Monthly Archives: January 2015

The Future and What’s In Store

Date: January 9, 2015

Author: astottler

Hey guys! I think this was a long post coming. Here and there I’ve dropped little bits and pieces..I FINALLY figured out what I want to do with my life…lots of hard work…busy…Well, the time has come to discuss it.

My gosh, I feel like a 5 year old talking about “what I want to be when I grow up.” Well, I figured out I want to be a veterinarian. I don’t know what type specifically, but in my limited experience, I’ve loved it. Anyone who I’ve told my decision to who know me says, “That makes so much sense. Why didn’t I think of that?”

He loves me.

The crazy thing is that I was so unsure for so long about what I wanted to do, but ever since I made this decision, I haven’t looked back. I’ve never been so sure of anything, and I’m prepared to work extremely hard to make this happen. I discussed this possibility on the blog a year and a half ago-my gosh how I wish I had just decided then! But then I don’t think I would be as certain as I am now.

So what does that mean for me? On the plus side, I’m a Bio major so I’m not behind on the course work. On the minus side? I have a lot of experience to gain before I can apply. This quarter is looking crazy. I need to get lots and lots of experience hours while also keeping grades up, which is likely to be a lot of work based on my 1,200 page Physiology textbook.

This means I may not have as much time for blogging. I’m not leaving you guys, just know that I’ll have all that going on!

Breaking Free from the Suffocating Grip of Social Media

Date: January 8, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

That’s quite a title, isn’t it?

A lot of people talk about how we need to step back from our phones and computers and experience the world more.

You’ve all heard it before, right? Put down your phones and pay attention?

In preparation for a lot of hard work to come this quarter, I deleted al social media apps from my phone.

And I feel so free. I felt like my social media was pulling me down and strangling me. Like I couldn’t get away. It was a hassle, but I couldn’t break free. With a new quarter and a new routine, I did something I’ve never done when I removed them all from my phone. And my gosh it feels great.

I’m less distracted when I’m doing homework. I don’t surf social media right before bed, and it’s much easier to fall asleep. I’m more focused in everything. I don’t feel the constant need to be checking my phone. Instead of surfing Instagram when I had a few minutes of downtime, I pulled up my GRE flashcard app. Over lunch, I read a couple of relevant news articles.

But most important of all? I feel like I’m regaining my intellectual curiosity-my desire to learn and my ability to sit down for 2 hours reading a textbook. It’s incredible. I finally feel like myself again-the post-social media person before all those apps on my smartphone.

Honestly, that’s all it took. I read some blogs on my computer, but it’s not the time and focus suck that was the infinite hole of twitter on my phone. My gosh, it’s amazing.

So-let’s catch up?

Tuesday was crazy busy-workout, coffee, class, class, class, rush back, drive across the bay, fit in reading in the extra minutes before I taught. Class went really well! I selected an upbeat and energetic playlist for the first week of the year! I’m teaching again next week too.

I stopped by Tin Pot (best ice cream EVER) on the way back to pick up ice cream before meeting up with one of my best friends and former roommate. She’s abroad this quarter, but stopped by before she leaves later this week. While catching up from winter break, I heated up some leftover butternut squash soup that I brought back with me when I returned to school.

We stayed up until midnight chatting. She came to my Physics class the next morning, which I’m sure was an interesting experience given she is an English major. That evening, we went to a Korean place for dinner. I had Bibimbap with chicken.

This is a rice bowl with various spiced veggies, chicken, and an egg cracked on top. It’s served in a hot stone bowl, and the rice gets nice and crispy at the bottom!

This morning, I went to the track to do 10x400m repeats. I biked all the way across campus, only to find that the track was closed for maintenance..

I ended up running on a path next to the track. Each length was .15 miles, so I did 16 of those at a fast pace. It was probably an even better workout than what I had planned!

And since I had a 9am and coffee was on the way back…

And now I need to go. Give some thought to social media!

Thoughts on social media?

First Day of The Quarter

Date: January 6, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Tuesday! I’m currently blogging while sipping a cappuccino before my 9am.

Here’s an obligatory first day of class selfie. It was cold-hence the layers!

I started my morning yesterday with Crossfit. I was thrown back into our squat program on a good day-the weights were fairly light still! The workout kind of stunk. Unless you’re into burpee box jumps.

15 min AMRAP:

10 dumbbell snatches

8 burpee box jumps

6 toes to bar

I think I got 5 rounds? With toes to bar scaled.

It was 37 degrees. Fantastic. Luckily I only had ice on my back windshield.

Since I don’t like lifting weights on an empty stomach, I had some cranberry bread beforehand.

Then I had whole milk and roasted carrots after. I think that equals a wholesome breakfast if you add them, right?

My first class of the day is Physics, and it was fine. Lunch was grilled chicken, brown butter sage sweet potato, and cumin roasted cauliflower.

Then Physics lab. Most of my classes are Tuesday/Thursday at this point which is kind of weird! So today is a bigger day.

After class, I went straight to the gym to practice my spin playlist. It was good…except I had to nix 3 songs because that had one curse word. And there were no clean versions. This is why I have to practice the playlist ahead of time!

The afternoon was spent enjoying Netflix one last time before the quarter picks up.

Dinner-back at the dining hall. Salmon with capers, roasted sweet potatoes, and a really bland Southwest Caesar salad. For some reason, all the salads have no flavor. Oh well-2/3 of the meal was good!

I also enjoyed some Christmas chocolate while catching up with everyone. Here’s a question-do you guys all have a ton of holiday chocolate? My family does, but when I was talking about this to my friend from Tennessee, she had no idea what I was talking about. I guess it’s not a thing there to give your neighbors and relatives lots of candy and or presents? How about you guys?

In terms of life and classes this quarter….it’s looking busy. I’m currently enrolled in 19 units, but that may change, I’m on my sorority’s executive board, and I will likely be volunteering a lot.So we shall see how it goes!

Holiday goodies-do you have tons like my family does?

Food Prep Fail

Date: January 5, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Here I am, sitting in my room at school blogging! Today, I wanted to talk a bit about the food prep I did before returning.

First, roasted carrots, as usual.

Then, prepared lunches. Half of these will go in the freezer for future use! Grilled chicken, brown butter-sage mashed sweet potatoes, and either cumin roasted cauliflower or balsamic roasted brussels sprouts.

I also make my recipe for banana cranberry bread.

I also made a cranberry orange quick bread from a cookbook that I boosted by using whole wheat flour.

The recipe called for buttermilk, which I had to make from milk+lemon juice. Somewhere in the process, I sort of messed up big time. As in, I added 3x the buttermilk as the recipe called for. 2 cups, not 2/3 of a cup. I realized this when I poured it into a pan and it was super liquid-y! Whoops.

By some miracle, it sort of turned out.

Notice how many cranberries there are? It’s because the batter was so liquid-y that all the fresh cranberries floated and all the dried cranberries sunk.

Shockingly though, it does resemble bread. Super, super moist bread, but I’ll take it!

Other noteworthy eats as of late?

A whole wheat quesadilla with cheddar, mozzarella, avocado, and tomato.

A half veggie/half brown rice teriyaki grilled salmon bowl.

THE BEST GUAC EVER at Reposado in downtown Palo Alto.

And a rotisserie chicken tostada salad with cilantro lime dressing.

That’s it for today! I’m teaching spin on Tuesday so I need to go and make a playlist! I hope your Monday is treating you well!

NYE Recap

Date: January 3, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Here I am, blogging from home for the last time this break!

I never did a NYE recap! Well, better late than never!

This year, 2 of my closest high school friends came over to spend the night.

Somehow we managed to accumulate 200+ pictures again.

I ended up keeping the food for the day and night fairly light. Lunch was black bean soup again.

And post Crossfit dinner before they came over was some eggs and fruit.

Our main delectables for the night included a veggie tray with hummus and with ranch dip-this was devoured. I love that I have friends I can eat veggies with! We used to have veggie parties back in high school.

I also picked up so healthy-ish looking kettle corn which was good! The main request for the night was ice cream sundaes. I got slow churned brownie fudge and cookies and cream. Slow churned is slightly healthier, right? I was actually shocked by how much lower in calories it was!

We then topped that with a fresh warm brownie, caramel sauce, chocolate fudge sauce, and whipped cream.

I honestly wondered what we would do all night, but as it turns out, if you put 3 old friends in a house together, it’s not hard to find something!

We had fun talking, breaking out old yearbooks, and playing with the kitties.

And of course, right at midnight, we turned on the TV to watch the ball drop.

And I got my New Year’s kiss.

Then, it was snack time again. This time-whole wheat quesadillas!

(Me on spatula duty.)

And here’s a #transformationtuesday for ya!

It was a great night, and I couldn’t ask for better people to spend it with!

Despite staying up until 4am talking, I dragged myself to noon Crossfit to start 2015 off strong! It was a bodyweight partner workout so nothing too crazy, but it felt great to get moving before settling in on the couch to watch football all day. PAC-12 represent! I honestly never thought I’d root for Oregon, but of course I’ll root for PAC-12 teams-so under appreciated as a conference.

To watch the Rose Bowl, we made baked Brie for the first time. (Remember back when I went to the Rose Bowl?)

I cut off the top and side rinds, topped it with cranberry-apple butter, and then threw it in the oven at 350 until it was completely melted and bubbly.

It turned out really well! I liked that the cranberry cut the sweetness a bit. I enjoyed it with some crackers.

During both the Rose of Sugar Bowls, I also enjoyed the company of a certain orange kitty.

A certain sleepy orange kitty.

Dinner later in the day was thrown together from the depths of our freezer. Trader Joe’s sweet potato gnocchi with sage butter sauce (really good and tender), Trader Joe’s mushroom medley, and a basic side salad.

The random dishes ended up complementing each other well!

I hope you all had a fantastic New Year’s Eve!

What did you do for NYE?