Duet

Todd and I need to learn this. Enough said.

 

End of the semester (or time to figure out how to stay in shape)

My semester is over and I'm a couple days away from graduation! While this is really exciting, I'm already sad about having to leave school. I really love school and living in Rexburg with only a 9-5 desk job, or sitting at home playing wife is definitely not the life I want to lead, especially after years of spending everyday flying through the air (or crashing into the floor) and filling my head full with lovely, lovely knowledge. But since I'm destined for 6 months of waiting for Todd to graduate I've decided I need goals, and I need them quick before the sitting-around-syndrome takes hold of me.

First I need fitness goals. I find it's difficult for me to live my life fully and honestly without a strong, energetic, deeply-connected body, so to stay that way is one of my first priorities. I will be working, (and trying to log) a combination of cardio, resistance and weight training, somatic work, and, when I can find it, dancing. A friend and I have been thinking about starting some student taught technique classes over the summer break, which will help immensely. :) Cycling, running, and zumba for my cardio, weights and Pilates for my weight training, and yoga for my somatics. I also want to do more research into somatics and start playing around with Alexander technique and Feldenkrais technique.  I've also started using the tracker at dailymile.com to record my workouts.

Can you tell I'm a major body nerd? ;)

Next I need intellectual stimulus, and lots of it. I have lots of things I want to learn about that I haven't had time to study in the past year. I want to understand science and physics. I want to learn more about human physiology. I love philosophy. So, I want to choose a few free online classes from Harvard or MIT and listen to one class period a day (probably while I'm cleaning my kitchen). I also want to read more, especially philosophy and history, specifically I've always wanted to learn more about transcendentalism, dystopianism, and feminist theory. Oh, and I have a paper I need to get edited and cleaned up before December that I'm submitting to BYU Studies. for publication. Anyone know any good editors?

And I guess, maybe, I should try to be, kind of, a little bit, social. It is way too easy for me to spend hours with myself swimming around with the ideas in my head. But I should probably try to spend time with friends. And I should probably try to enjoy church and relief society. And maybe show more love to my neighbors by having a conversation rather than leave baked goods on their door steps. I think I just need to get over the fact that being bluntly honest while using large words creates socially awkward situations.

I think I sometimes hate people as much as I love bodies and stuffing my head.

Those are my goals! Wish me luck!

Eating (really, really) well on a budget

We are taking a small hiatus from our locavore experiment as we've recently had quite a sharp drop in income (hey, it happens.) While our job search continues one of the easiest ways we find to cut costs is in our food bill. But, knowing me, this does not exactly translate into ramen and canned soup for every meal, we still eat really, really well, even on a limited budget ( less than $40 a week for both of us is what we're aiming for).So here's how we do it; our 5 rules for eating (really, really) well on a budget.

#1 Never waste anything- The old adage "waste not, want not" fits really well here. This rule usually applies to us all the time, we try to do our best to manage our resources in such a way that food is not wasted. Stale bread is made into french toast or croutons, old veggies are transformed into soup stock, overripe fruit goes in the freezer for smoothies, cheese ends get saved for stock, etc.

#2 Cut down on the animal protein- Newsflash: Meat is expensive. Second newsflash: Americans eat way too much meat and its contributing to our health crisis. We can get quality protein elsewhere without all the added fat and for much cheaper, so we don't buy meat.We also cut down on dairy products.

#3 Bountiful baskets- cheap produce. This makes up the bulk of our diet.

#4 Make your own- Making your own is always cheaper, better for you, and tastes better. We do all our own bread, yogurt, noodles, and stock.

#5 Shop the bins- Grains and beans are great for you and really cheap. I love the great variety in Winco's bulk food section. Grains get baked into breads, boiled or put in granola for breakfast, put in pilafs, gratins, risottos, and soups. Beans get made into soups and curries, are marinated, top salads, are mashed into dips, and added to mixtures to top pitas, tortillas, and sandwiches.