A to Z Survey

Another Sunday, another survey, this one focusing on the alphabet. Enjoy!

A. Age?

22, going on 23. There’s a whole blog post to come on my thoughts and feelings about that!

B. Best friend?

I’ve got many best friends, or who I consider to be best friends. From different stages of life, from different places, for different reasons, but here are a few of them.

C. Cake or pie?

I’d have to go with pie. As long as it’s dairy-free, of course!

 

Royer's Pie Haven in Roundtop

D. Day of choice?

Either Friday or Saturday. Friday, because even though I still have to go to school, I can breathe a little easier knowing that it’s the last day of the work week. And Saturday because, well, I’ve got a whole day to myself and the next day is still the weekend!

E. Essential item?

I’m going to have to copy the answer before me – a water bottle. I almost feel lost without my CamelBak.

F. Favorite color?

Pink! But I love most colors – red, orange, yellow, gray. I don’t discriminate!

G. Gummy bears or worms?

Worms, particularly sour gummy worms.

H. Home town?

Houston, Texas. Born and raised. And back here again.

I. Favorite indulgence?

Frozen yogurt, naturally. Pinkberry is at the top of my list, and I am glad to see that another location has since popped up in Houston (next to Whole Foods – a match made in heaven).

J. January or July?

July. I love the prospect of a new year, but the cold, dreary January weather automatically gives July the edge. Plus, July means summer vacation, and you know I won’t be complaining about that!

K. Kids?

Someday, yes, I would like kids. As someone wisely said, “Teaching high school is the most effective form of birth control,” and after teaching for just four months, I would have to agree.

L. Life isn’t complete without?

There are many, many things that are so important to me, but the one on my mind right now is travel. I would gladly live out of my suitcase if it meant that I could see the world and gather up new experiences. Especially being the age that I am – why not travel while I have the least amount of responsibilities that I will ever have?

M. Most valued possession?

Another really tough question. Of course I value my material possessions – my phone, my computer, my clothes – because, let’s be honest, I like having all of those things. They make me feel comfortable, and they sure make life a lot easier. But (and I know this is also a material possession), I value pictures so, so much. I love taking pictures wherever I am because I love being able to look back on them weeks and months and years later and smile at the sweet memories that were made.

N. Number of brothers/sisters?

One little brother who attends that school north of the Red River.

O. Oranges or Apples?

Apples, for sure. I don’t love oranges, but I do love cuties. To me, they taste completely different, and besides, cuties are much easier to peel. They make for an ideal road trip snack. So I guess what I'm saying is, both are wonderful!

P. Phobias?

Escalators. I’ve talked about this on the blog before, and I know this is an irrational fear, but I always have a little bit of fear when stepping onto one, and this is because one of my friend’s dads told me that 70 deaths a year occur due to people falling through loose steps. Not the ideal way to go out.

Q. Quotes?

I love words and quotes and I plan on doing a whole blog post on them one day soon, but for now I’ll share a couple of my recent favorites. And I say recent because I probably find a new quote that I love every single day. I used to be so good about typing them up and printing them out and gluing them into a journal, but for now, I keep them all together on my Pinterest boards.
                1: “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen

                2: “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” – e.e. cummings

R. Reasons to smile?

Wow, this is one tough question. I have a LOT of reasons to smile, even when I think that I don’t. Too many times I will find myself complaining, and the truth is, I have a lot to be thankful for. I’m in good health, as are my friends and family, I have an incredible job that I look forward to doing (most days), I have a whole lot of love around me, and I know that I have opportunities that some can only dream of having. But, some of the little things that make me smile are –

• Puppies (especially beagle puppies)
• Walks at Hermann Park and/or bike rides around my neighborhood
• 90s music
• Handwritten letters
• The perfect Honeycrisp apple                        
• KSBJ Monday Morning Devotional

S. Season of choice?

There are things I love about every season, but I just really love the carefree feeling that comes with the summer season. Bathing suits and shorts and Chacos and swimming pools and beach hair and spontaneous adventures and watermelon and so much more. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

T. Tag 5 People.

I’m going to go ahead and make the assumption that no one I tag is going to complete this, mainly because I don’t have five blogging friends, but I’ll just list some of my favorite blogs to read.

• Peanut Butter Fingers
• Carrots ‘n’ Cake
• Bakers Royale
• The Pioneer Woman
• BuzzFeed (okay, not technically a blog, but I do get a lot of good recipes from there)

U. Unknown fact about me?

My brother and I were born in the exact same hospital room. And that happened completely by chance.

V. Vegetable?

I really love most vegetables, and that is not something I realized until I went to college and had a vegetable option at every single meal. I am probably most shocked that I love Brussels sprouts as much as I do, after turning my nose up at them for so long.

W. Worst habit?

I hate to admit this, but I have a bad habit of checking my phone while I am driving. I have gotten a lot better about it, but even still I will use the time when traffic is “slowing down” to see who posted what on Instagram. I’m also extremely directionally challenged, so I do look at my phone frequently so I can know where I am going. Having the new iPhone software helps a lot with that, as it talks to you so you don’t have to look down at a phone.

X. X-Ray or ultrasound?

I’ve never had an ultrasound, and though x-rays aren’t exactly fun, I guess I’ll go with x-ray.

Y. Your favorite food?

This is another really difficult question. My all-time favorite food? I’m just not sure that I can give you an answer! My current favorite food is the quinoa salad with salmon from Hungry’s. I’ve had it twice already this year, and I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon.

Z. Zodiac sign?

Aquarius. Though with this new system they tried to introduce, I think it might have changed. I still consider myself an Aquarius, on the rare occasion that I do some sort of horoscope quiz.

It's a bit of bummer that we don't have any football to veg out and watch today, but I guess we have the big game to look forward to next week. Though I can't say I'm that excited about it, after all of the speculation surrounding the Patriots. I'm not sure what I believe, but it has kind of taken the magic out of it all.

CandyCots

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Who believes that we will win today? Of course, the one day that I work the 2-6pm shift is the day of the US soccer game, but I plan on streaming the game while I sit at the desk, so no real worries there. I may not be the world's biggest soccer fan, but I am a big fan of America, so, that's that.

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Workout

Let's get this post started with some of our regularly scheduled events, shall we? Today's workout started a little bit later than I thought it would as I went to bed last night. I must have been more tired than I originally thought, because I slept pretty hard from about midnight to 9:30am, and I still didn't really want to get up, but I knew it was probably time to start my day. 

I started my day off with a walk at Town Lake, and the sun was already beating down on me at that time. It was still a beautiful morning, and there were already people out on the lake kayaking and paddleboarding.

Breakfast

I hurried home at the conclusion of my walk so that I could hurry and make breakfast with enough time to get over to Gregory for a late morning swim. I made my traditional egg whites and spinach, and quickly ate them before changing and driving over to SRD before walking to Gregory.

I was nervous about cutting it too close to make it to work on time, but I made it back to my house just before 1:00pm. That gave me plenty of time to shower, get ready, fold my laundry, and start taking decorations off of my wall (say it ain't so).

Lunch

I got to SRD a little bit early today, because I knew there was a delicious meal on the menu for today - beef and veggie kabobs. I dropped my backpack off in the office before heading down to the dining hall and loading up my plate with kabobs.

I opted for one beef and two veggie, with a few pineapple pieces on the side. I rarely buy pineapple for myself these days, so this was a nice surprise. It fueled me for a very enthusiastic tour, and, of course, to cheer on Team USA!

CandyCots

And before I sign off on you guys, I have to tell you about the deliciousness that are CandyCots. I saw them while doing a little grocery shopping at Central Market over the weekend, and though I was initially hesitant about them, the tagline "The Sweetest Thing on Earth" convinced me to make the purchase.

By the name alone I figured they were in the Apricot family, and they are - CandyCots are a uniquely sweet group of apricot varieties that are high in Vitamin A, C, E, potassium, and iron - quite the versatile fruit! Dark orange CandyCots are a good source of beta carotene, and foods that are high in this antioxidant are linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, cataracts, and some forms of cancer. And finally, CandyCots contain no fat, making these the perfect summer snack. They are easy to carry and easy to eat. Plus, CandyCots are always grown in a wholesome manner, and farmed with methods and materials that protect the environment, your health, and are in harmony with nature.

CandyCots are absolutely delicious, and just the right amount of sweet, so for all of my Texas readers, head to your local Central Market or HEB and pick up this sweet treat. I don't think they're in season for much longer, so take advantage of them while you still can!

*All of the nutritional information is courtesy of the CandyCots website.

Return Of The Plumcot

Happy Saturday! It has sure been one long week, and though I am back at SRD for work, weekends are the easiest, so I can't hate four hours set aside for me to simply read and blog.

Yesterday after work I walked over to Gregory to swim (the Gregory pool is certainly one of the main things I will miss about UT), before returning home to shower, cook up a dinner of zucchini, squash, and chicken sausage,

and head up North to see The Fault In Our Stars with some of my YoungLife girls. I read the book last summer and absolutely loved it, so I was anxious to see how the movie compared.

While I obviously think the book is better (John Green just has such a way with words), I thought the movie was just wonderful. It was so incredibly sad, yet so sweet at the same time, and I managed to hold it together pretty well until the very end. Augustus gave Hazel a forever within the numbered days, and I absolutely recommend seeing this movie (and reading the book, of course).

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I was pretty worn out from this past week, so I went to sleep shortly after returning home from the movie. I woke up around 7:20am, headed out the door for a beautiful morning walk around Town Lake,

stopped by the grocery store to stock up on a few items so that I can do some cooking and baking later,

and made my way over to SRD to work the first shift of the day.

Breakfast

Breakfast looks a little bit different today - we still have our scrambled egg whites and spinach as the star of the show,

but I did a little dance at the grocery store last week when I saw plumcots on display. For those of you who are not familiar with plumcots (I wasn't until my friend Alex introduced me to them), they are a natural cross hybrid between plums and apricots. They are very sweet and very refreshing. They are only in season from June to September, so I know they will be making a regular appearance on my grocery list this summer.

I might even try to do some baking with them, so I'll be sure to keep you updated on how that endeavor goes!

And on that note, I'm going to get back to my book - I finally found one that has made me want to keep reading, and I can't seem to put it down!

Mango Mania

I made the recent discovery that I really love the taste of mango. I am not sure why it took me so long to make this discovery, but better late than never, right? Anyway, after putting some mango on top of my Pinkberry, I went out and purchased a mango for myself, only to find out that splitting and slicing a mango is much easier said than done.

I remembered seeing a mango splitter at Sur La Table during one of my many visits there with Dylan, so I did a little Google search (because let's be honest, ordering products online is so much easier than going shopping), and had one delivered right to my doorstep.

I went with the trusty OXO Good Grips brand, and I am happy to report that it worked like a charm. My mango split very smoothly, and I was left with two easy-to-cut mango halves.

Not a bad deal at all, and you can expect to see a lot more mango around here!

Workout

I stayed up late last night reading (more on that to come in another post), so I slept in until about 8:00am. When I got up, ate a mini-breakfast of a small Honeycrisp apple and two banana-oatmeal-almond butter muffins, and then hit the gym to complete a 45-minute treadmill workout that looked like this:

This workout was inspired by this 45-minute treadmill workout by FitSugar, but I just modified it and changed the speeds to fit my personal fitness level. You can follow this exact workout, or you can modify the speeds to make this workout effective for you. I covered 4.75 miles while running, and another .4ish miles with my walking cool down. A good start to my Saturday!

Breakfast

Breakfast round two looked identical to my usual breakfast: scrambled egg whites and spinach topped with lemon pepper and salsa. 

I really would try to make things more interesting around here for you guys, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? 

And now I'm off to enjoy this absolutely BEAUTIFUL day we are experiencing here in Austin. I certainly wouldn't hate if the rest of our winter consisted of days identical to today. A girl can dream, right? Have a wonderful Saturday!

Stationery

I have decided that my senior year will be, among other things, the year of writing letters. One of my very favorite things, ever since I was a kid, is receiving letters in the mail. I loved sorting through the mail when I heard it drop through our mail slot to see if anything had my name on the front, and I still love finding a letter addressed to me in the Clubhouse mailbox. I figure that other people have to love receiving notes and letters just as much as I do, so I am going to make a very conscious effort to get good about writing letters to friends and family this last year of college. As I usually do when I am home, I made a trip up to City Centre, and though I usually spend the most time in Anthropologie, today I spent the most time browsing the stationery at Paper Source. They have so many fun options that it was hard for me to pick just one. So, I bought a couple of different varieties that will hopefully last me for quite a while.

If you want to be on the receiving end of one of these letters, be sure to leave me your address!

But let's back up a little bit. This morning started bright and early, as I went for a nice humid walk around my neighborhood as a warm-up to my 9:15am spin class. This is both one of my favorite spin classes, and one that requires quite a bit of effort in order to get me there, because it is a tough class. I really like the instructor, but it is a very grueling 70 minutes. I really liked the class today, and one of my favorite aspects was the portion where we did a series of five quick jumps, sat back on the saddle and sprinted for 15 seconds, and then recovered for 30 seconds. We repeated that sequence five times through, and it was the constant change that made it so enjoyable for me.

After a quick trip to Randall's to restock my favorite produce, I headed home to shower and get ready to go visit Mr. Avis up at Stratford and then run some errands. That's where my journey to City Centre comes in. I started getting pretty hungry toward the end of my errand running, so I called in an order to La Madeleine. I know La Madeleine is not a Houston original, but it is a restaurant that just reminds me of being home. I opted for my usual - the wildfield salad with grilled chicken, and I even purchased an extra bottle of their Balsamic Vinaigrette to take back to Austin with me. A very worthwhile purchase.

I also had some hummus and carrots, a few slices of cantaloupe, and too much freshly cut watermelon. I've said it before, but the fruit is one of my favorite parts of summer.

And now I'm off to get ready to go watch some more high school volleyball. One of my volleyball coaches at Stratford just recently accepted a head coaching job at a school out in Sugar Land, and I am very excited to go watch her do her thing. I am heading out there a little bit early so that I can explore the area, because Sugar Land is not an area with which I am very familiar.

I hope you all are having a superb Friday. For those of you who are students and teachers getting ready to go back to school, make this last weekend of freedom a fun one!

Plumcots

Happy Monday! Today's an especially great one because there are officially only six more months until I can experience feeling happy, free, confused, and lonely all at the same time. If you don't know what song that's from, I'm not sure that we can be friends. But really, today is my half birthday, and being the big birthday lover that I am, I was very conscious of that fact when I woke up this morning. 22 just sounds really old to me, so thank goodness I still have six months to live it up at 21!

This half birthday started out with an 8am shift at SRD, where I proceeded to go through old files on my computer and watch Titanic, which is now available on Netflix. You are welcome for that little tidbit of information.

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Lunch

I've said it many times before, but one of the perks of working at SRD is the fact that I get to take advantage of their excellent dining hall. When I don't want what is actually being served for lunch, I go on over to the salad bar and make myself a fresh salad, topped with grilled chicken, black olives, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette. That is exactly what I did today, and I enjoyed it alongside a serving of red grapes and carrots with black bean hummus.

After my shift ended at 2:00pm, I walked over to Gregory Gym to complete another mile and a half swim. It's always a good day when you snag a lane all to yourself, and my strokes felt especially strong and fast today. It feels great to start the week with a strong workout.

Once I returned home to the Clubhouse, I was more than ready for a little snack. I made a colorful fruit plate that featured a sliced plumcot, watermelon, and canteloupe. 

Just yesterday, as a thank you for helping him jump his car, my friend Alex offered me my first taste of a plumcot. I was a little apprehensive, especially because I am not a huge fan of plums, but this little fruit was so good that it inspired me to go to HEB and purchase four of my own. Based on this plumcot family tree, I would say I purchased some of the Dapple Fire variety, which also includes a subtle nectarine flavor in addition to the plum and apricot. They are high in sugar, making them taste very sweet, but they are low in fat, are full of vitamins A and C, and are free of sodium and cholesterol. They are available until September, so if you have never tried one, be sure to look for them during your next trip to the store.

And now I'm off to continue working on organizing all the random files and documents on my computer. I'm hoping to stay very organized this school year, so what's better than starting off that way?