Her tore out my heart and beat it with a sledgehammer, but ohhhhh my goodness it was fantastic!!! On that note, goodnight!

I'm going to watch Her now! I'm really excited!

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm kinda on a diet now?

I said something about not going past the calorie limits in my diet, and yep! I'm on a diet. Well, it's not so much a diet as much as it is an effort to eat better and exercise more (with the goal of significant weight loss, but overall health is important here too!). I'm using the MyFitnessPal app and it's been very great for tracking what I'm eating and monitoring what I need to eat/avoid. Strangely enough, I haven't had to change that much. i'm just making an effort to be conscious about what I put into my body. I'm also trying to exercise regularly as well. Even if it's something small like 15 minutes of Pilates/calisthenics, it helps a lot to get me into better shape. Today I did a Wii Fit workout for slightly over an hour. It was pretty great, so I think I'm going to do the same workout again and maybe do a few other exercises that weren't a part of that workout. 

When it comes to my weight, I never really have much trouble caused by eating. The major issue for me is exercise. I spent so much of my childhood despising and avoiding anything active that it was incredibly difficult for me to even start exercising around 7th grade. And then with my schedule being so so full, I find it very difficult to fit in exercise, or I'll be too tired/stressed from everything going on that I'll be too worn out to even try. If I can maintain a routine, I'll be in great shape in no time!

As far as why I'm even bothering with all of this, I have a ton of reasons. Yeah, a lot of them are superficial, but that doesn't mean that they aren't valid. Firstly, my sister, mother, and aunt are going to Aruba over Spring Break. Secondly, my family is full of diabetics so I am genetically dispositioned to become one if I don't shape up and clean up my eating habits. Thirdly, I'm going to college in slightly over six months. I want to be in my best form possible for that new leg of life, and I want to create habits that I can maintain while I'm there. Fourth, I want to be healthy and fit for a long life with Andy. Not too long after we started dating, he told me about how he was going to do everything he could so that he could live longer and better for me. He started eating better (like actually eating salads!) and exercising regularly, whatever it would take for him. And I have completely failed at doing the same for him. I want to turn that around while I still can. When I'm 35, it's going to be a lot more difficult to change my habits than it is when I'm almost 18. Finally, I want to do this so that I can be pleased with the girl I see in the mirror. I feel like a hypocrite sometimes for preaching self-love and denouncing media portrayals/photoshopping of women (see my multi-genre research project [aka my pride and joy] from junior year), but I do not like the way that I look, I do not like my body, and I know that there's a way for me to be healthier and more fit and hell yeah I'm going to go for it! 

Yeah, so y'all will probably get to hear all about how I'm doing over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed I actually stick with it this time. 

I managed to finish my Biology, so that gives me about 2 and a half hours worth of time to read/answer questions for English! 

Welp my goal may not quite be reached... Fingers crossed though!

I only have three and a half more days of winter break left, so I really have to haul ass on my homework. My goal for today is to finish all of my AP Bio work and my AP Bio extra assignment, then to read 15 pages of Heart of Darkness and answer 5 questions. I want to have this finished by no later than 9:30, that way I can watch Her before I go to bed. Andy's in Canada, so I won't be slowed down/distracted from texting him or anyone else, and I'm going to wait at least one hour before taking a break. Here goes nothing...

Last Night

Last night was a ton of fun! Abby and Dylan got along great with Andy, and he was actually sorta social which is a huge step for him! I was really happy to see that he was having a good time. He told a few stories (which is rare when he's even around his own friends), responded to questions with more than just two words, and overall looked like he was very happy to be there! It was great to see. 

We ate a TON of food (but I managed to stay within my calorie limit for my diet, miraculously), watched Good Morning, Vietnam and Bob's Burgers, nearly fell asleep before midnight (Abby did fall asleep a few times, though), and then watched the Ball Drop in Times Square! It was a great night in great company, and I wish that they all could've spent the night.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OHIO!!!!!

I have about an hour until everybody comes over, yay!!!!

It's been a pretty lazy day so far, but currently my allergies are destroying me. Ugggggggh I hate sniffles!!!!

New Year's Eve Y'all

Good morning!!! Well, almost noon, but whatever!!! I'm pretty excited for today, because New Year's Eve is one of my favorite celebrations! I love thinking forward and looking towards the future, and what better time to do that than New Year's Eve? It's such a hopeful, pleasant time if you're in the right company. Typically, we ring in the new year at our neighbors' house, but this year we're hosting. A bunch of my parents' friends are coming over, and then Abby, Dylan, and Andy are coming as well! I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!

Contemplating North Korea for some odd Reason

I just watched a really fascinating documentary on North Korea. With the whole hullabaloo (ohhh I love that word) with the Seth Rogen and James Franco stoner-comedy The Interview it's seemed pretty essential as of late to really understand what is happening in that country. Having been the butt of jokes in America for ages, it's easy to believe that the country itself is not a threat. However, I (and I'm sure many other people) had heard and read stories that seemed too cruel to be true: tales of a mass execution in a stadium- the offense being watching American movies (despite the vast film collection of the country's supreme leader), stories from escaped guards of the brutal work camps, and the stories of expatriates who miraculously survived the hardship of escaping the country. It seems surreal to think that in a world where everybody is so so connected and involved with one another, one lone, small nation is telling the rest of the world where they can stick their globalization efforts while simultaneously destroying all of its citizens through boundless cruelty. The worst part is, no nation has truly stepped up to say "Hey, this is wrong." Part of that comes from the nuclear power that small nation possesses, but nonetheless it is still shocking that hardly effort has been taken to help those brainwashed, dying people. With America's tendency to take on wars in order to "preserve and promote democracy," why aren't we putting effort into doing that where it's needed most? 

I guess the blatantly obvious answer to that question is that North Korea has nothing to offer us in return (coughcoughMIDDLEEASTERNOILcough). It's kinda shameful.

Tonight we went to my dad's swearing-in ceremony! It was basically an hour and a half of meeting strangers and getting awkward hugs from creepy old men that I hardly know! 10/10 would not do again. On the bright side, I won't have to go to any more of those events since my dad has six years to go before he needs to run again!

Believe it or not, I actually exercised today! I went on a short walk with my dog and my sister. My sister's been on a health kick, so she's been using all these different apps. She showed me a few. I like the MyFitnessPal app. It's really easy to use and it covers a lot of bases. 

I have a headache right now and I kinda need to take a nap but I lack the motivation to turn off the lights in my room. Ohhh lazy-girl First-World problems...

Hello world! I haven't done much today, but I did make the breakfast of champions! I made a breakfast sandwich with egg whites, cheese, and Canadian bacon and then I made myself a smoothie with strawberries, spinach, a little banana (I detest bananas and will only put a tiny amount in the smoothies I make), and some orange juice! It was all really delicious. I plan on getting some exercise today. I really need to get back on track with my health.

In the words of Ice Cube, today was a good day; I didn't even have to use my A-K.

Tonight

Andy and I had a wonderful time tonight! After exchanging gifts (he got me some movies, I got/constructed a director's chair for him and had a Beatles calendar for him too!) we went out for sushi. He has never had it before. He struggled a little with chopsticks, but it was pretty adorable! He tried the California Roll (the "beginners' roll"/ the roll for people that aren't really that into sushi but still want to eat it in order to look cool), and wasn't a big fan of it because it has more avocado than anything else, which washes out the rest of the flavors. I had a "Spicy Phoenix Roll" which is crab, spicy shrimp, and spicy crayfish (it's not spicy at all) with delicious crispy crunchy bits wrapped up in sesame seeded rice and this sweet rice paper. It's sooooo good. It comes with this dipping sauce which has a little spice to it, but overall it's fairly sweet. He tried that, and decided that the next time we get sushi, he's just going to get what I get since I know what I'm doing! We spent the rest of the night making fun of rom-coms and Adam Sandler movies that were on cable and eating homemade ice cream (his older sister is an AMAZING dessert chef- she made a whole plethora of cookies for Christmas, regularly bakes cakes and cupcakes from scratch, and then had made dark chocolate/cayenne pepper/cinnamon ice cream and vanilla ice cream with cherry cobbler inside of the ice cream!). It was a fantastic night, and I wouldn't have traded anything that happened today, from running errands with my sister this morning to typing this post. It couldn't get better!

12/29/14

Today my sister and I went on a bunch off errands for my mom. It was fun at first, but then it got really tiring. On the bright side, I had a really delicious lunch at Skyway (a drive-in burger place) with her, and Andy's roommate/best friend Matt was our waiter. We tipped well! I'm going to see Andy in about an hour. I'm excited! We're going to get sushi, which he's never had before. I've been craving a particular sushi roll, so I'm pumped!

Goodnight!!!!

Despite the fact that I had to go to 3/4ths of a mass today, it was pretty great overall. I'm excited for tomorrow because I'm FINALLY going to see Andy! He's been back from school for three weeks now, but I haven't been able to see him at all between finals, being sick, and then both of our work schedules. And it kinda sucks cuz I'll only get to see him once over break since he's heading up to Canada with his family for the remainder of break. I don't know exactly when I'm going to get to see him next. He may be coming back home for my birthday next month, but that's not set in stone yet so I'm not certain that it'll happen. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, though.

This is a very good day ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I OFFICIALLY HAVE A ROOMMATE HOLY CRAP

OH MY GOODNESS THE GIRL FROM COLUMBUS WHO I WANT TO ROOM WITH SAID SHE'D LOVE TO ROOM WITH ME TOO SO WE MADE IT OFFICIAL THIS IS SO EXCITING YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!!

DePaul Playlist

Someone in the DePaul Facebook group made a Spotify playlist of everybody's favorite songs, and it's pretty rad! I tried to link it, but it wouldn't work. You can look it up though. It's under the title "DePual 2019" (he made it at 2AM, so spelling kinda went out the window...).

I haven't started any of my homework for over break oops oops oops I don't care oops oops oops

Roommate Situation Update!!!

So after the whole smoker/non-smoker debacle, a girl from Columbus ,essaged me over the housing site, and we may room together! She seems really cool; we do a lot of the same activities in school, and we're both planning on majoring in digital cinema at DePaul. I hope that I end up rooming with her, she's very nice! Plus it'll be easier to cancel all of the other requests I sent if we decide to request each other.