Sunshine in Hand

2009 is peacing out and 2010 is slamming in full force. My review:

Sweetest pooch.

Best Community Health Education booth.

Most missed.

Prettiest drink.

Best soup.

Best summer trip.

Best impromptu photo adventure.

I’ve disappeared from this little blog. I wish I had a good reason for it.

I sincerely love putting together posts and sending them out to the world but as I am a bit lost in the struggle graduating and maintaining floating along this life river. My short attention span is no help either!

So.

I am embarking on some habit and life changes. I am one difficult sugar cookie when I comes to change but big decisions are coming my way and as much as I would like to ignore them being proactive and positive would be best.

This blog will become my home base where I celebrate success (myself and others), contemplate choices, and provide useful information for areas I am addressing in my studies and life.

Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Thanks Abe!

Hello open abyss that is the internets.

Many to-dos this week.

Guess what you guys have some too. I’ve been doing some stumbling around (StumbleUpon is a serious addiction for me, but I am very much okay with this) and here’s some very nice things I’ve found.

HealthyStuff.org- An excellent shopping tool for those wanting to know what is in some of the products they purchase. The site acts as a database for over 5,000 different products, ranging from kiddo toys to cars.

www.naturopathyworks.com- Ever wanted to know what you crave when you are craving chocolate or soda? Within this week I’ve found that this site is extremely accurate! Test this chart out and let me know what you guys and gals think.

Growing Air- I love TED.com, so many interesting talks by the leading minds in the world! This particular one is regarding 3 common plants that have been shown to improve the indoor air quality. The conclusions of the study are amazing, at just over 4 minutes long do check this out. I have a sad little spider plant that I need to take better care of so I won’t be making additions to my plant family until I learn to take care of the one I have now.

Jaw dropping baked good- Just look at this. Looook.

1.2.

1. Gutter Gardens (via Appartment Re-Therapy)

2. Andrew Pearce

Feel free to comment!

School thank you for arriving: a fresh start, new position, and my senior year. I have to say that it is extremely odd to be a senior when my original senior class graduated this past spring. When I walk around the campus I have this disorienting out of body experience because I keep looking for the usual suspects that have already headed out to the real world. However, good news is that I am not the only one who’s feeling the same way. A support group is in the makes.

I’m excited for my list of classes this semester and due to my internship taking up the rest of my spring semester this workload is going to be my last conventional semester.

Intro to Epidemiology: Lots of data, health disparities, and the like.

Communication Techniques in Health Promotion: This class was made for me. Tons of media, lots of projects… basically it’s a lab for health promotion. This is what I would like to do for a long long time.

Sustainable Development: Production, Work, and Values: It’s basically a seminar course discussing what I love most. There are such a variety of majors taking this class; I’m stoked for new views and ideas.

Service Learning in Comm. Health: I’ll know better when I head in tomorrow. From what I understand we will we working to implement a short health curriculum in different venues like schools, rehab locations, etc.

I have many plans mixed in with this semester. The one I recently completed was helping Joe clean his room. As in take every thing out of his room and scrub that bad boy down. We used some sweet eco friendly cleansers that have worked wonders on his mold and mildew problem (he lives in a basement so the airflow is not exactly the best). The product we used was Wash Safe Industry’s Mold & Mildew Wash. Result? Excellent. The walls were pretty deplorable near the floor, we slopped and sponged the trouble areas and within a few minutes the majority of those areas looked more like the wall and less like a black hole of gross. The highlight of my day came easy when my man explained how he called the company to find out how best to use their product. Ah this kid is so awesome!

Other events upcoming:

• Wedding in October, looking up sweet eco friendly wedding surprises in the near future.
• Running a half marathon (on about a month of training… I’m slightly tweaked)
• Purchase hiking boots and break those puppies in.
• CRUISE! I know it isn’t exactly the most green vacation choice but CRUISE!

I am in the midst  of UMass Lowell’s (my university) Residence Life Fall training. In my about section, I mention that I am an assistant residence hall director so I am strapped for time. I’m moving, planning, running around, and smiling all at once.

I will leave you with this until I get back:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

I totally forgot that I had a travel journal. I scooped it up just as I was about to leave the house. I’m actually glad that I grabbed that and not my cell phone. Well having both would have been better. I spent most of the hour in the air staring at the blue blue sky and rereading my first entries from my high school trip to Europe… hilarious, but very sweet. Also my in flight listening mix was excellent addition.

- Renting a car.

D.C has the Metro, easy to navigate, and a bit less on emissions and the cash. However, we got it just in case my sister needed to get out of the ballet school. She has been tucked away at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, hard at work and surely in need of sustenance (junk food). We also needed to get to back and forth to Baltimore for the airport and to see our beloved Red Sox take on the Orioles. In the end it created too much stress for both driver and co-pilot with not knowing the area and putting our entire faith in a little GPS. Holistically speaking I would avoid the car to prevent the uncomfortable stress suffered. Although the vehicle was quite pretty, but as I am not car savvy I totally forget what it was!

+ Hotel.
The Liaison Capitol Hill, is the closest hotel to the U.S. Capitol. It also was undeniably chic and sophisticated, making Madre and I feel as if we were all fancy. Ha, I sound ridiculous but Madre and I could not deny getting a bounce in our step walking into the gorgeously designed lobby. Green points to us for forgoing getting our room cleaned. To be honest I don’t think we got dirty enough to need maid services, please we don’t do that at home! Like I said the hotel was super close (about 5 minute walk) to Capitol Hill and the Mall. Due to this proximity no taxis or Metro fees to worry about… nor the environmental impact of either forms of transportation. Our feet cried later that evening: flip flops are not a good idea even if sneakers make your outfit not so cute.

+/- Reusable water bottle.

Best decision to bring this along… except I didn’t. Totally forgot it. I avoided buying water bottles (two bought over four days) and one was an Ethos water bottle, which is supposedly helping the world’s children get assess to clean water. I’m not so sure I believe that it’s worth buying but I felt if I was breaking my water bottle free pact it might as well be helping someone. I tried to reuse or recycle the extra bottles of the Madre’s. She though I was ridiculous I was proud that I was able to stay low on the plastic.

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Now that all is said, I had a wonderful time. My favorite day was walking along the Mall being a complete tourist with Madre and my college bud Megan, looking on in uncomfortable compliance. Well not always. I am quite sweet all have you know, so many people put up with my shenanigans. The city was so clean and historical, and people were very friendly.

The friendliness came especially came from the slew of Red Sox fans in for the games in Baltimore. A trip to Fenway Park is difficult to grab a ticket to on a whim and pricey as far as the average ballpark. Many fans go all in and head down to Baltimore or D.C to catch a game or a series. It was fun to be walking into one of the Smithsonian and holding the door and having some familiar navy and red clad tourists zip through. Madre felt the need to announce our allegiance to the team with everyone in Red Sox gear, which was adorable.

Watching my sister dance was incredible too. I haven’t seen her take ballet class in a long time. Actually I’ve never seen her in class. She has progressed so much and I’m thankful that she had the opportunity to be taught at such a prestigious school and by world renown teachers.

I definitely want to visit again. Soon. Without my mother and with Megan instead. And no rental car.

I didn’t realize how busy I would be after coming home from D.C. Not that I am completely excused, but I am alive and well. And organizing my sister’s graduation party and prepping for what may be the last fall at the university. Which is odd because a vast percentage of my friends from home and school have graduated and they are the ones waving me off for my final year.

D.C was amazing, like I wouldn’t mind living in the surrounding area amazing. I also decided if I was to ever come down again (which I am already in the process of planning) rental cars will be avoided at all costs. And for now that is what I will leave you with.

I will provide a fuller report on my brief vacation (with the Madre, as I affectionately refer to my mother) in the capital soon. I’ll leave you with a few photos I snapped!

1. Washington Monument 2. Congress 3. Botanical Garden w. Madre 4. Far too excited to find something that said Massachusetts

I spent the afternoon with my friend Emma at her family place on a local pond. I was lucky enough to spend time with her cousin, husband, and their young (and adorable) daughter who are up from Pennsylvania.

I am afraid of babies. They are so innocent and breakable. I am klutzy and forgetful. I tend to stay a far distance until I can convince myself that I won’t do any harm, at least not intentionally! When Dea left her with Emma and I spent the time taking pictures and keeping her from trying to eat electronics.

I really enjoyed talking to Dea afterwards. Her and her husband have agreed to try and get all of as much toxins as possible out of the house before lil ell starts walking. They also have an awesome garden and purchase most produce and the like from local Amish farmers. Oh hey, you are amazing.

We also talked the difference in attitude when Mass is compared to Penn, which I don’t normally think about. In Mass there is definitely a focus on money: having, saving, or needing money. In my opinion, time is money for family. You can’t replace that. I hope that if I am ever given the opportunity I am going to be able to derive money for from time with my family.