Had My Cake

The bf knows me far too well!!

Buttercream icing and marbled inside....ohhh so good. Actually, marble probably isn't my first choice, but the bakery (aka the po-dunk grocery store in Ada) ran out of white cake. Even though Doug pre-ordered it. Interesting. I leave permanently in 3 days, by the way. Thank god. This cake was about the extent of my celebrating yesterday. I took two exams. I passed two exams. I got a bunch of grades back from assignments due in April. Looks like I'm smart still. I studied for an exam that I took today. And then...

The Cavs lost. Lebron will probably leave. I have experienced my first heartbreak as a Cleveland sports fan. I now remember why I am from Pittsburgh. Go Steelers!

The end. Happy Friday! :)

A New Home

If you didn't notice already, I direct your attention to the right where it says "perfectionist." Let me explain how I *may* be making the transition from Blogger to WordPress.

I have noticed the difference between Blogger and WordPress blogs, after spending some time in this blogger-world. That being said, some Blogger blogs are awesome! They look totally slick and classy, etc. Being the curious person that I am, though, I HAD to check out WordPress. I made an account and have been playing around over there and.....omg, I'm in love. I have a ways to go, but I cringe every time I see my blog here. Ugly, ugly, ugly! I wanted to have it done by my birthday, but I don't think it will happen - school has invaded my life a bit too much! But don't worry, a new and improved blog is on its way :)

Speaking of that.....my birthday is tomorrow! The big 2-3, ha! I'll be celebrating with an ACLS exam, so if you go into cardiac arrest I will be officially certified to save your life as of tomorrow.

Crazy Green Life

Oops. Apparently one day turned into three days of no blogging for me...my bad :( the end of the quarter is super busy, per usual. My parents were here for a day, I've been studying like it's nobody's business, and I have a lot in the back of my head as I'm getting ready for rotations. Life is pretty hectic right now.

I've been keeping up with p90x! I also FINALLY went on a long run. I felt like I haven't really done so since the 10k, so I did 4 miles yesterday and felt great afterwards. That was a relief :) my dad signed me up for a 5k sponsored by his company coming up in June, so I am super excited! I'm hoping to smash my 32:10, but I will definitely be realistic since I'm going on vacation and will be in the process of moving the week before the race. Either way, it should be fun!

And since I have nothing else that is remotely exciting, I will share my dinner creation from last night. I have decided to call it "Eat Yo Greens Pasta," and while it is totally lacking color (and nutritent variety), it used up a lot of stuff in my fridge and tastes absolutely delicious!!

Eat Yo Greens Pasta, serves 2

2 servings whole wheat pasta (I used 1 cup dry penne)

1 cucumber, sliced and quartered

2 cups cut green beans (I used the frozen Steamers bag kind)

1/4 cup chopped green onions (to taste)

1/4 cup feta

2 tbsp olive oil

season as desired (pepper, salt, garlic, herbs, etc.)

While the pasta was cooking, I cut up the cucumber and drizzled olive oil over it in a large bowl. I started the green beans during this time too, since they took about 6 minutes in the microwave. After the green beans were done, I put the cucumber + OO in the microwave, mixing every minute until it was hot. Once the pasta was done cooking, I strained it and added it to the bowl with the cucumbers. I then strained the green beans so they were mostly dry and added them to the bowl. I sprinkled the feta and green onions on top and mixed thoroughly. Then, I raided our spice cupboard and added pepper (LOTS of peppers), a little Mrs. Dash, and garlic salt.

Overall, it was very yummy! I will be eating it again for dinner tonight, but will probably add some parmesan cheese to the mix (I like things cheesy!). It would even be good with some cubed chicken added in for some more protein, or even beans. Even the bf said it was good (he smelled it and had to snag a taste when he came over).

My Week Recap!

Let's do bullet points, they make life more efficient :)

• School - exam 1 of 4 in the next 2 weeks is over with, group presentation is submitted and will be presented next Monday. 10 days, people, I can do this!

• p90x - I did Kenpo on Wednesday. Not bad, but I wasn't super pumped about it either. I didn't feel like I got anything "x"-tra (hah sorry) compared to Billy Blanks videos, but it was still a fun workout. Thursday I tried the AB RIPPER X. First, I love the name - it makes me feel like I did something reeeealllyyyy extreme. Doug just rolls his eyes when I talk about "THE AB RIPPER X!!" But wowza, it was only a 15 or 20 minute video and my abs were killing me! I'm definitely going to be doing this video every few days!! Since that wasn't too much of a workout, I stuck in the yoga video. It was an hour and a half long, but I just did the first 40 minutes. I'm still trying to get the feel of yoga...I definitely enjoy it, but I do NOT see how I am getting any type of workout from it. Either way, I'm going to keep doing it because I like it! I also went for a run, just for a mile to get some cardio in. Today I might do another p90x video, or just take a day off. We'll see!

• My tacos were actually delicious!

Yes, I used cut-up wraps as tortillas.

This is the recipe I used, although I must say that I used it as a "guide" to get the right proportions of everything. I felt like it was a little underseasoned personally, but I like spicy foods (or maybe I should have measured things out, ha)!

1 lb ground turkey

1 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp paprika*

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Brown turkey. Mix spices in a bowl and add to browned meat. I added about 2 tbsp of salsa at this point also because the mixture seemed pretty dry. I think it would have been good, but the only salsa I had on hand was a pineapple chipotle flavor, and it was a little too sweet for me! That's why I didn't add any on top either, and just stuck with the lettuce, cheddar cheese, and some greek yogurt (my newest obsession!). Still, a very tasty meal :) *I also didn't have any paprika, but I added more red pepper instead.

• The parents are coming to Ada tomorrow. It's honors day and I'm being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi. I'm actually pretty proud of this one - I'm in a few honors societies, but most of them aren't that exclusive. This is for the top 10% of my class only, so the top 15 people. Anyways, my parents will be here for that and to move a LOT of my stuff out of my room so that moving out in 10 days will be much easier!

• GO GAVS :)

B-e-a-utiful

Today was day 2 of my p90x adventure! I did the Shoulders & Arms workout, and I am a true believer in the p90x hype. It's really, really good, especially if you're someone like me who thinks regular weight lifting is boooring. My core is already sore and I can guarantee that my upper body will be screaming tomorrow, so I think I will try the Kenpo tomorrow - it's supposed to be a martial arts type workout, so that should give my muscles a rest from the weights. We'll see how it stacks up to Billy Blanks haha!

After p90x I took a run...I was just going to go for a 2-miler but it was so gorgoues out that I just couldn't help myself so I think it was more like 3 miles :) we definitely appreciate 72* and sunny in Ohio!

I'm in "use up everything before summer" mode when it comes to my food, and I've had some ground turkey in the freezer all year, so I'm going to attempt some tacos for dinner tonight! Let's hope it's not too disastrous :-P

My New Friend, Tony

Whew...I had such a busy (but good!) weekend and this week is super busy as well! The Cavs game was *amazing* and I have some good pics that I want to post on here, but I think it will have to wait until school slows down a little bit.

It was soo nice to get out of Ada for the weekend. It's so sad that I consider Cleveland more desirable destination than where I'm at lol. Of course, too much food/alcohol consuming and little activity (sigh), so that means I will be working double time these next two weeks so that I don't feel disgusting in a swimsuit :) today was a 2 mile run followed by p09x...yes, you heard me, I started p90x today. I discovered over the weekend that I can barely do a regular push-up anymore, which is pathetic!! Doug, of course, showed me up with pull-ups, push-ups, and every other kind of -up you can think of. Therefore, I am p90x-ing my way to a TONED body! Well, I'm cheating. I'm not following their schedule and I'm definitely skipping some exercises that are, um, a little challenging. But it's definitely a fun switch-up since I don't have any set running goals right now!

Exciting Plans

So much going on right now!! First though...a BIG BIG thank you to Lynn for being the workout buddy I needed yesterday! I ended up going on a little run last night and I already elliptical-ed and ran this morning! Woo!

And yesterday, Doug surprised me with an early birthday gift.........CAVS TICKETS!!! That's right, Game 1 vs. Boston this Saturday at the Q - it's okay to be jealous. It's my first game and I have already decided that I definitely need to get ahold of some sort of Cavs attire. I mean, I can't just go to the game in street clothes, right? ;)

As if the tickets weren't enough (I'm pretty sure we spent almost $2000 between the two of us....disgusting), our vacay is officially set!!! 5 days, 4 nights at BlueBay Villas Doradas in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic), leaving May 19. It's an all-inclusive adults-only (sorry, I don't do screaming children) resort...I plan to eat, drink, and tan 24 hours a day. Approximately. And I'll finally get a stamp in my passport haha!

Note the swim-up bar. OMG I cannot wait!

Unfortunately pharmacy school calls tonight. This quarter has been nothing but projects and cases and papers. I'm not saying that I'd rather be back in modules, where I spent every second I had studying Monday-Friday, but I'm definitely ready for this busywork to be done with. We have an exam tomorrow over immunizations so that we can actually start injecting people. You know, gotta keep the people protected from tetany and swine flu!

Bar Crawl!

The scene: 150 fifth year pharmacy majors tromping through Ada to make it to each of the 7 (if you know anything about Ada, that's a stretch) bars. I said no thanks to the first two bars (really, driving 10 minutes to go to a complete dump and a bowling alley? nahh) and caught up with the rest of our class at what was possibly the finest, classiest establishment of the night - the pub at the hotel on campus. This is why I am going stir crazy in Ada. Even the pub served martinis in regular drinking glasses. Ugh. Anyways, we traveled through town and hit up everywhere else, and despite my negative thinking...it was actually a lot of fun! I got to hang out with some close friends that I haven't spent a lot of time with in a while, and god knows the Ada townies always provide great entertainment!

Always a good night when your first drink is a Blue Moon!!

I was enjoying how our shirts matched the Bud Light cans. Yes, one bar serves canned beer.

Jessica, me, and Jen at the Beagle!

AND.......me and Doug booked a place a few hours ago for vacation!!!! I'll write about it later...but o-m-g I cannot wait! 3 weeks :)

And I need someone to kick my butt right now - I cannnnot get myself to go work out these past two days! Arghhh...hopefully the threat of 24/7 swimsuit attire will sink in soon!!

Back in the Saddle...

This past weekend was....well, not good. The amount of food I consumed is just wrong. But that's what today is for - back to counting calories and I already got a run in! And my run was fantastic, I did 4 miles in 39:30!! I have NEVER run at a pace less than 10:00. And I was even on the indoor track, ha go figure! That place is my least favorite by far....32 laps is enough to make you dizzy and that's just boring!

I'm also on the lookout for a vacation for me and Doug to go on right after we're done with finals! We have very simple requirements:

1) beach.

2) hot.

3) cheap.

4) all-inclusive.

#4 is somewhat negotiable, but we just want to relax and get away before rotations start and we're stuck in Ohio! I'll keep you updated if we find anything!

Lazy Sunday

No running again today! I think I'm finally off of my post-race high and it's definitely time to scope out my next race. There's a 5k here at school next Saturday, but I totally didn't pre-register...aka no guarantee of a t-shirt :( I still might do it though, I need a goal to get me back on track!

The big palooza was yesterday, and it went about as I expected - rainy and long. I wasn't in a drinking mood, so that explains the long part at least.

As for today, NBA playoffs are calling my name! The King & co. are playing at 3:30! I'm watching Boston/Miami right now...I hope Miami can hold on (ugh, the Celtics are NOT my fave). Then some CV writing is in order for tonight. Need to impress my preceptors apparently with my lack of pharmacy-related activities. Hmm.

Go Cavs!

Ready for the Weekend

My poor legs were not too pleased with me today! This was my third day in a row (I took a few days off after the 10k), and I only did 3 miles today, but man was the last half mile tough!! No worries though, they will get plenty of rest this weekend :)

A lot of my sorority sisters that are now big kids with real jobs and everything are coming back this weekend. My boyfriend and his two sisters (who also go all go to school with me) are having their annual "birthday/let's get f*ed up" party. Since his older sister and I were in the same sorority, a lot of her friends are my friends, too! Convenient, yes? There's a lot of other drama that I won't go in to, but let's just pray that the rain holds off (not likely, 70% chance all day Saturday) because it's supposed to be an outside thing. Either way, 5 kegs later, it should be fun, or at least an adventure!

Salem 10k

Well this is awkward to start...so I'm going to pretend like I don't need some clever icebreaker post or anything. Just go read the "about me." So I ran my first 10k last Saturday. It was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. My goal was to finish without stopping. I was assuming I would take 70-75 minutes. Umm...try 58:41!!! It took me that long to run 5 miles the week before, so I was in total shock. I have never been more excited than when I saw the clock from a few hundred meters away!

My cousin, Stacy, and I signed up to do the 10k together. Our strategy was just to run our own races - we didn't train together, so there was no sense in trying to run together. She ran about 10-20 feet in front of me the whole time, but by the end she only finished ahead of me by 1 second. There was fresh fruit and bagels afterwards, and a nice little awards ceremony (Stacy got 3rd in 20-29 yo females! yay!). It was a suuper small race, but everyone stuck around afterwards and socialized, and it was actually really fun!! The only other race I've done is the YMCA Turkey Trot in downtown Pittsburgh last November. There were thousands of people...not quite as personal! But still fun! Oh, and get this....it took me 32:10 to run the 5k Turkey Trot! I need to do another 5k soon I'd say...a PR is for sure :)

Oh, I never said! It was the Salem Community Center Spring Run-Off 10k in Salem, OH that I did last Saturday (outside of Youngstown). Can't wait to do my next 10k....and I'm already considering a half-marathon! Ahhh!