Hall Pass

Yesterday was a very busy day! I worked in the morning, had class all day, then went and saw Hall Pass with the boyfriend.

I did a lot of walking yesterday! Here is the breakdown:
- 7 minutes to work
- 2 hour walking tour of campus
- 7 minutes back to the house
- 15 minutes walk to classes
- 7 minutes to stadium
- 30 minutes of stadiums (8 = 360 steps)
- 7 minutes to house
Total = 193 minutes of walking!

Hall pass was a pretty good movie! It was really funny but not plot I thought it was going to take. But I would definitely go see it if you were considering it! You won't be disappointed!

Today I get a another G-Little! I am so excited! It is the first time in 4 generations of the dirty south family to take twins! The last person to do that was our matriarch Paige! I am so excited to extend the baby kitty family :) Tonight is the reveal!

Hope everyone has a good Wednesday! Spring break is only 2 days away!

-Amanda

Tired Puppy

Just got back from running stadium steps! I did more than Thursday! 10 times totally 440 steps! Now I am as tired as Bluto was after the farmers market.

Going to rest up before lab today at 4! So proud of myself for working out...and boy did it feel good! Can't wait for tomorrow :)

Stadiums = Hard Work!

So the healthy lifestyle movement continues....with stadium steps. Oh boy were they tough! Rima, her little Jessa, and I took on the Doak Campbell Challenge. 80 steps high we ran up 4 times! I know 4 doesn't sound like a high number, but oh did we feel the burn! We ran a total of 369 steps! Now, 3 days later...I feel the burn. But, the funny thing is...I am taking on the challenge again today! Goal is to do 5 stadiums!

I also have kept up with the walking goal. Walked to work today instead of driving! I also skipped the coffee this morning so we will see how that goes.

This week is surprisingly pretty simple compared to my normal weeks! Only one exam! Woohoo!

I also updated my blog background! Do you like :)

Food Logging

So I decided that I was going to log everything I eat in a day for a week (starting yesterday). I have been having a problem where I have been noticing I am not getting a balanced diet. Tuesday we had a speaker from Thargard Health Center came and talked to my sorority about healthy eating habits. Healthy Lifestyles are so important to me, I read food blogs all day and my major is Exercise Science, so I knew that I needed to change how I was eating.

Wednesday 2/23:

Breakfast - Coffee (2 creamer and a sweeten low), Honey Nut Cheerio's with 2% milk
Lunch - small side salad, 1/2 grilled cheese, and 1/2 baked potato
Dinner - Chicken pot pie


When I wrote down what I ate on Wednesday I noticed I was missing greens and dairy from my diet. I really want to incorporate whole grains, fruits, veggies, and dairy into my diet but it is really difficult living in a sorority house. Meals are not necessarily the healthiest and usually are centered around carbs (not the healthy kind). So my mission is to sort through my meals and find a balanced diet.

I also am starting a workout plan...well walking plan that is. Baby steps. Baby steps. Today I am going to do stadium steps with my friend Rima at Doak Campbell Stadium after classes. Goal is to walk up and down 180 steps at least 10 times.

Well, just off work! I will keep you updated on today!

-Amanda

St. George Island :)

St. George Island is about 90 minutes from Tallahassee and provides the perfect getaway from a terribly stressful week. Last week I had: 4 homework assignments, 2 lab reports, 3 exams, and worked everyday at 7:45 am. On a normal week I would be able to handle a load like this...except....this week was much different, I was sleep deprived from Dance Marathon that occurred over Valentine's Day weekend. It was one of the best experiences of my life but super exhausting.

The weather in Tallahassee is different every day of the week but this week we have been graciously given the best weather ever. Highs of 75 with cooling winds. Perfect beach weather. So Amanda, Kelsey, Ben, and I packed up the car and headed to the gulf coast.

It was beautiful weather and an amazing drive. When we finally reached the beach we were all so hungry so we decided to eat at the Blue Parrot. My friend Carrie recommended we eat there and I am so glad she did! We sat outside on the patio with all the other beach-goers. The menu was filled with fresh fish and seafood. I couldn't resist ordering the Grouper Sandwich. I was lightly fried and the fish fell apart when you bit into the sandwich.

It was a perfect day out on the water! We got to relax and soak up some much needed rays.

This week is going to be jam packed just like last week.

Tomorrow's agenda: Study, Study, Study! I have a huge Exercise Physiology exam on Thursday!

I am so happy to be blogging again! Happy Weekend :)

A Beach Day Getaway leads to a blogging return!

I must apologize for being away for a long period of time. Living in my sorority house doesn't allow me to fully take advantage of my passion for cooking....which leaves my blog recipe-less and lonely.

I still haven't changed too much since summer though. I probably have over 1,000 recipes saved on my computer and that list keeps growing everyday. Tastespotting is my weakness at work because EVERYTHING looks amazing and I save every recipe that looks appealing to me! It makes me want to run to my "imaginary" kitchen and cook up a storm. I cannot wait until the summer, I will be living with my friend Jen and Rima! We all share a crazy obsession and passion for good food and wine. Can you say dinner parties galore? Yes.

So I have decided that I would alter the purpose of this blog until I can turn up the heat in the kitchen. Now don't get me wrong, this blog will still be FILLED with food, wine, and recipes but in a much different fashion than I originally intended. There will be personal posts, restaurant critiques, food pictures, and many more. Get excited :)

Well the reason for the return to blogging is probably from inspiration from a couple of blogs I follow and check at least 3 times a day: Eat, Live, Run , Kath Eats Real Food, and Healthy Tipping Point. These woman truly inspire me to express myself and follow my passion for food and health. Right now in particular I am going through a slump. This is my second year living in my sorority house and the "freshman fifteen" has now turned into the "junior twenty"... not fun. I have always been an active person but this year I can count on my hand how many times I've hit the gym. That is not a good sign. I am looking for motivation but I get discouraged when my sorority house feeds us preservative carbohydrate packed meals everyday. I know excuses will not make me healthier...and it didn't really hit me till today when I was at the beach with a couple of girlfriends that I needed to start getting healthy NOW. I need to do it for my health: mentally and physically. I can feel my stress level reaching its maximum with classes, work, sorority, family and the boyfriend. My plate is completely full and in order to be able to handle my load I need to be healthy.

My goal is not to lose weight as fast as I can or go on a strict diet. My goal is start a path of a healthy lifestyle. I need to find time to relieve stress while giving my body the much needed physical attention it needs and deserves. I really believe with this attitude I will be a much happier and healthier person.

I love blogging and can't wait to get back to it :)

a GRAVES good time in North Carolina :)

It never fails when I go home to Tampa for Breaks my family gets together with close family friends and eat! Sometimes its for special occasions like Birthday parties or Graduation parties.

But most of the time

its just a time to get together, eat,and entertain. The Graves live in a hand-built log home in Tampa. It is beautiful and a great place to entertain. They have a living tree that runs through their living room! The Graves and my family are tied at the hip - We truly are the same family!

We recently went to North Carolina for the second year in a row. We stay in a small town called Franklin and it is the perfect getaway from our stressful lives. The house we rent is tucked 30 minutes up in the Pisgah National Forest. Its a place where you can sit and relax on the front porch with a nice cold glass of lemonade, rocking away in a rocking chair.

Franklin every Saturday during the summer has a musical event called "Pickin in the Square."

Local bands play a variety of music - blues, jazz, country, classic rock, etc - local vendors sell

homemade ice cream and candy, and little kids can run around having fun. Our families act like little kids so of course we danced the night away and took part learning the art of Hula Hooping :) It was a great time and it turns out the boys were pretty good at it!

Another reason I love going to North Carolina for a vacation is the local grown produce. For some reason if you pick the blueberries and blackberries off a bush and then come

back to the house and make a homemade pie - it turns out to be the best thing you ever ate. North Carolina has the most abundant

fresh produce that is just asking to be brought back to your kitchen. Their local Wild Mountain Honey adds sweetness to any dish while their juicy tomatoes are so fresh that you can eat them like an apple. Food is much more appreciated when simple flavors and local ingredients are incorporated.

We went on some new adventures this Vacation - pontoon ride on a localLake, Trout fishing, and of course visiting waterfalls! The pontoon ride was amazing!

We rented a boat and packed an awesome lunch to enjoy while tubing and relaxing in the valley of the Pisgah Forest. The houses were so beautiful with large front porches and windows everywhere! Waterfalls a

nd dams were scattered around the HUGE lake.

When we went trout fishing it was a new experience in itself.

I am not a very big fisherwoman. I love eating fish and seafood but waiting for one to bite my line?....not my thing. But I wanted to give it a try! We ride into town and go into the local visitor center trying to find the BEST trout farm. We got back in the car and drove a couple miles to a house. The lake was the size of a swimming pool and it looked abandoned.We all looked at each other and laughed. On to the next trout farm...hoping that it isn't in someones back yard. We pull up to a really cool farm that has a little restaurant attached and sledding slides that huge inter tubes raced down.

The trout farm was a little bigger than the front yard pond we were at before, so we got fishing poles and baited up our hooks. All 10 of us threw in our poles fully baited but....nothing. 10 minutes passed....nothing. 20 minutes passed....sti

ll nothing. We were starting to give up hope because we couldn't catch 1 fish in a completely full lake.

FINALLY after 30 minutes, my boyfriend

Ryan caught one.

Then one by one everyone starting catching trout! We caught 12 total and had them cleaned and were very excited to get home and put them on the grill!

Steve put onions, salt, pepper, and olive oil in the cavity of the trout and covered it with foil. Placed the fish right on the grill and grilled the fish to perfection. We ate the perfectly tender trout out right out off the foil. We served it with cheesy grits and garden grown zucchini that was in the back of Grammy's garden. The zucchini was about a foot long in length! Steven cut it lengthwise -

seasoned it with salt and pepper and placed a thick piece of bacon on the flesh side. Just like the fish, he grilled it to perfection and it was so yummy!

I am pretty sure my passion for cooking comes from all the amazing cooks in both my family

and family friends. We see cooking and eating as a way to all come together and enjoy good food and company. Its something I will carry on with my own family!