Busy!

So what with the cooking practice, the award shows and nomination announcements, and my determination to fit in as much missing culture as I can, I have not been very loyal to this blog!

The updates:

1. Cooking- I'm starting to get a handle on things! I learned to make a braised steak in my crockpot, and from there I made a yet-to-be-named dish that resembled pulled pork (but it was steak), eggs, and cheese in a taco shell. Last night I made salmon, and the night before bbq chicken. It's taken a lot of phone calls to mom, but I'm starting to feel more confident and I don't allow myself to consider the fast food options anymore. It feels good.

2. Working Out- I had the weirdest interaction with a Russian man named Misch-Misch in my gym. By "weirdest" I mean genuinely unsettling and I have been advised to just pay for a gym membership to go somewhere more open/safer. Besides that, I've felt really motivated about making it to the gym and I already can tell I have more energy. I also started making it a routine to get up early and do yoga in the morning-- I'd like to do a post on the magic of routines, but the short version is, it doesn't take long to get used to anything.

3. Giving up TV: Besides New Girl on Tuesday night, I have watched NO mindless TV. It actually proved to be a lot easier to give up than what I originally had expected, just because I don't have time for it now. Plus, I have a desk (!) so I've been doing a lot more writing. Mostly I just haven't needed to disconnect my brain like I was doing when I first moved in. I finally watched Pulp Fiction, which I loved, and although it's a weird transition I can also cross Zoolander off my list. January "to watch" was mostly just movies that my friends like that I've been putting off-- I honestly can't listen to Ben Stiller and not hear Kayse.

Now, it's just going to be an oscar nomination filled few weeks while I try to catch up on everything I haven't seen-- except Cake, which didn't get nominated for anything but I'm just going to treat it as though it had.

I'm making a separate post for all the movies that were nominated and what I need to watch/prioritize. Stay tuned (or read above, if it's already there).