Katie

Life's Little Instruction Book

2010-06-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

For one of my graduation gifts I got a book full of "511 suggestions, observations, and reminders on how to live a happy and rewarding life". I have decided that I am going to do these small acts of kindness and thoughts on ways that you can improve the your life and that of people around you or complete strangers. After reading through it there were quite a few that I either already do or have done already, so with those ones I am going to do them again. Some of them I dont think I will ever get to or do (like learning to play an instrument) but you never know.And I hope to update this blog more often so you all know how my progress is going.

The first one on the to do list is #1: compliment three people every day.

P.S. You look beautiful today! :)

College Graduate!

2010-06-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

So I graduated college with a bachelor of science in Health and Human Performance with an option in Exercise Science. It feels great to have a degree but not so great that I dont have a job. At least not one that I can actually use my degree. I was hired as full time staff in the Financial Aid Office where I have been working at for the last three years. Im not complaining because I have a job and a paycheck. But I cant wait till I can leave that place and prove to myself that I didnt waste the last 4 years of my life. More than likely I am going to go to grad school. Im just not sure for what yet.

2009-12-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

This article made me laugh! Since this is my major I kinda know a thing or two about this topic. He is completely misinformed. Something as little as eating more protein will help to keep you full during and after exercise. Apparently he is not eating the correct types of food. Just read for a little chuckle.

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin
By John Cloud Sunday, Aug. 09, 2009

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html#ixzz0Z4NYAJS2

As I write this, tomorrow is Tuesday, which is a cardio day. I'll spend five minutes warming up on the VersaClimber, a towering machine that requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously. Then I'll do 30 minutes on a stair mill. On Wednesday a personal trainer will work me like a farm animal for an hour, sometimes to the point that I am dizzy — an abuse for which I pay as much as I spend on groceries in a week. Thursday is "body wedge" class, which involves another exercise contraption, this one a large foam wedge from which I will push myself up in various hateful ways for an hour. Friday will bring a 5.5-mile run, the extra half-mile my grueling expiation of any gastronomical indulgences during the week.
I have exercised like this — obsessively, a bit grimly — for years, but recently I began to wonder: Why am I doing this? Except for a two-year period at the end of an unhappy relationship — a period when I self-medicated with lots of Italian desserts — I have never been overweight. One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. But I exercise all the time, and since I ended that relationship and cut most of those desserts, my weight has returned to the same 163 lb. it has been most of my adult life. I still have gut fat that hangs over my belt when I sit. Why isn't all the exercise wiping it out? (Read "The Year in Medicine 2008: From A to Z.")
It's a question many of us could ask. More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly. The survey ran from 1980, when only 47% of respondents said they engaged in regular exercise, to 2000, when the figure had grown to 57%.
And yet obesity figures have risen dramatically in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, and another third count as overweight by the Federal Government's definition. Yes, it's entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight? (Watch TIME's video "How to Lose Hundreds of Pounds.")
The conventional wisdom that exercise is essential for shedding pounds is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated. (Read "Losing Weight: Can Exercise Trump Genes?")
"In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless," says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn't as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.
The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.
The Compensation Problem
Earlier this year, the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE — PLoS is the nonprofit Public Library of Science — published a remarkable study supervised by a colleague of Ravussin's, Dr. Timothy Church, who holds the rather grand title of chair in health wisdom at LSU. Church's team randomly assigned into four groups 464 overweight women who didn't regularly exercise. Women in three of the groups were asked to work out with a personal trainer for 72 min., 136 min., and 194 min. per week, respectively, for six months. Women in the fourth cluster, the control group, were told to maintain their usual physical-activity routines. All the women were asked not to change their dietary habits and to fill out monthly medical-symptom questionnaires.

I'm Legal!

2009-02-28T14:33:00.000-08:00

so not much has been going on with me lately.....oh besides the fact that I turned 21 two weeks ago! Needless to say I had an amazing birthday. I had tacos and margaritas at my apartment and then hit up the bars after that to get my free shots. I think (I say that because I was heavily intoxicated) I made it to about 14 shots AND I was still standing. Of course I did puke in the alley behind one of the bars at the end of the night.

It is such a different feeling being able to drink and buy alcohol legally. However I was a little upset when I got my first drink on my bday before dinner the bartender didn't even ask for my ID. The same thing happened when I went to dinner a few days later, the server didn't ask for my ID. So whats the point of even having a 21st when I could of been doing this all along. But if anyone wants to go out for a drink, call me.

Sorry :(

2009-01-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

wow it has been a really long time since I have been on here, almost 4 1/2 months. That is inexcusable. But considering no one really reads this besides maybe my sister in law, its not that big of a deal. I like blogging to get stuff of my chest and to just put my thoughts somewhere besides my head. It can get pretty crowded up there.
Classes start tomorrow for spring semester. It feels like this break would never end so I am kinda glad that I will be busy again. But I am also really stressed and worried and the semester hasn't even started. I have to admit that I am not the best student in the world. I get Cs and Bs and the occasional D. But lately I have been thinking about grad school and how on earth I am going to be admitted. It is so competitive and even to just be considered you have to have at least a 2.7 gpa and needless to say I have never had that my entire collegiate career. So what is going to set me apart from all the other applicants? I know that I have to do my observational hours and I want to go above and beyond the minimum hours and I want to start doing volunteer work. I was thinking about becoming a Big Sister, but I don't know how I am going to raise my gpa, volunteer, observational hours, work and have somewhat of a social life on top of that. Thanks for letting me vent.
I am excited for this semester to start contrary to what I said above. But I think the classes I am taking are really interesting, Exercise Physiology, elementary microbiology, abnormal psychology, and physics.
I started my observational hours last week. I went to a Physical Therapists office and watched a PT for a couple hours. It was really interesting and informational. I scheduled time to observe her for a couple hours every week and I think it will be fun.
My new roommate moved in last night. She is an exchange student from Tokyo, Japan. She speaks really good english but she has a thick accent so I have to listen to her really well. I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to her. I waiting till she gets all unpacked and settled before I pounce. But she seems really sweet and nice. This is definitely going to be an experience and I promise to keep you informed.
Well I guess thats about it for now. Oh yeah, less than three weeks till my 21st bday! (not that im excited or anything :) )

I figured out how to put pictures up!!

2008-09-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

At the top of Lookout Pass

All of us at Grinnell Lake

MMMMM...Dinner!

Appacune Falls

Glacier Trip

2008-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

So just wanted to tell everyone about my trip to Glacier National Park over Labor day weekend.

We, meaning Morgan, her boyfriend Alec, and Nadine- a good friend of Morgan left Missoula in the afternoon on Friday and got to our campsite about 8 that night. We stayed at a campground right inside the park's east entrance called St. Mary's. We set up tent and unpacked everything then Alec made hamburgers for dinner and of course we had smores also. It was so windy that day and all night that I seriously thought our tent was going to fly away with us in it.

But the morning was beautiful. We got up early and made our way to Many Glacier for our trail ride. We went on a half day horseback riding trip to a secluded lake and glacier called Grinnell. It was so pretty. It was nice to be on a horse again. My horses name was Duke and he was huge! Seriously his back was as tall as I am. After we got back we went on a short hike to Appacune falls. We got to be right under the falls and climb over all these rocks. It was so fun. We were all so exhausted from the day we just went back to the campsite and relaxed, drank, talked and cooked dinner. Alec made these wonderful rib eye steaks and corn on the cob. And then smores for dessert!

The next morning we slept in but when we got up it was raining. We planned on going on an all day hike but we decided that probably wouldn't be the best thing in the rain and then have to sit in a car for three hours soaking wet. So we drove the Going-to-the-Sun road. It was amazing. It felt like I was on top of the world. And with the rain, the clouds were really low so the mountains looked all smokey and mystic. We went to the top of Lookout Pass and then drove back down, and started on our way home.

I had so much fun. It was a good way to kind of end the summer and hang out with friends before things got busy and stressful. If I ever figure out how to put pictures on here I will, but who knows how long that is going to take :)

end of summer

2008-08-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

So classes started today, I guess that means summer is officially over. I was kinda glad to get back though. I don't know how much longer I could of worked eight hours a day in the financial aid office. Its hard to tell how my classes are going to be yet. Only time will tell. but so far I think they will be ok.
some highlights of my summer:
almost drowning
seeing Mat and Carly
coffee with Emily
hanging with Lyndz and Bailey
working with and getting to know Morgan really well
moving out of my old apartment

some random things I love right now

2008-07-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

So I just thought I would let you all know some things that really hit me this past week or so.
1. My roommate went home for the summer and she left her DVDs here. so one weekend I was really bored and started watching her One Tree Hill DVDs. And now I am obsessed! I can almost watch an entire season in one day. She took some of the disks home with her so I found it on the Internet but it has Japanese subtitles. but hey it free! Lets just say I'm addicted.
2. Clean Sheets. I know I'm weird but just the feeling and the smell of freshly changed sheets is amazing.
3. When Old people get together and talk. I was listening to these two couples talk on Saturday and I was just amazed by their experiences and their knowledge. Plus the men were just a kick. They were the funniest old men I have ever met. Just the stories they tell are hilarious. Also they were talking about what they are going to do for their 5oth wedding anniversary! can you believe how amazing that is? To love someone that much to be with them for 50 years. I hope one day I can find love like that.
4. The new Clintons CD. It is incredible. Its not as crazy or random as their last few albums. They have a few more "serious" songs on there. but of course they are still what everyone expects them to be hilarious. I love the calm but rockin' sound.

Near Death

2008-06-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

You know how in the movies when people have these near death experiences that they say their life flashes before their eyes? Well on Sunday I had one of these near death experiences and i have to say that I didn't see my life before my eyes but maybe it was because I was too busy trying to stay alive.
So Sunday was fathers day and my dad was in town. We decided that we wanted to go floating for the day and spend some time together. So we get in the river and the water was freezing and my feet were kinda numb but everything was going fine, it was a nice day and the water was relaxing. I am floating ahead of my dad and all of a sudden we come around this bend in the river and all I see are dead trees lining the bank. So am paddling as hard as I can to get towards the middle of the river and away from these trees but of course the current is really strong from the winter run off and is pulling me right towards them. My tube turns slightly so my back is to the trees and I hit these trees. My tube POPS! a millisecond later I am under the water and all of these trees. I tried to grab on to something to pull myself to the surface but the current is so strong I can't get a grip.
Now this is the time where I would of had one of those flashes... but nothing. I guess I subconsciously knew that I wasn't going to die or something.
So I am underwater and the water gets darker and I am like oh great I am going down farther but all of a sudden the water gets lighter and lighter and I pop out to the surface. I am still struggling to stay afloat but at least I got that breath in and I finally was able to swim to the other side of the river and climb out.
My dad was also able to get out and we hugged for like an hour and I caught my breath. So now we are in kinda a predicament. I have no tube but my dad has his and I lost my flip flops, sunglasses and the shorts to my swimming suit. My dad suggests that I use his tube to float to our car but I turned that idea down right away. So we decide that we have to walk to the highway and hitchhike to our car.
Now the highway was about a mile to a mile and a half away so we were walking for about an hour before we even caught a glimpse of the road. And in case you forgot I DON"T HAVE ANY SHOES. We were walking through pine cones and thistles and marsh so the mosquitoes were horrible. I seriously got eaten alive by them. but we finally made it to the road and back to our car.
The next day I was so sore and I had bug bites all over my body and some pretty good bruises. But I am thankful to be alive. I truly thank God for saving my life. And I suggest to everyone to not go floating in June in Montana.
Now I realize how precious life is and I value my life more than ever now.

start of summer?

2008-04-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

So today was just amazing! It got up to almost 70 degrees and the sun was shining. BEAUTIFUL! What made it even better was my roomies and I had a little BBQ. We marinated some steaks, had some baked beans and potato salad. This is one of my favorite parts of summer. I love just hanging out with friends and having a bbq. Hopefully there will be a lot more where this came from.

Rip off!

2008-04-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

So I finally got fed up and took my car in to the shop this week and I got it back the other day. So I am extremely happy that I have my car back and I don't have to ride the bus with all the creepy people anymore. BUT... can you guess what I am going to say?! The bill was rediculous! So they had to change my fan or something like that which was a $26 part. The labor on the other hand was $105!!!!! I just can't even believe that. Yeah I know that mechanics are good at their job and they know what they are doing and they can actually fix my car. but I mean, come on, are you serious?!

Ugh!

2008-03-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

So I have two really big complaints today.
1. So I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be a good day. I get ready for class and I go out to get into my car to go to school. And my car starts BUT, all the warning lights are on so I turn off my car and lo and behold my car won't start again. So lately my car has been acting up. My alternator and battery went out and just recently my belts were hanging by a thread literally. Granted my car is an '89 Subaru so i think it is time for Loretta to be laid to rest. She has been a good car and I absolutely love her and so does everybody else but I can't keep having things go wrong and not being able to rely on her. :( So since my car wouldn't start I had to ride the bus home and wait for it for like a half hour in the snow, which brings me to my next point.
2. The weather! So I realize that we do live in Montana and snow is expected but I mean come on! It is supposed to be like in the 50s now and it ends up snowing. I hate it so much. There is a saying that "you know your from MT if you switch from the heat to the AC in the same day" It is so true. I can understand rain but snow, really?!?!

ok I just had to vent a little.

not sure

2008-03-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

So I don't really know what to write and Im not very good at it but I thought I would give it a try. Well to start off I will tell you a little about my self. I am 20 years old, living in Missoula, MT. I go to the University of Montana and I absolutely love it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life right now. I feel that this is where I am meant to be at this point in my life. I am studying Health and Human Performance- Exercise Science. It is really interesting and I enjoy learning about the human body and kinestetics and everything else that goes in to it, which is probably a good thing since that is what I am majoring in. I hope to go on to the Physical Therapy school here when I graduate. I have wanted to be a PT since I can remember. We all have those professions that when someone asked us what we wanted to be when we grow up, mine was always a PT. I don't know what else I would do. There are obviously being a nurse or a trainer or something like that but I just don't think I would be very happy with that kind of profession.

So other than going to school I work, surprise- gotta have some sort of spending money right? I am technically called a clerk in the Financial Aid Office on campus. Sounds exciting I know! I started there in September and I pretty much file papers and enter students info into our database. Its not as boring as it sounds but it helps that I work with some really neat people. There are about four other girls my age that also work there and my boss is pretty laid back but she can get on my nerves sometimes. We all get along really well and laugh and have fun probably more than we should but its better than being all serious all the time.

In my spare time you can find me either watching tv, studying or just hanging with my friends. I love love love movies. If I didn't have cable thats what I would watch. I am addicted to Friends. I have seen every one and I still crack up laughing everytime I see an episode. I also watch Greys Anatomy and Lost. They are by far the most amazing shows I have ever seen.

Thats all I care to write about right now. Catch ya later!