Since July 24th....

Well, as you would assume, a lot has happened since my last post on July 24th. Here's what you missed...

1. My trip to Portland/Vancouver:


2. IRB Application = Submitted!
3. I moved into a tiny, big-city apartment with Angie and we hosted our first game night :)
4. MCAT #1 and #2 = Complete!
5. My trip to Florida:

6. Saint's Pre-Season Game:

7. Lot's of Schweitzer work!
8. School, Ugh!
aaaand... 9. Friday night happy hours and Slice pizza!:

Moooooooving next weekend!!!

I really enjoyed my day off today! I was really excited about getting to sleep in. Unfortunately, I woke up at 9 am, but it wasn't to an alarm clock and I felt fully rested! Since I was up early, I decided to go running. I ran in the parking garage because it was shady in there and not as hot as outside. I really wasn't feeling it though... I just really didn't feel like running. I thought that was going to be the start to an unproductive day, but I actually got a lot accomplished. I went to the housing office and signed the lease for my new apartment.... and then I got to see it. It is definitely old and the building needs to be renovated badly, but it has a living room, a kitchen, and a real closet!.... all of which I'm very excited about... so excited in fact that I went to the UHaul place and bought boxes and tape and then packed up half of my room! Then, I packed for Portland. I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend.... 80 degrees during the day and 65 at night... aaaand we may go to the Pacific coast or the mountains. I'll be sure to take tons of pictures! Well, gotta rest up... My flight's at 7:30 am and I need to leave here at 5:30.

Adios, Calories!

I'm feeling pretty good about the way things are going right now :). I worked this morning and managed to finish my MCAT book and look over some of the notes I took. I forgot to go to the housing office afterward like I planned to... I guess I was too focused on getting Chik-fil-A for lunch hahaha! I walked into the mall for lunch and walked out with a belly full of greasy food and an armband for my iPhone. I've actually been looking for an armband for a while so I'm glad I found one that I like.

Anyway, when I got back to school, I went to work. My 4 pm client didn't show up so I decided to work out instead. I had to teach spinning at 5 pm so I just did some arms and abs (and listened to my MCAT audiobook :)). I'm really glad I did because by the time spinning was over, I had burned 833 calories according to my HR monitor!! I didn't want to ruin that so I had a salad for dinner and I feel great!! Hopefully, the results will start showing up soon! I do give in to my cravings, but I've learned that I can do that as long as I cut back on calories for the next meal and then work out for a little more time than I normally would. Also, I read somewhere that sometimes when you feel hungry, it actually means that you're thirsty. It really seems to be true because sometimes when I'm craving something bad, I just drink some water and the craving goes away (at least for a while haha). I've even started to crave WATER!!! Weird, I know. I never even liked water before!

All of this just goes to show that you can change your lifestyle if you set your mind to it. Diets have been proven to not work... You have to change your whole lifestyle and learn how to discipline yourself. If you eat something bad or skip a workout, make up for it by doing an extra workout or limiting calories during another meal. The only way to efficiently lose weight is to BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU TAKE IN!! That is literally the ONLY thing that works! Most fad diets aim to accomplish that objective, but they have bad side effects (because you are eliminating some nutrient that you need) or are not easy to follow (because they tell you not to give in to cravings).... and they don't mention that you HAVE to exercise!... especially if you don't want to be what I call "skinny fat"... (skinny, but with cellulite and no muscle tone). haha!

I am a personal trainer so if anyone wants an exercise plan, let me know and I'd be more than happy to develop one for you. I'll give you the friend discount... JK... no charge. :)

Exhausted and Stressed...

I'm actually really proud of myself for being on top of my to do list this week. I'm right on schedule in my MCAT studying and I've gotten a lot of other things accomplished too! That being said... I'm exhausted, I've literally had chest pains for the past 2 days!!, and my brain is fried!! Some words of encouragement would be awesome! Below is a picture of my life at the moment. The Kaplan MCAT book is 1000 pages long and I'm almost finished with it! The spiral notebook is almost full of color coded notes (hence the colored pens). I have 3 full length practice tests (not including the ones I have access to on the internet. I keep the MCAT in a box flashcards in my purse so that I can study them when I have to wait somewhere. ...and I wear the headphones when I study so that I can get used to wearing them for the real test. I didn't include my phone, but I have an audiobook on there that I listen to when I workout... and I might start listening to it when I sleep. I reeeeeeaaaaaally hope I do well on this stupid test! I have to be at work early tomorrow so I'm about to go to bed and I'll continue the studying frenzy tomorrow!

Productive Week So Far

I guess I've been so productive lately that I haven't had time to update this. Sunday, I finished my training that I had to do to start research for my capstone. It took like 6 hours to do!... Ridiculous! Yesterday, I got a little bit of MCAT studying accomplished, worked on fellowship stuff, emailed teachers with information on how to submit letters of recommendation, requested transcripts, and worked. Today, I went to Target (my happy place)... I wanted to get some headphones so I can get used to wearing them (I like that they block out the noise, but they always bother me during standardized tests.). I also needed a notebook to use for practice tests and extra notes... and I needed a binder to organize my fellowship stuff. After Target, I worked on fellowship paperwork and had a meeting with our academic mentor. Right before this meeting, Shannon told me that her advisor was approached by someone on the fellowship board (She works at the school.). She wanted to make sure that we were not using our fellowship experience for our capstones. Anyway, that started a bunch of drama... Shannon and I freaked out for a little while because we thought that we had done all of this work for nothing, but it's all been straightened out. Thank God! Anyway, after the meeting, I got some more MCAT studying done, taught an awesome spinning class (found a new favorite playlist and burned 684 calories), and got some more recommendation letter stuff done. My advisor wanted me to write my own letter of recommendation!! He said that it would give me experience in writing letters of recommendation. I would like to think that I am at least somewhat humble... and I don't like to sell myself. It's not my style.

In other news, I have a very silly boyfriend. One of his favorite things to say is, "Who loves Emily? I love Emily. I do, I do, I do-oooo!"... like from that old Nickelodeon show, Keenan and Kel (Kel loves orange soda.). Haha! I love him, though.... even if he is a rare breed of man. He really is so much different than any man I have ever met. Maybe that's why I love him...

Here is my spinning playlist from today for those of you that are interested. The playlist really makes or breaks the workout:
1. Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp... Warm Up
2. Womanizer - Britney Spears
3. Right Round - Flo Rida
4. Poker Face - Lady Gaga
5. So What - Pink
6. Great DJ - The Ting Tings
7. Sugar - Flo Rida
8. Be My Lover (Club Mix) - La Bouche
9. Satellites - September
10. Mr. Vain - Culture Beat
11. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
12. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas
13. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
14. One of the Boys - Katy Perry
15. Here Comes Goodbye - Rascal Flatts... Cool Down
ENJOY!!

I love playing tour guide!!

My friend, Robin came into town last night and I got to be her tour guide. She had never been here so I had so much fun showing her the city. We went to all of my favorite places and did all of the touristy things (including a Vampire Tour).

Not only had Robin never been here, she had also never tried or even heard of multiple Louisiana things. While she was here, she tried red beans & rice, beignets, and a hurricane (among other drinks) and she found out what a muffaletta is. She took a million pictures and acted like a tourist the whole time... I LOVED IT!!

Robin has a job where she gets to travel the country and see so many different places. She takes pictures everywhere she goes and she's even started a fashion don'ts photo album lol. Like I expected, she found multiple fashion faux pas in this city. I even got to be the model for some of them...

St. Patty's day... maybe. Any other time... NO.

Cute, but not in public.

Among other fashion don'ts found in New Orleans were plaid on plaid, hair down to your butt (on a man), biker attire (of any kind), matching your hair color to your sundress, a track suit, showing off your muffin tops, and a bikini on the balcony of your hotel room (unless you're on the beach).

I love this city!!!

I miss Florida!!!! :(

I just read an article about what my handwriting says about me and these were my results...

• You are open to the world around you and like to socialize with other people.
• You are well-adjusted and adaptable.
• You are restricting yourself in some way.
• You tend to be skeptical and are unswayed by emotional arguments.
• You are intellectually probing and like to study new things.
  

I would say all of that is pretty accurate... It's crazy how tests like that can tell you a little about yourself.

Anyway... Today, Shannon and I had a meeting with one of the faculty members at our school about our IRB application. He was impressed with the work that we have already done, but he basically said that we need to reformat the WHOLE application and re-word a lot of things. I'm so stressed out about this project now. I really hope we get to publish it. The whole thing is turning into a circus. The worst part is that Shannon and I are the ring leaders, but we definitely do NOT call the shots. :)

After our meeting, I went to the library for a few hours. I got through 3 chapters in my MCAT book and only have a few left. I'm taking a break right now and then going back to it. While I was studying, there was a side note in the Physics section that caught my attention... "Stress is just pressure." I can't believe they put that as a side note for students studying for the MCAT! ...Like we don't already know!! Anyway, Monday, I plan to start taking a practice test EVERY day until the real test! I know it sounds crazy, but I need to do really well on the test and everyone says that practice tests really help. We'll see, I guess.

I'm excited for tomorrow! I have to do a community service project in the morning for the fellowship, but then Robin is coming in town! I met Robin last summer when she audited the water park and then we became Facebook friends lol. She's never been out here so I'm really looking forward to taking her out.

I have a lot going on right now, but I'm glad because otherwise, I would just be sitting at home all the time missing Sean. I do miss him a lot, but staying busy keeps my mind off of it somewhat. I get so jealous when people are going to Florida... not only because I miss the beach and Destin... but because I miss Sean and all of my friends there. I haven't been since March and I don't know if I'll be going soon. I may be going for the 2nd weekend in August, but I'm waiting for that trip to be finalized so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Ugh... Time to get back to studying :(