Introducing Steve...more commonly known as Stevia.

Whew...what a day. It was so wonderful to wake up according to my internal body clock--which still had me up by 6:30, by the way--rather then my alarm. Lovin' it! But it still hasn't hit me that I'm actually done this insanely busy semester. I still have some homework left on the compute, but once that's accomplished, it's official. And maybe then it will finally sink in that I don't need to sit down and do homework and can actually read what I really want to! :)

Breakfast was really delicious too. Maybe because I could take my time and be creative? :) This mix was made with 1/2 c. oats, 1 c. milk, 1/2 an apple (I ate the other half while prepping!), a handful of raisins, 8 dashes of cinnamon, 3 dashes of clove, and 2 dashes of nutmeg. Then I topped it all off with 2 T. walnuts, 2 T. of the best granola ever, a few more raisins, and a good sprinkling of coconut. I absolutely loved this bowl...it satisfied the aesthetic appeal, chew appeal, and taste appeal.

I also ate this with my breakfast. I don't know, my appetite is definitely higher in the morning lately. I'm thinking maybe I should just increase my bowl of oats to 3/4 cup instead of the regular 1/2. Maybe then I wouldn't have to have two breakfasts in one sitting. ;)

My goal today was to finish up on my chemistry homework that's due in two days via internet. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it! I ended up instead spending an hour on the computer this morning in my pj's, enjoying no homework. Then I ended up shrugging off the whole thing and went shopping with mom and memere instead. Don't worry, I have a major to-do list all prepared for tomorrow! :) Check it out at the bottom of this post...

Anyways, the shopping and no homework day was much needed. So was this iced coffee with 1/2 c. milk and 1 tsp sugar. :) I ate the pear after shopping around for a while.

Lunch was up in the air at around 12:30. Usually I'm eating lunch by 11:30, so my stomach was getting rather cranky. I was glad we ended up stopping at subways instead of the hotdog stand. Not that it's not okay to indulge in the occasional hotdog (I stop at top dog at least once a year!) but when I'm starving, give me some food that will satisfy and make me feel good!

Subways was the next best option. At least it's filling, and I had it along with a handful of baked lays chips and a tall glass of ice cold milk at memere's house. I got the turkey sub with the works (minus the hots) and mustard. And mom and I split a heavenly piece of lemon lush at memere's. I took a couple of bites but wasn't really in the mood for anything sweet so left it at that. When it's really hot out like today, I either want fruit or a chilled dessert--ice cream comes to mind. :)

Me and mom decided to go for a walk upon returning home. Not before having a snack of THIS though!! I've been seeing fage 2% on other foodie blogs, and decided I needed to give it a try. I love fage 0%...to think it could be improved was beyond imagining...ha.

The verdict? OH MY GOODNESS! It was light, fluffy, whippy, and CREAMY beyond belief. Seriously, this tasted very similar to cream cheese, it was just that creamy. Next time I'll split the container into two servings, because 1/2 of it would be rich enough to satisfy me.

I look annoyed here, but really I'm actually pretty excited. This is a stevia plant, which I'm sure a lot of you have heard of. Supposedly it's extracts are 300 times sweeter then sugar. I tried chewing on a leaf and was really surprised by how it really is that sweet! I felt like I was chewing on sugar in the form of a plant. Weird...and fascinating. That's why I bought it. :)

However, I'm notoriously a plant killer. Will Steve--as I've named him--survive? Dun, dun, dunnn...stay tuned! :-o!

I was busy painting a bucket for steve outside, and found myself really hungry by the time supper rolled around. I had about 1.5 c. ww pasta, a side of stir fried zucchini and squash and lots of homemade spaghetti sauce to drown everything in. I love tomato sauces. I could eat them just like that. But even better with veggies and pasta...:)

Mom and I had gone for a walk earlier in the day but decided to go for another short one after dinner. It was an absolutely perfect night. The sky was pink, there was a soft breeze...ah...delicious. It was the perfect first day of my vacation, and a breath of fresh air.

I was hungry around 9:00'ish. I had just gotten back from driving some stuff over for Matthew, and decided that a bowl of cereal would hit the spot. I finished off the honey nut cheerios and was excited to mix it up with some of the new raisin bran cereal I had bought from whole foods. To be honest, it was pretty disappointing. I liked it all mixed in with the sweet honey nut cheerios, but on its own it was kind of...gasp...cardboardy tasting. The nutrition panel was great, but that doesn't really work out so well unless it please the tastebuds too!! ;)

Without further ado, here's my to-do list for tomorrow. Maybe having it in writing will mean I'll actually get stuff done and be productive!! :)

• Clean bedroom (and I mean major cleaning!)
• Figure out what to do with last semester's school books!
• Renew ADA membership
• Complete chemistry assignments
• Run 3 miles
• Yoga or pilates...or any general strength training/stretching routine depending on what I'm in the mood for. :)
• Grocery shop

It's not a huge to do list---totally doable with no excuse not to check everything off. :)

Happy HUMP DAY!

Exercise: 4-mile walk in the afternoon and a 2-mile walk after dinner. Both were relaxing and enjoyable. My legs felt a little tired from yesterday's 4-mile run with dad. My legs are so not used to the longer runs any more! But I felt really happy to be running, which is really what it's all about. Find the exercise you love and stick with it! :)