It's Friday

In case you didn't remember. Not that anyone could forget it's Friday, especially since it's the beginning of a three day weekend.

Nothing big is going on around here lately, just life in general. Here's a run down of my week:

I wrote my midterm paper for Literary Theory on Wednesday (stayed up until 2 a.m. to get that puppy finished!), and we only have two more class days! This has been an intense few weeks, but in class yesterday I feel like we finally completed the loop that links everything we've been learning about to real life. Don't get me wrong, theory is fascinating all on its own but being able to actually understand how the theorists were able to come up with these crazy ideas makes it so much better.

My oldest younger brother (all my brothers are younger than I am, but he's the oldest of the three, mkay?) is graduating from high school this evening. Holy. cow. Where did time go? I still remember how we used to play so well together when we were little kids. He'll be attending the University of Texas in Austin in the fall and I am so proud of all he's accomplished. Seriously, he is such a smart kid and has grown up so much in the past few years. His graduation gift has some stipulations that come with it, on being that he has to come visit Will and me for a weekend in the fall or he has to give it back. Muahaha, I know, I am so evil.

Tomorrow I am going on the hunt for some some throw pillows for our house. There are several places we could use some, so I'm pretty open to anything right now. As weird as this is, I just really want to be working on something for our house, and pillows are something I can do from 11 hours away. Bonus point if I find some fabric to make some, because that keeps me doubly busy and I have to go to my mom's house to use her sewing machine (which she loves). And THEN I am going to have dinner with my BFF since 2nd grade. I don't think we've seen each other since last August when she got married and I am so excited to see her. She is expecting her first baby in August and I CANNOT WAIT! Even though we're not technically related, I feel like this is my first niece. Plus, we are "Secret Sisters" (our code name so we could write epic 3-page notes to each other in junior high and not get caught), so I am totally calling this baby my "Secret Niece."

I've made it to the gym four days in a row this week and I feel awesome! I've stuck to running on the indoor track (best invention every for Texas summers!) and doing the elliptical. I'm going to add in weight lifting next week, so I'm trying to prepare myself for the insane soreness I get because of DOMS.
Proof:

Awkward/nasty picture from the locker room. You're welcome.

Running is pretty frustrating for me right now. Back in February when we ran the 5k, I could run 4 miles pretty easily. Now, I made it just past 1/2 a mile before I had to take a walking break. How is it possible to lose so much endurance in just three months? Actually, don't answer that question because I know the answer. Working out would be so much easier if I would stop quitting and having to build my endurance back up.

I've also been really concentrating on eating a much healthier diet this week. Most of my evening meals consist of things like this:

Roasted sweet potato and asparagus

I also usually add some broccoli and a slice of bread (you know, so I don't start feeling deprived and go crazy and pig out on carbs). For some reason, the idea of eating a "veggie plate" never dawned on me until I saw it on another blog the other day. I mean, I've been a vegetarian for almost a year now, so the modern American standard of having a hunk of meat with a few sides hasn't applied to me for a while, but I guess I had turned that into "must have an entree of carbs with side of protein and vegetables." Obviously, that was not helping anything. These meals have been really satisfying and keep me full until the next morning.

For breakfast I've been drinking a fruit and protein smoothie.

Generally I use:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Banana
Spinach
V8/Orange juice/ almond milk
Greek yogurt
Chia seeds
Vanilla protein powder
Ice

It makes a ton, so I drink half for breakfast and half for part of lunch or as an afternoon snack. Other snacks include almonds and baby carrots. Eating healthier is always hard at first, but man is it so much easier when your spouse isn't around. I'm not saying it's his fault we ate like crap all year, but it is so much easier to feed off each other's cravings or to give in to fast food when you're both tired. My goal is to help Will become much more of a veggie eater when I go to Houston. He's always hated veggies (his favorite "veggie" is the white potato, gah!) and tries to avoid them like the plague, but that is just going to have to change.

Last night I had a little extra time and made myself some black bean patties to go with my sweet potato. It was delicious.

The caramelized onion on top really made it special, though.


What is your best advice for high school grads?
Do  you have any fun plans for the weekend?