Week 6: First Week of Graduate School

Sorry that I have to change the title of my posts because since school started I have barely had time to cook let alone blog about my life. My weeks are crammed with studying and various school related activities on top of my sorority stuff.

But, what I will say is that so far I really like school. I am in a cohort with 25 other ladies and they are all really nice. I am the only East Asian student in the cohort and there is another South Asian student. We do not have any dudes in our group, but that is okay. Most of the ladies are working with children or just working. There is a good mixture of undergraduates and graduate students.

First day of school was officially the 26th, but I don't have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays only Tuesday and Thursdays. Monday and Wednesday of this week was for orientation for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program. I met some of the girls that will be doing the same schedule as well. They even suggested that we take a multiple intelligence test for homework.  I put in a link if you wanted to see what your strengths are and what you need to improve on. We also made a pie chart representing our areas of strengths and needing improvement.

I clearly need to work on my spacing because 5% looks getting than my 10%s. 

Starting school has been me want to get myself into gear, so I made like a weekly assignment doc. I hope that this will help me keep organized and on top of the various assignments that I will have to do. 

This doc took me about 2 days to complete since I was waiting for my syllabi from my professors. 

I already got my field placement which is apparently similar to a preschool that I went to when I was 4-5 years old. When I told my mom about it she mentioned that to me. I don't remember preschool other than that this girl kept calling me a liar and didn't want to be friends with me. 

What I learned about this week? I need to plan better with food. I would come home and have to made a whole meal and do homework. Or I would be running out of the door with little to no food because I didn't time my morning correctly. I decided since Fridays are my off days minus work, I will do laundry, clean, errands, and blog. It will be my catch up day, plus the weekends depending if I am traveling or going home to my parents' house or no. I am planning on leaving early afternoon on Sunday to come back here to Severn since there is snow and I need to cook food for the week. 

Day 25: I got this! Not...

Today is my travel day to Georgia, so last night I laid out all my outfits and accessories for the weekend. I rolled them all into a large packing cube that I have. It left so much room in my suitcase for my toiletries and make up. I guess I can bring home souvenirs? I never really buy them.... I think I am a terrible friend actually. 

This morning I woke up knowing that I only needed to pack my backpack and switch my wallet which wouldn't take very long. So I took my time this morning with making my breakfast and cooking sweet potatoes. I waited until about 1PM to start my yoga workout, which was so much more painful than I thought it would be. Jillian Michaels is an intense instructor, I totally get why she was a coah on the Biggest Loser. After 30 minutes of that, I got distracted by Natalie Tran of Community Channel and her hilariously awkward videos. I absolutely love her humor. 

I think Sunday night when I get to my laptop I will add links and the YouTube videos. The hotel we are currently at does not let me access internet for free. This makes Princess Kim very sad. 

Anyways back to my "I Got This!" moment, I had a 7:05 PM flight to Atlanta, GA today. I planned on driving myself to the airport and parking in the Daily Parking lot. I totally missed the lot when driving and left late. I got super cocky since I now live about 15 minutes from the airport.  So I left my house at 6 not accounting for the bus that needs to take me to the terminal. I was late checking in my bag, so it was going to be on the next flight to Atlanta leaving at 8:10 and arriving at 10:10. This is an hour after I land, I debated whether I should carry on and thought, "Meh this means I can wait for my friend, Diem and travel with her." My flight was boarding at 6:35, I was at security by 6:37. So I was late. Just so late because I was cocky and thought I could do things at my own time. Life lesson: Always arrive at the airport at least 15-30 minutes before the flight boards & always check when your flight is going to board. 

I got priority check in for Southwest meaning that I got A section boarding, but since I was late... I was after C section boarding. The last few people in the plane. 

I feel awful for my friends I traveled with since two of them from NY waited an hour before I arrived. Their flight landed at 8PM and we didn't leave the airport until about 11PM since we waited for Diem who arrived at 9:55, and my bag didn't arrive to about 10:30. When we got there,  my bag wasn't on the carousel; I began to panick on the inside. I had to go to the baggage claim office to ask them about my luggage. They had it! I was so relieved!!! I have learned about when I need to leave for my next trip to Austin in about a month. I know that this won't happen again. 

Day 24: Snow Days Are For Baking

Today was a high chance of snow, do my boss at Brickz for Kids let me know yesterday that there was a high chance of my preschool class being canceled.

So this morning I had to be productive to make up for yesterday's just nothingness. I had to clean my bathroom and do my laundry. The laundry was most important since I am leaving for Georgia in a day and I like to pack early to make sure I have everything. Lists are the best for packing, I honestly think they are my salvation. They super help me keep organized. 

By the time I was done with cleaning my bathroom and starting my laundry, it was around 12. This is when I would start debating on working out and getting ready for work. Young and I made plans to work out at 5:30-ish, so I didn't have to think about that. Luckily I got a text from my boss saying that classes were canceled since it started to know at 10-11 AM. 

Since there  was no work and it was snowing, this meant that I could bake the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n' Fudge Brownie Bar. This I, of course, found on Pinterest, my pictures do not do it justice, but wow it is delicious. 

I actually didn't have enough Oreos since this week and last, Hyman and I have been eating them. So the original has so much more. 

I left this out to cool for about 3 hours before cutting it and it was still hot and fudgey in the middle. 

I had it as a dessert treat with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge on top. I will say that I do not do it justice like the website does. I am just not that artistic. 

Currently as I am writing this, I am in absolute pain from the work out Young and I did, plus no recovery from my work out yesterday. We did a 30 minute dance work out from PopSugar Fitness on Youtube. My thigh are just fatigued to the point of pain. I know that it is worth it and it is healthy, but wow. I am beat. Tomorrow I am doing yoga without a doubt or I might continue the pain depending on how much packing I get done to night.

I wish the music matched the moves we learned today and towards the end I was really dizzy and worried about my vertigo; but all in all it was a lot of fun. 

Young and I was laughing a lot during this. It didn't feel like it was too crazy of a work out. I think the best part of having a work out buddy is that you don't feel like you are working out you are having fun together. You are achieving a goal with someone, I think it is more fun. But I don't want to be solely dependent on Young. I was last year and when she moved I just stopped working out which was bad. I want to continue no matter what. That is what I would like to achieve. 

Day 23: Water Infusing & Sexy Dance Fighting

Today was supposed to be a productive day, it was not. I was supposed to do laundry, clean my bathroom, and meal prep. I totally forgot. So I will be doing all of this tomorrow in the morning and working out with Young in the evening. This is what happens when I do not make a To-Do List for the day. Lesson learned today, I am more productive when I know what I am supposed to be doing within the day.

I was prepping my fruit and veggies this week; I got strawberries and cucumbers so I cut them and placed them into storage containers. I got an awesome water infused from my graduation orientation, so I wanted to try a infuser recipe. I have seen a lot of strawberry, mint, and lemon or cucumber, mint, and lemon.

So after looking at this on Pinterest, I thought I would make it with cucumber, strawberry, lemon and mint. It turned out pretty well, I only let it seep for about 30 minutes before drinking it during my work out.

It is actually really refreshing and just kept refilling it with water through out the day, but it was not as pink at it was the first time. I made it again tonight, since I prepped three days of infusing ingredients into a sandwich bag in the fridge. 

I did a "30 Minutes to a Brazilian Body" work out today. This is Capoeira, which is Brazilian martial arts. I was interested in trying it mainly because of Bob's Burger's Season 1 Episode 3, "Sexy Dance Fighting" 

This is the actual video I did. 

This is how I feel like I looked. Like Tina. 

It was a very intense and a lot of low to the ground movements. I honestly get why Brazilians have a nice butt because this was mostly squats. I felt like a breakdancer, but not as coordinated. The GIF of Tina is an actual move, which is amazingly hilarious. Proudest moment of my day: doing capoeira like Tina. 

Day 21 & 22: Orientation & Making Friends

Thursday was an awesome day because of the fact that it was my Graduate School Orientation at UMBC. I was really excited to go and make friends. It started at 2PM, so I wanted to get there around 1:45-ish to make sure that I would make it in time so I can mingle and try to make friends. I really want to make friends at UMBC since everyone that I knew graduated. I know two people one is working full time and the other is in his own Ph.D program... so yeah. I am trying to make new friends especially with the people in the Education Program.

I got there around 1:45PM, I thought it started at 1:30... so I thought I was late, but I checked in and got my name tag, I got papers and a drawstring bag from the GSA. I waited for the campus tour, but no one wanted to talk to me. I also realized that my last name was not write on the name tag. It was "Truing" so I went to the check in and asked whether this was a permanent thing. They apologized and said that they copied it from what I wrote my registration sign up. So it was me. I wrote my own last name wrong. After 25 years of having the same name, I still can not manage to write my last name correctly. Life Lesson: Always proofread everything you type, especially your name.

The orientation was great, I needed up meeting a few people and wanting to be more involved with UMBC's GSA. I met a few people in the Education Program, which was great. I even gave someone I met there a ride home. It wasn't until we got to my car that I thought, "I don't know this person very well. They could murder me." So I brought my cell phone to the front just in case. I think have a stranger danger problem, the problem is that I don't have stranger danger. I believe in people and the good within them. Luckily, the person I took him was a nice guy nothing bad happened and he even friend requested me. I panicked a little over nothing. Am I the only one that does this though? I want to help people in need as much as I can. I have been trying to be as nice as possible and I feel like sometimes that is crazy hard.

Friday was a very fun and chill day. I started to get ready to go home for the weekend. I was able to work at Brickz for Kids that day too. We were teaching Robotics which was super cool. The kids made a claw and programmed the claw to open and close. It was really interesting. I was talking to one of the instructors (who is 17 years old) who told me that I need to get a hobby and stop working so much. I told him in order to get a hobby I needed money. He suggested instrument, cooking and streaming TV. I laughed at the last two since I need to cook to survive as I stream everything. I guess when you are 17, you don't understand the struggles of life and there is the cushion of your parents and of home. Oh yeah, he even asked me if I was going to go clubbing. I SUPER laughed at that one. Hilarious. I wish I was back to being 17, I miss it.

After work, I made plans to eat Bon Chon with a sorority sister from Dallas who was in town for a residency interview. She didn't have a car and was in Downtown Baltimore so I offered to pick her up before we got dinner. Young met us there and we ate a large combo of soy garlic and some spicy with two orders of fries and kimchi. It was delicious. I got a coke since I knew it was going to be a long night of driving. After we went to Shilla's Bakery to get some dessert, but we were all too full to eat it. So we just sat and chatted. It was nice.

Today, MLK day, I went grocery shopping with my cousin Vicky to get a reign on my spending. I am happy to day I only spent $30 on a weeks worth of food. I was really proud of myself. I think she did really help me and the fact that I am not spending that much time at the house this week since I will be going to Georgia over the weekend.

Day 20: Salty Risotto

I am currently blogging from home on a Saturday night so... super behind in schedule. I honestly don't remember much about Wednesday besides the bigger aspects: the killer work out Young and I did and the disgustingly salty risotto I made.

I have made quinoa risotto before, so I thought that I didn't need a recipe. But wow, it was a killer I feel so bad that I not only was cocky about making it and offered to make it for dinner for Young and myself; I offered some to Hyman as well. It was gross, I was offended when they told me it was good. They are clearly liars and don't want to hurt my feelings. It makes me think, "What else have they lied to me about?!"  Well I figured out that my chicken stock was salty and it didn't help that I added more salt before tasting the food.Life Lesson: Always taste your cook as you cook. Weight watchers will explain that you shouldn't and if you do you need to track, but wow. Always, always taste your food because if you don't want to eat the food why would any one else? Sadly, that night I did not want to eat my own food, it was gross my dinner that night did not get touched.

Our work out was a Turbo Fire HIIT 15, which is 15 minutes of per death. Just heart pumping anaerobic work outs. On top of that we did a PiYo: Upper Body Define, I am still feeling the after effects of this work out. It has been 4 days. I don't think it is normal but wow. It was a killer. I am actually enjoying the fact that I am working out more and trying to be healthy. I think I need to be more independent about working out just in case Young can't work out or our timing does not match up. I have a FitBit Charge HR and I haven't had a consistent 10K steps a day yet. I hit it once in a while when I work out but I don't normally hit it. I think I should try to either working out 30 minutes a day or walking/running/ biking 3 miles a day. I feel like saw that goal somewhere like: Every day do 3 miles or 30 minutes. If any of my readers have a FitBit and want to be my friend you can use my email to add me, I believe my username is KimTruongIll. I accept all friend requests.

I feel like I am so much lazier at my parent's house than I am at my house in Severn. But I have no work out equipment here. I guess it is just my mindset at home, I am a princess at home so princesses don't have to work out. But I am changing my mindset. I am going to work out tomorrow... I really am... right? Ugh self doubt gets me a lot of the time. I am trying to be more positive.... Sometimes it works and sometimes I tell myself, "Kim you are the the fail princess."

Day 19: The Oven Hates Me

I honestly late being two days behind, but I think by Friday I will be caught up. Since today I am not doing anything special besides my graduate school orientation, which I am insanely worried about. I just want to make friends. I think my housemates are getting a little tired of me and I feel like I need to get out of the house more. I don't think I have left since Monday. That is three days of not seeing the outside world without a window. I am leading a sad, sad life.

Anyways, Tuesday was a a great start to the morning. I had oatmeal in the morning with meatballs and tomato sauce. After eating my breakfast. I started to prep my berries in the fridge to eat with my yogurt or whipped cream. I started to prep my green beans too, I chopped off the ends and cooked them in chicken broth. I saved the broth to cook pasta noodles as well.

I combined a box of pasta, chopped green beans, cherry tomatoes, spinach and 4 tablespoons of pesto sauce in a large mixing bowl. It has lasted until today and there should be another bowl too. I have also been sharing it with Young, which has been super helpful or I would have never finished it.

Each time I have been cooking something, I send a picture to my mom. She told me that one day I will be a great cook like my dad, that is honestly my dream. I would love to be able to cook like my dad. He can make anything and it tastes awesome. She is a little jealous that I don't cook for her, my mother is just too cute sometimes.

This week I have been super missing my parents and family. I am actually looking forward to going home this weekend to see them. I know they miss me too... even thought my dad hung up on me when I called him. But I know it was a hang up out of love... Haha... at least that is what I am telling myself.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to make World's Best Chicken Recipe which I found on Pinterest.

I would like to promise that I actually read the recipe the whole way, it was really simple. But of course as I was cooking the smoke alarm starts to go off again. Even though I had the fan on so  I opened a window. I think the sauce began to burn a little in the oven so... when Young came home she told me to open the balcony door since it stilled like burning. I swear this time... I did everything right. The fan was on... I guess I just don't have skills with the oven. I didn't take a picture of my chicken, but wow it looked nothing like that photo... It was like brown and black... and not a pretty sight. It was pretty delicious though.

I feel like the oven HATES me. Luckily it all cleared out by the time Hyman came home. I think I need to cool it with the oven and only use the toaster oven for the next... I don't know... MONTH! Young didn't want to eat until about 6:30, so I watched Commando as I waited and the area smell cleared out. Just... Kim is a fail. Life Lesson: The oven and Kim are not friends.

But that night we watched Pain & Gain, since Young and Hyman hadn't watched it. About 3/4 of thew ay Hyman went upstairs but we continued without him.