tulips and theraflu

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

Even though today is Monday good things are happening. For instance I have finally hit double digits in followers! (Yay!!! Thank you for reading!) Also, I was sick last week but my symptoms appear to be lessening and vanishing all together. I wasn't sick enough to go see my physician Dr. Wright, but I was pretty miserable complete with a stuffy nose, a deep sexy voice, coughing, and body aches. Clayton was wonderful of course and brought me white tulips on Tuesday night (just as the symptoms were rearing their ugly heads) and a care package of Theraflu (the BEST medicine in the world), Zicam, and tissues on Thursday when I was utterly miserable. It seems the thoughtfulness of Mr. Nelson and a (slightly) restful weekend did the trick!

I say slightly restful weekend because we had a picnic for the members of Devils' Advocates to welcome all the newbies. After our picnic there was a scavenger hunt with the prize being 12 points in the Advobuddy competition (this is where my advobuddy and I have to complete a list of goofy things together in order to accumulate points. The team with the most points win an awesome, not yet decided, prize at the end of March.). This activity required all members of your group to solve a riddle and take a picture in front of the answer, i.e. "you won't find any potties in this old building"- Old Main.

Here's us at our first stop, Grady Gammage Auditorium. We are fired up!

My competitive team mates had us running from A Mountain to the SRC to the MU. Without a doubt we were the most ridiculous looking thing running down University Drive on Saturday afternoon: Patty at the front of the line yelling encouraging statements "Come on guys, I want to win!", Brent (who had just ran a marathon earlier that morning) jogging at the back, Zach catching all of our greatest moments on film with my camera, and me somewhere in the middle clutching onto my cup of Theraflu in one hand and my "to-go" tissues in the other. My group kept insisting that I would sweat my cold out, but I just felt like I was going to pass out.

Losing steam somewhere in the middle , with Old Main in the background.
(Notice I am chugging my Theraflu while simultaneously throwing up a pitchfork)

By the end we are completely exhausted in front of the Sun Card Office in the MU.

The good news is all our hard work payed off, we won! Brett, Patty, and I are now 12 points ahead in the Advobuddy Competition. The pains and aches were worth it, plus I slept pretty soundly that evening.

So who knows if the key to recovery is medicine, exercise, or extreme thoughtfulness. I do know that I am grateful for all three!

I hope the symptoms won't come back.

i'll take my day sunny side up please

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

After a crummy day yesterday I really needed something to boost my mood. Ask and you shall receive. Clayton offered to make me breakfast this morning, so I woke up extra early (8:00am doesn't sound bad, but it feels worse) to make sure I had time to get ready before heading over to his house and then onto class. My roommate had curled my hair from the night before and somehow most of it managed to stay curled. I touched up a few pieces in the front, powdered my nose, and added a coat of mascara and voila! I was ready.

Did I mention that the weather happened to be PERFECT for sporting sundresses? Yep, it's official- I broke out my first one today and don't plan to stop until October!

Being absolutely wonderful Clayton not only offered to make breakfast, but also picked me up. We ran by Babeway to get the necessities and then headed back to his house where the cooking would commence.

We decided on omelets, but after a not-so-successful flip it turned into scrambled eggs.
Despite the small disaster, it was DELICIOUS! Here's the recipe:

3 eggs
1 dash of milk
1 dash of butter (melted)
1/4 of a green bell pepper (or as much as you desire) chopped
1/4 of a yellow onion (again based on preference) diced
1/4 of a small Roma tomato (as much as you like...) diced
1 clove of garlic minced
spinach (you know the drill... add to your taste)
1/4 cup of shredded cheese (we used Monterrey jack cheddar)
1/2 avocado sliced
splash of olive oil

1. Mix eggs, milk, and butter in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Saute onions, bell peppers, and garlic in olive oil until onions begin to brown.
3. Add onion and bell pepper mixture to eggs.
4. Over medium heat, cook egg mixture. Avoid stirring to allow the bottom of the omelet to cook.
5. Once the edges look like they are cooked add in spinach and tomato. Allow egg mixture to complete cook on bottom.
6. (This is where things went all wrong for us) Flip the egg mixture over with a spatula and cook the other side for an even amount of time.
7. Sprinkle cheese and avocado slices, fold in half, serve and enjoy!

I suggest consuming this breakfast with salsa, it's the perfect compliment. We accompanied it with buttered toast and half a banana, but bacon or potatoes would be great too!

I hope you made time for breakfast.

the road to redemption

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

If you know me, you know I am somewhat of a caffeine addict. It started getting serious when my head would start off with a dull constant pain in the back of my head and work its way to my temples gaining momentum until it was a full on thrashing headache. I would wonder (almost always out loud) why I was getting these constant, inconvenient episodes. It wasn't until the oh-so-clever Clayton pointed out to me that they always came on if I didn't drink a coffee or tea to start my day. Psh... I am not THAT bad, I would assure him. Of course the pain would always subside after sipping on a mocha or an earl grey tea.

Simultaneously, my sister Bee is preparing to become baptized into the Catholic church. Before Easter comes Lent, it is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption (learn more here). In absolute awe of her faith I decided to support my little sister and observe Lent with her. We decided to give up red meat (this is because we couldn't get enough protein if we went completely vegetarian leading our college lives) and soda (in hopes to lose weight). I decided it was as good a time as ever to stop drinking coffee to rid myself of any forming caffeine addiction.

Some days are harder than others. I still wake up and crave the taste of the warm, sweet liquid against my lips. (I did however, not give up tea in the event of an emergency. Only emergencies.) My coffee maker has accumulated dust and the creamer in my fridge has expired. The only reason I use my ridiculously cute owl mug is to sip warm liquids such as Theraflu.

Right now, I REALLY want a raspberry, white chocolate mocha from Dutch Bros. I can't give in until March 29th when Lent is over.

So I'm just going to do something productive every time I crave a coffee.

I hope this works.

st. valentine stole my heart

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure....

Aimee- Valentine's Day is a silly holiday. No one should spend more than $10.00 on a gift. It's supposed to be corny and funny.
Clayton- Yeah, it's about being with each other.

You have to imagine how completely surprised and absolutely floored I was when he gave me my Valentine's Day goodies comprised of two cheese sticks and one brand new Nikon Coolpix camera!!!!

It has a million and one features, all of which I have no idea how to use. Clayton seemed kind of annoyed that when people asked I kept saying it had 12 pixels. Apparently its 12 MEGA pixels. The point is, is that he definitely went above and beyond the $10.00 spending limit. But I am extremely thankful. He knew how much I wanted one to start documenting my life and spicing up my blog.

He is wonderful.

The camera came wrapped in paper he decorated himself. On it are love poems, hearts, and a tie-dye segment with my name embedded into it.

I'm in way over my head.

Despite being completely shocked I stuck with my (much) smaller gift, a love care package. It was filled with homemade cookies, his favorite gum, The Little Rascals movie, and a book called I Like You by Sandol Stoddard. It was wrapped in a red, white, and pink box covered in patterned hearts.

The book was my favorite part. I read it to him out loud. One of my favorite excerpts:

"I like you because
When I tell you something special
You know it's special
And you remember it
A long long time

You say
Remember when you told me
Something special

And both of us remember"

I hope St. Valentine was good to you this year.

what did he just say?!

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

If you listen to the radio you've undoubtedly heard the new hit single "Bedrock" by Young Money featuring Lloyd. The song is currently in the #3 spot on the Hot 100 list according to Billboard. If you happen to know me personally, you've seen me dancing around singing the ridiculous lyrics driving everyone around me totally insane. With charming lyrics such as

"...Ooh, Baby, I Be Stuck To You, Like Glue Baby, Wanna Spend It All On You, Baby, My Room Is The G Spot, Call Me Mr. Flintstone, I Can Make Your Bed Rock..."

I can't imagine why my Mother is disgusted, my sister's annoyed, and me brain washed.

I was humming along to the radio in my head (I was making Clayton crazy) while I was doing my hair today. I stepped back to admire my work and realized I had Wilma Flintstone hair (minus the sweet bone necklace).

Shocked at how the power of my own singing took over my hair-do I vowed never to sing the inappropriate lyrics while doing anything important- especially getting ready for Chi Omega's Valentine's Date Party this weekend.

Meanwhile I can be found running around UCENT bopping along to the tune in my head rockin' my Flintstone hair.

I hope you're having a good hair day.

blog of the week: favorite class

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

This week's blog topic in the office is focused on the best class each of us have ever taken at ASU. Easy. ASB 353 Death and Dying in a Cross-Cultural Prospective was one of the most enjoyable classes I have ever taken. The class pushed me to become more open and accepting while learning about the death ways of American culture as well as many others around the globe. The instructor was so passionate and knowledgeable about the subject that going to class was viewed as a reward rather than a nuisance and completing homework assignments were exciting projects to look forward to.

I remember going into the class thinking I would never survive, as it was my first upper division class I had ever taken at Arizona State and I was only in my first semester of my sophomore year. Despite my self doubt I received more points than were possible in the class (thanks to extra credit opportunities) and I earned an A+ for the course. I don't want to lie and say that the class was easy, weekly readings and essay tests kept me constantly busy however the reward and satisfaction at the end of the class was worth it. For the first time I began to realize the importance of education and it's impact on my life.

I hope you're getting your money's worth.

weekend recap

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

I feel as if I have bee a little MIA this week, but it's only because I've been so busy! Here's what I've been up to:

Friday:

I got to meet up with Barb Gallagher a CTRS in the field who works with the behavioral unit at St. Luke's in Phoenix. After a tour of the facility and a quick Q&A she told me her department would love it if I could come volunteer! I am so excited.

Since it was the first Friday of the month I met up with a group of friends and took the light rail downtown to participate in the Phoenix art tradition of First Friday's. We got to check out some cool local art, yummy food, and even a few small bars. One of our favorite drink spots is The Roosevelt because they specialize in beer and wine and have AMAZING panini sandwiches. We also got a chance to visit a new bar called the Lost Leaf. Similar to The Roosevelt, the Lost Leaf specializes in beers but only serves bottles. Both are converted from old homes and have a warm atmosphere. The night was a great success!

Saturday:

My Mom's boyfriend Mike offered to take her, my sisters Emily and Bee, Clayton (that's PDF's real name, p.s. he's no longer my "potential" dating future- he pretty much IS my dating future) and I to lunch. How sweet! The one drawback was (at least I thought it was) was that we went to Joe's Crab Shack. Now I know many of you are thinking "what is she complaining about?" but I've always had an aversion to seafood, some thing I attribute to three scarring seafood experiences and my Dad. On the upside they gave us super cool napkin things to wear around our neck's and neat-o contraptions to get the crab/lobster meat our of the shells.

I ended up feeling nauseous the entire meal and refused to touch the actual shellfish, but it was a great experience overall and a hilarious bonding session. Thanks Mike!!!

Sunday:

It was one of my Chi Omega sister's 21st birthday so after the Super Bowl a few of us met up to prepare for the birthday festivities. It was then when I received one of the most endearing compliments I have ever been bestowed with.
s: you look so cute!
a: thanks!
s: but seriously, every time I see you, you look adorable. you remind me of someone...
a: wow, thanks Sam!
s: TWIGGY, that's it, you remind me of her- such a fashion icon!
Samantha walked away but I was frozen with shock. I reminded someone of Twiggy?! The top model of the 1960's and amazing fashion icon?! I'm still floating on cloud nine.

I hope your weekend was wonderful.

blog of the week

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

Here in the StAR's office we are reviving an old tradition I like to call "Blog of the Week". This week we were posed with this question: what are you excited for/dreading most about this semester of classes?

Personally, I am excited that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is my last semester of coursework before I start my internship in the fall. I am excited for both of my therapeutic recreation classes, because I know I will be learning tons of useful information in both. However, I am also scared to death of doing a terrible job.

I will be completing 100 CFE hours this semester as well, and I am looking forward to volunteering (cross your fingers) with St. Luke's Medical Center and Hospice of the Valley. I hope that these opportunities will guide me in the right direction for internships and ultimately a career.

My roommate just got back from studying abroad in Spain, so I am looking forward to sharing a room with her and getting to know her much better!

I am not looking forward to having to say goodbye to my Chi Omega sisters at the end of the semester, or to giving my last tour for Devils' Advocates. Doing these things will be harder than any project or paper I have ever completed.

What are you excited about/dreading this semester?

I'm hoping for the best semester yet.

merried?

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

I cannot focus. My motivation has taken a hiatus. I crave to crawl in to my extra long twin bed in Adelphi and pull my softy owl blanket over my head. For me, this usually indicates something is wrong.

My heart is broken.

The perpetrator of these types of situations tend to be a younger, scrawny male. Unfortunately, I have never dealt with this type of situation before. I tried to ignore it, refused to acknowledge it, and pretended to downplay it. Nothing worked, so I'm just going to get it off my chest- this will be the only time I mention it.

My Dad and the terrible-stepmother-to-be got married. Six months ago. Apparently everyone on my Father's side of the family knew. Everyone except Aimee, Haleigh, Emily, and Abbey. I wish it was because they forgot to tell us, but it was on purpose.

I haven't talked to my Dad since my intoxicated Aunt spilled the beans at a dive bar over karaoke, except an email and text message to ask about my new insurance card.

Some people think I'm overreacting.

Others think I should try to salvage some sort of relationship.

"That's immature" my Dad's family says.

"It's not that big of a deal" my cousin assured me.

My Dad has successfully made me feel this big.

It's not even that he came to see me and tell me he is sorry. It's not even that he sent me a letter to say how sorry he is. It's not even that he left a voice mail (you wouldn't have answered the phone either) to admit he is sorry. It's that he sent me a rude, sarcastic text message:

"I already told your sisters so you don't have to worry about telling them tomorrow. I really appreciate you and Haleigh understanding and being supportive.....(sarcasm). I love you anyway."

I'm still kind of confused about how to feel. Hopefully my softy owl blanket will help.

I hope my family stops lying.

Day 13

Hello my name is Aimee and this is a real life adventure...

Order of business #1:

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!!

and now for the spring break shape update:

I've been better this week! While I haven't gotten to the Y as much as I wanted I've been choosing healthier eating options. Kind of. At the grocery store I purchased rice cakes instead of brownies and cheese instead of popcorn. Also, I haven't had any fast food since the update last week! I'm still working on either giving up coffee (gasp!) or switching to a healthier option full time (most likely tea).

After my swim this morning I couldn't help but smile as I overheard the following convo:
( and yes, these are their real names)

Ethel: (in a sassy southern accent) I could not believe Julio this mornin'!
Mary Anne: I know, he never listens. After you got out he passed out two more times.
Ethel: Well, he's not supposed to sit in that hot tub for more 'an 15 minutes. That's probably why.
Mary Anne: It's just ridiculous.
Ethel: Ridiculous? Yes. This swim suit is also ridiculous. Magda was supposed to come by with her old one this past weekend but she never came. She was gonna to give it to me seeing as how it doesn't fit her since she lost all that weight.
Ellen: (from across the room) What size are you?
Ethel: I'm usually a 20, but sometimes I can squeeze into an 18.
Mary Anne: Well you know what? I was watching a TV show this weekend and they said we should take our clothes and cut all the tags out of them. Size shouldn't matter. Just wear what fits.

A murmur of "amen" broke out among the women's locker room and the gossiping continued.

I think Mary Anne was on to something. As long as we're healthy we should love our bodies despite our tags and the number that rings up when we step on a scale. As long as it looks good, rock it!

I can't wait for the post-water aerobics gossip next week :)

I hope you're loving your body.