New Goal Sunday

Happy December! Things are going...meh...here. They could be worse, they could be better. Our house is in decorating/baking mode (busy busy!), but we're still managing subbing/other jobs/regular daily life. Sometimes I don't know how people do all of this around Christmas time. I'm going bonkers just thinking of my to-do list, but am definitely (working on) paring it down this year.

I have finally gotten my frozen drink consumption down to 1-2 a week, and am satisfied with that. Sometimes, I will have 2 a week, and I just have to accept that. If I try to be absolutely perfect with every goal, I will never be able to move on and better myself.

Lessons learned from slowing my consumption of frozen drinks:

#1: I can save a lot of money! $4.50/day x 7= $31.50/week x 4=$126/month x 12=$1,512/year. Hey, new Coach purse, come to momma!

#2: I can save a lot of calories! 400 cals/day x 7= 2,800 cals/week x 4=11,200 cals/month x 12=134,400 cals/year.

#3: I can save a lot of...pain. One drink every day=...root canal. This is what I get for downing WAY too much sugar (as my dentist said). And guess what? I get to have the root canal procedure on my brother's birthday! Happy birthday Brother! Ow.

NEW goal: Sure, I'll keep that goal of 1-2 drinks a week, but now I'm adding a new fitness goal:

~Get in 2 20-min cardio sessions~

I usually go to the gym once a week (although this week I did not). I am still learning Planet Fitness, and am in love with their abundance of cardio equipment (treadmills galore, ellipticals, recumbent and stationary bikes AND (my personal favorite) a machine that is similar to a Cybex Arc Trainer, but I don't think the arms move... I'm just trying to take it all in now.

Have a  good week!

Motivation Monday/ Planksgiving update

Happy Monday! I had the day off today, which was refreshing after an unusually busy weekend. Most of my day was spent cleaning (prep for Christmas!) and shopping. I got GREAT deals tonight, including a new set of sheets for my bed, a Madeleines pan (I just saw a chef use one to make Madeleines on Food Network, and I HAD to have one), a new EOS lip balm (I am addicted), new mascara, a new Food Network roaster for Mother for Thanksgiving, and Taylor Swift's new album (go ahead, judge). As I remarked to Mother, I haven't bought a new CD for myself in a long time, so it's nice to be able to listen to new music and not buy CDs track by track via iTunes.

I'll start with the Planksgiving update. If you haven't read in my previous blog post, I am doing an exercise challenge this month called "Planksgiving". Basically, I hold planks for a certain amount of time each day. It started at 30 secs on November 1, and by November 30, I will be up to 3 minutes. I just finished today's plank, which was actually yesterday's, since I had to play catch-up. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but oh well. I've gotten up to 50 seconds, and brutal merciful gracious it hurts. But don't worry...tomorrow I get to look forward to a 1-minute plank! *sarcasm*

Looking back at past blog posts, I see that I have not updated my weight in some time. There is a good reason for that. Planet Fitness does not believe in putting scales in their gym (their whole "no gym-timidation" thing), which I totally understand and appreciate, but it also makes it hard for people (like me) who rely on a weight check at least once a month. And of course, my scale at home only goes to 395 pounds. Instead, I will have to rely on measurements, and soon those will be on my blog.

Lastly, time for motivation:

~~Love your body and the weight will take care of itself~~

Have a great week.

New Goal Sunday

What a weird/rough/good/disappointing/happy week. This past week has been a roller coaster of emotions, some good and some bad. I'll start with the bad (and get that out of the way):

1.) My sleep schedule is off...WAY off. I've been sleeping night after night on the couch in our den, and that does not help. Here's how bad it's gotten. Two nights in a row now, I've woken up around 2:30-2:45, stayed up for an hour watching TV, and then finally drifted off to sleep. Last night was the worst. I fell asleep around 8:30 (the fact that I fall asleep really early like that doesn't help either). I woke up at 2:45 and stayed up until 4 a.m. I couldn't get to sleep, and it was for a terrible reason. I watched TV (anyone remember the Disney movie "Quints"?! It was on at 3:30!), but I turned it off around 3:45. I stayed up until 4 crying, literally sobbing quietly. I was reliving the day Uncle passed over and over in my head, thinking about everything I could have--no, should have--said that day. I should have done this, I should have said that. It was like I was trying to hurt myself again and again, but I couldn't stop these thoughts from creeping into my mind. 

I'm finally going back up to my bed. Hopefully, these issues won't happen again.

2.) It's been an up and down week in terms of work. I worked three days and had two days off. The three days that I worked had their ups and downs. 

3.) I swear it's not Sunday yet. It can't be. The weekend just started! (Get it? My weekend flew by.)

Now to the good (and I mean VERY good):

1.) I got to the gym today! For some reason, getting to the gym first thing on a Sunday morning makes my week (or at least my Sunday) get a good head start. 

2.) For the first time in at least 10 years, I have cut my frozen drink consumption to 1 drink a week. I have NEVER been able to do that since I started drinking frozen drinks over 10 years ago. I couldn't believe it! That's gotta be sone willpower I have.

Now it's time for a new goal! I'm actually sticking with my goal from last week. I've heard that it takes 2 weeks for a habit to kick in, so I want this habit of one frozen drink a week to have time to set in. 

My goal for this week: 1 frozen drink this week

Lesson learned from accomplishing this goal: I need to schedule my day and time to get my drink, like an appointment. Then, I truly look forward to it, and if it's not written in my schedule, I can't go get it.

Have a great week!

Motivation Monday

Ugh. Mondays. 

I wanted to post this quickly before I got ready. It's Motivation Monday and here's my motivation for the week:

                   ~~~Small changes lead to big changes, and big changes lead to results~~~                        

Have a great week!

Happy Planks-giving

Here's hoping that last blog post didn't scare you off. This should be a much happier post. I don't like posting negative things about my life because I am a pessimist by nature and I feel that talking/writing negatively really feeds that habit.

Happy November! Where did the time go? I can't believe that in two months, it will be 2015, and soon after New Years, I'll be 25! A quarter (of a century) old! I guess I can have a quarter-life crisis now, right?

Speaking of a NEW month and a NEW year, I have joined a NEW gym in town called Planet Fitness. You might have heard of this from numerous TV ads ("judgement free zone" or from the TV show "The Biggest Loser". I don't watch the show that often (except for this year...have you SEEN Jessie?!! Yum), but I noticed that all of their gym equipment is purple (my favorite color). Then talks of this Planet Fitness (PF) kept swirling around town, and finally one opened seven minutes away. PF had a great opening month deal and I grabbed it as soon as I could. The parents also joined and now we go together (at least Mother and I do).

As for the title of this blog...well...I can explain.

I love a challenge. I've always been that way, and I don't know why, but I love proving people wrong. I found that out during my freshman year of college.

Every spring at UC, the piano department has a "board", or a test, to determine your abilities and to evaluate any progress made. You must memorize 30 minutes of music and perform it in a concert hall while the piano professors listen and take notes. If you succeed, you continue on; if not, you are out of the program and must re-audition in the fall to be accepted into CCM.

Practice is obviously important to memorize 30 minutes of music, but here's the thing. I don't practice. That's just not me. I am not one to sit at a piano and play for hours. I would practice approximately 5 minutes a day, at the most. It was the same thing in high school as well.

One day, I was practicing my board pieces in front of my piano professor, and he stopped me so we could talk. He asked me how much time weekly I devote to practicing, and I was honest. He told me he was disappointed that I didn't put in more of an effort to practice, especially if I wanted to be there so badly. He then said that he thought, judging by the way I played then, that I would not pass the board, and that I would have to re-audition in the fall for the piano program.

Hearing that was a major blow to my confidence. I knew I wasn't good, but not good enough to stay in the program? I had finally made it into my dream school, and now I would be out in one year? It couldn't happen.

I called my parents and I went home for the weekend. I practiced 6 hours Saturday, 6 hours Sunday, drove back, and practiced 2 hours Monday morning. Then it was board time.

I BLEW AWAY the piano professors (especially mine). They couldn't believe how much I had improved in one year. My professor came up to me afterwards and said that he didn't know what I did, but I had proven him wrong and he was glad.

That moment felt GREAT. Someone had given me a challenge, and I had not only completed it, but I had knocked it out of the ballpark. From then on, I loved getting challenges.

It just made sense to apply this to exercise, so for the month of November, I am doing the Happy "Planks-giving" challenge, in which I have to hold a plank for a certain amount of time each day. Yesterday was 20 secs and it was already a doozy, but I did it! Today is 30 secs, and by the end of the month, I will be holding planks for 3 minutes.

Wish me luck and Happy November!

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT "planking". Google it if you're not sure, but I am NOT planking. No sir.

Life after...life

I've been dreading writing this. Truly DREADING. It's been a long time coming, and I'm really just dragging this out now.

Here we go. Brace yourselves, this might be a bit long.

My uncle (Father's younger brother by 1 year) passed August 31. It was to be expected, because in early February, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Stage 3...out of 4. The family knew it would eventually happen. I was there (in the care center) the day he passed, and I must say, Mother is a genius. She honestly is. She warned me, as did Father, that death is scary to see and is painful to watch. But no, me and my stubbornness. I did not get to say good-bye to my aunt (Father's youngest sister) ten years ago, and I told my parents: I WILL be there to say good-bye. We've become so close to Uncle lately.

Uncle's actual passing was so painful, so sudden, and so fast, I did not have time to process it. Mother and I went to fetch Brother (Uncle's godson), but couldn't make it in time to get him back to say good-bye.

I could not bring myself to say good-bye to Uncle. Not at the Hospice center, not while we waited for the family to arrive, not at his wake, not until the END of his private funeral, when I finally whisper-sobbed good-bye.

After that, we cleaned out his house and other areas until we could no more. We had one month to do it, and Mother, Father, and I pulled it off.

With Uncle's passing, I feel like life has been thrown off balance, and now, I'm just trying to pick up the pieces. Parts of my life have fallen, like my diet and, ya know, ME. I've really let myself go. I devoted all my time to helping my parents in any way I could that I forgot to take care of me. My sugar intake rose and I started relying heavily on pop to get my through rough days. I've wanted to take a day off to grieve, truly grieve, where there is nothing to do and no one to talk to. Uncle's death has not really sunk in yet. But I know I can't be selfish, so I just keep on keeping on.

Other parts of my life have started to "get their act together", though. I quit Anytime Fitness and joined the new Planet Fitness in my hometown, and I have started eating healthy breakfasts, which is great--it starts my morning off right.

I'm trying to think positive thoughts. I'm (desperately) trying to see signs of Uncle. The day after he passed, I saw a rainbow and thought of him. A few weeks ago, Father and I were talking about him and how sad life is without him and I looked up to see clouds covering the sky except for one patch--in the shape of a heart. His things pop up constantly in his stuff that we have at our house. We think we clean it all out and then we find new things again. Lastly, THE BROWNS. What more can I say? Uncle always wanted to live to see them go to the SuperBowl. They've been crappy every year until THE YEAR HE DIES?! I know he's up there doing something.

The family is really looking forward to our annual Black Friday weekend trip to Frankenmuth, MI, and more than ever this year we feel we NEED it. I am a year-round Christmas junkie (as in, listen to and play X-mas music year round, want X-mas decorations up all year, etc...), but finally, other members are joining in on the Christmas spirit early because we need some joy in our lives. I'm so ready.

Speaking of vacation, I'm so excited for Halloween because after Father's appointment, he and I are heading down to Columbus to check out old abandoned Civil War military buildings! Creepy cool! It's our 2nd annual "ghost" road trip, and I'm so pumped. Here's hoping I get good pics.

That is about all. I hope, now that life is slowly gaining normalcy, that I will be back on here regularly. I'll keep you updated on posts.

Back

Wow. SO many things have been happening in my life lately that blogging has been pushed to a back burner. But I have recently had a breakthrough that will impact my future in a positive manner, and I HAD to talk about it.

My last blog post was about how I wanted to cut back on mochas--starting at 7 (one a day) and working down to 6. Eventually, after 2 months, I would be down to one mocha a week. That never happens. I have had this goal for...I would guesstimate a year and a half now...and it NEVER works. One week might be rough, and I feel the need to have a frozen mocha everyday. And BAM. Like that, I am back to square one, working from 7 mochas to 6, to 5, etc...

I have now been working at Panera for 2 months, and I find that, on the days when I work, I never get a frozen mocha. Frozen mochas are now something I savor for a long period of time. It can take me 30 minutes or 3 hours to completely finish a frozen mocha. At work, I have a 30 minute lunch break, which includes time to order, wait for food and/or drink, sit down, and eat.

Last Saturday, I was thinking about health problems I've been having lately, and why I'm having them. I won't go into detail, but let me just say...every day (it seems), I feel like I ate/drank too much dairy and am lactose-intolerant and didn't take a lactaid pill to help with the side effects......

I go to the restroom a lot. There.

This is nearly everyday. ESPECIALLY during rough weeks when I'm having a frozen mocha everyday. ESPECIALLY on days when I have frozen moch--CLICK.

See the connection? No? Me either, at least not for MANY years.

Have frozen mocha=YUM= sick later
Not have frozen mocha= :( = NOT sick later

Ahha! The frozen mochas are making me sick--literally!

Words cannot express how truly HAPPY I was when I realized that there is a way to stop my constant sickness. I had one more Sunday morning (goodbye frozen mochas!) and got really sick...

End result? I've stopped drinking frozen mochas for good. What will I replace it with? Today, I tried the Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frapp (deelish), and I don't see any signs of sickness. I'm not a HUGE fan of Frapps, so I don't know how often I will go there for one, but if I feel the urge, once a week wouldn't be bad. I heard that Starbucks came out with a lemonade (???), and I want to try that, too.

Other than that, summer going...ok...lots of applications filled out, one job declined, one job INTERVIEW COMING THURSDAY (just got the call today!!!!!!!), and more hopefully afterwards.

What drinks would you suggest to substitute for a frozen mocha?

Have you tried the Starbucks Lemonade? How is it?

New Goal Sunday

Time for New Goal Sunday, where I choose goals to work on in the week ahead (Sunday-Saturday).

This week's goals:

1.) Give up one fast-food meal and frozen mocha per week.

Start: 7 fast-food meals and frozen mochas per week (1 every day)
Goal: 6 fast-food meals and frozen mochas per week

2.) Take 2-3 minutes to record what I eat after each meal.

I have slipped on both of these goals and hopefully can get back on track. Working at the place where I get my favorite drink--a frozen mocha--is going to be quite a challenge!

Hey! Over here!

Hey, remember me? I've been gone a long time...and not only from this blog, but unfortunately, also from the gym, and from eating healthy, and from...everything about changing my lifestyle that I wanted to do....so it's time for me to get back on track and back to blogging.

I realize that I don't post many pictures on this blog. I used to, but now I just do a lot of writing. How boring! My goal to better this blog is to add more pictures: of me, of things I do, of food I eat, etc...
BUT. I am in no way "tech-savvy", so I will be figuring this out as I go.

Here's my first pic/update: THAT is a delicious frozen mocha from Panera, because soon, VERY soon, I will be making these myself! That's right, I got a 5th job at my local Panera Bread bakery-cafe! For now, I am in training, and I'm doing great, according to my trainers!

I also got a 6th job as an accompanist for the local community theatre's summer production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh you guys! I am so excited about doing this!! Auditions start next week, and I will be playing for some of those!

You might be reading this and thinking, "6 jobs?!?! Are you nuts?!?! How do you manage your time?!"

One VERY IMPORTANT concept I've learned is how to ADAPT. This word has become my mantra lately. Life has thrown me bucketsful recently, but I just adapt to changing situations. I adapt to last-minute happenings. I adapt to anything that I need to. Fortunately, I work with many people who are very gracious and tolerant of my ever-changing schedule.

Also, 2 of my 6 jobs will cease during the summer (subbing and accompanying at a local high school), which will open up my days more.

Lastly, I have picked up 2 more students, and another student who I should be able to fit into the schedule during the summer. That's 5-6 students total!

So, I'm back. And I HOPE to be back for good, or at least on a normal schedule.

Sickness Update

Update on what's going on this week:

I'm sick. Like, really sick. It started 2 nights ago, when I started getting the shivers. I am one who is normally cold (bad circulation in fingertips and toes), but give me a blanket, and I'll be fine. But I couldn't get warm that night, at all. I was shivering uncontrollably under 2 blankets. After 6 hours of sleeping uncomfortably in a chair in our den, I was finally warmed up. I got up (this is yesterday) and felt lousy all day. Fortunately, it was a snow day (number 15 million, I swear), and I didn't have anything going on all day. Then, last night, I felt fine, but couldn't make it up to my bed because I was so dead tired.

This morning, I woke up and BAM. It hit me. I couldn't move my limbs. I felt like I had gotten beaten up last night, and every muscle ached. I called off of work, as did Mom, who is feeling generally the same symptoms, but feeling them much worse. I woke up at 5:15 to see Dad off to work, and then went back to sleep until 7:30, when I woke up to have breakfast. I crawled back under the covers on the couch, and fell asleep until 10:30. I tried to lift my head, but it felt like my head was the size of a watermelon and weighed as much as one of those giant pumpkins you see winning fair prizes. I couldn't lift my arms and couldn't move my legs. I (begrudgingly) got off the couch and took 2 pain pills. Within 2 hours, I felt good enough to eat and had lunch. For the rest of the day, I felt ok, but very tired.

Mom started feeling better around 4:30...which is just when I started feeling worse. My nose started plugging up, my head felt full, and a sore throat is starting to form. Currently, my nose is super congested, so anytime I try to blow my nose....nothing happens except more plugging up....

Hopefully, next week will be a better week....as we creep closer to the Lent season and musical time, I'm afraid of how this cold/congestion crap will affect my accumulating schedule...

Motivation Monday

~Know your limitations, then defy them~

New Goal Sunday

Happy Sunday!

I'm off to a great start this week. This morning, after a FANTASTIC weekend at the music education professional development conference in Columbus, I had a healthy breakfast of a bowl of Special K Chocolatey Delight cereal with skim milk (clearly I love chocolate at all times of the day) and a glass of water. I filled up a water bottle and was on my way to the gym. I did gain some pounds back (3 to be precise) after not going to the gym for 1 week. I was up to 424.6 last week, but that number is already falling (I checked!).

My January fitness goal (even though I never told you) was to "up" the intensity of some of my workout in the gym. The long-term goal from this? Get the maximum benefit out of each workout. Here are some of the intensity boosts I've given myself lately at the gym: ramp up the incline to .5% during down times and 1% during small intervals on the treadmill; stop the treadmill halfway through for 30 seconds to catch my breath--stop for 15 seconds--stop for 10 seconds--stop for 5 seconds--don't stop (I made it through 15 minutes non-stop today!!!!); add 5 pounds to chest press (30-35-40), do 1 pushup, do 5 pushups, do 10 pushups;

Today, I upped the intensity by going non-stop on the treadmill, as in, not stopping at all during my 15 minutes! This is a big step for me. My palms were really sweaty and I was so self-conscious about how much I sweated onto the machine, but it felt so good!!

When I got home, I had (one of) my February goal(s): a healthy post-workout snack. I had lowfat vanilla yogurt with cereal pieces and a cup of diced pears.

In the middle of church, my stomach started making growling noises, and by the time I was done, I needed food, and STAT. Now I'm wondering if just a bowl of cereal is not enough for a good breakfast. I'll have to figure something else out...

My new goal this week is:

Have 1 frozen mocha and 1 fast-food meal per week

I can't believe it. If I can accomplish this goal, then I will be done with focusing on frozen mochas and can add other goals. Wow. It's been a long struggle, but I finally have those mochas and fast-food meals under control!!

Lastly, today, I put on this cardigan that I could never wear before because it looked painted on (especially in the arms). If you check out my Facebook or Twitter, I Instagrammed a pic of me wearing the cardigan with very baggy arms! I am a VERY happy person today. Have a great week!

Happy February!

It's month 2 of 2014 (wow, January went fast), and things are officially on a roll in my life. Piano lessons are starting back up after a hectic holiday season, subbing calls are slowly coming back (even though we've been in school for what...5 days since January 5th? Thanks, bitter, nasty winter), accompanying is back on a regular schedule, and church responsibilities are picking up as we get closer to Lent. I don't know if any other readers have seen the harsh winter we have. Maybe you've had worse, but Ohio's governor has asked the state to extend calamity days from 5 to 9 for this one year because that is just how bad this winter is. We had 3 "arctic plunges" in January, where temps dipped into the negatives, and wind chills dipped to the -40s. A lot of our school closings are because of temps, not snow. I think there was one REALLY bad storm where my county was on a Level 3 road warning (driving was illegal except for emergency crews), but that was over in a few days. I think we're all ready for spring....

EXCEPT FOR ME!!! I LOVE WINTER!!!!!!! Make it snow EVERYDAY, PLEASE!! I really do love winter. I could live in this climate. This is my favorite season, mainly because I have a TON of winter clothing (sweaters, 2 pairs boots, long-sleeved shirts, etc...) that I love wearing and I LOVE snuggling up to a warm fire with a cup of hot cocoa.

Ok, start of a new month, start of some new goals. 

I know it's not Sunday yet, but I thought I would get a jump start.

First of all, an update on my "resolution" to lose 50 lbs by the end of the year. So far, I have dropped 8 pounds! Not bad for one month...not bad at all!

Next up, I have decided that weekly goals are good, but now I'd like to add more: monthly goals.

February's monthly goals: 

Aim for 2 DAYS OF REST; that means I am striving to work out 5 days a week.

Try new post-workout snack: Fruit & yogurt

My new weekly goal:

Give up 1 fast-food meal/frozen mocha per week

Start: 2 Goal: 1

Have a good week!

Life goes on

As I get further along in the year, I am beginning to realize that this is not just a "weight loss journey", as I named this. It's more of a "lifestyle chan...learning experience". You thought I was going to say "lifestyle change", didn't you? I've heard that phrase, "lifestyle change", used many times. It's what people say when they don't want to go on a diet. I've used it as a motivator before: "I'm going to start a lifestyle change! I swear, it'll be different!" "Lifestyle change"...I remember in recent years that this phrase became the new buzz word (phrase) of the health world. "Diets" were out; "lifestyle changes", in.

I don't know if I could call what I do a "lifestyle change" as much as I call it a life-long learning experience. I posed this question to my parents (warning: don't EVER try to ask a fashion question to a father if you're a girl...it won't bode well for you): Now that I'm finally moving DOWN in weight, I'm beginning to imagine life at a normal weight. One concern I have is...where will I go shopping for clothes? I've been going to Lane Bryant, Torrid, and Catherine's for as long as I can remember...

My mom's response: Just go where anyone else your age goes. JCPenney, Macy's, H&M, Forever 21, etc... you just adjust to your size.

I guess I didn't realize that. I've been stuck in this rut, thinking I will always be this big. But I won't. I know that now. And as time changes, I'm learning that I will have to adjust to new experiences and feelings. But that's just it. Life will go on, no matter what weight I am...

Time to get to my point, huh? I'm learning so much about working out, eating healthy, and becoming a better person, but that won't stop when I reach my weight goal. This will take literally my whole life to work on. And surprisingly, I'm ok with that (even though I have, like, NO patience and demand results NOW).

PS: My dad's answer to my shopping question: I don't know. Where clothes are...no really???

Weigh-in Wednesday

Hey, I haven't weighed in a long time (or at least it seems like it). Since roads are still a solid sheet of ice, I most likely won't be going to the gym today. But at home, I do have a BOSU ball and 2 5-lb. dumbbells to work with.

Starting weight: 430.0 lbs.

Previous weight: 424.2 lbs

Current weight: 422.8 lbs

Weight loss: -1.4 lbs

Total weight lost: -7.2 lbs

Percentage of weight lost: -1.7%

DO YOU SEE THAT?!?!?! Because I sure do. I just lost 7 lbs. SUPER EXCITING!!! And finally, for the first time since I started this weight loss, I am almost 2% down in weight lost! Nearly 2% of my weight--gone!

This is, as I'm sure you can tell, great news for me. I literally gasped when I took my weight this week. THIS is what happens when you track your food, cut back on calories, cut back drastically on frozen mochas, and ramp up the intensity slightly during cardio sessions.

TOO HAPPY!!

Arctic freeze, New Goal Sunday, and Motivation Monday

A three-topic title would suggest a long blog post, but it won't be too long.

There's not much to blog about at this moment in terms of weight loss...

My goal this week is to cut down from 3 fast-food meals and frozen mochas to 2 fast-food meals and frozen mochas, and so far, so good. Last night, the family went out to a local pizza restaurant. We were going to do delivery, but then you have to wait for it (hopefully on time with bad driving conditions), then clean up, etc...too long for us! So we went 5 minutes east(ish), but it ended up taking us nearly 20 minutes because of the awful road conditions. Other than that, I haven't had ANY mochas (a miracle!!).

In case you live under a rock or anywhere not in the path of this massive winter storm "Ion", this thing chugged its way across Ohio yesterday evening and last night/this morning. Last night, the family went to dinner around 6, and already the roads were slick. By the time we finished at 7, the ramp to go out the door down to the parking lot, albeit small, was so slippery that I just glided down it. We got home, and I haven't left this house since. I would've had work today, but school was cancelled. I could've gotten a call for tomorrow, but my school was the first to cancel for tomorrow! The wind chills have dropped from 0 at 6 a.m. to -35 currently, and the wind is blowing so hard our windows and doors shake! It is so bad that our county and all others around it have issued a "Level 3 road warning": only if it is an ABSOLUTE emergency or you have a GOOD REASON should you be out on the road. If drivers go out on the road for...well, not "good reasons", they have a chance to get arrested.
*Fight that craving for a frozen mocha, Morgan, you can't go out and get it anyways...*

Dad, of course, had work today; he said the roads are sheets of ice.

No gym for me today/tomorrow....I guess I have to get creative with what I've got...it's times like these that I wish my Dance Dance Revolution game pad hadn't broken.

Lastly, my motivational quote. It's a bit long, but a good one:

"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."--Kurt Vonnegut

Have a good week, and if you are amidst winter storm "Ion", stay warm!