My Gravity Lyrical Dance

Hi guys! So, about a week ago I just really felt like dancing, so I recorded it! There isn't really a whole lot of choreography, but I love the song and the lyrics and message inspired me! The song is "Gravity" by Sara Barailles, and I dedicated the dance to my friend Rebecca, which you can read about in the description of the video if you like. Have a wonderful day!

Green Challenge #1 Results

Happy weekend! So, the first green challenge is now complete! I would say that I passed! Basically, the first day I showered in well under my goal time of 5 minutes, perhaps because I wasn't sure exactly how long my showers take. The other days of the week also went well. However, I personally found that the showers still felt a little rushed. Therefore, I decided to use the technique of turning the water off when I am not using it, which is essentially what I did in Spain, since the shower head was not mounted, so I would get my hair wet, turned the water off, used shampoo, and turned the water back on to rinse.  This way I could take a more leisurely shower, while only using about 2 minutes of water! I will continue doing this throughout this year!

Life is still quite hectic now, so I will wait on introducing another challenge for a little while. I realize that this semester I will have to do less blogging. Although I absolutely love it, I understand that it needs to take a backseat role when factors such as 21 credit hours and my RA job are ever-present parts of my day. Thank you again for your continued readership!

Green Challenge #1

Hello and happy Friday! This is the very first of (hopefully) 25 green challenges over the upcoming year! I am very excited!

So, for my first challenge, I will be trying to shower in 5 minutes or less every day this week. I will set a timer, and when the  5 minutes is up, I will turn the water off. I will be keeping track of how long each shower takes and trying to see how short of a shower I can take to minimize my water consumption. In addition, I will be researching more information about water consumption in our daily lives and ways to reduce it, which I will be sharing in the conclusion of this challenge.

Have a wonderful weekend!

More quotes and update!

Hello friends!  I know it has been a few day!  I forgot how busy RA training is! However, here are a couple quotes you might enjoy!

Las Alpujarras Mountains just outside Granada, Spain

The Magic Fountain in Barcelona, Spain

This upcoming semester I will be doing weekly green challenges, during which I learn something new about how to live more sustainably, or something that I know is good for the environment that I am not yet doing well enough. I do try to be as green as possible already, so I am excited to push my limits! I will start the challenges on Friday with a short post highlighting what I will be doing, along with goals and expectations. I will then write a post when I complete the challenge and share my "findings". So, I am excited to try some new things! Have a great night!

Travel Quotes

Hello! The other day I was looking up travel quotes, and decided it would be cool to share some of them with pictures I took in Spain or Italy in the background! Enjoy!

From Rome, Italy at the Roman Forum

From Venice, Italy, walking towards San Marco Square

From Barcelona, Spain, at a park near the 1992 Olympic park

From Ronda, Spain in the Plaza Del Toros

No Bake Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

No bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies have always been a favorite of mine. Especially with all of their gooey, chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness! While I love them when they are chilled in cookie form, my favorite way of eating them is with a spoon when they are warm and gooey! So good! And incorporating Nutella was certainly something I was excited about trying!

This recipe is incredibly easy, and I feel like good pass as a pretty healthy treat!

Makes 1 batch, whatever that means to you. It depends on how much you eat with a spoon. Or maybe that's just me... :)

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter of choice

3/4 cup Nutella

2 cups oats

Melt butter in a saucepan on low to medium heat. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and milk. Stir in the peanut butter and Nutella, and add the oats last after the peanut butter and Nutella have melted. Once everything is evenly mixed, form into balls and put them on waxed paper to refrigerate. Or, embrace their gooey deliciousness, it's up to you!

Have a delightful Friday/weekend! You deserve it!

One Crust Blueberry Pie

One of the things I love most about summer is fresh fruit! It seems like so many wonderful things are in season and so delicious! Blueberries, peaches, watermelon, and cherries are all some of my summer favorites! And when we purchased lots of blueberries from Trader Joe's, I jumped at the opportunity to make a pie! However, I wanted to make a pie that was very wholesome, delicious, and even healthy! And it was all of those things! It is a little different from your typical blueberry pie, since there is only one crust, which is composed of whole wheat flour and canola oil instead of white flour and butter. Also, the filling is essentially just blueberries, along with a little flour, sugar, and cinnamon. And it was soooo good!! And easier than I expected too, so that was a nice surprise! It took less than 15 minutes to prepare.  I guess the saying "easy as pie" rings true! :)

Makes 1 pie (8 inch)
Ingredients:

for the crust:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt if you're into that (I'm not haha)
2-3 tablespoons cold water

for the filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

To make the crust, mix the flour, canola oil, and water together until all of the flour is moist. Add more oil if it seems dry. Then, mold the dough into the pan you will use to bake it in the shape/thickness that you want it. You could get fancy if you want, but I kept it basic.

To make the filling, mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and then add the blueberries. After everything is mixed together, pour the filling into your prepared pie crust. Put a little butter or margarine on various locations on the top and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust browns and the juices start bubbling.

And enjoy! :)