Whew!

Hi guys. Guess what.
NO MORE LOW CARB!!!
I know, you were hoping for something so much more exciting, like a decision on grad schools or a book contract or [gasp!] an engagement. Well, the grad school thing is slowly but surely working itself out and in the next few weeks I will officially apply to the top choices. The book contract is on that list of "Would Be Great, But Will Probably Never Ever Happen" things. If I ever have free time again, I will work on book #3 seriously. Right now it is on the backburner behind grad schools and RS lessons and, oh, work. And as for an engagement........well, I'm farily certain my sisters would have called CNN if that had happened, so you'd all know by now anyway.
BUT. The glorious news that the low-carb diet is over should be very happy for all of you! If you ever want to appreciate how good apple pie is, go low carb for 4 weeks. But you know what? I'm really proud of myself. I didn't know if I could do this, and I did! If I had to do it over again, I would have been better about my workouts. I didn't always push myself as hard as I could have, and that might have made a bigger difference. But still. YAY for me! And I'm a little afraid of taking things to a carb-coma level of extreme, so I am being really careful about easing my way back in. Except for apple pie. Gimme a break.
In other news, any Castle fans out there? The season premiere was last night and OH MY GAWSH, it was good. Not as funny as your regular episode, but SO deep and rich and emotional and UGH. Amazing. Simply amazing. And it really showed certain people's acting chops. Who knew that funny man Nathan Fillion could pull of something so heart-wrenching and haunting and poignant? And Stana Katic! Not only is she pretty much the most beautiful woman ever, but the turmoil and tension and pain she brought to Beckett was AWESOME. And that ending??? HOLY CRAP. This is going to be a FABULOUS season, I can feel it! If you are not a Castle fan, YOU SHOULD BE! If you are one of those people who like to start a show at the beginning, have no fear. I have all three seasons and regularly DVR current episodes for future watching. Yeah....it's kinda like that.
Tonight are the premieres of NCIS and NCIS:LA. These are two shows that my parents and I are very invested in. As in I may or may not own all 8 seasons of NCIS and all 2 seasons of NCIS::LA. I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. ANYWHO: We just refreshed our memories with the finales last week, so we are ready and raring to go! Anyody else see those finales? Talk about DRAMA. I just love this stuff. Why I did not major in something to do with film or media, I will never know.
But in my work as an athletic trainer lately, I have been BUSY. And it is so rewarding, in its own way. So rarely do trainers get any recognition for the hours they put in and the work they do, but every time you can help someone or put some parents at ease, a small sense of accomplishment forms. And every now and then, you get a thank you from someone. A coach, an athlete, a parent...it doesn't matter. It all feels good. Well. This week, I got 2 different people telling  me that I am a good trainer, that I do a good job, and they were impressed. That stunned me. I don't do what I do to impress people. Quite the contrary, I've always been a bit of a background person. I just do what I do and get on with it. Not gonna lie, though. I felt really pleased that somebody noticed and went a step further to tell me they thought I was good. Little pokes in the shoulder from Heaven, reassuring me that I CAN do this.
Ummm....what else.....oh! I'm trying the Special K Challenge next week. No, it's NOT another diet.....well, okay, it probably counts as one, but I just want to see if it works. If you follow what they say with food and workout and such, you're supposed to be able to drop a jean size in two weeks. That. Would. Be. AWESOME. I dunno about the rest of you ladies, but from age 19 on, my donughts go straight to the jean coverage area. It would be simply lovely to, ah, TWEAK that general vicinity.
Still hacking away at my RS lesson for Sunday. It's on the talk "Remember This: Kindness Begins With Me". The title comes from a Primary song. Pretty sure I have never heard it. But that's neither here nor there. So I'm trying to figure out how to get a 30-35 minute lesson out of the talk, how to apply it to a single's ward RS, and how to make it enjoyable. Luckily, I have parents who are well versed in the Gospel AND in teaching it, so they're helping me a lot. But it all boils down to what the Spirit tells me to do, and the trick right now is figuring that out.
So that's me right now. Just in case you were wondering. ;-)