Things to look forward to

Sometimes I just need little lists like this to keep me going. As a nursing student, I have to make a lot of sacrifices in order to stay on track with classes. This summer, that meant taking two summer classes so that I can start my clinicals in the fall. Its so easy to get discouraged when my friends invite me over to play uno, and I have to say no because I am busy studying alterations of the cardiovascular system. Luckily, the cardiovascular system is my favorite. But still, it sucks alot sometimes. So, here are some exciting things that are keeping my spirits up.

1) This weekend - going to get lunch with my lovely friend Michelle tomorrow, and going to see the beautiful Ben Howard on Monday
2) Pathophysiology is over in a little more than three weeks. Then I will have about two weeks of pure summer bliss. I have to start planning now, because I really want to make the absolute most of those two weeks
3) Living in New Brunswick in the fall, riding my bike around campus, the rock gym being open again, starting clinicals, and working at the computer lab. And hopefully meeting a cute boy doing one of the above?
4) Learning more about cooking. I find cooking so relaxing and satisfying. Its a little time consuming and I hate washing dishes. But I like putting time and effort into making something that is delicious, something that I get to enjoy and something that is good for me. My family eats out a lot, and its really hard to have healthy, balanced meals when you are eating out.
5) Night time runs in the fall. I wish I could be a morning runner, I really do. It would be so nice to run in the morning and spend the rest of the day knowing that I started my day off right. But I just can't do it. I like leisurely, easy going mornings that involve long breakfasts, lots of time in PJs, and a heartbeat of ~60BPM. Even though I'd love to get my runs done early, running at night is amazing. The streets are empty, the air is nice and crisp, it is a relaxing way to wind down a long day. It just feels right.

This is from todays run. Its weird, shitty, cellphone quality, but its all good. I always feel so lovely, and so pretty when I complete a run.

Food and other inspirations.

A while ago I wrote a post, mostly for myself, called How to Avoid Funks (or something like that). While writing it, I kind of felt like an asshole, because I didn't want it to come off like I had figured out the secret to happiness and was bragging about it. It was just a personal post that I could come back to incase I ever fell into a funky place. And here I am now - definitely in a very funky spot. I wont go into the details of my funk, but lets just say that on a scale of 1 to 10, I have zero motivation to do anything. That even includes showers! Its just very weird. So I went back and read that short self help post I created. And it really did inspire me. Its weird, because I can read post from other bloggers on how to get out of funks, and while they will inspire me, they create that sort of very temporary bubble of inspiration in my chest and thats about it. But to know that I was in such a good place and I wrote a post on how to get there - its totally different. It makes me REALLY want to get back to that place. So thats really awesome, and something that I definitely plan to work on.

On a different note, my friends and I have been doing a lot of cooking lately since we all have our own places with kitchens and everything. Its really amazing, and also kind of scary. It really makes me feel like a grown up. Its funny how we rush growing up so much, but once we finally get there, it scares the shit out of us. Or maybe its just me. Anyway, heres some photos of the delicious homemade meals we have been making.

We also had a dinner party a few nights ago. Everyone got dressed up, and a few of us cooked. It was a freaking 4 course meal! Deviled Eggs for orderves, Caprese salad for appetizer, Vegeterian Pot Pie and Seafood Pasta salad for dinner, and Strawberry Shortcakes for dessert. It was so delicious, and it was all homemade - mostly by me and my friend Kitty. It was just so satisfying to talk about the menu for a few days, go grocery shopping, cook, and then see it all come together. And everyone actually got dressed up and looked so spiffy! I'll have more pictures from that later.