You'll Never Know the Difference...

Last night Tony and I had Breakfast for dinner! I really love breakfast for dinner, especially when it's pancakes and bacon! I know what you're thinking, "But Hollie, you said you were eating healthy foods now! Did you fail yet another attempt at weight loss?" No way Jose! We had pancakes made from Fiber One pancake mix and Jenni-O Turkey Bacon, sick, right?

We loved it!

The pancakes were so filling with all of that extra fiber packed in, and with some low-cal syrup, you can't even tell they're decent for you! [added in later]-> Tony even did an experiment with the pancakes to see if my low-cal syrup really did hit the spot. He had two (they were small) pancakes for each sampling. On the first two, he put regular butter and regular syrup. On the second two, he used my zer0-calorie butter spray and the low-calorie syrup. I asked him which one he liked better and he informed me that both were tasty, and that the added calories and sugar of the real butter and syrup weren't worth it, that the lower calorie version was just as satisfying.

And the bacon, ohh the bacon, it was the best bacon I've ever eaten. Because it was lean, turkey meat, there weren't those big hunks of fat dangling off the ends of each piece (I hate that). It was crisp and yummy and good for us! It tasted so delicious and there's only 20 calories in each piece!

We both whole-heartedly reccomend this to everyone. Try these two fabulous food items! You'll love them.

Fantastic Find

I was going through the My Pictures folder on my laptop and came across this random, yet fabulous, gem. It made me laugh and laugh. Hope you enjoy.

Featured: Andrea, Morgan, Hollie, Tony

Our New Home

Since I don't have classes and I'm currently looking for a job, I spend a lot of time at home. I've gotten to know some of my neighbors and their crazy antics and I must say, our neighbors are interesting people.

It started this morning when I woke up. I got up to put some chapstick on my sore lips and went back to bed to rest for 30 minutes more, when I heard our lovely neighbors whose master bedroom borders ours. They are loud people and are often fighting. Today I got to be a part of their argument about dog hair on the pillow. I think I sided with the husband, who was voting to get rid of the dog altogether.

Then, after I returned from the gym I walked in and suddenly this booming loud music started. It startled me because it shook our walls! Picture frames moved and my head literally rattled. It was some sort of reggae funk. They were lucky I was flyin' high with my endorphins because otherwise I would have been kind of cranky. I decided to dance around as I got ready for the day and enjoy the reggae beat.

Lastly, my favorite part of living here. Across the hall from us lives a family with a couple of kids who often have friends over after school. Every day at 4 o'clock I begin to hear the faint notes of recorders. By 4:!5 they are blowing full strength into their instruments and I'm sure they are having a contest to see who can go the longest. I was annoyed by this at first, by now I look forward to the recorder ensemble rehearsals, they provide some sort of comfort as my day is coming to an end. One day I'm going to go over there and teach them how to actually play a song or something. I don't know how long I'll enjoy their contests.

Being at home all day isn't so boring after all.

Cinderelly

Today to make myself feel a little better about being at home all the time, I decided to clean, clean, clean the WHOLE apartment. This was a much needed clean, so it doesn't sound as good as I'm making it :)

I began at 10am in the living room and finished with the bedroom at 4pm and it FINALLY looks like we're officially moved in! Yay! I even did some carpet stain removal in each room. (there were some black spots from when we moved it. Snowy shoes don't go well with beige carpet!) Needless to say...I'm pooped! But now you can all come over and see my pretty new apartment!!

Cinderella sure looks ticked in this picture, doesn't she?

Topsy Turvy

It's been a while since I've posted a good blog! I have good reason for not posting as I've had a pretty darn stressful week.

It all began ohhh, in June or July when I recieved my syllabus for my internship in Bulgaria. I was fully aware of all of the assignments and understood my responsibilities as a intern for the School of Family Life. I, being a typical college student, began the bulk of my assignments two Fridays ago since they weren't due until January 15th. I attempted to do some of it in December but we couldn't get our lives back together, so it was difficult to focus on something that was due so far in the future. I was constantly worrying about cars that didn't run, apartments that wouldn't let us in because we weren't poor enough (imagine that!), and other things that we thought were all worked out before we left for BG. I realize that all of this is no excuse for my extreme procrastination, but I'm just letting you know what could have caused some delays in my completion of my homework. :)

So, two Fridays ago I began to work on several huge projects and papers that were due the following Thursday (the 15th). All week long I spent most of my days--and nights--working on all of my homework praying that I would get it done in time. Even Thursday, the day it was due, I was late for my appointment to turn it in to my professor because I was still finishing up some stuff on it. SHEESH! Point of the story is, I was mega stressed about it.

Needless to say I was looking forward to Friday. I have no classes on Fridays and this weekend was a four-day weekend so I was pretty pumped to relax and not worry about a lot of things. I DID, however, have to get one thing done on Friday. I didn't mind, it was easy-cheesy! All I had to do was call our new health insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) and get a policy number for BYU so they would take us off of their highly expensive health insurance. Easy, right?

I called Blue Cross and they informed me that I wouldn't have a policy number until next week sometime. I explained as calmly as I could to the lady on the other end of the phone that I needed the policy number THAT DAY because the fees were due for BYU's insruance and that I didn't want to face any late penalties. I asked her why it was taking so long since I applied for this coverage literally two days after I got home from BG in December. She had not explaination, but tried to search for a policy number and informed me that the effective date was for Feb. 1st. Crap.

I emailed BYU's health insurance guru and pleaded my case and he basically told me that I had to pay for BOTH insurances because the effective date for Blue Cross wasn't until Feb. 1 and BYU requires their students to be insured during the semester. So, let's pull $1,076 out of somewhere and slap it on the table. We worried for a while but Tony suggested that even though we hate to charge on our credit card that we could do that this time. Hahahaha, funny story: we have a Visa....BYU doesn't accept VISA!

I felt extremely nauseous when we realized there was really nothing we could do to take care of this situation. The penalty wasn't a small deal, either--deletion of all of your classes. I frantically searched online on Saturday realizing that even if we did pay late, they would still delete my classes I signed up for this semester, and since the add deadline was Friday, there would be no way for me to get my classes back. I wasn't being "weenie" about any of this, either. I was quite forceful in letting everyone know how they were making things really hard for me. Everyone seemed to point to some contract I signed so I raised up the white flag and accepted what was going to happen to me.

I feel like I got suspended from school or something. I was so excited about this semester and now it's gone! I know that I can take summer classes or maybe even a class online or two, but it's just so strange what happened to me. It wasn't anything I did wrong, either! I've had a really difficult time swallowing this pill because I really liked going to school. I was really excited about my classes. I think that I'm finally okay, though. I've come to terms with the fact that I will be working this semester instead of schooling. This could probably be classified as one of those "blessings in disguise". We are doing FINE with money, but we aren't really saving because we're just getting back into the swing of things. If I get job, we can start saving again and REALLY get back on our feet. Maybe this was the right thing, anyway.

I guess in the end I got what I wanted, a four-day weekend with nothing to do. Now that my classes are being deleted, I don't have any homework anymore!

AHH!

Man, I hate when people put things off until the last minute. Oh, wait.......

Yeah, I'm mega stressed right now because I have to finish up some of my internship stuff and I'm behind! I did find something to cheer me up, though:

MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com

Just imagine yourself in a small restaurant in Bratsigovo......



(if you'd like the full story, please let me know) ;)

Inspired

Warning: this is a semi-boastful post, be ready to deal with that.

Starting in December (yes, BEFORE Christmas) I decided that I was going to start watching my weight and making healthy decisions. I, like all of us who begin this new food journey, was a little sad knowing I would be waving good-bye to some of my old friends french fries, pizza, burgers, etc. I did well over the holidays and even passed up those oh-so-yummy Lion House Rolls! I've been buying natural, healthy things and I've been pretty successful losing about a pound a week.

I am quite inspired and convinced that proper diet CAN be done after this week. This week I managed to eat Cafe Rio, Domino's Pizza, Crown Burger burger and fries, and Steak and Potatoes and still lost a pound or so (tomorrow is the official weigh-in day). I've heard everyone talk about watching your weight being so difficult because of the temptations of GOOD food like the stuff I mentioned above. I'm here to testify that it is indeed possible to lose weight and eat "yummy" food. You just have to eat it in moderation and compensate for the times you eat junky foods.

Like the day I ate Cafe Rio, for instance, I DID get a salad (salads there are far from healthy) but I ate that salad all day long. I had some cereal for breakfast, Tony and I had lunch at Cafe Rio, I didn't finish my lunch and saved it and munched on it all day. I was full, satisfied, and I got something to eat that other diets may have deemed "naughty". Yesterday we ate out at Crown Buger before the Jazz game. Yes, I got a cheese burger and fries but throughout the day knowing we would be eating out, I had filling oatmeal for breakfast and just munched on some healthy snacks (carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, etc.) to hold me over until our 5pm dinner.

See?? YOU CAN DO IT! I'm pretty amazed by my results this week, to be honest. But it just goes to show you that you don't have to go and cut your calories to 500 a day to lose the poundage. I did it pigging out on burgers and fries. It's all about compensation and moderation.

Maintenence Man

I haven't written for a LONG time because since moving in to our new apartment, we haven't had internet. We called the office everyday last week and all we got was one visit about 6 hours after the appointment was scheduled for. He showed up, seemed quite baffled, told me he was going to check the "downstairs connection" and never returned. We're pretty frustrated.

I'm currently (or currantly according to my Religion professor) in the BYU library, a place I haven't visited for a VERY long time. I was expecting to find a sense of belonging and excitement as I entered these oh-so-familiar doors. I actually feel insanely out of place! Maybe it's the limp I'm sporting today because of my injured foot (see paragraph below for more details), but for some reason I feel like everyone is looking at me funny. I've checked my zipper, zipped. I am 98.9% sure I put on deodorant AND perfume today. I brushed my hair and my teeth, I don't know what's into these people! Maybe I'm just noticing it more than usual, who knows. My point is, my first day back on campus hasn't been the sunshiney, skipping day I thought it would be. It's a blizzard outside, my foot feels broken, everyone is looking at me weird, and I'm carrying twice my weight in books. Not to mention my classes are terrifying me so far.

*sigh*

So, about the foot. Yesterday I was looking for some batteries for my new cookie press I got for Christmas. I was really excited to use it and I was bound and determined to find some dang batteries. I ventured into the office/weight room/sewing machine room where I was sure I would find at least a couple of AA's. As I made my way to the desk, I stubbed my toe on the leg of the chair. This wasn't a typical "stub" either. I rammed it pretty hard and even heard a couple cracks. I went down immediately. I then summoned the strength to walk in to where Tony was and tell him that I was hurt, and I thought it was bad. He promptly gave me some ice to put on my pinky toe and asked if I'd like to take a relaxing trip to the ER. I hate the ER so I said I'd wait. The pain is still there and it kills me to walk on it. This morning I even stubbed it AGAIN on some dumbbells we have in that same room. I was going to go to the Health center to get it checked out but other circumstances (rusted screws on my liscence plate preventing me from changing my old, expired plates to my new ones) caused me to get to school right on time for my first class. Hopefully it's okay, it just HURTS man!

For all you who are wondering what it's like to get back to real life after the holiday break: it's not that great, just keep having Christmas :)