Final Blog

Starting something new always brings new experience into your life; especially for a person like me, who is not so experienced with new technology. The blogging assignments were difficult for me. 

In the beginning, I felt very uncomfortable, with sharing my personal life with complete strangers; and did not know how to write on a blog.  However, when I began to read our class blog, it really touched me, because after every new post, we started to grow closer to each other by sharing our opinions, comments and life stories.

Creating a blog was not a bad idea; it really helps shy people to communicate a little better in a social environment. It also helped me improve my writing skills, it gave me an opportunity to share my voice, and my feelings on different topics, and make a lot of new friends. It truly changed my life.  

As for the future, I will continue my blog, if I have the time.  It will be good practice for me. Although I enjoyed all the blogs, there were a few that truly effected me in a positive way.  I really enjoyed reading Rowena Lejano’s blog. She always had some interesting experience or comment that would take your breath away.  Continuing to read the blogs each week, I found great inspiration in the postings of Yvonne, Tina Time, and Ana C. Medina. In spite of their young age, they taught me a great deal in the way they wrote. Their writing styles were very clear, and beautifully expressive. Reading their blogs, truly improved my own writing skills.

I want to thank all of my classmates, in both classes that contributed to the blog. I wish each of them great luck and success in their lives. A special thanks to our teacher, Mrs. Crocker, for her continued patience with our composition class.  Although this class was difficult, I truly walked away with a treasure of knowledge and experience that I will never forget. 

TED video

In Mark Bittman’s video it had a lot of information, which I mostly agreed with. He expresses that the way we eat, affects conditions of our health, and the quality and duration our lives.

I was shocked to see the information about greenhouse gases, and what pollution is generated from livestock production; it is more than gas used for transportation. These livestock gases are the initiators for pollution on our planet. It was very interesting, and humorous at the same time. It was also very interesting to hear about the evaluation of food, and how it has changed during the years. 

Jamie Oliver had a nice presentation. It surprised by the statistical facts that more people died from diet related diseases, than from murder or homicide. It was sad to see pictures of children who are obese, and they can’t live longer, because they will die from their obesity. Another thing that seemed unrealistic, was to hear the children in elementary school in England, that did not  know the name of vegetables!

I agree with Jamie Oliver and in what he wants to do to change the way America eats today. I liked his idea of putting a person in supermarkets, who is educated in nutrition, to help costumers buy the right food, and show them how to cook quick and tasty meals. I know this would be important and helpful to people who have busy lives. It is also important to teach kids how to cook, starting in school. This could save their lives in the future.

I really liked the Ann Coopers video, it was very interesting to listen to her, and how enthusiastically, she’s fighting for healthy eating for kids; and the health of the future generations.  It was really sad to hear that more money is being spent on prisoners, than in feeding a child.  I was also saddened by the information that if parents and society do not change the eating habits of the children today, the new generation of children will die before the parents. I really like what she is doing for the kids by opening cooking classes to teach them how to cook, and make the right decisions in their food choices.

Most important people on my life...

 Most important people on my life are my family members. In this blog, I want  write about my mom, dad and husband.

My mom is the person who gave me life. She raised me, gave me an education. She is a very loving, patient, and frank woman, who wants only the best things for me. She has always helped and supported me in difficult situations throughout my life. She’s taught me to never give up, and only strive forward . My mother is a type of woman who can encourage you with the use of only one word, giving you hope, and making you feel that everything will be alright. We have a  great relationship, although distance separate us,  I feel her near me everyday. I am very thankful for everything she does for me, and grateful that she is in my life.

 My dad is a very emotionally strong man, with a strict, yet loving nature.  He has been a great influence in my life. He is caring and responsible, and has tried to teach me to be the same way in my life. Growing up, he was always the one to teach me right from wrong, and had a very strong influence in encouraging me to take action, in difficult situations and find solutions.

My husband is my big support today financially and spiritually. From the time we met, he has always been enthusiastic and optimistic about life.  He is very creative with many good ideas, and always knows what he wants from life.  He has given me many ideas and creative approaches in my life, to not be afraid to try something creative and new. He has opened a new world to me, with deep love and romance.

The Most Delicious Pumpkin Bread Review

On the weekend we wanted to make a tasty treat. I was looking for healthy recipes on the internet, and found The Food Network cooking website. It is a great site for whomever likes spending time in the kitchen cooking. They have very easy instructions; they have simple recipes written by professional chefs, excellent photos of dishes, and recipe preparation videos.

I tried to prepare some dishes from their recipes, and they came out very tasty. The last one was pumpkin bread. It had high ratings from people, who had prepared this bread, and I decided to write about their experiences; and now I am preparing my review of this recipe.  It was not a hard recipe, only what I changed, I added brown sugar, instead white, and put walnuts, not pumpkin seeds. A lot of people, who tried this recipe, did not suggest using the pumpkin seeds, and they suggested using a fresh pumpkin, not from a can, because it has more water.  I also used a  cake pan, instead of a glass pyrex, because it comes out prettier.

The secret is to prepare the mixture correctly as stated in the recipe, you need to mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, and then add it all together. Once it was baked, it was very delicious bread! It has a nice golden-brown color on the outside, and moist and delicious inside, with pumpkin and cinnamon flavoring. Also, people could modify the recipe by adding their own ingredients, like adding raisins, or cranberries to the mixture.

This is very yummy, and if you want, you can make it for your Thanksgiving Day family get together.  It will be a great hit with your guests.

My opinion about FFN...

I found The Fast Food Nation a very interesting book. It affected me very deeply, I felt the author, Eric Schlosser, did very good research and presented it to the reader very effectively. It was very shocking to me, reading chapter after chapter, what really went on with these fast food industries here. I was really upset, especially reading chapters eight and nine, which showed how these companies treat their employees, and how they really do not care about what happens to their workers, in the slaughterhouses. I was frustrated reading how unskilled workers have been placed in the meat processing departments, and how  E.coli and Salmonella was being found on the meat, really made me sick. . It was really disgusting to read how they fed the animals, what was contained in the meat, and realizing, that the meat will then be eaten by the consumers.

Also we learned how fast food is unhealthy, and eating it frequently will make people obese and cause serious diseases.

I haven’t had much experience with fast food in my country, but after I came here, I have tried fast food, and haven’t any desire to eat it. After reading this book, I immediately changed my interest in fast food, and the consumption of meat also! Humorously, my family and I have learned to graze on grains and vegetables. We have completely changed the way we eat.  This book not only affected me in making a serious change in my eating habits, but also my entire family.  We have eliminated meat from our diet, and have decided to stick with fruits, grains and vegetables.  But we are still all refusing to give up the cheese!

This semester in college...

On the blog which is true, my true statement was: My dog loves cats. We have a dog, her name is Jassie, and her best friend is cat named Natty. Every morning Jassie runs and greets Natty goodmorning, and licks her ears and her face, until she finally drives Natty so crazy that Natty chases Jassie around the yard. It is truly hilarious to watch. Who says cats and dogs can’t be friends.

This semester in college

It’s my second semester taking my classes in college. Speaking the truth, starting this semester was hard for me, especially with this English class. The first time I saw the assignments we needed to do online and in class, and how much reading and writing we needed to do, I was confused! In the beginning, I spent about 8-10 hours a day doing my assignments. It was hard, because it was hard to translate from my language to English, sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t make sense. The meaning got lost in translation. It seemed like I would never finish this, but what could I do…I said to myself, I’m not the first or the last, everybody is going through this.

By the way, I am fine now, a little nervous about finishing the research papers, and the other essays. I chose this hard class, and it is challenging and pushing me to do my work better, and I am trying. I stay motivated because I have a very clear goal in my heart to achieve success, each time I feel like I will lose it, I think of the outcome of reaching my goal for myself and my family, and know that I will.. It was very hard for me to come back to school the second time, as all my professional licenses of 12 years of education, could not be converted to American medical licenses. We sometimes get pushed to square one to start all over again, but at least we can imagine we are still moving forward. Regardless of the set backs, you need to be sure of what you want, and to push yourself to get it.

Which is true?

1. I drink coffee before bed time, it really helps me sleep.

2. My dog loves cats.

3. Meryl Streep is my third cousin.

4. I have won large amounts of money in a lottery before.

5. My first job was a fortune teller.

6. I took my English class to improve my blog writing skills.