Week 1...check. I've made it, peeps. I'm down one week of grad school. I'm also down one week of Paleo. I'm happy to announce that both are going just swell.
I think I'm really going to enjoy my classes. One is a stats class. The other is is a seminar in public admin. And then the third is an online human resources one. A good mix of practical coursework and then some classical studying. I know it's just week one, so I these outlooks are subject to change. Duh. But it is definitely nice to be back in the swing of a schedule.
And Paleo? I love it. I've always been a healthy, whole food eater. But since starting this challenge, my energy has been through the roof. I'm not hungry at all. And if I do get hungry, I can eat. There's no restrictions on quantity, which for a growing girl like myself, is AWESOME. I really think that if I could choose a career and know without a doubt that it would be a success, I'd be a natural foods chef and open a restaurant. But I'm a chicken. Still though, I encourage anyone else to go start one. I'll be your first patron.
What have I eaten this week? Lots of eggs, chicken, and fish. Broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, winter squash, carrots, apples, grapefruit, cherries, bananas, blueberries, raw nuts, and anything else that's of the earth. No dandelions though. Or rattlesnake, which are both on the list of "approved" foods. Not kidding.
Anyway, after today's wod, I went to the farmer's market with my ma, which has very quickly become my Saturday morning tradition now. I love the farmer's market. No. I absolutely ADORE the farmer's market. It is like a street fair and grocery store all rolled into one. Today, however, I hit the jackpot. As I was picking out cucumbers, the vendor told me I could have all of them for $1. ONE dollar. Then he threw in all his bell peppers for another dollar! I walked away with two bags full of vegetables for two freaking dollars.
Shut. Up.
At the next place, as I was paying for my spaghetti squash, a man walked up to me and offered me a free seedless watermelon. I will give you three guesses as to what my response was to that, which really is two guesses too many.
I friggin' cleaned house. Holla. And yes, this was a highlight of my day.
It is totally the small things in life. I love it. I love today.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Stone Age Blenders
A few posts ago, I wrote about this Paleo challenge I've decided to take part in at our Crossfit affiliate. It started yesterday at 3:00. Saturday evening was epic. Arris pizza, Orange Leaf, and grape martinis, lovingly dubbed "grape time." It really doesn't get any better than that. Well, until I started feeling sick. Regardless, I've hit Paleo hard and fast and I've stayed strict. Yesterday and the majority of today I stuck to the basics: chicken, veggies, a piece of fruit here and there, raw nuts. However, tonight I came home and for some reason spent a great deal of time in the kitchen working on some Paleo banana muffins and a winter squash soup.
Yeah...it is absolutely delicious. All of it. So I called my mom.
"Mom...?"
"Yes, Amber?"
"What are you doing? I don't care. I just made caveman food. Come taste test."
And this is reason #581 why I love my mom. I played the part of the Next Food Network Star and plated my soup in a small ceramic berry bowl, complete with freshly ground pepper on top. It was picture perfect. And the almond flour muffin was sitting atop a lovely shallow glass plate. Bobby Flay would have beamed. And then asked me what the hell I was thinking. That is the most likely scenario that plays out in my head.
As for the ingredients--the muffins were baked of almond flour, eggs, bananas, cinnamon, vanilla, and not too much else. A fellow primal eater had lovingly passed on that recipe to me. The soup was more an inspiration from other recipes I'd seen. I didn't follow one to the tee, but more just went on my own path and it turned out absolutely swimmingly. Roasted acorn squash, caramelized onions and carrots, coconut milk, fresh pepper, and ginger. All pureed in the blender.
Oh. My. Gosh. I have found the holy grail of the cavemen. Because I know they loved their stone age blenders.
My cooking experience took my mind off the fact that I read ONE syllabus today and immediately wondered just when I lost my mind. Syllabus? What is a syllabus? Or a research paper. These are foreign concepts.
More later. My non-trad brain is tired and ready for my Jersey Housewives.
Yeah...it is absolutely delicious. All of it. So I called my mom.
"Mom...?"
"Yes, Amber?"
"What are you doing? I don't care. I just made caveman food. Come taste test."
And this is reason #581 why I love my mom. I played the part of the Next Food Network Star and plated my soup in a small ceramic berry bowl, complete with freshly ground pepper on top. It was picture perfect. And the almond flour muffin was sitting atop a lovely shallow glass plate. Bobby Flay would have beamed. And then asked me what the hell I was thinking. That is the most likely scenario that plays out in my head.
As for the ingredients--the muffins were baked of almond flour, eggs, bananas, cinnamon, vanilla, and not too much else. A fellow primal eater had lovingly passed on that recipe to me. The soup was more an inspiration from other recipes I'd seen. I didn't follow one to the tee, but more just went on my own path and it turned out absolutely swimmingly. Roasted acorn squash, caramelized onions and carrots, coconut milk, fresh pepper, and ginger. All pureed in the blender.
Oh. My. Gosh. I have found the holy grail of the cavemen. Because I know they loved their stone age blenders.
My cooking experience took my mind off the fact that I read ONE syllabus today and immediately wondered just when I lost my mind. Syllabus? What is a syllabus? Or a research paper. These are foreign concepts.
More later. My non-trad brain is tired and ready for my Jersey Housewives.
Friday, August 20, 2010
I hate so much about the things you choose to be.
God bless Toby Flenderson.
I've felt incredibly lazy this week. That's probably because I've BEEN incredibly lazy this week. Knowing that my life is about to get 10 times busier starting next week allows me the freedom to take spontaneous naps and watch all the reality television I want. Long live Bravo.
On a less lazy note, I've been super happy with my workouts this week. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS on Tuesday morning, so I got up and went for a run. Ever since my injury I haven't really been running regularly, mostly because it's sort of depressing to be so far away from where I was. But sitting around feeling sorry for myself isn't the way to get back to tip-top shape. It'll be hard, but I'm ready to put in the miles. That said, I did a pretty solid 9-miler and felt okay with it. That and a PR on Fight Gone Bad yesterday were probably the workout-related highlights of my week. Oh, and Fran. Can't forget about Fran.
I did make several trips to campus too. I met with Dr. Patel on Tuesday about my GA duties. I'm going to be managing the database of MPA students and moving them from one program over to another. Microsoft Access and I are apparently going to become very good friends. I'll also be assisting with clerical stuff for the program and then doing some editing for the book Dr. Patel is co-authoring. All in all, not too bad. I'll be working 1-5 every afternoon. Class will be on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I have an online class as well. Still teaching my Attack class on Monday at Ozark Fitness. Training for a marathon in October. And prepping for the Heart of America Crossfit competition in November.
And this is why I don't feel guilty for not being 110% productive this week.
Oh, and my Paleo challenge starts Sunday at 3:00. I'm positive I'll be posting my wonderful thoughts on that soon enough. I've been allowing myself whatever I want until then. Because it's gonna start to get ugly, folks. Real ugly.
So I guess for now it's back to my marathon of The Office. I'm cracking up at every episode. Like laugh out loud, crazy woman laughing. I really do think I'm hilarious.
I've felt incredibly lazy this week. That's probably because I've BEEN incredibly lazy this week. Knowing that my life is about to get 10 times busier starting next week allows me the freedom to take spontaneous naps and watch all the reality television I want. Long live Bravo.
On a less lazy note, I've been super happy with my workouts this week. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS on Tuesday morning, so I got up and went for a run. Ever since my injury I haven't really been running regularly, mostly because it's sort of depressing to be so far away from where I was. But sitting around feeling sorry for myself isn't the way to get back to tip-top shape. It'll be hard, but I'm ready to put in the miles. That said, I did a pretty solid 9-miler and felt okay with it. That and a PR on Fight Gone Bad yesterday were probably the workout-related highlights of my week. Oh, and Fran. Can't forget about Fran.
I did make several trips to campus too. I met with Dr. Patel on Tuesday about my GA duties. I'm going to be managing the database of MPA students and moving them from one program over to another. Microsoft Access and I are apparently going to become very good friends. I'll also be assisting with clerical stuff for the program and then doing some editing for the book Dr. Patel is co-authoring. All in all, not too bad. I'll be working 1-5 every afternoon. Class will be on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I have an online class as well. Still teaching my Attack class on Monday at Ozark Fitness. Training for a marathon in October. And prepping for the Heart of America Crossfit competition in November.
And this is why I don't feel guilty for not being 110% productive this week.
Oh, and my Paleo challenge starts Sunday at 3:00. I'm positive I'll be posting my wonderful thoughts on that soon enough. I've been allowing myself whatever I want until then. Because it's gonna start to get ugly, folks. Real ugly.
So I guess for now it's back to my marathon of The Office. I'm cracking up at every episode. Like laugh out loud, crazy woman laughing. I really do think I'm hilarious.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Fran is not my friend.
After spending the majority of yesterday wondering if I really was too dumb to be a graduate student, I gave up hope of figuring out how to work my school email account on my own. So I drove my butt to campus today to get help from someone who knew what they were doing. Or really just someone smarter than me. It took 2 seconds. Seriously. Oh well. I also got a new student ID and picked up keys. That's really the only reason I feel official. KEYS. To a faculty suite in Strong Hall and to the GA office.
I hope I don't lose them.
Here is something strange. I don't remember the names of academic buildings on campus. It took me about 30 seconds before I could name Temple Hall. And I still don't remember the one by Siceluff. Not Cheek, but the other one. Really.
Something else. Bearmail doesn't exist. Neither do Zipcards. But never fear. We now have Bearpass Numbers and Bearpass Email and Bearpass Cards. Well, technically, Bearpass Cards are coming next fall...but still. It's so weird.
I'll now turn my thoughts to Crossfit, because that doesn't ever change. Today was a "choose your own adventure" day. Three benchmark "girl" wods were on the board: Helen, Grace, and Fran. I chose to take on Fran. 21-15-9 reps of 65lb thrusters and pull ups. So you do 21 thrusters, then 21 pull ups. Then 15 of each. Then 9. It's pretty much a death wish. I finished in 8:09, and I promptly collapsed on the floor. In my 2 years of Crossfit, I've never felt like I did today during that wod. I couldn't breathe and I swear my muscles were spasming out. I had a group of people around me yelling me through the last 18 reps. Not that I can really remember any of it. But it was a PR. Take that, Fran. You dirty, dirty hooker.
Also of note. Last week I gave my underwear drawer a makeover. I threw out every pair that I'd rather not be caught in in case of an emergency. Examples: car wreck, falling in my shower and having to have someone retrieve a pair for me, someone stealing my shorts while I'm taking a nap. The list goes on. I did go buy some new pairs to replace the old ones too. Just in case you were wondering.
Zing!
I hope I don't lose them.
Here is something strange. I don't remember the names of academic buildings on campus. It took me about 30 seconds before I could name Temple Hall. And I still don't remember the one by Siceluff. Not Cheek, but the other one. Really.
Something else. Bearmail doesn't exist. Neither do Zipcards. But never fear. We now have Bearpass Numbers and Bearpass Email and Bearpass Cards. Well, technically, Bearpass Cards are coming next fall...but still. It's so weird.
I'll now turn my thoughts to Crossfit, because that doesn't ever change. Today was a "choose your own adventure" day. Three benchmark "girl" wods were on the board: Helen, Grace, and Fran. I chose to take on Fran. 21-15-9 reps of 65lb thrusters and pull ups. So you do 21 thrusters, then 21 pull ups. Then 15 of each. Then 9. It's pretty much a death wish. I finished in 8:09, and I promptly collapsed on the floor. In my 2 years of Crossfit, I've never felt like I did today during that wod. I couldn't breathe and I swear my muscles were spasming out. I had a group of people around me yelling me through the last 18 reps. Not that I can really remember any of it. But it was a PR. Take that, Fran. You dirty, dirty hooker.
Also of note. Last week I gave my underwear drawer a makeover. I threw out every pair that I'd rather not be caught in in case of an emergency. Examples: car wreck, falling in my shower and having to have someone retrieve a pair for me, someone stealing my shorts while I'm taking a nap. The list goes on. I did go buy some new pairs to replace the old ones too. Just in case you were wondering.
Zing!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I feel God in this Chili's.
I'm slowly making my way through The Office again. I don't know why I don't do this more frequently, because I'm seriously busting a gut laughing. I just finished one of my favorite episodes EVER. The Dundies. I actually happen to have my very own Dundie award that a friend gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Dundie. Even the word makes me laugh.
Dundie.
Michael Scott still just hits a little too close to home for me though. Thank you, former jackhole boss of mine who I will continue to hate until the day I die.
In even more couch potato news, my DC Housewives are on tonight. I was amused by last week's premiere, and I'm anxious to see how it all blows up. Early likability goes to Mary and Stacie. On the fence about Lynda. The other two I have no strong feelings either way, although I AM a sucker for an accent. Hello, Caht. I'm also pretty sure Michaele will fly off the deep end so that'll be entertaining. But I don't think they'll replace the NYC gals in my heart. Doy.
Speaking of new friends, I'd like to introduce my pal, Paleo. There's a 6-week CrossFit Paleo challenge starting soon, and I think I'm gonna do it. In a nutshell, it's meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. The hunter-gatherer paleolithic diet. No dairy, grains, beans, anything like that. In all honesty, I eat pretty Paleo as it is. I'd just have to give up my oatmeal breakfast. And my cheats. And my booze. Hmm. I'm not gonna stress over it though. If I deviate from Paleo, so be it. But everyone's doing it, so I'll jump the bandwagon. I am easily swayed.
That said, I will take bets on how long I'll embrace my inner cavewoman. I wonder if I get a dinosaur.
Dundie.
Michael Scott still just hits a little too close to home for me though. Thank you, former jackhole boss of mine who I will continue to hate until the day I die.
In even more couch potato news, my DC Housewives are on tonight. I was amused by last week's premiere, and I'm anxious to see how it all blows up. Early likability goes to Mary and Stacie. On the fence about Lynda. The other two I have no strong feelings either way, although I AM a sucker for an accent. Hello, Caht. I'm also pretty sure Michaele will fly off the deep end so that'll be entertaining. But I don't think they'll replace the NYC gals in my heart. Doy.
Speaking of new friends, I'd like to introduce my pal, Paleo. There's a 6-week CrossFit Paleo challenge starting soon, and I think I'm gonna do it. In a nutshell, it's meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. The hunter-gatherer paleolithic diet. No dairy, grains, beans, anything like that. In all honesty, I eat pretty Paleo as it is. I'd just have to give up my oatmeal breakfast. And my cheats. And my booze. Hmm. I'm not gonna stress over it though. If I deviate from Paleo, so be it. But everyone's doing it, so I'll jump the bandwagon. I am easily swayed.
That said, I will take bets on how long I'll embrace my inner cavewoman. I wonder if I get a dinosaur.
Monday, August 9, 2010
August and Everything After
I was right last week when I posted that I felt a deadlift PR coming on. I managed to pull 200 LB's (pronounced just like that: Ell-Bees), shattering my old PR by TWENTY-FIVE pounds. That's insane. I went in thinking that I'd be happy if I just picked up 180. Well, 185 came up. Then 195. Then 200. Yeah...that was a pretty good feeling. I'm trying to really work on strength for the upcoming Heart of America competition in November. My team is comprised of some of my favorite people at CrossFit. I love them. We're gonna have a good time. This year the competition is gonna be at CrossFit Valley Park in STL. So a little road trip will also add to the fun. The fun. And the pain. And the blood, sweat, and tears. I'm sure there will be lots of all of that.
Moving on. August almost makes me think of new beginnings. I suppose it's because for 22 years of my life, it always meant a new school year. After college, I felt a little lost when there was nothing to look forward to. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about a new schedule, a new group of people, and pretty much a whole new life. I'm still not entirely sure that this is IT, in terms of my dream career, but I do think it's what I'm supposed to be doing now, at least while I figure out what IT is. Things change, I've learned that much in my 25 years.
Pistachio pudding. I'll end with that. I call it my green pudding treat. Really I do.
Green pudding treat.
Bye.
Moving on. August almost makes me think of new beginnings. I suppose it's because for 22 years of my life, it always meant a new school year. After college, I felt a little lost when there was nothing to look forward to. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about a new schedule, a new group of people, and pretty much a whole new life. I'm still not entirely sure that this is IT, in terms of my dream career, but I do think it's what I'm supposed to be doing now, at least while I figure out what IT is. Things change, I've learned that much in my 25 years.
Pistachio pudding. I'll end with that. I call it my green pudding treat. Really I do.
Green pudding treat.
Bye.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Eat Pray Love
I cannot wait for this movie to come out. Love love love Julia Roberts, but I also love just the premise of EPL. Would the world not be a better place if we all were afforded the luxury of taking a year to regroup and re-evaluate our lives? I think so.
I went to dinner at Touch last night to celebrate my friend's 27 years of living on this planet. For some reason that sounds way fancier than a birthday. Or just weirder. I had the most amazing food I think I've ever put in my mouth. Bacon-wrapped dates, house muffins, fish cakes, lobster risotto, and flourless chocolate cake. Shut the front door. I felt like I was on an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and it was absolutely heavenly. There are other things I could say, but they are not all that appropriate for a blog. Or for mixed company. Or perhaps ever. But I am thinking them. I would eat that food every day and not even care if I weighed 500 pounds. As long as bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese are in my life, I want for nothing else.
Except maybe to win the lottery so I can afford to eat my beloved dates.
In one hour, I am going to go attempt to pick up the most weight I have ever lifted. It's 1RM (one rep max) deadlift day at CrossFit Springfield. I feel a PR on the horizon. It's a-comin'.
I went to dinner at Touch last night to celebrate my friend's 27 years of living on this planet. For some reason that sounds way fancier than a birthday. Or just weirder. I had the most amazing food I think I've ever put in my mouth. Bacon-wrapped dates, house muffins, fish cakes, lobster risotto, and flourless chocolate cake. Shut the front door. I felt like I was on an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and it was absolutely heavenly. There are other things I could say, but they are not all that appropriate for a blog. Or for mixed company. Or perhaps ever. But I am thinking them. I would eat that food every day and not even care if I weighed 500 pounds. As long as bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese are in my life, I want for nothing else.
Except maybe to win the lottery so I can afford to eat my beloved dates.
In one hour, I am going to go attempt to pick up the most weight I have ever lifted. It's 1RM (one rep max) deadlift day at CrossFit Springfield. I feel a PR on the horizon. It's a-comin'.
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