I’m planning on working out extensively during my three months due to lack of other obligations. I want to be hitting the gym 5 to 6 times a week and working hard on my cardio fitness. As a few of you might know I’ve been a poor runner most of my life, but last summer while I was in Boston I worked on outdoor running and finally was able to complete a 5k run without stopping. For me that was quite an achievement and I really, really, really want to get that up to a 10k by summer.

My other goals are going to be to try to lose 5lbs by the end of May. Modest goal, but I figure goals of any variety are good ones to have.

My proposed exercise schedule:

Day 1: Cardio workout

• 45 minutes elliptical
• 15 minutes bike cycling

Day 2: Jogging/Weights

• 5 minute pre-stretch
• 5 min run, 3 min walk, 10 min run, 3 min walk, 5 min run, 3 min walk
• Abdominals, back, shoulders

Day 3: Cardio workout round 2

• 45 mins elliptical
• 15 minutes bike cycling

Day 4: More jogging/weights

• 5 minute pre-stretch
• 5 min run, 3 min walk, 10 min run, 3 min walk, 5 min run, 3 min walk
• Arms, legs, glutes

Day 5: Random cardio day

• Probably will vary this day up, but I’m thinking a longer jog (20 minutes) and more elliptical workouts
• Any area I find deficient

I think I’ll be making a 1234342th attempt to keep this public blog updated with my health/workout information. I’m having such a huge problem with committing to a theme to this blog. My apologies!

For those of you who don’t know, I am a de facto atheist which means I do not believe there is a god, but I do not declare to know without a shadow of a doubt that there is no god. Perhaps there is, perhaps there isn’t, but I strongly lean toward the later and quite honestly I don’t really care either way!

Continue reading by clicking “Read more”.

I was born into a family that was “quasi-religious” as I like to say. Step-Mom had her following over the years in Protestantism and then later Jehovah’s Witness (though now she is more or less non-practicing beside meeting some of her friends at church from time to time) and Dad is non-practicing, if a believer at all. I was forced to go to church as a young child, but I don’t remember it ever having any sort of strong impression on me one way or another. If anything, the biggest thing I remember was hating to wear a dress on Sundays and itchy tights. I remember reading a kid version of the Christian bible complete with pictures and explanations of heaven and hell and thinking it was quite an imaginative, fantastical world like a fairy tale, but certainly not anything I would believe was actual truth.

Now I’m not sure if I would have grown up to be a god-fearing person if my parents had forced religious teachings into me or if they had been more devout followers would I have absorbed the lifestyle of religion and a love of god. Thankfully they pretty much allowed me to be exposed to their beliefs and be able to make up my own mind later on in life. As it turned out, I grew up believing in the possibility of god (with wavering feelings on the matter), but around the time of middle school I had pretty much convinced myself otherwise and, in my view, there is very little, if any, chance of their being a god. I grew up in a community of mostly believers in Christianity as most kids in the United States do. I never outright voiced my opinion of, “Oh yes, I am an atheist!”, but I would never hesitate to give the true answer is directly asked. I’ve had shocked reactions from time to time from mostly people in the older generation, but rarely any sort of hostility or disgust (well, at least to my face).

But is being an atheist really that big of a deal?

According to surveys there is a greater population of atheists today than ever before, particularly in the USA, yet I have rarely met someone who I had known to be an atheist through conversation save my close friends. No one really talks about it and it falls into the realm of hush-hush things like someone’s drinking problem, or financial woes, or someone’s weight if they’ve gained some. The USA is one of the most Christian countries in the developed world, but we’re also one of the most advanced and forward-thinking which confuses me.

I just wanted to make this post not as a slander post toward anyone with religious beliefs as I really don’t care what you believe or what the next person believes, but I just wanted to make a point to tell other people who are atheists such as myself, or aren’t sure if they are atheist, that it is okay to come out and say it/accept it. No one should feel intimidated or oppressed by this, just as no one should feel oppressed being a minority, a woman, homosexual, trans-gender, etc. There’s nothing wrong with having a healthy dose of skepticism as long as you aren’t shoving it into anyone’s face or down other people’s throats because the way I see it, atheist or devout, no matter what you say to a person with different beliefs at the end of the day you have done nothing to convert them to your side or your way of thinking. This is 2009 (almost 2010! ), let’s be comfortable with who we are and accept other people for their differences no matter how big or small.

So, that being said, don’t shy away from being an atheist or thinking being one is wrong. There are tons of open-minded, happy, super-duper nice, well-adjusted atheists out there just like me who get along just fine with the rest of the world, beliefs or not.

And happy Christmas everyone (yes, I still celebrate Christmas as a family/friends/delicious turkey holiday no matter how pagan it is!) who celebrates it! Best wishes for 2010!

Merry holidays, everyone.

I feel like this guy

I’ve had this disorder for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t really know it was actually a named disorder till a  year or two ago. I always just thought I wasn’t studying people enough to remember them or wasn’t very mindful of details. It bothers me greatly since I have problems remembering new people I’ve just met. I can remember all other details of a person such as their voice, the way they walk, their clothing, choice of perfume, etc., but for some reason I can’t remember things as simple as their hair color, facial features, or eye color. Even if I consciously sit there and tell myself, “I am going to remember what this person looks like!” I usually can’t recall their faces mere seconds after I’ve finished looking at them! I’ve sat around in restaurants “practicing” my visual memory on people only to find, frustratingly, that I can’t remember them no mater how hard I try to force my disfunctional brain to.

This isn’t to say that I don’t remember people I’ve met multiple times. I can clearly remember my parents’ faces, close friends, and teachers I’ve had all quarter. It just takes me an incredible amount of time to commit them to memory. My boyfriend and I joke about how when I met him I described him as “blonde and green-eyed” to a mutual friend when in fact he was a brunette with blue eyes. I have to spend a great deal of time with a person to remember them, but the  memories do eventually form unlike the severe forms of this disorder where a person can NEVER remember the faces of others; even their family! I remember watching a documentary on people with facial blindness and this one poor woman was so bad that she couldn’t recognize people at a skating rink she had worked with in the same office for 20+ years. Sad.

It’s not that I’m rude when I encounter people I met in class once, or at a get-together the night before. I always just joke I have tunnel vision and a bad memory, but it’s not necessarily that my memory is shot; it’s just you look like a stranger to me! This is incredibly embarrassing with things like interviewing. I interviewed a few weeks ago and I remember sitting for a whole HOUR with one interviewer and then 5 minutes later having trouble picking that person out of a crowd of people. I have trouble remembering HR hiring managers (veryyyyy bad when they say hello to you later and you go, “UhhhhH!?!”). It makes you seem air-headed and disinterested which is absolutely not the case.

It’s so freaking frustrating!

I just felt like sharing this since I’m sure you probably know someone who’s bad at remembering faces. Perhaps they have facial blindness like yours truly!

• Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I think Katy mentioned this book in one of her posts a few months back and I saw it at the bookstore and decided to pick it up. It’s wonderful! The story takes place over many, many years following the life of a family in the 12th century in England. The story starts following Tom Builder, an architect who has a passion for designing and building cathedrals, and his family. The story continues with Tom’s adoptive son, Jack, and his love interest. The storyline continues with many great characters whose stories are all intertwined. The best part about this book is that it follows the lives of normal, everyday people rather than kings or queens and nobility. It really makes you feel for the characters and their struggles to survive and just how outright crappy life was back then. It’s a really long read, but I really couldn’t put the book down.
• World Without End by Ken Follett. After reading the previous book I had to pick this one up. This book is a sequel to Pillars of the Earth and takes place two centuries later. Many of the characters are related to people you read about in the first book. The story centers around Caris, a descendant of Jack Builder from the first book, and her love interest Merthin. Like Tom, Merthin is also interested in architecture; specifically cathedrals. The second half of the book also deals with the Black Death that plagued Europe. I don’t think this book was as epic as the first, but it’s still certainly good and it’s fun reading about what became of the descendants of the people you read about in the first book.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I won’t lie when I tell you that the first couple of chapters are really, really boring. I had trouble getting through them since the beginning of the story tends to drag, but once it gets going it’s a pretty good book. The story starts in the years after WW2 in Scotland. Claire is a nurse who worked for the British Army and is married to a man who’s incredibly interested in genealogy. One day she is transported back in time 200 years and encounters her husband’s predecessor; a ruthless man named “Black Jack” Randall. She escapes from Randall by being captured by a clan of Scottsmen and eventually falls in love and is forced to marry one of the clan, Jamie. I haven’t completely finished the book yet, but I am aware that this book became a 7 book series though the first book can stand alone as a work on in on itself.
• The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. I’ve read a great deal of her books since falling in love with The Other Boleyn Girl a year or two ago. This book isn’t one of her bests, but I did enjoy it regardless. The story takes place before The Other Boleyn Girl and deals with a woman who fell in love with the then rising King of England, Edward. The story goes through their love, marriage, and fight to keep the crown in spite of the rising Tudors (who eventually DO take over England as we do know). The story is quite nice because of the love between the two characters, but lacks a lot of details and ends at a really bad spot. I know that Gregory intends to write a second book about what happens after, but still, meh. It’s still enjoyable if you like historic fiction about the royal family of England!

I’m a little weirded out by the new news that came out regarding the game’s theme song. Apparently they decided to go with a song by Leona Lewis (who I admittedly haven’t heard a single song from till yesterday) for the NA and EU releases. I was really surprised by this since they typically try to keep the Japanese songs they use in the game or try to get the singer to translate the song to English. Either way the song kind of grew on me, but I still can’t visualize the song in the game just yet. Unlike a lot of the rabid fanboys/girls I am not throwing rocks and starting drama with Square’s decision to go with this song versus the Japanese theme song. I’m just praying for a better game than what was delivered a few years ago with FF12. *shivers*

Either way here are some videos so you can compare:

Japanese theme song

Leona Lewis’ My Hands

FF13 Game Trailer

Exciting! I miss good RPGs. There are so few these days.

1. BlackBerry – These are so rightfully named CrackBerries! I am pretty much addicted to the internet so having a portable, mini-browser traveling around with me all day is an absolute must. I’m surprised I lived this long with a regular cellphone. I bought a BB this summer in Boston and have been using it pretty much religiously since! I’d say my most used applications on it are WeatherEye (for checking the weather before I go out), the internet browser, UberTwitter, and this one application I use to check local movie listings. Of course I do the standard texting and phone calls, so having such a multi-functional device is awesome. It also makes for an awesome event reminder and alarm clock!
2. Medicated Chapstick – I use this daily. My lips dry out for some odd reason all the time regardless of how much I drink water so I use Chapstick even during the summer. By far the best lip balm I’ve found (and I’ve tried tons) is just regular Chapstick Medicated. The menthol in it just soothes me. I have about 2-3 Chapsticks with me at all times.
3. Laptop+Internet – I use it daily. I probably use it a little less thanks to my BlackBerry, but I enjoy surfing the net and keeping in touch with people online! I feel like computers have become to ubiquitous and outright necessary in our lives it would be odd NOT to list this.
4. iPod – I love listening to music when I work out. The right mood music just makes the time fly by and really pumps you up to burn those extra calories. <3
5. Micaiah/Diglett – My kitties! I really do love both of them to death! Pets are supposed to relieve stress and bring you joy and they most certainly do.
6. Popcorn – Ughhh, I have no idea why I love popcorn so much. I probably eat it every other day. I don’t like movie theater popcorn with butter on it. My favorite is butterless with salt. Tasty, tasty!
7. Facebook – I’ve used FB since it came out in 2004 and I was still a highschooler. This was back in the day where you could only register if you had a university email address so I had used my first college’s provided address to sign up. I check FB periodically as I enjoy keeping in touch with people I went to high school with (especially since I went to high school overseas and I live in a different country now). It’s nice to hear how successful everyone has become and how everyone has changed since graduation.
8. Video Games – I know that sounds kind of dorky, but I honestly love a good RPG! I liken them to really good fantasy books that are interactive. I’ve been a gamer since I was in first grade and here in my early twenties I see no sign of enjoying them any less as the years role on.

What are some things you can’t live without?

Yankee Candles

Yesterday I went by the mall and picked up two of their fall-scented candles: Spiced Pumpkin and Macintosh Spice to add to my old Autumn Wreath scent I bought last year and hadn’t used completely up. I’ve had the two burning pretty much all day today and yesterday and now the apartment smells awesome and happy (if happy can be a smell). I also picked up Clean Laundry as a scent for my car. :3 Nothing like having the smell of fresh laundry when you hop in the car for your ride to classes in the morning. For those of you who haven’t sniffed Yankee Candles I suggest you do. They seriously smell exactly like whatever

The weather’s getting cold and fast here in Rochester. We’re supposed to get snow tomorrow, but we’ll see. Rochester weather is ridiculous; it could be sunny and 80F tomorrow and blizzarding the next.

Coronado Springs Resort

We left for Disney on August 30th (Sunday) at 7am and arrived at our Disney resort, Coronado Springs, around 11am. We were super tired from having to wake up at 5am to catch our flight, so like old farts we took a 3 hour nap and headed out to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios

I really did like Hollywood Studios a great deal and we got to most of the attractions that evening before it closed. Next up was the Magic Kingdom which we covered almost completely. Space Mountain unfortunately was closed. Otherwise it was a ton of fun, albeit incredibly hot and sunny.

Magic Kingdom

The following day we hit Epcot for the first time. We spent two days there as the park is massive. Tim and I both agreed that it was our favorite out of the four main theme parks. I really liked the whole cultural bit they had with all the separate countries and the ethnic food was awesome.

We also tried Typhoon Lagoon one day. I don’t have any pictures of it and it’s a fair water park, but I’ve been to better before. I really think Disney should have consolidated the two water parks into one since Typhoon Lagoon by itself is meager in its offerings when I compare it to water parks like Caribbean Beach in Korea. The final park we visited was the Animal Kingdom which was a lot of fun. I’m a huge fan of zoos and it had a great off-roading safari ride. I also got to pet goats and cows in the petting zoo which is always a win situation with me.

The last place we checked out while there was Downtown Disney. It’s not a Disney park and it’s open to the public. It’s mostly a shopping and dining area themed Disney style. We had an awesome authentic Irish dinner there that was arguably one of the best dinners we had while on Disney property.

All in all, the entire trip was really, really fun and a much needed vacation for both Tim and myself. This is honestly a crazy brief entry as I’m a bit busy tonight, but I wanted to get a few pictures up to people who wondered how my trip went. The rest of my pictures are posted on my Flickr and trust me, there are manyyyy.