Engaged Learning- My "ah-ha" moment about my education.

I'm a senior in college, almost done with my Bachelor's of Science in Business Management. This week has been the very first week where I'm not watching the clock during class, and when class is over all I can say is "I want more time!".

For the first time in my entire life, I had a class that was too short, and that I didn't want to end. Don't get me wrong, I have had many interesting classes that I enjoyed going to. Classes that I loved learning about. But during class, ultimately I was just there to fill a seat until it was over.

The big difference this semester? It's going to sound really simple, but it is an amazing difference.

I read the chapter before class.
I turn my phone and tablet off during class.
I participate in group discussions.
I do all of the questions at the end of the chapter.

Yeah. It's that simple. All you have to do is make the effort to be part of your education, and not just get an education.

Class went from only taking copious amounts of notes and stressing over every little thing, to taking a few notes and learning a whole lot more. I'm not worried about any quizzes or tests now. I finally figured this out.

I may do a post on how I read textbooks, a modified version of what my AP Bio teacher tried to get us to do in High School, but that's for later.

And now, in resounding UVU fashion, a complete lack of school spirit, I bid you ado.

Weekly update(ish): Paleo, car accident, new job

So last week was Teddy Beast's b-day. It was a rather eventful week. I remember Teddy Beast saying that he had a feeling that last week was going to be a bad week, I didn't really believe him. I thought it was just going to be a normal finals week, but I was so wrong.

We went up to Salt Lake and wandered around, grocery shopping. Yes. We're the kind of awesome people that go grocery shopping for a sexy date. Exploring Trader Joe's and Whole Foods was fun, we figured out it's actually cheaper to pay gas to drive up there to go grocery shopping. Funny, huh? High quality and organic foods were the same price or less than most of the conventional stuff we can find down in Orem. We also found two amazing bakeries. The first one, Vosens, was amazing! Teddy Beast was thrilled to find the same pastries he had in Germany. The cheese danish was amazing! It was flaky, buttery, and cheesy; with no sugar after-coma. Pure bliss!

Here it is! http://www.vosen.com/ Tiny little place next to a storage unit, but it was worth the trouble finding it. Mmmm. We're going here again tomorrow, it's that good.

We also found a more French Patissere, with all these frou-frou desserts. They were amazing, and not super sweet either. I want to know where European pastries have been all my life. Amazing bites of heaven, instead of sugar frosted with sugar held together with more sugar and a bit of flour. The cannolis were amazing, and the rosemary cookies. Oh wow, I'm having a flashback foodgasm.

Overall, it was an amazing day. Until the drive home. We got on I-15 and quickly realized there was a huge accident, so we took a detour over to I-80 and down state street. While waiting at the light on the off-ramp, some guy with a huge white truck rear ended us. I pulled over into a nearby lot, thinking he'd be a good person and follow. I was just going to say it's all good and let it go, but he rushed out of there like he was late for something. Long story short, we waited for about an hour for UHP to show up. About the time UHP showed up was about the time I was losing coherent thought, getting nauseous, couldn't move my head, and couldn't hold a fist. I'm glad we decided to report it. After filing the report and everything, we started the drive home. I just got worse the further we drove. We got back to the point of the mountain, and I knew I wasn't going to make it home. I could barely hold onto the steering wheel, and could focus on speed or staying in my lane. We met my parents at the ER so I had a way to get my car home. It turns out I didn't break anything, just got a concussion and whiplash. Still have no idea where it all came from since I didn't hit anything and the airbags didn't go off.

After a few visits to the chiropractor I'm starting to feel better. I still have 12 more weeks or so of treatment. And the worst part? I can't use weights over 10 lbs T_T So not fair. I have enough problems maintaining muscle mass, I don't need a 2 month forced vacation from actual weight lifting. I guess I'll get over it? And just move onto less intensive stuff. Maybe. I'm going to miss my weights.

Flufflepuff- IRL

So I found this picture on icanhascheezburger, and all I saw was flufflepuff. Made my day!

Fluffle puff reminds me of using some recreational substances without any of the side effects, other than Teddy Beast leaving the room and not coming back.

If you're not familiar with flufflepuff, the following videos pretty much explain everything.

First, "Kiss Kiss"

Lolz.

Next, "PFUDOR"

See? I was nice and only posted the 2 minute one, not the 10 min, 10 years, or any of the other terrible ones.

This week's menu! Paleo all the way!

For this next week, we're doing just paleo, no cheat days or anything. At least for me. It's Teddy Beast's b-day on Tuesday, and he said he's going to eat whatever he wants on it.

Those meat wraps are really pretty awesome, just like a regular wrap sandwich, just without the bread part ;)

Saturday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Rotisserie Chicken (buy at Harmon's before work)
Green salad (buy at Harmon's before work)

Dinner:
Meat Wraps
  recipe here

Sunday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Meat Wraps
  recipe here
Paleo Sushi
  recipe here

Dinner:
Steak
Sausages
Grilled Veggies (zucchini + shrooms)

Monday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Spinach Frittata
  recipe here, it is in Czech, but you can get the drift through googlelate

Dinner:
Bacon sausage explosion
  basically a bacon weave filled with ground meat, some cheese (not 100% paleo), and veggies

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Shrimp Scampi
  recipe here
Zucchini noodles

Dinner:
Meatloaf
  recipe here
Baked Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Meat Wraps
  recipe here
Paleo Sushi
  recipe here

Dinner:
Ribs
Assorted veggie matter

Thursday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Meat Wraps
  recipe here
Paleo Sushi
  recipe here

Dinner:
We'll figure it out when we get there

Friday:
Breakfast:
Fruit Salad
Granola
   recipe here
Coffee

Lunch:
Meat Wraps
  recipe here
Paleo Sushi
  recipe here

Dinner:
Texas Chili
  recipe here, we just use about 3-4 lbs of meat total

Snacks:
leftovers
fruit
cashews
almonds
  do some spicy roasted ones, recipe here

Paleo Banana Bread, Take 2

Last time, the banana bread was tasty, but it didn't come out quite right, and was greasy. This time around, I've cut down on the fat, and also added some chopped walnuts and pecans.

Paleo Banana Bread, Take 2

4 ripe Bananas
4 Eggs
1/4 c Butter
1 T Coconut Oil
1 T Cinnamon
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla
1/2 c Almond flour

Oven 350 F

1. Mash together bananas, butter, oil, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla.
2. Stir in eggs.
3. Mix in almond flour.
4. Pour in greased loaf pan.
5. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Weekly Update- Life is Busy.

Life has gotten super crazy lately. Teddy Beast is working full time, and on an afternoon shift. I currently have two jobs and a full load of classes. Pretty much the only time we see each other is at the gym, which is nice. I used to loathe the gym, but given the option of never seeing Teddy Beast or going to the gym, I'd rather go to the gym. It is well worth paying for the membership to keep our relationship healthy.

The Paleo diet is going well. Teddy Beast is still doing mostly low carb, but has added in tons of fruit. I'm just happy to see him eating more than bacon, sausage, eggs, and steak. I've slowly been getting him to try more fruits and veggies, and so far, the only ones he likes are the sweeter ones. I never realized that someone could be this picky about food! He reminds me of my siblings and their issues with the texture of foods.

On another note, I think I'm gluten intolerant, on top of everything else. For cheat days and even the day after, I just feel terrible! I've tried doing a cheat day gluten free, and I didn't have near as bad of stomach pains after. After doing a lot of reflection, I've decided to just cut out "cheat" days altogether. Most places we go out to eat do have options for Paleo. Now, I know it's not going to be organic or really good quality of meat, but it will be better for me. If any of you are just feeling like crap all the time, instead of an elimination diet, I'd try the Paleo for a few weeks and reassess how you're feeling. I never realized I was constantly in so much pain until it was suddenly gone one day.

Anywho, hope you all are have a wonderful day!

Paleo Blueberry Muffins

I decided it would be a great idea to put my Blueberry cheesecake scentsy blocks in today. And it created this gigantic craving for some blueberry muffins. I went digging around online, and decided to go with a simple recipe.

 The verdict? Next time I'm just going to add in some cinnamon, and a bit of cream of tarter and turn them into snickerdoodles.

Paleo Blueberry Muffins
(adapted from living healthy with chocolate)

1/2 c Almond flour
1/2 c Coconut flour
1/8 t Baking Soda
2 T Honey
1/2 c Water
2 T Coconut Oil, melted
1 Egg
1/4 c Dried Blueberries

Oven 350 F

1. Let dried blueberries soak in 1/2 c water for 30 min.
2. Whisk together honey, blueberries and soaking water, coconut oil, and egg.
3. Stir in baking soda.
4. Stir in flours. It will resemble cookie dough.
5. Fill muffin cups completely, it won't rise up over the top.
6. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.