Busy Week!

I have had a very busy week 5. I haven't had any free time to get homework done, or catch up on reading for class, or blog! I'm so glad midterms are over. I didn't study at all for my nutrition test because we had a paper/project due the same day that I was a little more focused on. Turns out, I didn't need to study. The test was so easy. I may have even gotten 100%, though it's more likely I got an A. Either way, I'm happy :-) The paper was actually kind of interesting and fun to write. My conclusion: I need to eat more carbohydrates, and less fat. I really want to lose about 10 or 15 pounds. So with that goal in mind, and to improve my general health, I have been working out at the Coors Fitness Center on campus (I know- in Denver everything is named after beer). Well, the real reason is that I have a huge gap in the middle of my day on Monday and Wednesday. Daniel also has a lot of free time when it's just not practical to drive home. It was getting to the point that he was bored out of his mind. So, we decided together to start using the gym. I don't know why we haven't thought about it before- it's free! I'm sure there are lots of people that would be very happy about free access to a gym. We have been using the elliptical machines. The first day, I made it to about 25 minutes before I really got tired. The second day, about 30 minutes. And today, I used it for 30 minutes without really getting tired at all (I couldn't use it longer because there were people waiting). The one thing I don't like is that I don't really have time to shower afterwards. I don't have time to shower and blow dry and straighten my hair and reapply my makeup. It feels so gross until I've cooled off and I'm not sweaty anymore. But I put on some deodorant, brush my hair, and it's fine.

Back to midterms, I took my anatomy practical today. Right before it, I could feel my chest tightening up and my breathing speed up. I know this feeling very well- anxiety. If I don't get it under control it turns into sharp stomach pain. Which just makes me more stressed out! I took a few deep breaths and I felt a little better. Though I had to try to ignore my stomach pain throughout the test. What didn't help is that ten minutes before the test, the university sent out a weather alert. There was a tornado warning for Denver. So before we went into the classroom, our professor briefed us on the emergency plan- if a tornado comes, if the power goes out, etc. This just made me more nervous. I don't need to be thinking about tornadoes when I'm trying to remember what the third tarsal is called! But overall it went well. There were lots of questions that I knew right away- and quite a few I didn't really know for sure. But I studied A LOT and I did my best. I'm excited to see how I did. This practical covered all the tissues in the body (under the microscope), the entire human skeleton and skull, skin, and the knee joint. The next practical will cover every muscle and all the nerves that innervate them. That is so overwhelming to even think about. I'm just going to take it one day at a time. The skeleton was very overwhelming at first too, but I absorbed a little bit each time I studied.

Chemistry went better this week than last week. Good thing too, last week I was ready to switch my major just so I could drop this class! Lab went really well, and I feel like I'm learning a lot in lecture. I'm honestly just excited for our next exam so I can prove that I'm not a complete idiot. And I have to keep reminding myself that the final grade can take the place of our lowest midterm grade. And it almost certainly will be higher. It better be higher!

Daniel is out with his fraternity tonight. I elected not to go out since I have class tomorrow morning at 9am and work the whole day after that. I'm actually considering getting up early so I will have time to work out before class- but when my alarm goes off I'm sure I'll decide to stay in bed rather than get up. We'll see. This may be the start of a new, healthier, more fit, hopefully thinner Rachel! :-)