Day 2 whoo!

Day 2 on the diet plan.

We had an egg sandwich for lunch. I woke up too late for breakfast.

For dinner we had a bean and potato side (boiled together with salt and bacon). For the main meal we had turkey with some gravy over it.

Between meals we had carrots, wheat thins, vanilla wafers, snow peas, and celery.

I even have room for a small bit of Tillamook ice cream!!!

And I am still slightly under all my daily amounts.

This coming week will be hard to find time to exercise seeing as it is pre-finals week. But once finals week rolls along, this new program will officially be underway. I am hoping to lose 5 lbs by the time winter semester begins.

Making room for baby....and no...I am NOT pregnant

My husband and I have recently started a diet and exercise program. It will be interesting how things turn out. haha

Hmm.....well it's kind of odd because I am a geology major where I often hike. But the key is I mostly hike in the summer when I can see the outcrops (no snow). During the fall and winter I dedicate myself to school, often sitting in front of a computer for the majority of each day. I am hoping that this program will motivate me to find the time to be active during these months that I am in school. That way I can stay healthy and be ready for my 6 week field course that I am taking in May and June. Also.... my husband and I would like to start a family after I graduate. All in all....that's why I decided to start this program.

This coming winter semester I am taking zumba!

I will probably update my progress on the blog occasionally. The title of my weight loss profile on myfitnesspal.com is "Making room for baby."

So.. the semester is firing up and we only have a few weeks left. This means I am stupidly busy with homework, projects, presentations, exams, and research.

But I still love life! (As long as I can talk to my husband about something other than school and work for 5 seconds!)

So what's new with me?

Daniel and I are finishing up decorating and unpacking our apartment. I hope this will be done by Friday because I am leaving for a Groundwater trip until Saturday night.

My brother (Samuel) and his girlfriend are coming up from Arizona for a few days over Thanksgiving break. I am hoping our place is done so we don't have random boxes and pictures laying on the living room floor. :)

Our favorite Peruvian place closed. :(   We went there once and it was bliss! Then they closed. *tear*

It snowed! Daniel and I have been taking mini walks in the snow together. I remember when we were still dating and we were walking at night in the snow and he turned to me and told me how beautiful I was all bundled up. :) That's what I think about every time it snows.

Daniel got a new job related to his Computer Science major! He is actually doing something that I am interested in. I plan on specializing in hydro-geology. Daniel is working on hydro-geology software! He came home talking about porosity and transmissivity and I love that!!!

I am still completely addicted to Christina Perri. She needs to come out with more music!!!!!

Mostly, I am just doing the school thing. We did go to our new ward this past Sunday. And it was HUGE! So many people! My mom says that if I can't find a friend in my new ward then I have a problem. Thanks mother. :)

I love you all!!!!

Coring for Diatoms!

Over the weekend I spent time coring down to the surface of the landslide in order to get the organic matter directly above the landslide in order to date it. We are also using the diatom and pollen record from the cores to create a climate record since the landslide.

 Above and Below: The mega landslide we are working on. The first day went well and we collected two cores. Brian lost a silver handle down one of the core holes, but we were able to retrieve it. It was hard grueling work, but incredibly fun!!! I have videos of the process, but for some reason they don't want to upload and I am too tired to work it out so that they work.

 Below: On Saturday our core got stuck about 6ft under. :( Also on Saturday was the beginning of hunting season, so it was just a little nerve wracking not wearing orange in an area where there were a bunch of hunters.

 Below: Trying to drill around the stuck core to try to get it out.

 Below: Eric ended up digging for it with a  tiny shovel. It was hard ground. He was definitely a trooper

 Below: Ryan was sad that coring didn't work out that day. It is his research after all. I felt bad for him. :(

 Below: Taking out excess dirt. More dirt faster!!!!

Below: Kevin augering around the stuck core to try to loosen it.

 Below: Trying to pull out the core!

 Below: He got it!!! They unstuck the 400 dollar core! They deserved a huge juicy steak....instead we went to Wendys.

 Below The dark spot is the covered hole. It is a beautiful place to work......we were about 8500- 9500 ft above sea level.

Senioritis

Well, I still have some of the pain and it's been two weeks since I've seen the doctor. I have improved so much though! I can do the dishes, unpack our belongings, go to class, and even go out into the field!

Today....I don't know how I feel. I guess senioritis is setting in-- especially since I wasn't able to do school work when I was motivated to do well. I might be tired of school for now. Graduate school is definitely in my future, but I will wait for Daniel to graduate a year after me and then we will decide which schools to go to for further education.

I guess it's starting to hit me that my undergraduate career is almost over! After getting a Chemistry Associates and a Geology Degree, I don't think the time is quite so wasted.

If I am being completely, 100%, bluntly honest....I feel like my education is nearly complete (minus the masters). I think over this long period of going to school and everything being fairly the same every semester I have decided I am ready for the unexpected. A huge change in what I am use to. I told Daniel...a little out of tired anger that I never wanted to be a stay at home mom. Well.....that isn't true. Deep down...or not so very deep down....I yearn to have adorable little Gunnells tag along by my side calling me "mom".

I do want to go to school for a masters....I do want to eventually get a job to help support my family....but I also want to spend some time teaching my children about life and more importantly about the gospel.

When will this day come? Haha....well, I really don't know quite yet. But since I am graduating soon it's something that is always in my mind.

I feel almost 100% again!

For the past 2 months I have been having chest pain. It makes it very difficult to be a geologist when I can't just run up a mountain whenever I want to!!! I have seen the doctor and am getting it taken care of, which is nice because I feel like I can do something about the pain instead of always thinking of ways to get better.

I have been struggling this semester getting my homework done because I feel tired and the pain makes it hard to concentrate. Today is the first day I feel like myself again. I feel like I could run a marathon ....or run up stairs to campus haha.

Daniel has been amazing through this, being ever so patient and caring for me. This being the first day I could concentrate in class means I have to catch up on every one of my assignments. I still have to take it easy, but it's time to crack down on life.

Here it goes!!!

Clean Clean Clean and Clean some more

Wow...moving has been exhausting. We really deep cleaned our new apartment and we still need to do that for our old Wymount one.

I am really enjoying our new place, but right now I am exhausted and behind with school work.

We still have our office to arrange and to put away all our clothes. Our kitchen, bathroom, and front room are nearly finished.

I'm so tired.

My mind will be more peaceful next Tuesday because 2 huge assignments will have to be done and we would have turned our old key over. I can't wait for that day. 9 more days.