Lyric of the Week: Running

This weekend I ran the

Ragnar Del Sol.

It's a 200+ mile relay 

from

Wickenburg to Tempe.

Yeah.

I thought I might die mid-race too.

 In fact,

I sent my closest family members

a will.

My mom wasn't too supportive of my funeral arrangements.

So, 

I threw out the will

and instead

willed myself to survive.

I'm going to talk about the race later

when I have more pictures,

but for now,

I'd like to talk about

a song

I blast

every

race

I 

ever

run.

"Believe in you
You got something to prove
You're a star, watch you shine bright
On your way to the limelight, finish line

The sweat and tears
You can channel all of your fears
Open your eyes, your eyes
Indeed it will be alright"

As heard in Chris Brown's

{yes, people I like CB. 

He can punch just about anyone or anything he wants and I'll still dig him. 

 Let's all just get used to it, okay?} 

Dreamer

 

Tune back in later for more, nuggets.

Confession (Ash) Wednesday

Though I am a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

as well as a pretty hard core

anti-vegetarian,

two of my

2012 New Year's Resolutions 

include 

{1} Gain an appreciation for someone else's religion 

and 

{2} Expand my nutritional knowledge of a specific dietary habit

by experiencing it first hand 


I've decided to kill two birds with one stone... 

Confession #17:

I attended Ash Wednesday 

for the first time ever this morning

and for Lent 

I will be giving up meat.


A few days ago,

I sat down in my Community Nutrition class

next to my friend Chaz.

He leaned over and whispered that he was going vegetarian.

Non-Catholic himself,

he told me he had done some research on 

Lent

and wanted to participate in and learn about its meaning

as well as better understand the overall Catholic faith.

As a Dietetics student,

I have formed many opinions on food, diets, and nutrition fads

as I've studied the science and learned about metabolism.

Forgive me for getting on a bit of a soapbox here,

but I generally am not a supporter of

vegetarianism.

A big fan of and advocate for

Intuitive Eating,

I do not find it necessary 

to restrict or forbid certain foods,

especially if there is no intolerance or allergy for that food item present.

Personally, 

I do not see the benefit 

in cutting foods out

that do no harm to me and that I enjoy eating.

 However,

I also understand where individuals are coming from

when they participate in a particular way of eating;

personal benefits achieved cannot be measured

and sometimes those are the strongest motivators

for particular dietary habits.

I decided that,

as noted in the

Journal of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics,

it would be fine for me to experience a vegetarian diet

if

"appropriately and well-planned".

With that,

I shook hands with Chaz

and we agreed to

give up meat and, as he eloquently stated, 

"come together in religious unity to celebrate a 

beautiful practice

of a

different faith".

 Before today,

I had never had the chance or privilege

to attend a Catholic church.

I went to

Mass and the Distribution of Ashes

at

Saint Mary's Basilica in Downtown Phoenix

I went with my friends Danielle, who is Catholic,

and

Davi, who like me is not Catholic.

Some things I learned that really stuck with me: 

{1}  Catholic choirs are really good 

{2}  You fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday...not Black Friday. 

{3}  There are several similarities between 
my faith and the faith of Catholics; 
members are urged to, among other important commandments and principles,

Believe in Christ and take on His name

Be humble 

Pray always

Serve others with charity and compassion
and 

"Repent and believe in the gospel" 

{{this was said to me this morning as ashes were placed on my forehead...

Furthermore, if you'd like to read a scripture found in 
Alma chapter 13 verses 28-30,
 [found within The Book of Mormon]
that ties all the above mentioned ideas, themes, and commandments together,
click HERE }}

What a beautiful and simple phrase.

 I feel it is something that at times, 

regardless of one's faith, 

is made much more complicated than necessary.

It was cool to be immersed in a different religion and still be taught

the beauty of repentance,

the importance of faith in something you feel to be true,

and

the need for both to be a priority. 

At least, that's what I took away for myself.

 

 I'm stoked to continue learning,

but for the next 40 days,

please be courteous

and keep anything that is

medium-rare

and/or

smells like bacon

    away from me. 
  

Lyric of the Week: Leadership

A few months ago

I applied to attend the

2012 National Collegiate Leadership Conference 

and after attending and enjoying it in 2011,

I was excited to be accepted to attend 

a second year in a row.

The conference took place this past weekend, 

February 17th-19th,

and it was pretty great.

The only thing not so great about this conference?

It is annually held in

 Tuscon, AZ.

That's where UofA is.

I'm a Sun Devil.

Those of us ASU-ers who chose the higher road

tend to avoid 

Mexico, uh, I mean Tuscon,

at any and all costs.

In fact, when I texted my dad and told him where I was,

this was his reply:

 

However, for the chance to grow further as a 

leader, student and person,

I sucked it up.

To my surprise and delight,

the difficult but manageable

Tuscon Tolerance 

was greatly rewarded.

Let me explain...

There are three national awards given each year at the conference.

These awards are

Outstanding Staff/Faculty Leader Award 

Organization Achievement Award

{and last but definitely not least}

Excellence in Student Leadership Award

I was thrilled to learn I had been nominated and was a finalist for

The Excellence in Student Leadership Award.

Playing an active role in leadership positions 

is something I love to do,

 so I was beyond excited to hear about my nomination.

The awards ceremony took place on the last night of the conference,

so let's start at the beginning of the conference and work our way to the end.

The conference caters to students from ALL OVER the country,

so you get to meet people from absolutely everywhere.

I was happy to travel there with those chosen to attend from ASU,

particularly those selected from the ASU-Downtown Phoenix campus...

 

 ...and from the Downtown crew,

I was double happy to be with my main squeezes

Rudy, Danielle, and Daniel.

We all work together in

Undergraduate Student Government

which means we are, well, pretty important, people.

The conference consists of

several service projects,

networking opportunities,

and 

loads of workshops to choose from.

Some of the workshops are less helpful than others...

By the end of the conference,

 if you have proof of attending

enough of said conference agenda items,

you become an "official leader" as I like to call it, certificate and all.

At first,

Danielle, Daniel, Rudy, and I

decided we didn't want or need 

the seminar completion stamps or the certificate.

Made obvious by the Willy Wonka joke above,

we try not to take ourselves too seriously

in our leadership roles.

But after our first seminar we said

"Well, might as well get the stamps if we are already attending everything"

and

gosh dangit we were hooked!

Not only did we qualify for a minimum 8 stamp certificate,

we went above and beyond the call of duty;

the four of us got 10 stamps

annnnd

participated in the All-Conference Service Project.

This enabled us to receive super special papers.

If not implied earlier,

nothing we did as leaders before having a certificate counts.

 

By this point 

we are at the end

of our conference trip.

After allotting certificates to those who qualified,

it was time to announce the award winners.

They saved the

Excellence in Student Leadership Award

for last,

so we sat back and listened to the award panel 

announce and introduce 

those who had won the

Organization Award and the Outstanding Faculty Award.

Those who won were every bit

deserving and qualified;

it made me so proud and thankful to see others working so hard

in other parts of the country.

Then it got to the award I was up for.

Unaware of who the other finalists were

as well as

unfamiliar with the respective work each had done,

I wasn't sure what to think about my chances of winning.

Sitting at my table, I decided no matter what,

it was absolutely awesome to have been considered for such an honor

and I would be totally cool with whoever won.

My name was called.

Almost surreal,

I stood up and I walked over to the stage to accept,

completely

honored and humbled.

I was later asked my someone

"So, what's your secret? As a leader, how does one get to this point?"

And this is what I told that person:

"It's not hard to go the distance once you finally get involved."

Yep, this is straight out of

Daft Punk's song

Face to Face,

but it's a phrase I love

and have used for years to represent my leadership style.

When someone is engaged in something he or she has

extreme passion for

and he or she steps up to fill leadership roles within that field or area...

it is not uncommon that one's

 desire and dedication to

lead by example,

commit to academic and civic pursuits,

and

serve the community

will grow and develop, 

just as one will as a person.

Find something you love.

Let it fill your whole being.

Step up to the plate.

Share what you know and feel with others who are in need.

Be humble, thankful, and happy while you learn, teach, and lead.

I am so blessed to serve with so many other strong leaders

at ASU, at church, and in life.

That's an award in and of itself.

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye 

and a smile on your face, 

but with great purpose in heart.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Dear Professor, I Can Explain...

Whoops, I didn't post a confession yesterday.

But I did post Monday AND Tuesday.

So suck on that and quit crying, please.

For today's post, I would just like to say that

I absolutely 

with all my heart

L  O  V  E

being in 

D i e t e t i c s

and studying 

N u t r i t i o n

Honestly,

I know this is what I am supposed to do

and I feel I can make a big impact one day.

It makes me extremely grateful to feel so much passion for this field.

 However...

 nutrition classes

=

enrollment in massive amounts of chemistry

Unforunately, 

I have been taking chemistry classes 

since high school and throughout almost my 

entire undergraduate career.

If you calculate and add it all up,

{which I just did the math because I was curious}

I have been enrolled in some form of a chemistry class,

{whether it be General Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, etc.}

for

over 22 months.

Not counting the Biochemistry class I am currently enrolled it, that's almost  

two years of my life.

That is time I could have spent doing much easier things like

climbing Mount Everest,

cooking my way through Julia Child's French cook book,

and

learning Mandarin Chinese. 

In short,

I hate chemistry.

 I hate it.

The only things I hate more are clear bra straps and Physics.

 Speaking of my strong distaste for Physics,

I was reminded early this week

that nothing has changed

since I took that class in high school.

On Monday

I got my first Biochemistry test back

and did so awful on it

I just about died laughing.

I mostly laughed because my test-taking

 "strategies"

are the same and as horrible as ever.

 Below you will find 

my old high school Honors Physics test

and

then you will find

my new university-level Biochemistry exam.

Then:

Now:

 

  

Some things never change.

When in doubt,

bust a note to your teacher out.

Food Facts on the Fourteenth: Valentine's Day

Look guys!

Remember when I promised to write, perform, and post a

nutrition rap

{like this one}

on the

Fourteenth 

of every month

HERE

and then

 failed to do it

so I apologized and recommitted myself to

at least post 

something nutrition related 

every Fourteenth

HERE?

Well, this month I am proud to say

I kept the promise!

Some of you may not know,

but I am Phoenix's

Food and Nutrition Writer

for

The Examiner

{click above link to view my profile and a complete list of my published work}

and I love it.

I have had several nutrition related articles

published

since being hired last year

and have learned so much.

In honor of February 14th,

I wrote an article about

foods one should be cautious of

on a hot date...

AKA

gas-forming foods that,

if not avoided,

will reduce the chances

of you getting past 2nd base.

Read it

HERE

...do it now!!!!

It was featured as the #1 article last night

on the national website,

so now you know it is worth reading and sharing, right?? 

 ;) 

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of

everything

except gas!

 

 

 

Oh, you see what you like??

Check back on the 14th of every month for more nutrition information...

I've got you covered

 from

(Vitamin) A-Z(inc)!

Lyric of the Week: Copy Cat

For the last couple days

I have been thinking about

which lyrics and song

to post today.

My good friend Devaun 

who I call Devo

has a blog too.

It's an okay blog.

Every once and awhile she really nails it.

{totally being sassy, she's a great blogger,

stalk her HERE}

I was reading 

THIS POST

of hers and it really resonated with me.

 I can't say it any better, 

so I'm stealing her intellectual property

and basically reposting it here.

She posted this video

 

as well as a link to an interview with Sharon about the song, found HERE

The song is about

a friend

talking her through

a panic attack,

something she is prone to among other anxiety related issues.

Like Devo, here's the main point I took away from the article:

What do you hope people take away from "We Are Fine"?

I hope that it has a really

positive message 

about letting yourself go through something

and 

learning how to talk about what you're going through 

and

opening up yourself to friends — 

letting people help you because I think that's 

a sign of strength.

Acknowledging your weaknesses and growing from it.

In my own life

I've always had a really difficult time

telling others about hard instances I have gone through,

even the ones that ultimately helped to mold me into

who I proudly am today.

It's normal not to be great at everything

and it's okay for people to be aware of this;

they probably already are

because they are in the same boat.

Every big or little thing I have experienced so far in life,

whether it shed light on a strength or even a weakness of mine,

has been beneficial and makes me extremely grateful.

I hope we can work together

to enhance each others' strengths

and pick up the slack

of each others' weaknesses.

"Take my hand and help me not to shake...

tell me not to trip or lose sight...

say I'm alright."

Because we are.

We are alright.

We are fine.