Entry #11. End Of The Semester :)

So it's official, after this upcoming week, I have completed my first semester of college! Seems like I'm already so much closer to graduating and starting a career yet it's still so far away! 

During this semester, I took a total of five classes here at GCC. Math 150, English 101 - 102, CPD 150, which is a college success class, and RDG 091, which I had to take because I did bad on my placement test :( 

So you might ask, " how did she take English 101 and 102 in one semester?" Well, that is because they were both an 8 week course, rather than 16 weeks (half was online, half was in class). At first, I was so nervous about taking these classes for two reasons… 1. I suck at writing. 2. I procrastinate so when I have a bunch of work, I get overwhelmed super easily; however, it wasn't as bad as I thought. The pace wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed like it would be on the first day and for the most part, we had a good amount of time to complete all of our work.. Even if the assignment wasn't due till the following week, we could see it a week prior, so getting ahead when I had free time helped tremendously! 

Surprisingly, I learned more in these classes than I ever have in any other English class. Throughout the semester, I noticed my writing improving more and more each week! I will definitely be taking more 8 week classes next semester! 

Entry #10. Vacation

Since I usually post recipes, I decided to switch it up a bit. Winter break starts in about two weeks, which means, I'm done with the semester, more holidays, friends come back into town, family time, and lastly, VACATION! I am so excited! Usually my family and I stay home for the holidays, but this year, we're all taking a trip up to California to stay in a beach house on Laguna. Although the weather will be a bit chilly, it will still be a blast! My mom, dad, two sisters, all off our boyfriends, my niece, my aunt, and my uncle will all be there; all of my favorite people to hangout with. My family gets along really well so vacations are always so much fun!

Here are some pictures of the place we will be staying at:

During our vacation, the ambassador of Gym Shark will be doing doing a photoshoot of me for advertisement, which I am also really excited about! I think that this opportunity is going to open up so many more doors for me! Hope you all have a fantastic break as well and happy holidays! :)

Entry #9. Power Of Media

In my English 102 class we have been discussing the power of media and the different types of things done through it. There are many different types: social media, advertisement, apps, TV, radio and more.. 

Last week we spent an entire class period watching a film called Killing Us Softly by Jean Kilbourne. After seeing this film, I realized something I never had before, and now, it's everywhere. In this movie, Jean shows how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. Kilbourne uses a ton of ads and commercials to critique advertising’s image of women. She explains how to see advertisement in another way from the big picture which is most likely selling a product by going through each ad and telling the viewer exactly how she sees it. 

Everything she says is completely true, with photoshop and more, these people are making women look like no women has ever looked; forcing many other women to feel extremely insecure about themselves. Advertisement has set such a high standard for women that so many will pay a bunch of money just to look like an image that is portrayed so much, but not really realistic. 

More women are getting plastic surgeries, botox treatments, caking on makeup, and most importantly, starving themselves. 

Not only do ads use strictly extremely skinny girls with perfect skin, but they also use women to advertise products inappropriately. 

Here are some examples of the ads used in her video: 

People see these type of advertisements multiple times a day and it's only getting worse and worse every year! Hopefully in the future advertisement will change for the better! 

Entry #8. Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

SURPRISE!! I have another recipe for y'all! Since the holidays are slowly passing by, I wanted to share one of my favorite dessert recipes! I LOVE Pumpkin Pie! It's always been one of my favorite desserts and what I look forward to most when Thanksgiving rolls around! My mom and I played around with this recipe for a few hours, trying to make it a little bit healthier and of course, delicious! It took quite a few tries, but once it came out exactly how I wanted it, it was worth all the time put in.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie 
Ingredients: 

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil for the pie plate

Crust:

• 1 large egg

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons Xylitol 

• 1½ cups Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour, Super Fine Grind

Custard:

• 3 large eggs

• 1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin

• ½ cup (96 g) xylitol

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons (14 g) coconut flour

• 1 cup full-fat, unsweetened, canned coconut milk

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pie plate with coconut oil.
2. Prepare the crust: In a medium bowl, use a fork to whisk the egg, salt and xylitol. Add the almond flour and mix with a fork, then with your hands until dough forms. Transfer the dough to the prepared pie plate and flatten it with your hands, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate and trying to even it out as best as you can. Do NOT pre-bake the crust.
3. Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, using a hand whisk, whisk the eggs. Add the pumpkin, xylitol, spices, vanilla and salt and whisk until well-incorporated.
4. Whisk in the coconut flour, then the coconut milk.
5. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the filling to the prepared pie crust. The filling will go fairly high, getting almost to the top of the crust.
6. Bake 30 minutes, then very carefully tent the edges with strips of foil, being careful not to touch the filling (so that it will remain pretty). Tenting the edges is tedious and difficult to do, but if you don't do it, the crust will burn.
7. After tenting the edges, continue baking the pie 40-45 more minutes, until set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just a little moist and free of batter.
8. Cool 2 hours on a cooling rack, then place the pie in a cake dome and refrigerate 2 hours before slicing and serving. When ready to slice the pie, gently run a knife along the edges of the pie to help release it from the pan. Use a sharp cake knife to slice the pie, and firmly slide a cake server underneath each slice before you lift it up - almond flour pie crust is not as sturdy as regular pie crust, so slice and serve with care.

Hope you all enjoy! :) 

Entry #7. "Dumb Men"

In English, my instructor told the class to visit http://www.dumbmen.com and I was really disturbed by it. I never really notice the little details in ads and commercials until someone point them out. 

This website basically shows a bunch of examples where men are stereotyped in ads and commercials! Underneath each video or picture, there is a description of how the man in the video is being stereotyped. 

For instance, in the Esurance Selfie Commercial, a woman who has better insurance gets annoyed by a man's stupidity as he takes a selfie using the copy machine.. not to mention he is talking extremely slow. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC6-AEePgc0) 

Also, The Men In Kitchen Commercial, which is promoting a first-aid kit, shows a man trying to make toast in the morning but can't seem to know how to function in the kitchen.. Where as if it were a woman instead of a man, the commercial most likely would not be the same at all. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koHtkkJYwxE)

Lastly, The Miller Light "Man Up" Commercial which is basically saying a guy is not a real man unless he drinks beer. The bartender tells the man she will give him a Miller Light as soon as he puts down his purse. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUJ36nFdOyg)

Not only are men stereotyped in ads and commercials, but so are women.. I will be writing a female version of this blog sometime soon! 

Entry #6. Blueberry Protein Waffles

As I mentioned earlier, I am following a meal plan that my trainer gave me. Every morning for breakfast, I eat 4 egg whites and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. I HATE egg whites so much, they're so hard to convince myself to eat.. especially every single morning. I needed to compromise and find a different breakfast that I could eat about 3 days out of the week. After searching and messing around in the kitchen for a bit, I found a breakfast that I could eat that  would give me about the same amount of protein / carbs in the morning. My later meals had to be adjusted a bit so that my macros met the amount they were suppose to but it wasn't much of a change. 

After trying the protein waffles, I was in love! They're delicious and way easier to eat than plain egg whites! *Gagging 

Recipe:
1/2 cup egg whites
1/4 cup oats
Roughly 14 blueberries
2 tbsp bode vanilla protein
1 tbsp almond milk
1/3 tsp baking powder

Preheat waffle maker. Blend together (everything except blueberries) and place mixture in waffle maker, add blueberries on top. I eat prefer to eat them plain; however, there is a sugar free syrup that Fry's sells! My mom isn't as watchful of the foods she eats and she loves these, especially with the syrup! I have tried the sugar free syrup and it tastes the exact same as the syrup with an excessive amount of sugar in it! 

Entry #5. ASU Offering Shorter Classes

I recently read an article in the NY Times discussing the new 7-week courses that Arizona State University will be providing in January! I LOVE the idea of this! The first half of my first semester at Glendale Community College, I took an eight week English class! It was the best decision I ever made. Now, I am in the middle of my English 102 class! When I first started my English 101 class, I was really skeptical about it. I was really worried about the pace / amount of work and not being able to handle it; however, it was a lot easier than I expected. Don't get me wrong it was still a lot of work and there were times where I struggled, but it was worth a few late nights and hard work. Before I even knew it, the course was over! In just a few short weeks I will have completed two classes, in the same amount of time as one! 

Since I was planning on transferring over to ASU after I complete all my pre reqs at GCC, this is perfect! I will be there just in time to take a few 7-week courses! 

I wouldn't recommend taking a full load of 7-week courses.. but I would recommend taking a few every semester. According to Ryman, "The change is expected to afford students more scheduling flexibility and financial savings as well as add to the bottom line of the university." …. Nothing about saving money and finishing school faster sounds bad to me! I can't wait till I am able to start my career and with the start of more 7- week classes, I am able to begin faster than normal. 

Although the shorter courses aren't for everyone, this students still have the option of completing the traditional 15 week course! Giving variety to the students will bring a lot more people to ASU who are trying to finish quicker!