Mini Rant

Hello World!

I know that I have been absent from the blogosphere for a couple weeks and that's because I have been lazier than a comatose sloth for the beginning of my summer break. I've worked a few days at the snowcone stand and visited with some family but other than that I have sat on my butt in the living room watching documentaries on Netflix and catching up on the time I missed with my dog. I start summer classes next week and so I'm really trying to soak up all of my "bum time." 

In my episode of laziness I have spent a ton of time scrolling through Pinterest, looking for recipes that I can make that have no dairy in them. The dairy free quest is still going well! I have a had just a couple cheats, but other than that I am managing well with my dairy substitutes. However, I just want to take a moment to rant about why eating healthy is so darn hard, especially at my age. 

1. Gluten-free, Dairy-free, etc. foods are EXPENSIVE! Because your average grocery store doesn't have a ton of the healthier options, you have to go to a store that does like Whole Foods or a healthy food store. Even there, the prices are extremely jacked up. My Nana and I bought a box of dairy-free cookies to make and it was almost $9. It was ridiculous! 
2. I can't afford to buy the expensive healthy food, because I am a broke college student. Yeah the "broke college student" excuse gets thrown around a lot but think about your college's cafeteria. They don't always make food that caters to everyone's diet. Our society has made it to where the cheapest food to buy is the stuff that is the worst for you. Watch the documentary "Fed Up" on Netflix. It's awesome. Or read The McDonaldization of Society by George Ritzer. 
3. For the summer, I'm living with my parents, who do not have the same eating habits to me and so they use dairy products in a lot of meals. They aren't going to change the way they cook just because one person in the family is choosing not to eat like them. 

What needs to happen is that our society needs to make healthier foods more readily available, for a better price. It makes me so sad that I know how to eat healthy and what I need to do to make my body the best it can be and yet I can't afford it. I feel like there is some kind of act that can be created to promote the consumption of healthier foods and to help lower the prices by either localizing items or increasing the desire for them. 

Okay, rant over. ~Em

Freshman Year Complete!

Hooray for Summer!!

That's right everyone! I have finished my freshman year of college! Though I'm still on campus because the band has to play at graduation, I am done with my classes and finals! I got really lucky this semester and only had to take two actual tests for finals. The finals in my other classes included a presentation, an exegetical, an essay, and I got to get out of one final because I won a game! My roommate moved out yesterday, my suitemate moved out today, and then after graduation tomorrow I will get to move out as well! I'm so excited to be moving home for the summer! I'll be taking some summer classes so that when I move back to Ouachita in the fall I will have enough hours to be a junior! I am well on my journey to graduating early! In honor of my freshman year being over, I thought I would do a recap through pictures! 

50s Night during TWIRP week

Roommate Shenanigans

My Besties :)

Lake Day

BFF Snuggles

Chi Delta Party

AA's Debutante Ball

Carnival Christmas

Public Speaking Community Service Project

Halloween 2015

Hammocking by the River

Harry Potter Trivia Night 

Volunteering for the Humane Society

Kappa Chi Christmas party

Kappa Chi Halloween Party

Honor's Lounge Sleepover

First Letter Day

MIT Initiation Ceremony

Nerd Prom during TWIRP week

My SAI Family

Harry Potter Trivia Night 

SAI Shenanigans

Tiger Tunes

Trash Couture 

Tiger Serve Day with Hughlene

This school year was a roller coaster and I am super glad that it is over with, but thankfully this semester was much better than the first. I joined SAI and made some of the best friends I could ever possibly think to have, I have an amazing roommate who is insane, and I've learned a lot about time management and prioritizing. When next fall comes around and I start my Junior year (since I will have gotten the hours) I think that I will be prepared to take on the world! Thank you to everyone who made my first year of college so much fun and thank y'all for constantly keeping me on my toes! Until next year Ouachita! ~Em 

Inked

Inked!

I am finally posting about my tattoos! I know that it has been a long time coming, but I finally got the chance to take some pictures of my newest tattoo! It took longer to heal since it was bigger and I had to get it done in two sessions. These are just the ones I have right now and then I will talk a little bit about the plans I have for future tattoos! My first tattoo is a mountain on my left shoulder. It represents my favorite quote, "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it." It also represents my favorite bible verse, Matthew 17:20. My newest tattoo is a chrysanthemum which is my favorite flower. It was kind of a spur of the moment tattoo, but I am really happy with it! 

Getting my first tat from Big Mike at Backroads

Right after it was finished!

My little mountain

Close Up of the Chrysanthemum

Would you look at tat. Lol.

A better look at the placement

So there's what I've got so far! When people say that tattoos are addicting, listen to them! It's true! The next tattoo I'm planning on getting is of Winnie's pawprint either on my wrist or on my ankle, I haven't decided yet. Since she has congestive heart failure and we don't know how much longer we're going to have her, I want to get the pawprint so I can have her with me forever. Some of my tattoo plans are ones that I'm going to have to wait a while to get. For instance, my mom has a tattoo of an ankle bracelet and it has a charm with an "E" and one with an "A" for me and my sister's initials and I promised her that I would get one with my babies initials. Eventually, I'm going to get a tattoo of a mermaid, which will probably be an expensive one and I want it to be just the right style so I'm waiting until I find the right artist to do it. I have so many other tattoo ideas, the only problem is that I am worried about people not wanting to hire me if I have a lot of visible tattoos, so I'm having to get them where people can't really see them right now. In the future, I will probably have tattoos all over. Maybe when I retire I will just travel the world and get tattoos from super famous tattoo artists. Anyway, I'm glad I finally got to share my tattoos with you all and hopefully soon I will have more! ~Em

Dairy Free Me

I'm Going Dairy Free!

This year I have made several changes in my lifestyle so that I might feel healthier and just better in my body. My New Year's Resolution was to stop drinking sodas. I drank sodas A LOT and knew that it was not good for me. So as of yesterday, it has been 5 months since I've had a soda. I'm really excited about it and I can honestly say that I feel better and have actually experienced less migraines and sluggish feelings. I have also been trying to make a switch to whole grain pastas and breads which is a little bit harder to get on campus. The most recent decision I have made is to give up dairy. There are so many benefits to having a dairy free diet!

One of the biggest risks of dairy products is the amount of added antibiotics and growth hormones in cows and other animals that provide dairy. The hormones and antibiotics that are often added into dairy products significantly increase the risk of ovarian and prostate cancers. Though I don't suffer from a milk allergy or a particular lactose intolerance, it's extremely common. Milk is not supposed to be consumed by any other species except calves themselves. We are the only species who drink milk into adulthood. It's actually pretty weird if you think about it. 

The biggest problem that AA (my roommate) suffers from her lactose intolerance, aside from an upset stomach, is acne. Within 24 hours of eating a couple slices of pizza, she will have pimples all along her jawline and chin. It's so strange how quickly it happens and that she knows exactly what causes it, but it just further explains why we shouldn't eat dairy. Today there are many food alternatives for milk like soy milk and almond milk, butters, and there are even cheese substitutes. I'm just going to have to become familiar with and try. I will also have to take up eating more green veggies and eating more nuts and seeds. 

I'm excited to see how this change impacts my body and how it makes me feel! I'm hoping that I see good results and that I will benefit from this change! ~Em