New 30 by 30

It was pointed out by one of my friends the other day who is just a few weeks older than I am, that we will be 30 in about four months. Yikes! This got me thinking about my 30 by 30 list that I wrote when I turned 28. When I wrote that list, I was planning on moving to California for graduate school. As you all know, I decided not to move to California (or New Orleans) and stayed in Utah to work on going to nursing school but my list was full of things that would have either required that I lived in California or spent a really long vacation there (or many shorter ones). Since none of those things are going to happen, I wrote a new list (but I left some items). Here it is with my progress:

1.  1.Finish most pre-requisites for nursing school (I need to retake anatomy in the spring and then I'll mostly be done)
2.      Narrow down nursing school choices (find the low-standard schools... Thanks biology courses!)
3.       Visit Moab (not sure when, especially since it's cold now)
4.       Have a relationship (working on this one... may happen soon! or not... haha)
5.      Reach my goal weight (I've been gaining but I don't want to be 30, single, and fat)
6.         Do family history (need to work on this)
7.     Do temple work for my family (I have some names I've had baptized, but I need to do the rest)
8.      Get a smart phone of some type (our contract is up on the 14th!!!!) 
9.        Get a manicure (I actually had this done for my brothers wedding a couple of weeks ago)
10.         Get a pedicure (how hard could it be?)
11.      Give up soda (I've cut back a lot recently, just need to give it up completely) 
12.     Go to a golfing driving range (will need to do this soon since it's getting cold)
13.         Do my visiting teaching on a monthly basis (I still suck at this) 
14.     Bake a cheesecake 
15.     Make eggplant parmesan (It's too bad I didn't do this when we still had our own eggplant and tomatoes)
16.     Hike to the Block U (also need to do this soon)
17.     Get a clinical job somewhere (working on this one) 
18.     Become a CNA (I achieved this in September) 
19.     Have a professional massage (again)
20.       Learn how to make my Mom’s sugar cookies
21.        Exercise 5 days a week
22.     Spend less time on Facebook (I deactivated my account for a few days since it was such a huge distraction!) 
23.        Read Ender’s Game (Saw the movie last night and would like to read the book. My mom owns a copy)
24.         Purchase tickets to Yankee stadium (Pretty sure Derek Jeter's last year will be next year and I really want to see him play in Yankee stadium)
25.        Get rid of boxes (or at least out of my room) that I don’t need anymore (the ones I brought back from Denver. It's been over three years... Time to give up the dream!)
26.        Watch all X-Men movies (this will probably happen soon)
27.        Attend a Yoga class again (I kind of miss it...)
28.         Eat at The Melting Pot downtown (I've always wanted to! If I ever make #4 happen, this one may coincide!) 
29.         Eat at The Garden in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (read response for #28)
30.         Read scriptures daily (I try to read at least a verse or two every night but I mean read a chapter) 

      So there it is! Hopefully I can manage to cross them all off! I have accomplished a few so I didn't completely waste the last two years... 

Summer recap

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post and since I'm avoiding doing any homework, I thought I'd give a quick summer recap: it. was. HORRIBLE. Thanks anatomy! I usually get to take at least one trip every year but not this year! I couldn't take a trip during the semester and I only had a week and a half between spring and summer semester and I had to spend that fixing my car (not to mention, the amount of money both that and tuition took) so no vacation there. I had a three week break between summer and fall but two of those weeks I spent taking a CNA course and finishing up the clinicals, etc. Good news there though: I took the tests last week and I passed both! Now I need to go get some clinical experience! I'm just hoping to not have to work in a nursing home...

Back to Anatomy though. You hear the horror stories: people spending 40+ hours a week studying, tons and tons of people having to retake it... It's just as bad as everyone says it is. I ended up passing by the skin of my teeth but will retake it in the spring (I would have retaken it this semester but it was all full). This semester I'm taking physiology and the horror stories are the same. Many people told me it was on the same level as anatomy... They were wrong though... It's worse! It could be the hardest class I've ever taken! Stupid science pre-reqs!!! If I end up having to retake everything, this could take me longer than I thought...  Oh well. It's not how fast you run but that you finish the race or something like that right?

And don't even get me started on the whole dating thing! This someecards is how I'm feeling at the moment:

No other choice

For the two of you that have been reading this, you know that I have somewhat fallen off the Weight Watchers wagon for a while. I have been off and on following it, but for the most part I have been shelling out $40 a month for nothing. I have been working extremely part time and didn't get any financial aid for the summer (I didn't apply but I'm pretty sure I got the maximum yearly amount for fall and spring). Now, I am all out of money. And I just got paid. I love being a poor student again. I may have to borrow money to pay my bills for this month. Okay, now you get the point of how poor I am. So today, I cancelled my Weight Watchers subscription. My brother is dating somebody pretty seriously and is planning on having a winter wedding. I can't be the fat one there, so I  may rejoin in September when I have money again. Or I may find another (cheaper) way to lose weight. My brother moved back in and I will probably lift weights with him again, once he gets them set up.
School is also not going well. I bombed (scored less than 50%) my last test and got a C on the first one. I have my third midterm on Friday and am hoping it will go better. I really don't want to have to retake this class. Getting an A is probably out of the question at this point, but I was really hoping for a B- or better. Why do all of these science classes have to be so difficult???

Quick update

I thought I hadn't updated in two months but it looks like it has only been one month. Not too bad, I guess! I still haven't completely gotten back into the WW way of life but went and weighed in again last week and had only gained roughly 3 pounds in a month. Which meant that I'm not officially overweight yet, but close...

The new semester started a few weeks ago (I didn't get much time off) and I'm super behind already. I'm taking Anatomy only this summer and it's brutal. I've actually hired a tutor and our first session will be on Thursday night. My first exam is on Monday morning, so I'm hoping she can help me focus and get back on track for studying.

I was unable to attend the CNA course since I had to have my car fixed within that week. I'm also running low on cash... Which lead me to go back to the daycare extremely part-time. I'm still at the restaurant one night a week but I've been doing some bus runs for my mom while the typical bus driver is on vacation.

I haven't taken a photo in a while... Sorry. I probably don't look too differently from the last one... I do have a few photos of the garden my friend and I planted in his back yard last week. (Gardening is great exercise) He has pretty much let his yard go, so we had to pull out a ton of weeds. Here are a couple of before:

We planted 6 tomato plants (there were two different kinds and I have no idea what kind they were now) and a bunch of marigolds to keep the bugs away. Here are the afters:

I hope we get something from them! I'm kind of excited! 

Weeks twelve and thirteen

I didn't have time to go to WW this last week but went the week before and I had gained 0.6. I have no room for mistakes anymore apparently... The weight struggle continues! Meanwhile, my mom is making some cupcakes and they smell fantastic!

On to the rest... I have a week and a half left of the semester. I had planned to get all of my homework done this past week but my Chemistry professor gave us an additional assignment and I decided I couldn't get that accomplished. But I did get an assignment done a week early and I don't think I've ever done that before. I like to procrastinate everything! I still have two more Chemistry assignments to complete (plus two extra credit ones) and a five page paper to write. I have one test on Friday and then one the next Wednesday. This semester has been much better than last though and I'm hoping to pull out B's in my two science classes.

I have been unable to attain a phlebotomy job so I signed up for a CNA class for the week that I'm out of school. It might be more helpful to get into nursing school anyway. I also asked to be released from the temple. My last week will be next week. It's kind of sad but I need my time back. I've missed too many review sessions and chances to study. On to new adventures!

Week Eleven

This past week was test week which meant I got 4-5 hours of sleep per night... And still didn't do as well as I had hoped on my exams... And I'm super irritated with people in general... I should probably take up running to deal with it, or maybe kickboxing... But I did do better with eating until the weekend. I'm already feeling less fat though, so at least there was one good thing about this past week. I didn't weigh in though, because I wanted a nap instead. I'm hoping to be able to go to an actual meeting this week.
I have 3.5 weeks of school left of this semester and am looking forward to being done! I'm currently signed up for two classes in the summer but I don't think I want to take both of them. One of them is anatomy and from what I hear, it is BRUTAL. Definitely not looking forward to it. I got a descent tax return this year (thanks to being in school) so I may just pay for it and take that class by itself. I would much rather take a vacation but such is the life of a college student... Maybe a trip to Provo will suffice...

Weeks 10-12

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you've all had a great day and haven't eaten too much chocolate (I haven't yet but there's still time!)...
I didn't go to weight watchers this week but went and weighed in last week and had gained 2 pounds... Wow. I don't know what happened to my motivation and will power but I can't seem to get it back. I have a new resolve to make this week better though. My clothes are starting to not fit and I'm feeling fat. I hate that feeling.

Yes Grumpy Cat, I get it. You don't need to tell me... I was planning on wearing a skirt to church today that I had worn recently and it almost didn't zip up. So I will eat my Easter goodies tonight and give the rest away tomorrow. I'm also thinking of taking up weight lifting again. I need to do something. I'm starting to get those Relief Society arms (the fat that is where your biceps are supposed to be). Anyway, I did manage to take a photo today: 

I don't know what's up my cheesy photos lately either... 

Week Nine

After splurging the week before (my birthday week), I was much more refocused on weight loss. I weighed in on Friday and had only gained 0.2. Which was pretty good considering the amount of eating out/cake I had eaten the week before. I fell off a little over the weekend so we'll see what this week brings...

This week is Spring Break and I'm determined to get more accomplished over spring break than I did fall break... Fall Break I pretty much just worked and slept. But so far this week I have filed my taxes, completed my FAFSA for next year, applied for some phlebotomy jobs and worked on some extra credit. I also started training to food run at work. That should hopefully get me some more money while I'm waiting to find a clinical job. I love how schools expect you to maintain a 4.0 in all science classes, volunteer all of your time, and have a full-time clinical job in order to get into their nursing programs. Oh well. I guess if you want something badly enough, you have to do what it takes to get it.

Weeks four through eight

I should probably apologize for a few things in my last post. The first being the fact that I said it would be a small rant and then posted a novel. The second being that I said I would post about weight loss on Sunday and never did. The third is that I probably over-reacted. Okay, let's be honest... It was probably some major PMS.
But today I'm here to post about weight loss (or the lack thereof). This week was my birthday so I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I also didn't weigh in. And I'm feeling fat. I even took a pic today and couldn't seem to get a good one. My face (amongst other things) is  looking much thicker . I need to get refocused and get back to losing weight again. I didn't weigh in this week but did last week for the first time in 3 or 4 weeks and had gained 0.8. Which isn't too bad for having gone that long without attending WW and I'm sure I didn't track much during that time. NO MORE! I know I keep saying that but I'm paying $40 a month and for what?! To keep gaining weight? I have also already lost this weight. It's frustrating, but I know that I have only myself to blame and all I can do is be better tomorrow and the subsequent days after.

Here was my pic from today. All the ones that I was smiling or just looking straight on were horrible so the goofy faced one won out today:

And since that one was so bad, here is one of me from my birthday party this last weekend with one of my friends:

Small rant

Okay so this post has nothing to do with weight loss, but I figure since I haven't posted anything in a while, a small deviation should be okay. That and the fact that I'm sure nobody is actually still reading this, and I need to get something off my chest and figured this was a good way to do it. Don't worry, I'll talk about my week/weightloss/whatnot tomorrow in my usual blog posting.

This blog post is dedicated to everyone in my single's ward who think they're better than everybody else... Guess what buddy? You're not! NOT.EVEN.CLOSE. Okay, I guess I should preface this rant. Last July, my friend set me up with somebody from our singles ward. The date was fine but we had nothing in common. We're adults so you would think that both of us would know how to behave like adults right? WRONG. Somehow this guy got it into his head that I was in love with him or something asinine like that and refused to speak to me while other people were around. My friend told him later that I wasn't interested and then he thought we could suddenly be best friends after that. WRONG AGAIN. If you feel like you're that much better than me, then you don't deserve any amount of my time. Not to mention, you are not better than me. You're 29 (almost 30), have no degree, didn't serve a mission, have always lived at home with your parents, don't have a great job, and let's face it, aren't very attractive.

I bring this up for two reasons: 1-The day has finally come for him to leave the ward! He is getting married on Thursday and that means that I never have to see him again! YAY! 2-Somebody else in the ward seems to have the same behavior. It's my birthday this week and it was my friends birthday a little while ago so we decided to have a party. I tried to reach out to this other guy and invite him... NO RESPONSE. This guy is a little more accomplished (okay, a LOT more accomplished but I don't want to say what he does in case somebody reads this that knows us both), but I still don't feel like he's better than me. Haha, I'm feeling a little like this right now:

Week Three

This week was okay but I'm finding weekends to be harder to stay on track. Especially this weekend with my brother's birthday. My mom made some pretty good lasagna, which of course was not WW friendly. I also fell off track last weekend since I went to a party STARVING (dumb) and ended up chowing down on pizza and chocolate. I did manage to lose a pound though. I need to develop some better ways to handle these situations. Another situation will be tomorrow. I have class from 9:40-10:30 and then discussion and lab from 1:00-5:00. My plan is to just stay on campus the whole time. I was going to two weeks ago for the first lab but slipped and fell in the slush on the way to class and had to go home and change. I think I'll pack a sandwich and get a Diet DP or Coke Zero up there. 

Speaking of sandwiches, Trader Joes opened up a location here in Salt Lake in November and due to massive crowds, I hadn't been there until a few weeks ago. My sister-in-law LOVES their almond butter so I decided to buy a jar. It is DELICIOUS! I love nut butters of all kinds, but this is probably my favorite almond butter so far. It still has 3 points for 1 tablespoon though, so I can't eat the whole jar in one setting (like I'd like to). 

I have two tests this week, Microbiology on Thursday and Chemistry on Friday. I don't feel nearly prepared enough and missed the Chemistry review session on Saturday because I was at the temple. She said she might hold one on Wednesday night so I'll cross my fingers for that. There are two Microbiology review sessions scheduled this week and I should be able to make at least one. I guess if nothing else, I will see how much I know and this will let me know if I need to tweak my study habits or not. Cross your fingers for me!

Weeks one and two

I'm just going to start the numbering over again with the start of the new year. I didn't post for last week so I'll give both totals. Week one I lost 4.6 pounds and then last week I lost 0.4. This week's was disappointing, but considering what I lost the week before, it's not too surprising. But it means that I've almost lost the weight I put on in-between December 22 and January 3rd. It brings my grand total of weight lost to 39.2. (No need to mention that at one point it was 45.8...) I think I'll try to aim for posting a pic once a month this year. It was fun to go back and look at the pics from the start to now. Not only has my size improved, but my hair has improved significantly too! Not only do I have a fantastic hair stylist, but I know how to do it now! Thanks Pinterest!

Anyway, you all know that I left my job at the Daycare but this last week I started a new job. I work at a restaurant part-time hosting for now. It should pad my income a little until I'm certified in Phlebotomy. I know one of the managers and so she got me a job and I made my little brother come apply as well. He's working as a busser and says it's hard work. It's his first job and I thought it would be good for him to earn a paycheck finally.

School is going okay so far. Not nearly the workload that last semester was, but still conceptually difficult so I need to do a better job at keeping up with my readings. The post office either lost, or somebody stole my Microbiology book the first week of school. The place sent me a new one, but I'm still behind at least four chapters... Guess what I get to do on our day off tomorrow??? I also need to read one chapter for Chemistry and get the assignment done by Wednesday at 9:40 AM. I love school... It's all for a greater cause though. And that's what makes the suffering worth it.

2013

I'm several days late on the new year post but I was too busy trying to get things accomplished before the beginning of the semester. In case you're wondering, I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted. Oh well. I did watch the entire Freaks and Geeks series (there was only one season) and the entire first season of the X-Files. Haha, I have no time management issues at all...

I can't remember if I posted this all in my last post and I'm too lazy to go back and look now so I'll just give you a run-down of what I'm currently doing. I quit my job at the daycare and Friday was my last day. I thought I would be more sad than I was, but I was actually really happy about it. I didn't have my own class anyway so I wasn't really super attached to any of the children. I start Phlebotomy training tomorrow night. It's a once a week, six week course so I should be certified sometime next month. Yay for progress! I also started school today. I only had one class today since there is no lab the first week of school. It's a combo Bio-Organic Chemistry class and I was hoping it would be more Bio Chem but apparently 2/3 of the semester will be O-Chem... Yay... Oh well. I'm going to try and improve my study and reading habits and hopefully this semester will go a lot better than last semester.

Now for my goals for the year. I'm going to try and avoid the term resolutions since there is a negative connotation associated with "New Years Resolutions". However, like most people, I like to reflect back on the previous year and decide what worked, what didn't, what I can improve, continue, or eliminate altogether. So here are my goals for this year:

1- Be more organized. You wouldn't believe the state of my room toward the end of the semester. There were papers and bags EVERYWHERE. It was horrible. I was trying to get everything organized before the semester started but I didn't quite make it. I have seen several good ideas from IKEA/Pinterest and am looking forward to doing them. I'm going to need a regular income before that will happen though...

2- Follow Weight Watchers more regularly. I was taking plenty of breaks (weekends, holidays, and months at a time) and have paid for it... I gained 5.4 pounds in the last two weeks alone. No more! If it goes in my mouth, it gets tracked!

3- Reach my weight loss goal. I don't know if you remember, but at one point I was TWO POUNDS AWAY. I remember it. It was awesome. And then the breaks started... and now I'm back to 14 pounds away... That's disgusting and typing it made me sick. BUT it's never a lost cause. I just need to accept that I made poor decisions and make better ones from here on out. I have also enrolled in an exercise class at school, though I may drop it since I'm not sure if I can get there in time.

4- NO MORE C's!!! I ended up with two C+s last semester. I might no longer be competitive enough to apply to the U but I still want to go into nursing and that means I need to do much better. I will be attending discussions and SI sessions every week this semester. I am also going to look more closely at some of the strategies my professors gave us last semester to help us succeed that I didn't follow.

5- Read my scriptures and pray daily. We're starting the Doctrine and Covenants this year in Sunday School and I'm actually really excited about it. I'm going to try and have the lessons read before hand.

6- Handle things better. There were a few situations this year that I probably over-reacted to and now I feel super uncomfortable at times. I'm going to try and think things through first before I react to them. I'm also going to talk things through with other people instead of getting angry. Hopefully this will help.

Not a super long list but it should keep me busy and improving. And now for a pic that I took yesterday. I apologize for the dirty mirror. I had cleaned it several days before this but apparently it needed it again: