Butts and Guts.

Lesson of the day: I need a motivational fitness instructor for me to really get anything out of a fitness class.

I am going to take advantage of the fitness center as much as possible this semester to get rid of my belly fat forever. I am just going to take it 5 lbs. at a time though. I went to Butts & Guts for the first time. The instructor for Butts & Guts didn't seem to be as motivational as the Spin & Core instructor was the other morning.

I am looking forward to Spin & Core tomorrow morning even if the bike seat makes my bum hurt. I felt so pumped and energized during and after Spin & Core. The instructor was really helpful and really made me feel like I, of all people, could do it.

I've been really shy about my fitness level in the past but lately I've been getting over that more and more with the help of some very wonderful friends of mine.

The urge to lose weight came to me my senior year of high school. That is when I started to feel like I was becoming overweight. Since then I have gained another 20 lbs. or so. I want to lose enough weight so that I am the same size or close to the same size I was in 10th grade.

I know that your outward image isn't supposed to matter so much and I know that it is really about the person who you are. That's the dilemma. I don't feel like my innerself and outerself match up. One wants to do certain things but the other one isn't happy with it. So I have a conflict and hopefully taking advantage of the fitness center and going to Spin & Core every Tuesday and Thursday will help me to resolve the conflict.

What would I ask?

Click me. --> What would you ask a world leader?

Today isn't really a lesson it is more of a thought. I use iGoogle as my homepage and I have a gadget for spotlight videos. This is the one I saw today. It got me thinking about what I would ask our world leaders. I guess the lesson for the day is to start thinking more about what is going on in our world and what is going on right outside our back door.

The biggest question on my mind is how can we promote peace and the general welfare of all mankind? What will it take for us to get along better than we do now? What sorts of compromises should we make with other nations so that we all can benefit equally?

These question are by no means easy questions and it will take a long time for an answer to be reached. There are other questions that may be a bit more answerable right now. Like, what are we doing to promote green living? Or, how can we make college free in the United States?

Canceled.

Another valuable lesson for the day: Americans and Brits spell words differently.

Canceled = American version

Cancelled = British version

Since we(my facebook friends) live in America, we should spell it "canceled."

Windy situation.

Lesson of the day: buy one of those really ugly ski masks that cover your whole face if you have to walk outside in northern Minnesota.



I have about a 200 yard walk from my apartment door to the library door on campus. Sometimes it is warm and sometimes it is cold and really windy.

Today on the way to class there was hardly any wind worth mentioning. It was sort of balmy and a rather comfortable walking temperature. On the way back from class was a different story. It felt 10 degrees colder and the wind was constantly in my face.

I really need to invest in a ski mask.

It was also slopping wet outside because we are having really strange weather for it being the middle of January. We had a rain record on Saturday. It has been unusually warm so the snow isn't really a powder it is more of a sticky slush. My tennis shoes are soaked so I should also invest in some galoshes which are only slightly less ugly than the ski mask.

Ants on a Log.

Lesson of the day: celery, raisins and peanut butter ARE NOT a substantial meal. Sure they taste good and are somewhat filling once you eat them and for a short time after but they WILL NOT tide you over through class.

I am going to try to lose some weight before I head to Vegas in 2 months and I have been trying to eat healthier and in smaller portions then I am used to. For lunch today I had ants on a log. I had about about 2 stalks with peanut butter and raisins on them. They were plenty filling at the time.

About two hours later in the middle of lecture I felt the hunger really set in. My stomach growled louder than it ever has before. The students around me looked at me funny. I felt like people were watching me for the rest of the class period.

I may add an extra stalk for lunch tomorrow. To hell with it, maybe I'll have some grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup instead. At least I'll be full through class.

Double check.

Lesson from yesterday: make sure your boyfriend packs all of his clothes back up and double checks to make sure all of his items are accounted for.

My boyfriend was up visiting for a few days and ended up leaving an outfit and his toothpaste at my place. He also left beef sticks and string cheese. I could use the t-shirt as a comfy pajama shirt though. I guess that is a nice thing.

I'm paying tuition just to read books.

Another quick lesson for the day: I am paying 8 grand a semester to read books and analyze them. I could do this for free! Is there a way that I could independently study a whole bunch of books and still be able to get a job?

What if there was a list of the 50 best books of all time and I read them all and then kept documentation of that. What if I journaled about all the the books and analyzed them from so many different points of view. Wouldn't that be the same thing as what I am paying tuition for?

Maybe I should change my major to something useful? I think I am going to go to school for the rest of my life. I want to major in everything.

Jay Leno is not funny.

Lesson of the day: Jay Leno sucks. I've actually known this for a while but decided to hold my tongue. It has just gone too far. Conan and Jay are really the only talent that NBC has and NBC refuses to let either one go.

In 2009 Conan got the time slot that Leno had been at before but Leno didn't want to give up the night time television yet. So he got a primtetime slot where normally there would be a television show that brings in actual ratings. Since no one is interested in Leno, no one watches. Which also means that no one is going to watch the news and no one is going to watch Conan.

What a freaking tragedy! I tell you what. I would not cry for a second if they were going to boot Leno. He should move on to something else and not take up primetime slots. If NBC knew what was good for them they would move Leno to a later time slot and bump Conan forward. Heck, I think Carson Daly could bring in more viewers than Leno.

Financial Aid.

Lesson learned today: never depend on financial aid for money.

Last semester I got a refund check for a little of a thousand dollars. This semester I am only getting 679 back. I was supposed to get a little over a thousand again but they aren't paying me the other 500 hundred because my financial need is not high enough.

Hopefully I can get a job this semester somewhere for at least 10 hours a week. It would be really nice to be making 50 bucks a week at least to buy groceries and keep my savings account happy.

Teen parents.

Lesson of the day: don't post stuff to Facebook, or any other social networking site, that could be about 10-15 people who you are friends with.

One example, bad talking teen pregnancy when some of your friends are teen mothers. I don't necessarily support teen pregnancy but it happens. One teen mom can make a whole generation of teens look bad. Teen mom after teen mom adds to the statistics. It's not something I want for me or any of my friends.

They say that teen mothers aren't as good of mothers as a 25 or 30-year-old but I don't necessarily find that to be true. I know parents who had there first kid at 26 and they can be neglectful and act like they don't care. I also know people who were pregnant in high school who are very loving and kind parents.

Some teens can pull it together and make enough money to house their children and feed them but at what cost to them. They removed the chance for some opportunities like college and traveling while they are young. Some teen mothers face depression and anxiety because a baby is a lot to handle. It's not easy being a parent at any age really.

Being responsible for how someone grows up is a BIG responsibility so it should be taken seriously and there should be lots of thought about the future and there should also be planning.

Growing up.

Lesson learned: I am resisting growing up. While everyone around me is growing up and doing adult-like things like paying bills, dieting and getting ready to sign leases - I am trying to put all of them off. Resisting them with a fiery passion.

I'm scared. Scared of not having enough money to eat. Scared of going into debt. Scared of being left with others responsibilities if they fall short of their commitments. Just scared I guess.

I want to grow up. I do. It's nice to think about having a house of your own and being able to furnish it how you please and share it with whoever you want to. I want to have my own car. Pay for my own insurance and other bills. I'm scared to take any initiative towards that though.

When people told me that college was hard, I never imagined that it would be this hard. I thought the classes would be more difficult but they aren't really. The hard part of college is learning how to really take care of yourself and being away from your family. Getting a job at college can be a struggle. Making friends can be a struggle. In your late teens and early twenties most people are still trying to figure out who they are and they have to be thinking about where they want to go with their lives too.

I'm struggling with that. I love English. I love reading. So, of course, I am taking up English at college. I have no idea what I want to do with it really. I think I might like to teach or go into publishing. I just don't know. I'm scared that things won't pan out the way I want them to.

I used to think of myself as outgoing-free-spirited-not-afraid-of-anything kind of person but now I am not so sure. I want to be able to just do something and not be scared of what is going to happen. I want to be able to make more decisions and be able to deal with the outcomes if they are not what I expected.