SNOW DAY!

So my dear friends... yesterday afternoon the snow began to fall...

 

This is a picture of the snow at night time using my flash.  I thought it looked really pretty!

 

 Overnight I had a dream that the snow magically melted and when I rushed to the window I saw green grass and leaves on the trees.  This was obviously not the case!

 I had the energy of a little kid on a snow day!  I had the fiance take a picture of me doing a snow angel in the snow that, at that point, had been at least 14" deep!

 The snow felt so comfortable because I was all cozy in my big comfy coat and fluffy warm boots!

 I'm pretending to be cold.  It's actually not THAT cold out, but it's definitely snowy!  I like how the snow just about gets up to wear the bottom of my coat ends! 

 The fruits of my labor... the snow angel!

I loved it so much I even brought some snow in with me!

How is everyone else enjoying their weather?  Any other snow days out there?

Chicago Blizzard

Soooo, getting home after work was a bit of a struggle...

 For those of you who don't commute from the suburbs... this is what a really freaking full train looks like... typically no one stands on the stairs in the doorways...

 Or mobs into each entrance

 The 3:45 train was soooo full...

 It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen.  If you can't see, the interior of the train, there were people standing in allll of the aisles!

 This is everyone stuffed into the train!  Normally that little area is free and clear of people

 They announced a new train was opening up and there was yet another mob to the other platform.

 

This is what it looked like from inside the next train I actually made.  Those people had to stand the entire ride which normally doesn't happen... usually everyone gets a seat... like I did... I kind of felt bad about it...

Tomorrow is supposed to be the biggest blizzard in Chicago in a long time.  Guess I'm working from home tomorrow for the first time EVER!

UPDATE 8:36 PM
I forgot to mention that someone in this mess (while we were outside of the train) said that this was WORSE than the trains were on September 11th.

Health in General

EPIC FAIL.  That's what this past week has been.  I can talk a lot of talk about trying to work out at my little gym at my apartment but I sure can't follow up. 

That being said, I've lived an extremely unhealthy life this week.  That included having at least one drink the past 4 nights.  WOW.  That sounds like I have a problem, but to be clear I typically don't even drink unless there's a special occasion.  And every once in a while the fiance and I will have a "craft" beer from time to time on Friday or Saturday nights.  But really I don't drink all that often.

That being said, my diet has consisted of the bottom of the barrel junk food including (but not limited to) tater tots, pizza, beer, rum, ice cream, chips, hummus etc.  I've had very few vegetables and tons of refined carbs.  Basically I feel like a pile of lard today and I'm having difficulty breathing.  It feels like there is a small child sitting on my chest and I just can't get a full, deep breath.  I'm constantly yawning even though I'm not THAT tired.  I remember feeling this way a lot in college, I even went to the doctor to see if I had asthma - I don't.  But he prescribed me an inhaler anyways.  I now realize that diet plays a huge part in my general well being.  I haven't had this breathing issue in a long time and it would be a little far fetched to claim that this was just a coincidence. 

So I'm gonna chalk this week as a lesson learned and I am now waiting for my super delish chicken to finish cooking.  Only 15 minutes left!  Yeah nutrients!

Germany Trip

A fellow blogger that I stalk follow posted her two-year plan a few posts ago and it made me think about my own plan. 

I obviously have a pretty busy year (or 1/2 year at this point) with the wedding coming up but I've been extremely motivated to learn German.  I have subscribed to "word-of-the-day" emails, purchased Rosetta Stone's 5 volume German set, and purchased supplemental books to help when the Rosetta Stone is just too much for me.

I have a love for languages.  There is something about learning a different language that really appeals to me.  I think for the most part, I like to listen to people speak when they think no one understands them.  That's what I do when I'm at the grocery store and I hear a Spanish speaking family or when I'm riding the bus or walking around town.  It always gives me a thrill when I pick up enough of their conversation to make me feel like I'm somewhat fluent in Spanish. 

My ULTIMATE Spanish speaking experience I had was in Barcelona (or Barthelona as they pronounce it) with two very English speaking friends.  Some SPANISH man came up to me when we were by this Gaudi building in Spain and asked me for directions... I knew EXACTLY what he was talking about and gave him VERY specific directions (one block north, three blocks west - or something like that).

The feeling was such a rush.  I was able to help a Spanish speaker with directions in SPAIN?  How does it get any better than that?  It doesn't.

Until my next challenge.  Learning German.

Within the next 2 years, I wish to take a trip to Germany with the future husband and be fluent enough to do something similar.  After the wedding, when I stop bleeding money, I will start saving a small portion of my paycheck towards a special travel savings account which won't be touched until the time is right.  In the meantime, I must once again reiterate my 2011 goal to practice my German on a more regular basis.  Until now I've had no discipline in my German studying, but now I realize that watching Judge Judy isn't as important as this goal is for me.  I will dedicate 30 minutes, 4-5 days a week, to studying German using the tools that I have at my disposal.

I WILL!

Whew, you know when you've finished a big project at work and your life feels like it can finally resume?  I'm pretty relieved actually because I'm in that very state right now. 

So anyways, a quick reflection on my week so far - I've been LAZY!  I'm not proud of it, but I haven't been eating that well either.  I feel kind of like a big ol bag of crap right now and I need to snap out of it!  Hopefully now that this monkey is off my back I'll be able to get things back to normal but my tiny little gym isn't going to reopen until TUESDAY!

Public Statement:  I WILL go to the rinky dink gym that's free in my apartment complex.  I WILL do both cardio and some resistance training.  I WILL do this every single day until my gym opens back up on Tuesday.  

The hardest part about working out at this facility is that I usually go to my apartment first and it's just oh-so-cozy, and look- Judge Judy is on the DVR, and I have all those yummy things to snack on... or drink ;)  I get to wear my jammies and relax after a long day.  Laziness won't cut it and Future Elizabeth certainly won't be happy when I'm not looking and feeling awesome on my wedding day because of my behavior today.