Anticipation of Fall

I am a notoriously bad blogger. On average, I think there are probably 4 month gaps between each post...oops. Regardless, since my last utterly depressing post about the horrors of eating at college (or in my case, the horrors of eating too much at college, I have:

• been interning at a little tiny non-profit in my hometown
• been living with my grandparents (which is an adventure)
• started working out every day (and lost 5 lbs., yay!)

All pretty positive things. That being said, I am very close to being ready to go back to school. Starting over in the fall is always exciting, and I have a lot to look forward to next semester. It's going to be stressful, but hopefully with a little willpower and some creative scheduling, I'll be able to keep my grades off, keep extra weight off, learn to cook, edit the newspaper, and keep up friendships.

Doesn't sound too bad, right?

For now, all I can do is plan and try to make everything as organized as possible.

123 lbs., or why you should never eat out with your boyfriend

So I went to the gym today.

I was going to go to pilates class, but I was early. So I went down to the locker room to weigh myself. Being a college student, I don't own a scale, so weighing myself at the gym is the only option I have. As you might guess, this gets a lot easier when I frequent the gym. Unfortunately, it's been a busy semester, and sleep has begun to win out over working out; junk food has trumped my formerly frequent trips to Trader Joe's; a boyfriend has meant frequent trips to not-so-healthy restaurants.

Long story short, I've gained weight.

A lot of weight. The most I've ever gained.

About 15 lbs. over where I'd like to be.

To most people, 15 lbs. doesn't sound like a ton. But when you are as short as I am--and that's pretty short--15 lbs. can be a lot.

So here is my second attempt at a workout blog. Every day, I'm going to attempt to do a couple things to make myself healthier, thinner, and happier with myself. Here goes.

This morning, I was going to go to pilates. I couldn't deal with being in a room full of skinny girls after my scale trauma, so I came home--to blog, to cry, and to do pilates in the comfort of my recently emptied living room (my roommate is transferring), while watching the Today show. For breakfast today, I'm going to have Special K. For lunch today, I'll have a Special K Bar and some V8 juice.

I WILL be better by June. Just watch me.

Ohh heyy.

I haven't written a blog post in literally over 2 months.

Oh well.

New relationship. No job. Finals. First snow. My life currently.

It's Christmas time.

Today, it snowed.

Everything's very cute in my world right now...including the 3 foot tall Christmas tree sitting in my living room, and the cute garland on the stair railing.

I'm happy, I think.

Throat of Doom

So...I'm a hypochondriac.

I either think I'm sick when I'm not (generally as a result of other people being sick) or I think that my symptoms must mean I'm actually deathly ill (when I probably just have a virus).

Right now, I have the worst sore throat since the one I had with Mono. While I'm asleep, probably breathing through my mouth, and letting all sorts of dry air into my throat, it becomes swollen, raw, and 6 other types of painful. Waking up this morning was NOT pleasant. In addition, I think I've over-used Chloraseptic...it's no longer really doing anything helpful.

This is not the way I like to start a full day of classes.

Ugh.

It's 2:14 am right now. I have to be up at 7:30 to make it to class on time. Why, do you ask, am I awake?

I'm awake because I just finished the first homework-night of my sophomore year, and because my second wind has officially kicked in. Today I learned that my grandmother has been put on a ventilator. I talked to my roommate about the fact that she's medically withdrawing from school (unexpectedly) leaving me to find a replacement asap. I stayed at the college newspaper office from 7pm to 1:30am, and I read approximately 60 pages of British Literature and Christian History.

I can't say that a lot of this is positive. Some of it is real, undeniable bad news. But I can choose not to worry, and I can choose to stay positive, and work hard to do what I'm capable of. And that is why I'm awake at 2:14am.

My Best Friends

So this week, I'm chilling in my apartment. I'm trying to get some hours in at work before classes start. And in all of this lovely time to myself, I've been thinking about all the people I'm going to miss when school starts. So this post is hereby dedicated to my best friends.

Although I try my hardest to be kind & considerate, I'll be the first to admit that I'm probably a pain in the butt sometimes. But these people not only put up with me...they actually seem to like me. In addition...they are all of those things I try to be. And I really truly love them for it.

So thank you for: road trips, shopping trips, late night phone calls, river trips, sleepovers, porch time, many many trips to McDonald's, movie nights, hikes, and being awesome.

My entire life, I've danced. There are millions of people in the world who can say those words. And the great part is, almost all of them mean something different. There are people who are fantastic dancers in almost any setting. If there is music on...anything with a rhythm, actually... they can move to it in a way that becomes art. Then there are dancers who specialize in one genre. There are technically trained dancers, dancers who break outside of technique, and dancers who follow no rules whatsoever. There are ballerinas, modern, hip hop, jazz, tap, lyrical, Irish dancers. There are people who dance at clubs for fun...there are people who perform for millions...an there are people who dance as a form of worship.

SO. In honor of my favorite art--and what I would love to be doing right now--here are some of my favorite dance quotes.

"To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. " -Agnes de Mille

"The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul." -Isadora Duncan

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body." - Martha Graham