Monthly Archives: February 2014
Riding Solo
Good afternoon from a Sedona coffee shop. I’m on a little adventure by myself. A day trip to the gorgeous red rocks and mountains.
I have a skinny latte from Canyon Breeze cafe, Shania Twain is playing through the speakers (“that don’t impress me much.” Preach, girl!), and floor-to-ceiling windows display the beautiful views. Everything I need for a little blog inspiration, right?
Today’s day trip wasn’t supposed to be by myself. I invited plenty of friends. Twelve, to be exact. Some were just too busy, some agreed but then backed out last minute. And by last night not a single person was able to come down for the day. Doesn’t mean I can’t keep my plans though. I’m riding solo. I can drive as slow as I want (“Sorry I’m not sorry that I like to drive the speed limit” to the 27 cars that passed me on the way down), listen to my country jams, and take as many pictures of the mountains as I want (yes, I’m aware that they all eventually start to look the exact same.)
**Some of my posts are just goofy and others a semi-serious. This is more of the latter. Don’t worry, I’ll balance it out on Tuesday with some funny gym observations**
You know how when you go on vacation, at some point, no matter how great the vacation is, you are just ready to go home? Yeah that’s how I feel now about Flagstaff. I’ve been here long enough, it’s lost its glamour.
Thanks to Pinterest I’ve developed extreme wanderlust.
The term originates from German. “Wandern” meaning “to hike.” “Lust” meaning “to desire.”
So here’s the deal. I feel like I chose the right college for me, I don’t regret my decision. But I think I get bored with places easily. The snowstorms and cold weather make it hard to be outside, and you know I am not a homebody. Staying home and watching tv only sounds appealing once in a blue moon. I want to hike, see new places, take pictures, make memories, go on adventures, swim in a creek, climb a mountain. You know? THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE.
When I graduate, I will be 22 and starting my grown-up life. I’ll need a job, a place to live, bills, responsibilities and that leaves very little time, money and opportunity to travel and explore. I have the rest of my life to worry about savings accounts and budgets and schedules. I don’t want to “settle down” and work the rest of my life without having some awesome experiences to look back on.
Today’s mini roadtrip, my solo adventure, proved that I am perfectly capable of being on my own. Driving, eating in restaurants, walking around town, and taking pictures. Some people are perfectly content spending a sunny day in their apartment with their laptop and their cell phone. And to them I just want to say: if you go somewhere without cell service you might find that life is a little more beautiful outside of that digital screen. I had a hard time finding a friend to join me for Sedona Sunday, and granted my circle of friends is a lot smaller than some people but I just think it’s sad to miss out on experiencing such a peaceful setting. A weekend spent locked inside with a phone and computer? The appeal is lost on me.
So I’ll just sit here for a while, sipping on my African Nectar Tea from Pink Java Cafe and pinterest-plan my dream roadtrip.
All About That Healthy Life
Underneath the title of my blog reads: Student-Athlete in love with health & fitness. I have been debating the need to change this. Technically, I quit my collegiate cross country team in November. However I still consider myself an “athlete.” I’m determined to live the healthy lifestyle every day (some more successful than others). The last two weeks I have focused on prioritizing exercise & cooking ACTUAL meals.
Pre-marathon I let myself splurge and indulge on a regular basis. Froyo? Sure! Let’s bake cookies? Okay! You want to go out for sushi and starbucks? I’m down! After a while though I just start to feel…blahhh. Like I know I need my lean & greens. Now I’m back on-board that health train… There have been plenty of socials & snacks in the past week. Hiking Sedona, the Super Bowl, my roommates birthday dinner, and a friend’s birthday brunch. But in true healthy life fashion, I found ways to make all of the above fun & guilt-free.
Hiking Sedona:
Some friends and I drove down to the beautiful red rocks, excited to get a picture on the Devil’s Bridge. We made a pre-hike pit stop at Sprouts. To fuel our outdoor adventure, we filled our backpacks with apple slices, orange slices, mixed nuts, and a whole wheat turkey & avocado sandwich.
Can we talk about that hike for a minute? I had a growing need to get out of my college town. I still have that need. I’ll go back to Sedona every free day I have. But this hike led up to the most gorgeous views, made even more dramatic by the dark gray clouds that threatened a storm (but never conceded). Hiking up the rock stairs out on to the bridge was a glorious celebration of beautiful nature :)
Super Bowl Study Session!
On Super Bowl Sunday, I had a long to-do list of homework and group projects to complete after my long run. I made (yet another) trip to Sprouts for some fresh fruits. Kerri was coming over to knock out a few hours of homework while the game was on. Our study snack for the day consisted of fruit salad (bananas, grapes, blueberries, & strawberries), Hawaiian coffee, and cinnamon soy crisps. BRUNO MARS KILLED IT. That boy’s voice >>>>
Mackenzie’s Birthday Celebration:
My roommate Mackenzie turned 21 while we were all home for winter break. Meaning no party! So we threw her a little birthday celebration last week with her favorite dinner, cute decorations, some games and of course dessert. (The girl didn’t want alcohol…call her crazy!)
Perfecting my chalkboard art this year ;)
However, my roommates’ taste don’t really fit into my healthy lifestyle and food preferences. So I don’t think you should avoid social situations just because they are unhealthy, and I also don’t want to compromise my healthy values to splurge on something that I don’t enjoy. So I made my own dinner on the side and Mackenzie didn’t mind one bit. My Dinner: Spaghetti Squash, chickpea veggie burger, sweet potato and green beans while my roommate’s enjoyed their homemade Cream Cheese Chicken with Rice & Corn. In this case, she really can have her cake and eat it too ;) I can still celebrate without feeling ‘food guilt’ (a whole other topic I’ll get to another day).
Fernanda’s Birthday Brunch:
Another friend also had a birthday recently, so I made her birthday brunch this morning since my Friday class was cancelled. I just like to make things pretty! Whole wheat blueberry pancakes… bananas… strawberries… blueberries… coffee (duh). And THAT is how to start a lovely day :)
I’ll be spending the evening watching the WINTER OLYMPICS with friends and making Valentine’s goodies :) all about that #healthylife!
P.S. Today took an unexpected adventure to GNC with my best friend just to try out the much-talked-about “Quest” bar. I picked the Cookies n’ Cream bar at the suggestion of the GNC worker. Loved the texture & “cookie” chunks :) I could write about the bar, but Taralynn McNitt has already done so quite nicely so I’ll just post a little link to that here: Cookies n’ Cream Quest Bar.
