Life After Death

A few days ago, my class took a field trip to a cemetery.

Somehow, I find cemeteries pleasant.

Rather than getting scared about death, I find it comforting to see that it happens. People die, and the world keeps spinning.

And wherever they are now, it’s interesting to observe how the dead choose to be remembered.

I think my class shares that opinion. If I had had my way, I would have been the first to hop into the coffin lift…

alas, I was too slow.

“Bloating balls.” You don’t want to know.

I was glad to spend a morning tromping around a graveyard, because rugby weights that morning tired me out! I made sure to get my protein in on the way to class.

Plain greek yogurt, banana, chocolate protein powder and a sprinkle of coconut

Does taking that picture in the stairwell make me eccentric?

I can only imagine how interesting this person was:

Foot powder?? Hmmm.

So many mysteries to be explored….

Oh, and it didn’t hurt that it was 60 degrees and sunny 😉

After wandering in the graveyard,  I celebrated living by going about my day!

I went grocery shopping and came back with too much lots of fresh produce.

Spinach with red peppers, kidney beans, and nutritional yeast

I was fooled into thinking I had to buy 10 bell peppers to get the 10 for $10 deal. Not so! Tricky supermarkets! But these will go fast anyway 😉

I got a vaccine shot, and sported my classy Looney Toons band-aid for ballet class :

( I don’t do ballerina buns.)

I ate cereal for dinner. Very much a (lazy) living-person thing. At least it was cheerios and granola with coconut milk to mix things up!

My muscles are still wicked tired from yesterday’s rugby, so I’mma make like the dead and sleep forever. G’night!

In Between Days

Hello there! I hope everyone’s Thursdays have been thirsty theatrical thankful? therapeutic? Is there a th- word that fits how a Thursday should be?

Surprisingly, I think mine falls under the therapeutic category! Right now, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my run-around days, but my Tuesday and Thursday activities haven’t taken root yet, so there’s been time to relax.

My class (at my school, you take one at a time) isn’t too hard; just a lot of reading and long, deep discussion!

A few days ago, we were sent around the building to find something that represented life after death.

I found the recycling center. Duh! Just like many faiths, recycling has specific criteria for a successful afterlife. Thankfully, the city I live in sorts your recyclables for you, but that doesn’t mean you can throw crap in there. If, say, you throw in an item that’s not clean, you could compromise the salvation of the whole batch. How’s that for responsibility, huh?

Ok, enough relating trash to religion. Here’s some food!

Sauteed spinach with onions, mushrooms, broccoli, almonds, garlic, and nutritional yeastBroccoli with feta cheese and college student crack salsa con queso

Yesterday morning, I decided enough was enough.

I wanted a green monster.

So I dug out some frozen blueberries from the freezer (probs should have checked the exp date…), threw them in with some spinach and protein powder, and hoped for the best….

Grrr. Blech. It was drinkable, but those blueberries were definitely not up to snuff. I drowned it out with some honey and called it ok 🙂 I ended up going to the dining hall for lunch because I missed my underclassmen pals, so I snuck out some bananas while I was there! Hence, this morning was so much better.

2 handfuls spinach, 1 banana, scoop of chocolate protein powder

Mmmm. I usually add a cup or so of soymilk to thin it out, but since I haven’t done the grocery shopping yet this week, we had none and I didn’t want to take a chance on the digestive upsets of cow’s milk 😦 But it was still DELICIOUS and I had been wanting one for so long! A girl in my class even took a taste and proclaimed it wonderful. I know, right? 😉

My magic bullet is so noisy in the morning, but for tasty creations like this, it’s worth it. Sorry, roomies!

Obviously, I compromise other responsibilities when it comes to ensuring that I get breakfast.

Nope, not happenin’.

But I did plant the $1 strawberry plant I got at Target! It’s sitting pretty on the windowsill now.

(The man socks have since been removed)

More chores I will not do:

I won’t be fixing that futon.I won’t be climbing up the bookshelf to tack another flag alongside Australia’s (or fill the Picachu pinata).

But on this therapeutic Thursday, I did take a 2 hour nap. Oh, yes.

Then I stumbled downstairs to make lunch…

1/ 4 a red onion, spicy tempeh, feta cheese, and kidney beans on a corn tortilla. Cilantro garnish just because I could!

One of my favorite teas to wash it down! Someone recently told me that the owner of Yogi Tea’s daughter is in fact a girl we know at school. Shut the front door! That would be too cool.

(I also recovered a lost silly band!)

Thursday was also therapeutic in the fact that I got to dance my heart out at auditions for a bi-annual dance showcase at my school. Even better, I might be collaborating with a choreographer who wants to do a bellydancing piece! I’ve taken a couple bellydancing workshops waaaay back in the day (8th or 9th grade? not the best use of my time) so that would be fun! Plus…any excuse to show off my bellybutton ring 😉 Best resolution ever.

And as I was walking home, a friend called to invite me for a quick round of Laser Tag. How random! I usually hate social games like bowling and mini golf, but laser tag is always fast-paced and fun! I came 4th out of 14 🙂

And came home to create a dipping dinner of plain greek yogurt, pear slices, cinnamon, and honey:

My days will busier soon, but for now, I’m enjoying the flexibility of the in between days!

Have a fantastic Friday!

Question: What do you do on your non-hectic days? I like to make time for yoga (I went this morning), tea, and a book to snuggle up with!

Back to School

well, kinda!

This week, I finally crossed off some items on my to-do list. One of those included shadowing….

my old school district’s food services director!

He has a dessert-themed calendar. Hehe.

As you may know, I’m hoping to become a registered dietician (eventually).

But while I’m still in college, I can’t let go of my curiosity about education. I don’t really want to teach, but I’d love working in a school and impacting educational policy. Administration sounds good, but I wanted to see what it would be like to manage the food service!

So I’m trying to get a feel for career options that might combine a few of my interests at once. Michelle Obama is my hero for all she’s doing for combating childhood obesity in America, and I’m so proud of the Let’s Move! campaign.

Side note: Sarah Palin is an idiot.

So much paperwork, but I loved sifting through it!

I had a great day following the food service director around. He was the nicest guy: born and raised in Austria, where he did his apprenticeship as a chef, worked at Yale as their head chef, then took this job to be closer to home and “to make a difference.”

That’s music to any college student’s (or 20 year old’s? or anyone’s?) ears.

Things I liked:

• School environment
• Lots of social interaction with students and staff
• Traveling to different schools around the district
• Collaboration with local companies
• Summer vacation!
• Room for new initiatives (organic milk, more fruits and veggies, whole wheat buns, etc.)
• Early-starting workday
• Making life easier for kids with food allergies

Things I could do without:

• Operating within the school budget
• Not as much creativity as, say, being a chef or private nutritionist

…I think that’s it?

I love food. I love schools. And as a student who never bought a school lunch (except for taco salad and mozzarella sticks in elementary school), I would love to make changes to school nutrition.

I was bouncing with satisfaction once I left, and hightailed it to the gym.

I did Rugby Weights 2, and then stayed on the treadmill for a looooooong time.

Why? Because I wanted to continue watching The 7 Deadly Sins on the History Channel.

(don’t forget, I am a religion major)

Meal Recap time!

Breakfast was 1 cup plain greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, pomegranate seeds, and almonds.

Post-gym snack was a fat Fuji apple:
I had eaten lunch (the holiday party spread for the kitchen staff!) at school, so my salad was still waiting in the car:

I wasn’t tired yet, so I went to the library, caught up on some internet stuff, and went back to the gym for a Bodycombat class!

It kicked my butt and I’m still sore, but it was worth it.

I had my salad at home:

Spinach (my favorite food ever), almonds, pomegranate seeds, goat cheese, olive oil

And that’s what I call a day. Phew!

Question: What did you want to be when you were in elementary school? My top 3 choices were marine biologist, pro soccer player, and peace maker. Aww yeah.