Here's a video of my class's dance performance tonight. It was so fun! I hope I can do more things like this in the semesters to come!
And yes - we are college students doing a ballroom dance routine (cha cha, with some west coast) to "The Eensy Weensy Spider" :D Enjoy!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Being Healthy
Yeah, this is kind of another food post...
I've been reflecting on how what I eat makes me feel. This largely came to pass because of last night, when it became apparent that my dinner of leftovers had over-aged, and my stomach started tossing and turning for the rest of the evening. Not a huge fan of when that happens, but it makes me grateful for the good health that I experience most of the time.
While I was roaming the grocery aisles and checking my list today, I pondered the diet I've had this semester and how it's made me feel. Thanks to the advice of more health-conscious friends (due to their hypoglycemia and allergies/intolerances), I've been trying to consume more protein, and I was impressed with how much more... balanced? steady? energized?... I feel. I think I was relying too heavily on grains before. I'm slowly doing better about eating fruits and veggies this semester; part of my problem is that I need to plan ahead when buying fresh produce, and I'm not very good at planning my meals beforehand. I've been learning how to satisfy my sweet cravings with fruit (or occasionally dark chocolate), and relying less on straight sugars (though I still love them). Also, the longer I've been in college, the more I've tried to cook from scratch. Principle tells me that that should be cheaper and healthier, but in practice... It requires practice :) I do feel accomplished when I can make something delicious, especially if it's from scratch, and it's a habit that I'm developing with every semester.
Moral of the story is that I feel better when I have a more balanced diet. I'll probably learn more when I take my anatomy class next summer, but it's been cool realizing how much connection there is between our physical bodies and mental/emotional states. I'm not too concerned with numbers as far as "health" (really, that's more like a "body image" line of thinking) goes: thanks to my dad's example, I think of being healthy as taking care of your body by having a balanced diet and exercising. I don't need to weigh a certain amount, or have a certain size of waist, or have huge muscles to consider myself healthy. Can I do the things I want to - like hike and dance - without excessive difficulty and do I feel energized and emotionally stable? I think those are important marks of good health.
Not to mention the importance of getting enough sleep (and, as my mom likes to remind me, at the right hours of the day) :) That's enough of a health spiel for now though. I'm just thinking about the progress I've made and thinking about what I can do better.
I've been reflecting on how what I eat makes me feel. This largely came to pass because of last night, when it became apparent that my dinner of leftovers had over-aged, and my stomach started tossing and turning for the rest of the evening. Not a huge fan of when that happens, but it makes me grateful for the good health that I experience most of the time.
While I was roaming the grocery aisles and checking my list today, I pondered the diet I've had this semester and how it's made me feel. Thanks to the advice of more health-conscious friends (due to their hypoglycemia and allergies/intolerances), I've been trying to consume more protein, and I was impressed with how much more... balanced? steady? energized?... I feel. I think I was relying too heavily on grains before. I'm slowly doing better about eating fruits and veggies this semester; part of my problem is that I need to plan ahead when buying fresh produce, and I'm not very good at planning my meals beforehand. I've been learning how to satisfy my sweet cravings with fruit (or occasionally dark chocolate), and relying less on straight sugars (though I still love them). Also, the longer I've been in college, the more I've tried to cook from scratch. Principle tells me that that should be cheaper and healthier, but in practice... It requires practice :) I do feel accomplished when I can make something delicious, especially if it's from scratch, and it's a habit that I'm developing with every semester.
Moral of the story is that I feel better when I have a more balanced diet. I'll probably learn more when I take my anatomy class next summer, but it's been cool realizing how much connection there is between our physical bodies and mental/emotional states. I'm not too concerned with numbers as far as "health" (really, that's more like a "body image" line of thinking) goes: thanks to my dad's example, I think of being healthy as taking care of your body by having a balanced diet and exercising. I don't need to weigh a certain amount, or have a certain size of waist, or have huge muscles to consider myself healthy. Can I do the things I want to - like hike and dance - without excessive difficulty and do I feel energized and emotionally stable? I think those are important marks of good health.
Not to mention the importance of getting enough sleep (and, as my mom likes to remind me, at the right hours of the day) :) That's enough of a health spiel for now though. I'm just thinking about the progress I've made and thinking about what I can do better.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Yum!
I've been breaking out what's left of my European chocolate after distributing the majority of it to my friends and family. This is probably my favorite kind:
It would always melt in my backpack, so I'd have to open it carefully and scrape it off the wrapper. It is absolutely divine.
Also, I find myself frequently making dinner around midnight on the nights that I work, and tonight I fixed dinner before 11! A little sad that it's still so late. But, tonight's dinner was really good, despite a rocky beginning. I put the liquids on the stove to boil, and got distracted talking to my roommate... By the time I returned to the kitchen, the pot was frothing over onto a good portion of the stovetop. Oops. I think I added a little too much milk-water-margarine after that to compensate for what I lost, so I tried recompensating by adding a large tablespoon of flour... The sauce turned out ok, thickness-wise. To mix up tonight's Pastaroni flavor (4-cheese corkscrews) I added lots of deli ham pieces and just enough onion powder to give a more 3-dimensional (but not overpowering) flavor. I rather liked it, and since it was more filling, I've got plenty of leftovers!
I registered for next semester's classes tonight, and my entire schedule is composed of major and dance classes. I'm sure it'll undergo some tweaking before January (and perhaps even in the first week of classes), but I'm pretty excited.
And, I realized that Halloween is in less than a week, and I don't have a costume yet! When I'm not studying for midterms this week, I really need to figure that out! I also have a dance performance this week, which I'm super excited for as well :)
Also, I find myself frequently making dinner around midnight on the nights that I work, and tonight I fixed dinner before 11! A little sad that it's still so late. But, tonight's dinner was really good, despite a rocky beginning. I put the liquids on the stove to boil, and got distracted talking to my roommate... By the time I returned to the kitchen, the pot was frothing over onto a good portion of the stovetop. Oops. I think I added a little too much milk-water-margarine after that to compensate for what I lost, so I tried recompensating by adding a large tablespoon of flour... The sauce turned out ok, thickness-wise. To mix up tonight's Pastaroni flavor (4-cheese corkscrews) I added lots of deli ham pieces and just enough onion powder to give a more 3-dimensional (but not overpowering) flavor. I rather liked it, and since it was more filling, I've got plenty of leftovers!
I registered for next semester's classes tonight, and my entire schedule is composed of major and dance classes. I'm sure it'll undergo some tweaking before January (and perhaps even in the first week of classes), but I'm pretty excited.
And, I realized that Halloween is in less than a week, and I don't have a costume yet! When I'm not studying for midterms this week, I really need to figure that out! I also have a dance performance this week, which I'm super excited for as well :)
Monday, October 24, 2011
To Become A Renaissance Man
Noun: 1) a cultured man of the Renaissance who was knowledgeable, educated, or proficient in a number of fields. 2) a present-day man who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.
I had a hard time picking a major because so many things held interest for me. That is still true, so I'm trying to fit a diversity of classes in to the remaining time I have left. It felt like I have two options with my time in life: specialize and become proficient in just one thing, or diversify my skills and settle for across-the-board mediocrity. Neither option sounds especially appealing, because I would like to be good at a lot of things. But there just doesn't seem to be enough time in college to take such a breadth and depth of classes.
But then I had a new thought. Who says I have to be done engaging myself and learning new things when I get my collegiate degree? That should be obvious, but I think there's an underlying tendency to give ourselves unnecessary deadlines and restrictions, especially on our personal growth. I've still got plenty opportunity to become a "renaissance woman," because I've got the rest of my life to work on learning and "becoming." I think that often when we're young, we forget about the "big picture," that someday we'll be old(er), and that we'll grow and change in ways that we can't imagine right now. So I can still hold to this desire of mine and turn it into a goal. One of the great things about growing up and fulfilling dreams is that we then get to come up with new ones :)
Family: Hakuna Matata
The importance of family has been pressing on my mind for the past year. First it was an awareness (of its importance), then a desire (for stronger family relationships). This summer gave me the tools to accomplish the task, and this fall I've been putting them to use.
Applying these desires and newfound abilities to my immediate family while living long-distance has been one challenge. This past weekend I was faced with another challenge: to apply them to my relationships with my extended family, to whom I now live significantly closer.
You see, I've grown a lot in college... Before college, I felt like an awkward, low-self-esteem nobody that needed catering-to because I couldn't make a significant, valuable contribution and feel included in groups based on my own merits. My best friends and my immediate family were the only two groups that I usually felt secure in. I often felt majorly disappointed with myself for my lack of fitting-in with extended family; I attribute this problem to 1) expectant self-fulfilling prophecy and 2) lack of depth in the relationships, because I only saw my cousins once a year. I felt like I ought to have actual friendships with my family members, and I was jealous of both sides of my family, because my cousins saw each other and my grandparents so frequently; I yearned to have that close, loving bond that they all seemed to have with each other - to feel like I actually belonged in more than just name.
Moving to the state where I have the highest concentration of relatives provided a lot of opportunities that I never had before. That was SCARY. But, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that you miss all the chances that you never take. So I went to family dinners and attended some family celebrations for the first time in my life. Sometimes I called my mom in tears because I felt so lonely and out of place there. But I felt like I was where I should be; nothing would change if I left things as they were. Slowly, I started feeling more and more like I had a place in these gatherings.
I looked toward this past weekend with a little trepidation. I'd made some progress over time, but I had a new test in seeing some cousins my age whom I hadn't seen in 2-3 years. I also hadn't seen my grandma and many other cousins in over a year. Even though I was excited to go, the old worries of being an unwanted, awkward burden again swam slowly in circles beneath the surface of my consciousness.
I ended up having a wonderful weekend! Friday I slept in, spent a lot of time reading, and went to the high school's musical to see my cousin play in the orchestra pit. Saturday morning I got up early to go to the temple with my cousins, and then we spent most of the day boating on a lake! Saturday night was spent chatting and playing card games with the aunts, uncles and other adult cousins. Sunday we went to two different wards to hear a couple cousins speak in sacrament meeting, and had a family lunch afterwards. Following lunch, we went to see my grandpa's headstone in the cemetery. I had a few hard moments, like when looking through old photo albums or thinking about my grandpa, but the principle of getting busy and distracted helped move me through. I treasured the moments where I felt like we were establishing mutual, connective bonds, and it's always a ball after the little kids decide that you've become friends. I had a really enjoyable time and I feel like I made really constructive gains in my relationships with extended family. I felt significantly more like I do, in fact, belong to them.
The principle that I want to draw from this experience prompted the title "Hakuna Matata". A prominent theme in the classic Disney movie The Lion King, the idea is introduced as "a meerkat and a warthog, named Timon and Pumbaa respectively, teach the main character, a lion cub named Simba, that he should forget his troubled past and live in the present," which is represented in the Swahili phrase "hakuna matata" (literally meaning, "no worries"). It's a message I had to embrace this summer with my grandpa's death, that I can't change what's happened (or not happened) in the past, no matter how much I may wish and regret it. Becoming absorbed in the past like that only hinders my present and compromises my future. By focusing on the pain of yesteryear, I may lose the chance now to develop the kind of relationships I always wished for with my family. Don't worry about what you can't change, and do the best you can with today. These family relationships are one of the most important things I've got, and I don't want to fail them again; that is probably my biggest fear, so I'm going to respond with faith in action.
"Hakuna matata - what a wonderful phrase! ...It means no worries for the rest of your days." I'm leaving my past to Christ, relying on the healing power of the Atonement, and moving forward with faith in His promises. Everything's gonna be alright; in fact, it'll be great, even now :) I'm sure happy.
Applying these desires and newfound abilities to my immediate family while living long-distance has been one challenge. This past weekend I was faced with another challenge: to apply them to my relationships with my extended family, to whom I now live significantly closer.
You see, I've grown a lot in college... Before college, I felt like an awkward, low-self-esteem nobody that needed catering-to because I couldn't make a significant, valuable contribution and feel included in groups based on my own merits. My best friends and my immediate family were the only two groups that I usually felt secure in. I often felt majorly disappointed with myself for my lack of fitting-in with extended family; I attribute this problem to 1) expectant self-fulfilling prophecy and 2) lack of depth in the relationships, because I only saw my cousins once a year. I felt like I ought to have actual friendships with my family members, and I was jealous of both sides of my family, because my cousins saw each other and my grandparents so frequently; I yearned to have that close, loving bond that they all seemed to have with each other - to feel like I actually belonged in more than just name.
Moving to the state where I have the highest concentration of relatives provided a lot of opportunities that I never had before. That was SCARY. But, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that you miss all the chances that you never take. So I went to family dinners and attended some family celebrations for the first time in my life. Sometimes I called my mom in tears because I felt so lonely and out of place there. But I felt like I was where I should be; nothing would change if I left things as they were. Slowly, I started feeling more and more like I had a place in these gatherings.
I looked toward this past weekend with a little trepidation. I'd made some progress over time, but I had a new test in seeing some cousins my age whom I hadn't seen in 2-3 years. I also hadn't seen my grandma and many other cousins in over a year. Even though I was excited to go, the old worries of being an unwanted, awkward burden again swam slowly in circles beneath the surface of my consciousness.
I ended up having a wonderful weekend! Friday I slept in, spent a lot of time reading, and went to the high school's musical to see my cousin play in the orchestra pit. Saturday morning I got up early to go to the temple with my cousins, and then we spent most of the day boating on a lake! Saturday night was spent chatting and playing card games with the aunts, uncles and other adult cousins. Sunday we went to two different wards to hear a couple cousins speak in sacrament meeting, and had a family lunch afterwards. Following lunch, we went to see my grandpa's headstone in the cemetery. I had a few hard moments, like when looking through old photo albums or thinking about my grandpa, but the principle of getting busy and distracted helped move me through. I treasured the moments where I felt like we were establishing mutual, connective bonds, and it's always a ball after the little kids decide that you've become friends. I had a really enjoyable time and I feel like I made really constructive gains in my relationships with extended family. I felt significantly more like I do, in fact, belong to them.
The principle that I want to draw from this experience prompted the title "Hakuna Matata". A prominent theme in the classic Disney movie The Lion King, the idea is introduced as "a meerkat and a warthog, named Timon and Pumbaa respectively, teach the main character, a lion cub named Simba, that he should forget his troubled past and live in the present," which is represented in the Swahili phrase "hakuna matata" (literally meaning, "no worries"). It's a message I had to embrace this summer with my grandpa's death, that I can't change what's happened (or not happened) in the past, no matter how much I may wish and regret it. Becoming absorbed in the past like that only hinders my present and compromises my future. By focusing on the pain of yesteryear, I may lose the chance now to develop the kind of relationships I always wished for with my family. Don't worry about what you can't change, and do the best you can with today. These family relationships are one of the most important things I've got, and I don't want to fail them again; that is probably my biggest fear, so I'm going to respond with faith in action.
"Hakuna matata - what a wonderful phrase! ...It means no worries for the rest of your days." I'm leaving my past to Christ, relying on the healing power of the Atonement, and moving forward with faith in His promises. Everything's gonna be alright; in fact, it'll be great, even now :) I'm sure happy.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
An Alternative to Pastaroni...
I feel like I keep having the same thing for dinner... So I decided to mix it up tonight (more than just mixing spices and pieces of canned or deli meat into my pastaroni).
This feels awfully reminiscent of another post where I described an amazing fruit salad I made, last year-ish?
For "dinner", I mixed blackberries + kiwi + gala apples + red plums + honey + plain yogurt. It's not bad... I wasn't sure how the kiwis would work, but I rediscovered that I really, really like kiwi :) The blackberries are kinda tart, but the rest of it works together well. I like it when food experiments go well, and I like it even better when they end up being healthy :)
Also, my roommate told me about downloading (legit) free music on purevolume.com, so I checked it out this week. I found a super cute song called "Favorite Girl" by a group called The Icarus Account. Here's a link to the song on Youtube:
This feels awfully reminiscent of another post where I described an amazing fruit salad I made, last year-ish?
For "dinner", I mixed blackberries + kiwi + gala apples + red plums + honey + plain yogurt. It's not bad... I wasn't sure how the kiwis would work, but I rediscovered that I really, really like kiwi :) The blackberries are kinda tart, but the rest of it works together well. I like it when food experiments go well, and I like it even better when they end up being healthy :)
 |
| It might not look like much... But it was good! |
Also, my roommate told me about downloading (legit) free music on purevolume.com, so I checked it out this week. I found a super cute song called "Favorite Girl" by a group called The Icarus Account. Here's a link to the song on Youtube:
Friday, October 14, 2011
Reminiscing
I just went through a TON of old papers today, and found some sweet memories. Most of these are from freshman year.
"It's rainin' men, Hallelujah! (Get your umbrella, I'm comin' down!) -from your future spouse"
"Gosh my handwriting is bad. I can't even spell k without messing up. Its been fun getting to know you, even if eating an entire pizza on an exhaust vent! I still owe you a hug. You can redeem it anytime you like. (sounds like a coupon) Just guilt or something...um. On second thought don't. Happy Valentine's Day!!" -Z
For Employee of the Month: "is always looking for something to do during slow times & helps in whatever way she can. K has also been such a great host! Thank you so much!" -A
"I just wanted to thank you for sitting up with me and talking with me about my 'personal crisis,' even though you were going hiking with your man [or mom? ambiguous handwriting] in the morning. It really meant a lot to me, and even though I'm still unsure of my next course of action, my mind is a lot clearer, and I am no longer pulling my hair out in large clumps." -M
"You're one of those people I know will always be there to listen to me, or help me if I ever need it. Thanks" -A (who became one of my best friends)
"Thank you for your lesson today. Just be happy and don't worry. You're doing a great job and I appreciate all the time you put in." -E
"You are wonderful! You're so sincere and selfless and such a great friend. Thanks for your wonderful example and all your help you've been to me. It's a pleasure having you on my floor! Have a great Christmas and I'm so excited for next semester!" -J
"You don't even realize what you mean to those around you. Everyone you know looks at you as an example of how to live the gospel. Even people you never thought would look up to you. And you are so much more beautiful than you know. And your inner light enhances that even more. God loves you because you are one of his precious, beautiful, virtuous daughters. Love always," -from my brother
"You are an inspiration to me. You have such a desire to become who God wants you to be, and you strive to make that happen. I am so blessed to have you for a friend and roommate. Your loving hugs and reminders that naps make everything better help me on hard days. Some days are hard for you, and I wish so much that I knew better how to help you. Always remember how much I love you. You are beautiful and strong. I look up to you and feel blessed by your influence. Good luck on finals. Merry Christmas. I love you." -C
I also just went through and read every single card I've gotten in college (I keep all of them). I am very blessed, and very loved, even if I didn't always see it. Life is pretty awesome.
"It's rainin' men, Hallelujah! (Get your umbrella, I'm comin' down!) -from your future spouse"
"Gosh my handwriting is bad. I can't even spell k without messing up. Its been fun getting to know you, even if eating an entire pizza on an exhaust vent! I still owe you a hug. You can redeem it anytime you like. (sounds like a coupon) Just guilt or something...um. On second thought don't. Happy Valentine's Day!!" -Z
For Employee of the Month: "is always looking for something to do during slow times & helps in whatever way she can. K has also been such a great host! Thank you so much!" -A
"I just wanted to thank you for sitting up with me and talking with me about my 'personal crisis,' even though you were going hiking with your man [or mom? ambiguous handwriting] in the morning. It really meant a lot to me, and even though I'm still unsure of my next course of action, my mind is a lot clearer, and I am no longer pulling my hair out in large clumps." -M
"You're one of those people I know will always be there to listen to me, or help me if I ever need it. Thanks" -A (who became one of my best friends)
"Thank you for your lesson today. Just be happy and don't worry. You're doing a great job and I appreciate all the time you put in." -E
"You are wonderful! You're so sincere and selfless and such a great friend. Thanks for your wonderful example and all your help you've been to me. It's a pleasure having you on my floor! Have a great Christmas and I'm so excited for next semester!" -J
"You don't even realize what you mean to those around you. Everyone you know looks at you as an example of how to live the gospel. Even people you never thought would look up to you. And you are so much more beautiful than you know. And your inner light enhances that even more. God loves you because you are one of his precious, beautiful, virtuous daughters. Love always," -from my brother
"You are an inspiration to me. You have such a desire to become who God wants you to be, and you strive to make that happen. I am so blessed to have you for a friend and roommate. Your loving hugs and reminders that naps make everything better help me on hard days. Some days are hard for you, and I wish so much that I knew better how to help you. Always remember how much I love you. You are beautiful and strong. I look up to you and feel blessed by your influence. Good luck on finals. Merry Christmas. I love you." -C
I also just went through and read every single card I've gotten in college (I keep all of them). I am very blessed, and very loved, even if I didn't always see it. Life is pretty awesome.
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