The Friday Find: Today is the Day

FOR SKYDIVING.

If I am still alive, I'll post you all up soon.

I love you, Blogoworld.

The Watson Story

Hey all! Watson spent last night in a hotel in Vegas. Surprisingly, she got snowed in, as did most of the midwest and west, and won't be back till tonight.

Guess what though? I'm totally at her house. I even slept in her bed. Crrrreeeepy!

Our West/Watson Reunion is about to be in full swing, so stay tuned. Tomorrow I have a great story for you about the Night I Almost Spent in my Car in a Colorado Blizzard.

All my love!

Allyson

Truth Tuesday: Just a Little Quip about Soba vs. Udon Noodles

Soba noodles are thin buckwheat noodles, while udon are thick and wheat-based. Think of udon like normal spaghetti, while soba can save you calories and boost your fiber intake.

Truth Tuesday: Jimmy Johns for Non Meat-Eaters

This is Jimmy John, himself. Terrifying.

Gourmet Veggie Club
856 calories
46 g fat (15 g saturated fat)
1,500 mg sodium

Jimmy John's is liberal with the mayo-Hellmann's alone adds 25 grams of fat to your lunch. Stick with mustard and win back all 25 grams.

Eat This Instead!
Vegetarian sub
Avocado spread, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts
290 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated fat)
628 mg sodium

Momentary Mondays: Get Yourself Out of a Dangerous Situation

Hey all! By a bizarre fluke, I spun out across the ice on my way to the Grand Canyon, thirty miles outside of Kaiao's house. Thank God he was gone. Anyway, I was hopeful, so I waited around for him to get home, and we talked.

....and now it is time for me to leave. So. When you're in a dangerous situation, and you know it, get yourself out of it. Don't be a dummy, like this one. :)

See you all! Wish me luck!

Momentary Mondays: Six Hard Things

Today, you must make a list of six nearly-impossible things to do. This is the best actor training, says Anne Bogart. :)

In fact...do this every day. When it becomes too easy, change it. Make it harder. Challenge yourself.

What's on your list?

Soapbox Sunday: Hawaii is RIGHT

Ahhh...many, many months ago, I had a strong desire and passion to once again visit my dearest, most beloved Hawaii.

And, damn it, Blogoworld, if I am not going to do just that. :D

Two days ago, I was diligently checking the flight prices of a flight from DFW to HNL (that's Honolulu.....as in....Honolulu, HAWAII.) And the price was remarkably LOW! Can you believe it?! 680 dollars for a flight. to. Hawaii.?! I just about passed out. That flight is 200 dollars cheaper than I've seen it anywhere else!

Of course I bought it immediately.

Are my plans for Hawaii finalized? Of course not. I'm interning with a potential of four theatre companies while I'm there. I have no idea where I'm staying (so if you know anyone who wouldn't mind hosting a lovely little lady for a few days, I'd be honored to hear from you, and ever so grateful), and I certainly don't know how comfortable I'm going to feel hanging out with the Forgotten Love of My Life and his misplaced interest in his fake family. But. All of that does not matter, of course! :D

I am going!

Saturday Success Story: What a Great Feeling to Achieve a Life

Hey Blogoworld!

I ended up in Lubbock, Texas today, just in time to have a Mom/Allyson day. Mom came to Lubbock to help my older and massive brother Tim get his life in order. The day consisted of a fantastic number of errands, including a visit to the marine and navy recruitment center. What a place. I love walking into those institutions. Military men just look so clean. Hmmm...turn on? Perhaps too much.

Anyway, the day concluded with us pouring ourselves into a booth at On the Border. Apparently, mothering her 23 year old son is proving just as challenging to my mom as keeping up a competent facade is to me. Needless to say, we both enjoyed our margaritas as they deserve to be enjoyed.

So when I decided to leave Portales, New Mexico (which I did immediately following an expected heart-to-heart with the Forgotten Love of My Life), I had three options. I could

A) speak with my friend, Miss Leah Watson, and spend an extended time with her in Denver.
B) Fly on back home and have some more family time with the twins and Chet. Oh such delightful creatures! I do miss them so.
or C) Well....why the hell not? The Grand Canyon's only ten hours away.

The answer is.....C. Leah is cheering her mom on at a marathon in Utah, then spending some time in Cali. I do love my family so, but I'm looking for ways to not run home when something incredibly disappointing happens. So, C it is.

I just spent an hour mapping out my destination for the rest of my trip.

Lubbock to Flagstaff, Arizona

I joined an amazing non-profit recently called CouchSurfing.org. Essentially, it's composed of many open-hearted people all over the world that open their living rooms and/or futons to those weary travelers in need of a place to stay. Am I nervous about staying by myself with a stranger (even if said stranger happens to have roommates, is female, and sometimes is really ye olde?) Of course I am. But, as usual, I refuse to let fear rule my life. How do you live an active life? By allowing yourself the capability to be an active participant in it. Open yourself up to the possibilities, not the probabilities!

I am concerned about the money portion of this trip. Not in its immediacy, but in its eventual course of events. I know I'm going to be logging some serious $$ on gas, alone. Bananas are cheap, so I bet I'll be eating a lot of those. :) Anyway, How does one pay for tuition AND travel? Oh dear reader, we shall see. I was having quite an anxiety attack over this particular conundrum, so, I showered, and then I put my head on straight. I'll worry about problems when they occur. Until then, I'll seize my opportunities and plan as well as possible for the future.

Flagstaff to Denver, Colorado

While GoogleMapping my destinational possibilities, I realized that by driving a mere twenty more minutes, I could spend (probably, at most 30 minutes at) the FOUR CORNERS NATIONAL MONUMENT! :D Dearest Blogoworld, I am pretty pumped about this. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Stevens, first mentioned Four Corners back when I was a wee tike with foppish, red hair. Not much has changed except for the wee part, and here I am, happy and silly with the opportunity to do something illegal in four states at the same time.

THEN, I drive another eight hours to reunite again with the incredible Leah Watson. I go through the Rio Grande National Park, and I'm pumped about that. Am I going to get out of my car? Not at that point. But I surely will wave to it as I drive by.

Watson and I spent four(ish) days together, sky dive that Friday morning, and Saturday morning, with the grace of my banking account, I strike out for Cincinnati, to once again begin a beautiful spring quarter in the company of those that I enjoy, inspire, am inspired by, and even occasionally love.

Denver to Cincinnati

...or, Denver to St. Louis. Where I'll soon find some place to stay for a night, and then...thank God....then, I'm back to Cincinnati right before school begins, and I have another many things to tackle.

Next Quarter is surely going to be an interesting and unpredictable one. For the first time, I have a sizable, juicy role in a show (that I'm handling quite capably, I might add.) The Forgotten Love of My Life is going to be in town for two months, and despite any challenges we face, we surely do have fun, and it's going to be nice having a substantial history with someone in that city for once. I'm working two additional days at Ten Thousand Villages, the non-profit closest to my heart, and even hanging out with a bunch of animals from Africa on one of those days. :) My weight loss is going to sky-rocket; I signed up for two exercise classes and am designing my new room with a silly ode to a scale and weight loss. And speaking of that, I've moved into a new house, away from the Millionaires, and finally...finally get a space to breathe in. Whew! So fantastic!

OH MAN.
And then I go to Hawaii.

The Friday Find: My Blog Lies!

Hey Guys, so I"m not actually going to FitBloggin' anymore. Yes, this is tragic, indeed, especially since I paid the registration fee oh so long ago.

I am, HOWEVER, going skydiving with none other than our so-called wicked workout partner, Leah Watson. Wish us luck!

Change is Hard, I should Know

The Love of my Life has been going through a rough past three months. His work is taking its toll, and his focus has shifted to surviving a job that makes him quite unhappy. In this time, his relationship with me has waned. Substantially. I worked to make things happen, to work on our relationship, to give it the due it needed.

But, in three months time, the Love of my Life has lost his connection with me, and isn't sure that what he needs is a relationship, right now.

Cue my mind.

I've been through one real break-up before, and it was the most horrendous thing I had ever yet had to deal with. This one is different. Kaiao was honest. And in that honesty, lies my solace.

Yes, this changes plan I had for me for the rest of my life. Yes, this forces me to adjust to the shutters around his eyes, instead of opening them. Yes, this is making me sit up at four in the morning because I can't sleep. :) Ah well. Such is life. Such are my possibilities.

I'm at his house right now. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'll see him quite substantially in April. But a friendship it shall be, and a friendship is going to be, eventually, just fine.

On another note--have any of you ever had your heart scream at you while your outward appearance remains almost perfectly calm? It's an odd sort of coma, isn't it? :)

Watson Wednesday!

Welcome to this week's Watson Wednesday!! Those two exclamation points should indicate how excited you and I both are to be here this week! Get pumped!

This week I have two great songs to sync onto that iPod. It's all about what makes me feel sassy, sexy, and gets me up dancing around my room. After all, how good can a song be if you won't even dance to it in your own room. So, drum roll please! *Epic Drum Roll* This weeks winners are....
1) When I Grow Up by The Pussycat Dolls

2) You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift
These songs get me on my feet, swaying my hips, and singing out loud. Hopefully they will do the same for you.

Arms, arms, arms. Push ups, push ups, push ups. That is how to get it done. They are painful, they hurt, they make grown men want to cry, but they do the job. Why? Because they hurt and because they are hard. Like Jesus said ladies, "No pain, no gain."

So how do you do a push up? You suck back the tears and you start from the ground up.

Some rather irritating individuals would call these women's push ups, but we're just going to stick with the name Bent Knee Push Ups.

Place yourself with your knees on the ground under your hips and your hands on the ground underneath your shoulders. Shift your weight forward into your hands so that you arrive in a modified push up position.
1) Check that your back is straight
2) Make sure that your butt isn't sticking up into the air
3) Ensure that your fingers are pointing towards the wall in front of you and your elbows towards the back wall and
4) Decide whether or not you want to cross your feet and lift them off the ground. Once you are situated you will lower yourself by bending your elbows (keeping them in tight to the rib cage) until your upper arm is next to your torso and then push back up again.

Start with 5 and try to work up to 3 sets of 15.

This is a fantastic way to tone the tummy, biceps, and triceps.

Summer's around the corner so toned arms couldn't be more important. Let's get ready shall we? Pull out the tube tops, plug into the tunes, and start toning those arms!

Your Wicked Workout Partner,
L. Watson

Soapbox Sunday: Love Conquers All

Know how I've been confessing my fear of a scale lately? Well, I brought this issue up with Watson the other day, and she simply said, "Well, if you are, in fact, running away from the scale--at least you're burning calories."

Obviously, she was no help at all.

But we talked about it, we joked about it, and it suddenly wasn't so terrifying anymore. And gosh darnit, if I didn't hop on up and see a total weight loss of five pounds! I was pretty excited. I realized that I was so terrified of the scale because any failure on its part was a direct expression of my own failure, my own apathy, my own not being all that I can be. It's a huge pat on the back, a strong reassurance, to know that my "not my best" is still going where I want it to go.

Furthermore, it's a huge pat on the back to know I can go farther. I'm really happy in my life right now. I have fascinating people around me, healthy habits that fuel me, and lots of great things to look ahead to. Way to go, Life!