The Holidays Are Upon Us

And I couldn't be more excited. I am so ready to go home tomorrow for my most favoritist of holidays. I can't really say why, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but there's just something about Thanksgiving that makes me love it more.

I'm very excited about this year because of my desire to try new things. I plan on trying everything that my mom makes this year. I'll report back with new likes and dislikes.

The RAs are currently shutting down the building. There's nothing I love more than an almost empty residence hall. Everything is so quite and peaceful. It makes me wish that it was already the end of the semester. That's the only bad thing about Thanksgiving, it's such a tease for the Christmas break.

I'm actually looking forward to my drive home tomorrow. I've got my iPod ready and am ready to sing until my little heart's content. Granted I can't carry a tune in a bucket but when I'm alone in my car I'm a pro. I'm so ready to see my family and spend time with them. I am also excited to see Amy's new house. Now I'll have two places to visit when I go home.

Tonight will probably be an early once since I'll be hitting the road bright and early in the a.m. But not before I get my fill of Glee for the evening.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We Just Can't Be Stopped

Last night the Kickin' Friends took the field yet again and walked away with wins in both our games. Sure the first game was won by forfeit but the second was a true competition. We played the Rec Sports team in our second game and it was by far the hardest game yet. It some ways it was also very sad. You would think that the Rec Sports team would be very friendly and set the example of good sportsmanship. Man was this the wrong assumption to have. Although I shouldn't pin their awful sportsmanship on the whole team, just one of their team members. There was one guy on their team who had a poor attitude from the start. He was questioning plays, rules, and calls. Come to find out at the end of the game he's the guys who actually wrote the kickball rules so I was surprised that he seemed to be so confused about the way the game worked. He was also such a spoil sport that after we beat them he didn't even shake anyones hand to say "Good Game!" In fact the whole team seemed in shock when we started approaching them to do this. I mean really people, it's kickball, not the World Series or the World Cup.

Anyway, everyone did an amazing job last night. I think the final score ended up being 2-0 or 3-0. Matt had an awesome homerun that really pissed off a couple of their players. I had the best game of the season last night. Granted it started off not so great. At my first two at kicks I had to try to beat the ball to first base. Instead of just throwing the ball to the baseman the jerk from above thought it more appropriate to try to peg me as hard as he could. The first time I'm not sure what happened I just know I ended up rolling on the ground. The second time I got pegged in the head after crossing the base but they still called me out. (Don't worry my memory is still in tact) Again this hit also resulted in me tumbling on the ground. But I brushed myself off and took my position in left field and ended up making two catches in the outfield. It's funny, and you wouldn't think it would, but catching a pop up kickball is kind of a rush. Especially since the balls were pretty high on both catches and the fact that both were kicked by guys who thought their "shit didn't stink." Pardon the expression.

I'm pretty sure that this secured us a place in the championships. Our next games won't be until December. I'm sure we'll be playing the Chi Alpha team or the Rec Sports team for the Championship game. Playing Rec Sports would be a more intense game but Chi Alpha is so much more fun to play with because they're competitive without being jerks, so we'll see.

That's all I got for now. As you can tell INSANITY was kinda put on the back burner this week. We're hoping to get a couple of days in next week then really hit it hard after Thanksgiving.

Trying New Things, In This Case Food

For those of you who know me well you know that I am somewhat of a picky eater. Granted my tastes have changed quite a bit over the past few years. I thought some might enjoy hearing about some of my most recent food adventures. (And just so you know what I find adventurous, 90% of the population finds ordinary.)

First on the list, vegetables. I used to hate pretty much any vegetable. Now I find myself craving and enjoying corn and various steamed vegetables. I have gone so far as to try green beans, asparagus, squash, and various other things. I don't get what the fuss is all about with the asparagus, can't say it really knocked my socks off. But corn is becoming a new favorite, especially when it's on the cob.

Next is desserts. I'm much more of a salty than sweet person but lately the sweet tooth has been kicking in. I now LOVE peach cobbler. I would say it's one of my new favorite things. I used to hate cooked fruit, mainly because of the texture. Now I find myself trying various fruity desserts. Still not a fan of cherries though. I've also branched out to various pies and puddings. Before I could always go without a dessert or something sweet but now it's a little bit harder to pass it up.

Now the next thing I'm about to talk about might upset a couple of people. Mainly Ben and Sarah because for years they have tried to get me to bend on this and I never would. I would always say NO! when they offered this as a lunch option so I want to apologize to them for always being so firm on that answer. This week I went to lunch with my friend Zack. Lately I've been choosing where we eat so when we were discussing where to go he mentioned wanting Panera. I have always been adamant in my stance against Panera because I've never been a huge soup, salad, sandwich person. Especially with Panera because I believe their sandwiches to be "too fancy," which if you know me you know what that means. Granted this has slowly been changing in current years thanks in large part to Sarah and only taking me to sandwich shops when we went to DC. Anyway back to the point I'm trying to make. So Zack suggests Panera and at first I tell him that I would prefer to go somewhere else, but he pleads his case for wanting soup and a sandwich. I realized as he was talking that almost every food suggestion Zack has made to me I always say no or say that I don't like something. Feeling bad about this I felt it was time to give in and finally go to Panera and give it a shot. I ended up enjoying my Panera lunch experience very much. (Don't get me wrong, I've always loved Panera for breakfast, I'm not that crazy.) Granted all I had was a turkey sandwich and some mac & cheese but it was quite tasty. I also tried Zack's Tomato Basil soup which I ended up liking very much. So, Panera can now officially be added to the places to go for lunch list. Again, Ben and Sarah, I'm sorry for always saying no. I should have been a good friend and sacrificed going so many years ago. Please forgive me.

Now on to coffee beverages. Just today I discovered that I might enjoy a latte from time to time. Paige and I went to Starbucks and their special holiday menu caught my eye, so I decided to order a Caramel Brulee Latte. Turns out it is quite a wonderful beverage. Although after awhile it got to be too sweet. Paige ordered the Gingerbread Latte which was also very tasty. Granted I don't plan on making Starbucks a habit because I still believe that paying $4 for a cup of coffee a day is ridiculous. But it is a nice treat from time to time.

So those are my food tales. I hope you enjoyed them. I'm very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and possibly adding more to my plate than just turkey, potatoes, and a roll.

Back On Track

So 4 days off is 4 days too many for INSANITY. Today we finally got back on track. Or should I say I got back on track. The group has met the last two days I think, but I haven't. It was supposed to be a straight cardio day today but one of the DVDs got misplaced. By straight cardio I mean that there's no stopping for breaks, you just go as much as you can and take breaks when needed. So today we ended up doing the plyometric cardio circuit again. This work out has water breaks, which are always much appreciated.

Today I felt like I mostly just went through the motions. To make it sound better I'll say that I focused more on form that speed. I'm finding it difficult to do some of the workouts in the push up position. My right wrist does not like this very much but I push through as best as I can. Not sure what tomorrow holds but I can gaurantee sweat will be involved.

Skipped Again

I'm a slacker and I have no problem admitting it. I once again failed to make it to INSANITY. Although in my defense I had good reason. Tomorrow I should be back on track and sweating my butt off again. Here's hoping anyway.

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Had day 6 of INSANITY yesterday. The title of this entry explains in a tiny nutshell what we did. Essentially, it's the same workout we did on day 2. It's supposed to get easier to do as time goes on. We have yet to hit that point. Having another two day break made it tougher than when we did it the first time. Monday we'll do cardio power and resistance. I'm not sure what that means but it's a a routine we haven't done yet.

All I can say is, bring it!!

4-0...Is it too early to say CHAMPIONSHIP!?!?!?!

The Kickin' Friends would have loved to have taken the field last night but apparently word has spread about how amazingly awesome we are and both teams we were supposed to play forfeited last night. Ben thinks it's our red that keeps them away.

The first team just straight didn't show up. The other game that was supposed to be taking place at the same time only had one team show up. So we decided to play a friendly scrimmage. Not that we were keeping score, but we still won. So if you want to get technical our record is 5-0. But when it comes to rec sports we're 4-0.

Hopefully next week we'll actually get to play real games. At the start of the night we thought we'd have to forfeit because we didn't think we'd have enough girls. But Kayla, our awesome first baseman, was able to get two of her resident to come out and join us. So after another week of play we remain victorious. Here are some more pics from the night.

Ben is our fearless team captain and the reason we all join together on Thursday nights. Here he his working on the line up.

This is Matt being Matt.

And this is Bill and Scott being Bill and Scott.

I know I'm awesome at captions.
Don't be jealous.

Kickin' Friends

Tonight is our second week of kickball. Last Thursday we dominated both our games with wins of 11-2 and 10-0. We're hoping to continue our winning streak tonight. We've got two more games tonight which should be really fun. I'll be decked out in my red shirt and red, knee high socks. It's a sight to see, let me tell you. Mathis, wish you could be here to play with us.

Also tonight is another new episode of Bones (my obsession, in case you forgot). Last week I had to tape it because of kickball and will have to do the same this week. Hopefully this week it will actually tape. Last week I got home, sat down to watch it, and nothing. For some reason the recorder didn't kick on. I was very, very upset. But taping Glee last night went of without a hitch so hopefully taping Bones won't be a problem tonight. I've very excited because tonight sees the return of Gordon Gordon. If you don't watch the show this means nothing to you so you probably don't care, but his excites me to no end. I hear that this episode is full of lots of wonderful moments so I can't wait.

We all ended up taking the day off from INSANITY today so that's why no update there. Everyone had stuff to do super early today. But tomorrow we'll be back with a vengeance.

Day 6 here we come!!

I Hear Day 5 Was Pretty Intense

I don't actually know from personal experience because I didn't make it out of bed this morning. Apparently doing INSANITY in the morning and going for a run in the evening is physical overload. Today was definitely one of those days where my alarm went off and I could even force my eyes open long enough to turn in off. I haven't been so wiped out in a really long time. I even went to bed early so I was surprised when I couldn't wake up this morning. So hopefully I'll get back on track tomorrow.

As for today, it looks to be a pretty good day. I have two RA interviews, nerd lunch with the boys, dinner with Elsie, and a new episode of Glee!!! The only thing better is that if all of this happened on a Thursday and Bones took the place of Glee.

For those of you who may not know this, Bones is my obsession. I don't know why but I love this show more than any other show I've ever watched. Granted I love all TV but I think I caught Bones at just the right time where I was able to catch up on the series before the new season started. Granted it's pretty much the only thing I watched all summer, but it was well worth it. So if you don't watch Bones you should.

Well I must be off to Cluster breakfast.

Day 4: Stretching It Out

As you can see by the title today was day 4 of INSANITY!!! (You'll notice I always write this in all caps. I do this because that's how it's written on the box and it just helps imply how INSANE it really is.)

Today was cardio cool down day. This consisted of about 30 minutes of doing various stretches and things of the like. I went into the morning with no soreness in any part of my legs. Tomorrow I don't believe this will be the case. We did lots of squats so I have a feeling my quads are going to be super tight tomorrow. I learned today that I'm more balanced on the left side of my body than the right. I say this because anytime I had to pick up my right leg and balance on my left I was fine. When it was the other way around it took everything I had to stay standing. Even though all we did was stretch it still felt like a full workout.

I think tonight I might try to go for a run. Try to keep my legs loose.

Got day 5 tomorrow. Should be fun!

Day 3 Made Day 2 Look Like A Cake Walk

Today we all joined together to continue our journey through INSANITY. We were told that day 2 was the hardest day. Whoever thought that was true needs to be hit in the face. Today was, by far, harder than day 2. I realize that there might be a couple of reasons for this. One being that it's always hard to start something back up after two days of rest. Especially something as intensive as this.

I found myself getting tired a lot quicker than in the past two workouts. I even made it a point to stay hydrated over the weekend. For some reason I just had a hard time pushing through. I did it though. I don't think I've ever sweat more in my life than I did today. (Except this one time when I got sick. Mathis you know what I'm talking about.) Anyway I would say 60% of my shirt was a darker green than the rest. I love when this happens though. It makes me feel like I've really accomplished something.

Another thing I both love and hate about this experience is getting up early. While part of me misses that extra hour of sleep in the morning I feel so much better after working out. It's very fulfilling starting your day off with something this productive.

I hope to post some before pics soon. I meant to take my camera this morning but I forgot. I'll also start incorporating other news in my blog as it comes up. That's all I got for now.

INSANITY!!!!

So last week Ben Taylor, one my nearest and dearest friends, decided that he was going to start a workout called INSANITY (http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do?code=BBHOME_CONTROL_INS). It's by the same company that does P90X. One of Ben's RAs bought the program and he opened it up to anyone that wanted to take part. So starting last Thursday me, Ben, Derek, and Harper joined together in the Bruce Concert Hall at 7:15 am and started our 60 day transformation.

Day 1 was a 15 minute physical fitness test. Sadly none of us brought pen and paper to document the number of reps we were able to accomplish for each exercise. We will do the test every two weeks so we figure we'll just start tracking then.

Day 2 was apparently the hardest workout. Apparently if you can make it through day 2 the rest of the program won't be easy but it won't be impossible either. Day 1 didn't leave me too sore which was a plus. Day 2 was definitely tough but we all got through it. The video stresses that technique is more important than speed so we take our time on some of the exercises if necessary. The first step out of my bed on Saturday was very painful. There are a lot of cardio moves that keep you on your toes. I don't think my calves have ever been so tight before.

We've decided to only do the program during the week giving us the weekend to rest our bodies and sleep in.

Tomorrow we've got day 3. Woot!!