I am going to try to be quick about this letter on Yahoo that has circled through my Facebook feed for a while. I am tired, a little frustrated, and annoyed that I saw this when I was tired and a little frustrated. Read the article and then read my outline of my thoughts for I don’t feel like writing a complete essay but do want to put my two cents in. I will probably end up writing an essay. Sorry.  I am not a fan of Beyoncé but don’t think she deserves this much criticism. I also don’t think Michelle was trying to tell people that she wants her daughters to be sex symbols either.

1. I get it. This isn’t good for those women who are being taken advantage for for their bodies. I understand. I cry for them. I pray for them. I don’t feel their pain but I feel their pain, their sorrow, their despair, their loss of trying, their feeling of worthlessness etc. etc. etc. It is there. Sex trafficking is rampant. I am not trying to diminish its presence or the horrible effect it has on young American women (and men) today. What I am saying though is that Beyoncé did not cause this. Beyoncé is not perpetuating this motive, this filth that is trafficking. It is indirect you say. People want to dress like her. They want to be sexy like Beyoncé. They want to sleep with a Beyoncé. They want to have power over a Beyoncé. Yes, men will want to screw someone with sex appeal or with breasts, hips, and thighs. They will want to take advantage of them to validate their own masculinity and soothe their insecurities. To be cynical, some men will always want that. Beyoncé alone will not solve the trafficking problem. That needs serious personal initiative, government initiative, community initiative;it needs a collective tsunami of force to weed out and save our women. Beyoncé can’t perpetuate this horrible culture alone and she can’t cure it either. This is a distraction from the true issue at hand. Don’t bash Beyoncé thinking that will help. Get up and get out and volunteer. Start something. Get off your ass. Write letters to Congress. I don’t know. Don’t destructively criticize. Criticize and provide an alternative.

2. I think it is funny when people criticize women who show their bodies. Now, I totally understand this. It is a distraction, it is demoralizing, women are more than their bodies blah blah blah. I think it is funny how we don’t criticize men in muscle shirts or why we don’t freak out when men are shirtless. Rough comparison, I know, but it works. Men don’t have curves. They don’t have breasts. They don’t have hips. It is an automatically uneven comparison. Women are automatically treated different because, well, we are. (But we shouldn’t be treated differently for things we have in common with men like the brain) We definitely don’t break men down when they strip. No. We make Blockbusters out of it and hire them for bachelorette parties. I bet if your fiancé got a female stripper it would be a whole other ball game, eh? Boobs are boobs. Ass is ass. Hips are hips. Beyoncé has them. She shows the world that she is prideful in her sexuality. Beyoncé is woman. Yes, goodies do bring boys to the yard. Sorry. We (yes, girls and boys) are programmed that way. I am so sorry to be crass but no one can screw a brain. It is needed for the total appeal but appearance catches the eye and attraction (at times) first. “COVER IT UP!” you say. Why? Is she 13 and too young to understand or easily taken advantage of? No? Then I think that is alright. Is she selling her body? Um physically no, but she sure is using it and why the hell not? Some sex appeal ain’t hurt nobody. We don’t freak out when Justin Bieber strips at a concert to PRETEENS. *shudders*  We don’t freak out when our favorite boy bands hump and grind the air. Oh haha! Boys will be boys! No, you don’t have to show your goodies to be famous. You don’t, but she wanted to and it is a free country sorta kinda right? She owns her sexuality. There are some days she wants to demand, some days she wants to tease and other days where she wants to cater. I bet there are some days where you would do that too for your man. I bet ya. I bet ya he would love it too MHMMM.

3. “She already has a brilliant voice. She doesn’t need to sell her body or sell sex.” What if she wants to? What if she wants to be sexy? She is trying to appeal to the population and to her fans! I mean good boogly woogly she isn’t saying “eff me in the ass!”.  In this day and age we need to be entertained. She is trying to make a living! She is in this industry that nearly demands it. Does that make it right? No. How can we change that? Well, we could start by listening to  Adele. LOL. I love her but seriously nobody’s perfect. We can start by not listening to every song that talks about sex. Now that’s realllllly hard. We can stop with those crazy short shorts. Like those are honestly just bad. We can boycott Victoria Secret and their push up bras (Guys come on. I love their stuff). We can stop slut shaming. Good Lord we need to stop that.  Annnd I don’t care to type about this anymore because you probably haven’t gotten this far down.

4. PARENTING. If y’all are so scared about your girls idolizing this horrible, sexualized human being teach your girls what you want them to know. It isn’t up to the entertainment industry to teach your children. It is up to YOU. You don’t like Beyoncé because you don’t like what she stands for and you think that women should be thought of for their brains. Well, GIVE THEM SOMONE TO LOOK UP TO. Look at yourself. Are you a good role model? Yes? No? Show them professors, deans, doctors, engineers, artists who just happen to women. Try and be your best you for them! Tell them that it is okay to love your body, but you must respect it for boys or for girls. If I had a daughter who wanted to have low cleavage and shorts up her crack I wouldn’t be happy but I would totally tell her that that is unflattering and so not attractive. Like, we are animals. When stuff hangs and sits up and stuff, our sexual nature just comes out. So, calm that down so we can do normal human stuff since we are so superior to every other animal species.  There is (in my opinion) a better way to display your sexuality and your beautiful body. If I had a son who happened to get a six pack, knew he was hot, and decided to sleep around I would be livid. I would tell him that he is not living up to his potential. Just like his sister/fellow woman, he has a brain and that it is what should be prized. He would then need to put his dick back in his pants and learn how to respect himself, his fellow boys, and women for promiscuity is lack of control. Lack of control is lack of maturity. Controlled chaos is the best medium. HAHA. I must be tired. This is starting to make no sense. Oh well. Just teach your kids what you want them to know and love without it hurting anyone else because that just isn’t cool. That isn’t the government’s responsibility. It isn’t any industry’s responsibility. It is yours. Buck up.

-FIN-

I think I have finally solved the trouble with my one true food weakness. YES. I have. I will no longer have that horrible guilty food hangover where I ask myself: Why!? Why did I just ingest all that food! It is going straight to my ass! My stomach hurts so bad but it felt so good!

No. NO LONGER because I have done what many others have done and have taken the advantage of the fruits of the earth.

What is it you may ask? What is this miraculous revelation that I have had?

SPAGHETTI SQAUASH

I have finally found the magic of spaghetti squash albeit late. Ugh, I was always a late bloomer. First of all, this is a magical fruit, tuber, vegetable, whatever-it-is since it goes from this

To THIS

WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT!?

According to Pinterest, food blogs, and personal trainers this is a fantastic substitute for pasta. I had been meaning to try it for eons and just never picked it up at the grocery store. So, tonight, I decided to give it a whack.

First of all, I didn’t know how to cook it. If you just look at the outside it is very perplexingly deceiving. Then when you open it, it’s a pumpkin. Like, with the goo and the seeds and the sticky stringy guts. Um, what? What kind of genetic engineering did this poor species have to go through? I then placed the clean, gutted halves in the oven, let them bake, and when soft I yanked them out and began to enjoy the magic of making my non-carb spaghetti. It was therapeutic to say the least.

Then the magic happened. I intended on using marinara sauce and eating it like spaghetti but mama wanted CHEESE. I only had vegan cheese (my vegan phase was a mistake and short-lived), almond milk, and mozzarella in my fridge. Holy cannoli this was going to be a weird mac and  cheese, but I had faith! I quickly whipped up a cheese sauce, folded it in the squash, and threw it in the oven.

To cover up the almond flavor I added more salt because salt is crack and makes everything better. Unfortunately almond is stubborn and persisted in flavor. If I had used cow’s milk the flavor would have been even better than it had turned out. I also would have probably used less cheese sauce since squash is not pasta and it absorbs liquids much better. Despite these mishaps I was very pleased with the result. It was gooey and delicious and can only get better with more attempts. When stress ensues and I look for my faithful calorie packed remedy, I can feel less guilty about it!

Success!

According to this msnbc article these are the best jobs in America. Take a looksee!  According to the article, online employees are the best because that area is fast-growing and has many opportunities. Personally, it probably has a lower level of stress as well. Most of you know that I am working towards getting my MD. Those fields are generally in the middle. They are stressful and require more school than many of the other occupations.

The one profession that caught my eye was the obstetrician/gynecologist and the general physician. These are the two areas of medicine that I was interested in. The general physician, according to the image, has a high satisfaction rating. I am assuming this is due to patient/physician interaction. I can remember by childhood pediatrician (okay so she wasn’t a general physician) and how she knew everything about me and practically watched me grow up. There is a connection there.

What I am guiltily excited about is the salary of the OB/GYN. It is healthy salary. Why am I excited? I will be able to pay back my loans! Ah, you thought I just wanted to get rich? Nope. There are plenty more ways to do so through much easier avenues.

Another thing to look at is the breakdown of the work force by gender. There are still less women in the work force than men. GAH. There is still much work to do. The gap is closing, however. I am excited about that.

Also, there are more black women in the workforce than black men. OH MY GOODNESS NO. This has to change. Out of the four ethnicities displayed, this is the only category that displays this phenomenon. I am not going to even begin to attempt to list the possible reason for this because I have not researched it and don’t want to dwell on it either.

As usual the medical field is pretty safeguarded against changes in the economy and fairs pretty well. Yay for my future!

Is your dream job up there? How did it do recently?

Alright everyone I am back! Like, I am actually doing this in under ten days. YAY. Now, if you don’t remember, I am speaking about five truths that I have learned over the course of 4 years of college. Today, I will be speaking about number 3. I know, it is out of order, but eh who cares!

1. People will put you in a box no matter what you have done.
2. Misery loves company (a very known fact, but reinforces itself with lifetime progressions). You get negative vibes at the most surprising moments.
3. People will use you. Accept that. Help them. It will pay off in the long-run (so people say)
4. You have to be happy with yourself. Ultimately you wake up with yourself. It doesn’t matter who you wake up with. They are not responsible for your happiness. So, take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.
5. You have to let go.

Everyone has been used in some way or some form. I am lucky to say that I have not been used that much, but the few times that I have I was annoyed, selfish, and reluctant. I either promptly said no or gave them what they wanted through gritted teeth. I could hear the change in the pitch of their voice in slow motion. Slowly and steadily the pitch rose as the end of the sentence drew nearer. Their eyebrows dramatically rise and they open their eyes a little bigger than normal. The puppy dog face. It’s coming. It’s coming! An ache in my belly grows. No don’t do it. Don’t ask me anything. If I can’t hear you it didn’t happen. Lalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I hastily pretend to be preoccupied with something, but end up looking like I’m trying to juggle during a seizure. Then, it arrives.

The Question:

“You wouldn’t believe what happened to me the other day…”

“Something came up..”

“Do you mind…”

“I would be so grateful if you could…”

It doesn’t matter how they phrased the question. All that matters is that it was always a question. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Of course people are going to ask small favors. Of course! Well, you’re right. BUT…and don’t kill me over this…favors become less favorable over time. Which leads me to…

The consistency in frequency

I don’t mind picking you up from a sketchy place at 2 am. I don’t mind picking you up from the airport that is 15 miles from the city at midnight. I don’t mind giving you my notes if you missed class. I don’t mind doing a lot things once, twice, a few times, but when it starts becoming a commonplace habit…that’s where I start to get itchy with annoyance. I go straight childish.

“I promise this is the last time”

“I owe you so much!”

“I couldn’t help it! I had no internet!”

Girl, I know you had some interwebs. I SEE THAT YOU’RE ONLINE and it isn’t with the mobile icon either. Mhm, gotcha! When exam time comes or when a festival comes in town…I can anticipate the increase in favor asking. NOOOOO. I was going to ask you the favor. Ugh. You beat me to it. Damn.

These promises of returning the favor most of the time do not get fulfilled. If they do, it is most likely far in the future, but in hindsight, it doesn’t matter.  Anyways, there are times where I hate getting those texts or emails from those who are repeatedly asking for the same favor. It drives me crazy. It also isn’t like I don’t ask for favors either. I know my ish stinks sometimes. I am not on my high horse. We all do this. I, personally, need to have a better outlook about it. It won’t cause me anymore stress! Nuh uh! Stress makes you fat.

The moral of the story

In order to prevent my ridiculous childish rant, let me get to the meat. You do it. That’s right. You do it. When someone asks you a favor, you do it. Someone once told me that you always make sure that you don’t have any favor “debt”. Meaning that you make sure that you give out more than you take in. Don’t owe anybody anything. That way, you have positive points so to speak. You can essentially cash in on these points later in time.

“Hey, remember that time I did x,y,z? Yes? Well, do you mind doing x,y,z for me?”

Now this all seems very much like common sense. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” AKA Karma. What goes around comes around, right? Definitely. I don’t know if I am going to hell for this, but karma is real y’all. Karma don’t play.

Another one of my friends said that “life is too short to be mean”. I mean, that’s true, you know. (excuse those comma splices)  Holding grudges and being mean only affect you since the other person can just…walk away or never knows. Again, any kind of stress makes you fat.

Also, don’t ask questions when asked for a favor. At least, ask questions selectively depending on the person. (Of course if this person has a sketchy history, you best ask questions or you’re just a tragedy waiting to happen.) However, in general if a friend, colleague, coworker, or well known acquaintance asks you for a favor and if it doesn’t cause any significant, detrimental harm to you; you do it. Another way to think of it is if you do it, would it significantly change any outcome than if you had not done it? If it doesn’t cause a significant change, just do it.  You never know when good things are going to head your way. They always come at the most unexpected, perfect times.

So, ultimately what I am saying is…

You get the picture. Just do nice things, people. You will get used and that is okay. Don’t sweat the small stuff and be nice to each other. I’m out.

It is graduation season and it is very scary. I mean, come on, I graduate in 3 days shy of a month! Along with the stresses of upcoming commencement and future plans, there is time to think in retrospect. You know how that is. You all of sudden think you’re 60 and have all the wisdom of the world. You look back on your past experiences and shudder in disgust or disbelief or you internally whine for the good old days that were only 3 years ago. Well, that is exactly what I am doing and why not!? College is a transitional, transformational time. You unwillingly learn great lessons. So, to start off, I have learned and have experienced five things that have given me some wisdom to put under my belt. I won’t write about them in one sitting. Ain’t nobody got time for that, but I will start by putting them in a list:

1. People will put you in a box no matter what you have done.
2. Misery loves company (a very known fact, but reinforces itself with lifetime progressions). You get negative vibes at the most surprising moments.
3. People will use you. Accept that. Help them. It will pay off in the long-run (so people say)
4. You have to be happy with yourself. Ultimately you wake up with yourself. It doesn’t matter who you wake up with. They are not responsible for your happiness. So, take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.
5. You have to let go.

These are my five big lessons. I will jump in with the first: being put in a box. This shouldn’t be an issue, but you can’t rush progress, eh?

The setup:

I grew up in a white neighborhood and have had mostly white friends even through college. Blah, blah blah. Because of this I tend to have a “white” voice, “white” antics, and a “white” attitude according to others. Because frankly, what does that all mean and does that really matter? From middle school to the present, I have been put into the box of an “Uncle Tom”. Some people don’t know anything about me, obviously.

The thought process:

I assume I am put into this box because of my voice, my hair (which has become less of an issue), what color my friends are, who people think I am attracted to, and what I am doing with my life.

1. My valley girl voice

My mom and dad call it that. Yes, I have one and I cannot help it. Don’t worry it changes based on who I am around like it should. I mean, would you talk to your friends the same way you talk  to your boss? Mhm. You understand. This has become less of an issue since middle school of course due to maturity, but every now and then I still get those snarky comments:

• “You must be a surprise when someone sees you in person after talking to you over the phone.”
• “You’re so articulate.”
• “You don’t sound like other black people I know.” OH MY GOSH DON’T EVER SAY THIS TO ANY OTHER BLACK PERSON. YOU ARE IGNORANT AND DON’T KNOW MANY BLACK PEOPLE. STOP.

2. My natural hair

It used to be more of a problem, but since it has become a trend the problem has exponentially decreased. The issue was more about my curl pattern.

“Is that your hair?”—> Yes, it is my hair. No, I did not buy it. What is my hair supposed to look like!?

“Are you multiracial?” ––> This comes mostly from other peers who don’t know me, who I’ve encountered on the street or those that simply think that one curl pattern is better than the other. They are obviously mistaken that black people have one kind of curl pattern. I mean white people have wavy, curly, and straight hair. Guess what, so do black people naturally, without being “mixed”. Many of my black peers know this. Some, however, think natural is only beautiful if your curl pattern is less nappy for lack of better phrasing. *Sigh* There is still so much work to do!

“Can I touch it?” –> NO. Don’t pull it. Don’t pet it. Don’t caress it. If you do, I will end up looking like a chia pet who has been electrocuted.

“Have you been natural all your life!? Why? How!?”—> This is a legit shock to people. I have no idea what it’s like to get a perm. I wasn’t allowed to get one though I begged. My parents were fans of natural beauty and told me that changing myself to fit society’s standards was a thing not to do. Now look at everyone. Rocking afros and bantu knots. Where were you 5 years ago!?  No, I didn’t do it to discover who I am. What the hell does that mean? I know who I am. Can’t say the same about you, I guess. No, I didn’t do it for health reasons. Natural has always been more healthy. That is a stone-age fact. It isn’t easy though. Things worth having aren’t easy.

3. Who I hang out with

I don’t even want to waste time on this. Not having a plethora of black friends doesn’t make me any less black. I have dark skin, thick hair, a big ass, thick thighs and big lips. I literally can’t hide it. I also don’t have to prove my blackness. It is just my race. Get over it. I had this problem when I had mostly Latino friends too. My Latino friends knew that I was half Hispanic and have seen black people speak Spanish and weren’t baffled by the fact. My white/black friends thought I was trying to be less black. Like I said before, I CANNOT HIDE MY ANCESTORY. My friends are not who I am. They are people who like the things I like, do the things I like, and are frankly in many of my classes (since freshman year of college). Face it, it is really hard to avoid white people at UT. It takes actual effort to not have white friends, y’all. (Insert whatever exception you want.)

4.Who people think I am attracted to

NO, I am NOT a lesbian. If I were, I would be a really really hot awesome lipstick lesbian and be a badass, but I am not. Just because I don’t have someone that I am “talking to” at every minute of the day, someone who I am screwing, or someone who I am dating doesn’t mean I am any less of a heterosexual female. I just had to do this, but it is so true. It is a stereotype, but that is totally me. HAHA.

“So you one of them girls who like white guys?” This actually happened this week on 6th street with some bouncer. This has been assumed by friends, family, randoms, and others alike. I DO NOT HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR WHITE MEN. If I am with one my white guy friends alone it is worse. Like, I understand we are in the south, but shiiiiii. I don’t see y’all freaking out with that black guy over there who has a blonde girlfriend. What about him!? NO, I AM NOT FULFILLING A JEFFERSON-SALLY HEMMINGS fetish that you THINK I have. ALL CAPS RAGE WITH THIS. To be quite honest, I have been approached in public places by more white and Asian men (yes, I am not lying) than by black men. Could it have been where I was? Yes. Were there black men at those places? Yes. Could I have approached them? Yes. However, I am deathly afraid of approaching anyone of the opposite sex. I get all tongue-tied and awkward. Another thing, I don’t like those who have fetishes/jungle fever. That is weird. I would then be fulfilling their fetish. It becomes apparent once they blurt out something inappropriate regarding my bum or my skin color. I usually recoil in repulsion and curtly saunter off. ANYWAYS. JUST NO. I like everyone. Choosing one race over another to me is selling yourself short. Be with someone whose mind complements and challenges yours. (In my opinion)

Someone who shares this opinion is Brit Pop Princess who is a British Nigerian and married to a British man. These two images are from interracial agenda- like tumblrs. Her response is below.

4. What I am doing with my life/what I have done

This is a little more ambiguous and has no definite personal stance. I have gotten flak from black doctors not being a part of Black Health Professions here at UT and have gotten flak from others about not being in other black organizations. Here is the deal. With black health professions freshman year I simply couldn’t go to the meetings because I had Women in Natural Sciences events (another organization) at those times. It just never formulated. With the others, I joined them and just didn’t like them at the time. It was purely a personal preference. I didn’t feel the overwhelming necessity to be in a black organization. I also didn’t feel a necessity to join any of the divine nine. My family personally has been anti-Greek.  Yes, there were connections. Yes, there were many opportunities provided. However, I got to achieve those opportunities without being in the organization as well. I met with black doctors etc outside of class, too. I used other avenues that I had. For example, my church home in Houston has plenty of black, female, OB/GYN’s. Jackpot. That’s what I want to do and I knew them on a more personal level. I am not anti-black organization. Chill. I just didn’t do it. Also, being of a certain race doesn’t change my ability to do what I want in life (Overwhelmingly–I meant it doesn’t change it. Yes it affects it, but you know it doesn’t change my aptitude). I know there are phenomenal black students here at UT. I know there are black students in the sciences. I see them all the time. They are getting stuff done. Their race isn’t affecting their success at all.

I have heard so much about this:

“You are black. You’ll get into med school” No. This is laughable. This is also not true

“You don’t need as high as a GPA to get to med school because you’re black” HAHAHAHAH So you want me to lower my personal standards? B—, please.

In my head, you have to be just as good or better than your white counterparts in order to succeed. That is what I am working on right now. If I can look past my race and stop playing victim, you will stop only seeing my race and stop treating me like a victim for I am not. I never have been and never will be.

So this is what I have learned. Others will look at you and observe you and make their own opinions about you without getting your input. This will happen until the day I die. However, I now know how to deal with it better: talk to them. Give them your perspective. Don’t just let stuff sit and let incorrect stereotypes and square thinking ensue. Talk.

–FIN–

Alright. I haven’t been updating. I know. Spring Break came (which was fantastic) and then I had a week to play a horrific catch up game as usual. BUT. I am happy to say I have lost 6 pounds and am actually feeling physically better.

I don’t know if I have updated you, but I have updated my diet. Before, I was loosely counting calories and just simply watching what I ate. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped. So, I changed it. I gave myself a 1200 calorie limit and nearly cut out all carbs. Nearly in this case means I only eat carbs before noon or close to it. Once it hits the evening I have carbs only if my calorie limit is under otherwise it is a no-no. On the weekends I eat whatever I want and do portion control. So, I eat that delicious triple cheese quesadilla, but only eat a third or half of it. If I do alcoholic beverages, I do not use high calorie mixers like cranberry juice or orange juice or I order red wine if I am feeling fancy and can afford it. Well, it worked! I am closer and closer to my weight and image (how I look in the mirror and like what I see) goals. A plus is that I actually have been thinking clearer.

Once last weekend hit I binged and ate everything in site. My stomach had shrank so I couldn’t eat it all but almost immediately afterwards I felt sluggish. Especially after breads and sweet breakfast starches. So, I quickly went back to clean eating on Sunday afternoon because I didn’t like that feeling! I guess that is an incentive. I promptly went to HEB to load up on some more spices to add variety to my diet. Like look at my fridge!

I then made lunch for Monday afternoon:

As you know, I am a morning person, but don’t like to cook breakfast. So, I ran to Pinterest like any other girl would do and found these breakfast sandwhiches that you make from scratch, freeze and reheat every morning just like Jimmy Dean sandwhiches. Well, I can tell you one thing: They turned out great!

I got my ingredients together…

Mixed them all together …

Placed them in a muffin pan…

Took everything out of the oven 

Laid out the sandwiches to be made.

Toasted them on the griddle

And packaged them up and froze them! DONE! They are about 300 calories and taste GREAT.

So, overall I feel great and am keeping pretty consistent! All is good in the world. Let’s just hope I can lose more.

Over and out.

Guys. This is awesome. So, my grandmother just Skyped me three times in a row because I didn’t answer the first two times ( I was on ‘do not disturb’). Now, if you don’t know my grandmother…then you don’t know her. Whatever. She is my father’s mother and is has every bit of Panamanian sass that you can have: You gotta be presentable. Sit up straight. Pull your shoulders back. You gotta be educated. Study hard. College is mandatory. You gotta treat people right. Tell your loved ones, friends and family alike that you love them. They need to hear it.   Also, her accent is pretty cool in both Spanish and English. Be jealous. Additionally she reminds me of my dad, but don’t tell him that. Shhh 

Well, Grandma is a very caring grandma and is a fan of whipping you into shape as well. So be prepared if you muck up. This is a taste of what I received today as she was telling me to get my stuff going and to beast everything I do. She boasts at how all 3 of her children are college educated and beyond with blossoming careers and how it is only natural that her grandchildren do the same better. Oh the family pressure. I can feel it suffocating motivating me to do what I need to do to succeed.

Haha, but in all seriousness I loved hearing from grandma and it is blessing having family that is so invested in each other like mine is on both sides: mother and father. I am so blessed I can’t say it enough. Now, with all this pressure I have a permanent boot kicking my rear into gear. It is good pressure of course! So, now I am off to go do some more studying if I don’t pass out like an old lady at 9:30 pm.

PS: Bar Chi was great and tasty! I didn’t pig out too much but you really can’t tell that much with sushi considering you are always hungry an hour after gorging on a few rolls.

Chao!

Alright guys. I am horrible at this, but here is a quick update.

1. Haven’t been going out as much which is great for my pocketbook and my waistline!

2. It is my friend Mandy’s birthday today so I gotta watch out for gluttony!

3. I shared my food today which is a fantastic accomplishment. Eat what you want but not as much as you want and wait a little bit. You’ll be full in no time! Well…satisfied at least.

So that is quick update since my last one. Spring Break is going to be horrible to my goals mostly thanks to the free food and drinks at SXSW. Yikes, but alas, I will have to be behave myself, right? Right!? Welp, we shall see how that goes. At least I will be walking my life away.

Here is the video. Check it out!

 Weird Happening #1

So I have a few weird things to say…well actually one.

I have an acquaintance/classmate that is getting married. This actually is a normal occurrence at my tender age of nearly 22 considering people are so scared of being alone outside of college or that they are just overwhelmingly taken by love, passion and commitment that clearly comes at this age. Well, in this case he is 25 years old and this shouldn’t be much of a surprise, however, he has known this woman for about a month and has only been dating her for about a week. Three days after that week was up, he popped the question and now he’s engaged. She said yes. She said yes. Oh my gosh she said yes. What is going on. Like, he had been living with her too somehow in this timeline. Now, I knew about this engagement near the beginning of the semester, but I assumed he had known her for a sufficient amount of time. Sufficient obviously being a loose term with multiple definitions.

He promptly told our corner of the room the full truth on Monday. Of course everyone was shocked and a small uproar of disbelief ensued. He promptly and sternly defended his choice which he should. It isn’t our business…

…but he brought it up to us so therefore we can pry. We pried. He thought I was crazy for saying that you should know someone pretty well before you marry them because the assumption is that it is for life, you know. He was taken aback.

Him:“WELL THAT TAKES THE MYSTERY OUT OF IT. Why would I marry someone I know everything about!?”

Me: “Why would you marry someone you know nearly nothing about?”

Him: “Well when you know, you know.”

Me: “Um…okay”

Him: “It’s the same reason why arranged marriages work so well!”

*loud uproar from the class*

Me: “I’m assuming you haven’t spoken to many arranged married couples. No ,no, no let’s roll this back. This is just…weird, but whatever. I hope you enjoy your spontaneous marriage. May it last forever…”

*Class starts*

Weird Happening #2

Hace mucho viento on Monday! (It was extremely windy!) I don’t know what happened but the day was beautiful and brisk, but the wind was brutal! I was riding my bike down a road that runs straight through the UT campus when a large gust of wind blew leaves laterally across my face and whipped my hair out of its hair tie. I was momentarily blinded causing me to lose my balance considering I also couldn’t pedal forward at a sufficient pace due to another crosswind pushing me backwards. The result: I teetered over to the side of the street to the amusement of some construction workers.

What can I say? I am quite the entertainer. That day trees fell, leaves couldn’t be found on their respective branches, and I couldn’t run because I have a fear of flying debris. The next day no one was on the running trail when I went on a run. That is how bad it was. They were deterred that much. The wind was like…70 mph! Ay!

Weird Happening #3

Well, not really. There was a sale on liquor at Twin Liquors, a liquor store next to our local HEB. I have never heard of a sale on liquor but yes there is one! Like WHAT! So I did what any alcoholic college student would do. I got my recycle bags and hit that up! They had a sale on literally everything in the store. This is crazy in my opinion, but they are smack dab in the middle of a college city so it is appropriate.

45 minutes later:

Parents, Tios, Grandparents, I am NOT an alcoholic and AM NOT binging on alcohol. My roommate and I just stocked up ahaha. She bought half and I bought half of the above stash. We won’t be buying anything else for another 3 months or 3 years. Perfect timing.

Now, I am not a liquor drinker really. I like wine and beer because I am usually eating it with food and it just tastes good, but liquor burns and hits you really fast which is not pleasant. There are very few things I like. (My side is the right side) I like dark and stormies which is pretty much dark spiced rum and ginger beer. It is really tasty and flavorful and good to sip. Sweet tea is just awesome in and of itself so my roomie and I just had to get the lemonade and tea. We can mix it up! So yes, this one was less weird but I didn’t know this thing just happened. I apparently was the only one who didn’t know these things happened because everyone was like ‘yeah they have one every year!’. Alcoholics-in-training I tell ya.

Welp that is all folks. I am off to watch my friends study because studying Spanish is painful.

Chao!

Hey guys! An update! I’m just gonna dive in. I did a video in Spanish on Wednesday because my Spanish is horrible and I was doing relatively well with this thing…on Wednesday…Here is the video for Wednesday!

Well Thursday came around and this week has been crazy at my campus job at the Dean’s office. Busy weeks usually call for free food. BAD BAD BAD BAD. We ordered thin crust DELICIOUS HOT PIZZA. It was free and was like giving crack to an addict. UGH. I felt so happy and guilty simultaneously. On top of that, I couldn’t work out because I worked late and was exhausted from the added tasks from work and the studying I had to do. So I came home and promptly passed out.

Friday, today, wasn’t any better. I had a fantastically healthy breakfast (Protein plus cereal with a banana and a cup of OJ) just to ruin it with MORE DELICIOUS FREE THIN CRUST PIZZA. You see this happened to me last semester. I gained a bunch of weight just because of the free food from the office. I have always eaten healthy since childhood thanks to mom and dad, but once their influence was gone…POOF…so was my healthiness, Anyway, that happened today around 12. There were also cinnastix. GOOD GOD. I know I filled up because I haven’t eaten since then (It’s 7:30 pm) and I am still not hungry. Oops. Tomorrow is another day of free food because it is the day of UT VIP and Explore UT (the events that me and my coworkers were helping out with).

So yes. This is real life. On a good note I ate very healthily earlier in the week and also worked out quite a bit because I feel better afterwards. Now, at this moment, I am with my healthy cross fit friends right now who are studying and such and we chose to snack on cuties. Healthy brain food! So at least there’s that. Stay with the positive.

Alright y’all. I’m out!