to combine salad dressings, especially ranch with a more acidic dressing because ranch is ALWAYS too creamy and rich. Today I was feeling spicy but didn't have any spicy dressing so I made this...


It's 1 tablespoon ranch, 1 teaspoon horseradish and 2 tablespoons spicy mustard. I may have used a bit more mustard. Make it according to your taste.

It was amazing with my salad. The spiciness of the dressing made the sweet flavors of the apples and grapes pop. Mix with the cheddar cheese crackers and I was in paradise.

I had a really great workout on the elliptical so I decided to treat myself to this for dinner.


I really loved this cheeseburger!! I've been craving one! I combined it with french fries and mixed vegetables.

The best part of my day was when I entered my info in Myfitness Pal. I was under my calorie goal and ate enough protein. I also drank ALL 8 glasses of water!!! Whoot whoot!!

Watch for my Blog to go under a change. I promise it's only for the good :)

A 16 hr Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I know I usually do a Tuesday Tangent blog but today I don't really have anything to go on a tangent about. So instead I thought I'd give a glimpse into my typical Tuesday.

I worked from 7:30am-3pm so I packed my lunch. This is super easy and delish. It's a Morning Star Farms California Turkey Burger with ketchup on the side. I grabbed the patty frozen, microwaved it in the container and packed the bun in a zip lock bag. Highly recommend it!

(P.S. Sorry for the shotty picture qualities they came from my phone)

I really like these Ready Snax. They're very affordable ($2.50 in Michigan) and only 22o calories. This one had hummus, carrot and celery stix and sunflower seeds.
After work I have class from 4-7 but thankfully we got out at 5:45 this week! Hip, Hip Hooray!! I decided to go to our College of Ed (my college :)). We have this awesome seating area and coffee shop that provide comfy seating w/lots of plugs and free wifi... I will miss this when I graduate.
Me trying to study but decided to take pictures on my Mac w/photobooth. Very fun and a good study break. The book is called Behavior Management, it's an ok book. They mostly use data instead of examples of special education in the classroom but it is very informational.
At 7:30 I had a TEAM (Tomorrow's Educators for the Advancement of Multiculturalism). I'm the President and put together monthly meetings with Powerpoints that discuss different issues in the classroom. I didn't take a pic of this... Epic Fail on my part.

I got out at 9, participated in FitBlog on Twitter and went home. Made a quick dinner of a turkey/avacado wrap and finishing up some homework while watching MTV reality shows. It's now 11:30 and I can finally go to bed for 6 hours :)

Good night all and thanks for reading!!!

Quadruple "S" Sunday

I can't believe it's Sunday, February 20th already!! I graduate in just over 2 months!! Yay!

Onto the first "S" in quadruple "S" Sunday. These are Snoozies. They are slippers but they have grips on the bottom and fit like socks. They keep my feet very warm and am thankful to my roommate Kelsey for getting them for Christmas. She tried to get me moisturizing socks but since I wear a size 3 in kids shoes Snoozies were the next best thing. I don't mind at all ;)

My 2nd "S" stands for Sandwich. This is my Sunday off from teaching Sunday School so I went to 9:30 service and was able to come home and make a giant mug of coffee and this super tasty sandwich.

I really wanted an egg sandwich but not the same-old, same-old kind. I dug through my fridge and freezer and found Morning Star Veggie Bacon, left over avacado/ranch condiment, pepper-jack cheese and an apple. Individually they wouldn't seem to go together but they mushed perfectly. The avacado/ranch condiment added a wonderful taste along with the spicy cheese and the crunch and tartness from the apple was a perfect finish. I could only fit 1/2 the apple on the sandwich so I ate the other 1/2 with peanut butter. Delish!!
The 3rd "S" is for Snow! I spent all day at my younger sister's apartment. She lives right across the street from me and needed some help cleaning. It started snowing in the afternoon and continued till I got home around 9ish. Here is a pic of Michigan's Winter Wonderland (view from my porch)

The picture doesn't do the depth fairness so I took a pic of my boots outside. I'm 4'11 and the boots come up almost to my knees. The snow is to the top of the boots. A mathmatician would have a formula but I looked it up on weather.com and we've gotten around 4-6 inches already!
And finally our 4th "S".... Sushi!! I wanted a quick meal that would be light before bed so I had some left over sushi and steamed veggies. Quick, easy, and not a lump in my tummy.
And of course I had to finish with 1 1/2 homemade cookies from my Grandma :)

What is your favorite breakfast food?

* Breakfast sandwiches or french toast from Golden Harvest

What is your favorite Sunday activity?

* I often find myself cleaning and doing homework... not my fav but productive :)

Do you have anything to look forward to for the week?

* Not really... I only have 1 quiz and get to watch a movie in the dreaded English class so "knock on wood" it'll be an easier week!

Hair, Grandma, and Vodka with Cookies

How do you wear your hair to the gym? I usually don't pay attention. I roll out of bed, pull on clothes, brush teeth and throw my hair up. Today though a girl comes up to me and says, "wow, I love your hair. It's like a spice-girl turned ballerina up-do". This cracked me up. Here is a pic.

And another pic. My hair looks a little red which I like :)

After the gym I made a larger breakfast. It was around 11:30 by the time I ate so I had a whole wheat bagel w/ homemade veggie cream cheese. 1/2 banana with peanut butter, and a blackberry, blueberry, Chobani yogurt, and chocolate granola parfait. It was super and kept me full until I ate dinner around 5.

Today is my Grandma's birthday! She is 81 and is amazing. To celebrate we (my parents and I, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Larry, and older brother and sister-in-law) went to her house and made dinner and visited. I love my Grandma. She's only been a part of my life for the last 4 years because she's my Step-Dad's Mom, but she makes me call her Grandma and treats me like one of the grand-kids. This is a picture of all her sisters at Christmas, she is the 2nd from the left :)

After dinner I was helping her clean up and she pulls the vodka out of the freezer. She MADE me take it, along with cookies! How awesome is that?!

What hair dos do you wear at the gym?

* Like I said, I throw it up.

Who is an important person in your life? How do you celebrate their birthday?

* My Grandma obviously, and my Mom and older sister and younger sister. Both my sister's have the same birthday (crazy that they are exactly 6 years apart!). We always cook our favorite meals and have Sam or Costco cake.

Does your Grandma, Grandpa or Parents ever give you gifts on random visits?

* My Grandma ALWAYS gives me her whole pantry (or so it feels), and the parents take me grocery shopping... they all understand I'm a broke college student!

Favorite Fridays

*Disclaimer, I haven't been around internet for the last few days so I'm playing catch up on posting!*

Onto regular posting....

One of my favorite bloggers, Janae, does a post every Friday about her favorite things. I love reading it because it makes me realize how little things make a world of difference :)

Friday is my day. Between school, work, student teaching and professional development groups I have no time to myself during the week. But Fridays the only thing I HAVE to do is work from 3-7 pm. Fridays I sleep in (8:30 am) and this is my comfy cozy bed :)

Friday morning workouts are amazing to me. I can do a longer routine and the gym is usually people free. Don't you just love when you can still wear high school clothes? Yay for HS Track!

I love these girls. We call each other sisters because we are so close. Their Mom and Dad have been my church mentors for 6+ years. I got to spend all weekend with them but that is for the next post :)

What are some of your favorites? Is Friday your favorite day of the week? Do you have anyone you're really close to?

5 Tips to Make It Through The Day

My friend Christie recently posted on Facebook, "Freshman year = "ooo college is exciting", hanging with friends, a few classes, movie nights, floor events, at least 10 hours of sleep, fun and free time. Senior year = "get me outta here", what friends?, a million classes, work, sleep? what's that?, forget free time, add more classes and more work." I couldn't agree more with Christie but with the help of some loyal friends, roommates, and simple pleasures in life, we (especially me) will make it through!

Tip #1 No matter what time it is ALWAYS make some time for your friends. My favorite is to play Just Dance 2 on the Wii with my roommates/friends.

Oh yea we Whip it :)

Tip # 2 Make Studying fun with Pandora (Disney and Glee Station), Colored Pens, and Notecards

My fav is using a hot pink pen and colored sticky notes!

Tip #3 Make time for your favorite activities; college goes by way to fast to not participate!
Trisha and I in 2008 at MSU Football game! Yea Spartans!


Tip #4 Enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

I absolutely love this gum, chewing a piece instantly puts a smile on my face!

Tip #5 On a really bad, boring, fun, tired, whatever day, take a pic of yourself and make a funny face. It'll give you a nice little break!

Can you tell I'm bored at work??

Recipe so easy even Christine can do it!

Eat in Month. I'm doing ok. I've cut back my eating out to 1 day a week (excluding $1 coffee from speedway because my coffee make broke). I'm determined to do better but as a college student who doesn't ALWAYS want to cook for just myself and have a ton of leftovers, it's hard to do. But I did cook today and did really well!

For breakfast I had a Special K shake, chocolate flavored!

I had to have a quick lunch between classes.
It was a Myloplex bar and banana.



For dinner I went all out, with Vodka Cream pasta with Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage!
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Spicy turkey sausage
• 1 32 oz can of tomatoes, flavored with basil, diced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup cream
• 1 large bunch of basil, chopped
• Olive Oil
• 1 lb Penne pasta

Directions

• Preheat large skillet. Drizzle with olive oil and add sausage to pre-heated pan. Brown sausage. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Drain and add tomatoes. Add vodka. Turn heat to a simmer. Break up tomatoes with a spoon or potato masher. If more liquid is needed add pasta water.
• In a separate saucepan, while sauce is simmering, bring water to boil for pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions
• When pasta is done, Add cream to sauce and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add basil and stir until just wilted. Serve over pasta, and don’t forget the garlic toast!

Day 1 of Challenge

This is part of the Eat In Challenge that I'm doing... I highly recommend it!!

Breakfast

• Asiago Cheese bagel with 1/3 less fat veggie cream cheese
• Black Coffee
• Apple

Lunch

• Salad with lots of veggies!!
• Water

Dinner

• Plain Chicken breast
• Vegetables

New Year, New Goals

So I realize this post is coming a little late but better late then never!

I've always been a larger girl/woman. I used to blame it on genetics (still do a little) but deep down I know it's because I need to exercise more and eat better. 2011 is the year that I'm going to do it. I've already joined the gym on campus (IM West), made a schedule of classes to go to (If you want to join please come! it's $3/class) and made a plan of healthy meals. During the month of January I will also be doing the Eat In Challenge. I can't eat out AT ALL, this will be great for healthier eating and my budget!

So along with losing a healthy amount of weight here are my goals for the year 2011:

1) Lead a healthier lifestyle (better eating, more water, exercise)

2) Run the Relay for Life 1/2 marathon in Portland (July)

3) Run the Disney Princess marathon in December

4) Be on the honor roll for my last semester at MSU

5) Create a support system of people who love me, cut out those who don't.

6) Keep my room/car/school life clean and organized!!

7) Give myself more credit and positive reinforcement

8) Start to manage my money better (maybe start paying back student loans???)

9) Visit my older sister and brother in Washington D.C and Chicago... it's hard to get away from work and school.

10) Be nice to a random person and make them smile at least once a day.

What are your 2011 goals?

Procrastination

Procrastination. By Webster's dictionary it means: delay or postpone action; put off doing something. Which I completely agree with. And being a college girl and in summer classes I thought that this was a very applicable topic. So here is a list of different procrastination activities that you can do.... unfortunately I have done lots of them tonight... I have a psychology exam tomorrow :(

How to Procrastinate...

1) Facebook

2) Blog

3) Make a home cooked meal

4) Visit apartment office and talk with friends

5) Make cookies

6) Clean apartment... every room

7) Do dishes and laundry

8) Shower

9) Do other *homework*

10) Watch t.v./movie... say its for class!

11) Call family members

12) Work (full time jobs are the best!)

13) Workout

14) Change computer around (desktop, screen saver, organization stuff)

15) Just talk with friends and go out and drink!!!