comfort...

Sometimes when I think comfort I think of noodles, so that's just what I whipped up. Though it hasn't been a particularly harrowing day it has seemed really long and I kind of just wanted to curl up and watch election coverage with a warm blanket and a warmer meal- mission accomplished!

Perhaps I was craving it a little too much because that's definitely my 'family sized' wok you see overflowing with noodle goodness- so much for trying out a slice of bread with dinner! Often I like to keep it to one predominate type of grain in a meal. It's all healthy ingredients. Lots of summer squash, a veggie sausage, mushrooms, garlic, onion, spinach and leftover whole wheat spaghetti. I sauteed it all in some rice vinegar and mustard- a surprisingly refreshing combo- and added a ton of pepper as well as red pepper flakes. It ended up being spicy, heartwarming and just what I was craving.

Off to go type up the paper I managed to start on!! Hope you all have a great election night.

Oh yeah, just take it for granted I'll probably have a gingerbread yogurt again tonight ;)

Can't wait to try my ARNOLD BREAD tomorrow!!

MAIL!!!

Okay, Super quickly before I go make dinner.... LOOK WHAT I CAME HOME TO:

Tina, from the amazing blog CarrotsnCake, held a contest about a week ago to win Arnold's new bread. Did I mention I was picked?! It's perfect since they don't sell the Arnold's bread line anywhere even nearly close to me (I know, I checked the website, haha). I can finally stop complaining! (although I don't know where I'm going to find some sandwich thins :(  haha, get an inch, want a mile, I guess!)

(Me, Clutching my loaves in ecstacy!)

I absolutely love getting mail, packages, magazines- even some advertisements. I think that the art of letter writing is really getting lost and it makes me so sad. Every time I open the mail box and get a little note (no, i don't always get amazing packages like loaves of bread) it absolutely makes my entire day. That's why my parents, sister, grandparents, a couple of friends, and boyfriend and I make it a priority to write letters. Believe it or not, stamps are actually getting more and more expensive (probably with rising fuel costs); however, each time I get a little 'hello, I miss you' card or sweet button from my sister (I'll show you a picture of it later!) my joy far exceeds 32 cents!!

Okay, I'm hungry so I'm off to make dinner, but I HAD to share. And I promise, I'll get to  your (two...) comments after dinner, haha- those make my night more immediately than letters!

not Quite as planned

Work was fine but long. I did manage to get a start on my paper beast for a lecture class on Goethe and do some studying for my education class. I'm minoring in education, not because I want to teach (I don't, though respect those that do-my momma's a teacher!) but because I think it really focuses on how to relate or present information to people which is always a good skill to have.
I didn't quite make it to the gym because one of my contacts acting up today so I would be constantly prodding my eye (not great in a setting where a lot of people go in and out). Also, I'm still feeling a bit tired/achy/off and I'm trying to get into the habit of listening to my body. Unfortunately that means I'm dealing with feeling a bit lazy/guilty/still in a funk; however, I did a few sets of sit ups/crunches this morning after I posted to help me wake up and I think it helped overall too.50 standard crunches

50 on left side, then same on right side

25 standard

(not much, but I was pressed for time and needed to perk up-that helped more than caffeine!)

Plus... most importantly... I asserted my rights as a U.S. Citizen!

(Picture to be inserted lata ;) )

My dad is a Swedish immigrant and therefore unable to vote so he's always reinforced how much of a privilege it is that we have this opportunity.

So I can check off work, voting, and a bit of paper writing... on to a bit more before class; and prior to that I'll be able to check off 'blog checking' too!

Goooood....

Morning, Good morning, I've tossed and turned the whole night through good morning, good morning, to you!!!

I'm not sure why I haven't gotten any sleep... but I have a few theories ;)

1. I'm super nervous/excited about the election. I'm not sure what people will talk about now that it's coming to a close, but I'm interested to find out. No matter which candidate wins I think that both know that something needs to change.

2. I can't help it, I still get nervous about pleasing teachers/people and being judged when it comes to writing. It's a shame because you should want to share an activity that you love. I guess that's still the self-conscious side of me that could do with a bit of building up.

(The busy bee)

3. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my busiest days of the week. Work/lecture on Tuesdays and class from 8-7 on Wednesdays lead to plenty of anticipation.

However, I think the culprit may in fact be

yup, the incredible amount of tea (both decaf and non) I drink

I am literally up about 4 times a night because of all the liquid I consume during the day- but it's so cold here! How else am I supposed to stay warm at night? Plus, I'm a big water drinker and love having something to sip on throughout the day. I think I'm going to instigate a 'no liquids after 6p.m.' policy or something... :( What do you guys do when you just cannot sleep?

In less complainy news (because believe it or not, I usually do like to start off my day on the Right side of the bed! Haha) it looks like the whole world is excited for the election- even the sun came out. I haven't stepped outside yet, but it looks like one of those crisp, sunny days.

For breakfast I had a quick bowl of raisin bran with soymilk and I'm taking a big Newton Pippin apple to munch on before work. I made a wrap with some homemade babaganoosh (felt festive since the bsi this week is eggplant- even if I'm not going to participate I couldn't help but be excited- it's a great pick!), turkey, tomato, spinach and artichoke hearts. Sound like an odd combo? It is, but the flavors actually compliment each other really well (in my opinion, that is).

This is me, on no endorphins

Hopefully between work, paper writing, class and voting I'll be able to quickly hit the gym for a mini strength sesh. I'm trying really hard not to fixate on exercise because I know that, in the past, I have used it as a coping mechanism to an unhealthy extent. However, it is something that makes me feel good and I definitely don't want to cut it out completely (for both physical health And sanity!). I've felt like such a lazy bum lately and it's gotten me into a bit of a funk, so here's to getting out of the funk (both with this new election start and in our personal lives!!!)

expand holiday horizons

When I saw gingerbread flavored yogurt at the store I decided to jump in feet first (and picked up 4... too eager?). Tonight was the first time I dug into one. The verdict: slightly too sweet for my taste, but definitely not unbearably so. It's seasonal and I'll enjoy it with the season but I won't be stocking up my freezer like I'm tempted to do with some seasonal items ;)

Hope you're all having a nice night in preparation for everything to be hectic with tomorrow's election!

long rainy day

Hey everyone- we're watching wheel of fortune right now so I'll attempt to keep this relatively quick. I have been lazy all day and am feeling pretty gross about it. I've either been sitting in class or sitting on the bus and am trying to remind myself that sometimes these days just happen :(

Snacked on an apple while bussing it to school. I forgot to take a picture, so I went ahead and posted the one I tried to a while ago showing just how thoroughly I enjoy a good apple!

My first class was great. I got our first tri-term back and ended up doing really well, so hopefully that will take some pressure off of the next one! Unfortunately, that's not the class for which the current paper I'm working on is due... alas. I knew that I needed some good brain fuel for my meeting with the T.A. about this paper so I stopped by the cafe for...

some trail mix fun and excitement

This mix consists of sunflower seeds, raisins, cashews, peanuts, and dried blueberries.

 Throughout the day I finished about half of it. While walking to the library (in the rain!) I also had half a sandwich.

Ham, swiss, lettuce and tomato on Marble Rye

This bread was amazing. In fact, it's pretty much the reason I chose this sandwich as I usually don't love ham. I really dislike eating on the run, but some days there's no other option.

My meeting with the T.A. helped a ton!! The paper's still going to be a lot of work, naturally, but I'm comfortable with my thesis and excited with where it could go. Plus, I offered the T.A. a bite of my trail mix And shared my umbrella- he owes me ;) We got so wrapped up in the topic that, by the time I looked at my phone/watch, I was late for my huge lecture! Well, I'm gonna admit it to you guys- I ditched *shrug* I had been damp and lazy all day and was underdressed for the cold, and by the time I made it to where the class was I spotted the only bus that goes to my house. What's a gal to do? 

Plus, I was way too excited to come home and make some brain food. I grilled up 5oz of salmon that I had seasoned with copious amounts of dill and a bit of spicy brown mustard. Being part Swedish, I love me some dill! Since I had the grill pan out already I prepared white asparagus my favorite way- they become so sweet and tender when grilled. I also sauteed up zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, onions and garlic and laid it all on a few cups of spinach. The healthy fat in the salmon should keep my mind active for a late brainstorming extravaganza- and I may be back for something sweet later... guess we'll see. But for now I'm going to lurk a bit and check my fave blogs!

cooking to procrastinate...

I'm stressing about this paper. It's odd because I'm so used to just 'doing well' naturally (I just reread that and it sounds super stuck up, but it's not meant to be, honest) and, though I know it will all work out once I'm able to focus, I like this professor a lot and don't want to disappoint her. However, she doesn't even read the paper! In community college we never had 'Discussion Sections' so the person doing the lecture was the one who gave feedback. Here, with insanely large classes, the Teacher's Assistants do all the grading so I'm not sure whether their opinions or interests match the teacher's own, the aspects of the text they would prefer to focus on, etc.

It's just a different, not as interactive dynamic and I'm not sure I like it as well. I think that I prefer situations in which a student and professor can actually have some sort of repartee and relate to each other... but maybe I'm living in a bit of an idealistic world. 

(my bed, located in the dining-nook... don't ask)

I woke up early. I don't mind getting up early as long as it's what my body wants; however, when I need to set an alarm it makes everything seem more difficult, haha. Read and researched a little bit and decided to take a break to cook. It is quite literally a three yard stumble from my bed to the kitchen, so the temptation to cook/procrastinate won out.

la diner

I was craving veggies for some reason so I made a tofu scramble with 1/2 block of tofu, celery, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, and garlic. All that chopping served as a great distraction. I seasoned it with tons of tumeric along with  'salt' and pepper. I love the combo of tumeric and tofu. First off, tumeric is great for you and (if I remember correctly) a bit of an anti-inflammatory and lowers cholesterol; plus it makes the tofu appear like eggs, which doesn't matter that much to me but is still pretty cool. I probably would have made this with egg if we had any, but it came out just as good, if not better. 

tumeric, one of my faves

This actually ended up being a ton of food for the morning, perhaps next time I'll cut it down to 1/4 block and/or save some. Sorry for the lack of picture- I need to locate my camera after yesterdays picture taking festivities :) I'm trying to satiate you guys with pics of my place/other things, haha. Naturally, I've had 3 cups of tea already! Two of them were PG Tips which I got hooked on the first time I visited my Aunt in England.

Best Breakfast Tea ever!

And the one I'm nursing right now is Pomegranate Green Tea. Both black and green teas have many (and different) anti-oxidants so I try not to play favorites ;)

Okay, going to do a quick check of blogs before Being Productive