Hi there! Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! How are you on this first day of December? Both the year and the quarter are drawing to a close and all I can think is that time goes so fast. Do you feel the same? Finals are next week, and then it’s winter break, and then ta-da, it’ll be winter quarter. Crazy.
Anyway, between catching up on Thanksgiving, the events at Ohio State, and my utter disappointment in Rory Gilmore, I think it’s safe to say that you already know lots of things that have been happening in my life and mind this week. But I guess it’s been an eventful one, because I still have more to talk about. And that’s what today is for. Thanks for the link-up, Amanda!
1.) I was talking with some friends on Tuesday after our last class on the Hittites about how anti-climactic the last class of the quarter is. It always feels like everything should get resolved and we walk away with so much new understanding and knowledge. Instead, it’s usually a teacher scrambling to cram in as much material as possible, occasionally saying, “Thanks for a great quarter,” and yelling the date of the final out the door as we leave.
2.) There was, however, a bird in the lecture hall of my last Intro to Comparative Politics class yesterday. The professor stopped mid-sentence and asked if the student in front of her saw it, too. He did. She continued teaching.
3.) It is as of yet unclear when I’m supposed to find out what classes I get to take next quarter, but the website is supposed to be down for maintenance tonight. So… maybe Friday? It would be nice if the university could tell us that. I want to make plans.
4.) I didn’t think I would want to spend even more time at CorePower, but I do, so I’m 99% sure that I’ll be taking the second part of yoga teacher training in January and February. It’s so fun, guys. I don’t want it to end.
5.) Speaking of which, we’re teaching a real (free) class for the first time this week! If you happen to be in the Chicago area and want to hear five minutes of me teaching (and another 55 minutes of my classmates teaching), you should come to the Hyde Park CorePower on Sunday!
6.) I love steak, so when there were filets on sale at the grocery store this weekend, I obviously had to get one. Until yesterday, I had never cooked steak on the stove before, since my dad swears by grilling (and does a great job of it). But I decided that yesterday was the day to go for it. I knew I had a long final afternoon of class ahead of me, and a nice steak sounded like just the meal to get me through it.
Not to brag or anything, and I feel like this picture doesn’t do it justice, but I totally nailed it. Perfectly seared on the outside, medium rare on the inside.
7.) Despite my fabulous lunch, I ended up buying vending machine snacks at the business school to get me through my three-turned-six hours there. My teacher offered to stick around to answer questions and go over the practice final. I thought I’d stay for an hour at most, and was still there three hours later. Who am I to turn down guided study time?
8.) When I got back home, I immediately ate dinner and then went downstairs to join my housemates for our weekly study break. The grad students who live with us are great. Last night, they made adorable marshmallow snowmen, in addition to gingerbread cookies of all sorts of festive shapes and tea.
And then we started making paper snowflakes to decorate the house lounge. I quickly realized I’m terrible at making paper snowflakes and decided to play with the grad students’ kids instead. Where are my craft skills?
9.) It went from a beautiful 50° to the winds stinging my hands into numbness yesterday. So… I guess winter is showing up?
10.) And now I want to leave you with some of my favorite recipes + reads from the week.
- You already know I love stuffed squash. –> Acorn Squash Breakfast Bowls with Yogurt
- Obsessed with snickerdoodle stuff lately. –> Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Quick + healthy anytime meal. –> Vegalicious Chopped Avocado Tuna Salad
- Don’t make yourself miserable. –> Move in a Way That Feels Good
- Get more done! –> Secrets of the Most Productive People: 2016
Your turn:
Are you a crafts person? I wish I were better at them!
Anything else I should know?
Best study break ever? If I were the in the same position of power, you all would be lucky to get M&Ms. In the bag. (maybe because I’m hording them, you’ll never know). And I love that you started with Hittite discussion. Nerd. I love it. Best feeling ever is #nailedit with food that everyone else messes up. YAS. And I want to take a yoga class from you! I’ll see if I can make it down!
Nik and Jovana do such a great job with study breaks – no idea how, between juggling school and two kids under 5 and a bunch of other responsibilities, but they’re great.
And yep I’m a nerd. Juuust not for the next three weeks 😀
Awww those little snowmen are so cute. And congratulations on that steak! Steak is so hard, and I almost always don’t get it right. ;o)
It’s definitely tricky! I usually leave it up to someone else to cook my steak 🙂
How cute are those marshmallow snowmen?! Haha! We’re making a gingerbread house this weekend and I think I need a marshmallow snowman out the front 😉
I think I’ve only made a gingerbread house once…? But I kinda want to make one now!
Congratulaions on the steak cooking! That’s a great skill to have.
Being able to feed myself well is high on my priority list 😉
I LOVEEEEEEEEEE STEAK! Now I want some! And I love your study break — I’m seriously considering re-branding that to “life break” and enjoying one, myself.:)
Oooh yeah. I think we all need some life breaks 🙂
Crafts aren’t really my thing…I’m far too impatient! And congrats on the steak. Isn’t cooking something perfectly the first time just one of the best feelings? Besides eating it of course! 😉
YES. I seriously do little dances in the kitchen when my meals/experiments turn out well!