I have the hardest time trying to decide what I want to do with my life. Things keep popping up that intrigue me. There are so many people I want to help, so many causes I want to put my energy behind.
For example, every time I sit through a Master of Social Work information session I decide I want my MSW. We have a special track for those interested in working with immigrants and refugees which I really am right now. I also want to get a dual degree with a Master in Theology and focus on a recent study that came out stating children who grew up in religious households are less altruistic than those who did not. Personally I think the study was shit and needs to be redone.
Then there is Humans of New York on Instagram and Facebook- one guy who started taking pictures of people on the streets of NY and writing a bit about their lives is now traveling the world, shedding light onto people in other countries who have stories to tell but no one to talk to who will listen.
Black Lives Matter is a huge movement in Minneapolis and I feel the need to do what I can to support them. I just don't know what I can do.
I just read a headline to an article about the only grocery store in the Iron Range closing soon. That will turn the already struggling range into a food desert.
I work at an all female undergraduate school. I can only imagine the kind of angst and anxiety that must be felt by these girls on campus from social media to bullying to trying to be perfect. I want to help them. I want to make sure every girl on this campus knows they're special and wonderful in their own way and they don't need to conform to society's idea of the perfect woman.
And the best candidate for president, Bernie Sanders. He is everything. And I'm nervous for what the next year will bring. #feelthebern
Right now I'm just too busy. I'm working 3 jobs (which will hopefully be knocked down to two after January). I make time to volunteer with the Adapted Recreation and Learning Exchange group (adults with special needs) but I wish I could do more. I haven't been to Feed My Starving Children in who knows how long.
I want to make a difference in this world, I just don't know how or where to start. I know I have the power to do something great!
I guess I should start small and work my way up and out. My friend Jackie from elementary school has become a recent highlight of my life with her motivational quotes and all around awesome ideas for how to live your life- healthy, happy and with no negativity. She recently suggested that if you have 365 friends on Facebook to spend every day telling one person why you're thankful for them. I don't have 365 FB friends but my goal is to get through the 322 that I do have over the next year. Thanks, Jackie. I'll probably start with you. :)
What is one thing you want to do to make the world a better place? I'm curious what other people's passions are.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Pizza Diet: Week 4
Feelings after week 3: I think I may be done with this crazy idea... not only is it very difficult to eat pizza for every meal (I still haven't had time to make breakfast pizza), I am sad to say that I am getting a little sick of it. So it is probably better to stop eating it now before I make myself sick so I can continue to enjoy it in the future. My last post from Wednesday was about working out to burn off the pizza calories but I honestly think I just need to change my diet back to something normal. I'll finish off this final week as I have some good recipes planned but this may be the end of my pizza diet...
10/29/15: I had the last leftovers of mac & cheese pizza for lunch and splurged on My Burger's BOM (Burger of the Month) for dinner because I hadn't tried it yet and October is almost over!
10/30/15: Red Baron pepperoni & sausage leftovers for lunch! We'll see what happens for dinner as we're trying to revive Friday Night Dinner with the fam-neighbors and we rarely ever go someplace that has pizza. Update- I had steak and ribs for dinner at TGI Friday's. They were delicious.
10/31/15: For lunch I had pizza pinwheels (puff pastry dough, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperonis!). This afternoon, my mom and I went to see Koo Koo Kangaroo today- she plays their songs in her classroom and she knows all the words and dance moves. They're an awesome duo who sing songs mostly for kids about cool things like pooping, unicorns and, as it turns out- pizza! Check out this song (there's also a book) called "All I Eat is Pizza!" It is like they were speaking directly to me.
11/1/15: I had my leftover pizza pinwheels for lunch today. When I got home from working at Southdale, I had leftover steak and mashed potatoes and cooked up some brussels sprouts that I got from church! Yum!
11/2/15: Tonight I made a chicken alfredo pizza with a homemade alfredo sauce, chopped up grilled chicken breast from last week and a sprinkling of Tastefully Simple's Bacon Bacon because I ate all of my leftover bacon from last week.
11/3/15: I enjoyed the last leftovers of baked potato and cheese curd pizza for lunch today. When I got home after working at 2 jobs, I threw a Red Baron Mexican pizza in the oven. I seriously love these Red Baron pizzas- not one that I've tried has been bad! This pizza has spicy sauce (which I don't normally like), veggies (like green peppers and onions) and tortilla chips on it. It was surprisingly good, especially with my favorite condiment of sour cream.
11/4/15: Leftover Mexcian pizza for lunch and chicken alfredo pizza for dinner! I'm even thinking about having a salad with my dinner pizza- GASP.
Conclusion: This is it, y'all. I will eat some more leftovers and probably cook one last Red Baron frozen pizza at some point in the near future but I don't have any more pizza plans. I was thinking about starting a mac & cheese-only diet as I'm broke and mac & cheese is cheap (also I don't like ramen) but that doesn't seem to be too good for me either. I haven't lost any weight eating pizza (I didn't think I would) but I also haven't GAINED any weight so that's a plus. So here's to a healthy diet of clean foods, lots of water and routinely exercising because eating pizza every day is exhausting, if not pretty tasty.
10/29/15: I had the last leftovers of mac & cheese pizza for lunch and splurged on My Burger's BOM (Burger of the Month) for dinner because I hadn't tried it yet and October is almost over!
10/30/15: Red Baron pepperoni & sausage leftovers for lunch! We'll see what happens for dinner as we're trying to revive Friday Night Dinner with the fam-neighbors and we rarely ever go someplace that has pizza. Update- I had steak and ribs for dinner at TGI Friday's. They were delicious.
10/31/15: For lunch I had pizza pinwheels (puff pastry dough, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperonis!). This afternoon, my mom and I went to see Koo Koo Kangaroo today- she plays their songs in her classroom and she knows all the words and dance moves. They're an awesome duo who sing songs mostly for kids about cool things like pooping, unicorns and, as it turns out- pizza! Check out this song (there's also a book) called "All I Eat is Pizza!" It is like they were speaking directly to me.
11/1/15: I had my leftover pizza pinwheels for lunch today. When I got home from working at Southdale, I had leftover steak and mashed potatoes and cooked up some brussels sprouts that I got from church! Yum!
Conclusion: This is it, y'all. I will eat some more leftovers and probably cook one last Red Baron frozen pizza at some point in the near future but I don't have any more pizza plans. I was thinking about starting a mac & cheese-only diet as I'm broke and mac & cheese is cheap (also I don't like ramen) but that doesn't seem to be too good for me either. I haven't lost any weight eating pizza (I didn't think I would) but I also haven't GAINED any weight so that's a plus. So here's to a healthy diet of clean foods, lots of water and routinely exercising because eating pizza every day is exhausting, if not pretty tasty.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Pizza Diet: Week 3
Feelings after 2 weeks: I knew that my traveling this week would prevent me from eating pizza for lunch and dinner (as lunch has been included in most of my graduate fairs and has mostly consisted of salad or sandwiches). I also have my monthly friend with me this week which makes me nauseated at even my favorite foods sometimes so it has been a little tricking finding things to eat that won't make me feel sick. I still love pizza though.
10/22/15: Tonight I was in the Peoria area. I was actually staying in Pekin and after a 25 minute drive from Peoria to my hotel, I wasn't feeling in the mood to drive back to "town". After browsing Yelp for like half an hour at all of my restaurant options, I finally placed a carryout order from a place called Monical's Pizza. When I got to Monical's it reminded me of a smaller Davanni's. Monical's is a chain around Illinois, it seems, as I passed many more on my way out of the state. I read a review that the breadsticks were like giant pretzel sticks and tasted great with nacho cheese sauce so I got those and a thin crust sausage pizza. The pizza was nothing to be marveled at. The breadsticks, while they did have a pretzel-like quality to them, weren't that great. I was pretty underwhelmed.
10/23/15:
I ate in the cafeteria at Millikin University today in Decatur, IL
where I enjoyed one piece of cheese pizza along with mashed potatoes and
a milkshake. It made me miss caf food and at the same time, made me
happy we don't have an all-you-can-eat caf at St. Kate's like we did at
Winona. I literally ate nothing but pizza for about a year's worth of
lunches in Winona because I didn't love my other options (although they
were vast and there were many other things I should have eaten). The
milkshake was a nice touch. On my way home I had McDonald's breakfast
(for lunch!) and Culver's cheese curds for dinner.
10/24/15:
Home sweet home! I threw a Red Baron sausage and pepperoni pizza in
the oven for lunch. I forgot to take a picture of it but it was pretty
tasty. I've actually been impressed by the Red Baron frozen pizzas. I
had LeeAnn Chin for dinner- I was really craving Chinese food.
10/25/15: I made PastaRoni shells & cheese for lunch today. It was pretty gross. My intent on making the mac & cheese was to use the leftovers for pizza for dinner sometime this week but since I didn't really like it all that much, I was worried about how it would taste on pizza. The good news is that my motto remains true- if you put enough cheese on it, anything will taste good. I used a pre-made thin pizza crust, brushed it with olive oil, put down a foundation of shredded mozzarella then topped it with the leftover mac & cheese. I then chopped up a bunch of white cheddar Ellsworth cheese curds and sprinkled those on top with the remaining mozz. When the pizza was done, I sprinkled my Tastefully Simple pizzeria seasoning on top and voila! It was SO GOOD. I impress myself sometimes.
10/26/15: Red Baron sausage & pepperoni leftovers for lunch. For DINNER I made a delicious half & half pizza- half baked potato, half cheese curd. I "baked" potatoes in the microwave then mashed them up with butter and a little cream. I then dusted the pizza dough with mozzarella, smooshed the potatoes over half the crust, added bacon and cheddar cheese then topped it with Tastefully Simple Onion Onion seasoning as I had no onions. For the other half, I tossed a bunch of cheese curds on the dough and dumped the rest of the mozzarella cheese on it. I sprinkled Tastefully Simple Pizzeria seasoning on top of that for some extra flavor. I enjoyed fresh baked potato pizza with a dollop of sour cream for dinner!
10/27/15: Leftover day! Mac & cheese pizza for lunch. Cheese curd pizza for dinner.
10/28/15: Leftover day part 2! Baked potato & cheese curd pizza for lunch. Red Baron sausage & pepperoni pizza for dinner. As I was falling asleep last night I realized that while I've been eating pizza as I planned, I definitely haven't been working out as planned. I looked online to see how much I need to exercise to burn off the calories from one piece of pizza (~275 calories). It looks like I have a lot of running (47 minutes/550 calories), biking (59 minutes/550 calories), walking (72 minutes/550 calories) to do in my near future. One site suggested 60 minutes of fast-paced ballroom or swing dancing to burn off 290 calories (one slice). I haven't weighed myself in a while- I'll check on that and incorporate some exercise into my daily routine ASAP.
10/22/15: Tonight I was in the Peoria area. I was actually staying in Pekin and after a 25 minute drive from Peoria to my hotel, I wasn't feeling in the mood to drive back to "town". After browsing Yelp for like half an hour at all of my restaurant options, I finally placed a carryout order from a place called Monical's Pizza. When I got to Monical's it reminded me of a smaller Davanni's. Monical's is a chain around Illinois, it seems, as I passed many more on my way out of the state. I read a review that the breadsticks were like giant pretzel sticks and tasted great with nacho cheese sauce so I got those and a thin crust sausage pizza. The pizza was nothing to be marveled at. The breadsticks, while they did have a pretzel-like quality to them, weren't that great. I was pretty underwhelmed.
10/25/15: I made PastaRoni shells & cheese for lunch today. It was pretty gross. My intent on making the mac & cheese was to use the leftovers for pizza for dinner sometime this week but since I didn't really like it all that much, I was worried about how it would taste on pizza. The good news is that my motto remains true- if you put enough cheese on it, anything will taste good. I used a pre-made thin pizza crust, brushed it with olive oil, put down a foundation of shredded mozzarella then topped it with the leftover mac & cheese. I then chopped up a bunch of white cheddar Ellsworth cheese curds and sprinkled those on top with the remaining mozz. When the pizza was done, I sprinkled my Tastefully Simple pizzeria seasoning on top and voila! It was SO GOOD. I impress myself sometimes.
10/26/15: Red Baron sausage & pepperoni leftovers for lunch. For DINNER I made a delicious half & half pizza- half baked potato, half cheese curd. I "baked" potatoes in the microwave then mashed them up with butter and a little cream. I then dusted the pizza dough with mozzarella, smooshed the potatoes over half the crust, added bacon and cheddar cheese then topped it with Tastefully Simple Onion Onion seasoning as I had no onions. For the other half, I tossed a bunch of cheese curds on the dough and dumped the rest of the mozzarella cheese on it. I sprinkled Tastefully Simple Pizzeria seasoning on top of that for some extra flavor. I enjoyed fresh baked potato pizza with a dollop of sour cream for dinner!
10/28/15: Leftover day part 2! Baked potato & cheese curd pizza for lunch. Red Baron sausage & pepperoni pizza for dinner. As I was falling asleep last night I realized that while I've been eating pizza as I planned, I definitely haven't been working out as planned. I looked online to see how much I need to exercise to burn off the calories from one piece of pizza (~275 calories). It looks like I have a lot of running (47 minutes/550 calories), biking (59 minutes/550 calories), walking (72 minutes/550 calories) to do in my near future. One site suggested 60 minutes of fast-paced ballroom or swing dancing to burn off 290 calories (one slice). I haven't weighed myself in a while- I'll check on that and incorporate some exercise into my daily routine ASAP.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Pizza Diet: Week 2
Feelings after a week: I'm not sick of pizza yet! I am a little sick of making my own or eating frozen pizza though. Making my own pizza has been surprisingly easy and usually pretty quick but I'm craving some restaurant-made pizza. It doesn't fit into my budget this week but I'm traveling for work next week and have picked out some cool pizza places to try! Also I weighed myself on Monday morning and again this morning (Thursday) and I've lost 2.5 pounds. I'm guessing that is due to many factors and not just my pizza diet but I'm still kind of happy about it!
I am honestly not sure what happened on 10/14/15. It is possible that 10/15/15 is supposed to be 10/14. Somehow I lost a day here... oh well.
10/15/15: Last night when I got home from work I made chicken-bacon-garlic pizza. I failed to season the sauce so it was a little bland (that is my weakness in cooking, it seems). But the crust got nice and crispy so that was a plus. I accidentally grabbed two containers of this pizza for lunch and dinner today (instead of mixing it up with different leftovers) but it was still good warmed up in the microwave! I cut the pizza into fancy squares and forgot to take a picture of the whole thing so here's a picture of just a little slice.
I am honestly not sure what happened on 10/14/15. It is possible that 10/15/15 is supposed to be 10/14. Somehow I lost a day here... oh well.
10/15/15: Last night when I got home from work I made chicken-bacon-garlic pizza. I failed to season the sauce so it was a little bland (that is my weakness in cooking, it seems). But the crust got nice and crispy so that was a plus. I accidentally grabbed two containers of this pizza for lunch and dinner today (instead of mixing it up with different leftovers) but it was still good warmed up in the microwave! I cut the pizza into fancy squares and forgot to take a picture of the whole thing so here's a picture of just a little slice.
10/16/15: On Friday I had some delicious brick oven leftovers for lunch. Then I got home and I was really hungry so I made chili pizza. Eileen (my roommate) made chili and it smelled DELICIOUS. My other roomie Amanda suggested I make a cornbread crust and top it with chili and cheese. My roommates are culinary geniuses and the pizza was delicious. I ate one piece before Liz came over and we ended up at Mesa (her first time!!). It was glorious.
10/17/15: Chili pizza leftovers today. I think for lunch and dinner... I can't recall. Then Amanda and I went out and she ended up buying a pretzel the size of our heads. It wasn't pizza but it was SO good.
10/18/15: Today I enjoyed my last chicken bacon garlic leftovers for lunch and chili pizza leftovers for dinner. Then I wanted more cheese (which is funny since Amanda is reading a story now about how cheese is basically as addictive as cocaine, according to science). So I used my new Tastefully Simple pizzeria seasoning on a flat bread topped with perfect Ellsworth cheese curds. Damn good cheesy cracker bread and the pizzeria seasoning is just the flavoring this needed!
10/19/15: I had pizza leftovers for lunch (cleaned out my fridge!) then began my journey south to Illinois for graduate fairs. I had Culver's for dinner. Definitely not pizza but it was pretty delicious anyway...
10/20/15: In Galesburg, IL tonight I went to Baked Pizza and ordered their deep dish-style pizza. I took it back to my hotel room and ate half of it. There is something about all that melty, crusty, wonderful cheese that makes the Chicago-style deep dish something to be admired. However I definitely ate too much and felt uncomfortably full afterwards. I probably won't be eating deep dish again anytime soon. Baked the restaurant was adorably cobbled together with vintage tables and chairs, a cool chalkboard wall and records everywhere (not sure if they were decoration or meant to be played). They also had a cool gallery of art in the back "party" area. I was the only one in there the entire time I waited for my pizza to be made (about 30 minutes) but then again, it was just barely 5:00 p.m.
10/21/15: In Galesburg, IL for night two, I asked some college reps where I should go for good pizza. They suggested Baked, which I informed them I had been to the night before, so their second choice was Pizza House. Pizza House was a cute little place with very friendly wait staff. I wasn't feeling super great so instead of ordering a pizza, I got a "pizza burger" sub sandwich and mozzarella sticks. The mozz sticks were clearly prepackaged but were still good. The pizza burger was what I expected from this "mom & pop" shop- bread, lots of sauce, crumbled meat (I think it was just hamburger) and cheese. Luckily, there was lots of cheese. Unluckily, I really don't like pizza sauce all that much and the bread got soggy fast so I basically ate the cheese off the sandwich and finished my cheese sticks. So healthy, I know.
10/20/15: In Galesburg, IL tonight I went to Baked Pizza and ordered their deep dish-style pizza. I took it back to my hotel room and ate half of it. There is something about all that melty, crusty, wonderful cheese that makes the Chicago-style deep dish something to be admired. However I definitely ate too much and felt uncomfortably full afterwards. I probably won't be eating deep dish again anytime soon. Baked the restaurant was adorably cobbled together with vintage tables and chairs, a cool chalkboard wall and records everywhere (not sure if they were decoration or meant to be played). They also had a cool gallery of art in the back "party" area. I was the only one in there the entire time I waited for my pizza to be made (about 30 minutes) but then again, it was just barely 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Pizza Diet: Week 1
10/7/15: I was shopping for a few supplies for a cupcake decorating class I was set to teach on Thursday. I had $6 to spend. I was responsible enough with those $6 that I was able to find the cheapest frozen pizza that still looked okay to eat. I believe it was like $3.24 and I got 3 meals out of it. #winning. I decided if I buy frozen pizza I will try to always get the same toppings/crust combo to compare and find out which is my favorite.
10/8/15: Today I had the Roma leftovers for breakfast (2 slices) and dinner (2 slices). I had some chicken tortilla soup for lunch as it was still sitting in my fridge and I didn't want it to go to waste. Like most frozen pizza, it is always better fresh from the oven as opposed to leftover the next day when it is sad and not so crispy anymore but I'm used to that. I'll have to find a way to jazz up those leftovers!
10/9/15: I received a coupon a few months ago from Davanni's at Cleveland and Grand for a free solo pizza if I spent $5 or more. I ended up taking an order for a coworker so I got my pizza for free on her order... it worked out nicely for me. I ordered my favorite white pizza with sausage and ate 2 pieces for lunch and will eat the other 2 pieces for dinner. I'm a little hungry already (I usually finish the whole solo pizza) but I'm working on my portion control as well (it is hard with pizza!). I should have eaten a fruit or something but I didn't have anything on me. I'll be sure to buy some at the grocery store this weekend! Also more mints to keep at my desk because the white pizza is very garlicky and I have to talk to people all day and night... I also meal planned and wrote up a grocery list for the next week and I'm excited about all the pizza goodness that I will share soon!
10/10/15: I walked a 5K this morning for the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk. So yay for exercise! Of course then I got home, went grocery shopping and had Pizza Rolls for lunch (no picture because they look so unappetizing). But I only ate 8 pizza rolls instead of the whole box (16) so there I go again with my moderation! After helping some friends move in the afternoon and catching up on my Must-See-TV, I made Tasty's pizza monkey bread (see the video here!). It was delicious. Jaci and I enjoyed it while discussion graduate school and life. It even tastes good as leftovers! The biscuit-to-filling ratio was a bit off so I'll increase the filling the next time I make it and you better believe I'll make it again. Yum!
10/11/15: I had some leftover pizza money bread for lunch today. For dinner, I made my cheesy-spinach-pesto flat bread. I didn't find naan flat bread like the recipe called for, instead I found some boring pizza flat breads. I then failed to read the directions about having to pre-bake the flat bread for extra crispiness so the pizza was a little soggy. BUT it was delicious and if you put enough cheese on anything, it will be good (in my opinion).
10/12/15: This popped up in life today. It is as if BuzzFeed caught wind of the best idea I've ever had then ruined it with its weird suggestions like putting Spaghetti-Os on pizza or using a granola crust (I've decided that doesn't count). Still, the timing was kind of funny. For lunch today I had leftover spinach-pesto pizza with heirloom carrots... and a handful of candy corn for dessert. That was after eating 2 pieces of cinnamon bread, 3 cinnamon sugar donut holes and a chocolate croissant for breakfast. I have a lot of work to do in the breakfast department... For dinner I was going to make a fancy pizza but it was freaking cold outside with a sad drizzle of rain so I wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup. I made pizza grilled cheese (cream cheese, pepperonis and mozzarella) which was deliciously enjoyed with the tomato soup. It was just what I needed!
10/13/15: Today I enjoyed my last bit of pizza monkey bread with my leftover tomato soup for lunch. For dinner I enjoyed Red Baron Brick Oven Meat-Trio Pizza. I realized after I bought it that there was ham on the pizza as part of the meat trio and I really don't like ham but the pizza was good, despite the less than favorable topping.
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| Brand: Roma Type: Original crust, sausage Size: 11 inches Cost: $3.24 Review: This was your run of the mill frozen pizza. It certainly wasn't anything special but it served its purpose and tasted okay. |
10/9/15: I received a coupon a few months ago from Davanni's at Cleveland and Grand for a free solo pizza if I spent $5 or more. I ended up taking an order for a coworker so I got my pizza for free on her order... it worked out nicely for me. I ordered my favorite white pizza with sausage and ate 2 pieces for lunch and will eat the other 2 pieces for dinner. I'm a little hungry already (I usually finish the whole solo pizza) but I'm working on my portion control as well (it is hard with pizza!). I should have eaten a fruit or something but I didn't have anything on me. I'll be sure to buy some at the grocery store this weekend! Also more mints to keep at my desk because the white pizza is very garlicky and I have to talk to people all day and night... I also meal planned and wrote up a grocery list for the next week and I'm excited about all the pizza goodness that I will share soon!
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| Yes, I put butter in my tomato soup. My dad passed down his love of butter to me and I inherited my mom's high cholesterol. |
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| Brand: Red Baron Type: Brick oven crust, Meat Trio Size: 11 inches? Cost: $4ish Review: This was surprisingly good for a frozen pizza. I don't usually love thick crust but there were lots of toppings and it was tasty! |
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Ridiculous pizza-themed things that I need
A ton of tanks, shirts and sweatshirts
Assorted items
And this may be a necessity: http://www.belovedshirts.com/products/pizza-belovesie
And this may be a necessity: http://www.belovedshirts.com/products/pizza-belovesie
The Pizza Diet: So what if I'm a crazy pizza obsessed person?
I came up with this grand idea this summer- all pizza, all the time. When I mentioned it to my boyfriend at the time, he seemed to think I was crazy. I decided to put off my grand plans since eating only pizza might have been tricky for date nights and things. Fast forward to last week when I was discussing my love of pizza with a grad school rep during the fairs I was attending. I mentioned the pizza diet idea and he thought it was fantastic. Yesterday I packed a salad for lunch and after forcing myself to eat it, posted on FB about how much I hate salad. A friend named Jackie asked why I eat salad if I hate it and it was like a light bulb clicked on. Why DO I eat salad if I hate it? I literally always want pizza. So the pizza diet idea is back and in full force.
I did some research this summer to see if anyone else has tried such a "diet".
Here is a man who took it very seriously and was told by his doctor it was okay but he also worked out a ton.
Here's a guy, with diabetes, who apparently only eats cheese pizza because he is a vegetarian but hates vegetables.
This one is my absolute favorite as it is more of a humor piece and more of what I intend to do- eat pizza in various forms.
So according to the first page on Google when you search "Pizza diet" there are only a handful of people who have discussed this idea on the internet and none of them are women. Obviously this is a niche I need to fill.
About me!
Age: 27
Favorite food: Pizza (duh). Also cheese.
Favorite restaurant pizza: Tie between thin crust sausage from Detello's and thin crust white from Davanni's
Favorite at home oven baked pizza: Totino's party pizza
Favorite delivery pizza: Topper's Old School Sausage & Pepperoni
Favorite Mesa pizza slice: Tie between the Southern Gentleman and Mac & Cheese
Fun pizza fact about me: I was in a pizza eating contest a couple years ago! We had 12 minutes to eat as many pieces of thin crust cheese as we could. My goal was to beat at least one of the two other women in the contest with me. I ended up eating 5 slices in 12 minutes (and finished my 6th slice in the 2 minute buffer at the end but it didn't count). I beat one woman who only ate 4 slices (mission accomplished). The other woman, who I came to know as professional competitive eater Molly Schuyler, ate 41 slices and won since she ate two times as many pieces of pizza as the second place winners. She's a badass and she fascinates me. But even after stuffing my face with as much pizza as I could in 12 minutes and watching the disgusting methods of competitive eating going on around me, I never lost my love of pizza.
My plan:
Feel free to check out my Pizza Diet Pinterest board. I'm pretty sure my first pizza will be the spinach and pesto flatbread pizza as I have all of the ingredients readily available. From there who knows what will happen! I'm not sure when exactly I'll start since I have a million things going on between now and forever but I'll find a time to start this historical project. I hope you will follow along!
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| Also this is just plain funny- I found this on my Timehop this morning AFTER I had written this whole blog post so really the pizza diet is just meant to be. |
I did some research this summer to see if anyone else has tried such a "diet".
Here is a man who took it very seriously and was told by his doctor it was okay but he also worked out a ton.
Here's a guy, with diabetes, who apparently only eats cheese pizza because he is a vegetarian but hates vegetables.
This one is my absolute favorite as it is more of a humor piece and more of what I intend to do- eat pizza in various forms.
So according to the first page on Google when you search "Pizza diet" there are only a handful of people who have discussed this idea on the internet and none of them are women. Obviously this is a niche I need to fill.
About me!
Age: 27
Favorite food: Pizza (duh). Also cheese.
Favorite restaurant pizza: Tie between thin crust sausage from Detello's and thin crust white from Davanni's
Favorite at home oven baked pizza: Totino's party pizza
Favorite delivery pizza: Topper's Old School Sausage & Pepperoni
Favorite Mesa pizza slice: Tie between the Southern Gentleman and Mac & Cheese
Fun pizza fact about me: I was in a pizza eating contest a couple years ago! We had 12 minutes to eat as many pieces of thin crust cheese as we could. My goal was to beat at least one of the two other women in the contest with me. I ended up eating 5 slices in 12 minutes (and finished my 6th slice in the 2 minute buffer at the end but it didn't count). I beat one woman who only ate 4 slices (mission accomplished). The other woman, who I came to know as professional competitive eater Molly Schuyler, ate 41 slices and won since she ate two times as many pieces of pizza as the second place winners. She's a badass and she fascinates me. But even after stuffing my face with as much pizza as I could in 12 minutes and watching the disgusting methods of competitive eating going on around me, I never lost my love of pizza.
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| Me at the start of the competition, my full pizza and my pizza nails indicating the number of slices I ate in the allotted time frame. |
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| This is a common sight at my house. Stacks on stacks of pizza boxes, though the Papa John's one isn't mine because that is gross. |
- I'll post on here as much as I can (or as much as I remember) with recipes, reviews and overall thoughts.
- I've decided to move on from trying to get to all the MN breweries (I'm honestly trying to quit drinking...) and instead try to hit up as many pizza places in town that I possibly can so there will be restaurant reviews galore here. Maybe I'll finally start Yelping!
- I also fully intend to workout as part of this new diet plan as eating pizza and doing nothing else is a pretty stupid idea so I'll also try to include what I've done to workout during the week.
- Additionally, I know that I won't be able to eat pizza EVERY DAY. For example, I'm on a roll of trying the Burger of the Month at MyBurger and don't want to give up my streak. Plus I'm pretty sure my parents aren't always going to feed me pizza if I go over to their house for meals. So I understand that it isn't feasible for me to eat ONLY pizza all the time. But by golly I'm going to try.
Feel free to check out my Pizza Diet Pinterest board. I'm pretty sure my first pizza will be the spinach and pesto flatbread pizza as I have all of the ingredients readily available. From there who knows what will happen! I'm not sure when exactly I'll start since I have a million things going on between now and forever but I'll find a time to start this historical project. I hope you will follow along!
Monday, September 14, 2015
#55: Home
A little over a month ago, I found out that my former hall director was buying a house and leaving WSU. That meant she was leaving Lourdes, the building where I lived for all 4 of my years in college. I had a knee-jerk reaction to declare my need for the position, citing that Lourdes always felt like home and it is the only job I would drop everything and leave the cities for. I was told to wait a bit for some details to be worked out and then I would be filled in on the hiring process.
For a few weeks then, I really started to look around and think about what I would be leaving if I got the job in Winona. I have two fantastic roommates who I really get along with well and wouldn't want to abandon (plus we are already talking about Christmas cards with matching shirts and how could I pass that up?). I have 3 jobs and I really enjoy all of them (depending on the day). I LOVE living in South Minneapolis, being close to everything including my friends and family. I had just taken a position on my parish council at church. I haven't felt as comfortable or happy in a church as I have for the past year at Christ UMC. Being 20 minutes away from my parents is great and comforting. I like dropping in on Liz at MOA just to say hi and know that she's here when I need her and vice versa.
Basically, the more time I thought about it the more I realized that I do feel very much at home now. For the first year or two that I was here after graduation, living at home and working at a job I expected to leave quickly, I didn't feel settled. Something felt weird and I missed Winona. But that all changed without me noticing it.
So when the time came to interview for the hall director position, I passed. It was both a hard decision and an easy one to make at the same time. I think the res life chapter of my career is finally over. This point was further solidified after I dealt with a situation this morning quite reminiscent to my days in Lourdes, trying to determine whether or not to call an ambulance to send a kid to detox (yes, I said this morning). It is exhausting. I don't know how Alyssa and Sarah did it for so long with 3+ kiddos (and in Sarah's case, a dog) running around the apartment. I think I'm just too tired to go back to res life.
The good news is, student affairs is quite a large field. I'm at a university where I agree 100% with the mission and values and I love the campus. While I'm not sure how much room I have to grow in my current position, I know there's other opportunities for me at St. Kate's down the line should I choose to move on. Right now I just need to figure out what I want to get my master's degree in. If that's the hardest decision I have to make, I guess I'm pretty lucky.
For a few weeks then, I really started to look around and think about what I would be leaving if I got the job in Winona. I have two fantastic roommates who I really get along with well and wouldn't want to abandon (plus we are already talking about Christmas cards with matching shirts and how could I pass that up?). I have 3 jobs and I really enjoy all of them (depending on the day). I LOVE living in South Minneapolis, being close to everything including my friends and family. I had just taken a position on my parish council at church. I haven't felt as comfortable or happy in a church as I have for the past year at Christ UMC. Being 20 minutes away from my parents is great and comforting. I like dropping in on Liz at MOA just to say hi and know that she's here when I need her and vice versa.
Basically, the more time I thought about it the more I realized that I do feel very much at home now. For the first year or two that I was here after graduation, living at home and working at a job I expected to leave quickly, I didn't feel settled. Something felt weird and I missed Winona. But that all changed without me noticing it.
So when the time came to interview for the hall director position, I passed. It was both a hard decision and an easy one to make at the same time. I think the res life chapter of my career is finally over. This point was further solidified after I dealt with a situation this morning quite reminiscent to my days in Lourdes, trying to determine whether or not to call an ambulance to send a kid to detox (yes, I said this morning). It is exhausting. I don't know how Alyssa and Sarah did it for so long with 3+ kiddos (and in Sarah's case, a dog) running around the apartment. I think I'm just too tired to go back to res life.
The good news is, student affairs is quite a large field. I'm at a university where I agree 100% with the mission and values and I love the campus. While I'm not sure how much room I have to grow in my current position, I know there's other opportunities for me at St. Kate's down the line should I choose to move on. Right now I just need to figure out what I want to get my master's degree in. If that's the hardest decision I have to make, I guess I'm pretty lucky.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Mama Bean! My experience in fostering a cat
This is Bean's background (now updated after talking to Betsy!)
So her kittens got adopted. I went to Betsy's house on Friday afternoon to pick up Bean. I could tell right away she was a chatty cat as she meowed a lot in the house and then the entire car ride home. She got to live in our spare bedroom for a few days to get acclimated to the house. Marvel got a glimpse of her for 0.2 seconds and did not sound thrilled. I hung out in the room with Bean for several hours on Friday and Saturday, watching Glee and listening to her meow.
On Saturday morning I locked Marvel in my room and let Bean wander through the house freely. On Sunday afternoon, I let them both free to roam. There was a lot of hissing. Marvel stood at the bottom of the stairs and Bean just sat on a step and looked at him. They were curious about each other but not aggressive. Sunday night, I left them alone for a couple hours when I went to a staff meeting at Vera. I came back and they were both unharmed but still confused.
I left them out on Monday while I was at work. I literally spent Monday evening after work just watching them. They are so weird. Marvel is now afraid of Bean to the point where she's smart enough to sit at the top of the steps that go down to my room where his food, water and litter box are. He won't go past her. I literally had to pick up Bean last night, move her across the room and shoo Marvel down the steps because I could tell he wanted to go down there. She returned to her post and I realized Marvel was sitting on the steps just waiting for her to leave so he could come back into the living room.
Bean is recovering from an ear infection so I've been giving her medicine twice daily. Marvel is jealous of any attention I give her, including the medicine. Last night I let him sniff the syringe of what I was feeding her and he backed off, perhaps changing his mind.
I can tell that they're both calming down a little bit- Marvel has been sleeping a lot, almost bored with her, and Bean has been meowing less. She also has been sleepy and adorable.
Anyway, I just thought I'd chronicle my experience as it unfolds. I'll keep adding to this post as they continue to do weird things! And hopefully I'll get some pictures of Marvel and Bean together... or at least in close proximity to each other.
7/24 UPDATE: Bean got to visit Betsy at the vet yesterday to get a check up on her ear infection. When I got home from work sans Bean, Marvel was back to his old self. We cuddled forever. Lots of pets were enjoyed. He got to eat quietly and calmly by himself. Then about 3 hours after I got home from work, Betsy came over with Bean. They actually seemed quite friendly when Bean returned. Then last night there was a thunderstorm and they got weird. The weirdest part of the storm last night was the poor cat that was outside my window. Marvel angry-screamed at the cat (I should find a video of him doing this because it is both terrifying and amusing). I went outside to try and help the cat (before it started raining but the sky was FULL of lightning) but he didn't seem to appreciate my help. He disappeared, I locked the cats down in my room so Marvel didn't go watch him from outside the living room window and wake up Eileen with his screaming, and tried to go back to sleep. That worked until about 30 minutes later when it was pouring, the cat was back outside crying and Marvel and Bean were acting weird because of the storm and the strange cat. So I locked the cats downstairs, went to the front door and as I was trying to go outside, the cat decided to come inside. This only lasted a few seconds and I managed to get him in to Bean's pet carrier and put him out on our front step with a blanket over the carrier so he felt some sort of safety. I left the door of the carrier open and went back to my room. There I found Marvel trying to play with Bean by biting her neck and she was not having it and that turned into a lot of hissing. This lasted much longer than I thought it would- Marvel was not smart enough to back off and he kept trying to play. The good news is they ate their food very respectfully of each other this morning so at least we're making progress there.
10/7 UPDATE: It should have been perfectly obvious that this fostering would end in adoption. I learned quickly by the way Marvel reacted to the situation that there was no way we could foster another cat if Bean left and go through this whole ordeal again. So on August 28, I officially adopted Bean. Within days she started peeing on my bed (usually with me in it). We tried to start calling her Babs as soon as she was adopted and my mom thought she was peeing in protest of her name change so back to Bean it went. This went on for two weeks and included an expensive and useless vet visit, a higher than usual water bill due to the constant washing of blankets, sheets and towels, and me sleeping on the couch in the living room for an hour or two each morning. I'm happy to say we seem to have resolved the issue (knock on wood) and Bean is chipper and charming and happy to be part of our little family. She's still weird and she still beats up Marvel on a regular basis but I can tell she has settled in. The biggest challenge for me right now is trying to decide what she should dress up as for Halloween!
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| Bean's official first picture as an adopted cat! |
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| Bean as a cheese head (thanks to my Packer/cheese loving roomie) |
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| Bean and her brother Marvel, loving life. |
Friday, June 19, 2015
Whole 30-ish: Week 1
6/15: I had a pretty good first day. After a week of binge drinking and eating (regrettable to say the least), it was nice to go into Monday with a focus and plan of healthy eating.
Breakfast: I made a bunch of food last week that I wanted to try and finish early this week, even though it wasn't exactly Whole 30 compliant. I had half a piece of egg bake this morning (egg whites, pesto, cherry tomatoes, spinach and feta) and it made me a little sick to my stomach so I decided to pass on the rest of those leftovers (I gave them to my neighbor so they didn't go to waste). I stopped at Lunds & Byerlys on my way to work and grabbed a TRUE Juice for breakfast. The Whole 30 founders would prefer you to not drink your meals but it was full of fruits and veggies with no added sugar and was tasty.
Snack: I had my last Justin's Almond Butter packet that was hiding in my snack drawer- this wasn't compliant either due to the honey powder containing sugar but I wasn't too concerned about it today.
Lunch: Brussels sprouts and bacon.
Snack: 3 slices of roast beef
Dinner: I made my last Plated meal of mashed yuca and marinated skirt steak served with berries! It was an imperfect start but a start nonetheless.
6/16: I felt good about life and Whole 30 today. Determined. Excited.
Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled, a couple pineapple spears and some thai curry basil Terra chips that I found on top of my fridge. They were kind of stale and chips are a little against the Whole 30 rules but I felt okay about it since I wasn't eating them straight out of the bag.
Lunch: A delicious bratwurst that I found at the co-op, roasted farmer's market asparagus and strawberries (Target had a fantastic sale on them this weekend that I am so glad I took advantage of).
Dinner: I was going to make this green sauce but then I realized the blender had been removed from my house as part of my roommates moving out so I ended up smashing an avocado with some garlic paste that I made, half a chopped jalapeno and some olive oil to make a delicious dip for some baked sweet potato fries.
After dinner (and after I had already brushed my teeth): I enjoyed juice of a granny smith apple, a pineapple spear or two and a bunch of strawberries.
6/17: I decided today to do "Whole 30-ish" due to upcoming life plans that will be hard for me to do following this in the strict way it is meant to be followed. Basically I plan to keep doing what I'm doing and only make a few allowances. I know once you go off plan you should start over which is why I've decided not to count the days of my Whole 30, just see how long I can keep this good behavior going.
Breakfast: Egg fried in ghee, bratwurst, handful of pistachios
Lunch: Leftover yuca and steak, strawberries (of course)
Dinner: Zoodles (zucchini noodles) in a lemon-garlic "scampi-esque" sauce with shrimp
After dinner: I had this trail mix from Whole Foods that I thought I couldn't eat- turns out I just had to pick out the cranberries and cherries (dried with added sugar) and the rest was okay so that was a nice treat.
6/18: Starting yesterday, I set my alarm to wake up a half hour earlier than I have been recently so I have time to make breakfast. This morning I was tired when I got up but managed to not snooze my alarm for another 15 minutes (like I have been doing pretty much every day for the past month then feel rushed trying to get ready for work). I even scheduled in 15 minutes of cuddle time with Marvel so he doesn't throw off my morning routine anymore.
Breakfast: Eggs baked in avocado, blueberries
Lunch: Tuna salad- tuna in water and no vegetable broth (which contains soy) is hard to find but I did it, "Just Mayo" which I think is Whole 30 compliant and I found it at Target a while back, lemon juice, a chopped celery stalk, dill and garlic salt. It was tart, filling and delicious. I also had carrot chips with a guacamole cup
Dinner (I guess): I bought the Kevita probiotic drink at Whole Foods to try and avoid drinking at a brewery later- it tasted like a mojito and was so good! I also had some grapes and some almonds. I did end up at the brewery drinking a beer (whoops) but by the time I got home I realized I hadn't really eaten dinner and I wasn't that hungry. So I consider that a success.
6/19: One of my coworkers mentioned today how she had a delicious strawberry salad at a restaurant for lunch. I had strawberries at home that needed to be eaten! So I grabbed some spinach on the way home and made a most delicious salad for dinner
Breakfast: Bratwurst, banana with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon
Lunch: Leftover yuca, asparagus and skirt steak
Dinner: Spinach, avocado and strawberry salad with pecans and a peach-white vinegar dressing, grapes
6/20: I ate my last brat from the co-op today. I'm definitely going to buy more because they are DELICIOUS.
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (2) with Alaskan smoked salmon
Lunch: Angus beef burger, fried egg, 1/2 avocado with Fiesta party dip, grapes
Snack: Banana with almond butter, strawberry-spinach juice
Dinner: Carrot chips with avocado dip, bratwurst
6/21: So I went a little off plan today. It is Father's Day and I told my dad I would eat whatever he wanted. So we went to the 5-8 Tavern after church and I had a Juicy Lucy, which I was actually craving all weekend. I ate it without the bun though so that's gotta count for something, right? Just kidding. The good news is that it didn't taste that great so I don't know if it was just an off day in the kitchen or if I really just didn't like it... I also had some peanut butter today but it was Justin's so at least it wasn't totally full of crap like the generic brand of PB I have in a jar in my cabinet.
Breakfast: Naked Green juice
Lunch: Juicy Lucy and Fries...
Dinner: Citrus-marinated grilled chicken, avocado and raspberries
Snack: Celery with Justin's honey-peanut butter
Breakfast: I made a bunch of food last week that I wanted to try and finish early this week, even though it wasn't exactly Whole 30 compliant. I had half a piece of egg bake this morning (egg whites, pesto, cherry tomatoes, spinach and feta) and it made me a little sick to my stomach so I decided to pass on the rest of those leftovers (I gave them to my neighbor so they didn't go to waste). I stopped at Lunds & Byerlys on my way to work and grabbed a TRUE Juice for breakfast. The Whole 30 founders would prefer you to not drink your meals but it was full of fruits and veggies with no added sugar and was tasty.
Snack: I had my last Justin's Almond Butter packet that was hiding in my snack drawer- this wasn't compliant either due to the honey powder containing sugar but I wasn't too concerned about it today.
Lunch: Brussels sprouts and bacon.
Snack: 3 slices of roast beef
Dinner: I made my last Plated meal of mashed yuca and marinated skirt steak served with berries! It was an imperfect start but a start nonetheless.
6/16: I felt good about life and Whole 30 today. Determined. Excited.
Breakfast: Two eggs scrambled, a couple pineapple spears and some thai curry basil Terra chips that I found on top of my fridge. They were kind of stale and chips are a little against the Whole 30 rules but I felt okay about it since I wasn't eating them straight out of the bag.
Lunch: A delicious bratwurst that I found at the co-op, roasted farmer's market asparagus and strawberries (Target had a fantastic sale on them this weekend that I am so glad I took advantage of).
Dinner: I was going to make this green sauce but then I realized the blender had been removed from my house as part of my roommates moving out so I ended up smashing an avocado with some garlic paste that I made, half a chopped jalapeno and some olive oil to make a delicious dip for some baked sweet potato fries.
After dinner (and after I had already brushed my teeth): I enjoyed juice of a granny smith apple, a pineapple spear or two and a bunch of strawberries.
6/17: I decided today to do "Whole 30-ish" due to upcoming life plans that will be hard for me to do following this in the strict way it is meant to be followed. Basically I plan to keep doing what I'm doing and only make a few allowances. I know once you go off plan you should start over which is why I've decided not to count the days of my Whole 30, just see how long I can keep this good behavior going.
Breakfast: Egg fried in ghee, bratwurst, handful of pistachios
Lunch: Leftover yuca and steak, strawberries (of course)
Dinner: Zoodles (zucchini noodles) in a lemon-garlic "scampi-esque" sauce with shrimp
After dinner: I had this trail mix from Whole Foods that I thought I couldn't eat- turns out I just had to pick out the cranberries and cherries (dried with added sugar) and the rest was okay so that was a nice treat.
6/18: Starting yesterday, I set my alarm to wake up a half hour earlier than I have been recently so I have time to make breakfast. This morning I was tired when I got up but managed to not snooze my alarm for another 15 minutes (like I have been doing pretty much every day for the past month then feel rushed trying to get ready for work). I even scheduled in 15 minutes of cuddle time with Marvel so he doesn't throw off my morning routine anymore.
Breakfast: Eggs baked in avocado, blueberries
Lunch: Tuna salad- tuna in water and no vegetable broth (which contains soy) is hard to find but I did it, "Just Mayo" which I think is Whole 30 compliant and I found it at Target a while back, lemon juice, a chopped celery stalk, dill and garlic salt. It was tart, filling and delicious. I also had carrot chips with a guacamole cup
Dinner (I guess): I bought the Kevita probiotic drink at Whole Foods to try and avoid drinking at a brewery later- it tasted like a mojito and was so good! I also had some grapes and some almonds. I did end up at the brewery drinking a beer (whoops) but by the time I got home I realized I hadn't really eaten dinner and I wasn't that hungry. So I consider that a success.
6/19: One of my coworkers mentioned today how she had a delicious strawberry salad at a restaurant for lunch. I had strawberries at home that needed to be eaten! So I grabbed some spinach on the way home and made a most delicious salad for dinner
Breakfast: Bratwurst, banana with almond butter and sprinkled with cinnamon
Lunch: Leftover yuca, asparagus and skirt steak
Dinner: Spinach, avocado and strawberry salad with pecans and a peach-white vinegar dressing, grapes
6/20: I ate my last brat from the co-op today. I'm definitely going to buy more because they are DELICIOUS.
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (2) with Alaskan smoked salmon
Lunch: Angus beef burger, fried egg, 1/2 avocado with Fiesta party dip, grapes
Snack: Banana with almond butter, strawberry-spinach juice
Dinner: Carrot chips with avocado dip, bratwurst
6/21: So I went a little off plan today. It is Father's Day and I told my dad I would eat whatever he wanted. So we went to the 5-8 Tavern after church and I had a Juicy Lucy, which I was actually craving all weekend. I ate it without the bun though so that's gotta count for something, right? Just kidding. The good news is that it didn't taste that great so I don't know if it was just an off day in the kitchen or if I really just didn't like it... I also had some peanut butter today but it was Justin's so at least it wasn't totally full of crap like the generic brand of PB I have in a jar in my cabinet.
Breakfast: Naked Green juice
Lunch: Juicy Lucy and Fries...
Dinner: Citrus-marinated grilled chicken, avocado and raspberries
Snack: Celery with Justin's honey-peanut butter
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
#54: My life since September
So it's been a while since my last post...and looking back at my most recent posts, I realize that I haven't really said much about the big changes that have gone on in my life. So for anyone who cares at all, here we go.
On October 31, 2014, I brought cupcakes to Twin Cities Orthopedics for my final staff potluck. Halloween was my last day working at TCO because I got a job at St. Catherine University! I can't believe I didn't post about this already... anyway, its been 7 months at St. Kate's and I love it. I very specifically remember visiting St. Kate's (then the College of St. Catherine, we didn't become a university until 2009) during a very stormy afternoon in the summer with my mom and Liz. Tree branches were down on our way to campus. The sky was green. I just remember walking through the Coeur de Catherine (student center) with its window lined wall looking out at the horrible weather. Obviously, I did not choose to attend St. Kate's (nor do I think I even applied) and I ended up falling in love with St. Mary's University. It is interesting to look at these two schools now and see the major differences between the two Catholic institutions- I was nervous and felt a little forced about the thought of chapel and the Catholic history at St. Mary's but I definitely do not feel that vibe here at St. Kate's. At the time of my school search, I also did not understand the appeal of a women's college. Now that I'm on campus, I love it. This is such an encouraging and supportive environment- everyone here from the students I have met to the faculty to the staff are so freaking nice. I work in the office of graduate admission with 10 women and 1 man. It is such a shift from my previous work-life that it is hard to explain. While I do sometimes miss the antics and unpredictability of crazy patients, it is nice to have a job where I don't get yelled at on a regular basis.
My job is to work with admissions for a couple grad programs. I was originally hired just for the Master of Social Work program. Then a coworker quit and I needed more to do so I acquired the Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy Doctorate programs. Then I still needed more to do so I took on the Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies in Communication Equity (its a mouthful) when the program came into existence this month. I sign up for and track travel and recruitment events. I plan 8 graduate information sessions for all our programs throughout the year. This is really such an interesting job- I honestly was set on undergraduate admission but after working the past few months with graduate admission, I can easily say I'm happy to be here. Graduate students want to be here. They want to do the work, they want to be part of our programs- it is interesting to see the differences between my programs and the people who are applying to them. So this has been quite a good experience thus far AND they're sending me to Vegas next month for a professional conference so I can't complain.
I turned 27 in January- Trudy and I had a 90s themed birthday party where we went to a few bars in NE Minneapolis. It was a fun night- I now own a neon green fanny pack that I almost took out for a run yesterday (and might still as it is very convenient!).
In March I started going out on dates with this nice guy named Matt who I met on Tinder, believe it or not. He is the 4th person named Matt that I have been out with in the past year and I find that to be amusing but also not surprising since it was a popular name back in the late 80s. He's the best Matt, that's for sure. So when I made the new year of life resolution to "ditch the dating websites" I did for a while but then got bored and re-downloaded Tinder. I'm pretty glad that I did. We've been "Facebook official" since the end of April. We are heading to Summerfest in Milwaukee next week to see one of his favorite bands, Sloan. He's almost as bad at golf as I am. He is slightly allergic to cats but doesn't seem to mind coming over to my house. He's tall and cute and I like him a lot. So that's a plus.
Trudy moved out of our townhouse this past weekend. She had been slowly moving boxes and things out but when I got back from working at VB on Saturday, her food shelf in the kitchen was cleared off and her mail holder was gone and I suddenly realized that she was officially leaving me. She slept over Saturday night after a party with our neighbors and took Landshark with her on Sunday. I think I'm projecting sadness and confusion onto Marvel- he's a cat, I'm sure he's fine. But I bet he misses his friend... he's only ever lived at our house with Landshark. Luckily, she's coming back for the 4th of July weekend and then I think I'm going to foster when I get back from Vegas. So he'll have friends again. Also I miss Trudy but she can drive and has a key to our house so I know I'll be seeing her still.
I decided to start the Whole 30 again as of yesterday (so be prepared for more blogging about what I'm eating). Sure the Whole 30 is restrictive and I think it did me more harm than good last year when I did it but I need rules and strict guidelines in order to make any lifestyle changes and that's what the Whole 30 does for me. Here's hoping that this time around I actually get more energy like it promises (didn't happen last time) and I lose some weight (I'm also going to start working out again). I am frustrated in myself because this time last year, I looked and felt GOOD. So the good news is that Matt likes me like this (but he also hasn't known my skinnier self). The bad news is that I'm sick of this weight I've gained and being lazy and losing that awesome feeling I had last year. So it is back to the grind for me. I signed up for a 5K in September that I actually plan to RUN (or at least jog fast) so I need to train for that. I started and had a good two weeks of going to the gym and hopping on the treadmill but my knees are bad and I lost my motivation pretty fast. I'm also doing a 16-mile bike ride with my dad in August that I did last year when I was still relatively fit so if I don't get my act together, I'll never make it up the ridiculously steep hill like I did last year. My former trainer at LA Fitness told me we should meet up to lift at our current gym, Anytime Fitness, just as friends so I'm excited about that. And Anytime is awesome because you can literally go to workout at ANY TIME. I went a couple weeks ago at 10:30 and was the only person in there but it was great and only a little creepy.
Anyway, here's a few other things I did so far in this first HALF of 2015:
* Had brunch at Pizza Luce for our birthdays and Trudy and I wore the same dress because we're cute like that
* Knocked a bunch more breweries off my list!
* Got Liz to try and ENJOY alcohol (Minneapolis Mule at Tavern on France- turns out she likes whiskey)
* Went on a North Shore brewery tour with Maggie and my friends at Get Knit
* Baked cupcakes for orders even though I said I was going to quit baking cupcakes for orders
* Saw the movie Jupiter Ascending two nights in a row even though it was really not a good movie
* Went to two TCO clinic openings (for free food and giveaways, obviously)
* Wore lipstick for a couple of occasions. I don't do that often but it is quite a confidence booster!
* Learned the magic of a puffle- puff pastry stuffed with things and cooked in a waffle iron
* Attended my first college fair representing St. Kate's by myself!
* Started giving the all-grad presentation to the full group of people who attend our info sessions (usually between 75 and 150 people)
* Discovered my love for iced chai tea (and unfortunately learned how many calories and how much sugar are in such a beverage)
* Took a BUNCH of cute selfies
* Attended a men's roller derby bout
* Went out for two bachelorette parties
* Saw Andy Grammer in concert with Nina. We'll be seeing him again this summer at the fair!
* Went for an actual run with my dog
* Toured St. Paul breweries with Maggie and Becky on the Brews & Buses adventure with Get Knit
* Went to the Twins home opener with my girl Christina
* Took a million pictures of the cats
* Did some home improvement projects like painting a chalkboard wall and hanging shelves for the cats (two of which fell off the wall, one of which Marvel was sitting on when it happened)
* Celebrated the love of Erin and Kyle and made a bunch of new friends at the reception
* Took photo booth pictures in a VW van turned into a photo booth. Real life, people.
* Volunteered for a residence life conference at NDSU over Memorial Day weekend
* Threw Liz an epic 25th birthday party where we marathon-watched Avatar the Last Airbender for 3 days
* Saw the International Space Station in the sky
* Took Marvel outside on a leash multiple times. Big mistake as now he wants to go outside all the time. Oh well.
* Watched the Twins get beaten by the Brewers (who were the worst team in their league at the time) but it was okay because it pleased my boyfriend and made for an extra special birthday (but secretly it is very upsetting that we lost... two games in a row)
* Started watching The West Wing on Netflix- it is probably one of the best shows that was ever on TV and I'm only on season 2.
(this started as a list of just a few things but I've been busy so it turned into more than a few... #sorrynotsorry)
On October 31, 2014, I brought cupcakes to Twin Cities Orthopedics for my final staff potluck. Halloween was my last day working at TCO because I got a job at St. Catherine University! I can't believe I didn't post about this already... anyway, its been 7 months at St. Kate's and I love it. I very specifically remember visiting St. Kate's (then the College of St. Catherine, we didn't become a university until 2009) during a very stormy afternoon in the summer with my mom and Liz. Tree branches were down on our way to campus. The sky was green. I just remember walking through the Coeur de Catherine (student center) with its window lined wall looking out at the horrible weather. Obviously, I did not choose to attend St. Kate's (nor do I think I even applied) and I ended up falling in love with St. Mary's University. It is interesting to look at these two schools now and see the major differences between the two Catholic institutions- I was nervous and felt a little forced about the thought of chapel and the Catholic history at St. Mary's but I definitely do not feel that vibe here at St. Kate's. At the time of my school search, I also did not understand the appeal of a women's college. Now that I'm on campus, I love it. This is such an encouraging and supportive environment- everyone here from the students I have met to the faculty to the staff are so freaking nice. I work in the office of graduate admission with 10 women and 1 man. It is such a shift from my previous work-life that it is hard to explain. While I do sometimes miss the antics and unpredictability of crazy patients, it is nice to have a job where I don't get yelled at on a regular basis.
My job is to work with admissions for a couple grad programs. I was originally hired just for the Master of Social Work program. Then a coworker quit and I needed more to do so I acquired the Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy Doctorate programs. Then I still needed more to do so I took on the Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies in Communication Equity (its a mouthful) when the program came into existence this month. I sign up for and track travel and recruitment events. I plan 8 graduate information sessions for all our programs throughout the year. This is really such an interesting job- I honestly was set on undergraduate admission but after working the past few months with graduate admission, I can easily say I'm happy to be here. Graduate students want to be here. They want to do the work, they want to be part of our programs- it is interesting to see the differences between my programs and the people who are applying to them. So this has been quite a good experience thus far AND they're sending me to Vegas next month for a professional conference so I can't complain.
I turned 27 in January- Trudy and I had a 90s themed birthday party where we went to a few bars in NE Minneapolis. It was a fun night- I now own a neon green fanny pack that I almost took out for a run yesterday (and might still as it is very convenient!).
In March I started going out on dates with this nice guy named Matt who I met on Tinder, believe it or not. He is the 4th person named Matt that I have been out with in the past year and I find that to be amusing but also not surprising since it was a popular name back in the late 80s. He's the best Matt, that's for sure. So when I made the new year of life resolution to "ditch the dating websites" I did for a while but then got bored and re-downloaded Tinder. I'm pretty glad that I did. We've been "Facebook official" since the end of April. We are heading to Summerfest in Milwaukee next week to see one of his favorite bands, Sloan. He's almost as bad at golf as I am. He is slightly allergic to cats but doesn't seem to mind coming over to my house. He's tall and cute and I like him a lot. So that's a plus.
Trudy moved out of our townhouse this past weekend. She had been slowly moving boxes and things out but when I got back from working at VB on Saturday, her food shelf in the kitchen was cleared off and her mail holder was gone and I suddenly realized that she was officially leaving me. She slept over Saturday night after a party with our neighbors and took Landshark with her on Sunday. I think I'm projecting sadness and confusion onto Marvel- he's a cat, I'm sure he's fine. But I bet he misses his friend... he's only ever lived at our house with Landshark. Luckily, she's coming back for the 4th of July weekend and then I think I'm going to foster when I get back from Vegas. So he'll have friends again. Also I miss Trudy but she can drive and has a key to our house so I know I'll be seeing her still.
I decided to start the Whole 30 again as of yesterday (so be prepared for more blogging about what I'm eating). Sure the Whole 30 is restrictive and I think it did me more harm than good last year when I did it but I need rules and strict guidelines in order to make any lifestyle changes and that's what the Whole 30 does for me. Here's hoping that this time around I actually get more energy like it promises (didn't happen last time) and I lose some weight (I'm also going to start working out again). I am frustrated in myself because this time last year, I looked and felt GOOD. So the good news is that Matt likes me like this (but he also hasn't known my skinnier self). The bad news is that I'm sick of this weight I've gained and being lazy and losing that awesome feeling I had last year. So it is back to the grind for me. I signed up for a 5K in September that I actually plan to RUN (or at least jog fast) so I need to train for that. I started and had a good two weeks of going to the gym and hopping on the treadmill but my knees are bad and I lost my motivation pretty fast. I'm also doing a 16-mile bike ride with my dad in August that I did last year when I was still relatively fit so if I don't get my act together, I'll never make it up the ridiculously steep hill like I did last year. My former trainer at LA Fitness told me we should meet up to lift at our current gym, Anytime Fitness, just as friends so I'm excited about that. And Anytime is awesome because you can literally go to workout at ANY TIME. I went a couple weeks ago at 10:30 and was the only person in there but it was great and only a little creepy.
Anyway, here's a few other things I did so far in this first HALF of 2015:
* Had brunch at Pizza Luce for our birthdays and Trudy and I wore the same dress because we're cute like that
* Knocked a bunch more breweries off my list!
* Got Liz to try and ENJOY alcohol (Minneapolis Mule at Tavern on France- turns out she likes whiskey)
* Went on a North Shore brewery tour with Maggie and my friends at Get Knit
* Baked cupcakes for orders even though I said I was going to quit baking cupcakes for orders
* Saw the movie Jupiter Ascending two nights in a row even though it was really not a good movie
* Went to two TCO clinic openings (for free food and giveaways, obviously)
* Wore lipstick for a couple of occasions. I don't do that often but it is quite a confidence booster!
* Learned the magic of a puffle- puff pastry stuffed with things and cooked in a waffle iron
* Attended my first college fair representing St. Kate's by myself!
* Started giving the all-grad presentation to the full group of people who attend our info sessions (usually between 75 and 150 people)
* Discovered my love for iced chai tea (and unfortunately learned how many calories and how much sugar are in such a beverage)
* Took a BUNCH of cute selfies
* Attended a men's roller derby bout
* Went out for two bachelorette parties
* Saw Andy Grammer in concert with Nina. We'll be seeing him again this summer at the fair!
* Went for an actual run with my dog
* Toured St. Paul breweries with Maggie and Becky on the Brews & Buses adventure with Get Knit
* Went to the Twins home opener with my girl Christina
* Took a million pictures of the cats
* Did some home improvement projects like painting a chalkboard wall and hanging shelves for the cats (two of which fell off the wall, one of which Marvel was sitting on when it happened)
* Celebrated the love of Erin and Kyle and made a bunch of new friends at the reception
* Took photo booth pictures in a VW van turned into a photo booth. Real life, people.
* Volunteered for a residence life conference at NDSU over Memorial Day weekend
* Threw Liz an epic 25th birthday party where we marathon-watched Avatar the Last Airbender for 3 days
* Saw the International Space Station in the sky
* Took Marvel outside on a leash multiple times. Big mistake as now he wants to go outside all the time. Oh well.
* Watched the Twins get beaten by the Brewers (who were the worst team in their league at the time) but it was okay because it pleased my boyfriend and made for an extra special birthday (but secretly it is very upsetting that we lost... two games in a row)
* Started watching The West Wing on Netflix- it is probably one of the best shows that was ever on TV and I'm only on season 2.
(this started as a list of just a few things but I've been busy so it turned into more than a few... #sorrynotsorry)
Saturday, January 3, 2015
New Year (of life) Resolutions
For the past few years, I've made a list of things to do before my next birthday. Turns out it is REALLY HARD to do 26 things before I turn 27... or maybe I'm just thinking too big. Who knows.
I don't make New Year's Resolutions any more because I never follow them. But I decided to try "New Year of Life" Resolutions for my 27th year.
All of these start with D! It makes me happy and I like this list because of it. We'll see how this goes...
I don't make New Year's Resolutions any more because I never follow them. But I decided to try "New Year of Life" Resolutions for my 27th year.
All of these start with D! It makes me happy and I like this list because of it. We'll see how this goes...
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