Thinking Out Loud #91

Hey hey! Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! How’s your week going? Mine is busy, but as you know, that’s so much more than I could say about my last internship, so it’s all alright. Let’s jump in and catch up on what’s happening in my life and mind this week.

1.) At orientation, another intern passed out after 20 minutes and had to leave on a stretcher. Other than that, it was pretty much 8 hours of live streamed orientation.

2.) On Tuesday, my first real day of work, I was learning at a coworker’s desk and preparing for a meeting when suddenly my manager’s boss shepherded everyone in the area into a tiny conference room because we were on lockdown. What a way to start the summer.

3.) We were there for over an hour and a half with minimal information about what was going on, and I was phone-less since I had left my phone at my desk. By the end, we basically knew there was a guy with a gun on the campus. It turned out to be a concealed carry that was poorly concealed – plus you can’t carry a gun there.

4.) That was a long time to be without a phone, especially under pretty scary circumstances. I used a coworker’s phone to text my parents that I was fine, and then I just sat there, not refreshing Twitter for updates.

5.) Since we were on lockdown all through lunch, my team didn’t take me out to a special first-day lunch, which was understandable. They also forgot on my second day. Oh, well. Life is busy. So busy that I somehow didn’t need snacks yesterday. Crazy.

6.) So far, I’ve learned that I need to be way better about preparing food for the week than I was last weekend. That means actually putting together full meals ahead of time instead of just components, because when I only do the components, I still have to spend time after I get home, eat dinner, take a walk, blog, etc. making my food for the next day. And then it’s practically bedtime, and I don’t like it.

7.) In addition to doing well on the research paper, I also did about 1.5 grades better than I expected in Health Economics. Last quarter wasn’t so rough grades-wise after all.

8.) I’ve been blogging for almost three years at this point and aside from trial and error, one of the ways I’ve learned the most has been through various courses, free and otherwise, from Nicole Culver.

She is going to be hosting a (free!) 5-day course on building your business through local networking, which is something I’m really interested in now that I’m back in Columbus. Chicago felt like it was too big to start from such a small place, but having some connections in Columbus makes this idea so much more exciting. Are you interested, too? Sign up here.

Nicole is the best – super accessible and friendly – and if you’re a blogger or small business owner, I highly recommend checking her programs out. (But no pressure, obviously.) I am an affiliate with Nicole, so if you sign up for any of her paid programs with my link, I will receive a small commission. If you’d rather sign up via her website, though, go for it. You’ll learn lots!

9.) Orange is the New Black comes out this weekend. Are you watching? Last season wasn’t my favorite, but I’ll give it a shot. Otherwise, we’re watching lots of Chopped reruns and playoff sports.

10.) And now I want to leave you with some of my favorite recipes + reads from the week:

• I am so, so in. –> “Chunky Monkey” Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches 
• I want them all. –> Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Creamy Avocado Dipping Sauce
• You know I love my Nuzest (affiliate link). –> Double Almond Paleo Protein Cookies
• I adore Alexis’s deeper posts. –> On Living Your Unicorn Life
• Lindsay is the meal-prep goddess. –> My Weekly Food Prep {By the Minute}

Your turn:

What’s the longest you usually go without your phone?

What are you watching?

Anything else I should know?