From Starting Goals to Next Month Goals

To me, the last week of January has seemed to take forever to get here. Ever since the 20th, the days have been dragging on to me. Now we're finally to the last day, and I'm pretty excited! New month, new start. Sure, everyday should be a new start, but it just seems more official at the beginning of a month. Truth be told, I've started to work on some of my goals already.
What about my other goals you ask? Well of course I've been thinking about them! I've noticed that I've been making a lot of them... so I'll talk about that. First of all, let's start with my overall college goals or what I like to call them: The List.

1. Get a Degree.Just seven and a half more terms to go! Ha. I think I'm on the right track though. I've pretty much figured out what my schedule is going to be for the rest of my college days, which means my Senior year is going to be crammed full of journalism. We'll see how that goes.

2. Not Gain the Dreaded Freshman Fifteen.
The more I've read about college weight gain, the more I've seen about Sophomore year being the year of the gains. Okay, maybe I'm making that up. The point is, weight gain is a big thing that can happen any year. Luckily for me, that hasn't happened. During vacation it creeped up a bit, and shot back down. Eh, that's kind of what happens when you get back to eating smart.

3. Study Abroad.
We all know how that's working out. I just want the person in charge to send me the financial info...

4. Stay Out of Debt.
The amount I've spent this school year... Yikes. Unfortunately, a lot of the things I've spent money on are necessary. Fortunately, there are a lot of things that aren't necessary and I can work on cutting them out. (Funny thing is, I calculated my spending without groceries/books and got a figure very similar to last year's spending.)

5. Get Good Grades
The funny thing is, I was looking at the last time I talked about this and was nervous how my grades would be affected in the upcoming year. My grades slipped a touch from As to A-s last term, but I think my grades have stayed alright. Still need to strive towards the good one though!

6. Make Friends.
I've been getting to know people. I've been getting involved. Friends? I don't know if I can officially say that yet. It's a process.We'll see how it works out.

7. Blog Every Day.
I said that this would change, and it did. I don't blog every day, but I do most days. However, if a blog isn't in the cards for the day, so be it. I'm not going to stress out about it. I think the goal now is to try blogging better. A year into it, and I'm still rough.

I think my goals are doing okay for now. Now, my December/January Goals: Spend less time on the computer and Don't spend money on gum/soda. For the first goal... Hm. Not so good. I have got to seriously back away, but it's even harder this term when so many of my assignments are online! The second one I managed to do pretty well with. No spending during Dec. because it wasn't necessary, but two little slips during January. One soda, one water bottle because I couldn't find mine. What a dumb excuse.

As for my New Year's goals, I'm doing alright. Room for improvement, but we'll work on that.
Here are my February goals:

You probably can't read them, but they are 1.Only eat out once 2.Use up my punch card for the REC center 3.Only 2 hours on the computer a day that isn't homework 4. See January goal.
The fifth one isn't on there, but it's to take Calcium and Vitamin D daily. I'm really low on both of them, so it would be good to get used to taking them.

I'd talk about them more, but I've already rambled for quite awhile. I'll just leave it at that for now.

What are your goals for February?

Weight Loss Blogs, and Why We Read Them (Or at Least Why I Read Them)

I forgot to say anything yesterday, but thanks for the studying abroad support! Y'all rock.

When I first starting blogging, one of the types of blogs that seemed to catch my eye was weight loss blogs. The typical story for these blogs goes like this: They start a blog in hopes of tracking their weight countdown and having some emotional support. They go through their struggles, they go through incredible losses. Many times, they plateau, other times they finally reach maintenance. They open up about why they got to be that size, why it's taken so long, and eventually stat to open up themselves.
I know that I'm not the only one who fancies these blogs, they receive hundreds if not thousands of hits. Why are these blogs so popular?

For one thing, they seem to be the majority of blogs. I know many blogs that have transitioned from weight loss to healthy living, and a lot of them I've forgotten were even about weight loss in the first place. Really, the biggest reason why (scuse the pun) is because it affects so many people. If you're not overweight yourself, you know someone who is. Or a lot of people who are.

However, I think the main reason for the appeal of these blogs are the feel-good movie feelings around them. They've struggled, and as you learn more about them their story becomes something you're involved in. You want them to do better. You want them to reach their goals. It's part of the appeal in the blogging world: You don't actually know the people online, yet you feel some sort of connection to them. It helps if their writing is intriguing.

In my own case, I've never had a big problem with weight. I've mentioned it before, but for most of my life I've been average. I lost 15 lbs my senior year of high school, and then made a goal to not gain the Freshman Fifteen during my college career. Heck, that means even my blog has hints of weight related to its origin. I'll talk more about that goal tomorrow, with all of my other goals I've made. Still, food affects me. One of the weird things that has changed as I've gotten older are my tastes. Some foods I used to think were disgusting actually sound pleasant now, and that includes both healthy and unhealthy food. I now think potato salad tastes decent, but I also think broccoli isn't that bad.

I make sure to eat healthily and eat fruits and veggies. Funny thing is, my diet has VASTLY improved since I've started college, despite the unhealthy tendencies a college education may bring. Honestly, part of this makes me a little sad. I used to be able to make a meal out of junk food, now I just can't do it without feeling a haze. One summer, I would make a meal out of Ben and Jerry's. Yeah, ridiculous. Teenagers can do that, and not have to eat anything else for hours. At least that happened for me. (Don't worry, this wasn't a daily occurrence. It happened like, three times during one summer.)
I've even gotten a lot less structured. I eat when I'm hungry, and I don't if I'm not. I used to stuff myself just if things tasted good. Why waste a morsel? Not so much now.

As for my cooking skills? Well.... we'll get into that later.

Do you read weight loss blogs? Why? Or, are you a weight loss blogger yourself?

Being Studious

Last year in the dorms, I lived in a very... academic setting.

Oh, who am I kidding? We were nerds. Due to the fact that there wasn't a lot to do, Sundays would be full on study days. The common room usually had everyone sitting around doing their homework, and many of us were getting a lot done. We pretty much had competitions to see who could get the most homework for the week done. Many of these times we would finish a whole week's worth of homework. Like I said, nerds.

Lately, I've been a lot less studious it seems. It's not to say I'm not getting my homework done- believe me, I am- but it's almost like my high school mentality wants to kick in again.

I suppose there are other reasons to my mentality change. Having to grocery shop, being away from a common study area, more social events in my life... Still, they're just excuses.

Another thing that might be affecting me is the lack of a support group. In the dorms, I could go out and study with others. Now, it's different. I'm in HUGE classes where I don't even see people I might know, and you have to actually make plans to meet for studying. I'll admit it- Even now into the second term, I still feel like I don't have a lot of friends. Sure I know people, but I don't know where I stand with people. I'm socially awkward to a fault, but that's a post for another day. The whole point is just another excuse.

Since I'm transferred here, I haven't done that much worse. I have done worse though, now that I look at it. At WOU, I got two A-s, three B+s, and one B. (I'm not including the summer classes) The rest were all As. Fall term, I got two As, and two B+s. Honestly though, if "worse" is a 3.5 GPA, I definitely think I'm okay.

Still, I don't want to slide. Being studious is what got me into this school. Being studious will help me get into the Journalism program (Though if is the GPA is 2.9 to get in, I still think I'm okay) Being studious can help me get scholarships. Hopefully.

And that's what I have to say about that! Another week begins. Let's make it a good one! Not sayin' this last week wasn't good, I just want another good week.

Were you studious in college? If you were, was it at the very beginning or near the end?

The Exciting News Covered in Worry

You know how I've been constantly talking about studying abroad? Well, I guess that and running. Anyway...

I got into the program that I applied for. Hooray? Yes, of course, but there are things in the process that have made me nervous.

Truthfully, I was accepted on Monday into the program. I didn't tell anyone until Wednesday when I told my sister. I waited until Friday to tell my mom. Why have I been so hesitant to say so?
Of course for me, it's been because of finances.
I constantly worry about money, even if I shouldn't worry as much. And studying abroad takes a big chunk of money. Recently, I've had other reasons to think more about how I spend money. Those recent worries have made me reconsider if I should even go. I always worry, "Will I have enough?" Sure, I would most likely be able to get help from my parents. However, I'd like to get as little help as possible from my parents, simply because I hate to ask them for money. I feel guilty. They've already supported me so much, it would be unfair to ask them for help on a trip that I alone would go on.

Now, I've looked at it a bit more. More than my obsessive analysis of it before. It seems that I'll be able to pay for it myself, but there are a few details to work out including trying to get money other ways.

Therefore for February on, I'm going to work on spending as little as possible. On average, I've gone out for dinner 4-5 times a month for food. Now I'm going to allow myself to eat out once. Even fewer movies than usual, and I didn't even watch that many before. Keep searching for jobs, find other ways to earn cash. Every little bit counts.

The moment where I had a bit of a revelation came while I was talking to my sister the other day. I don't remember exactly what she said, but she said something along the lines of, "You should be thankful for the experience. You worked really hard to get the application together, and you should be excited about it."
She's right. I should be excited that I was accepted. I shouldn't let the worry of finances shadow the excitement of traveling abroad (though I still need to worry about it). Sometimes, I just need to calm the freak down.

That's that. If all goes according to plan, I'm studying abroad next fall in London. Yup. Besides, I'm getting more financial information emailed to me next week. I can start re-worrying about it then.

Have you ever learned exciting news that was blanketed by another fear?

The Obsession with Writing Things Down

Welp, it's the weekend. Yuppers. I always get so excited, and then don't know what to do with myself. ...Then, by the time it's over I'm wondering where the time went.

I have a confession. I obsessively write things down. I think the whole thing started out with writing down my spending habits. I decided when starting college I would write down every item I would spend money on. Alright, maybe it started out with getting my debit card earlier that summer because I wanted to make sure I always knew how much I had in my account. I've heard the horror stories. Okay, I'm getting a bit distracted but know that it all started out with finances.

This thing has fallen into a river, and I still use it.

At this point, I was starting to become much more neurotic. I was (or at least student loans were) paying for this education, so I had to make sure I knew when things were due and when to get them done. Thankfully, that was taken care of with the new free planner that my school gave me. (Nice thing about smaller schools? They give you free planners. Yeah, not so much here.) If you're counting, there's currently two places where I'm writing things down.

My next planning resource came to me from Christmas. I had received a little notebook from my cousin for a Secret Santa gift. I mentioned it a bit here. I thought like most of the notebooks I have, I would start filling it out and forget about it in ten pages. I now have about ten pages left in it. I've written a lot of things in that little notebook, including:

• Information about transferring, studying abroad, and requirements for them.
• Class schedules, percentages, big assignments
• To do lists of all kinds, including some grocery lists
• Spending habits, overall money situations
• Meal planning
• Outfits I wore
• Running schedules
• Potential dream jobs, dream travel destinations, dream whatevers.

Yeah, I've used it a lot.

Recently, I've grabbed another little composition book (similar to my spending one) for scheduling the hours of the day. As in,writing down times when I have things going on so I can figure out things around it. Not like I don't have a planner, but it gives me more of a visual of the hours.

Finally, there's the OCD pages. This habit started in fall of 2010, and it involves notebook paper. Y'see, sometimes I like to add random things up. Multiple times. Like the estimated cost of studying abroad. Or scheduling classes for my college career. Be warned, you are about to see some A Beautiful Mind type craziness out of me:

Yeah. I've written on dozens of papers like this. Looking at it yourself, you probably wouldn't know what all of the calculations were. Hell, I hardly do. That's why I've written some of them over and over, because I forget which is which.
I'll admit, this is probably a bit insane. Whatever, it's how I do.

If you were counting, that's five separate things that I write in/on. I'm starting to see a little more crazy in me. Concerning.

"Wouldn't you be more organized if you wrote everything down in one area?" You'd think, but I don't believe so. Each thing has its own meaning, its own reason. The rest of my random thoughts go in the big notebook, and I carry all of these around with me 90% of the time. It may be a bit crazy, but I like it.

That's all from me tonight. Hopefully I haven't scared anyone off.

Are you an obsessive list maker? Do you write a lot of things down?

Running Funk

Hello! The week is almost over, and I have a surprisingly free weekend! Huzzah! (Well, compared to last weekend.)

Recently, running has not been clicking with me. Sure, I've been running. However it hasn't been as nice as before. As usual (as of late), I wasn't in the mood to run. Still I knew that afterwards I would be happy I did it. During my runs though, I've been feeling iffy. Iffy because I'm pushing myself and I don't seem to be getting faster. Iffy because I think I'm actually starting to go slower. Iffy because I'm getting flashbacks to cross country during high school where I was slower than everyone else, and the same thing is happening here in Track Town.

I like being known as a runner. Not the slower runner, but just a runner. Pretty much everyone I talk to runs way faster than me, and it's bringing me down. Maybe that's why running has been feeling so icky lately. I know pace shouldn't matter, but it does. Especially since I've been slowing down. I'm pushing and pushing, but nothing seems to be working.

The thing is, I love how running makes me feel after I run. I love races. Then why has running sucked so much? Why am I running slowly? I'm not over training, so I don't know what's wrong. I just want to get my groove back.
The other thing is, I want to be a runner. I read a thing that said a good percentage of people who start running regularly quit in about a year. I've been running continuously for a year and three month. I want to have as many running anniversaries as I can.

Besides that, not much else to say. I seriously need to do my laundry but I'm making excuses like 1. My soap is over at my aunt's house (I hope) 2. I don't want to pay for it now that I can't do it at my aunt's anymore and 3.I don't want to hang around in a laundry room for a few hours. Yet, I now have no clean running clothes, and I need some before Saturday. Pish. Excuses.

I hate to be a downer! May happier posts be in the future. If it means anything, I had a good day. A few bumps, but nothing awful. Heck, that's life!

My cousin is going to be playing down here tomorrow, so that should be fun!

What do you do when you're in a running funk?

The Gum Situation

You ever have one of those days where it just disappears from you? Whew! I know today was certainly one of those days.

As of today, I am officially out of gum.

I know, this isn't terrifying to you. Eh, it's gum you say. However for me, it's a big deal.
I'm constantly chewing gum, and it's because I'm constantly in a munchy state. I like having a sweet taste in my mouth to occupy it.

For Christmas, I received a giant pack o' gum. That pack is empty. Yes, I realize I have a problem. Will I buy more? No. I'm going to try to not spend any more money on gum. It's like cigarettes. Useless, and a waste of money. For me at least.

Hmm, this is sort of like my goal not to buy anymore soda. Which I did not forget about, but as I said before was a two-month goal. So... in a few days, we'll see how that turned out.

I'm gonna miss gum. Sigh.

Are you a gum chewer? Fruity or minty? I prefer fruity myself, but it loses its flavor so fast.

The World of Breakfast

Tonight I went to a restaurant called Off the Waffle with some APO people. Breakfast for dinner? Completely acceptable.

They serve pretty much just waffles, all with different toppings. Some are sweet, some are savory, some are a mix of both. All of the waffles are probably quite tasty, but for my first "Off the Waffle" waffle, I decided to go for a sweet treat.

Another reason for the sweet instead of savory was because of how I view waffles. Waffles are something that have to be sweet. Drizzled with syrup, topped with melting chocolate chips... That's just how they have to be eaten! Chicken and waffles simply sounds crazy to me. Syrup covered chicken just seems weird.

Now, I'm all for some combos of savory and sweet. I love bacon and maple doughnuts. French fries dipped in shakes are scrumptious. So why can't I get on board with the savory waffle? The same goes for pancakes. Actually, I'm more of a pancakes girl myself.

As for breakfast in general, I tend to go towards a more savory side. If I don't have protein, I usually get hungry. Strangely enough, I was pretty satisfied after my waffle though. Hm. Anywho, I digress. Truthfully I would always order a sweet breakfast when the event arises. Alas, I tend to go with some protein instead. Maybe next time I'm in C-town at the Broken Yolk, I'll try that giant cinnamon roll.

Almost every morning I have toast/English muffin with peanut butter and jam. Tomorrow, I'm trying something different. I'm trying a protein smoothie. We'll see how that turns out. Seeing as I bought English muffins, I'm not sure how well this will turn out.

What type of breakfast do you usually crave?

Time to Run?

It's another one of those "Let's talk about running!" days. Sorry if that's not your vibe.

Being a student, it seems to be easier to schedule in workouts. There tend to be random chunks of time that are in between classes, so you don't have to do it before work/after work. Due to how my schedule works, I usually run in the afternoons during the week.
Sometimes though, you run into a day like today, where you don't have the time to run until 5:00PM. When it's dark. And you tend to not run during said time.

Mainly, I was freaked out about the fact that it was dark, and someone could attack me. But you know what? It was FINE. Worrying over nothing, as usual. Especially since there were quite a few lights outside, so I never was truly in the dark.
Really, the biggest concern I had with this run was if it was going to be as crappy as my Saturday run. Saturday was AWFUL. I left too soon after I ate because of time constraints, and I wanted to hurl for the majority of the run. The overwhelming smell of bacon from restaurants did not help. However, today's run was delightful.

I'm considering doing early morning runs soon. On Tuesday/Thursdays, I don't have class until 8:30 (HA) so I have an extra half hour in the morning. I would get up a little earlier (Perhaps a half hour, 15 minutes) and wait to take a shower, but I think it would be a good idea. If you're an early morning runner, can you give me any tips?

Other than that, not much else to say. It's one of those days.

Do you ever run early in the morning/late at night? What time is your favorite time to run at?

Scheduled Eating Times

One thing that has made me believe I am not a college kid is my need for food. Perhaps it sounds a little strange, but many college kids I know tend to be able to go without food for quite some time. I've had conversations where college kids have said, "Oh. I guess I forgot to eat today. Huh."

HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?

I don't know. I just don't. When I get hungry, it affects everything. Now I don't get hangry like my sister, but here are a few things that happen to me:

• Become very cold.
• Shakey
• Lack of concentration

Pretty much I can hardly think. Imagine my surprise when today I:
Ate breakfast at 9:00 AM
Ate lunch at 1:30 PM
Ate dinner at 9:00 PM

Can you figure out where I was emotionally at 9:00 PM? Just a touch irritable.

I used to be very structured on what times I ate. Thankfully I've worked past that, but not until 9:00 PM. Goodness.

One of the reasons why it's bad to get to an extremely hungry point is because you'll over-eat. Honestly today though, I didn't freak out. I ate normally. Nice.

So, who's not ready for the week to start? Just me? Alright then.

Can you go for long stretches of time without eating? Do you eat at designated times?

First Day of Filming

It's not you being old. Actually working through work is an extremely helpful tool in the learning process, I agree.

Anywho, hello! What an interesting day it's been.

Today we had our first day of filming on Duck TV! How exciting. It felt quite professional, even though it was just a few college kids. Still, I thought it was exciting.

One of the things I learned today was why I happened to get the lead role. I was told, "Most of the people trying out were theatre kids, with over the top actions. Your performance was more subdued, and more suitable for the television. Well, that certainly got me excited, especially since I've been critiqued for being too over-the-top. Perhaps I'm learning? I'm not sure.

I've learned I like being on a set. I like hearing critiques about what I can do better for a scene. It's fun. Especially if you're in your pajamas.

The truth is though that I'd still like to get more experience in production, simply because I find it fascinating. Still, I have no experience in it. I should get on that.

Another thing I discovered today? No one really knows about Duck TV. Actually, this wasn't much of a discovery, since I hardly knew what it was before I jumped into it. Sure, it's not that well known. But it's an interesting experience, and simply experience in general. Experience in something useful? We'll see.

That's pretty much it. Tomorrow we're filming again, and hopefully we get everything done then. We have until the 29th, but still. It's nice to have a feeling of completion.

In other news, I'm getting a lot better at names. Remembering them, but prononciation? Not so much. Oh dear.

What's an interesting experience you had in college that wasn't necessarily school-related, yet was only available in the college setting?

School Online

We're living in a technological age. There's no denying that. Because of this, the whole world is adjusting to this fact to fit in. That includes school.

A lot of my classes are making the move towards doing homework online. Personally, I hate this because of a lot of reasons. For one thing, I can hardly concentrate once I've moved to the computer. I frantically search the web in order to distract myself.

The other reason is... well, I kind of hate the instant gratification. Here, let me explain:

For many of my classes, we find out how we did on a test or assignment online as soon as we complete it. A lot of the time though we end up having to wait for WHY we got so-and-so answer wrong. However, there's also another element to it. Remember when you took a class, and you desperately wanted to find out what you got? You hated waiting, but it almost made it worth more when you did. That's me at least.

All I know is that I would rather have a printed out assignment than a computer one. I just have such a difficult time concentrating. There are so many places online where you can waste your time!

Do you like having schoolwork online, or would you rather have it the old-fashioned way?

Natural Disasters

It's nice to see we're mostly all on the big unknown side of life, or at least not 100% sure of what to do. It's reassuring.

Some random notes in my life:

• Busy day number 2! It's going to be like this a lot now. Tonight I had the meeting with my group for Duck TV, and the show I'm in? I'm the main character. WHAT. How did that happen?!? Obviously, I'm excited. It's not sketch comedy like I thought, it's a story. It's a bit odd to explain, but I'll be sure to talk about it in the future. Filming is happening this weekend!
• Tomorrow? Tomorrow I am gonna pass out. I haven't been sleeping well, and I finally figured out why. Way too much light floods into my room. The roommates have been leaving the hall light on, and it shines through my door. I just didn't realize that it could be messing with me.
• The next step of my Study Abroad Application is happening! I can't say much, but I'm excited! Also, I need to find odd jobs. My hours are wacko now.
• I was going to go grocery shopping on Tuesday, and I'm kind of glad I didn't now. Apparently a couple was held up at gunpoint the day at my store that day. Perhaps I'll go to the other one... Eek.

Where I come from, there aren't a whole lot of natural disasters to worry about. We don't have hurricanes, tornadoes, crazy blizzards... usually we're pretty chill. We're supposed to have a giant earthquake, but they've been saying that for decades. The only problem we've really dealt with has to do with what type of weather we're known for: rain. Most of the time rain doesn't cause that much of a problem, it's just obnoxious. There comes a time when the rain can cause some big stuff though.

Enter: The Flooding.

That's not where I am right now. My town is surprisingly okay, despite being lower elevation. The scary thing is, that's my home town. The last time Oregon had a flooding like this was about 6 years ago, and it was no where near this bad.
I was envious of them earlier when they had snow and we had rain, but now I am not.
At the same time, I kind of wish I could go canoeing in it.

Okay, I have got to get to bed. Just have to wait until 5 to be completely free tomorrow... Huzzah.

What natural disasters do you have to deal with in your town?

Following Your Dreams

Wednesday. OH man. They are a busy one. Three meetings in a row? Yup yup. (That's not the only reason, but still.)

Earlier today I was reading another one of those "inspirational follow your dreams" stories. You may have heard of them. It's where after years of being miserable in a job, the person quits and does what they've always dreamed of. I've read about it in at least three blogs. The whole point of the story is that you shouldn't have to suffer through a job you hate for the rest of your life, because you could be gone the next day. Follow your dreams. Open that shop you always dreamed of. Become a full time blogger.

People see stories like this all of the time, and sometimes they go for it. I respect it. I also know that you have to be smart about it though.
Maybe it's realistic, maybe it's pessimistic. Still, a lot of the times when I think about things like this I think of Kirsten Wiig's bakery in Bridesmaids. You know, her dream that went out of business. I've heard of the same thing happening in real life. However, at the same time I don't think that people plan enough ahead for their dreams sometimes. You have to save. You have to have a good chunk of money just in case things don't pan out.

I fully intend to follow my dreams. There's only one problem: I'm not really sure what that is. Sure, there are jobs that I dream of, but I don't have a lot of skills in the field. I'd love to be on SNL, or be a writer for comedy but... I can't write, and I'm an okay actor. The whole Duck TV thing was taken down a peg when at the meeting we were told that they didn't have enough actors... so yeah.
I'd also just like to work with producing a show. I like planning out my days too.
However, my dreams are always changing. Heck, two years ago I wanted to be a cartoonist. Hence the iffiness on dreams.

Is it weird to say I'm still deciding on my dreams? Because I still am. Well, I guess that's why I'm trying things.

'Scuse me, I have to go pass out now.

What's your dream job?

First Impressions, and How To Fail at Them

First Impressions. They can make or break you, can't they? Well, that's pretty much what we've been told all of our lives. Yet, I have had experiences where my first impression wasn't good but changed for the better. Still for the most part? First impressions affect you and your judgement.
I constantly think about first impressions, because I'm currently at a point in my life where I have to make a lot of first impressions. Trying out for something is a first impression. Job interviews are a first impression. Making friends is an obvious one. One which I still suck at.

I tend to over think the first impression, but sometimes my first impression can be a hilarious blunder. Really, 9 out of 10 times my first impression is awkward or just plain ridiculous.

Let me tell you a little tale of a first impression I made today that I happen to find ridiculous, even at the cost of my own pride.

The story starts with the fact that rest of The Valley (the general area of Oregon where I live) has snow. My town? Does not.
What we are greeted with is the delightful presence of rain. Yup. Just how Oregon winters usually are.
Frankly, I did not want to go running in the rain. It was cold, grey, and unpleasant no matter which way you looked at it. However, I got my butt out there and ran 4 miles. (and messed up my phone for awhile. It happens)

Coming back to the apartment I see one of my room mates leaving the apartment. I ask her what's up, and she says she's off to hang out with a friend. I bid her adieu and toss on a dry shirt with no bra. Hey, there's no one else in the apartment, and I'll go back to my room in a bit.

As I walk back to the kitchen, I hear my room mate come back in.
"Hello! This is my friend!"
"Uh...Hello."
"Hi, I'm so and so."

When she was looking for an umbrella, I assumed she was going over somewhere else to hang out. Apparently not before she and her friend needed to stop back in. Oh, the shirt I was wearing was one of those sports materials shirts, that happens to show lines of anything that's close to the fabric. Yup. Doing an awkward model hunch to hide the surprise under the shirt was necessary.

Chalk one up for another successful first impression.
Speaking of, I need to write a cover letter for a job. Hm. Not something I'd like to do.

What's one of the weirdest first impressions you've ever made?

An Off Day Surprise

Life is getting good, and life is gonna get busy soon. I'm happy about it.

Seeing as it was MLK day and we had no school, I stumbled towards the vacation mode again. Thankfully, I think I'm fading out of it. Club meetings are starting up again, events and such are getting set up... we're starting to get into schedule mode. Aw yeah.

One of the things that I've added onto my plate? Which I've kind of been hinting at?

Well, there's this thing called Duck TV here where they produced 30 minute shows. The shows include news, sports, and sketches. Guess who tried out last week? And guess who is now a cast member of the comedy sketch part?

Yep! I'm so excited! It'll be a great experience seeing a show put together, and I bet it'll be fun!
Honestly, when I saw the email this morning I wasn't sure if it was real. (I didn't sleep very well, so I was in a haze). But it was, and so... we'll see how this turns out!

Any exciting updates in your lives?

2012 Cascade Half Marathon

Well, today was certainly interesting.

Today was the 13th Annual Cascade Half Marathon, and it started off with a bang.
Y'see, this whole winter, it hasn't snowed. Guess what day it decided to start snowing?

Yup. The day of the race. In which neither my sister nor I had any training in snow. The last time I ran in snow was last year (think way before December), so... snow was an interesting greeting.

The race started off with the snow coming down, and we weren't sure if it was going to stop. Funny thing is, it stopped about 15 minutes in. Plus, it actually got kind of warm. Therefore the layers got pretty hot for a bit.

Overall, it was a decent race... for the most part. There was just one thing that made me very angry, and it affected my whole race.
My shoelace came untied in the first mile.

This might have been a minor annoyance. Just like, "Oh, that's bothersome." But the reason I'm so ticked about it? My time was 2 hours, 20 seconds. If I didn't have to stop, I would have probably had a sub two hour race. Like last year. FFFFFFFFFFFFF-

Okay okay, I shouldn't be that irked about it. But it does irk me. Nothing I can do now. Besides, I think the weather affected my run a bit as well. I had to take little steps to make sure I didn't slip. Still a decent time.

Still, the day was more about my sister running her first half marathon! Hurrah! She finished about a minute after I did, and she felt pretty good afterwards! Weird. My legs were dead when I finished last year. They're fine now, and were fine after the race.

I then proceeded to have sweets for dinner. I really have to learn some self control around the sweets though.

As for other stuff, it's been a very award-show induced weekend. Last night watched Miss America get crowned, tonight watched The Golden Globes. Yup.

Glad I have tomorrow off though. Ah, the joys of school.

What's something annoying that's happened to you in a race?

The Reason For Music

It's the weekend! Huzzah! ...Now what?

Lately, I've been running with headphones again. I know I can run without them, but they've helped me discover something delightful: I tend to run faster with music. It's because of the beat. Trying to keep to the beat of the upbeat song, I start going faster. It can be exciting.
Music with running is a good thing for another reason, and that is distraction.

That's the reason I listen to music usually. I like having it for a distraction, like in the car or walking to class. It's for that same reason why I can't listen to music with words while reading. If music is playing, I think about the words in the songs, not on the page.

I wish I could be more passionate about music, but that's not the case. Once, I saw a guy at a concert who was simply listening. No dancing, no chatting to a neighbor. Just listening. I think that's a little cool.

For now, I'll stick with the running music.

What do you listen to music for?

Bigger Place, Less of a Safety Net

Ah man, I can't wait for it to be the weekend. I'm excited, but I don't know why. Possibly because of the half marathon, but also just because there's something about weekends that seems... exciting.

Lately, I've been thinking about small areas versus large areas. Mainly the movement from small towns to bigger areas.

For most of my life, I've been from a small area. My hometown was a town where every person knew everyone else's name. It was easy to get recognition for things you did, easy to get to know others. You're surrounded by these people all of the time, so it's quite easy to become friends. That was the same with the sports and other activities. Even if you weren't amazing at a certain activity, it was still kind of easy to get a part in things or be on the Varsity Team. (Well, except for cross country. I suck at speed.)

The point is, you were in a safe zone. You had a safety net of friends, activities, and such just because there was nothing else to do. It wasn't hard work to get these things, they just fell into your lap.

Moving to Monmouth, it was harder to get things you wanted. The dorms helped with friends (took me a little too long to realize that), but other activities were showing me that I wasn't as amazing as I thought. Have you seen other people act? They're better than you. Have you looked at other people's art? It's incredible.
Still, the dorms constantly had activities going on so it was easy to get involved.

There's the story of someone being on top of the world while in a small town. They get every role, every top position, everybody loves them. Then, they move to a big city and get lost in the fray. They become a loser. A stereotype of this that you see in movies is the jock whose glory days were in high school.

Now I'm in an even bigger town, and I don't have a built-in house of potential friends. I have to compete to get noticed. I have to work to get to know people. However, I'm not saying I'm the jock in that small town story. Like I was near jock status. Instead, moving to a bigger town is giving me a much needed kick in the pants. It's humbling, sure, but it's humbling that is needed. Honestly, because I'm gradually coming to this realization it's going to help me after school. The rejections hurt, but they help me grow. The first meetings might be awkward, but they're helping me be... less awkward.

Anyone can move to the big city. It's how you let it affect you is what matters. You can wimp out after a few tries, or you can push forward. Work harder. Be a better you than you had to be when it took less effort. It's your choice.

However, there's nothing wrong with the small town. There are a ton of people who live in small towns because they love it. On the other hand, I know that if I went back now... I'd be regretful every minute. Like the sad jock.

Hopefully I don't sound preachy, but it's just how I'm feeling as of late. Also, I wrote way too much. Eh.

What about you? Do you like the bigger cities or the smaller towns?

Dear Diary

 One of the classes that I'm looking forward to this term is Theatre. Part of the reason is to get back into acting, which at the same time terrifies me. For this class, we are to write in a journal. It's mostly for class things, but it's also a personal journal to write in. She's explained that she's not going to read certain things intimently, she's only really going to skim. Therefore, we can write to our heart's desire.

Blogging is very different from writing in a journal.When I first started, I didn't know that. Well, I sort of did but I didn't know how different.

The biggest difference is the obvious one, and that is that you're writing for an audience in a blog. Even if you have no readers, even if you write just to write... you still have that idea in the back of your mind that someone else might be reading it. That means you have to censor yourself, and your thoughts have to be at least slightly coherent.

I know I'm not the best writer, and I'm practicing at it. Still, when it comes to blogging I at least try to write something that has pleasent sounding sentences. At least in my mind. How you write can make people want to read what you say. Or, make people want to stop reading. I stopped reading a blog once because she wrote LOL! all throughout her posts. Personally, I don't have the patience to read, "Then I went to the store to buy grapefruit LOL!"

The other thing that the audience does? It makes the writer censor themselves. Like I said before, anyone could read your blog. I have family members that read my blog. Would certain things be bad to say? Of course. Sometimes your audience is like that too. It's okay to know small details in a person's life, but some facts the whole world doesn't need to know about you.

I'm kind of excited about this little journal. I don't keep a journal currently, so it'll be nice to ramble and rant somewhere. (More than I do here.) The last few times I've kept journals were only because I started to have stupid crushes, and they died along with the crushes. They're also very embarrassing.

After I talk about how I should write coherently in posts, I write a rambly one? Good gosh, when will I learn?

Do you keep a journal? When was the last time you did?

Returning From Far Away Lands

So we can agree that schedules are good, irregular sleeping habits are bad? Alright then.

The most recent update in my life is that my other room mate is back. I haven't had a chance to talk to him (not that it would really matter) due to the fact that when I saw him, he had passed out on his bed with the door open. I bet I would have been like that too.

You see, my other room mate informed me that Hao Chen was having some difficulties with his visa when trying to get back to America. Apparently, his transcript printed out wrong so that what appeared were only 4 credits, not 12. 4 credits does not equal a full-time student, thus causing concern. Now it seems that everything has turned out fine. Which is good, because that would not be fun to deal with if he wasn't able to get back to Oregon.

I'm glad he was able to get back, but at the same time I'm not too enthralled with having the two back together again. When only one of the room mates is around, they'll actually (possibly) take notice of my existence. When they're both back? I'm just a shadow in the house. Get what you paid for I suppose, but it's just a bit lonely.

Travelling in the same country can have its own problems, I can't imagine what issues international travel would have. Yes, I've travelled internationally, but it's only either been with an organized group or in the country right next door. The biggest mishap I've had with travel is being stuck in Arizona for a couple of days because our flight was cancelled.

Still adjusting to the schedule, but making progress. ...I still have some homework to do though. It's due at 4:00pm at least, so there's that.

What's the worst travel mishap you've ever had?

Getting Back To The Schedule

I keep on thinking that it's Tuesday. That's not a good way to start off the week.

Today there are a few little things I learned.

• I am terrible with grammar. I use the word anywho which isn't an actual word, but I acknowledge it. I shame myself.
• Apparently my body understands when I'm starting classes again, so it decides to wake me up every half hour after 3:00 AM until I finally decide to get up 20 minutes before my alarm.
• Hannah seems to be the only name my Theatre professor can't remember out of sixteen people. How insulting.
• Currently I'm still on vacation mentality, where being productive only happens later in the evening.
• I enjoy watching listening to people prepare food while cleaning. Hmm.
• The room in my apartment looks like a shrine to myself and running. I need pictures of other people.

One day down, four to go. It's not a bad thing, it's actually good. I mean, I'm not going to work eight hours a day. It's just strange getting on a schedule again. Not bad, just weird.

How do you feel when you get back on a schedule?

Everybody's Cooking for the Weekend

Once again, the weekend comes to a close. And once again, I'm mentioning that it's coming to a close.

Not a whole lot to say tonight, only thinking about how I spent the weekend. A lot of time wasted, but at the same time a lot of preparing completed!

Case in point? I now have five servings of soup made up, veggies chopped, and chicken cooked up for at least 4 meals. Although at the same time, I've come to realize that I have no supplies ready to make really anything else. Still trying to plan out meals. It's difficult for someone who isn't used to cooking.
I went over to my sister's house to help her make something called beanoa. (Like quinoa) It was basically veggies, quinoa and peanut sauce, but it was delicious. Funny thing is, our batch didn't have beans in it. The thing about the beanoa was that she had bought most of the ingredients specifically for that recipe. Before college, I did that a few times to practice cooking for school.

Now, I'm trying to find multiple meals with the same ingredients, so it's cheaper. It's hard. Perhaps there's a system to it? For now, I'm hoping that chicken I cooked is versatile. Next time I go grocery shopping, I need to find some stuff so I'm in charge of the next sibling-meal-time. It's a new concept from my sister. All I know is that I have to make something she wants to eat, and I don't think my soup or chicken are going to cut it. (Besides, the soup? Not that amazing. It's okay.)

The soup. I told you, it's hideous.

Speaking of food, a funny thing happened to me today. I ate completely vegetarian. Weird. For me at least.

Hmm. Seems I ended up rambling for a bit of there. Didn't mean to sound so journal-y. Ah well, it happens.

How was your weekend?
How do you plan weekly meals?

Making Hideous Foods

So... school. Yeah. I'm not ready for you yet. Even though I had a long break. I'm ready for routine, but homework and studying? Not fun.

Ha, but it is about time to get off my lazy arse and get back to the swing of things.

Speaking of swinging, I swung back by my house (or parent's house) to get a few more of my things. It's one of the nice things about living not-so-far away from college. After college though? Hoping to go a bit away... at least for a little while.
Truthfully? I wanted to get in one last normal shower before I had to take one in my apartment. Eugh.

While I was home for a few hours, there was one thing I was able to get done:

Brew some coffee! Just kidding. I made soup! It's called curried lentil soup, and I'm excited to try it! I have yet to do so, simply because I've heard that things made with lentils are usually better after at least a day. As for how it looks? Well, not very appetizing. The color is a brownish green, and it's sort of sludgy. I've saved you the visual... for now.
Still, I know some of the most unappealing looking meals have been some of the most delicious. I think this works for many Indian dishes. For instance, Chicken Saag is hideous, but I love it.

Also bought books today. Ouch. Most of the books were only available at this school, so online was not an option. I think it's the most I've spent on books yet.

Tomorrow is a cleaning day, and making more food day! I think I'm going to freeze half of the soups, so I'll still have three to eat. Have to have some variety though!

What hideous looking food do you love?

Back to the Apartment and Popular Posts

So I'm back in the ol' apartment. Yup. Might go back home before the start of classes, not really sure yet. Anywho...

One of my room mates is back, but the other one is still away. I suppose it's alright coming back to a not empty apartment, but at the same time it usually feels empty anyways. Good lord, that's depressing. (but true.)

Alright, my room mate is nice, just a little... lazy? I suppose that word works. She's paranoid like crazy though, thinking everyone is an intruder. Most of the time, we're on a pretty good level. She even texted me (and my mom!) happy new year. There's just one little thing that has irked me.

She happened to get the mail, and decided to separate it. I had ordered a book, and it came in the mail while I was gone. The thing is, the package that the book was in was already opened. My room mate replied, "Sorry! I thought it was mine..."
Honest mistake, right? Except this is the second time she's done this. I know it's not a big deal, but I can't help but feel a little irritated. Hannah H. does not look like Lu C. Did she even consider reading who it was sent to?

Oh, and it's nothing devious that I ordered, if that's what you're wondering. It's a book called The Fault in Our Stars, and it's a young adult novel. More on that later.

Alright, in news other than ranting, my most popular post has finally changed! For this week anyway. Y'see, my most popular post has been Fat Squirrels and Apples to Apples. Ever since it's been posted, that's what's been the most popular. Odd? Yes. The reason why? People searching the term fat squirrels. I wish I was kidding.

That post has 2,477 views for all time. The next most viewed post has 188. People really like fat animals apparently.

Well, I honestly need to get away from the computer. This post has taken a long time to write, just because I keep on getting distracted.

Bloggers, What's your most popular post?
How do you feel about other people opening your mail?

Eating Your Veggies

As school creeps closer, the planning for how I'm going to eat when I'm back to the apartment.

I spent part of today cutting up fruit and veggies, as to have them ready when I need them. One of the easiest ways to eat healthy? Cut up things in advanced. Obvious information, right? Still, we tend to forget.

One healthy habit that I want to try this term? Eating more vegetarian meals. I used to not eat very many vegetarian meals simply due to the fact that many I found didn't have very good sources of protein. For me, I need protein. If I don't, I tend to get hungry again quickly. The types of meals I saw were just a lot of cheese, or maybe only some veggies as substitutes. Not good.
However, during this last term I happened to make some veggie-only curry and you know what? It kept me satisfied. Another time vegetarian food filled me up was last year when I had a tofu wrap from WOU's cafeteria. It tasted good because it had different flavors, and more texture than mushy tofu. I just need to make vegetarian food with proteins like beans and tofu. I mean, I've already been having vegetarian meals for breakfast almost every morning.

At the same time, I don't ever want to go full on vegetarian. For one, I like meat far too much. Pulled pork? Yumm... The other reason is that I don't want to be limited on what I can eat.
I know. I KNOW. The whole vegetarian community shouts out at that comment, "You're never limited! There are plenty of ways to eat vegetarian, and you actually get a chance to be more creative!" And I agree, many vegetarians I've seen are a lot more creative with food. Still, I hate the idea of going somewhere I having to say, "Oh, I can't eat that because..." I mean, you'd never be able to be a judge on Iron Chef America!
Actually, I'd probably never be able to do that now that I'm allergic to shrimp and crab. Yes, I will bitch about that until the day I die. (Then again, what would my chances of being a judge be in the first place? I can dream, can't I?)

Anywho. Back to the whole vegetarian meals thing. I'd like to make a few more meals veggie for two reasons: Cost and health. Meat is always what adds up in my grocery list. That... and veggies. But things like lentils and garbanzo beans? Cheap cheap. At the same time, I've been seeing a lot of things talking about how it's good to incorporate vegetarian meals to improve your health.

More vegetarian meals. That's the plan.

Although in all reality, I'm probably going to end up making scrambled eggs for most meals again like last term. 'Cause I'm like a sad bachelor who happens to bake bread.

How often do you eat vegetarian/Are you vegetarian? What influences you to eat vegetarian or meat?

Winning Things and Home Alone

We've gone into the zombie state of this vacation. That's right: The concept of getting anything done is covered in a haze of laziness. I know, I have a problem.

What I don't have a problem with is winning stuff! Recently I won a giveaway over at Gingersnaps, and the prize came today.

It came with a nice little written note, some coffee samplers, coupons, and an apron, which I was planning to wear right after I opened it. ...Then five seconds later while I was baking some bread, I realized I had forgotten to put it on. I'll get it, I swear.

Recently, I was hanging in the house all by myself. No parents, no sister, just me. (I'm saying this now due to the fact that I'm no longer alone in the house. I'm not that dumb to say when I'm currently in the house alone.) Something odd happens when you're in a house by yourself. You tend to act... differently? Or maybe that's just me.

For y'see, when I've got a house all to myself I happen to walk around in the nude. Well, maybe not all of the time. It's more of an after-shower thing. Still, it's not something I'd do if there were others around. I'll nonchalantly wander the halls and just feel comfortable in the nude. If anyone else was around? I'd be covering up.

Now that I've terrified all y'all, I have to ask: What do you do differently when you're home alone? Perhaps listen to music on full blast? I'm guessing people aren't as weird as I am.

Need To See Entertainment

On the quest to becoming someone who actually knows what movies are being quoted in situations, I've been renting/checking out movies like a storm.

The thing is, I like to add to my pretentious movie cred. However, there are also many movies that aren't "critically acclaimed", but that all of my life I've heard I must see. Maybe it's quoted constantly, or maybe it's a movie that touched a lot of people. The bottom line is, it's a movie that, "I can't believe you haven't seen!"

For me, some of the movies included Moulin Rogue and Donnie Darko. There are still a lot of movies that I need to see just because, "You've got to see it!"

Here are a few of my "Need to See" movies:
Schindler's List- Okay, this is another pretentious movie cred one but my cousin shunned me for not seeing it.
Milk: I've had multiple chances, but I've almost stayed away just because I know it ends sadly. Still, a lot of people I know say it's great.
Top Gun: It's a classic!
Spaceballs: It seems to be mentioned so much, I feel a little guilty for not seeing it.
Most of the Earlier Star Wars: I've seen most of the "first" one, but I hadn't until my senior year in class. (End of the school year, mostly seniors who the teacher had nothing else to do with us.) This is shocking for me just because I've had so many friends OBSESSED with Star Wars, quoting it constantly. I played along for years... It's a bit shameful.

There are a million more, but they're in the back of my head. Soon, someone will mention another, and I'll guiltily play along with knowing what they're talking about. For now, I'll see what I can.

I checked out West Side Story, so perhaps now I can sing "I Feel Pretty", and know what it actually comes from.

What movies are ones that you "need to see"?

Having Seasons

Since it's January, it's winter time. Obviously. (Well, I suppose if you were in the southern hemisphere... I digress.) For most people, winter means cold weather and snow. It's been kind of cold over here, but there is one big thing that we've been lacking: Snow.

Usually, I don't care that much about snow. Sure snow is nice, but I tend to be apathetic to the weather. However lately, I've been wishing for some snow. Seeing other people playing in the snow is making it very tempting to frolic up to the hills.
I want to go sledding! Or perhaps snowboarding. I've only snowboarded once, but it was quite fun. I also slammed into the ground every five seconds, but I still had a good time.

Funny thing is, when I see people talking about being in warm weather during winter, I'm usually envious. I mean, I know I'll live somewhere warm for at least a little part of my life. Still, recently the idea of warm winters doesn't sound incredible.

On the other hand, hearing about the 80 degree weather at the Rose Bowl today? Definitely made me envious.

Oof. I can already tell this last week of freedom is going to go by way too fast.

Do you enjoy seasons? Or would you rather have only one type of weather?

A New Day, A New Year

Welp. It's a new year. Time to restart, refresh, and go on slightly better than usual for at least a few days.

Can my new view on life start on the second? Because I definitely didn't detoxify from all of the junk from winter break today. Some places you go, and there simply isn't any healthy food. At least not that you know of, or it's not your type of healthy food.

Already went on a run for the new year, which was nice. I'm glad I didn't do my first run of the new year on a treadmill like I'd originally planned.
I tend to try to take meaning out of the things that happen on the first day of the new year. I know the little things don't matter, but I start to thinking that they do. Does spending it with family members mean I'm going to spend a lot of time with them this year? The opposite? Does a good first run of the year mean good running for the rest of the year? Who knows.

I know I already posted a few things to work on this year. The thing is, some of those goals were a bit short term, and resolutions are supposed to be about the long run right? Right. However, I don't think these are resolutions so much as goals. This is what I want to achieve this year:

• Continue being a runner.
• Earn enough money for studying abroad.
• Stop picking at blackheads on my nose.

The last one sounds a little odd, but it's a horrible habit I have. Y'see, I have terrible blackheads on my nose, but I seem to be the only one who notices them. Granted, they just look like little black dots, but I hate them. However, I know my nose looks a lot worse when I scratch at those things. You would think this wouldn't take a lot of work, but for me it's tough.

I suppose I have one main goal for the whole year:

Live Well. Live well in the sense of health, in social life, in experiences. Simply, I'd like to live as well as possible.

Anywho, that's all from me for the eve. I best be workin' on that goal of getting back to a normal sleep schedule, eh?

Do you ever analyze the events on the first day of the new year for the whole year? Or is that just me? What did you do on the first day of the new year?