for the record...

BAYLOR beat UT for the first time since 1997 last night: 30-22. To put it into perspective, I was in 4th grade in 1997, and now I'm a baylor alum, so it's been awhile! Not to mention that we beat them IN AUSTIN. Talk about double burn. Sic 'Em Bears!!!!!! SO proud.

health fest continues

i'm sure by now people are getting annoyed with my health posts, but i promise to post on something different soon! plus, i have had a lot of people express interest in joining the bandwagon, so forgive me just this once...

today was c25k day 2 - happily, the cough is pretty much gone and aside from minor shin splints, all was well! only problem: i have been running (if you can call it that) after i get off work around 9pm... and i get home super full of energy - not the ideal situation when you need to go to bed so you can wake up at 7am... but every time i try for 6am workouts, i snooze my alarm. so extra energy it is!

my co-worker and i also tried out the magic bullet today with success! enjoyed a blackberry/pineapple/greek yogurt smoothie along with my carrots/sugar snap peas + ranch -- note on the ranch: to avoid some of the nastiness (processing) that goes into the bottled stuff, i've started mixing a dry-mix ranch packet with light sour cream. i know it doesn't completely solve the processed food problem, but i'm still too much of a beginner at this health thing to forgo smothering my vegetables in something

i'm also trying to give up my afternoon pick-me-up: diet coke. i'm replacing it with iced tea. not as fun - i miss the ice-cold, throat-burning sensation, but i'm convinced that in 10 years the FDA (or some other agency) will release a report cautioning that aspartame has been shown to cause alzheimers in rats and consequently humans. you laugh, but i genuinely fear this & can certainly see it happening

ANYWAY, i'll try to think of something different for next post. if you're on a health kick as well, please feel free to share any healthy snacks/meals you have tried and what kind of workouts you are doing!

accountability

i mentioned the other day that i wanted to start the couch to 5k program... well, i did tonight! day one consisted of a 5 minute brisk walk followed by alternating 1 minute jogging and 2 minutes walking for 20 minutes... sounds easy, but when you are recovering from a month long breathing/coughing problem, your airflow is not quite up to par. either way, i survived and am now encouraged to keep going!

i'm also really excited because one of my co-workers today said she woke up at 4 am thinking "i need to give up soda and carbs" - immediately, i volunteered to be her accountability partner! so we are now planning on keeping each other on track with our shift to "healthier living" -- because "dieting" has short-term implications, and we're trying to get better long-term... AND we have a magic bullet at work, so we are planning on starting to make smoothies for lunch :)

anyway, i was just posting this as yet another form of accountability. having everyone know will make me think twice about eating halloween candy! if anyone else needs accountability, let me know! the more the merrier :)

HC, etc

thursday evening i found myself WACO-BOUND for my first homecoming as an ALUM! i left after work and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset along the way. whenever i arrived on campus, the clouds were a beautiful mix of pink and orange. i was going to take a picture with my phone, but then i almost got side-swiped by a fed-ex truck, so i decided to play it safe and focus on the road... too bad because it was rather picturesque. i might have even been able to sell it to baylor to use in their ad campaign...

ANYWAY, homecoming was wonderful. it was kind of weird experiencing the whole thing as an alum. while the events were the same, it felt like i was seeing it from a different perspective. we went to pigskin friday night, and they took turns making the alums of each decade stand up. it was fun to be a part of that and realize the connection you have to so many others. we even had an alum from the 40's there! way cool.

bonfire this year was particularly impressive. or particularly out-of-control, depending on your take. generally they only light it in one place, and it takes awhile for it to all catch fire. this year, they had 10 people torch it at once, and it got huge fast. that plus the wind... oh, and for a size reference, that bright circle behind it was the ferris wheel. so yah, it was pretty massive (props to the waco tribune for this picture)

overall it was just a great weekend to catch-up with lots of friends i hadn't seen in awhile (shout-out to mrs. smith who said she reads my blog!)

oh, and i also forgot to mention that baylor won the homecoming game (which i skipped - i'm a terrible alum, but with a 60% chance of thunderstorms and a tornado watch...) -- anyway, we are now bowl-eligible for the first time since 1995, #1 in the big 12 south, AND we are ranked!!! - super exciting.

now for the etc part:

- for those of you who have asked, i ended up skipping the doctor & instead bought Mucinex DM: 12 hr & maximum strength. though costing a whopping $1/pill, they work like a charm. my nasty, phlegmy cough is no more! hooray for modern (over-the-counter) medicine!

- heb >>> wal-mart

- baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins today. if you haven't tried my recipe yet, you should: spice cake mix + can of pumpkin + cinnamon + chocolate chips... yes, that's it. and they are so legit.

- im scheduled to work 44 hours this week. i'm depressed already.

- i'm going to attempt the couch-t0-5k program again. i'm posting this as a form of accountability.

enjoy your last week of october!

playing doctor

so a sick part of me (no pun intended) actually enjoys getting sick because that means i get to figure out what is wrong. and as much as i HATE HATE HATE going to the doctor, i love love love trying to diagnose myself before the appointment. bonus points if i'm correct. last time i totally called it with strep throat (without even having the equipment to take a throat culture!). this time, i'm thinking that i have bronchitis. after a few weeks of having a productive coughing, i've developed this weezing noise when i try to take a deep breath. i've ruled out pnemonia because the cough is my chief symptom, and i don't have a fever/etc. i've also ruled out allergies because i lack the congestion/sneezing/runny nose. so clearly the wheezing noise indicates my malady has moved into my lungs. and because i'm not having any other symptoms, i'm putting my money on bronchitis. now to just wait until 10 am tomorrow for confirmation... is it weird that i find this game entertaining? oh to be a future M.D.

picturesque penn

maybe it's just me, but one thing i miss about fall in texas is the changing of the leaves... my mom's entire side of the family lives in pennsylvania, and my aunt posted this awesome picture taken in my grandparents' backyard

yes, they do have a mountain in their backyard. also something you don't frequently find in texas... i realized though that i have a picture of almost every season from that same spot in their backyard, so i thought i would share :) - here's winter

and here's summer! i've spent a few weeks almost every summer since birth running around here. definitely my second home.


i was just going to post those few pics from the same angle, but after looking through all the gorgeous pictures, i've decided to let myself get carried away... here are a few of my favorites

my great-grandparents' house


my grandparents' house

SO excited about visiting for thanksgiving! only 5 more weeks... i've never been for thanksgiving, so it is going to be fun to celebrate a 'new' holiday with the family! -- anyway, happy friday everyone! enjoy your weekends :)

things i'm loving...

i'm copying this idea from leigh anne because once again, i'm too lazy to come up with my own post idea :)

things i'm loving today:
- news of the rescued miners! so nice to watch the news and not have it solely be homicides/wrecks/natural disasters
- being finished working my second job for the week and only having to go to work ONCE tomorrow
- the smoothie i made for dinner
- cooler weather that lets me drive with the windows down
- sugar snap peas + cherry tomatoes + baby carrots + ranch dressing = latest lunchtime obsession
- knowing that baylor homecoming is about a week away!
- being able to go to bed at 10pm tonight.. hey, i worked 10 hours today
- this ridiculous commercial that i saw during oprah that had me laughing/totally creeped out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CMZdw5qozM

warning: graphic content

so last night caitlin and i bust out our old high school t-shirts and went to see our team play. i hadn't been to a game in 4 years, so it was fun to go back to the same old stadium and watch. after having one of my alma maters lose already that day, i was hoping my second alma mater would win. despite their undefeated season so far, apparently my being there sabotaged it. we left during the third quarter when the score was 6-46. geez. and it was our arch-rival. despite the terrible score, we were impressed with the new inflatable the players get to run through. definite improvement from the paper signs we used to have...

anyway, the REAL highlight of the night was once i got home. my sister's friend stopped by around 11:30, and i ran down the driveway to say hi. it wasn't until 5 minutes later that i looked down, and my toe was gushing blood. kinda weird that i totally didn't feel it. here's my toe before cleaning it up (but after i had made a blood trail through the bathroom)

this was post-cleaning... looks like a huge hook!

and then of course i had to document this morning... looking pretty good. i totally decided to nerd my mom out though by commenting that i must not be deficient in vitamin k because it clotted nicely. science majorrr. what's even grosser is that i captured this pic using the "food setting" on my camera. macro ftw. and i love the fact that camera companies picked up on the fact that people are always taking food pics and came up with a setting.

anyway, we were supposed to go hiking today, but i'm thinking that plan is out...

survey

leigh anne tagged me in this little blogpost thing, so i thought i would be a team player and answer the questions! besides, they were fun questions, so i can't say that i mind... andddd it keeps me from having to think of a blog topic by myself - lazy: yes.

1. What is your most favorite thing about fall?
pumpkin baked goods, duh.

2. How would you spend your perfect Saturday?
sleep in, enjoy the morning, lounge in pool if summer, go on an errand, lay around reading, and bake something of course

3. What is something you've learned recently?
just how much it takes to run a private practice - i'm thinking i might just work for a hospital and save the hassle of dealing with a/c repairs, taxes, carpet cleaners, bills, etc

4. Do you like the seasonal drinks at Starbucks or stick to your year-round favorite?
both. but only when it comes to pumpkin spiced lattes. and even then, i probably only have one a season. generally i stick to either coffee light fraps/iced green tea/iced coffee in the summer and coffee or soy lattes in the winter...

5. What is your favorite meal to make?
i'm well-known for my pizza, but i'd pick baking over cooking any day

6. How do you spend your evenings?
depends. tues/wed i work at the Y... and the rest of the days just relaxing after work!

7. Are you passionate about anything? Why?
i'm not a terribly passionate person. wish i were. i enjoy/take interest in a lot of things like traveling, baking, medicine, but i'm not overly obsessed with anything. i think that just has to do with my personality...

8. If you were given $20 to spend on anything, what would you spend it on?
i'd save it. for real. i'm that boring. but if forced, i'd probably head over to williams-sonoma... or buy something on amazon. amazon is my favorite website ever, seriously.

pumpkin muffins

so for once i actually remembered to take pictures for the blog, but for the past 2 days, blogger won't let me upload. so i'm sorry for a post sans-pics, but this will just have to do...

anyway, everyone knows i love to bake, and one of my favorite recipes is pumpkin bread. well, this weekend i discovered a much, much faster & healthier way to make it! and it only requires a few ingredients!

1) spice cake mix [don't add the oil/eggs/water]
2) 1 can of pumpkin
3) optional: extra cinnamon
4) optional: chocolate chips, raisins

all you do is mix the cake mix with the pumpkin & add a little extra cinnamon. seriously. that's IT!!! and then if you're smart like me, you'll stir in some chocolate chips. because honestly, what isn't made better with the addition of chocolate? you could also use raisins, but i personally find the combo of pumpkin + semi-sweet to be perfect. bake these babies in the oven at 350 (i like to make mini-muffins) -- take them out when you can put a knife in, and it comes out clean

these will certainly make your monday a little sweeter. because let's be honest, mondays just suck.

hello, fall...

while the leaves haven't changed colors, and the weather still lingers in the 80's, houstonians have declared fall's arrival -- we've ushered in october as if the calendar month alone marks the changing of the season (which we all know is NOT true in texas)... though i know it is not truly fall yet, i'm pretending along with everyone else! i've decided it is finally acceptable to bake pumpkiny things (not that i don't make pumpkin chocolate chip bread year-round) and to wear more fall-like colors! i don't know a thing about decorating, but i'm kind of obsessed with this m&m jar my mom has out... waytoocute


with 4 cans of pumpkin in the pantry, i got to work today making pumpkin pie squares... which i find to be 100x better than pumpkin pie! maybe it's because the pillsbury pie crust is replaced by an oatmeal/brown sugar crust, or maybe it's the pecan crumbles on top. either way, this baby is a winner...

other fall-like happenings:

- i ordered a latte last weekend at starbucks. a real latte, not iced.

- i bought a brown, half-zip northface. i might not get to wear it until december, but...

- i've been telling myself i'm going to start jogging in the mornings now that stepping outside doesn't feel like i'm crawling into an oven

- baylor homecoming is only 3 weeks away!

- i wore sweatpants to the grocery store today & didn't feel crazy

- next month is thanksgiving! and my trip to pennsylvania :)

anyway, hope you all are embracing fall as well!

i'll leave you with this. cloe has permanently taken up residence on my bed. i don't understand. she is 9 years old and has never before thought to do this. i guess she is getting wise in her old age...