In my quest for living a healthier lifestyle, including mostly the foods I put into my body, there is one vegetable (if it is a vegetable?) that seems to keep popping up randomly. BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!! ???? Whenever I hear the words, I automatically think…
Right!?!?!? I mean who likes brussels sprouts? ESPECIALLY children! Well over the past year I have seen friends of mine feed their children brussels sprouts and not only not having tantrums but actually loving them. While having dinner tonight with my boyfriend and his family, his sister brought brussels sprouts over for their daughter to have for dinner. I watched her eat them like it was anything other than the dreadful vegetable. I have added numerous of new foods to my diet that I would have never ate including: kale, broccoli, edamame, peppers, cabbage, slaw, asparagus, and on and on and on. Just the name brussels sprouts has always put a bad taste in my mouth. After reading the nutritional value, I must say I have to give these green balls a new start. 1 cup is only 38 calories! Not only is this a filler food but also contains 124% of your daily intake of Vitamin C needed. They are also rich in potassium, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and a great source of dietary fiber! That's it… you got me convinced… I can't let this younger generation grow up healthier than me! I'll let you know how they turn out… maybe even come up with some creative recipes I can share. Hope you are all having a good week so far!
Happy Monday :)
Quote of the Night: He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors. ~Chinese Proverb
WELL a lot has changed but one thing that has stayed the same is my lack for blogging. My goal for the summer (one of them) is to update the blog and begin again. I always have so much on my mind and sharing the mind clutter somehow helps me to weed out the unnecessary and move on to what matters. I made it through my first year of pharmacy school… WOOWHOOO…. and am now back home working four days a week to make a little mulla and have some summer fun. I have two weeks of rotations to do in a pharmacy in July and am super excited about the experience. I guess one thing that made me think about blogging again was my sudden urge to decorate my place again. I go through these stages of wanting to redo rooms every 6-8 months and it doesn't help that I have plenty of rooms to redecorate that no one is living in. Since my roommate moved out, I have not been able to give any attention to my abode with my busy pharmacy school schedule. I made one room into a guest bedroom while the other was a roommates room. Then I had another roommate move in after the other left and turned the guest room into an office that neither one of us ended up using much. Since she moved out, I now have a bed, vanity, and side table in the room but really need a comforter and pillows for the bed. Also, the guest bathroom is completely empty! I went to a couple of stores today to browse and gain some inspiration for a new theme and could not find a thing. I immediately thought about how I used to love blogging and looking at all the other home decor blogs. I am not even sure at this point if I should even keep the office room an office. AND I am now thinking of a million different things I want to do to the kitchen, living room, and deck! ahhhhhhh did I mention that I am a broke college student?! I have multiple pictures of these rooms and the different changes they have been through so as soon as I get my thoughts together on this issue I will share the before/after/before and new inspirations coming my way. I hope you are having a FABULOUS summer and feel free to share your thoughts. I love the feedback :)
Quote of the Night: It's not a day on the calendar. Not a birthday, not a new year. It's an event, big or small, something that changes us. Ideally, it gives us hope. A new way of living and looking at the world. Letting go of old habits, old memories . . . What's important is that we never stop believing we can have a new beginning. But it's also important to remember that amid all the crap . . . are a few things worth holding on to. - GA
I am sure most people have been blogging about the same thing… but seriously… it's almost April and we are having high temps of 50! This is just getting ridic! I feel like I can't get out of winter hibernation mode. I absolutely cannot stand cold weather and never want to leave my bed, much less my house! Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow which means we should be in Spring right now! Well in regards to these bipolar temperatures, I am having to adjust my schedule every day it seems. It did finally stop raining and even though the sun is out, it is still super cold. I got a gym membership at the beginning of the semester, which was good and I was going regularly but now that we have already had spring break and it looks like spring outside, I want to just get out of the house and go for a run. I hate to be stuck in a gym on a pretty day but it is definitely too cold for me to get out and go for a run in the morning. So, I have been trying to think of other ways that I can shed this muffin I've obtained from Spring Break'n. I do have apple TV and thought that I could find some workout programs on Netflix and couldn't… not sure why. Then I realized that there is a YouTube app so I started searching yoga full length classes and came across a yoga class by Tara Stiles and decided to try it out. I pulled my yoga mat out and within the first 5 minutes I was already shedding clothes one piece at a time… coco thinks her mom is crazy. But let me just say, this is a fabulous video! The closest thing I have found to a real yoga class (and I am really picky). She also has videos of her cooking some great detox recipes that I totally took notes on. If you are like me, and dread getting out in the cold weather but can see the lbs piling on by the day, this video is amazing and you should try it. I have already placed it in my schedule every morning and am so excited to have a workout I can look forward to and not having to get out in the freezing cold. I hope you are all doing well! School is… well school. I blog to take my mind off of school so I apologize if you never hear about my PharmD experiences (I promise they aren't that great) :)
Quote of the Night: “Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.” - Anonymous
10 Things Your Dog Would Tell You,
If It Could Talk
1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be painful: remember that before you get me.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me- it is crucial to my well being.
4. Do not be angry at me for long, and do not lock me up as punishment.
5. You have your work, your entertainment, and your friends. I only have you.
6. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understand your words, I understand your voice when it is speaking to me.
7. Be aware that how you treat me, I will never forget.
8. Remember before you hit me that I have teeth that could easily hurt you, but I choose not to bite you because I love you.
9. Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I might not be getting the right food, or I have been out too long, or my heart is getting to old and weak.
10. Take care of me when I get old; you too will grow old. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say: "I cannot bear to watch" or "Let it happen in my absence." Everything is easier for me if you are there, even my death. Remember that I love you.
Quote of the Night: One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why. ~Author Unknown
I had a friend/colleague lose her little white fluffy dog the other day after being hit by a car. Her puppy Bella always makes me think of my little Coco when she would post pictures on facebook/twitter/instagram and my heart is absolutely breaking for her. When I found out, it moved me to tears because I cannot even imagine what I would do if I lost Coco. She pampered and loved her dog with the same amount of passion and care that I do for Coco, like our own little baby. I feel so bad because there are many times (just yesterday) that I have let Coco out in the backyard without a leash on and she takes off running across the road to see another dog and could easily be hit by these crazy teenagers that come racing through the neighborhood. I feel bad always having her on a leash and want her to have some independence and freedom but it is so not worth it at the cost of her life. Being in school so much, constantly consumed with studying all the time, and being active has kept me from being home as much and really spending quality time with her. I feel so guilty for just having her as my pet and not being the parent/owner that I should be. The best thing about having little dogs is they always love you unconditionally no matter what you do/don't do. For that I should never take Coco's unconditional love for granted and give her all the undivided attention and care that she deserves. My heart hurts for my friend and keep her in your prayers as this is going to be a very difficult circumstance to overcome.
I hope you all have a beautiful Sunday!
Quote of the Day: We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment. ~George Eliot
Well I know it's been a while since I've blogged about what is going on and I actually really miss it so I am going to try and get back into the swing of writing everyday. So I got through my first semester of Pharmacy School last fall and was so excited to be able to start this next semester. I have made some close friends and feel mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to take on this new semester. We do have 2 more classes added to our school load and the course work is a lot more than last semester but I guess that is to be expected that it's just going to get tougher with each semester. I haven't been feeling too well the past 24 hrs and feel like I am coming down with a stomach bug that has been going around down here. The plan for today was to stay at the school and study all day but after class, I could not make it due to feeling so neauseous so I came home and trying to relax and feel better. I really cannot afford to get sick with the amount of work I have to get done by lab tomorrow so keep me in your prayers. Hope you all doing well, I'm going to be better about my updates and actually have a bunch of updates on my place and some new decorating to show! *Lots of Love*
Quote of the Day: All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave
behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter
another. ~Anatole France
I had a wonderful weekend at Bonnaroo and as much as I would love to expound on all of my experiences, this week has been hell and well I just need to to smile. Sometimes you just need to sit back, remember what you are here for, that nothing is impossible, thank God for the life you've been given and just Smile.
Quote of the Night: Pull yourself together and use what you have. ~Betsy Cañas Garmon
So I know a couple of weeks ago I told you about a speech my professor gave us on our last day of class and I actually recorded it on my phone. I was listening to it last night and thought about the story he was telling before he got to the part that I last blogged about. After thinking, I just knew I could probably find it on the internet to share with you. Well I did and this is it.
The $6,000,000 Man.
Well, time passes (such as it does). It was again my father’s birthday and time for another humorous reminder of the annual event. I was perusing the birthday cards in a local department store when I came across a very cute card:
“According to biochemists, the materials that make up the human body are worth only 97 cents.” (Hallmark Greeting Card Co.) An underestimation, I thought.
With this card in mind, I toyed with the idea of calculating just how much the average human body is worth. So I and a friend (who was interested in biochemistry) sat down to figure out just how much a human body could fetch on the fair market exchange. Using a biochemical supply catalog, we investigated the price of the various chemicals and came up with some shocking results. Human DNA was $770 per gram. Hemoglobin was $3 a gram. Insulin was $48 per gram. Follicle-stimulating hormone (or FSH) was relatively expensive (about $4,900,000 per gram). A righteous amount of bucks, we concluded.
We averaged all the chemicals per gram (dry weight) of a human being, arriving at $250.25 per gram. Human beings are approximately 70% water, so we calculated my dry weight as 24,545 g. Next we calculated how much the average human body was worth. The final amount was most gratifying: $6,142,386.30. Not bad, I concluded gleefully. I’m a six million dollar man, and I can’t even run 60 miles per hour.
One must here draw a balance between a human being and a bunch of chemicals from a supply catalog. If it were possible to purchase these chemicals, you would not purchase a human being, but merely an assembly of molecules. But why the discrepancy between the 97 cent figure and the calculated one? The answer is easy. By paying for thevarious proteins and hormones, one is paying for those chemicals which are high up in the genetic ladder, while carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and water are relatively cheap and easy to come by. For example, proteins are long folded chains of amino acids which are commercially available for anywhere between $3 and $12,000 per gram. However, the smaller molecular weight amino acids are somewhere around 30 cents a gram. Thus we see a cost difference in the size and complexity of the chemicals.
As we learn in science courses at a very young age, cells form tissues, tissues form organs, and organs form systems. As we progress we learn that the cell itself is made up of smaller units called organelles. One of the organelles is ribosome. The cost of assembling DNA and proteins from ribosomes is phenomenal. To synthesize a human being from organelles is prohibitively expensive, in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Next we must form cells, and then tissues. Organs must then be created and then the organs formed into systems and finally into a living, breathing human being. The cost at each step becomes progressively higher as the complexity of the process increases. An incomprehensible task, to say the least. Thus the naked truth faces us, and we quickly realize that each human being is priceless.
by Gerry Marangoni
I'm honestly out of words… I'm not sure if it is my lack of sleep or the fact that I just have so much Mammalian Phys and Biochem packed in this brain that it is impossible for me to converse on a normal level. If you're in the process of finals, as I am, then I am sure you totally understand! Regardless of whether your having finals or not, I think anyone can relate to this quote in some aspect of their life.
I LOVE YOU ALL! Don't ever take "no" for an answer!! HAPPY TUESDAY!
Well today was our last day of classes and was a little bittersweet. This semester was Dr. Wit's last semester to teach and today was his last day. He is retiring and has been a professor at Auburn University for a long time. He is honestly one of the smartest, most respectable men I have ever met in my life. Mammalian was definitely a very hard class but you know as a student, I know Dr. Wit was just trying to stretch us to our full potential which is exactly what we need in preparation for Pharmacy School. I am so thankful and honored to have been able to be in his last class and learn from him. He gave a speech in class today about the measurement of human life and our self worth. He told us that in our age we measure ourselves two different ways. One way was performance, we tend to measure our self worth by how well we are doing in class and what grades we are making. He explained that this is a slippery slope because you will never be satisfied. Even if you make A's, you will then want to be the person with the highest A and so on. The second way of measuring our self worth is by appearance. If we look good then we are better and will get somewhere and of course he said he was sorry to break it to us but our looks will fade, we will get wrinkles and we won't stay this way forever. He went on to say that our self worth was neither of those things but by who we are and who we are becoming. He said that he thinks each one of us as a unique creation that has a self worth of well over $6 billion and that we are very special. I was seriously moved to tears. Too bad I couldn't have heard this at the beginning of the semester. It was just so crazy that while he was saying all of this, I was thinking "Oh my gosh! This is exactly why I have felt this way the whole semester." All semester I have measured my self worth by my grades. My grades have not been great at all and it's almost immediately that I start thinking about shopping or getting my hair done or what do I need to do to change my body, weight, hair color, clothes, makeup, etc. I wasn't making the grades and it made my self confidence so low that I was trying to find a way too "look" better so I would "feel" better about myself. Dr. Wit could not have possibly described me and my emotions this semester anymore to a T than that. It hit me driving home that this Nike quote I found a few days ago stated the same thing and everything started to make sense. This semester has been rough on me and I have had many ups and downs but I would not take any of it back because of what I have learned through it all. The down times keep you grounded and make you appreciate the ups and I would hate to think differently. So lesson of the day??? All we can do is our best, measure yourself by who you are and who you are becoming and not by numbers or looks. If you are doing your best in everything, you will reach your goal and be successful. I know it's a hard concept when those things make you feel so good about yourself but like Audrey Hepburn says "Happy girls are the prettiest girls." If we have the confidence and love who we are and who we are becoming, that will do wonders on our looks and confidence will definitely help with our grades! We got this! Finals are right around the corner and I am ready to take the challenge! *Hope you all have a blessed week*
Listening to: Use Somebody - Laura Jansen
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