Two months!

One day of finals down. Just one day to go.

I’ll be the first to admit that my finals schedule is pretty lax, with just one test and a few papers. But, KU is making me pay for it with an unseemly 7:30 a.m. final. Seriously, what’s up with that?

Fortunately, I’m used to an early wake-up call, so getting out of bed wasn’t just too tough on me. The weird thing was eating breakfast before 7 o’clock! I kept it simple for my morning-simple mind.

Consumed: 1/3 C oats cooked with 2/3 C water. Stirred with half of a frozen banana (<< melts in!), a spoonful of peanut butter and a dash cinnamon.

My first final period was quite simple, as I just had to give a presentation and then sit back and sip on my coffee. Afterward, I turned in a psychology paper on campus. Just like that, two of my classes were d-o-n-e.

My early breakfast was catching up to me by the time I got home, so I made a small morning dessert snack.

Consumed: Quick-baked oatmeal cake.

With that extra fuel, I hit the road for a 25-minute run. Short, sweet and just what my body and brain have needed!

After cooling down, stretching and showering, it was just about time for lunch. My pantry is one skimpy garment short of naked right now, so it’s a good thing I was craving a simple smoothie!

Consumed: ~1 C unsweetened vanilla soy milk blended with half a banana, a few frozen strawberries and a scoop of chocolate protein powder. Topped with a spoonful of Nutella and some Quaker Oat Squares.

Right when I was wrapping up lunch, there was a call on my phone — Dan was coming over to visit! I think we both needed some time to decompress from finals by just taking the time to relax. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Spending time with Dan is THE best part of my day!

Unfortunately, he had to get back up to the university to continue studying. Poor, hardworking boy. In my opinion, he certainly deserved some cookies to-go (and to share).

That also meant a spare cookie for me to enjoy later.

At that time, I opted for a little healthier fare.

Consumed: One apple, one thin slice of Swiss, a little mango yogurt (<< Dan’s jealous).

I drug out the afternoon with a little more studying for the one test I have left.

Later in the evening, I broke for a simple dinner.

In corner #1 was a generous pile of matchstick-style baked sweet potato fries.

Corner #2 featured a butterfly-shaped bit of honey mustard for fry dipping.

The final corner failed to maintain a serving of scrambled eggs.

Consumed: Two egg whites and one whole egg, scrambled with roasted red peppers and goat cheese.

The rest of the night was — I’m ashamed to admit — spent watching Real Housewives of New Jersey. I think that’s my favorite version, but who knows how this season will shake out.

Now onto a very important note…

It’s two months until wedding!

ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh.

On the supposed checklist for this month are the tasks of:

• Obtain a marriage license. I also need to figure out the whole name change procedure in my county. They certainly don’t make it easy to figure out!
• Meet with DJ and figure out songs. One of my bridesmaids’ boyfriends is a professional DJ and he has agreed to do the ceremony. Dan and I just have to decide what songs we want played!
• Get gifts for the bridal parties. This is a fun one for me, because I love personalizing things. I just can’t give too much away!
• Make favors. I’ve already started working on this one, but there is more to do. My sister had the fantastic idea of making a granola bar (as in create-your-own bag of granola) instead of pre-packaging everything.
• Schedule appointments for hair/makeup. I still need to straighten this one out…
• Work on vows. Dan and I plan on saying a few short vows to each other. We won’t draw it out too much, but I still want to make it special!