aaahhh-choo

Why do people say "bless you" when someone sneezes? It seems like a silly tradition. It origionated because back in the old days, people felt that when you sneeze your soul is trying to escape your body. They said "bless you" to keep a soul from escaping a body. Why is my soul trying to get away from my body so badly? I thought we were having fun. How did this tradition stay around for so long? Do we still believe that the soul can escape through the nostrils? And when did it become the responsibility of complete strangers to keep A soul in tact. How come you've never heard anyone bless themselves? I would think that if a simple "bless me" was the only thing keeping me a whole person, I would do it.

There's a whole social attachment that comes with a sneeze too. Some people say "god bless you" because they feel that they do not have the divine power to bless someone. Others might get offended at this because they are athiest. If you're in a quiest room with one other person and they don't say "bless you" at your sneeze, do you automatically think that they're kind of a jerk. What about if you're in a quiet room with six other people? Who's gonna step up to the plate? And then there's the "excuse me." which basically means "you jerks! how come no one blessed me when I sneezed? My last question is this... How many times does a person have to sneeze before you can legally tell them to leave and go get some cold medicine?

community health

All my life, people have been asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. What a terrible question! First of all, I think it is important to NOT grow up. Ok I have bills to pay and other grown-up responsibilities, but I will always be a child at heart. I think it is important for everyone to keep that youngness about them. Don’t believe me? Just watch a child play with bubbles and see how excited they get. If I got half as exited about a career choice, I would have picked something years ago. Second of all, to ask someone to pick a career is asking a lot. How am I supposed to know at the ripe age of 17 (when I entered college) what I want to do for the rest of my life?
This being said, I am proud to announce that after four years of college, I have finally found my calling. Community health is an awesome field of study. There is just so much that can be done with it. If I want, I can go into school and teach children about the benefits of being healthy, or I can go into the community and spread the knowledge that way. And I know that I'm not the healthies of people, but this degree is good motivation to get that way. What’s good about this degree is that it is so broad, and there is so much that can be done with it. I can even stay in school and get my masters if I want… how cool! Never in my life have I actually been so sure about being able to do one thing for the rest of my life. It’s like I’m finally complete and headed in a good direction.

cranberry walnut salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette

Since I am taking a look at healthy foods that are also delicious, I figured I should include a salad. This is my own personal twist on a classic recipe, and it is the only thing I know how to make by heart (besides toast). In my opinion, everyone needs one dish that they can make well; just to have the appearance of a world renowned chef. This is mine and it does the trick every time. Be careful though, this salad is made best with full fat and full calories, and it is easy to get carried away with the portions. This is a great salad for a summer lunch or if you just want to impress you future baby mama/ baby daddy.
Salad:
Romaine or mixed green lettuce (either one will work)
½ cup dried cranberries
1 Apple (cubed)
½ cup plain goat cheese
½ cup crushed walnuts
1 tomato diced
4 strips extra crispy bacon crushed (If you’re feelin frisky)
If you’re looking to make this more a meal, just add grilled, boneless skinless chicken breast.
Lettuce first then add all other ingredients on top for presentation.
Vinaigrette:
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Combine in blender or combine all ingredients together in air tight container and shake vigorously for 1 min.

my fourth essay

So I guess it’s a little late to get full credit for this, but I just wanted to write a little about my fourth and final essay. First of all, let me just start by saying that I am very proud of this last paper that I wrote. I hope you like it professor, because I really did put the time and effort into it that it needed. In order to make it what it is, I took a look at all three previous essays and the thorough criticism you gave me about my papers. By the way, that’s the last time I trust the Purdue Online Writing Lab to teach me how to write MLA format on any of my papers. I feel that I improved my overall writing style in this class by elaborating. I have so many ideas that it’s hard for me to focus on a couple and elaborate on them by using examples and information to back up my statements.
This final essay, I wrote on obesity in America. Since it is an exponentially growing problem in our country, I feel that something must be done to stop it. To be honest, this is an extremely important topic to me because community health is my major and hopefully some day, I will be out in the community spreading the knowledge I have gathered from this paper. In my opinion, the most essential change we can make in our country is changing the eating habits of our children. I explained more in detail in my paper. I hope you enjoy it.

Honey mustard pork chops

to continue in my quest to find healthy delicious foods, I have chosen to make honey mustard pork chops. They're simple and cost effective. Some people like it spicy and add chili powder and crushed red pepper.
Ingredients

4 tsp Honey

1/4 c Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Cider or wine vinegar

Salt

Pepper, freshly ground

4 Loin pork chops (5 oz. bone in, 1" think)
Chopped chives (optional for presentation)

Preparation

1. To prepare the marinade, in a small saucepan over low heat, heat the honey until it liquefies. Stir in the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper; cool to room temperature.2. Place the pork chops in a gallon-size sealable plastic bag; add the marinade. Seal the bag, squeezing out the air; turn to coat the chops. Refrigerate, turning the bag occasionally, at least 8 hours or overnight. Remove the chops from the refrig 30 minutes before broiling.3. Preheat the broiler. Discard the marinade. Place the chops on the broiler rack and broil 3-4" from the heat until cooked through, 6-7 minutes on each side.
Remove from oven and sprinkle chives
Serve hot.

Nutrient Information

Calories: 178

Total Fat: 7g

Saturated Fat: 3g

carbohydrates: 2g

Protein: 26g

Calcium: 27mg

Sodium: 124mg

Yum! Best pork chops ever. I love the simplicity of this dish, as well as it’s affordability. It was sweet and tangy at the same time (just like me). I paired it with chardonnay, and served the pork with brown rice and microwavable veggies (they’re just so easy). The preparation was a little annoying, but if you have the time, and the patience, it’s worth the wait. Plan on eating the day after preperation. Not only did it make a great dinner, but and amazing sandwich the next day. Pork can be lean and fit if you get the right kind. Make sure to watch out for extra fat left on the meat. Portion control is also important when serving this meal as a healthy alternative. A serving of pork should be about the size of a deck of cards. It sounds small, but it will fill you up.

Procrastination

I am a master procrastinator. I feel like I should be standing up in front of a peer support group saying that. “Hi I’m Carmen and I’m a procrastinator.” I have literally spent my 16 years of schooling finding the easiest way to do something at the last minute. I have discovered that there is an art to prioritizing at the last minute. It starts with the question; what is required and not required? Once the required elements have been established, the next question is; what is due the soonest? The most important question to ask is; what is weighted the most and how much effort do I really need to put forth? The final and equally essential question to ask is; how well do I need to do on this assignment to make a decent grade in the class (again asking how much effort should be put into this)? Then I make multiple spreadsheets with this information to keep me organized through the procrastination process.
I’m just being honest.
Wikipedia.com says: "Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. There are three criteria for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying."

(I find all three of those to be essential parts of procrastination.)

“Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as societal disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder.”

Psychological disorder?? Whoa! Let’s not get carried away now.

I have usually been proud of my procrastination skills up until this moment when I look at how much stuff I actually have to do. This is the point when I start kicking myself. I literally have 15 more blogs after this one to do. Holy cow! thats a lot. I guess its time to get busy then huh?

political cartoon

First of all, why are a lot of political cartoons in black and white? Politics need color too right? This assignment has made me realize that I do not know very much about politics. I mean, I really really dont know anything. I had to go with a cartoon that was simple and pretty much self explanitory. In this cartoon from marriedtothesea.com, I notice that my eye is imidiately drawn to the suitcases because the writing is so big on it. "Big problems ahead" is what this cartoon is saying to me. the next thing I notice is that the bellhop is saying "Ill deliver these straight to the united states sir" so now I know that there are big problems being delivered to the united states (uh oh). The last thing I notice is the bell hop is actually George Bush, and the whole cartoon makes sense to me now. It should be no surprise that george bush delivered big trouble to the united stated in his eight year reign, so that would make this political cartoon funny. Haha marriedtothesea.com, very funny. this cartoon is laid out very nicely, because all of the elements fall into place just at the right comedic timing. First "big trouble," then, "delivery for U.S.," and lastly, compliments of GW. this cartoon is so simple, it is hard not to love it. tHIS cartoon says less is more to me. over all very funny and simple.