Corinne's Blog

Wellness Chart to categorize some of my goals

These last couple of months after I’ve gotten back from being deported have been an up hill climb for me.

I had a lot of decisions to make about where I wanted my life to start moving by now.

One of the things that I realized I needed to do in order to spark positive changes in my life would be to set achievable goals. A few months ago I established a list of short term goals I wanted to accomplish and I posted them on my blog:

http://www.pinker33.com/2010/05/18/my-new-routine/

The steps I’m taking right now are based solely on my accomplishing these goals.

The first goal I’m taking steps to accomplish was my goal to:

-Get a job away from my family.
Because of a fraud scheme I uncovered with my former employer I am no longer working with John Dickens and I am now working at Burroughs Elementary for the summer in their Minneapolis Kids program. It’s a wonderful steady job and I appreciate it everyday, I feel as if everyday I am on the show Kids say the darnedest things. It is located in South Minneapolis Minnesota near Edina which is a significant amount of space away from my family and a huge change from me just working next door to them.

The second goal I am trying to accomplish is figuring out what I wanted to do for school. I’ve decided that I’m going to give Nursing a major try and that I’m going to be applying to Minneapolis Community and Technical College I recently had an opportunity to look at their nursing program’s requirements and I feel that they are sufficient for me to complete school by 2012.

I am going to begin an assistant nursing class for it in August.

In deciding to pursue nursing I am also finding I can find a focus of study and a vocation in nursing which accomplishes that listed goal.

The third goal I am trying to accomplish is my

Getting Healthier goal which I find involves
-Eating Healthier
-Exercise
and
-Losing weight

To accomplish this goal I have decided to invest money in a Personal trainer named Von Gillette and with his help I am investing money into myself and my future.

Von is an experienced personal trainer and he looks the part completely. He’s really nice and already he’s kept in touch with me and we’ve met twice to decide what our game plan would be to get me down to a smaller size.

He knows I can do it and his believing in me makes me feel as if I can accomplish my goals.

Check him out at: http://www.vongillette.com/

Von Gillette

With Von I have determined that I should only consume 2082 calories per day.

This is a great number to have and I’ve started being more conscientious of the foods I’ve been eating and their effect on my health, in turn I’m eating better and healthier.

I’ve begun using an online calorie journal:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/food-fitness/journal#/3

This is Von’s recommended Meal Plan that I’m going to start following.

1/2 Cup of Nuts = 400
Protein Drink = 100 Calories
Veggies = 30 calories
Meal 1 = 530 calories x 3 = 1590 calories
2 Snacks = 230 calories x 2 = 460 calories
Total Calories = 2050 calories (without a protein shake)

So far I’ve gotten good feedback from him.

I hope to blog about my progress in this journey with him these next few months and I hope the results show and that I can blog positively about my experiences.

I’m already sore from the little assessment Von did with me yesterday afternoon.

The fourth goal I’ve been forced to deal with is my

-not making Craig and major part of my life.

This goal is both a positive and a negative thing for me. With my new job my life has been revolving around better ways to get to and from work. I hope to be driving soon.
Honestly Craig and I haven’t spoken for over a week now and with his recent move I have no clue when we’ll be able to speak to each other again.

Today is his birthday and I wish him all the best today but after expecting to spend his birthday with him today is a bit of a disappointment for me when I think of him.

My time isn’t revolving around Craig but I’ve ceased to speak to him all together because my schedule is such that I’m missing him if he is ever on.

The fifth goal I’m still accomplishing is the work I’m doing on my novel.

I have made it to page 95 and now it is more than 56 thousand words…that’s 56,000 so It’s officially the size of a children’s or teen novel.

I’m not even halfway through my transcript so I’m hoping it will be really good and I know it will be long.

…
on a different note I got paid from my old job and I have two checks floating in the mail from the month I’ve been working at Minneapolis Kids so I’ll be able to get out of debt with people and businesses I owe…and buy new clothes!

I hope that all this progress will help me learn to love myself and learn to love the world around me and stop stressing so much.

My uncle Sean and I have been talking about what in fact would happen during a zombie apocalyse.

Starting with what areas would be the safest areas to go, who would you trust in times of need, and about what type of human would be the first to be eaten.

Thinking about the zombie apocalypse is something that I myself do when I’m bored.

The main rules of the apocalyse are to seclude yourself and stay away from others. This is hard because there are billions of people on the planet. While secluding ones self it is important to remain well stocked in the essentials you’ll need for survival.

Being:

-Weapons: To defend yourself against the rising army of undead
-Food: So you can keep your strength up
and
-Running water: So you don’t dry of dyhydration and thirst.

These three essentials are bound to run out if the people who are trained to make and run them become zombies.

Since we doubted that any military organization would be organized to quarantine the zombie situation as they did in 28 weeks later I feel that there would be little hope for survival afer you ran out of one of these three essential elements.

In thinking of who may be the first victims we analysed what traits surviors usually had…

-They were fit and could outrun their opponents
-They were smart and could outwit the undead with a series of elaborate traps and tricks.
-They were not wimpy, and could therefore make their first kill without hesitation and every zombie kill they needed to after that.

We analysed the expertise a person may need to have in order to outwit a zombie, in order to do this we had to consider that zombie’s objective and how they accomplished that goal.

-The zombie’s number 1 objective is to feed.
-They do not have indigestion because their primary organs have all failed.
-Every organ except their brain which is programed even with the zombie subject is dead to search out and devour all that are not undead like themselves.
-They force feed themselves until they have reached their objective of killing the person that they have been hunting
-They are likely not to have memories in their brain from previous experiences because that is not a part of the brain that is activated when they themselves become zombies. (therefore not at all like Shaun of the dead.)
-Once they have died and have become zombies they cannot feel pain and the only way to kill them would be a direct shot to the brain to destroy it along with the little active function that posess.

Sean and I concluded that the zombie is a hard foe to have because they can multiply their numbers to the hundreds in a number of hours.

We tried to think of what kind of person would be the first kind of person to go and came to two conclusions.

-First people who were obese and lazy with a lack of motivation to survive.

-2nd the elderly on the street who couldn’t outrun

-The poor who used public transportation.

-Those stuck in traffic jams trying to flee to the country.

-Those young naive children who don’t recognize tall tell signs of zombism.

In my uncle’s game plan he wants to stop at a grocery store then a gun shop. Or a grocery store then he’d head to the country.

But I said that the country would be a bad place to be because the zombie news wouldn’t spread there until late and they wouldn’t be prepared, plus the zombies would go there after they’d taken over the cities.

I thought I’D get to a grocery store then I’d head to sea, after running out of food I’d then find a deserted Island that has a lot of fruit that I could eat. Zombies have a heard time crossing waters so I’d be safe for awhile.

Then after my food supply ran out I’d head back to the city and hide in an old abandoned gun shop.

the cities would be emptying out of zombies because everyone would be heading to the country for the people hiding out there.

That’s where we left off in our first conversation. (Part 2 to come soon.)

In life a person spends way too much time travelling from one place to another. Half of what makes a vacation special is racking up distances from your place of origin. Babies for instance are extremely easily entertained because most places at the beginning of their lives outside of the family home are places of vacation and adventure. As you get older as your body reverts to a more dependant state you return to your adventurous baby like state, but sadly most of the elderly have grown to hate travel and they don’t fully see how wonderful it may be to be house ridden because they have all the bad traveling memories in their head. For example I spend more than 3/4 of my time in a day traveling from one place to another at 20 years old. Whether its trying to bike my heart out in order to get to work on time or if it’s leadng a group of small children to their next activity. It’s a waste of my time walking in lines and working myself to death over something that would not have been established such as ‘a time to be at work’ if it hadn’t been for people to start to plan their trips. I wish I could work from bed, live my life from bed, get married have children and raise my children from bed. I now understand why my mother never wants to get trivial things that lay just across the room and why she calls us children to pick up things for her, she like me has gotten to the point where she is sick and tired of the useless travel.

So today I got bored and started reading my Google reader. On Google reader I am subscribed to a number of popular internet trend blogs, interior design blogs, wedding blogs and fashion blogs.

One of the main reasons I am subscribed to wedding blogs is because I am truly obsessed with weddings and I literally can’t wait to get to that part of my life.

Since my obsession with weddings began when I was a young teen I’ve always wanted a huge full week wedding.

I wanted to have a full week wedding because I feel it is important for the family and friends of the bride and groom to get to know each other so they can become one family unit for the couple who are getting married. Also I like it because it gives the bride and groom wedding memories they will never forget…the wedding days of the week don’t just fly by like a weekend wedding can.

A full week wedding is a wedding that has activities for the family and guests for the whole week that they are there. The wedding celebrations start the Sunday before the Saturday wedding and they conclude the following Sunday evening with the family wishing the couple off at the airport as they leave for their honeymoon.

This wedding weekend scenario is ideal for destination weddings where people are not local and don’t know their surroundings enough to simply entertain themselves or lead their own simple lives until the day of the wedding. They are also for smaller weddings but I hope that in my perfect wedding week that they will be open to a large party of guests.

It is said that the more fun you give your guests the more generous they are to you when you need them.

In planning my dream wedding I hope I don’t become a bridezilla and I’d definitely want to save up a lot of money to run it and to hire a wedding planner so I wouldn’t have to coordinate everything myself running from one place to another closing lose ends.

Craig says that for the moments I have like this thinking about my future that I should “rewind” my mind and come back to the present. But right now I’m extremely bored and I had a major brainstorm about how I wanted my wedding weekend to go.

There’s a lot more I’d like to add here and I wish I could make it a 2 week wedding but I don’t think my family would have patients for me to have a 2 week one and I don’t think I’d be able to raise enough money for one either in the year’s long engagement I hope to have.

Today I sat for about an hour planning my dream wedding week and I wanted to share it here on my blog…

So here’s a warning quick before you see it.
TO ALL PEOPLE WHO THINK I SHOULD “REWIND” BE WARNED THAT THIS NEXT SECTION IS A MAJOR FAST FORWARD, AVERT YOUR EYES OR CLOSE THE FOLLOWING PAGE IF YOU MUST! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

____________________________________________________________

Now you can’t say I didn’t warn you about this:

Click on the picture to see the full version.

I’ve gotten into the habit of actually going to coffee shops. Minnesota is famous for it’s thriving small coffee shops rather than its large coffee shop chains. This is Ironic because I just turn 21 and could go to bars (not on my break from work though).

This new break through and this habit I’ve created has been extremely hard to maintain with my current financial status but I’ve found that once my cravings begin I’ll ever use pennies to quench my thirst for a coffee or the ease the ache that takes over my stomach in thinking about the Bruegger’s Western Breakfast Bagel.

I recently fell in love with the western on one of my break from the Minneapolis Kids program at Burroughs Elementary school after I got fired from my job working with John Dickens (aka Yahya Rachman). At Mpls Kids I began working two weeks ago as a split shift worker. But now I’ve recently switched to a position as a one on one with a young man named Davius.

During my breaks on my split shift I took to exploring the neighborhood around the school walking up fiftieth street towards Edina rather than towards the Minneapolis side.

In doing this and since during my split shift I used to have three hours to spare I discovered two places that I’ve decided I wanted to learn how to frequent. The first place was a place called The Dragonfly Coffee House where I met a really nice and smart 18 year old girl who has graduated from University already and is a famous harp player. She works there and she gave me a free refill to make my day.

The Second place which is actually the first place I visited while exploring was a local Bruegger’s Bagels across the street from The Dragonfly Coffeehouse on 49th and Penn Ave.

Bruegger’s Bagels is a bagel shop but in my exploring I discovered that they make sandwiches like Subway and that they also make coffee and are in business as a genuine coffee shop. Bruegger’s Bagels have soups for those cold days too.

The only problem I have with Bruegger’s right now is that to support my habit of going there I’d need at least four dollars a day and I rarely have that on a regular day. I like bruegger’s because if you do the survey that is on your receipt you can get a dollar off your next purchase for up to a month after the purchase was made.

While I ran to Bruegger’s after a week of missing it I found that I only had three dollars and that my stomach was aching for food and drink alike and I couldn’t even afford one of Bruegger’s amazing signature drinks.

I asked the friendly girl behind the counter if the breakfast menu was still open, the breakfast bagels were the most affordable for me at that time because I had a dollar off from doing the survey the day before. She said it was open and asked her if the western bagel was any good. She said it was great and since It was one of the cheapest I ordered it no questions asked.

I was hungry at the time but after she made it and I paid and sat down with it to bite into it for the first time my first bite was like opening up a window in heaven to let light shine out.

I must say now that the taste of the Bruegger’s Western is still in my mouth and my senses to this day.

Here’s the receipt:
Western Egg Sandwich

Serves 4

Four Bagels- cut in half. Choose your favorite bagel varieties.
4 Extra Large Eggs
12 strips Smoked Bacon
1 cup Green Peppers
1 cup Red Peppers
½ cup Red Onions
½ cup Tomatoes, sliced into 1/8″ rounds
¼ lb thinly sliced Cheddar Jack Cheese
1 oz Butter
Salt and Pepper
Canned Chipotle Peppers (ex. Goya Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce)
2 cups Light Mayonnaise
1 Lime
Pan Spray

Chipotle Sauce

Drain and remove two Chipotle peppers from the can. Store the remaining chipotles in a plastic container. Combine peppers with 2 cups Light Mayonnaise, a dash of salt and pepper and squeeze of lime juice and blend in a food mixer.

Sandwiches

1. Deseed and slice the red and green peppers into ¼” strips.

2. Slice the tomato into 1/8″ rounds.

3. Slice the onions into ¼” strips.

4. Melt butter.

5. Toss tomato, peppers and onions with melted butter, salt and pepper and roast on a foil-lined baking sheet at 375 º F for 15 minutes until softened. Keep vegetable mix in the oven to warm at 200 º F.

6. Fry the eggs to an over easy stage and keep hot in the oven

7. Fry the bacon and keep hot in the oven

8. Slice the bagels and toast lightly

9. Working in batches, spread a teaspoon of Chipotle mayo on each of the four bottom cut faces.

10. On each of the bagel slices stack and share the veggies, bacon and cheese between the four sandwiches, layering eggs first, then bacon, then veggies. Top with Cheddar-Jack and bagel lid.

11. Affix with a toothpick in each half and cut holding the bagel to ensure the filling stays intact. Serve immediately.

Western Yummy!

I had my Western on a cheese bagel and I have craved it since.

I’m waiting to get paid by my new job and from my old job so I can become a regular and Bruegger’s again. Till then I will just blog about the Western in order to get over my own hunger pains.

The first thing I do before opening my eyes is think about what day it is…it’s my birthday and the one year anniversary of Sheona Valley McCreath’s death.

I open my eyes and view that Ambross the cat is at my side rolled in a ball and Snow the cat is at my feet laying on her side, they are both sleeping.

I look at my sister in the bed across from mine and i’m happy that she is still sleeping..I may be the first one awake.

Drowsily I walk to the bathroom and as I pass the living room in the hallway I see my mom still sleeping. I wash my face and brush my teeth and think of all the things I can do now that I’m 21.

-Legally drink alcohol, which I might want to get into the habit of doing.
-Drink in Life Group and not get scolded.
-Go out and buy Alcohol which I intend to do now that I’m 21.
-Go out to bars and Nightclubs that are labeled 21+ and be able to explore them before many of my younger friends.
-Legally marry without permission of an adult.

I finished looking at myself in the mirror and accessing what my body looks like and I like some bits more than others.

I’m not pregnant at 21 like most woman in my race seem to be, I have a handsome man to call my boyfriend. I’ve done most of Seventeen magazine’s 21 things to do before you’re 21. (I have highlighted those which I have completed)

1. Take a road trip. It wasn’t a get in the car road trip but it was a get on your bike and ride road trip. Plus  I went to Leo’s farm with Tom and him.
Mapping the route, singing at the top of your lungs, and discovering new towns with friends is the ultimate bonding experience.

2. Learn to play a musical instrument. Violin…duh!
I can play only a few chords, but I love the expressive power of music — and the possibility that one day you can learn to create something beautiful through it.

3. Go skinny-dipping! Probably one I will never.
It’s the most liberating thing ever. You have to let go of your insecurities when you take off your clothes. But you’re hidden by the water — so it’s like bending the rules. Who decided we have to wear clothes, anyway?

4. Save $1,000. I have made 1000$ and spent it, this may be a goal i make sooner than later.
Just seeing that big number in your bank account is rewarding — knowing you did it alone.

5. Know your grandparents. I kind of wish i knew them better, i know my grandmother on my mom’s side better than on my dad’s.
Ask them (or your parents) about their lives at your age. You might be shocked by how much insight they have — and the crazy things they did!

6. Buy a lottery ticket. Not for myself but for someone else.
But just one. Everyone should take one million-to-one shot in their lives — it’s fun to dream such a big and outrageous dream.

7. Win an award. I can’t name them all, but most are from high school and a hand full from university.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a contest for role models or pie-eating — you can be the best at something. And there’s no fulfillment quite like everyone else knowing it too.

8. Say “I love you.” To my awesome boyfriend and family.
It takes courage to be vulnerable. But it’s the only way to create the possibility that someone will love you back the way you deserve.

9. Learn to drive a stick shift. I’m an automatic person.
You never know when you’ll get into a situation where you may need to know how. Plus, in terms of gas, these cars are better on your wallet.

10. Milk a cow. Did this in farming with Leo Kohorst
I was terrified to do it, but conquering this small thing helped me do even bigger scary stuff.

11. Forgive someone. It’s crazy but I’ve done this A LOT! (Adam, John Dickens, My father, The Goffs, Bobby and Steve’s..the list goes on and on) I don’t have a problem with the forgiving part it’s just the grudge and the presence of the person after the fact)
A girl wrote “b****” on my locker when I was 16, and it always ate away at me inside. But when I made amends with her, the bad feelings evaporated.

12. Have your fortune told. We made fortunes at MPLS kids just this last week, I’ve opened fortune cookies and read horoscopes before.
Sure, it’s kind of silly. But doing it is really a reminder that in the end, only you hold the power to chart your own destiny.

13. Go to a drive-in. The last movie I saw was Mall Cop I think.
Seriously, the best place on earth! Where else can you watch a movie, get a great burger, talk and walk around with friends, and see the stars — all at the same time?

14. Do your own laundry. I have been for years now!
It’s the first step on the long (but gratifying) road to independence.

15. Ride a horse. I did as a child and now I’m wanting a real horse experience. Maybe one like free us from Eva.
Okay, it might sound cheesy, but when you connect with this animal and the wind blows through your hair, it’s the closest feeling to real freedom.

16. Donate your formal dresses. I did right before I thought I was moving to Scotland.
You’ll give someone the chance to be a princess for one night. (And, yes, it’s okay to feel like one!)

17. See the ocean. I’ve seen both in Cali and in New York.
I felt so small next to this huge, timeless thing — and it inspired me to make the most of my life.

18. Waitress at least once. Italian Dinner, and with my job at Sorin Dining Hall.
Serving someone is humbling, plus it teaches you how to communicate and multitask — two skills you’ll use forever.

19. See one thing that is “the world’s largest.” The world’s largest Native American in Michigan.

The world's largest Native American

Even if it’s just a frying pan — at least it can be your temporary claim to fame!

20. Leave the country. Scotland, Greece, Ireland
Going to England, I realized how narrow my world really was — and that travel was the best way I could expand it.

21. Learn how to love your body. Still working on this one a few pounds and a hair style I fall in love with that doesn’t make me look ghetto.
I’m just now starting to feel perfect as I am because I have knobby knees and moles — not in spite of them

I feel I’ve accomplished a lot so I don’t feel so bad. Now I’m going to watch WE wedding shows and then maybe tonight I’ll go out with some people. I’m also going to help Kay with her wedding invitations by going to paper source.

I wanted to make my birthday special, it’s a bit low key but i think it will be fun. I wish my boyfriend would jump out of a closet somewhere And I pray he has a stress free day today.