ballet beautiful update and my favorite workout

This morning I woke up early and crept down the stairs to pop in an exercise DVD. I rolled out the yoga mat and completed my third Ballet Beautiful workout of the week. I’ve been doing the Ballet Beautiful: Total Body Workout for about three weeks. I can tell that I’m getting stronger and can better complete the exercises, but it’s still a challenge. I like that the workout has a lot of focus on working both sides of the body separately. My right side is definitely the strong side! But my left side is the more flexible, interesting.

10 contemporary novels to read this summer

As of May 14th, my friend from college and I started a book club blog. We're now living on separate sides of the continental divide and the book blog is our way of staying in touch. I love reading, but I'm finding that I have no idea which books to read or really what the contemporary options are. I've read The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief, but what else is there? In search for literary knowledge, I've joined goodreads. With the aid of goodreads reviews, I've compiled a list of the the top ten contemporary novels I intend to read this next year:

1. The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett

2. Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

3. Goodnight June by Sarah Jio 

Beginning Ballet Beautiful

Well it’s been a while, but I’m back online! After finishing a stressful semester and intense finals, I’m enjoying a little break and trying to get back in shape. I finished Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD and am ready for something completely new. This week I started Mary Helen Bowers’ Ballet Beautiful: Total Body Workout.

stove and cookin' poem

Felt like writing a poem after I finished my pizza tonight. You see, I have a new set of pots and pans I'm looking forward to using. They're still shiny and in the big box wrapped in plastic. Enjoy my poem.

That’s a nonstick surface! They should’ve warned.
Poisonous inside and easily thorned.
Lazy silver spoon or thick metal scraper,
The outer surface thin as grade-school paper.

Thriving Among Change

The world is constantly changing, and figuring out how to thrive among change has been on my mind quite a bit.

At some point we'll find ourselves in a bit of a tight spot, or we may have already been in our share of tight spots. We can't undo the past, but we can choose the future. We choose the future, because we are in control of how we will respond and who we will be among the change.

books I've used in real life

For my humanities 101 class I spent an evening in the library reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was excruciating. Not because of the plot or style, but because I had to sit for three hours straight speed reading. I had to tap my toes and bounce my knee just to keep myself sitting. When I finished the play, I checked off that I’d read it before class and left the library. I still don’t know what happened in Hamlet. I read it too quickly to absorb any of the plot and all I can remember was what is referenced in Freaky Friday. The last time I watched the movie I was like, “there was a ghost?” Apparently this is important to the plot.

Yo Adrian! Brushing My Teeth and Wisdom from Rocky

The last Rocky film, Rocky Balboa, didn't get fantastic reviews. Maybe because the plot was predicable and we had seen five Rocky films before it. Despite this discouraging reputation, when the film was on one afternoon last summer I watched it because it was still more entertaining than 7th Heaven or Dr. Oz. Yeah, I saw most "twists" in the plot before they were even hinted at coming, but a year later I actually have realized I learned something. While watching the credits right after the film there were morals of the story floating around my head, but at the time they didn't leave an impression. But now I year later, while brushing my teeth, it hit me.

Keys Found!

After all that speculation about where I could I hide my keys from myself, I can say for real.

You know where I'd hide my keys? The hood of my coat!!

See if the keys are in the hood, then when you, your brother, dad and best friend check the coat pockets no one will find it. Thank heaven they are found! Bonus: now I have a mystery key from the depths of the couch (pictured).

I think the only reason I found the keys was because my dad was driving to home depot to change the locks. He's the best. :)

Ode to My Keys: Do Not Duplicate

Hindsight tells me that I’ve had this premonition for nearly a week, but now it’s happened. I lost my keys. Not just a home key, but a set of four vital, integral, open doors kinds of keys.

I have lit’rally torn apart my place of residence in search of them. I did find one key in the depths of the sofa, but it isn’t mine and it goes to nothing I own.

Songs of My Soundtrack

I love watching the bonus features to my favorite DVDs. I particularly like to watch the deleted scenes, but they tend not to have an audio soundtrack. I’m amazed how different the movie experience is without music, it’s like eating food without a sense of smell.

10 Ways to Make People Want to Talk to You

One of my personal pet peeves is a dead fish. Not the scaly and smelly kind, but the person that shuts down every attempt at polite conversation. Humans aren’t designed for isolation, we’re meant to be around people and communicating seems to be the most prevalent way we bond with others.

Downton's Decorum and Emily Post

Downton has made me aware of my serious lack of manners. In an effort to be more courteous (Seriously who would rather be the rude Thomas over the adored Anna?) I wanted to know specifically how I could better my manners. I googled etiquette books and began hitting a dead end. I found many sources saying Downton was influential on the resurfacing of better manners and that manners are essential, but few with any specifics of why and how. I headed to the library and found of copy of Emily Post’s 1926 edition of Etiquette so I could personally read the particulars.

The Real Life Influence of Downton's Drama

This afternoon I sat huddled in front of my laptop in an upstairs hallway of the student union building. Naturally, I was scarfing down a cheap calzone. I probably should have been concerned that I’d choke with how fast I was eating, but I was busy watching Downton. Yesterday, Downton Abbey season 4 premiered in the US. I have lit’rally been dying trying not to read online spoilers. Luckily Downton was available online through PBS.

I love Downton for many reasons, maybe I’ll make that list: The 47 reasons why I’m addicted to Downton Abbey. While I obviously love Downton, I wondered if my obsession is affecting my reality (besides my admitted panic when the wifi connection is down). I did a little research and can now discuss with a citation and source how TV shows like Downton are able to affect us.