I had such grand blogging plans this week. I was going to party at WIAW. I was going to do "A day in the life of a teacher candidate" on Friday with all of my teaching sites that day. I was going to read and comment on all my faves.

Yea, well, it's Sunday, and I am sitting down to write this only because I can't bring myself to study any more right now. So goes week 7 in the fall-quarter-, senior-year-, double major- way.

This weekend was a blast! And the highlight was easily the Annual Circleville Pumpkin Festival.
An entire street fair dedicated to one of my favorite fall flavors? Complete with all the crazy characters you see walking around at any regional fair? Some delicious pumpkin eats? And a random road trip with all the roommies of the house? YES, PLEASE!

Goes on forever!

My pumpkin purchase: pumpkin coffee. It was pretty good, and just what I needed after doing the drive. Unfortunately, it was really my only vegan option. But, I lived vicariously through my friends, and even let myself sample a few little bites of their goodies.

Kayla decided to start with a pumpkin pancake. Judging by her moans in reaction, it was pretty fantastic.

Yea that says 1,436...as in pounds. No joke.

fall lovin'

Allie went with this deep fried waffle creation. More like a super crispy fried dough. Still pretty tasty.

Rebecca with her pumpkin sloppy joes sin pan. She was inspire to try this one at home.

Pumpkin donuts. I tried these. Sinful and amazing.

Huge a$$ pumpkin pie.

Ingredients for the pie. wow.

Obviously, some pie was a must.

lovin' my girlies. What a great trip.

  Thank goodness for great friends!

Have a great Sunday!

Homecoming!

I can't believe it has taken me until Tuesday to sit down and write about this past weekend. But, let's be real... This is the first time I have had the chance to sit down at all since Sunday night. This week is so jam-packed that I feel like my head is going to explode. To prevent the awful mess that is sure to come from exploded brains, I am taking a break from all of my school work to do something fun. Write and reflect on this weekend!

This weekend marked my final homecoming here at OU. That is insane!!! The end of senior year is quickly approaching, and I am doing all I can to slow it down, but it just won't listen!!

Homecoming weekend started out with a crazy Friday night. Too much food. Too much drink. Waaay too much fun.

This is what happens when we all get together at my place before we head out. One big happy family.

Luckily, though, Friday night wasn't so crazy that we couldn't get up and enjoy the parade. If you have any idea about Ohio U's reputation, then you can imagine how amazing it was.

The parade was followed by some tailgating and far too many kettle-cooked potato chips. They were the only vegan option, and I completely indulged. Mmmmm.

Then there was the football game, a much needed map, and another crazy night out.

I woke up Monday morning feeling even more exhausted than I was at the end of the school week. So much for catching up on rest over the weekend. Homecoming wiped me out. And, made me feel guilty about all of the consumption I did, both in drink and food form. I was disappointed that I couldn't indulge more moderately. I should have stopped after a few drinks or one handful of those chips. But, I didn't. And you know what?

I had a blast! It was a great time with all of my closest friends. Although I feel like I have some ground to make up over the next week, I am glad I let myself have fun and enjoy all of the homecoming activities. It's not going to make me gain 10 pounds instantly, and I won't immediately get heart disease from some stupid, but delicious, potato chips. No, I won't do it all the time, but YES, I will be ok with doing it this once... and again in 2 weeks for Halloween!

WIAW 4

This week is another jam-packed one. It seems like the work is unending, and never going to let up.  But, I m determined to get it all done before Friday, so I can head to Toledo for the OCTM Conference and then completely enjoy Homecoming Weekend!!! It's my last one, so it has to be a blast!

So, here is what some eats have looked like this week... because.. it's....

hosted by the wonderful Peas and Crayons!

Breakfast (8:30is): grapefruit- I ate the whole thing even though it was awful. boo for out-of-season produce!-, wasa cracker with peanut butter and raspberry jam.

 I was trying something new for breakfast, hoping that it might curb all of the nonsense eating I have been doing lately. Yea, didn't work. I need my oats to keep me full until lunch. By the time lunch came around, I was famished!

Lunch (12:15ish): un monstruo de ensalada consisting of romaine, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli slaw, radishes, and thinned out hummus. This was a pile bigger than my head. delish!

More lunch: Mary's Gone stix and twigs (these things are addicting) and huge pink lady.

 Insert mindless study-snacking of more stix and twigs. So addicted!

Dinner (6:15ish): mess of sauteed veggies including onion, broccoli slaw, kale, zucchini, tomatoes, and spaghetti squash. Smothered in tomato sauce and nooch. Mmmmm.

Post dinner snicky snack (totally a mom-ism): huge bowl of grapes and spoonful of some peanut butter.

Pretty solid day on Monday. As I said, this week is jam-packed of teaching, classes, conferences, meetings, and work. It's going to be a long one. But.... HOMECOMING this weekend! Get ready for an awesome weekend update later on!

Some much needed family time

This weekend was perfect. It was exactly the distraction/relaxation/release that I needed after these last couple of weeks.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive, and loving family. They let me get out the tears that I desperately needed to get out, and they reminded me why I am happy being myself. It sounds awful, but I really needed to be reminded about the good in me. Mom, dad and the broski were just the people to pull me up and out of the funk I have been in.

I came back to school feeling refreshed and ready to start anew. This weekend is homecoming here at OU, and I am ready to live up my senior year. Let the fun begin!

Anywho, the majority of the weekend was spent doing all things Jewish. Friday night marked the beginning of Yom Kippur, one of the most important Jewish holidays of the year.

For the whole 24 hours (from sundown to sundown) we fast and spend the day in synagogue praying and repenting for our sins from the previous year. This year, I attempted to fast the whole time. I try every year, and I always end up caving. This year was no different.

My reasons for caving, though were different. It was that all-too-familiar empty feeling that I just didn't want to fall back into. Honestly, it scared me. And I didn't like that feeling again.

So, at 4:00 I made it home and started eating. And eating. And eating. And you know what? It was ok. I let myself, and I enjoyed it. So there!

I helped my dad set up the break fast. No, not breakfast. But breaking the fast. My family was hosting this year, so our rabbi and his family, and all of my parents temple friends came to our house after services to get their grub on. Check the spread:

All kinds of Jewish deli goodies: bagels, lox, egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, fruit salad, cous cous salad (we make salad out of anything) hummus, fancy bread, deli tray.

And, of course deserts: assorted muffins, ruggelah, "everything" cookies, and Mom's famous  french toast casserole.

Obviously, not too vegan friendly, but there were options. My plate consisted of cous cous (pareve!), hummus and lots of fresh fruit salad. x's 3. Delish!

It was a great family-filled day. Now, time to start fresh with the second half of the quarter.
Heeeere Weeeee Goooooo!

Halfway check point

Ugh week five.

Going to a school on the quarter system means halfway through the quarter. Midterm week. Or, if you are a senior education major, the week when all of the big projects for the first half of the quarter tumble down on you and collide with due dates all within 3 days of each other.

Yea, it's been one of those weeks. The ones where you have so much to do that there is literally no time to do anything fun. Or necessary. Like sleep. Or breathe.

But, it's halfway over! And, today I turned in my Integrated Unit Plan for my education class. It's one of the longest and most involved projects I have had to do for the college of ed, but it's pretty sweet because at the end, I have a complete unit plan that I can keep as part of my professional portfolio. And, I have to say, it's a fantastic plan. I am actually excited to get the grade back on this one! (only in the mid of a teacher are these types of thoughts acceptable)

Well, I figured that this week would be the perfect time to check and see how my fall quarter goals are shaping up:

1) Strait A's- This one makes an appearance every quarter, and was never realized until last winter   

when I was abroad. I was able to do it again in the spring, so I hope to keep the streak going.

Looking good so far! I haven't gotten any grades back that would indicate anything different!

2) Keep nourishing my body with healthy, natural foods - This should be a cinch because it is     something that is really important to me, but when the sched gets crazy, it's difficult to find time to  

make well balanced meals. But, I am determined to do it this quarter.

Actually, I am surprising myself with how well I have been doing with this. Ever since the break up, and effectively losing the only person I could talk to about it, I have kept up all of the progress I have made, and then some. I'm finally doing it for me. And it feels really amazing.

3) Work out most days of the week- I am aiming for 5 days a week, but, again, this gets tricky when 

things get busy, but I think if I make it part of my daily routine and get it done in the morning, I can stick to it.

Tricky is an understatement...time is definitely not on my side with this one. I have been averaging         3 or 4 days a week. I'm still happy with this, though.

4) Fix and maintain relationships with roomies- Although I get along fine with all of them, I seemed to drift apart from them over the course of last year. It is really just that our priorities are different (this may come a lot from the struggles I have had with my eating/body issues. more on that later) and our schedules don't match up well. Still, they mean a lot to me, and I don't want to lose them.

Again, it's amazing how the worst thing that has happened to me in years has actually helped other aspects of my life. My roommates' support through everything has really brought us closer. I am also around them a lot more since I am not always with the boy. I love them, and I am so happy to have seemed to found them again.

It's kind of sad that the most recent picture I have of us is from 2 years ago. Reb, Allie, Me and Kayla, lookin' good.

5) Keep things with William going well- He means so much to me. This is not optional.

Let's just strike this one from the record. Wow, it's painful.

6) Be a kick-ass peer mentor- One of my jobs on campus is to help 25 incoming freshmen with their transition into college life by being someone they can go to with questions, for advice, and as an example. It means a lot to me that I create good relationships with them and between them. 

Again, loving this job! I only have 12 this year, and it's really given me an opportunity to get closer with them. I am excited about the events I have planned for the rest of the quarter.

7) Make/Save at least $600 $400- I think that with my peer mentor job and my job at the restaurant, this is feasible. This is the type-a part of me trying to get a control on what my financial situation will be post-graduation. Always have to plan ahead.

Necessary change since I quit my second job. I still think that was the best decision I could have made. though.

8)Write 2 new songs- writing music is something that I do when I feel the need to express some sort of strong emotion. I only do it sporadically, but I would really like to challenge myself with a quota this quarter. It is therapeutic, and I think it is really good for me especially when I am overly anxious or upset about something.

No go, as of yet. Although, i do have plenty of things swimming around in my head that would be great to write about.

I really wanted to participate in WIAW over at Peas and Crayons this week, but my camera suffered a casualty this weekend. One night out, and he's a goner. I'm going home this weekend, though, so I will hopefully get a new one! I'll be back for sure next week!

¡Muchos abrazos y besos, amigos!

L'Shana Tovah!

It's been a while. This week has been crazy. But, what week isn't? When is life going to slow down!? Oh yea, never.

I have slowly been feeling better since the break up last week. It was definitely a stumbling block that I wasn't expecting. Like at all. It came literally out of nowhere. The hardest part is just how weird things feel right now. I was doing really well all week...probably because I was insanely busy. Then, things slowed down this weekend. I had a lot more time to think and over analyze everything about the last few weeks we were together. It was literally heart-wrenching for me, but I was doing a good way of faking my way to being ok.

That was until I saw him out this weekend. I saw him from afar at the football game, and out at the bar last night, and both times he completely ignored me. I just feel like this is all so unfair. He made this decision, but he won't own up to it. He just (literally) runs in the opposite direction.

ell, needless to say, I had a couple of breakdowns yesterday. So exhausting. Thank goodness I had my awesome friends a roommates to help me through it. I don't know where I would be without them. They have been awesome supports for me this week, and I know they aren't going anywhere. Even though they won't e reading this, THANKS EVERYONE for dealing with me, helping me, and making me see that there are other people out there besides him that truly care about me.

Moving on to something more positive, here's a snippet of the things I've been up to this week!

Some recent eats:

quinoa, sweet tater, sauteed zuke and shrooms (a plus of having the Hunk he who shall remain (nick)nameless around...  I can eat my favorite veg again. He has an unreasonable hatred towards the shooms), all smothered with salsa and hummus. Of course.

Some much needed chocolate therapy. Vegan brownies. Adapted from this recipe. Definitely delicious. Definitely going to be made a gain. Huge A.

 I started my observations this week for my Math Methods class. In layman's terms, it's "hot to teach math to high schoolers" class, and I have to do 25 hours of observations in a local school. The teacher I am working with is absolutely amazing. I really lucked out with this placement. Too bad it's 40 min away. But it is still a really fulfilling and exciting experience for me. Makes me excited to have my own classroom one day!

My first day of observation outfit: black pants, white v-neck, patterned cardigan. Pretty standard teacher-professional outfit. I have to work really hard to look older than my students. This obviously didn't do it because a sixth-grader asked me if I was 16.

 This past Wednesday night was the beginning of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. It's always a bummer when I can't be at home with my family for high holy days. It makes me home sick. Luckily, this yea Yom Kippur falls on a Saturday so I will be able to make it home.

Since I couldn't be home, I had to do something to welcome in the new year. So, I gathered all of my roommates and friends... and the one other Jew I know here in Athens, my ex, Alex... in my kitchen to light candles, drink the wine, and say the prayers to welcome in the holiday. I was missing the boy like crazy because this is something we had talked about doing together. But, as my roommates reminded me, I had all of the other people in my life there with me. I wasn't alone, and it was really heart- warming for them all to take time out of their busy schedule to participate in something that means so much to me. I seriously love them!

My make-shift set up. I made the apples pretty for you.

Lighting the candles. I knew those little tea lights would come in handy for something.

As is a must-do tradition on Rosh Hashana, we had to have apples and honey to celebrate the sweet new year. The apples were super tart, and I, obviously, used agave, so it didn't really work out as well as it should have. Oh well, it's the intention that matters, right?

So the week definitely had some highlights and some low-lights. But, that's how every week is right? Even though this week seemed even more extreme than most, I know that it's all a part of life. As we head into a new year, I need to keep that in mind. And, I know that slowly things will level out again.

Even though it's a few days late (again, intention is what matters),  

Happy New Year, everyone!

L'Shana Tovah!