Last day of 2012

The biggest tree !

Reflections on the year....

Nothing against 2012 at all. But I am ready for 2013 and what will feel like a new start. 2012 was filled with stress, stress and mega stress. Much due to comps, grad school stuff, moving, and wedding planning. All of this ended up well and  good but I am hoping 2013 will be filled with tons of fun. Exceptions being certain grad school classes and trying to find a job. Other than that my wedding is in 172 days!  WHOA. I am grateful to 2012 for coming and going so I can marry the best man and friend I have. Graduation is before that and I couldn't be more ready and terrified. This officially will be the year I enter the working world full time. It should be interesting. 

Some Memories...

Last New Years Eve

My Valentine

My other Valentine

Race where Kasey Kahne won!

Sweet babysitting adventures

Paleo Expeditions

Engagement shoots in the awful heat

Hailey & Jenna Olympics

Puppy sleepovers

Walk to End Alzheimers!

Bridesmaid get-together!

My crazy new family

Best friends/MOH

Bachelorette Parties

Luna doing her Yoga

Thomas catching a 17" flounder!

Funny puppies

Thomas turned 30

Christmas 2012

My Goals for 2013...

1. Have a FANTASTIC wedding. So much has been done to prepare for it already but the last 6 months marks the time where showers, registering and having fun with people involved in the wedding. I'm super excited about that. I am determined to have fun on my day even if everything falls apart. (Let's face it, I planned it myself, something is bound to) Plus after it's over we can then plan our London honeymoon!!! (update on wedding planning will come later)
2. I have been sick the last couple of days so exercise has been put on the back burner until I  can get my lungs back to do cardio. Seriously though, we have a YMCA membership and I will be taking full advantage of this, especially these upcoming months before the wedding.
3. Along with exercising more regularly, eating more fruits and vegetables. I've already made a grocery list and menu plan for the first week of 2013. Need to get back to normal with a full pantry and get rid of all the Christmas goodies which are good but ya know not really that good for you.
4. Graduate! Then find a job! Oh please please please
5. Be better about taking photos. I always miss opportunities and I really wish I could get over my awkwardness of taking pictures.
6. Be a better blogger. Simply just do it.
7. Read 25 books this year.
8. Be more organized. Including cleaning more often. (I did make a cleaning schedule, maybe this will help).
9. SAVE MORE MONEY. We are currently relying on a teacher's salary while I am in school and I have wedding things to pay for as well as saving up for a honeymoon. I need to impulse buy less. 
10. ??? Maybe I'll think of the tenth later.

So, How am I bringing in the new year?

Well, I think this may be the funnest way that I've ever brought in the year. I am going to see The Avett Brothers play in Greensboro. I am so excited. I am listening to them right now just in preparation of the night since lately all I've been listening to has been Les Mis.... (views on the movie to come later)

Hope they play any of these....

    

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Les Mis!

Don't get me wrong, Christmas is exciting and I'm ready for the food, family, and presents. But one of the things I'm looking forward to the most is the Les Miserables movie. I love the musical but haven't listened to it or watched the Anniversary concert in a very long time.
Anyone that really knows me, knows that I love musicals. My favorites include Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Spring Awakening, Sweeney Todd, and Rent. I've rediscovered Les Mis and it is amazing.

Needless to say I am listening to the music all the time and am so ready for the movie to be out. Christmas day!

I also discovered another musical, Once. I wish I could go see it on Broadway. The music is fantastic. My favorite song is "Gold"

Preparing for the end of 2012.

I really should be better about updating my blog. Right now I'm simply wasting time before walking out the door to go volunteer at the Food Shuttle and I'm kind of already over this day entirely. It is my last day of class for the semester and we have a case study to turn in and as our final we have to complete another group's case study that they created. I'm just prepared to roll my eyes a lot and stare at the clock.

In my absence, there have been some interesting things going on and some not interesting things ( Beverly Hills 90210 marathons, anyone?) But yes, I have been squeezing through this semester of grad school and it isn't pretty. This was by far the worst of the worst semesters. It borders the dreadful semester of '08 where I had the Biochemistry class that I passed on a technicality (she couldn't fail the people that didn't drop the class, which was the majority). I am happy to say that I will be passing this semester but if it's with A's, that is the question.
I took my comprehensive exam in October and passed both the multiple choice and written portion. Yay, go me! However, I never want to relive the stress of the 6 weeks prior to taking the test. It was hell and mostly due to anticipation and wanting to get it over with. But I studied my butt off and it worked out in the end! Plus, my advisor seems to think I am definitely on the path to graduate in May so there are no words to describe how excited I am for that. MAY 11th here I come!!

The next step in this graduate school journey is to start my practicum project , which I decided to get some hours in for that early so I will be officially starting it on Monday. It's scary but I'm sure it will be fine. I feel like I have an understanding advisor and an organized and supportive supervisor at the Shuttle who is quite familiar with the practicum process since  she is a student at Meredith as well. So I feel like I have some great mentors for this project.
However, I will only get a small portion of my hours completed this month because I would like some time to do some Christmas festivities and such. Thomas and I already put up our tree, which is real by the way, and it's a little bare at the moment. We put all the ornaments we currently own on it and I feel it really does represent our life together. As we go on with our lives together we will collect more and more ornaments from places we go and memories we share. Each year our tree will represent more and more memories and eventually our kids will make ornaments too!

I am very excited for this Christmas despite the fact that money is pretty limited and I feel bad asking Thomas to help me out with gifts. I am trying to enjoy spending time with friends and family over thinking about what gifts I will get or give out. Hopefully by this time next year I will have a job so this will not be an issue anymore.

Here are our Christmas pictures for this year, as usual taken by Thomas's talented dad.

Luna looks kind of mad but she's always that way at Tom & Debbie's house because her best friend (their dog, Samson) is there. She doesn't want to take pictures, she wants to play tug-a-war!

I couldn't be more excited for the next 6 months!

Wedding Stuff Weekend

Hello! School has started back and I am in the middle of trying to get everything organized for my three classes I'm taking and for volunteer activities that I've signed on to do. So much has been going on, I've been wearing myself out. Hey, if I'm going to bed at 9, that means I'm tired haha

Classes for this semester are:
Monday: Seminar
Tuesday: Gastronomy
Wednesday: Food & Society

I've signed up to be a nutrition instructor for a Cooking Matters class through the Raleigh Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. It was a last minute assignment and my volunteer coordinator was like begging me to help them out since their original instructor dropped out. It's a very big step for me because I have been working in the offices this summer and I have no previous experience teaching nutrition in a class setting. I've led groups (of kids) before during summer camps but have never led a full-on nutrition lesson. It's scary, different and exciting all at the same time. I just hope I can improve over time.
I teach this class along with one of my classmates so it's going to be fun. Whatever teaching skills I'm lacking she can make up for it because she's already good at it.
These are on Tuesdays.

On Wednesdays I will still be working in the IFFS office. I'm glad to be getting more volunteer hours in. That's for sure.

This past weekend was the last weekend for a while that I have things scheduled for wedding planning. Weekends from now on are booked with weddings, vacation (singular), football games, etc.
Two weekends ago, I went to Uptown Charlotte to celebrate my friend Amanda's bachelorette party! It was so much fun and  all the girls had a blast!
I borrowed a few pictures from the night.

Can you tell who the bride is?

In our VIP booth

My Best Friends from High School :)

So much fun and I'm thinking of having my bachelorette weekend in Charlotte now. MOHs get on it!

This past Friday I went and looked for bridesmaid dresses and it was a complete BUST. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to not find a dress. Fortunately, I do have a back-up choice on Etsy. But I am trying my hardest to find one that the girls can try on in a store. We will see!

Saturday, we went to Winston to decide on our invitation style and look at the venue. We wanted to show the venue to Thomas's parents since they haven't seen it before. They really liked it, which I was glad! Also, we decided on the invitations, so now we just need to wait a while before actually ordering them.

Sunday was the day we had everyone that is involved in the wedding over at my sister's house for a meet and greet. Not everyone knew each other so to prevent awkward encounters at the bachelorette party, bridal shower, etc., I wanted to get everyone together. Also, one of my bridesmaids is leaving the country for study abroad so I wanted her to meet everyone before leaving. She's going to Barcelona, jealous!

All the bridesmaids, minus one! MOHs on left. Love these girls!!

It's sad to not be able to wedding plan this fall BUT I really need to take a break before I am sick of it. haha Plus school needs to be my priority right now. Thomas and I both have a very important year and once the wedding gets here it will be time to move on and begin our life how we want it!

Golden Week

I have been watching the Olympics religiously the past few nights. Gabby Douglas won the women's All Around competition in gymnastics and was so awesome last night! Before she won, I was a bundle of nerves since the Russian competitor was very close to coming up and beating her. However, the U.S. prevails once again!

I was pulling for Aly Raisman to win bronze too but she was surprisingly butted out by one of the Russian girls. I'm tempted to say that this wouldn't have happened if Jordyn Weiber had competed instead. Looking forward to the rest of the gymanstics competitions.


Tonight, however, I will miss the broadcast because I'm attending a wedding but I'm sure to watch as soon as I get home and try and catch up. I'm curious to watch the trampoline finals! I will also be missing the movie on the Magnificent Seven, as you know if you read this, I love them girls!


In other news, I have been continuing my running. Today I ran (in the hot, hot heat) and I also did this Ballet Boot Camp Challenge!


Whew! It kicked my butt! Especially right after a run which I guess is not the most opportune time. However, I didn't feel like sweating twice today.
Try it! But I must warn you, if your arms are as weak as mine, the dancer's twist will HURT!


I don't think I've talked about it on this blog, but I've been dabbling with the Paleo Diet. I took a Paleolithic nutrition class earlier this summer and it really opened my eyes to what may be wrong with our nutrition guidelines. The practices of the Paleo diet are just very simple and obviously hard to stick to because of the lack of bread, pasta, rice and other whole grains. It also doesn't include dairy which is hard for me because of my love for yogurt. Beans/legumes are not allowed as well. The reason? All of these things cause gut irritation and thus according to some research, prevent us from absorbing valuable nutrients and can lead to chronic diseases that plague many Americans. It's very interesting and I actually was strictly paleo for about a month following the end of the course. However, I have since returned to my carb loving ways. But Thomas and I have recently decided to start on the paleo path once again.


Which leads me to what I am going to call, Sweating for the Dress. (Inspired by this shirt that I found on Pinterest) I would be a June Bride :)

Want it!

 I exercise and attempt healthy eating for one main reason, my health. I am a girl though and would love to look smoking hot in my wedding dress come June 2013. (who doesn't?!) So as of today I am going to be keeping track of my progress with the combination of my running, workouts, and mainly paleo diet.
This isn't me saying I am going to update this blog with boring running times, calories burned, etc. Just a statement telling you  (my few readers) that this is what I am up to.

As of today I have 322 days and 19 hours to get my butt in gear and get fit. Plus it helps to know what my dress looks like and this helps me to imagine how I want to look in it.

Alright so it's time for me to get ready for this wedding tonight. Even though it's a friend of Thomas's and I have never met the couple getting married, I still look forward to seeing other people's wedding ideas come to life. Maybe I'll see something that I would like to incorporate into our day.

Reading List 2012

So I am a member of Goodreads, which basically a really good website if you love books, want to keep lists of all the books you've ever read, and would like to read reviews of books. You can form lists of books you want to read or are currently reading and keep everyone updated with how far you are in a book. It's really neat and I love updating my status on a book. It keeps me reading and it's cool because it will give you a percentage of how much you have completed a book. 
 In the beginning of the year I signed up for their 2012 Reading Challenge, where you can set a goal and then it helps you stick to that goal. I chose a goal of 25 books this year.

 I have currently read 12 books so I'm almost halfway done with the challenge. I thought I would share because I love books and reading. I think I've read some really great books and I have some on my To-read list that I'm excited about.

My List:

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak   *** 3 stars
2. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling   **** 4 stars
3. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson    ***** 5 stars
4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon  *** 3 stars
5. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut    *** 3 stars
6. Pandora's Seed: Why the Hunter-Gatherer Holds The Key To Our Survival by Spencer Wells  ** 2 stars
7. The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf  ** 2 stars
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett   **** 4 stars
9. Life of Pi by Yann Martel   **** 4 stars
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth   *** 3 stars
11. Insurgent by Veronica Roth   **** 4 stars
12. The Shack by W. Paul Young   *** 3 stars
13. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy  ** 2 stars
14. The Physiology of Taste, or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin ** 2 stars  (for class)
15. The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher *** 3 stars (for class)
16. Slow food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures of Food by Carlo Petrini  *** 3 stars  (for class)
17. Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table by Ruth Reichl  ****  4 stars  ( for class)
18. Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty by Mark Winne   *** 3 stars  (for class)
19. The End of Food by Paul Roberts  *** 3 stars  (for class)
20. Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture by E.N. Anderson  ** 2 stars  (for class)
21. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling ** 2 stars
22. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins  **** 4 stars
23. The Passage by Justin Cronin (currently reading) Probably will make the 2013 list.

Haven't decided what is next after those last couple but I'm sure I'll be able to make up my mind when that time comes. :)  Happy reading!

Edit: I decided to count the books I had to read for class because I had a ton of reading to do. Our professors made us read entire books which prevented me from reading other books so these made the list. So I ALMOST met my goal!

Ending Result: 22/ 25 books. Not bad. I blame COMPs and school for not reaching my goal!

Olympics are here!!

Every four years the Olympics airs on TV for two weeks. And I become a slave to my television. I love watching the athletes compete in volleyball, beach volleyball, swimming, synchronized diving, gymnastics, rowing... pretty much anything but soccer. Sorry I've never been a huge soccer fan. Plus, my favorite coach of ALL TIME Mike Krzyzewski is the U.S. basketball team's coach!
GO USA!

The Opening Ceremonies were entertaining. As a fan of London and that being where Thomas and I want to go on our honeymoon. I loved seeing the historical theme of the ceremonies.
Favorite part of the ceremonies?

James Bond + Corgis = A win in my book.

I think I love the Olympics so much because it brings back memories of watching the '97 gymnastics team as a kid and looking up to those girls so much. Who didn't cry when Kerri Strug hurt her ankle and landed on the vault anyway!?

Shannon Miller on the far right was my favorite

My cousin and I were taking gymnastics at the time so of course we would talk about going to the Olympics one day, as we are jumping on our beds and attempting flips. (little did I know that my athletic ability was pretty much  nonexistent and that never really changed). It's just so much fun to pull for people that represent your country. You get so wrapped up in their personal stories, you can't help but root for them.  They pretty much become insta-celebrities after it's over.

Women's gymnastics is coming on tonight and I am so excited!
Go girls! and Go USA!