Work it!

I recently took up working out to be my routine. It's painful but it hurts so good, sort of. I was sick of feeling like a blob. I'm also trying to eat healthier. I'm trying to do the whole deal and it's hard. I'm not saying I sit around and eat chips all day, but I could do a better job of taking care of myself.

My first day of working out wasn't too bad until I woke up the next morning. My legs were hating me. I could hardly bend down without my muscles screaming in protest. I do this thing called the 10 pound shred. I'm not trying to lose ten pounds, just trying to gain muscle. I realize now that the idea of working out is way easier in my head than the actual performance. I do feel better, although I have been slipping back into my old eating habits. Whoops...

I just feel like I'll never achieve perfection in the health department. I prefer sweets over any other type of food in my house and I'd much rather be asleep than sweating on a yoga matt while lifting weights and doing lunges. I hope results show soon because if they don't I'm going to think that all work outs  are a hoax.

Last week felt pretty good. I was eating right and I definitely felt better about myself. I'm going to make sure I keep it up and hopefully it will get easier as it goes. If it doesn't, expect a long complaint on this blog about why no one should work out. For right now, I'm not hating on working out, it's alright.

FINALS

Finals is over. I am back in school. My brain can still not fully function. I calculated that I spent about 30 hours studying! 30 hours!!!! What's nice is that we had a three day weekend but the problem is that I left my brain behind during those three days of relaxing. Every year for finals I always stress big time. This year was worse than before. A lot of my finals were last minute and I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for them. Thank goodness I didn't have a big break out on my face...that would have been embarrassing.

You know the feeling where you just want to ram your head into the wall? That's what I was feeling last week. I woke up so tired this morning that I could hardly see. Everything felt like a blur. I almost wish we had a whole week off after finals just to recover. On the bright side, I didn't let the tests win! I owned through my endless hours of studying.

The best feeling in the world is laying on the couch after a long week of work and realizing you have nothing to do! It's like hell having to prepare for finals, but the enjoyment after is definitely heaven.

I'm already dreading the next finals for the upcoming semester but I am going to be more prepared. It's not going to sneak up on me this time! My goal for this semester is to stay on top of my grades and not get lazy especially since it's going to be right before summer. I refuse to let finals wreck me next time! Second semester finals...Bring IT!!!!

STACKED

Stacked, let's just say it's the new cool in restaurants. My dad took us there for lunch today and overall I loved the experience. I wouldn't say it was my favorite place to eat in the whole wide world but I will say that it is the funnest place to eat.

Picture this, your order is taken by an i-pad. How cool is that!?! So if I wanted a burger, all I would do is press BURGERS, and then I can STACK IT!!! On the i-pad is your burger but on the side are all the toppings. If I wanted onions I would just drag the picture of onions onto the burger and so on. When you're done stacking you press order.

Ordering food feels like it's a video game. What's even more awesome is you get want you want (no mistakes) and then you swipe your credit card into the machine that holds the i-pad and they will give you your receipt or they will email it to you. I swear that in the future all restaurants will be like this!

I ordered this delicious pulled pork sandwich. It was in a nicely toasted hamburger bun with coleslaw on the bottom, the delicious bbq pulled pork in the middle, and then and abundance of delicious onion rings/strips on top! It was so stinking good!

I recommend Stacked for the experience and to enjoy some good food. It's something I've never seen in restaurants before and I think from now on all restaurants should apply technology to food. I loved it and the best part was I had some great quality time with my family.

Les Miserables

Love. Love. Love.

I praise the producers of this movie. It was brilliant, inspiring, and leaves audiences with swollen red eyes . I'm not a crier, especially in movies, but Les Miserables touched me in ways a movie has never touched me before. 

When I say this movie will hit you hard, I mean you are left wrecked. I am all out of tears because I used them up last night in the movie theater at South Coast. I failed at composing my emotions not because it was sad; I felt a deep sense of compassion and love towards the characters.

I must say that Anne Hathway and Hugh Jackman deserve best actress and actor of the year for their remarkable performance. Not only did they sing but they ACTED. I will forever see them in any other movie they are part of as Fantine and Jean Valjean. I love these two because I loved their characters in the movie.

My favorite song of the whole movie was "I dreamed a dream". Our family has the soundtrack from the musical and I have heard "I dreamed a dream" plenty of times. When I saw Anne Hathaway singing with such strength and raw emotion, it was like I heard the song for the first time. She sang the song how it was supposed to be sung, not beautiful and perfect but haunting.

What I love about this movie is I am being told a story, not watching Broadway stars belt loud notes. The actors were true to the story and true to the characters they took on.

 Don't go into the theater expecting you are going to see the Broadway musical. Although none of the actors are second class singers, the movie is more focused on the story. Go see Les Miserables just because it's a great movie with a touching message. If you expect a Broadway musical with operatic voices, where everyone hits the notes just perfectly, go see the lame musical.

Boo to the Flu

So last night I got hosed. I totally have the flu and I feel like the walking dead. I know that this probably isn't the funnest post you'll read from this blog but I just have to write about it since I feel AWFULL.

My biggest complaint is that I am super sore. My muscles are aching which isn't fair because all I want to do is sleep but of course I can't even get comfortable in my bed. By the time I am laying down I am breaking out into sweats and I feel so uncomfortable and disgusting.  I also feel extremely messed up in the brain. I don't think I even got four hours of sleep last night since I was constantly running to the restroom. In a way it hurts to think. I probably have raccoon eyes. I don't even want to bother looking in the mirror since all that will do is depress me.

I think I get partially crazy when I'm sick. I went to South Coast with my mom and sister today and it was just no fun. I don't even like going to South Coast on a good day, let alone a day after I've been doing nothing but throwing up. I ended up sitting outside of the store on a bench. I figured that I'd rather be doing something than sitting on my couch feeling  lazy.

I feel like a ninety- year -old woman inside a seventeen year old body.

I guess the point of this post is to inform all readers to keep yourself healthy. Being sick should so not be on your list during winter break. Make sure to eat healthy, wash your hands, and avoid anyone that has a stomach ache. I wish you all a very healthy rest of your day! (:

Football and Grandpa

My grandpa is the biggest 49ers fan I know which is why of all the professional football teams out there they are also my favorite. My grandpa makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. He's my pal and I'm his sweetheart.

My idea of the best day ever would be sitting on the couch watching the 49ers play while my grandpa and I are yelling out lame calls and cheering on awesome plays. In all honesty I just yell out what my grandpa yells out and I pretend that I know everything there is to football. I do ask him what a call for a play meant and he explains it to me, but I never remember. The only time I ever watch or care about football is when my grandpa is around. Once I'm at his house or he's at mine football becomes the highlight of our day.

I'll never forget, one Monday evening my gramps and I were both on the couch watching the 49ers. I made sure I was wearing my glasses just like my grandpa was so I was catching every play in high definition. We huddled under our blankets since it was a cold evening in Walnut Creek, California. The only light in the room was coming from a small lamp on the stand beside us and the tv screen. It was in the fourth quarter when the 49ers had the ball and the Lions were slowly starting to catch up.

Our eyes were riveted to the screen. The two hour football game felt more like 30 minutes. All of the sudden we were both on the edge of our seats when we witnessed the football spirling towards the end zone and a pair of hands caught it. The 49ers had won the game and my grandpa and I were fist pumping. I almost started dancing.

There is something about my grandpa that just gives me the greatest confidence in the world. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always felt so treasured and special to my grandpa. He always has my back in everything I do. My grandpa is so cool that he will walk into Forever 21 with me and pick out sweaters and shirts that I absolutely love and has me try them on. He would be in that store for hours as long as it made me happy. I remember one time I had a huge history project and my grandpa, the smartest man alive, sent me links to all sorts of fantastic information that I was able to use for my project. The best part is, I got an A on it! On Halloween, he took the time to search through all the candy and find me a Reeses since they are my favorite. I just know he loves me by all those little acts of kindness he sends my way.

I love my old man to infinity and beyond.

Cute Brother

In my family we have three girls and one boy; we feel bad for the boy. Not only is the boy the only one of his kind other than my dad, but the boy is the youngest. The boy has had to watch barbie movies, disney princesses, and dance shows. The boy's name is Jake Johns and I love this kid so much!

I remember when Jake was born; he was the biggest pain in the butt. He would always cry and never want anyone but my mom. As he grew up, my love for him has just grown and grown. He's my baby brother and I adore his cute little face. The best thing in the whole world is coming home from school and hearing Jake say, "Aly, you're beautiful" while he gives me a huge hug.

Jake and I have our disagreements for sure. I annoy Jake and Jake annoys me. I remember one time we were at the park and he was really bugging me so I chased him around  and pinned him to the ground. I guess he didn't like it because he ran home crying which resulted in more running for me and a whole lot of apologies to a slammed door in my face. Another time Jake was irritating me while I was being ever so studious and doing my homework like a good child. I decided to up his annoyingness by talking back to him in a sarcastic voice. We both bothered my mom so much that she banned us from speaking or looking at each other for the rest of the day. At least we never got sent to our rooms because it has happened.

With our ups and downs, moments like Wednesday morning remind me to cherish my little brother. I was up at the crack of dawn to get ready for school when I saw a note on the kitchen counter. It was a letter addressed to Santa Clause from Jake. I read it and about died of cuteness. Here is the letter that my cute little brother wrote to Mr. C with translations for clarification. 

" Dear Santa, I hope you are reading this because I love you a lot. You give me toys and all I have to do is play with them and you never ask for anything in reatern (return) and I think thats speashall (special). P.S. Tell Roodaf (Rudolph) Jake says hi and tell Scooter (Johns Family Elf on the Shelf) that Jake says hi and that Jake also says have safe fly here."

I adore how innocent and adorable Jake is. I don't want him to grow out of believing in Santa Claus, giving me lots of hugs, always telling my mom that he loves her (even when his friends are all standing right there), his sensitive feelings towards others, and well his cute little boy face! I'm proud to say that I have a little brother who never stops adding to the adventure, laughter, and cuteness in my life.