Where in the world is Annie Sandiego?

I woke up at 6:30am today to birds chirping rather loudly. It is a sunny morning. 2 hours later, I am still in my PJs on my comfy chair. It's a good day. My eyes are tired and my lips are chapped but I am still happy to be awake.

Here's an update on my life: 

I've super busy studying -

Schoolwork always seems to be taking over my life. This semester I'm taking 4 math courses (I'm a math major). It is a lot of thinking and memorizing. One class is all abstract math - as in no numbers - as in (I think) completely pointless except to ruin my life and friendships. 

I still eat burritos - 

Ate some last night and they were delicious! There is nothing better in the world than eating a bean burrito. It is quick, cheap, yummy and not super unhealthy. Perfection.

I am still running - 

I don't know why I look so mean in that photo. Yes, I am still running. I have my first 5k this Saturday. I am nervous. I went from not being able to run for 3 minutes to being able to run 25 minutes straight. I am proud of myself. Although, I don't think I like running. It's exhausting and it hurts. I don't know why so many love it. But I am still training. Maybe it'll be better once I do it for "fun". I'm hopeful. 

I'm babysitting - 

It's hard to believe that my job includes such a cute little nugget. I love babysitting. It's really interesting for me to watch kids grow and develop and learn. That have the best personalities. Sure, there are bad days but there are really good days too. 

Currently, I'm looking forward to: 

Baking - 

Ha. That was my first batch of cupcakes I made with my new mixer. O yeah, my parents got me an electronic hand mixer and frosting tips for my birthday. I have a new dream of being a baker. I know those cupcakes aren't the prettiest things but they were tasty! They were chocolate cupcakes with salted carmel frosting. I mostly wanted to play around my new frosting tips. If you want to see a better example of my decorating, look above at the birthday cake. I'm really excited to have time to bake again. So friends, if you live near me and need some baked goods - let me know. I would be happy to help. I need the practice.

Camping - 

I love to camp. Since, I was in Yellowstone last summer, I didn't get the opportunity to camp much (weird, I know). I'm hoping this summer will entail lots of camping trips. I'm just going to force all my friends that I've been neglecting to come and camp with me - we will bond and hopefully rekindle our friendship through late night talks around a bonfire and bathing in Lake Michigan. 

Yosemite National Park-

Ta Da! My boyfriend and I are going to Yosemite National Park in June. I am super pumped! I've wanted to go to Yosemite ever since I worked in Yellowstone in 2008. We'll be spending a week there - camping, sight-seeing, and hiking. Most importantly, we are hiking the half- dome. I am beyond thrilled/excited/scared for this hike.

Let me tell you a little bit about Yosemite's "half-dome." But first, a picture - 

Yes, that dome thing is what we'll be climbing. It's a geologically phenomena. It's a granite crest that rises more than 4,737 feet above the valley floor... And I'm hiking it. EEK! It's day hike* that is 14.2 miles roundtrip and an elevation gain of 4,800 feet. 4,800 feet! That's almost a mile! People die yearly on this hike. Only 400 people a day are aloud to go to the top. Luckily, my boyfriend and I are two of the 400 who will ascend on Thursday, June 21 2012. Here's a picture of the last part of the hike: 

It's a 400 foot climb at a 45 degree angle with two waist-high cables. I'm tired just looking at it. 

Anyways, that's my little (quite large actually) update on my life. 

*the boyfriend and I are going to try to get a camping permit so we don't have to hike it in one day - but it is highly unlikely we'll be able to get one for the half-dome hike because they are so highly sought after.

I like this photo.

hiking in the Grand Tetons

Life will be good when...

I often get this idea in my head that goes something like this:

"Life will be good after (fill in date)" 

Most recently, my idea was "life will be good after Spring Break". 

To me, 'life will be good' means several things: 

• I'll be organized
• All my laundry will be done, dishes put away, floors vacuumed, everything will have a spot, and no floating papers (schoolwork, mail)
• I'll eat healthy
• Dinner will be cooked at home, veggies and fruits are in the fridge - ready to be eaten as snacks, and bagged lunch will be made the night before for school the next day
• I'll exercise
• Work out at least 3 times a week
• I'll have "me" time
• Time to read, time to blog, time to sit and stare at leaves on a tree
• I'll have time for friends
• I'll see at least 2 friends a week
• I'll do all my school work early
• Study ahead of time, write papers early

I'm serious. I have all these ideas in my head and I always seem to fall into a trap of "life will be good after..." ... THEN,  life will be good. Ahh, yes - I can't wait.

But then. Ka Plunk! It doesn't happen. This past experience was the most eye-opening of them all. I was just waiting for Spring Break to come so I could re-vamp my life. I was going to go through all my clothes and closets and cupboards and re-organize everything! I was going to call all my old friends and re-kindle friendships. I was going to sit outside and read The Hunger Games. 

Guess what I did when I had time to do those things over Spring Break?

I watched Gilmore Girls and took naps. I slept in until 11 and didn't do much at all. I was lazy. I was really lazy. 

And then it hit me. Ka Plunk! My excuse for not doing any of those things above was "I'll do them after..." I was PROCRASTINATING. So, one day I just started doing those things. It wasn't easy and it still isn't. 

For example: I wasn't doing my laundry because my thought was "I'll do laundry after Spring Break". But then it kept pilling up. And then I didn't do any laundry over Spring Break. And then I didn't have any clean underwear. And then I realized - it's okay to do one load of laundry if that's all the time you have. 

I kept waiting for a whole day to do my laundry (and everything else). I thought Spring Break would've be enough time - it was a whole week. But after working, going to Troy, and being lazy - my time was out. It was Sunday night and I hadn't done anything. My life was never going to be good. 

So back to my rude awaking... (you can probably tell where this is going) I realized life can be good right now. So what if everything isn't organized? That doesn't mean I have to leave all my crap out just because my closet isn't organized. 

So, I'm putting my life back together. I'm living again. It feels good to not be overwhelmed by a growing a list of things to do. Now, my list of things to-do isn't growing - it's just sitting there - waiting for a spare hour or two so something can be check off. I don't need a whole day/week to get my life back in order. I just needed a new mindset. 

Now to switch gears (only a little bit). Part me living again means I'm eating healthy again. YAY! Only about 10 days ago, my diet consisted of gummy worms, BBQ Kettle-cooked chips, and Little Caesar's Pizza. I am not kidding, that is what I ate one day (no more, no less). I was feeling GROSS. So, I changed that. I went to the store at 8 am (that is the only time that works for me - soo early) and bought a lot of healthy things. Like SALAD. 

LOOK! 

I just ate that about 2 hours ago. It's "Spring Mix" lettuce, with feta, red onion and kalamata olives. Sure, I put on dressing that 100 calories a tablespoon. But ya know what? I probably wouldn't eat all those dark leafy cancer killing greens if I couldn't put a good dressing on it. 

And then for dessert? Chocolate milk! I know, chocolate milk isn't healthy. But it's better then a tub of ice cream. Look, it's 200 calories a cup (I buy the good stuff):

So I'm not a healthy perfect eater. But that's okay. Because when I strive for perfection, I end up procrastinating and never doing anything that I truly want. 

I'm making my little baby steps towards my "life is good" list. And ya know what?

Life is good.