Tag Archives: class of 2014

Graduated

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We did it!!!

I knew we would…most of the time.

Last night’s commencement exercises were short and sweet, just how everyone likes ’em. All the speeches and words of wisdom were so inspiring and thoughtful!

The first half of the ceremony was actually terrifying for me since my heartbeat was sprinting away from me as I waited to deliver my speech. At the very beginning of the ceremony, I also messed up the words to the alma mater when I sang it on stage with the rest of the chorus members. Woooooo.

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Sam, the salutatorian, delivered a wonderful, funny speech to welcome everyone to the commencement. When it came time for my speech, I breathed my first sigh of relief when I made it on stage without face-planting the floor in my high heels. Then I breathed a second sigh of relief when some people laughed at my bad jokes. Finally, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I finished the speech.

PS— when my principal introduced me, he mentioned THE BLOG.

PPS— I’m quiet??

PPPS— Here is my brother’s quasi-rap commencement speech from 2011. If you want to laugh, watch it!

Of course I had to make my speech about social media, right?

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My mom was all over the place last night. If she wasn’t snapping photos of me in the back, she was manning the video camera. The school should have just hired her to be the pro photographer of the evening.

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I think I’m finally starting to get a little emotional about this whole leaving high school thing. At least I have three graduation parties this weekend!

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Pam! Dance and school buddies since the beginning.

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Jeannine and Veronica (we were missing Je’lyn!)

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The Times Square after-prom crew

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Brianna, Kristi, and Sam (amazing salutatorian!)

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Thank you for coming, Sister Sandy and Auntie Earnest!

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Proud to follow in his footsteps

I kept telling people during the commencement ceremony: “I’m hungry.” So I was more than ready to eat some (read: a crapton of) sushi at my favorite restaurant afterwards!

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I also requested Cold Stone ice cream afterwards. Dad, Ben, and I shared a “gotta have it” (large) size of mint ice cream mixed with oreos. If you ever go to Cold Stone, have that combination— you won’t regret it.

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It was like mint cookies and cream!! How could you say no?

This post is uber late today because a) I was spending all last night uploading photos to Facebook; b) I slept until almost noon today. Hello, summertime sleep schedule! 😉

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

So tell me: 

…I dunno…What are you doing this weekend??

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Egg-Celent Weekend

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I had to.

I know you’re cringing at the pun “egg-celent,” but it’s quite an accurate adjective to describe my weekend. Lots of great company, delicious food (including EGGS of course), and lots of my weird antics per usual.

MiMM

‘Twas marvelous! Linking up with the fabulous Katie 🙂

Friday

I successfully did Susie’s prom makeup in the morning! It took a few tries, but she looked gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

We had our senior picnic on Thursday, and next up was our fancy shmancy senior luncheon. We ate good food and signed each other’s “Class of 2014” pennants (those flag thingies), which was fun just because you felt like a celebrity signing your autograph 100 times. There was also a chocolate fountain, so that was a hit…for the people that actually really like chocolate.

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Who uses that “inside the plate rim” rule anyway? I cleaned that plate right up.

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“Core Four”

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Chorus buds

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CHEESE!

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Stunning Sam (aka salutatorian!)

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The fountain of youth

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I wasn’t feelin’ that chocolate though. Except for the brownie.

Since my principal wanted my commencement speech draft sent to him by Saturday, I spent most of my afternoon and evening (after a nice, long nap) finishing that sucker. I grooved so hard when I practiced it and found that it was not too long and not too short. Hallelujah!

My moves were little bursts of 20 air squats, 20 pushups, 20 sit-ups, and 10 burpees (5 rounds total for the 100 challenge) every time I needed a mental break from speech-writing.

Saturday

Woke up late, moves were a ton of handstands, cleaned, went to church, and babysat all night!

I did have a killer lunch that day:

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English muffin with avocado and sunny eggs + sriracha. PARTY IN MY MOUTH!

This made me sad though:

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Not even because it got on my laptop (we already know that’s a usual occurrence), but because I wasn’t able to dip my bread in the yolky goodness since it didn’t land on my plate.

Judge me.

Oh, and when I babysat, one of the boys asked me to read this book to him twice:

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LOL.

It’s a Spanish dialect called Catalan. It’s like Latin + French + Spanish all in one. I did my best, but let’s just say it’s a good thing they were not harsh critics. I feel like I may have accidentally cursed in a different language, considering the way I was trying to pronounce some of those words.

Sunday

Father’s Day!

I woke up bright and early to make dad a special breakfast: DSC_8592

Kale, onion, mushroom, swiss frittata. More eggs!

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I sorta winged it with the frittata, using some online recipes for guidelines, but it was super tasty! I’ll probably post the recipe later.

I totally scraped off and ate all the crispy, flavorful bits from the bottom of the cast iron skillet after mom put the rest of the frittata away. She asked me: “Are your eating the charcoal?” Yes, ma, I’m eating charcoal.

Moves: Jess’ Lean Legs workout. I haven’t done this in forever, but I remembered how much I love it. Love to hate it, that is.

Apparently my quads were starving afterwards, because I housed a Hugh Jass lunch (even with a big breakfast and pre-workout snack).

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Sautéed kale, mushroom, chicken with garlic and some leftover steak+potato hash

This was only ⅔ of it. I finished the other ⅓ when my plate wasn’t so full. I think I satisfied my protein intake for the next two days with this meal.

Then I had a lovely catch-up session with my good friend, Anushka! We chatted over some vanilla ice cream 🙂

Dad decided that he wanted to go to Bareburger for dinner, so we went there for a late dinner and final Father’s Day celebration. I got a lighter meal since my lunch consisted of a whole farm.

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Walnut apple salad with applewood-smoked bacon and goat cheese (mmmm) + quinoa veggie burger

It was delicious! I also had a bite of my mom’s classic beef burger, which was awesome.

WOW that was a jam-packed weekend, now that I’m blogging about it. This was a random, long post again….sorry. Tomorrow I have a short post with a VLOG though! 😀

Have a marvelous Monday, friends!

So tell me:

What was the last thing you ate that was a party in your mouth?

What is your favorite way to eat eggs?

What did you do yesterday?

Fascinating Friday Links #38

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Hiya!

Yesterday was the senior picnic— one of the special events that we receive as the big shots of the school. We did all those gushy things like signing every person’s yearbook (even those of the people we’ve never talked to before— loooook we’re breaking barriers, how sweet). Then there were other fun things like frisbee, soccer, volleyball, and eating burgers and dogs.

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Je’lyn, Veronica, and Jeannine ♥ 

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Cheeseburger {cheese is on the bottom} with ketchup and mustard art.

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Daliza! 😀

Although the weather was kinda gross, it was a fun time! Let’s be honest though, the cheeseburger was the best part of the day.

Joking.

And now here are this week’s Fascinating Friday Links. Enjoy!

fascinating friday links

Health and Fitness

[Most of us have done it] How To Stop Comparing Your Food Choices to Other People’s via The Real Life RD + Well-Intentioned

[Never too early to care for your heart health] Best Foods For Your Heart And Why 20-Somethings Should Care via Greatist

[Hooray for fish!] 5 Reasons Athletes Should Eat Fish via Cotter Crunch

[I did only half of this workout and ooooof] HIIT Fusion Workout via Purely Twins

[You don’t just have to run outdoors] Outdoor Workout via Blonde Ponytail

Food for Thought

[Happiness is worth some discomfort and sacrifice] 20 Hard Things You Need to Do to Be Happy via Marc and Angel Hack Life

[Live life too] Balancing Blogging and the “Real World” via The Big Man’s World

[Holla] Eff the Thigh Gap via Healthy Diva Eats

Food for Belly

[All the stone fruits!] Grilled Apricot Quinoa Parfaits via Fit Foodie Lee + Roasted Peach Crumble Bars via Yeah…Imma Eat That + Grilled Peach BBQ Sauce with Grilled Polenta via Edible Perspective

[Thailand meets North America. I dig.] Thai Turkey Sliders with Peanut Sauce via The Healthy Maven

[I’m into these s’mores variations] Red, White, and Blue Berry S’mores via Family Fresh Cooking

[Looks like it] Addictively Good Chicken Wings via Kitchy Kitchen

[Awesome] Vegan Caprese Sandwiches with Garlic Cashew Cheese via Oh My Veggies

[Yessss] Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies via The Lean Green Bean

Miscellaneous Fun

[Learn] The Unspoken Rules of Blogging Etiquette via Running with Ollie

[Mind is BLOWN] 20 Awesome Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Frozen’ via Your Tango

[I’ll do this the next time I’m in the city] This Random Guy Pretends to Be a Celebrity…And All of New York Falls For It via Slightly Viral

It was a shorter list today, but I guess that can be a good thing!

My friend Susie is coming over this morning so that I can do her makeup for prom! I don’t really know why she’s coming to me…I’m not that amazing at makeup, but hopefully I can work some magic. Just pray that I don’t screw up one of the biggest nights of her high school life, cool? Then I’m off to my school’s senior luncheon, which is a fancier event at a country club…ooo la la. I ♥ dressing up.

Happy Friday, everyone!

So tell me:

Burgers or hot dogs?

What are you doing today?

Do you like dressing up?

WIAW: Yesterday

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Hi!

After answering my own Spill It Sunday questions yesterday, I got crap from my friends for pretending to be Hannah Montana in my past life. GUATEVER, that was seven years ago…I’m still a rockstar though.

Another late night last night results in another late post today, but hopefully this won’t be a regular thing. I like getting my posts up early! Anyway, today I’m showing you what I ate yesterday, along with all the fun post-high-school activities that happened!

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Joining the party with the world’s best avocado picker, Jenn!

6 AM— Wake up. Go to the bathroom. Consider going down for breakfast before thinking: Why the heck am I up right now? Go back to sleep.

9 AM— Wake up take two. Muuuuuch better.

9:30 AM— Breakfast, blogging, and Food Network watching!

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English muffin with almond butter and pepita sunseed butter + Greek yogurt with honey, chia, hemp, and half a banana

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A juicy peach

10:30 AM— Laundry, bathroom cleaning, dishes, and some burpees and handstands thrown in there for good measure.

12:30 AM— Rehearse singing the alma mater and star spangled banner with the other seniors in chorus at school in preparation for graduation. It already felt weird walking back into that building. Just thinking: I will never take classes here again. 

1:15 PM— A delicious but insanely messy lunch. I would never eat this thing in public, or else I would be judged as a barbarian. Eggs, tomatoes, and avocado pieces were rolling everywhere.

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Whole wheat tortilla, spinach, avocado, tomato, and parmesan scrambled egg wrap + unpictured sugar snap peas

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Plus a few dried pineapple rings

2 PM— Shopping with Daliza! We found our outfits for the senior awards ceremony last night, blasted Young the Giant in her car, and sang more Frozen duets.

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Super smiles

5 PM— Snack time. I finished my tomato and sugar snap peas from lunch with some hummus.

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Plus some of these spiced crackers

6:30 PM— I tried out the 100 air squat challenge for time that I saw on Fitfluential‘s Instagram.

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7:30 PM— Snacked on some salt and pepper pistachios before the senior awards ceremony.

8:45 PM— Awards ceremony finishes and guess what!

I’m valedictorian. Meep. Madre was crying! :’)

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One of my best friends, Sam, is salutatorian! Congratulations, girl!

We were tenths of a point away from each other! Now I have to write my speech…stat.

9:45 PM— Went out with some friends after the ceremony to get snacks, but I needed dinner, so I got a yummy chicken gyro that satisfied my hunger very well.

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10:30 PM— Sam, Jeannine, Michael, and I went to Veronica’s house to play a game that Veronica introduced to us— Loaded Questions. That game is easily one of the funnest things of all time. We laughed so hard the whole time!

2 AM— Hit the hay.

There ya have it! Everything I did and ate yesterday. So many fantastic things for which to be thankful!

So tell me:

Do you have trouble eating homemade wraps too?

Which meal has recently hit the spot for you?

Two fun things you did yesterday!

Behind the Scenes #22: Lame High School Seniors

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Thinking-Out-Loud

Being random with Amanda today!

1) Why are the seniors still going to school? We have three days left and we do n-o-t-h-i-n-g in our classes. As my friend Kristi said, my phone battery runs out faster by the end of the day because we have to entertain ourselves with social media. The only motivation for me at this point is my Italian final.

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All day, every day

2) My gym membership ends today, which is both good and bad. Good because I can work out outdoors more often (and focus on things like yoga and pilates), bad because I don’t get to use the TRX bands anymore. Those things rock.

3) I fell for it. I fell for the “I’ll like a bunch of your pictures so you can notice my amazing pictures and follow me” on Instagram. Someone decided to like 10 of my photos without following me, so of course I had to check out who this person was. When I found her Instagram, I saw beautiful food pictures and fancy French captions. I didn’t want to do it, but I followed her. I feel defeated.

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[source]

4) Speaking of Instagram, Gina from Running to the Kitchen posted several photos from her hike through the gorgeous Zion National Park yesterday, and I died. I want to go there so badly now.

5) The best part about making way too many pancakes and waffles for a sleepover breakfast? LEFTOVERS.

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Banana pancakes with 2% Greek yogurt, sunflowers seed butter, and maple syrup. Glass o’ milk on the side!

Confession: I took my super sweet time eating this and was fashionably late to school. Whoops.

6) All the music students at my school are having a huge cook-off tomorrow, and the teams are divided by grade. Seniors are gonna kill it. My contribution will be chicken fried rice, and I think we’re also gonna try to sing and perform for the judges to complete the experience. It’s Iron Chef meets America’s Got Talent.

7) Obsessed:

Riptide by Vance Joy

8) We tried to a senior prank of sorts today called the “senior snuggle.” Basically, all the seniors were supposed to lie down in the hall and just chill there in between class periods. However, a lot of people chose not to do it, so it was a classic failure.

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Lame.

9) I’m trying this overnight hair-curling technique where you just twist your hair, tie it, and sleep on it. In the morning, I hope to have nice, wavy curls, but there’s no guarantee. It has worked beautifully for my friend, Kristi, so fingers crossed that my hair cooperates as well as hers!

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I’ve tried overnight hair curling techniques before, and let’s just say that I never thought my hair could morph into an afro. But it’s possible.

10) I have a question for you all: Do you like my Fascinating Friday Links posts? I didn’t do one last week, and I’m just not sure if I want to do one every week from now on. I’ve gotten feedback before that they’re not the most interesting posts (ironic), but I’ve also gotten positive feedback for the links. How do you all feel about it?

Hope you all have a fantastic day! Smile a lot 😀

So tell me:

Have you ever fallen for the like-for-follow on Instagram?

Any cool senior pranks you know about?

Have you ever tried heatless curls before?