Them's Fightin' Words

The other day my girlfriend sent me a link to an opinion article  on our Alma Mater's website about student athletes. Let's just say my sassy button was pushed!

If you remember back to this post about me thinking about running again, I mentioned that I was a D1 collegiate athlete my freshman year. I realize that I only ran one year and I did get to experience the perks of being an athlete, like Irwin, that awesome planner, free tutoring and some gear.  I was required to spend 10 hours every week at Irwin or face disciplinary action that could also be felt by my teammates if I didn't fulfill them, depended on how the coach felt! And lets be honest, I was there way more than 10 hours each week. Along with the mental stress of having the coach yell at you during practice, worrying about everything you ate that day and if you would be seeing it later at practice, letting your teammates down, etc. etc.

I got to experience campus life both as an athlete and as a non-athlete. And I can tell you that I would rather be a normal college student than a student-athlete. I am grateful for the chance to experience that opportunity but I wouldn't choose it again, and not every athlete is treated that awesome by their school, depends on the sport and it depends on their performance ability.

I was the absolute bottom of the barrel athlete on the team, so I never got to travel to meets, I competed a total of 3 times, yet I was at every practice and doing the same workout as my teammates. I spent a minimum of 3 hours (I had 1 practice last for 5 hours) in practice everyday, including Saturdays and Sundays, and usually 2-a-day practices. Along with having a regular course load, and doing homework like other students.

And going out for a good time during season, forget it! Runners are 3 season athletes, so at most we'd get a 2 week break for such things as partying between seasons, oh and we still had to practice in those 2 weeks.

I realize that there are those who worked multiple jobs while doing a full course load as well. But think on this, these "privileged" students work and are not paid in money, they are paid in those perks that every other student seems envious of but the true cost comes at what performing at that level can do to your body.

Yes, student athletes are prime examples of being physically fit but have you ever trained so much that your foot literally breaks from the stress your body is under? My own sister had that happen after recovering from having her other foot broken in a race. There are ligament tears, there are lost toenails, muscle pulls, stress fractures, the injuries are endless. They are constantly putting their bodies and health on the line for a sport they are passionate about and for school pride. Would you be willing to do that, just for a free planner?

And to be at the collegiate athletic level, you don't just wake up one morning in high school and decide that what you want to do, most of these athlete have been doing their sport since grade school or even before they were in school. Me and my sister started running and training when she was 8 and I was 6. Granted she enjoyed and trained 50x harder than I did. It started out fun but it became more and more competitive as we got older.

Sorry for the rant, but I have seen both sides of this coin something that most do not. I stopped running because I couldn't handle being a student and an athlete. The stress of the the sport and training pretty much hammered out almost all love I had for doing my sport again even for health and fun. In fact, most student-athletes will experience burn out and some may never get back to just having fun in their sport. Something you find relaxing and fun may forever be seen as competition and bring back memories of injuries and disappointment to a student-athlete.

So, until you have truly experienced the level on which these athletes perform and live, don't think they are getting perks just because they have a study center and a planner. Their heart and soul go into something they have been doing for at least 10 years and that after college they may never do again.

Oy!

Sunday night I was making a romantic dinner for an early Valentine's dinner. (I work first shift and Jon works 2nd shift on the day of love, so we won't see each other). The entree was done, the salads ready, one side was done and I was working on the last side. Homemade mashed potatoes! I was cleaning out my stick hand blender I was using, and accidentally pushed the trigger and ZING!

I cut my right index finger pretty badly. I hollered out for Jon, he came in saw what happened....and 20 minutes later we were waiting in the ER for another 2 hours for me to get 3 stitches. So much for a romantic, early Valentine's!

So, now I have 10 days until I can have them removed. That's 10 days of having it bandaged and avoiding getting the stitches wet (no doing dishes and showering is a challenge). Writing and typing are proving difficult, and opening doors and drying my hair, and other bathroom, routines. I never realized how much I actually use my index finger until the past few days and not having the use of that one finger affects using the rest of the fingers.

I have a great respect for any one who has suffered a much worse injury than I did.

Pinterest: Tried It-Nailed It-Failed It #4

Time for another Pinterest Challenge! You can check out past experiments here, here, and here


I tried making this chocolate truffles from over at Sugar & Spice and it was an epic failure. I think I probably made the mistake Naomi mentions. I should probably try making them again sometime, with better quality ingredients and following the directions better!





Blooming Brie Bowl = really yummy! The link goes on to the Food Channel website. I didn't had all the spices....too many spices in something and I get nervous because I don't handle spices very well! I take after my dad that way. But the brie in the bread was really good, but it took longer for the cheese to melt/get gooey; and the bread got really hard. The other thing is you need to eat right way: It doesn't keep to be reheated very well.





 This Crock Pot smoked sausage, beans and potatoes from Get Crocked was a HUGE hit with the hub's and myself! Pretty start forward and basic. I would probably add the green beans in when you add the sausage. And it makes a lot so I would cut the recipe in half for the next go but Jon loved eating the left overs!

This Bacon Wrapped Chicken recipe from Artsy Fartsy Mama has quickly become a favorite of mine! I made it the first time when Jon was at work just to make sure it was good! I loved it so much I made it again this past Sunday for our early Valentine's dinner. Unfortunately, while making one of the sides, I sliced up my right index finger badly enough that we ended up in ER getting stitches. Whomp Whomp. However, this is great reheated! And Jon loved it just as much as me! I love bacon!


I've also made a whole chicken in the Crock Pot taking notes from a few different pins and picking what I liked, namely salt, pepper, onions and a whole lemon! I tried a few variations on chocolate shakes, like adding Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder instead of Hershey's chocolate syrup. It makes it more chocolatey!

Hope you enjoy and this inspires you to go from pinning to creating!

Celebrity Crushes

We all have celebrity crushes! And if you say that you don't then you are lying!

I have so many, the main ones I have mentioned Harry, Jennifer, and Jenna. A few I haven't named are Robert Pattinson, don't judge, I loved him in "Remember Me" and "HP & the Goblet of Fire."

And none will compare with my first real movie star crush, Heath Ledger! I was so in love that when he died my mom actually called me to see if I was okay. I was in college by this time, and she said that she just remembered how much I was in love in I was after "10 Things I Hate About You" came out. I was in the middle of my Heath Ledger movie marathon with my sorority sisters, when she called!

But I think there may be a new crush to add to the list:

Tom Hardy!

I watched the 2009 Masterpiece Classic: Wuthering Heights over the weekend, its been popping up on my Netflix for ages and I never realized that Tom Hardy is Heathcliff! Hello!

And I am not alone! Jon has become a bigger and bigger fan of Tom Hardy for his roles in movies like, 'Bronson', 'Inception',  'The Dark Knight Rises,' 'Warrior,' and a lot more. And I am becoming a bigger fan thanks to Wuthering Heights and spotting him in 'Marie Antoinette' with Kirsten Dunst.

Here's hoping I can get a few more of Mr. Hardy's movies watched, though I have tried watching some and just can't make it very far because I get freaked out...cough*Bronson*cough. I don't even think I made through the credits on that, probably didn't help that Jon wanted to watch it at 11:00p while I was trying to go to sleep and I finally had a tantrum. Though listening to him speaking as Heathcliff, I could definitely hear hints of Bronson in it but maybe that's just me.

Also, I got Jon to start watching the first episode with me because Tom Hardy is in it, and so far, he says, that its okay but would like to see what the writers could do with an R-rating for the big screen. He's a man!

When I next try to read 'Wuthering Heights' I will be picturing Tom Hardy as Heathcliff! Swoon!


Disclaimer: Jon and I totally support each others celebrity crushes. I know that if Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio ever show up that Jon's peacing out. And on the flip side, if Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Lawrence, and now Tom Hardy come around, I'm out! Its a joke, we wouldn't actually leave each other; but we would totes be okay with any one of these celebs being besties with us! ;)