Today I did my grocery shopping for the week. I just got money for May, so I figured I'd spend about $100 on groceries and try to make that stretch as long as possible (I'm thinking till May 12th, which is when I'm done with classes). My brother and I went to Kroger at 9:30 tonight, which was great because no one was there. I came prepared with a shopping list and a full stomach so I wouldn't overspend!
I added up the groceries in my head as I went along and after I got all the items on my list, I figured the total would probably be about $70 (under budget- score!) Actually, the total came to $66.16, which is even better. Since I saved so much on groceries, I decided to fill my tank since I was almost on empty. My gas total came to $34, so I got gas and groceries for about $100.
Sweet. I love saving money.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The meal wheel
This week started out a little rough, but it's gotten much better. Since I put off a lot of my schoolwork until Sunday, I stayed up late on Sunday night to get it all done; consequently, I was pretty tired on Monday. I had my last lab practical for A&P on Monday morning, had to complete some lab work for an animal behavior class Monday afternoon, and did my end-of-the-semester original lab experiment for another bio class at the end of the day. On Tuesday I was very productive and got caught up with all my other homework!
By today, I was ready for some friend time again. I went over to my friend's dorm and ended up inviting her and 2 other girls over to my house for dinner. Tonight I made pork chops. I basically rotate between 5 meals at my house. There's shake & bake pork chops, cheeseburgers, parmesan chicken, hamburger helper, and CBCB (chicken broccoli cheese braid- a family recipe). Occasionally we'll switch it up and have tacos or soup or something like that.
Before I had to cook for myself, I never realized how difficult it is to come up with different meals. I'm a relatively picky eater, which makes it even harder. I remember times where I'd complain about what was for dinner ("we're having this againnnn?") Never again will I complain about someone else cooking the meal! It's more work than it seems. Not just the cooking part, which may not take that long, but the planning, the shopping, making sure you have all the ingredients, and having dinner ready at the right time. I try to go for meals that are quick and easy that don't require too many ingredients.
Anyways, everyone seemed to like the pork chops. Since all 3 girls live in the dorms, they don't get home-cooked meals at all, so even something quick and easy like shake & bake is probably better than the cafeteria food. I hope all my dinner guests in the future are as appreciative of my limited cooking skills!
By today, I was ready for some friend time again. I went over to my friend's dorm and ended up inviting her and 2 other girls over to my house for dinner. Tonight I made pork chops. I basically rotate between 5 meals at my house. There's shake & bake pork chops, cheeseburgers, parmesan chicken, hamburger helper, and CBCB (chicken broccoli cheese braid- a family recipe). Occasionally we'll switch it up and have tacos or soup or something like that.
Before I had to cook for myself, I never realized how difficult it is to come up with different meals. I'm a relatively picky eater, which makes it even harder. I remember times where I'd complain about what was for dinner ("we're having this againnnn?") Never again will I complain about someone else cooking the meal! It's more work than it seems. Not just the cooking part, which may not take that long, but the planning, the shopping, making sure you have all the ingredients, and having dinner ready at the right time. I try to go for meals that are quick and easy that don't require too many ingredients.
Anyways, everyone seemed to like the pork chops. Since all 3 girls live in the dorms, they don't get home-cooked meals at all, so even something quick and easy like shake & bake is probably better than the cafeteria food. I hope all my dinner guests in the future are as appreciative of my limited cooking skills!
Monday, April 26, 2010
The work is never done
Oh, the joys of living in your own apartment- it's wonderful to be able to come home after class instead of going to a dorm room and it's so nice to have the ability to cook in an actual kitchen. However, living in my own house also means that there are a lot of chores that need to be done and bills that need to be paid. It's a big responsibility.
I never thought of myself as a particularly neat person before I started college. I mean, I liked to have my things organized, but my room got pretty messy every once in awhile, and I didn't exactly do a lot of cleaning in my spare time. Living in a dorm changed me. I couldn't believe how messy and disorganized some people were. Leaving clothes on the floor is one thing, but leaving food out and leaving hair all over the sink? That's disgusting.
So I changed my habits. Not only did I start to compulsively put my stuff away (nothing is safe if left out!), I also had to keep my area of the room neat in order to be able to sit down and get homework done. Dorm rooms are very space-efficient. If my desk was messy, there was literally no other surface on which to write. I had to be clean... and I actually enjoyed having everything nice and orderly.
Now, in my own house, I've continued my cleaner ways. There's a lot more to do here though. Cleaning toilets, showers, sinks, kitchen counters, vacuuming, dusting, even periodically cleaning out the fridge and the grill. It seems like the work is never done, but you know what? My house looks attractive and inviting. A clean house is worth the work!
I never thought of myself as a particularly neat person before I started college. I mean, I liked to have my things organized, but my room got pretty messy every once in awhile, and I didn't exactly do a lot of cleaning in my spare time. Living in a dorm changed me. I couldn't believe how messy and disorganized some people were. Leaving clothes on the floor is one thing, but leaving food out and leaving hair all over the sink? That's disgusting.
So I changed my habits. Not only did I start to compulsively put my stuff away (nothing is safe if left out!), I also had to keep my area of the room neat in order to be able to sit down and get homework done. Dorm rooms are very space-efficient. If my desk was messy, there was literally no other surface on which to write. I had to be clean... and I actually enjoyed having everything nice and orderly.
Now, in my own house, I've continued my cleaner ways. There's a lot more to do here though. Cleaning toilets, showers, sinks, kitchen counters, vacuuming, dusting, even periodically cleaning out the fridge and the grill. It seems like the work is never done, but you know what? My house looks attractive and inviting. A clean house is worth the work!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Weekends
When my week is totally crazy and I have a ton of stuff to get done, I can't wait for the weekend to finally get here. It seems like my week is so jam-packed, but when Friday finally comes, the whole weekend stretches before me like a big sea of time and space. I can fill it however I want and I can catch up on everything that I've pushed off. Yet somehow this hardly ever happens. Where does my weekend go?
On Thursday, I made a list of homework assignments that I wanted to work on this weekend, thinking that I'd space them all out and get a little bit done each day (while still having time to relax and hang out with friends). How much have I accomplished? That would be 0/8. Where does the time go? How does that endless sea become a running river that sweeps by me so fast I hardly have time to blink before it's gone?
I don't know, but I do know that I've had a great weekend so far, despite getting little on my list accomplished. I've gotten to sleep in, spend time with friends, even play some board games. Tonight I'm going to the movies. I guess that homework will be getting done on Sunday, as per my usual routine. Hey, you can't expect too much from me. I'm in college.
On Thursday, I made a list of homework assignments that I wanted to work on this weekend, thinking that I'd space them all out and get a little bit done each day (while still having time to relax and hang out with friends). How much have I accomplished? That would be 0/8. Where does the time go? How does that endless sea become a running river that sweeps by me so fast I hardly have time to blink before it's gone?
I don't know, but I do know that I've had a great weekend so far, despite getting little on my list accomplished. I've gotten to sleep in, spend time with friends, even play some board games. Tonight I'm going to the movies. I guess that homework will be getting done on Sunday, as per my usual routine. Hey, you can't expect too much from me. I'm in college.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Apartment hunting
Finding an apartment is hard. Finding an apartment in a new city and coordinating things with roommates I've never met is even harder. Grad school is kind of weird- it's not like college where you just get assigned to a dorm room your freshman year. Graduate housing is limited and most people have to live off campus. The problem is, housing in Richmond is expensive (especially if you get a single bedroom apartment). So I put my name on a list of physical therapy students that are looking for roommates and just asked if anyone wanted to get a 3 or 4 bedroom place and split rent. Luckily, some of the girls responded and now there are 3 of us trying to decide on a place together.
I made the drive into Richmond twice within a week to look at a bunch of different places. The second time I went with my mom and we went to about 7 or 8 different places in appointments only half an hour apart! That was a little exhausting to say the least.
The first place my future roommates and I initially liked was a house in Church Hill. It's a huge 3 bedroom townhouse less than 5 minutes away from the MCV campus where we'll be attending classes. I picked up some rental forms for us to fill out. However, after I talked about it with several people who are familiar with the Richmond area, I discovered that Church Hill isn't the safest place to live. Apparently the neighborhood near this house was in a particularly bad area. I'm so thankful we figured this out sooner rather than later, but still, it was a bit of a downer. I felt like nothing had been accomplished by my 2 trips.
That wasn't completely true of course. I had really liked one of the other places I'd looked at before, but the problem was that they hadn't been able to show me the 3-bedroom apartment while I was there. So my mom and I had to drive back a 3rd time to Richmond to make sure we liked this place. It seems like a go and I sent in my security deposit today, so hopefully this all works out!
I made the drive into Richmond twice within a week to look at a bunch of different places. The second time I went with my mom and we went to about 7 or 8 different places in appointments only half an hour apart! That was a little exhausting to say the least.
The first place my future roommates and I initially liked was a house in Church Hill. It's a huge 3 bedroom townhouse less than 5 minutes away from the MCV campus where we'll be attending classes. I picked up some rental forms for us to fill out. However, after I talked about it with several people who are familiar with the Richmond area, I discovered that Church Hill isn't the safest place to live. Apparently the neighborhood near this house was in a particularly bad area. I'm so thankful we figured this out sooner rather than later, but still, it was a bit of a downer. I felt like nothing had been accomplished by my 2 trips.
That wasn't completely true of course. I had really liked one of the other places I'd looked at before, but the problem was that they hadn't been able to show me the 3-bedroom apartment while I was there. So my mom and I had to drive back a 3rd time to Richmond to make sure we liked this place. It seems like a go and I sent in my security deposit today, so hopefully this all works out!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
My very first post
I'm starting this blog because I'm about to start graduate school. I'm going to be in the physical therapy program at VCU for the next 3 and a half years. Although it seems like a long time, I have a feeling that the time is going to fly by, and I'm going to look back and wonder where it went. Hopefully this blog will help me capture some thoughts and memories that would otherwise disappear as quickly as they came.
Coming up with a title took me awhile. I wanted it to be something unique, maybe something a little clever, or something with a hidden meaning. I tried to come up with something meaningful, using phrases from my favorite books, poems, and Bible verses. I guess I wasn't being that creative, because everything I tried had already been taken. Finally, I thought, "This is a blog about me, so why not just use my name?" So I did, but I shortened my last name to "span". I think this fits because I'm going to be blogging about the span of years between graduating college and getting a job in the real word (aka the in-between alternate reality of grad school!)
Here's one of the definitions of span: "a section between two intermediate supports". If that's not a great analogy for grad school, I don't know what is!
Coming up with a title took me awhile. I wanted it to be something unique, maybe something a little clever, or something with a hidden meaning. I tried to come up with something meaningful, using phrases from my favorite books, poems, and Bible verses. I guess I wasn't being that creative, because everything I tried had already been taken. Finally, I thought, "This is a blog about me, so why not just use my name?" So I did, but I shortened my last name to "span". I think this fits because I'm going to be blogging about the span of years between graduating college and getting a job in the real word (aka the in-between alternate reality of grad school!)
Here's one of the definitions of span: "a section between two intermediate supports". If that's not a great analogy for grad school, I don't know what is!
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