God Bless America

I mentioned last Sunday that I was attending Young Life formal that night, and I gave a short snippet about it on Monday, but now that I have some more pictures to share with you guys, I'll describe it in more detail.

Natalie, Sarah, me, and Emily 

Roomies 

A lot of my roommates also went to formal, so we made sure to snap a few pictures of the time when we were all dressed up for once, instead of sporting our usual nike shorts and t-shirts. Well, maybe that's just me!

After some quick pictures, I headed out to meet up with my team so we could carpool out to Driftwood, Texas for dinner and the formal. We ate dinner at The Salt Lick, a legendary barbecue joint here in Austin, and it was phenomenal. It was my first time to eat there and I cannot recommend it enough - the food was delicious and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. I opted for the turkey sandwich, and though I started to get full after just half of it, it was too good to not finish. I was left feeling extremely full, but it was definitely worth it. I danced off the extra calories, anyway!

Amazing bread

Loaded turkey sandwich

Once we paid the bill, we headed about five minutes down the road to the Thurman Mansion and hit the dance floor immediately. I had a great time dancing with my team, my roommates, my small group, and other Young Life friends. The music was perfect to dance to - One Direction and Taylor Swift, anyone? It was really a great time and I was once again reminded of how great the Young Life community really is.

Alyssa, Aimee, me, and Kayla

The real us

The team minus Blaze and Wyatt

Bits and Pieces

Happy Monday! It is a beautiful day here in Austin, Texas, and though I will probably be tired of it in about a week, I am just loving the cool weather we have been blessed with today. There's a definite chill in the air, but the sun is still shining, making it very bearable to be outside. If only the weather could stay like this all winter!

Breakfast + Workout + Lunch

Since I went to sleep pretty late last night after formal, I was going to let myself sleep in a little bit before getting up to work on the homework that I neglected all weekend. I ate some almond butter granola for breakfast, worked on some homework while letting my breakfast settle, and finally hit the gym around 10:30am. 

I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for workout-wise this morning, and I eventually decided on my 39-minute hill workout. My speed on the hills varied a little bit from the first time I completed this workout, but for the most part it was pretty similar. I did end up completing a 10-minute cool down this time, bringing my total distance to just over five miles. Lately my runs have been between two and four miles because I have been focusing on increasing my speed, so it felt good to push myself a little bit this morning.

After a quick shower, I fixed myself some lunch before heading off to class. My lunch was pretty basic; I just sauteed some chicken and threw it in a bowl with lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, and salsa. Paired with a side of grapes and veggie chips, I enjoyed a pretty great lunch.

Young Life Formal

As I mentioned yesterday, we had our big Young Life formal last night at the Thurman Mansion in Driftwood, Texas. I will dedicate an entire post to this, but I'll leave you with a few fun pictures for now. One of my teammates has most of the pictures on her camera and she has a crazy week this week, so once I get those pictures, they will be shared with you all. I will say that it was a really great time and I realized just how wonderful it is to be part of this UT Young Life community. They did a great job with it and it was the perfect break from the craziness of school.

4/8 of the Clubhouse before formal

Patrick, me, and Aimee

Aimee and I love selfies

Wyatt, me, and Dylan

Survey Sunday

Happy Sunday! And a Happy Veteran's Day to all those who serve and fight for this country every day. We salute you and are so thankful for all that you do. I apologize for keeping this survey pretty short, but it has been a crazy weekend!

Yesterday started out with a NCTCE conference in regards to Texas' recently acquired STAAR test. My teacher at Lake Travis thought it would be useful for me to attend, and it was very useful, though one teacher commented that by the time I am an actual teacher, it will probably be something different. The STAAR test is already so different from when I took the TAAS and TAKS test, so I can't even imagine what new thing they will come up with next.

After I returned home, I did a little bit of homework, a lot of baking, and a quick swim that functioned as my workout for the day. I fixed a quick dinner after returning home from the gym before getting ready for the night's festivities. Yesterday was my friend Emily's 21st birthday, and we hosted a surprise party for her at the Clubhouse. Emily and I were RA's together at SRD last year, and though I am not living with her this year, it is still good to get to see her and catch up. She is having a crazy year as a nursing student, so I think she really enjoyed the surprise. It was great to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while - school and other activities can really keep you busy.

SURPRISE!

Emily and I on her birthday last year 

RA love 

So much love for these beautiful girls!

This Survey Sunday has unfortunately been filled with the homework that I neglected yesterday. I am hoping to get a good chunk of it finished before I head out to our Young Life formal tonight. My team is eating at The Salt Lick, and since I have never been there before, I am very excited. The theme is God Bless America, and it should be a lot of fun. I can't wait to share the pictures with you guys! Anyway, without further ado, here is your weekly dose of Survey Sunday.

Food

 1.  Top Favorite Desserts

• Frozen yogurt topped with all kinds of fruit

• SO Delicious Chocolate Obsession ice cream

• Vegan pumpkin bread with carob chips

2.  Top Favorite Spices To Use In The Kitchen

• Garlic powder
• Lemon pepper (does that count as a spice?)
• Oregano

3.  Top Favorite Healthy Snacks

• Apple and peanut butter
• Homemade peanut butter and banana oatmeal bars
• Kettlecorn / popcorn

Fitness

1.  Top Favorite Treadmill Workouts

• 39-Minute Hill Workout
• 35-Minute Quick and Dirty Run (by Carrots ‘N’ Cake)
• 40-Minute Interval Workout (by Peanut Butter Fingers)

2.  Top Favorite Group Fitness Classes

• BodyPump
• Spin with Felipe
• Core, Buns & Abs with Felipe

3.  Top Favorite Muscles To Work Out

• Abs
• Quads
• Triceps

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday - I hope to check back in with a post about formal within the next few days!

39-Minute Treadmill Workout

Yes, 39 is kind of an odd number for a treadmill workout. I guess I could have cooled down for an extra minute and made it an even 40, but, I didn't. If you want to though, you can definitely make it an even number. 

I received an email from Active.com, and I usually glance at the subject line and delete them, since they usually don't apply to me. This one, however, caught my eye, as it had "3 Offseason Treadmill Workouts" in the subject line. I saved it for a day when I didn't know what to do at the gym. That day was today.

The one I chose to do was the Treadmill Cruise Hill Repeats. The main set called for 4 sets of 5-minute hill repeats, with a warm-up, short sprint section, and cool down to balance it out. Here is what my 39-minute workout looked like tonight:

The warm-up jog is supposed to be anywhere from 8-10 minutes, and the cool down is 5-10 minutes of easy jogging. I chose to stop after 5 minutes because I had already hit four miles, but you could definitely go on for longer if you wanted to. Let me know if you try it out and if you vary the speeds at all. I was unsure of how fast I should be running on the incline, but these speeds seemed to work well for me!

Who doesn't love this throwback?

After my quick gym trip, I walked on over to HEB to do some Thursday night grocery shopping. It's both a blessing and a curse that my gym is located right behind the the grocery store. It makes it easy to go there for a couple quick things, but it also makes it easy to go there for a couple quick things. You know what I'm saying? Anyway, I actually had some major shopping to do, as I was down to my last everything. No more meat, no more oats, about one spoonful of peanut butter left - you get the idea. I made a list of what I needed today during one of my classes - sorry mom and dad - but I obviously added a few more things once I actually got to the store. The good news is that I shouldn't have to make any major grocery store trips any time soon!

Now I am doing some laundry and baking some hot chocolate brownies for campaigners tomorrow. We'll see how they turn out!

Enjoy your Thursday night! It's almost the weekend! Any big plans?

• I am bummed because I am missing out on the Houston Ballet and Nutcracker Market for the first year in quite a while. I am attending a teacher convention of some kind on Saturday from 9am-noon at the recommendation of my cooperating teacher at Lake Travis Middle School, and Young Life formal is on Sunday night, so a trip home just didn't quite work out this year. Oh well, next year! If you are in Houston - DO NOT MISS OUT! It is seriously one of my favorite events ever.

Short and Simple

I hope y'all enjoyed that extra hour of sleep last night. I know I definitely did. It will fuel me for a busy day of.. homework. And cheering on the Texans! But before that, it's time for our weekly dose of Survey Sunday. Enjoy!

Favorite ice cream flavor?  It used to be Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip or Haagan Daaz Chocoalte Chocolate Chip, but now I'd have to say it is SO Delicious Chocolate Obsession. I once ate half a pint in one sitting. And when I say once, I mean last Sunday night.

(Source)

Favorite dessert?  Fro-yo, fro-yo, fro-yo.

Favorite meal? This is such a hard question! I'll just list my current favorites -

• Fish Tacos

• Grilled Chicken Salad
• Chicken Chili

• Dairy-Free Pizza

What did you major in? I am currently majoring in English and Education, so I can one day teach high school English. That being said, I also want to do something in the fitness world.

When is your birthday? February 5th - the big 2-1 is coming up!

Do you have any siblings?  One little brother, Daniel (17)

Pets? None, but as soon as I graduate I am getting a puppy to make up for all the years without one. 

Favorite TV shows? I'm currently obsessed with Friday Night Lights. But Boy Meets World and Friends will never get old.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose (Source)

Where have you traveled? 

United States: Pennsylvania, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Arkansas, Florida, Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Missouri, and Virginia

Minnesota 

Colorado 

Florida (and a piece of Pennsylvania) 

Hawaii

Indy

Internationally: Paris, Barcelona, London, Madrid

Barcelona 

London

Madrid 

Paris

Do you work out? Well, of course! I think you guys know that by now!

Currently reading? I won't count what I am reading in-school, because you people don't even want to know. Outside of school, so, really, what I will be reading come December, is J.K. Rowling's newest release - The Casual Vacancy.

Sunrise or sunset? Either one will make me stop and watch

Sunrise

Sunset

Hobbies? Running, reading, blogging, traveling, swimming, baking, Young Life, spending time with family and friends

The best roommates you could ask for

Mac or PC? Once you go Mac, you don't go back.

Staples in your kitchen? Peanut butter, grapes, salsa

Past jobs? Volleyball coach, Resident Assistant, Scorekeeper

Virgin Voter + Holiday Excitement

Remember that time I said I was going to try to post three times this week? Well, school caught up to me again, and I was forced to neglect the blog. This is what happened to me last year and I thought that might be the end of fitnessandfroyo as we knew it. I will not let that happen this year, and I am hoping November will be a little bit less crazy than October was. It's probably wishful thinking, but one can always hope, right?

That being said, Happy November! This year is flying by - I already registered for the classes that I am going to take next semester, and there are only five weeks left of this semester. Not that I'm complaining about that, because this semester has been crazy! Now, let's get the workout recap out of the way and I'll catch you up on my week.

Workout + Lunch

After a pumpkin pancake breakfast and a couple hours of homework, I headed to the gym to tackle four miles on the treadmill + a little ab work. I ran the first two miles at a 8:00min/mile pace, and took the last two miles a little bit slower. My calves were really feeling it for some reason, but it felt good to pound it out. I followed my run with some exercise ball crunches and three sets of thirty lunges. I haven't done those in a while so I am anticipating some soreness tomorrow!

After the gym and a couple quick errands, I was pretty darn hungry. I came home and almost immediately heated the oven and set to work on a dairy-free pizza. That is quickly becoming my favorite meal. It is easy, delicious, and even healthy. Can't beat that! I stuck with turkey pepperoni and vegetables today, but I love it topped with either salmon or chicken as well.

Now, let's do a quick recap of the week. First things first, now that it's November, I can let myself get into the Christmas spirit. I love Christmas time, and I loved walking into Walgreens today and seeing a whole aisle dedicated to Christmas treats and decorations. I made my first candy cane purchase of the season, and even indulged in a few holiday scented products from Bath and Body Works. What can I say, I love Christmas!

Monday

Monday morning I made the trek out to Lake Travis and taught my fourth lesson of the semester. I only have two more lessons to teach, and I think four more observations. I am teaching my fifth lesson on Monday, and I can't believe how fast this semester is going. I know I keep saying I post about my teaching, but I think I'll just dedicate one post to it at the end of the semester, since I clearly can't keep my promises.

Tuesday

Tuesday night was a walk down memory lane for this blogger. One of my roommates plays on an intramural volleyball team with some girls from her high school, and they needed a couple of players to fill in this week and play with them. I agreed to play, and I ended up having the best time. We won (and snagged a playoff spot), and I was surprised how into it I got, and how quickly some of my skills came back. We weren't running any crazy plays, and I missed a couple serves, but the longer we played, the more I found my groove. They said I am more than welcome to keep playing with them, and we are going for those coveted intramural champion t-shirts. I am so excited for Tuesday night, I miss volleyball more than I realized, so I am so excited for the opportunity to play for at least two more weeks!

Halloween Wednesday

Halloween wasn't the most exciting holiday the clubhouse has ever seen. Six out of eight roommates had a test (or two) the next day, and the other two had papers on papers on papers. It was, unfortunately, a pretty stress-filled day around here, so there was no fun Halloween stuff going on in our neck of the woods. We did have candy in case we got some trick-or-treaters - we didn't. And I understand the decision to not bring your children trick-or-treating on a predominantly college student street. I did have some fun looking at old Halloween pictures on Instagram, so I'll share one of mine with you. We'll just pretend that I dressed up this year!

Lindsey, me, Erin, Grace, and Klaire

Friday

Friday's are always crazy for me, but this Friday was a little bit different. I woke up a little after 6am to get ready to head out to Lake Travis, but before I headed south on Mopac, I fulfilled my civic duty - I VOTED! 

It was my first time to vote in a presidential election, or for anything for that matter, and I was feeling extra American after that experience! After voting, I headed straight to Lake Travis and attended an excellent assembly regarding bullying. I left a little earlier than usual, so I squeezed in a quick swim at Gregory before treating myself to a gyro at Pita Pit.

When I lived at SRD I ordered Pita Pit on the reg, so this was a nice treat for me. After two classes, I went to campaigners, and then took two of my girls to get frozen yogurt at Berry Austin.

Berry Austin tastes sort of like Berripop - sort of

No matter how stressed out I am, my eighth grade girls bring me so much joy that I can't help but be in a good mood when I'm around them. After battling traffic to get home, Sarah and I abandoned all thoughts of productivity and watched two episodes of Friday Night Lights. I must add that we have become a little bit too attached to the characters in this show, and have found ourselves analyzing certain situations in the show. Texas forever!

And that's about it. Phew! Let's hope I don't get this behind again! Tomorrow I am running the Race for the Cure 5K, and hopefully doing a little bit of holiday baking. I'll see y'all tomorrow for Survey Sunday!