Move it and Lose it Challenge #8

I was watching the news the other day and a story immediately caught my attention and inspired Move it and Lose it challenge #8. A recent study was conducted that showed that people who eat lunch/dinner in front of a computer/television eat more than they would if they were to eat at the kitchen table. Guilty as charged. Not only do I eat my lunch at my desk at least 3 days a week (on a good week) but what is the first thing I do when I get home? If your thought was watch TV.. I wish. I reopen the computer and start studying for my exams with my dinner by my side.

The study concluded it that since your mind is distracted by the screen, you do not realize when you are full. I also agree with this because the other day I made it through almost an entire bag of pretzels without even a second thought. Oops.

Now this part wasn't in the study, but I have also found that it takes me way longer to eat when I am trying to work than if I would have just taken ten minutes to actually enjoy my meal. This may be due to the fact that I am eating more because I am distracted, or it may be because I am a bad multi -tasker. Either way, your challenge this week is to break away from the screen during meals. Good luck!

The true test

A few months ago, I was honored and overwhelmed with excitement when my best friend asked me to be the maid of honor in her wedding. She told me they had finally set a date. June 18th. Two weeks later, I was walking out the door for a Miss Finger Lakes appearance when my phone beeped, it was an e-mail that I had been awaiting from Kenny Mack.. the dates and location for Miss NY were being announced! The tears started coming on faster than I could read. June 13-19. I was devastated, as this is my last year of competition.

I dried my tears and immediately said, well that's it, I am choosing friendship, my time as a contestant in the MAO was over. How could I not be there for her on her big day? I tried everything that I could think of to get around the problem, even searching on the Internet for hours to try to find a possible issue with the date the Miss NY Organization chose. (didn't work)

As the days passed, my decision never left the back of my mind. It was all I could think about. I went back and forth for weeks over what I should do. Tonight, I made the hardest decision of my life. I called my friend and with her full support, I will not be ending my journey quite yet. I will be competing for Miss Greater Rochester this year only. If it is in the cards and I become Miss Greater Rochester 2011, then I will see you at Miss NY 2011, if it's not, I will be smiling as I watch my friend walk down the isle.

I contemplated sharing this story with everyone because the last thing I wanted was a debate over how bad of a friend that I am on the nasty board. But I decided to share it because this organization means more than anything to me. It has helped me to become the woman that I am and I am not ready give up on my dream. So I have one last chance. Please mark your calendars and come support me on March 13th for my very last local pageant.

P.S. Passed my second CPA exam today. OOOOhhhhh we're half way there!

As Promised

Okay so this post really isn't as promised because I promised for Saturday, not Sunday... but it's pretty close. I think you will forgive me when you hear my most recent fiasco.

Bed bugs are a growing epidemic in New York State. They have been all over the news for the New York City infestation, but not so much in Upstate NY. Well I must have been the lucky person because two weeks ago, I discovered one in my apartment. A common misconception is that you get bed bugs from being messy, however when they were discovered in my spotless apartment I did some research and found out that it has nothing to do with how clean you are. The way that most people get them is by traveling (which is how I most likely got them), they like to cling onto your suitcase. They are a very expensive and time consuming pest to get rid of. For example, I paid the exterminator over $700 and had to wash everything I own (23 loads of laundry). So, here are just a few helpful traveling tips so you don't wind up like me.

• Never leave your suitcase on the floor (use the provided suitcase rack)
  
• Make sure your suitcase is zipped up at all times.


• Don't throw your clothing on the floor, if you put it in the drawers make sure you put your dirty clothes right back into your zipped suitcase.


• Inspect the bed when you get there. Leave the lights off and use a small flashlight to look in the box spring and the seams of the mattress. The bugs are very small but you can see them.


• Check out bedbugregistry.com to see if they have been reported at the hotel you are staying at.



• When you return home, vacuum your suitcase before bringing it inside (you must change the vacuum bag when finished because they can live in the bag).
  

Okay now that I freaked everyone out, I have had time for some other fun things in the past two weeks other than bed bugs. Stacey Minchin, Miss New York International, and I teamed up to make some appearances!

First, we helped out at the Meals on Wheels pancake breakfast. Our job was to be waitresses and Stacey did a good job... me on the other hand, I tried my best :) The turn out was awesome and we had such a great time working together that we figured we would do it again the next week.

Our next event together was the inaugural Veterans Day Walk/Run. I think we were the only two that decided to walk haha, but hey, we crossed the finish line still standing!

Our next event together will be on Sunday at the Corning Parade of Lights!

P.S. If anyone is serious about going to watch Stacey in Chicago this July as she competes for Miss International, please let me know. My mom and I will be scheduling our flights/hotel in the upcoming weeks!

On the hunt...

... for Miss Finger Lakes 2011! The Miss Finger Lakes Organization has announced this year's pageant to be held on February 26th 2011. The pageant will be hosted by our very own Miss NY International, Stacey Minchin! If you are interested in competing, let me know and I will make sure to get you all of the paperwork.

Now that I am finally done traveling for awhile and am all settled in, it was time to fill up my calendar. Here's what is in the month ahead...

November 4th - Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House
November 7th - Showing off my Pancake Flipping skills at a CMN Breakfast fundraiser. *9:00-12:30 at the First United Methodist Church on Cedar St in Corning -- Stop by!*
November 14 - Inaugural Veterans Day 5K Run/Walk hosted by Elmira College
November 20 - CPA Exam :(
November 27 - Corning Parade of Lights

Deep Breaths

Fist, I will say, Yes... this is delayed.. but, when I explain my schedule, I bet you will forgive me :) As you know, I recently started full time at PwC... so that means two weeks of training in Pittsburgh. I have been home for a week and a half now (where I spent every waking hour literally working or studying). I sat for another section of my CPA on Wednesday... it did not seem to promising when a tear rolled down my cheek about 36 minutes into the exam.

But anyway, I had a grueling two weeks in Pittsburgh. While it was a lot of fun meeting all of the new people in the Lake Erie class of 2010, I had to head back to my room to study every night boo! About 4 days before I said goodbye to Pittsburgh, I received a phone call from my mother, my grandmother had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. We are very grateful because due to my Aunt's pestering, my Grandma had her yearly exams tested and therefore, caught the disease in its earliest phase. Two days later, my phone rang again, this time it was Pilar. She told me about the Breast Cancer awareness walk that was going to be held in the Finger Lakes that coming coming weekend. I really wanted to be apart of it, but I was torn. I was so sick, I had an exam in a week, I would already have to drive 5 hours to Rochester and didn't want to tack on another 2, but I decided that it was important for me to be there. Team Style (our team name) raised over $700 for the event. It was so empowering, there were hundreds of people that came out for the first annual walk in corning. Teams were made up of not only supporters, but survivors. Even though I was sneezing the whole walk, I am so grateful to have been a part of the event.

I have pictures of this, but I am not technologically savvy and my computer (or possibly myself) is being dysfunctional so I cannot transfer them. As soon as the problem is solved I will put them on facebook!

On Sunday, I am off to California for two weeks to begin an audit!! You probably will not hear from me for a few weeks because I am sure I will be in my work and study coma, on the beach of course :)

Move it and Lose it Challenge # I have no idea: Take an hour for yourself each week. This is a lesson that I have been learning the hard way. For example, when you constantly work/study, you get very stressed. When you get stressed two things may happy. 1. Your immune system can get very weak and 2. you will have a harder time staying in shape because your body is working so hard to fight the stress. If you can take even an hour to go for a walk, be lazy on the couch, or read a book, every week your stress level may decrease and your body will respond positively :)


P.S. Stacey Minchin and Felica Ramos are competing for Miss NY International tomorrow (I was supposed to go but my business trip got moved up so I have to be at the airport at 7 am sunday morning :( ) Please wish them luck!!!!!

An inspiring little girl...

First and foremost... CONGRATS to Hannah Wright, my dressing room pal, for placing 2nd runner up at the National Sweetheart pageant!!!! Love her!

I apologize for my dwindling blog posts... it is busy tax season once again (corporate returns due 9/15) and I have been working 13 hour days..boo!!! However... I am still finding time to volunteer!!! This past week I organized a dinner to be made for the Ronald McDonald house for the 1st year class at PwC (that includes me... I am no longer an intern!!!!). As always, it was a blast and a really great way to get to know my new co-workers. After we cooked for approximately 45 people, I had my first tour of the Ronald McDonald House! I don't know how I volunteer there so much and have never gotten the tour. It was more than a house... it was a home. Each room had individual touches to make the visitors feel more comfortable. There were multiple family type rooms, board games, and much more to keep everyone in a positive mind set. It really blew me away how much detail and time was spent making the facility into a warm environment.

Can you find Ronald?

This Saturday, I hosted the Teen Miss Finger Lakes Pageant! I was joined by my pageant pal, Vicky Ripple! Thank you so much for helping us out! The day was really fun, esp since a lot of the girls competing also competed for the Miss Colonial Days title and I was able to see their improvement already! Although all of the girls did great, one of the new titleholders really stuck out in my mind. Lauren Randall, the new Little Miss Finger Lakes, competed for Miss Little Colonial Days this past summer. Her sister, Maryn, also competed. While both young ladies did a phenomenal job, Maryn took home the title. When this happened, I must say that I got a bit nervous wondering how Lauren was going to take the news of her sister winning. I have never seen such grace and sincere pride between sisters. Lauren was so happy for Maryn and held her head high. I must say that I grinned when I looked down at my index card that was handed to me by the auditor when it said that Lauren had taken the title, she is extremely deserving and I could not be more proud of her!

Lauren when her name was called :)

Things start to get a bit crazy soon, I leave for Pittsburgh on Tuesday and will be there for two weeks. I will return to Rochester for a few weeks then will be off to California for two weeks (work not play :( ) I will sure to keep you posted on any events coming up!




Move it and Lose it Challenge #6: I challenge you to not eat two hours before you go to sleep! While you are sleeping, your metabolism slows down quite a bit, so if you absolutely have to eat before you go to bed, try something light like watermelon :)

This Just In.....

PASSED MY FIRST CPA EXAM WITH AN 84!!!!!!!!!! One down, three to go!!!

Ahh so excited right now that I figured I would let you all know what I have been up to. Life has been crazy hectic. I am currently studying for the next section of my CPA, working, moving (which has been quite the disaster), and of course, representing the Finger Lakes Region :)

Last week, Stacey Minchin and I volunteered at the CMN Golf Tournament held at the country club. Our job was to see if anyone made a hole in one and if they did the would win a new jeep! Well, that Jeep is back on the lot because no one got a hole in one, but hey, we saw some pretty awesome shots! After the tournament there was a fundraiser dinner that we attended. We also had a pretty fun photo shoot in the rain on one of the greens, compliments of my dad! I will post some pictures on here and the remainder of the pictures on facebook once I find my camera cord that is somewhere between my new apartment and my old apartment.

This week was also my last Get in the Game Monday :( Surprise surprise, it was raining all day so we couldn't go outside. But, we took advantage of the youth center and tried to stay away from the video games! A big thank you to the Youth Center for allowing me to come and volunteer! It was been a great couple of months :)

The week ahead:

Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House on Thursday!

Move it and Lose it Challenge #5: Break up your meals into smaller meals throughout the day. Currently, I eat 5 small meals everyday instead of 3 big meals. This allows your metabolism to work constantly and at an even pace instead of trying to break down huge amounts of food.