It shouldn't be so easy...

Part I:

We need to talk.

Don't worry. I don't have major life problems or anything. This isn't like that post I threw at you where I used phrases like "cry by yourself in the shower." We're not going that deep here.

How do you get things done in your day? Seriously. I'm only going on Facebook twice a day and I'm STILL having issues getting in bed before 1:30. And getting to my 11 AM class- WHICH IS MY FIRST OF THE DAY- on time! What I am even doing??

Well, what happens in my morning? Get up. Stretch. Some days of the week, I eat a bowl of cereal, drink some orange juice, take my vitamin, and have my green tea. I check my email and Facebook, and then go to a couple other websites like the NYTimes, Busted Halo, and One Lovely Life. I also check the weather.
Let me make out this timeline for you: I get up around 9 AM. I usually don't start dressing until 10 AM, and I try to be out the door at 10:25 AM for my 10:40 class, 10:50 (at the latest) for my 11 AM. Is all of that seriously taking me more than an hour?

The same stuff happens at night, around bedtime. Once I'm done with my homework, which usually isn't too terribly late, I check my email and Facebook, Joy the Baker (if I haven't already succumbed earlier in the day), my sports teams' scores, check out Foodgawker, check the dining hall menu for tomorrow, make my to-do list, and do the daily readings. I may also journal. On top of that, I need to do all that regular bedtime stuff like brush my teeth, floss, wash my face, swish Listerine (which I have been really good about this week), etc.
On nights like tonight, I totally could have been in bed at 12:30, ready to get up and do my Friday morning workout at 8:30. What did I do instead? I baked cookies. Really.

They're brownie chip cookies. I got the recipe here when I was trying to bake something for my roommate's birthday last year. They're made with brownie mix and chocolate chips. Super easy and fast. This is what the dough looks like when they come together.

Had to include this because it would have been a great picture had the angle not been so screwy.

Delicious.

Anyways. And now it's 1:20 AM. And I'm trying to get up at 8:30 tomorrow to work out? What is wrong with me? Why am I blogging right now??

Efficiency. That's the mantra for next week. Get up and do stuff. Cut out or do the less-important stuff last. Oy. Failing so hard at that right now.

But on the bright side, I've been a very good girl this week by taking my vitamin every morning and drinking green tea. I've also been flossing and swishing Listerine at least once a day. I've been snacking a little bit less at night, excepting the fact that I have been craving chocolate like a madwoman. It's been a busy week, so I haven't been able to work out as much as I would like, but that's all right. Sometimes you have a busy week and that needs to be put aside. I think next week will get me back on track.

Part II (because I stopped writing that at about 1:30 AM the other night, thinking that maybe I should go to bed like I was complaining about the whole time.):

It shouldn't be so easy to:

Hit the snooze button.

Put off calling your family.

Buy Starbucks.

Eat French fries instead of real vegetables.

Shop online.

Ignore a text message.

Delete an email.

Reject a donation request.

Let your mind wander during worship and prayer.

Stay up late doing nothing of importance.

Grind on a girl without introducing yourself, or even asking her if it's all right.

Grind with a guy, because your friends are dancing with guys too and you don't want to be left out.

Choose to browse Foodgawker for an hour instead of work out.

Eat cookies and chocolate. 

Not eat salad greens and brown rice and other vegetables.

It should be easier to:

Start up a conversation with people.

Say no.

Say yes.

Get up and go in the morning.

Focus.

Give.

See the signs.

Listen to your gut.

Keep from running into anything and everything...all the time.

Tell the truth.

Know the truth.

Can you maybe see where I'm going here/how this relates to Part I? I've been back at school a month already- officially one month today. And when I look at my goals and resolutions, I think I'm doing all right. Could be better, could be worse. Some things are more spectacular than others. And then there's stuff that still leaves me totally dissatisfied. Those are the "It shouldn't be so easy" things. Those things get in the way of achieving my goals. The "should be easier" list? That's the kind of stuff that needs to happen in order to get where I want to be. And it feels like something's in the way.

Ugh. Life. I need to bake something.

Love,

Imara

Here's a song that was really speaking to me this morning. I thought of it outside of its Christian music context. If you watch the video- don't worry. No one dies.

Switchfoot, "Dare You to Move"

New resolutions!

Hello lovelies!

I am happy to report that I am in better spirits and generally in a better place than I was when I posted last weekend. I've had a few experiences that have made me feel a little more affirmed about where I am right now, and that I'm not alone in whatever it is that I'm going through.

In the midst of all my emotional hubbub last weekend, I was unable to write my post about my school year resolutions! I've got sixteen of them this time around, and I'm really hoping I can stick to them better than I have before. I think they're very concrete, doable goals that can very much help me out in the long run. So here goes!

1. Keep track of my finances: Last year, I pretty much just withdrew from my savings at will and didn't have any idea of how much I had left. Luckily, I'm quite frugal, so I made out just fine, all things considered. This year, though, I find myself wanting to spend more and get more things for myself. In a nice development, I have a new job that will make me more money. BUT, I want to build up my savings. So I created a makeshift checkbook for myself on an Excel spreadsheet that tracks every withdrawal, deposit, and charge on my accounts. I've already started it, and it's definitely making me realize how much I'm spending, even on little things!

2. Make new friends: Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all of the friends that I have now and wouldn't trade them for anything. But in the interest of my own personal development, of giving my current friends a break from my regular craziness, and of just liking to hear different stories, I want to keep branching out. To do so, I'm already involved in new activities and hope to keep adding on more as the year goes on, and maybe form a circle of friends from those groups.

3. Bake more: I have really grown to love baking and cooking over the summer, and I just can't see myself giving it up completely while I'm away at school. As you have probably seen, I already made Oreo brownies, and I'm digging for another easy (and hopefully cheap) recipe to make in the next week or so. I'm feeling cookies. But we'll see! The real gist of this resolution is that I like baking things to show people that I love and appreciate them and that I'd like to brighten their day a little bit. So in the interest of spreading the love, I'll be spreading more brownie batter this school year.

(Speaking of food: there is none in this post. Sorry! Go to foodgawker and get your fix. All those people are better and have more money to spend on food than I do, anyways.)

4. Push myself harder with my exercise: I dropped a dress/pants size over the summer. Do you know empowering that is? I'm not saying that the number is important, because it really isn't. What was important was that it proved to me that I was doing something right. I would like to continue doing that this year at school. It doesn't have to result in more sizes dropped. I just want to feel good and healthy. And I definitely feel like I got myself on that track this summer.

5. Do yoga first thing in the morning: I tend to tense myself up a lot in my sleep. Oftentimes I wake up in the morning and I have a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck. I want to try and get in the routine of doing a little in-bed morning yoga/stretching, and then a couple of sun salutations once I'm up. It will help to wake up my body gently, to loosen up and greet the day a little less grouchy, and also to get myself focused and energized, without the use of large amounts of caffeine. Plus, yoga is just plain good for you. I love doing it; I just sometimes forget it in the interest of doing "harder" strength exercises and cardio.

6. Eat more salads: Greens are packed with tons of vitamins and minerals that you really don't get in other foods, and I just don't think that a multivitamin- while amazing and something I totally swear by since I don't get a large variety of fruits and vegetables- can do the same things for you as actual plants. My dining hall also does made-to-order salads during lunch, and they are usually pretty delicious. So there's not much of an excuse to leave out the greens in my diet.

7. Pray a rosary at least once a week: Yup. I'm Catholic. And I'm a big believer in the calming and strengthening powers of the rosary. Many an insomnia-filled night has been eased by that prayer. But I would like to pray it regularly, when I am not just using it to sleep. This is also kind of a goal to get prayer more into my life generally.

8. Collect change for a donation: Occasionally, my dorm will have collections for a charitable organization. And I always seem to be caught a little bit short. So lately, I've been trying to keep the change down in my wallet (which can really be excessive) and store a portion of it away every few days to save up for the next giving opportunity that comes up. Little things really do make a difference!

9. Make creative things in the dining hall: I am very lucky to have a quality dining hall that serves some good food. But I was spoiled at home with an amazing cook for a father, and I get bored really easily with the same prepared dishes over and over again. The thing is, the dining hall consistently has a lot of basic ingredients on hand to improvise a wide variety of dishes. For example, grilled chicken + pasta sauce + shredded mozzarella cheese = chicken parmesan. I can do a lot of things like that, but I just get lazy. No more! The next time I get a craving for something, I'm going to try and make it myself.

10. Read at least two news stories a day: College (well, mine, anyways) is a bubble. Sometimes it feels like the biggest news is that they're serving apple crisp in the dining hall that day. The New York Times is my home page, and I frequent CNN for brief and breaking news clips, so I'm going try and hit up those sites like I've always intended to do.

11. Maintain a weekly or daily "awesome" list. I was inspired by this site, via this blog, to try this out. I haven't started it yet, but I somehow envision just writing things down on some looseleaf every week and maybe using fun colored markers to jazz it up. It sounds like a great way to make you appreciate the everyday a little bit more, enjoy life, and get more gratitude going. Trust me- you CAN find one good thing in your day, every day. I will prove it to you with my list!

P.S. There's a calendar of Awesome. You can find it on the first link. I want it for Christmas. Hint hint.

P.P.S. The second blog? She's fabulous. I wanna be her in like ten years. Good lord. Maybe I'm just supposed to be a housewife and that's why I can't make a decision regarding a career path.

12. Only go on Facebook twice a day: Enough said. It is sucking our lives away. I break this resolution on the weekends, but I try my darndest to keep it during the week. It just helps my productivity so much. Except when I wander over to Foodgawker or Joy the Baker instead. (Let's face it: Joy's my absolute favorite. Writing style, food, humor, photography, relatability, everything. THAT'S who I want to be.)

13. Do my nails and makeup: Why? Because I like to feel pretty. Also, there's just something about having my nails and makeup done that makes me feel put together and ready to go about my day and get stuff done. Sweatpants, no makeup and bare/chipped nails make me lazier.

14. Work out on Friday mornings: So, I have an awesome class schedule. I have one class MWF. After class, I go to work. On T/Th, I have class for five and a half hours solid. Not so good. BUT, I only have one class MWF! And on Fridays, I start at almost noon. Noon, I tell you. And I'm not a late sleeper. So the plan, starting THIS WEEK (roomies, keep me up to this!), is to get up at my normal time on Friday morning, eat a little breakfast, go work out, shower, then eat lunch, and go to class and then work. Then I have all Friday afternoon after work to just chill out, instead of most afternoons where I'm trying to fit in my workout between class/work and dinner and then evening activities and homework.

15. Keep up with daily readings: This is another Catholic thing. I don't go to Mass every day. I feel like the least I can do is try to stay caught up with what's happening in scripture and get my Gospel in.

16. Journal at least three times a week, no less than once a week: Journaling helps me keep my thoughts in order. It lets me get things off my chest in a really raw way, and allows me to sort them out through having to put them down on paper, as well. I also just want to have a record of all the things that happened to me during these years.

So there you go! Those are my sixteen school year resolutions. I hope that as you start your new school year, this post finds you well and setting some goals for yourself. You can make your life whatever the heck you want it to be. Go ahead and start with small things, i.e., eat a piece of fruit every day. Or spend five minutes sitting quietly by yourself, not doing anything.

Have a happy week, everyone! I think the next time I post, I'll have delicious food to share with you. :)

Love,
Imara

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.

Ben Stein