Notes on College {Chapter 2}

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Good morning, folks!

Sooo I didn’t actually get to pre-schedule any posts this weekend and I greatly apologize. Life happened, and life is still happening, but I’m squeezing in this post because I love blogging and all of you and…yay!

I’m excited for the events that are happening this week, especially because there’s a weekend retreat to New Hampshire with the Catholic center coming up! Only an essay, lab, a few assignments, and a psych test to power through until then. Meep.

I haven’t really updated you all on what went on last week, so I’m going to recap some highlights in the style of notes again! Second edition = “Chapter 2.” #nerd

Academics

Flash cards— easy and efficient for studying; pain in the butt to make. If this is the stack I have for only two chapters, I’m going to need a whole forest to sustain my studying needs for the rest of the year.

Social Life

I attended the first Catholic women’s group meeting of the year last Wednesday and the two hostesses provided an epic taco night. Good food, great company, and joyful conversation made for the perfect evening!
- (I missed lobster night in the dining halls for it, and I do not regret it.)

Embarrassing moment of the month: My stomach made the weirdest, LOUDEST sound during a silent prayer time in the tiny chapel, so everyone definitely knew it was me.
- I actually prayed to God: “I deserved that humbling mortification.”
Hooray for Bible study!
- (I’m obsessed with the Catholic center activities, but you probably figured that out.)

Didn’t quite get everyone in the picture (sorry, Christina!), but these ladies are incredible.

These are my friends PJ and Ben. They took selfies on my phone when I wasn’t around, and now I’d like to show the world how ~~creepy~~ cool they are.

You’re on the blog now, PJ.

Fitness/Food

My butt is beyond sore right now thanks to pistol squats and curtsy lunges two days ago (weekly workouts coming Sunday again!).
Food front has been looking awesome recently! I still ♥ cottage cheese.

Soon I’ll tell you guys how I liked the Arctic Zero that I received last week! I, uh, finished three of the pints by myself already if that says anything.

Hope you all have a rockin’ Tuesday! Happy fall, by the way 🙂

So tell me:

Did/Do you use flash cards to study?

Is there a place at which you’ve been spending a great deal of time?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten in the past week?

That egg + cheese sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin at the top left of the food collage hit the spot, I must say.

Behind the Scenes #15: Hit the Spot

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

With the master out-loud thinker, Amanda 😉

1) You know when dinner just hits the spot like no other? That happened to me last night.

Whole wheat tortilla, avocado, spinach, turkey chili (thanks, Mom!), cheese, and Greek yogurt.

Praise Jesus, this was incredible! The addition of Greek yogurt took this meal to a whole new level. I had always been skeptical of using it as a replacement for sour cream, but now I am never turning back.

2) I went to the gym for the first time in about two weeks yesterday, and it was nice change of pace to be doing some physical activity besides dance again. Not that I don’t love to dance (duh), but it was ~~somewhat torturous~~ fun to be doing some pistol squats again!

3) I can’t believe I have to make a college decision by the end of this month. It’s like I just graduated middle school and went to that awkward 8th grade dance in the school gym. Oh wait, prom will basically be like that too, except with longer dresses at a country club. Anyway, May 1st (college deposit day) will sneak up on us before we know it, I’m sure. In the words of my friend, Kristi, that will be “Happy you-have-to-decide-where-you-want-to-spend-the-next-four-years-of-your-life day!!!”

4) Can this weather stay forever? I didn’t know if we would ever emerge from the seemingly perpetual winter, but the temperatures are perfect right now— sweaters can be worn or not worn, and you’ll be comfortable either way. Perfect for a…

[source]

C’mon, that was a good one. 😉

5) Speaking of which, spring break is in NINE DAYS. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Although, I’m starting my break a little bit early next Thursday afternoon to leave for my last college visits. Wee! I also have two field trips next week, so I’ll only be in school for two days. Hacking life right now.

6) <— The number of tries it takes for Alison to scan a four-page document onto her computer. *Sigh*

7) How do you pronounce crayon? Do you say “cray-on” or “cran”? My dance friends and I were having a debate over this last week, and the thought resurfaced when I was watching Ashley’s Accent Vlog yesterday. I say “cray-on,” and I have no idea whether I got that from living in California, Kansas, or New York.

[source]

According to this map, I got it from NY.

8) I am in desperate need of a manicure and pedicure. My toes post-Benefit (and post-pointe class) are gross, and my finger nails are just dull. I’m one of the few among my friends who just cannot keep my finger nails long without them chipping and constantly getting dirt underneath them (EW). Maybe I’m just too darn domestic that my labor shows through my unfortunate-looking hands. Just kidding, Mom has been doing most of the spring cleaning around the house lately (thank you)! I’m just too low maintenance to file my nails every day, so I just have to keep them short.

9) I have no more thoughts to think out loud for now. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

So tell me:

What did you eat for dinner last night?

Favorite taco toppings?

How do you say crayon?

Feelin’ Lucky {MIMM #28}

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Good morning and…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Fun fact: St. Patrick’s original associated color was actually blue. So if you accidentally wear blue today, you can tell people that.

I hope you all had a fun weekend filled with some luck and {root} beer (as my Economics teacher says)! I wouldn’t say my weekend was filled {root} beer, but it was definitely filled with loads of smiles, tears, and delicious food, which always makes me feel lucky. And marvelous!

We’re lucky to have Katie as the fabulous host of MIMM!

It’s becoming one of the most (if not, THE most) hectic times of year with school, dance, and church events, so it’s easy to overlook all the blessings right in front of me. We’re all doing ten things at once at any point in the day, but it’s a wonderful thing to just reflect on all the things we’re blessed to have. So here’s to all the blessings from this weekend! But for the sake of St. Paddy’s day, we’ll just say lucky. 🙂

Friday

We were lucky to have a chilly, but absolutely gorgeous day on Friday. I couldn’t fathom the idea of cooping up in the gym for a workout, so I opted for a refreshing outdoor workout.

Moves consisted of several plyo exercises (jumping jacks, high knees, burpees, jump lunges/squats) and different variations of pushups. I took sufficient breaks and took it easy, but it was nice to get the blood flowing in the great outdoors… of my backyard.

I’m lucky that coconut oil tastes good. I tried that trendy oil pulling technique (inspired by Gina and Katie) on Thursday. Basically, you swish around a vegetable oil in your mouth for about 20 minutes every day, and it’s supposed to aid in teeth whitening, gum health, and have some other health benefits. I’m in it for the teeth whitening. I still haven’t done it again since Thursday though…

Let’s face it. Swishing oil in your mouth for twenty minutes is kinda nasty.

I’m lucky to have had another smooth evening babysitting my company director’s little guy. I fed and changed him, and then he went to sleep in no time. All I had to do was check on him every once in a while, watch Youtube videos, read blogs, and do homework. Is that what motherhood will be like?? 😉

I’m also lucky that they had watermelon popsicles in their freezer.

Yeah, I raided their freezer (with permission).

Saturday

I’m lucky to have peanut butter, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt. As if I haven’t made that very clear.

I’m lucky to have lunches on the go. This was eaten at dance: spinach salad with curry chicken and grapes + BelVita biscuits.

I’m lucky to have a dad who loves taco night as much as I do. We had a fiesta in honor of St. Patrick’s Day because we’re multicultural like that.

Whole wheat tortilla, lean ground beef, cabbage, avocado, cheese, cilantro, pineapple salsa, and squeeze of lime.

It had beef and cabbage, so it’s sort of like corned beef and cabbage, right?

Sunday

I’m lucky to have 14 dance company girls and an amazing company director who made my last company rehearsal EVER pretty darn great. My feet hurt and we were sweaty beasts, but I’m glad to have spent it with such beautiful, hilarious, loving ladies. I didn’t cry, but the waterworks are guaranteed to come during our last show in less than two weeks.

I WON’T CRY NOW.

I’m lucky to have a dad who will run to the store to pick up some buttermilk for Irish soda bread. I’m a huge fan of the stuff, so of course I had to make some for St. Patrick’s day! I used this recipe (I used half whole wheat flour), which is a fun twist on the traditional Irish soda bread with raisins. This one has dried apricots and orange zest!