Good Morning!
What are you all up to today?
Me? Oh, you know, I’m just flying to North Carolina to visit my “twin”!!!!!! And I’m kind of excited about it. To clarify, I don’t have a “real” twin, but she’s basically like my sister anyway. Amy Lee and I were in the same pledge class in our sorority and we got the same big sister, which is why we are called “twins.”
I’ll be honest, and Amy Lee loves to tell people this, I didn’t actually like her at first… Haha, well I just thought she was way too perky and obnoxious. She was an excited freshman, and I was a sophomore who’d been through a rough freshman year and was just so happy to have been invited to pledge at my top choice.
But clearly, since I’m flying halfway across the country during my break to see her, I grew pretty fond of the girl. Amy Lee lives in a small town in NC and I can’t wait to get there and see her, her family, and do some hiking in the beautiful mountains and hills of NC! Luckily it’s ridiculously warm there, or there would be no way we could go hiking!
Here is us when I went to visit last winter break, on the beach in Charleston!
I’ve learned from coming home that’s it’s always best to have my own snacks with me, so since I’ll be traveling to the south, I thought it would be good to bring some gluten-free and soy-free food that I know I can grab if I get hungry. I packed up some granola, some home-made trail mix (almonds, cranberries and carob chips), and a bunch of bars. I also threw in some Truvia for good measure! Haha, who knows?
So remember how I couldn’t run the other day because I had an awful pain in the bottom of my foot? Well I made yesterday a rest day and by the end of the day I couldn’t feel it at all! I told my mom I would go to jazzercise but I really wanted to test out my foot, so I headed to our gym for a 4 mile jog before Jazzercise. And guess what. It went great!
I made it the whole 4 miles with no pain, and still haven’t felt it! I’m considering myself very, very lucky that this didn’t turn out to be a bad injury! Injuries drive me crazy, I love to run!
When I got home, I decided to try out a recipe that I read about in Born To Run: Pinole! I found the recipe on a blog called the No Meat Athlete and wanted to give it a try!
I scaled it down to one serving, so I only put 1/4 cup of corn meal in the pan, and then added enough water to make it a paste texture. I ate it with some Greek yogurt that I’d put protein powder in. I was hoping it would be similar to oatmeal… but it was not. Maybe I did something wrong, but it was very crunchy, and not in a good way. It was alright, but I didn’t even finish it… Haha not a huge fan.
I spent the rest of the day packing, running errands, and getting ready for my trip! I actually had to pack for two trips: one to NC and SC, and then one to Colorado! My mom is picking me up from the airport when I return from SC, and we are heading straight to Colorado, which means I have to leave her everything to put in the car for our trip since I won’t be stopping at home!
Well, my flight leaves at 8:20 am central time, so by the time you read this, I’ll probably be in the air!
Scratch that. Internet was out at my house, couldn’t get it to work at the KC airport, and then I had to pay in Atlanta. So now I’m blogging this from Amy Lee’s house!!! I made it safely to NC!
Have you ever tried a recipe out of a book?
Did you go to college far away from where you live now? Or did you stay nearby for school?
i’m so glad you get to visit Amy Lee!! i hope you two have a great time together.
great idea to pack some snacks with you! i do the same thing just for safe measure. 😉
i went to school near LA, and i was originally from phoenix. my freshman year was really tough for me being away from home and because of all the changes. the rest of my college experience was much better! overall i’m glad i went away for college. i learned so much about myself and about life in general.
I definitely had a rough freshman year too! and I’m also very glad I went away for college, it was a great life experience!
I’ve made lots of recipes out of books – some turn out well, some don’t. As for college – the one I went to was a 5 hour drive from where I lived. Close enough to go home easily but not so easy you could do it everyday.
5 hour drive is a pretty good distance!
I initially wanted to go to college really far from home but after all of my applications were in, I decided I wasn’t quite ready to really break away from my family. I ended up going to UofM which was about an hour from home but felt like a completely different part of the country. It was nice because I could go home or my parents could come visit, but I was also independent!
Have an awesome trip 🙂
I was always so jealous of everyone in college who could just drive home on the weekend! I only went home for Thanksgiving and Christmas since it took so long and cost so much to fly!
You are traveling all over the place over your winter break! How fun! I go to school far away from my home too. That’s awesome you are able to visit your college friends from time to time!
I’m very lucky to get to see them since they all live so far away!
GOOD idea to bring gluten-free snacks down to the south! We have some here, but doubtfully as much as other regions.
yea, I didn’t know what I’d find and didn’t want to be a burden making my friend take me around everywhere, so I thought it would just be easier to bring a bunch!
Yes, I love Giada DeLaurentiis’ recipe books. I’ve tried several of her recipes and I’ve never been disappointed!
I’ll have to try some!
Ohhh I love reunions…fun!
Are you a veg? I can probably find this out pretty easily…
I mess up a LOT of recipes when I first try them. No shame!
No, I’m not vegetarian. I considered minimizing meat, but since I can’t eat soy now it makes it hard to get protein otherwise. Lol I actually posted about eating a bison burger in the post right before this one!
see…it’s all a blur to me! I love bison, but I only eat it when I’m out and about. 🙂
yea I’ve only had it a few times but it’s supposed to be healthier!