... I'll love ya, TOMORROW!

*Please note that the title is from my favorite musical ever, Annie*

Tomorrow I start my first full-time, bona fide professional career. I will log my first hours as an RN, even if it means I'll be sitting in a general orientation from 8-5 and not doing anything nurse-like. That's fine with me, because after that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be tumbling head first into everything nurse related. I'm SO excited! I know most people are pissed that summer vacation is coming to an end, but I've been waiting all summer to start this job. I simply need to keep a positive mindset and try to learn as much as I can!

Today, in preparation for real-life, I went grocery shopping with an actual list of items to buy to make specific meals. I picked a handful of recipes that I've found through blogs and Pinterest, and decided to make 4 or 5 of them this week. Tonight, I actually made two of them and froze a third for cooking later in the week. I'll devote another post to what I cooked and how they turned out-- delicious!

I'm going to try to make it an early night... if 10:30 counts as early... because my alarm is set for 6:15 tomorrow morning. First time that's happened in a LONG while, it's definitely going to be an adjustment.

Wish me luck!

Green?

More like brown.

This, my friends, is a spinach and blueberry smoothie. I've seen all these recipes recently about making "green machine" smoothies by adding spinach to them. This morning I woke up and realized I have so many things in my fridge that are going to go bad if I don't start using them, spinach and blueberries being two of those things (the problems with living alone...). I looked online and found this recipe that claimed you can't even taste the spinach in it, so I decided to try it out.

Spinach Blueberry Smoothie

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (I used fresh, because that's what I had)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh spinach 
• 1/4 cup fruit juice (it was weird to me that they don't specify which type of fruit juice, but since all I had in my fridge was Orange Strawberry Pineapple, that's what I chose =\ )
• 2-4 ice cubes

As you can see, the first thing I noticed was that it doesn't look green and pretty like the pictures on the recipe websites claim. More like brown sludge. Hmmm. The taste is actually not so bad. Not something I think is delicious, but not terrible. However, the recipe-writer lied when she said you can't taste the spinach. That's about all I can taste. That and a hint of blueberry mixed in. The fruit juice really doesn't matter, I guess, because I couldn't find that at ALL. 

I'm glad I tried it. It's not something I would probably make just because, but if I had things I needed to use up, I'd consider it. I also like that it's pretty good for you-- I always feel so accomplished when I make something that's actually healthy (usually because I spend the rest of the day sitting around... oops).

Now I just need to get motivated to start going out and buying items for pre-planned meals, and actually making said meals so that I will have things to bring for lunches and dinners when I start work... in two days! I won't need that stuff right away, because at first I'll be doing orientation and classroom, but once I'm on the unit for 12 hour shifts I will want some good meals to eat!

Ouch!

Since I don't have money yet to join a gym or take classes around here yet, I wanted to do exercise at home. Over the summer I had been looking at the "30 day challenge" online-- basically doing the "Ab Ripper X" workout from P90X every day for a month. The reviews said it was very challenging the first few days but after that you'd get used to it, etc. so I thought I'd test it out.

OUCH!

I did it yesterday morning, with some pauses in between and cutting a couple of sets short because I'jm definitely not in prime shape and need to work my way up. Anyways, I woke up this morning and my hip flexors are SO SORE. They are incredibly tight! Sitting is no issue but when I stand up or walk around and they get stretched, it's some serious pain. I feel like such a baby but it's hurting me to stretch my legs out. So clearly I didn't do day number two today... I'm thinking of trying it again tomorrow but I guess that'll depend on how my legs feel in the morning.

Maybe I'll have to find some different exercise? Maybe I didn't stretch enough after? Does anyone have any advice?!?

Domestic

Okay so maybe this isn't so domestic, but it's definitely delicious! I have had a blender at school the past couple of years but it always had to be put away, so it was easy to forget it was there. Now, our apartment has a lot of counter space so I can permanently put my blender (and my George Forman!) in one area and see them all the time. This morning, I wanted some kind of blended smoothie so I looked up a couple of ideas, and then put together this one.

Chocolat-y Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

• 1 packet Carnation Instant Breakfast- chocolate flavor
• 1/2 medium banana (eat the other half while you prepare everything!)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup skim milk
• a few ice cubes (mine were star-shaped, thanks to Ikea!)

Throw it all in and press blend! Easy as pie, and I thought it was pretty delicious. Doesn't even taste like breakfast, nevermind something that's relatively healthy.

I've decided that since I'm going to experimenting in the kitchen, now that I'm an "adult" and need to make my own meals, I'm going to share some of the ones that turn out well on this blog. Soooo I'm adding a new label, entitled "Yum". If you want to see the recipes/meals I've tried, you can click on that and they'll all be in one place. If you didn't notice yet, I already have a label called "DIY" with some of the projects and things I've worked on this summer. Hopefully once I'm working I'll still be able to do crafty things and add to it!

Sneak Peak

I am officially living on my own. My family left yesterday, my new roommate (who, by the way, is super nice) left this morning (she's not moving in for good for a couple of weeks), and I am here... laying in my bed watching HGTV and avoiding the mess of boxes and things that need to be unpacked, organized and put away. Oops!

Even though I have moved in, there is still SO much work to be done. The kitchen is the only room that's really unpacked, and things still need to be organized in there. My room is chaos, and the living room doesn't have real furniture in it until my roommate moves back. The amount of stuff I need to unpack is crazy... good thing I have all week to do it before I need to think about starting work!

My room is a huge work-in-progress, so pictures won't be shared for a while. But for now....

I love the peacock feather! It's hanging above my bed. I got it from Christmas Tree Shoppes for a great price and I think it's so original and matches the colors I have in my room perfectly. The lamp and shade is from Ikea, as is the mirror. I could spend ALL day wandering around Ikea, it's such a cool store!

My plan for this week is to explore the areas around my new home and see what kind of interesting things or places I can find. I also want to take a look at the gyms around here to see which one is best for me (my only requirement is spinning classes, but a pool would be nice too... swimming is such good exercise and I would love to get into that). I can't sign up for a few weeks (no paycheck means no money!) but I want to at least see what's available. Until then, I'm planning on using the hiking trails near my apartment and the small fitness center (aka elliptical) that's in the building.

The one thing I need to solve ASAP is my internet connection. Right now I'm mooching off someone else's internet (yayyy for no passwords!) because the router in our apartment keeps disconnecting and needs to be reset every half hour or so. My dad had the router hanging around our house because it
"didn't work with his compuer" which probably means it doesn't work well in general. I think I'm going to have to pull out that credit card and spend the money on a decent router. I've been trying very hard not to use plastic for things (I have balances I seriously need to pay off once I have a steady income) but internet is definitely a necessity for me, especially because for the next couple of weeks I am here by myself. Can anyone say boring?

Bulletin Board DIY

Since I'm putting off packing up any more of my things, I've decided to post another DIY that I've done this summer. This one is a bulletin board, and it was actually for my younger sister's room, although it matches my decorations perfectly and I would love to have it! I made one for myself with a different color scheme, but it didn't come out as nicely =(.

Things we used:

• Bulletin board: You could use any size or use an unframed piece of corkboard, this is just what my sister chose. We did go out and buy it specifically for this purpose but it would have been even better if we'd had one laying around to up-cycle!
• Fabric: We purchased this turquoise and purple floral fabric from the clearance section at Joann's Fabrics. It was $6 for a yard, which is what we purchased (there was a little left over), and it's gorgeous! Very shiny and silky feeling, too.
• Spray Adhesive: I had Elmer's spray adhesive, which is what we used. It worked pretty well but was very sticky when I got it on my hands! It went through in some spaces and because the fabric was thin, when it dried it left some darkened spots. It wasn't a big deal for this print because it blended it, but with a solid fabric it would be more noticeable.
• Scissors
• Ribbon for a border (if you want)
• Upholstery tacks/thumbtacks for a border (if you want)

 The process was pretty simple... we laid out the fabric over the board so we could decide where to cut. You want to leave a couple inches on either side of the board so that you can fold the fabric over to the back. Once you've cut it, take the spray adhesive and spray small sections (we split the board into imaginary quarters) and lay the fabric down as you go. Remember to make sure you spread the fabric out with your hands as you go and push out any bubbles. When we got to the edges, we sprayed small sections and did the same thing (making sure it was laying flat and that we got any bubbles out of the edge between the corkboard and the frame itself). After gluing the surface, we flipped it over and did the same thing with the back-- we weren't as careful to make it look pretty because that will be against the wall! Tuck and glue the corners as you go so they're pulled nice and tight.

After that, you're technically done! My sister chose to add a white ribbon around the sides and secure with small black upholstery tacks, just for decoration.

I love how it turned out! These are the colors my sister wanted to incorporate into her newly painted teenage room and when we hung it up I think it pulled things together really well.

The One About Packing

I've never felt like more of a hoarder than I do when I actually have to clean and organize in order to pack. This time around, it's especially overwhelming because for the first time ever, I need to pack everything. When I was in college, I still had my half of the bedroom, my closet, etc. to store my other things in-- stuff that I wasn't getting rid of, but didn't really want. This time, though, I'm moving out for real, and my sister is taking over the rest of the bedroom. Since I'm going to live somewhere "permanently" it makes sense that I should be taking all of my things, including boxes of photos, cards, mementos... everything. It just seems so weird to be taking these items out of my childhood home, to put them into a new closet.

It's also been funny because as I go through all my things, I have noticed that I really do tend to keep a LOT of papers. For example, I found the card my parents gave me when I graduated from elementary school. Elementary school! That was about 12 years ago! Its the little things like that that I don't necessarily need to have with me, but aren't willing to part with. So this time, it's all gotta get packed up and moved.

I also find it extremely hard to stay focused on cleaning things out and putting things in boxes when I look around me and all there is is STUFF. Its SO overwhelming-- I better be settling into this place for a while because I don't want to do this again! I feel like I'm never going to be finished... but I need to be by tomorrow night. Insert nervous face here.

Today I also hugged my two best friends for the last time in a while. One is a friend from high school, and the other my college roommate. I am certain that they'll both be up to visit me, and I'll definitely be home every so often, but its still so weird to be moving away, especially from my roommate. Usually, when I'm moving, it means it's into college and I get to be with her! I'm pretty sure my new soon-to-be roommate and I are going to get along well, but it sure will be hard to replace Roommate (my nickname for her for 4 years... original huh?).

Less than 48 hours and counting.