Lots of words. Read on.

(Title explains all.)

The sun is shining.

Nature is bursting with vibrant tropical greens and flowers are in full bloom with vivid colors.

Temperatures creep up to 100* and luscious rainclouds cause steam to rise up from the asphalt after a heavy rain.

Birds are chiping.

Cicadas are singing.

People are swimming.

It is most definitely summer. (And let's not forget the Olympics! Go Team USA!)

But apparently not for me, because I go back to school this Wednesday! Poo.

Sorry for the blogging hiatus for a couple of days - I have been super busy and not had time to blog. My b. I do have a few new things that I have new to say:

Over the last few weeks of summer, I have noticed that there has been way too much electronic usage in my daily life. Now, this is kind of inevitable in the world that we live today, but I was just getting so, so bored sitting in front of the television or staring at a computer screen (I blame Pinterest).

Also, reading all these terrible articles on Yahoo! news and Foxnews about crimes and things drive me loopy. They get me so paranoid and afraid (which are definitely not thoughts from the Lord, but from Satan).

So taking a step back and looking at the way these things make me feel, I've decided to limit myself on them.

As a young girl, I used to do so many things other than television (and I wasn't a young girl that long ago!) - I used my imagination all the time, I was fascinated with historical and scientific things (nerd child, remember?), I colored, drew, read, wrote - TV and computers were really just a tiny part of my life. I think I was limited to Little Bear, Blues Clues, and Sesame Street on the TV, and I always played Reader Rabbit computer games rather than actually getting on the Internet.

Perhaps that's because I was 5.

My point is, is I've been staring at screens being bored too much - therefore I have come up with an experiment and/or solution. A series of tasks and goals that take up my time not using the TV or computer. For every minute/hour I spend on the television/computer, I do something creative, using my brain, or active. Then I would evaluate how I felt at the end of the day!

I also refrained from Yahoo, Foxnews, and other news websites that would bring me down. Ignorance is bliss, my friends.

Plus, rather than spending an hour pinning things on Pinterest, I'm actually starting to do some of the things that I have pinned. Yay-uh!

And it totally worked. I felt soooo productive and proud of myself. I spent an hour on the computer - tops - and a maximum of two hours on the TV. The less you use them, the less you want to use them. (I'm sure I'm not considered a 'normal' teenager for wanting to limit my electronic usage.)

So what have I been doing for the past 4 days?

Reading Sci-fi at breakfast.

Making foam.



Attempting to make friendship bracelets.

Emphasis on "attempting".

Striking a yoga pose.

Taking walks.....and having tan legs! Dang!

Babysitting adorable kids.

He's so silly. Aside from the weird lighting, he was caught in the middle of saying "Cheeseburger." And the Oreo dust around his mouth amps up his cute factor by a million.

Coloring pictures. Observe the way I made this a calico kitten, not just a solid color.

Completeing afternoon tea logs (and I should probably get started on those 54 levels....)

Plus lots more reading, writing, and....school shopping! 

Hike this afternoon! Woot woot.

The Good 'Ole Schedule

My favorite blog day is here yet again. (Thanks Jenn!!)





And I got all my meals and snacks this week! *Dusts off shoulder.* Yay me. And I am super enthusiastic about all the deliciously awesome food I got the privilege to eat this week.


Breakfast was a little bit of a challenge for me this morning.

Well of course I wanted to eat it, silly - just...the execution of making breakfast was a little off.


I woke up wanting something with pumpkin in it, so I decided that I would make pumpkin waffles. Easy, right? Flour, pumpkin <---as a binder, honey, milk - I remembered everything! At least for a single-serving batch I did. I didn't bother with the egg. I just greased the pan and plopped the mixture right onto the waffle maker.

Well, um - apparently I was missing something important. I was so blissfully unaware as they were "cooking" because the kitchen smelled like pumpkin pie.

I was expecting two perfectly cooked pumpkin spice waffles when I opened the waffle maker and I was sadly mistaken. Phooey.

Breakfast part 2 was the norm: Banana Oatmeal and sunken peanut butter. With just a hint of pumpkin because that's all I had leftover in the container.

It was yummy, but not quite as yummy as the waffles I was imagining. Bummer. Rwandan coffee (for a cause!) filled up that empty void.

If you haven't noticed in my posts, (I have many side notes in parentheses) when it comes to my "schedule" - I am very, very, very structured with my time. I don't think you could tell based on my every day posts, because I tend to chat (well, over the screen I suppose) and have lots of random thoughts.

But one thing that an ED has had a major affect on is most certainly my schedule. I'm not Type A, but I possess many "control freak" qualities, and being out of school, these qualities were somewhat more prominent.(You can imagine my disturbance over breakfast).

For instance, I haven't slept past 8:45 a.m. the whole summer. Not even once. I aim to wake up at 8:20 to 8:30 every morning, and if I'm feeling especially productive, at 8. For some people this is sleeping in, for some people it's an ungodly hour to be moving your body around.

I make the coffee that I must have to sustain life, make breakfast, and eat breakfast in front of an episode of What Not to Wear. (Bad Jessica! Read more!) I would really like to eat on the porch, but it's way too humid. Sometimes if I have a breakfast already made (overnight oats, frozen waffles) or a quickly assembled breakfast (cereal with yogurt or milk) I'll allow myself to sleep in until 8:45.

The beauty of routine is that your body is eventually trained naturally into it. So whether I get to bed at 9 at night or 3 in the morning, I wake up around the same time.

After brekkie, I either wipe out (a coma induced from a combination of crappy sleep and a warm, comforting breakfast) or start my day. Even if I wipe out, I am up before the clock strikes 10. By this time, I am ready for a little P.A. and take a walk around the 'hood or do my chores, and then take a shower and get ready for the day.

Then my morning shnack is consumed. It always involves fruit and nut butter.

 

Terrible portion-size justice. Ergh!

Okay, I guess I didn't technically photograph all my meals/ snacks, because snack and lunch were halfway eaten when I snapped a pic of  them.

The above picture would be half a large apple (the other half eaten before taking pic) and peanut butter.

After the snack is eaten, I normally go about doing more chores. As stated in an earlier post, I will purposely leave myself chores to do so I don't get bored. If I'm done with my regular chores, I will do something extra like washing my bedding. Or if I'm lucky, a money-earning job, which are normally jobs I would rather not do. <----such as weeding the garden with gross creepy-crawlies in the soil.

After chores, I go about doing every day leisure things. Watch some TV, listen to music, obsess over Pinterest read a book.

Then Madre arrives home and I eat lunch.

Pita, black beans, red pepper hummus, tomato, jalapeno, and banana pepper from the garden. So yummy.

I also had an apple and nuts, but those were eaten before I took the picture. Whoops.

A lot of the time, we'll go to the pool for the afternoon, but today was a total chillax day. By chillax I mean reorganizing my drawers and closet into "school appropriate" and "school inappropriate" clothing. (What an adventurous day I had!)

For my afternoon snack, which is normally around 4 to 4:30, I finally got into the Siggi's yogurt!

 I was pleasantly surprised to notice that it has as much protein as Greek yogurt. It also had whey on the top, which I stirred back into the yogurt.

On go the oats and banana....

I loved it, although it tasted exactly like the Voskos vanilla bean flavor. It was just like Greek yogurt, with the texture and tartness.

I spent the rest of the afternoon just doing random things, and weeding the garden. It was actually more like yanking out patches of grass that were overtaking the blueberry bush area. I think we need some sort of wall between the dirt and grass! 

Zen I vas hangry for deener. Stir fry!!!

Washed down with a refreshingly crisp orange La Croix.

Whole wheat pasta <---box. Turkey burger <---leftover. Onions <---store. Summer squash <---garden. Sugar snap peas <---steamer bag. Seasoned with olive oil, salt, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Lots of red pepper flakes. Topped with Greek yogurt and salty cashews.

'Twas delicious.

Then for the rest of the night, I just go about doing normaly things, and I'm in bed by 11 10. Which means I'm asleep by 12.

As you can see, I live a very thrilling and adventurous lifestyle.Take away for today: Less technology. More books! Pumpkin waffles need oil. Pumpkin pancakes might not. Experiment! Coffee solves life problems. Loosen up the up tight schedule! Do more fun stuff.

Challenges accepted.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Do you have a tight, strict schedule? Do you ever do anything to relax and go with the flow?

The Colors of Summer

Random thoughts:

-I didn't realize I hadn't posted since Friday. Oops.

-I need to come up with more creative post titles.

-I had a weird dream that I had a pen pal in Africa, and he was teaching me to speak Swahili through our letters.

-In that same dream, I began working at the Frosty Frog five minutes away from my house, and nobody would let me sample the new ice cream flavors.

 -I'm starting school in a week. (A week!!!!!!)

-I drove to the Y yesterday.

-We have too many tomatoes.

-My arms and shoulders are really tan. But not really my face or legs.

-Although I have no Asian heritage whatsoever, I have very squint-tastic eyes when I smile. Only the Lord knows why that is.

-I have a million random pictures on my camera that I had planned on blogging with. Now I don't know what to do with them.

(Scatter-brain? Nah.)

Sigh. Life.

Lately around these parts, there has been a whole lot of this:

But today...sunshine!

 

Mount Doom - Part 1.

This is halfway up Mount Doom. It's not that bad to walk up, but to jog or bike - nope. I'd kill my knees. And my lungs. Plus is was really really really hot.

Despite the heat, the water and sunshine have been perfect fuel for our garden!

Holy growth spurt, Batman.

 We have gotten so. many. tomatoes. We pick some every day. Sometimes they'll be orange in the morning, but by the evening, they're ripe! Crazy.

There are so many vibrant colors in the summer. I love it! I don't think I have a favorite season, because all of them have characteristics that I adore. Color is definitely a factor in the summer.

Mount Doom Part 2:

The picture doesn't do the hill justice. It's not vertical steep, but it's a pretty steep incline. Obviously the pic is taken from the top. I'm pretty sure this is the hill that gives me a sore butt and thighs the next day.

My walk was quite pleasant for the first 15 minutes or so, as it was very shady. It cut the heat by about 10 degrees and was very enjoyable.

Then, on the other side of the hill, the sun is blaring directly down on me. By the time I get home I'm sweaty and hot and in need of hydration. Perhaps I should get out there earlier?

There is no apparent reason why I go on so many walks. I just love the nature in my neighborhood and watching things change as the weeks pass by. Lots of flowers start budding, then reach full bloom, and then go back down again in a matter of days. It clears my mind, I can blow off steam, it energizes me when I'm feeling sluggish, I can think about things - I actually come up with a lot of blog post topics on my walks!

A lot of people tell me they don't like going outside because they get bitten by so many bugs - I have to be honest and say I haven't gotten one mosquito bite the entire summer. Weird!

Weeeellll that's about all I can come up with for today. Sorry for the randomness of my thoughts. But it pretty much sums me up! 

And tomorrow is.........................

WIAW.Whoop whoop.

The Amazing Body

The Padre and I had a date Thursday. :)

We went into Atlanta for The Bodies Exhibit!

(source)

It was held in Atlantic Station, along with another exhibit next to it (The Titanic, I believe). If you like the human body and anatomy, plus you're not too squeamish, this is definitely something that you should try to see!

Dad wanted a picture with us and the body, who I referred to as The Dude.

It was so bright and sunny out I had to squint my eyes. :)

Entering.....

Predictably, there was no flash-photography once we entered inside. I was still bummed. The Padre even asked the ticket guy if it was specifically flash photography. Haha! He's funny.

All  I can say is that it was an awesome experience. The grossest parts (pun intended) and systems for me were: the skin and the nervous system. I don't think I have a favorite, because they were all equally cool for me. And it helped that I was in Healthcare Science last year so I knew a lot of the organs and stuff.

However, I loved the circulatory system. The tiny veins and capillaries and huge arteries were so cool to see in person. And I have to say that I really liked the Baby Growth and Development part. I know, I know - it's really controversial, but seeing the babies developing was really fascinating, and not creepy to me.

As a whole, the exhibit was a really great experience. And I'm glad I got to do it with the Padre!

After the exhibit, which only lasted about an hour, we browsed around Atlantic Station for a little bit.

Of course there's a Publix. 

We had a lot of fun. I'm planning on saving up my money to come shopping in the boutiques one day!

Wishing you a Fantastic Friday!

Food for thought: Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable? I say both!