ZONA

I landed in Phoenix yesterday and now I'm in the hotel room in Tucson. I just visited campus to talk to my pre-health advisor. Still very nervous about how orientation will go tomorrow. There are a lot of students and only one Rachael. It's a little intimidating but I just can't wait to be moved in and living on campus. I can't even start talking or thinking about Spike without getting teary (it's terrible) so I won't even begin to write about that.

Stu comes into town tonight. Rhonda was sold. So many things are already taken care of. It is just happening so fast! I wish I could have 10 days to slowly move out and into the dorm. I got two hours of sleep the night I left. I was very adamant about making sure there was no sign of me recently being at the house as to not make Mama sad. Hopefully it works. She is tender.

Well I should probably go buy out Bed Bath & Beyond now. I will blog asap but will be pretty busy for a while.

Cookie Dough and Mustaches

I ate an entire package of cookie dough yesterday. Yeah... I haven't been motivated at all. I'm extremely sore from running on Saturday. That's a long time of being really sore. Not fun. Plus getting ready for college is stressing me out. Mom threw my entire closet on the floor and told me to go through it the night before the carpet cleaners were coming.

And I'm having insomnia. Not cool.

This normally doesn't happen to me. I'm a fairly healthy person or at least I try to be for my well being. Something is off and I don't like it. I'm hoping that once I have time to myself I'll feel better.

I stumbled upon this organization last night that supports research for prostate cancer (the kind my father lost his battle against). It raise awareness by growing mustaches in November, hence Movember. I obviously can't grow a mustache but I want to support this cause once November rolls around somehow. http://us.movember.com/?home

Location:Jackson St,Omaha,United States

First World Problems

I will be without Rhonda (my car) when she gets a check-up as of tonight until I don't know when. This means that I have no work hour flexibility, I will be going to an leaving work with Dr. Bridge. This also means no morning coffee because she doesn't drink coffee (which I've never understood).


Rhonda is getting spiffy for selling. Yes that's right, Rhonda the party car is for sale! Great for school commutes. Her engine never quits. I've never had a problem with her. (please let me know if you're interested even if I don't know you that well at rachaeleneff@yahoo.com) She's a 2001 silver Honda CRV with an incredible safety rating, never been in an accident.




Back to my problems, Dr.
Bridge goes into work earlier than I so my morning run will have to be at 6.. That's a little painful for summer time. I'll just have to make it work! Or I could try to get over my fear of my bike and ride to work. But I don't see that happening so soon.

Location:S 42nd St,Omaha,United States

Relapse

After getting back from vacation, I am in a fitness funk. I had to go to the doctor because I was running to exhaustion on my usual trail. He thinks it was because I was eating unhealthily with it and hadn't run in a while. I've been sticking to walking and trying to consume less junk food. The junk food is what is getting to me though. I re-realized how good cookie dough is. If only I could forget. I'm good until night time. Then I want to snack. Haven't found a cure for that yet but if I do I'll let you know. Maybe going to bed at a reasonable time would help.

Back in the 402 and getting ready for U of A. So many things to do, but it's worth it. The word excited does not even begin to describe the feeling I'm feeling. T minus 2 weeks until I'm a Wildcat.

I could write all about the things I need to do before I leave, but that would put you all to sleep. I've been searching hiking trails around the campus this morning. It looks pretty promising.

No progress on the book since I last wrote. I've been busy working and enjoying my last bit of summer! But I promise I will finish it eventually.

Chunky

While reading "Moonwalking with Einstein" I have learned two memory techniques so far. The first involves names:
Using vivid images with a person in the center of the image is the key to remembering names. For example, remembering Donald Trump's name by imagining him speaking in a Donald Duck voice while trumping the people he fires. It's silly, but it works.
The second technique is called chunking. Chunking is memorizing numbers or letters in chunks or sections. For example, remembering the numerical string 120741091101 is difficult all together. But you could separate it into sections of three: 120 741 091 101. Another way is making them into dates: 12/07/41 and 09/11/01. Maybe you recognize these are the dates of surprise attacks on American soil. There, you have 12 digits memorized.
I remember in my subconscious using these techniques for remembering names I had to. I used the chunking to remember 67 digits of pi. Sadly I printed those numbers from an incorrect website. I got to about 9 that were right. The teacher decided to watch me make a fool of myself for the other 58. But I remember how accomplished I felt. Still have learned no practice techniques from this book yet so I'm considering dabbling into other books specifically for practice.
In terms of my physical exercise adventures, I've been running a 5k for the past 2 days. I'm hoping my mom will let me sneak away early to the gym in the morning. On the plane right now, landing shortly.
Also, will be white water rafting tomorrow. Wish me luck and wish my brother Stu a happy birthday tomorrow!

"Don't forget to remind me"

-- a phrase I often say to friends and family while driving or writing, frightens me somewhat. We only use about 10% of our brains. I want to know how to use the other 90%.

Maybe you're wondering how I came up with this topic? I bought a book in the Salt Lake City airport to keep me entertained. "Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer -a New York Times Bestseller- is about a man's journey to have the best memory in the world.




My new goal, not only become a physical athlete but a mental athlete as well. Foer mentions how important a healthy body is for a healthy mind. So, I think I can do both at once.

It will be more difficult for me to get exercise during the day because my workouts will only be in the morning before work, but I am dedicated to feeling good.

Speaking of fitness, being in Salt Lake reminds me how much more I should use my bike. To be honest, I'm a little scared of it because it is so much taller than I. It was purchased when I was younger and I was expected to be 6 feet tall. Yeah.. I'm 5'5"... So that translates to big bike, little Rae Rae.

I will keep you readers updated hopefully daily about my brain and bike adventures. Also, Montana trip is in just a couple of days so I will have time to blog each day about that too.

Xx, stay strong

Fitspo

Location:University St,Salt Lake City,United States