Happy First Day of Spring! It was 61 degrees on my ride home from work in the late afternoon and it was a nice change of pace. I feel on cloud nine from this wonderful day outside. As I was contemplating what to blog about I realized that I don’t write about health or wellness on this blog. Usually, I write about comics and books, video games, and general posts about my life. Today I wanted to write something a little different and share my health goals.

Eat More Vegetables

I eat plenty of fruit in a day, but veggies? Not so much. I love red bell pepper, carrots, and broccoli yet I don’t cook enough with veggies. I have a huge sweet tooth, so sometimes vegetables aren’t appealing to me. I find that when I cook vegetables with olive oil and some pepper they’re good to eat. It’s difficult for me to eat veggies raw and if you can, good for you!

Yoga/Spiritual Exercise Once a Week

I have been slacking on yoga. My workout regime is three days a week of cardio and two days of strength training. That leaves two days of active recovery. On one of my recovery days, I want to add yoga or I want to attend a yoga class at my internship. Yoga is beneficial and I feel that I need to try harder to make this happen.

I’m in a good mindset where I can set these goals for myself without feeling insecure about how my body looks. I’m grateful to have reached that place even though it took a while to get there. I would love to hear your health and wellness goals in the comments below.

This was certainly an unplanned eleven-day writing hiatus. My work schedule was chaotic and all I have been doing after work was finishing The Following on Netflix while reading books and various comics. After a relaxing weekend home I come prepared to write about a smaller local convention I attended: Blizzard World Comic Con 2017. 

Blizzard World Comic Con is a convention that offers up tables for super cheap. Artists can display their newly printed comics, art prints, and cute toys without spending a lot of money. Unlike other conventions that have panels and activities, Blizzard World is a con where you spend money. I had my budget as to how much I could spend and I was determined to spread that money across as many artists as I possibly could. I only ended up spending about $30 and I went home with a couple of comics and a cool sticker that I placed in my planner.

As for my first time being at this con, I liked it. It was small so I felt that I could actually talk with each artist at the booths. I could learn what inspires them to create art or detailed stories. This helped me make purchases that I felt really proud of. I will say that I only stayed for about 45 minutes because I spent my money quickly, so I wish Blizzard World offered more activities besides walking around the booths. Otherwise, I can definitely say that I will be back again next year.

The last part of this post is to detail what I bought because that’s always the fun part about attending conventions.

This book I ended up purchasing this not at Blizzard World, but through a GoFundMe page initiated by Phil Juliano. He ended up saving me this Velma print and isn’t it so cute?!

I stopped by Christopher D Schmitz’s table while at Blizzard World. He was describing his book, Wolf of The Tesseract which he stated had references to Cthulhu and other elements of HP Lovecraft’s stories.

Hopefully, I will keep a regular blogging routine as I really don’t like to go almost two weeks without writing. I can’t make any promises, but I do have some ideas about posts in the coming days. I wish everyone a good start to the week!

Science is the subject in school I struggle with but enjoy the most. My major is heavily focused on biology, anatomy, and physiology which are the branches of biology that comprehend how the body works. The Science Museum of Minnesota is a place filled with childhood memories of IMAX movies and featured exhibits. I was personally invited to interact with the newest exhibit Sportsology; the science behind sports medicine and biology.

A couple weeks ago, a fellow geek who reads my fit geek articles for Twin Cities Geek contacted me. She also is the coordinator for programs held at the Science Museum. She thought I would love to write an article on Sportsology since I write for the Fit Geek section of the site. I also got in for free and could bring my boyfriend who has never been to the museum before. Saturday, January 7th was filled with vertical jumping, balance activities, and racing against a T-REX… 😀

Sportsology at the MN Science Museum

Wait racing against a T-REX? Yep! There was one sprinting activity where you could select your favorite athlete and sprint alongside them to see how fast you were. Instead of choosing an athlete, I decided on a T-Rex. A T-Rex by the way runs at 20 mph. So I attempted my sprint but failed miserably against a virtual dinosaur.

A less exciting, but still entertaining activity was on balance. Interestingly enough this picture was an activity to show how your ears help you balance. My boyfriend walked to that circle shown above. He then spun around in circles for five rotations. Once he’s all dizzy, he will attempt to walk in a straight line following the left orange line. At this point, your body isn’t helping you balance because your brain is trying to send nerve signals to your muscles. Your vision isn’t helping you balance because you’re dizzy. The fluid in your ears is what will help you walk in a straight line. Cool huh?

This activity is a vertical jump test. Different basketballs were hung from different heights and you could jump to touch them. I was only able to jump to 8.5 inches while my boyfriend could jump to the 9-inch basketball.

This exhibit made for a fun Saturday. If you’re from Minnesota, I recommend visiting the museum. If you’re located in the other 49 states. . . you’re missing out.

I detest New Year’s resolutions so, I thought that instead of writing about resolutions I wanted to write about quests to pursue in this bright new year.

Quest – noun a search or exploration.

Doesn’t that sound more fun? This whole “new year new me” is a bunch of nonsense. I love how my body looks and feels and I don’t want to change that for anyone else and the standards that society upholds. Here are the quests that I want to participate in:

Buy More Cruelty-Free Makeup. 

As a consumer, I started to be more attentive to what I’m purchasing. I want to invest in beauty products that are ethical. Makeup lifts my self-esteem some days, but it’s not worth it to buy a product that may have hurt animals before arriving on the shelf. 

More HIIT Workouts

HIIT aka. High-Intensity Interval Training. I just did a HIIT workout yesterday and my muscles are sore. HIIT is something I don’t do often, but I’m enjoying the higher energy and feeling sweaty after I complete my workout. I want my body to adapt and get stronger and I think HIIT can do that for me.

Drink more Tea 

I’m enjoying a sweet tangerine tea along with my sleepy-time Vanilla tea for when I’m tired while reading my book at night. Tea is my go-to at night because it’s not sugary like hot chocolate is, but it’s still warm and flavorful.

Finally: Read more comics, read more books, play video games when I can and be grateful for everything I have.

In 2012, I passed my driving test at age 17. The car that I took the driving test in was a 2000 Ford Windstar Minivan. When I drove to college, a couple friends thought the name Bertha fit the car. Bertha became my car and I drove her everywhere. On the 28th, I traded in Bertha for my 2016 Subaru Forester.

As I drive my new car, I realize that this is the right decision for me. Two weeks ago, I drove Bertha home for winter break. I heard a strange rattling noise coming from the hood of my car. I was at the point where I knew I needed a new car but wasn’t planning on upgrading my car until next May after I graduate college. However, I decided that I wasn’t willing to put hundreds of dollars into a car that would be replaced soon.

On Friday, me and my mom drove to the dealership to pursue new cars. The car I ended up test-driving was the 2016 Jasmine Green Subaru Forester. Driving the Forester was easy and pressing the gas didn’t require so much effort. I have never been a car person really, but this car was amazing. Me and my mom ended up purchasing the vehicle that I drove.

Before I went back to school, I picked up my new car while also dropping off Bertha for a trade-in. The Forester has heated seats so my butt is cozy in the cold winter. There are also heated seats in the passenger seat too. Also, this car has way better gas mileage than my other car. All I can think about now is when I can go on a road trip with my new car.

I’m grateful to have been able to drive Bertha. I now have experience in driving a bigger vehicle so moving to a smaller car makes it easier to drive. It’s going to be sucky to have a car payment, but my car needed so many repairs that I just couldn’t afford it anymore. I cannot wait for all the new memories to be had in my car. It’s time to welcome Ripley Rey, into my life. She’s a beauty.

My dream is to travel. My purpose for traveling is to explore somewhere new. I read an article recently titled Let’s Stop Pretending Travel is Accessible to Everyone. This article spoke to me in multiple ways. The insecurity I have is that because I’m not traveling, I’m not living life right. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, but it sometimes can put me in a sad mood because of all the places I still haven’t been to.

Referencing the article, money is a big concern as to why I don’t travel much. My family isn’t upper middle class, so I never went on family vacations. My travel bucket list grows exponentially of places that I would love to see in my lifetime. I have been trying to save to help make these dreams a reality. When you have to budget within your family, traveling becomes very low on your list of priorities.

The second point this article makes is budgeting may not be enough. Time off from work is huge. If you’re lucky, you get paid for being on vacation, but depending on where you work, this might not be feasible. That’s a lot of money to lose for a week of fun. Airfare is also not cheap. I casually glance at flight prices and it always saddens me. Budgeting is a great skill to learn and I wish I could do this to travel the world.

Finally, this article mentions privilege. I’m a white, cis woman. I don’t have to fear that I’m going to not be allowed in a country because I’m trans. I’m also straight, so I don’t have to fear being targeted for being gay. America has come a long way for gay rights, but other countries are so far behind. I’m lucky because I may be safer off in other countries aside from other groups of people.

Instead of shaming someone for not traveling, understand the reasons why they don’t. My biggest advice to combat the travel shaming is to appreciate the little trips (like Chicago SO MUCH FUN! ) and to focus on my small goals like graduating college in a couple months. Traveling is so amazing, I’m just not at a point in my life where I can commit to it.

*I am choosing not to write about the election at this time. I do have a blog post in the works, and I will publish it when I’m ready.*

Last weekend consisted of me working at Caribou while listening to holiday music amidst snowflake decorations. Some customers came up to me slightly annoyed while others were extremely excited. I’m in the latter group because I really enjoy the holidays. The holidays are special to me for a variety of reasons.

Gift Giving! 

The older I get, the more I love buying gifts. I already have a list going for my brother, mom, boyfriend, and a college friend of mine. Receiving gifts is fun too, but giving gifts is x10 times better. I would like to say I’m great at buying gifts because I know the people in my life extremely well. This part of the holidays is certainly fun for me.

Family Bonding 

Since I’m still at college, I don’t see my friends & family back home. This saddens me, but I get to spend a lot of time with them during the holidays. I just talked to my brother a couple days ago on the phone, and we have a gaming night planned with my uncle. As a family, we are all going out to a nice dinner to celebrate my aunt’s birthday in December so I’m happy to spend that quality time with them.

Cooking Winter Meals 

My mom’s homemade chili, tater tot hot dish, and cheesy mashed potatoes are yummy.

This holiday season will be fantastic no matter what. I need this time to unwind from finals and prepare for my final semester at school. I also get to catch up on some much needed gaming and reading. Is there anything in particular that you’re excited for? Are you still feeling that it’s too early for holiday shenanigans?

Happy Halloween! Since it’s the last day of October, I wanted to reflect on the goals I made for this month. I will probably make a separate post for November goals because this post became a little longer than I had originally intended for it to be.

Pass The American College of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer Certification Test 

COMPLETE

I’m so relieved! I took the test on October 19th and I passed with flying colors. This means a lot to me because as soon as I graduate I can apply to be a Personal Trainer in a gym setting. I can also do personal training outside a gym setting and set up a client list. So this is very exciting stuff. Also, this means I didn’t waste $300. . . phew.

Listen to 3 episodes of 3 different podcasts.

Incomplete 😦

I listen to various episodes from two different podcasts. The first podcast I listened to was Panels & Pizza. This podcast takes place in a local MN comic book shop and the host interviews local artists. The other podcast I started listening to was Pop-Queer-is. This podcast talks about different queer identities shown in a pop culture setting. The first episode was about Harley Quinn and her problematic back story which was super interesting. I’m on the episode about trans representation and how problematic some of this content is.

Turn off my phone while I’m at school/work and only scroll for 5 minutes at one time.

Incomplete 😦 

I started playing Disney Emoji Blitz which is a really cute app to pass the time. I also scroll through Instagram way more than I should so I still need to work on this.

Hang My CONvergence Art plus Billie Piper’s signature 

Incomplete 😦 

You know how you have something on your list that you need to buy, but it’s a boring thing to buy so you don’t buy it? That’s how I feel about frames. So I didn’t buy frames for my art, but I might just put some tape on the back of the images and hang them anyway. I want them hung up, I just don’t want to buy frames. Instead I went to Target and bought Snoopy socks.

Read Two Complete Books *graphic novels included* 

COMPLETE

I read Anna and the French Kiss which by the way. . I hated it.  This story was not romantic whatsoever! Anna did some things with St. Clair that were not okay. As someone who has had to bring up cheating in a relationship before, this ruined their whole relationship. I don’t care that Anna had feelings for St. Clair, they shouldn’t have snuggled/slept in the same bed together. C’mon.. -End Rant- I also read I Kill Giants a graphic novel my brother lent me. Finally, I read Crafting with Feminism the crafting book I recently reviewed.

Watch the Luke Cage Series on Netflix. 

COMPLETE 

Luke Cage was so good. It’s great to see a narrative that’s not told by white men because that does happen far too often. All of Marvel’s Netflix shows have been superb and I can’t wait for the Defenders.

October was a fantastic month for me and I hate to see it go. I can’t wait for the Holiday Season as I already started Christmas shopping! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!