It’s almost a week before finals and I am running around like crazy. As soon as work piles up on me I desperately want to reach for the frozen dinners and the bag of chips, but this quick and easy snack keeps me fueled and satisfied even on my busiest days. I get in a serving of veg and some protein all in one go. It only takes 2 minutes to toss together and I love shaking it up in my new jars.


Ingredients:
Prepared edamame
Broccoli Slaw
Vinaigrette dressing


Optional: any other vegetable, dried or fresh fruit, seeds and nuts, and/or really anything else you like.

It seems like over the course of the winter I forget what it feels like to have the sun’s rays warm my skin. Today we had beautiful weather and every time I stepped outside without my sweater on I felt this surge of joy. I cannot wait for the weather to stay warm and all of the wonderful things it brings including drying my clothes outside, going for runs at night when it’s still warm out, grilled vegetables, shorts, iced tea to cool off, and enjoying a good book outside. 

Happy Easter. I hope you are enjoying sustainable chocolate and wonderful company.

The first day of spring quarter is coming to an end. Although I didn’t get the classes I wanted, I am happy to have applied to all of my internships today. Instead of wallowing in my disappointment of being denied classes I am going to cherish the accomplishment of finishing all of my applications. I am off to celebrate with a heart warming cup of tea. Cheers. 

Some days it’s the little things that matter. Today is one of those days for me. This is my 200th post : ) I hope you all have been enjoying reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I am working on some new things, and I can’t wait to share them with you all.

It’s week five of the quarter, which means one thing and one thing only – I am questioning why I ever went to college. Every quarter during midterms and finals I have one to two weeks where I fall asleep counting the number of tasks on my to-do list and I wake up dreaming that I forgot something. 


All of this stress is not only horrible for my emotional well-being, it’s also wreaking havoc on my health (and I’m pretty sure my roommates’ patience). I can’t say I am amazing at keeping my stress at bay (if anything I would say I am the queen of making stress worse), but I have found some things to be helpful.


1. Lists. Once I write down all of the things I need to do it clears some space in my mind that had been constantly thinking about them, and lets me instead focus on each on individually until I get them all done (after I freak out over how many things are on the list of course). 


2. Take 20 minutes to just relax. I don’t care how much I have left to do in a day, 20 minutes isn’t enough to ruin your whole day, but it is enough to de-stress and return to all of the things you have to do refreshed. Surf the internet, have a cup of tea, watch a short TV show, whatever you need to do. Just don’t let your 20 minutes turn into 2 hours. Discipline yourself and set an alarm if you have to.


3. Breathe. It is so easy to forget to breathe or let yourself hyperventilate. Once you have your breath under control, you allow your mind and your body to relax. When I find I am getting really frustrated or my brain is moving way too fast I like to take a few, even breaths: 4 seconds in and 4 seconds out without a pause in between the inhale and exhale. If I do this for even just a minute I feel better. 


There are plenty more ways to de-stress, but due to my growing to-do list, that’s all for today. I’m off to take down my pesky list one item at a time. After I finish my tea of course. 

The first time I saw a commercial on TV for a neti pot I laughed so hard my abs started to cramp. I could not believe anyone would willingly pour water up their nose. But after a horrible sinus infection in high school my doctor finally convinced me to try it.

In western culture we believe that anything to do with most of the body, especially the nose, is disgusting; however, in recent years holistic remedies are becoming increasingly popular and accepted. Sinus washes, especially with a neti pot are becoming common ways to not only relieve symptoms from a cold or the flu, they are also being used to maintain health throughout the year.


Looking back I wish I had tried a sinus wash long before I did. For a few years I only used a neti pot when I was congested or battling a cold, but over the last month I have been using it daily as a way to wash out any pollen or other allegergins. I had been taking a decongestant every night to help me battle my seemingly constant allergies, but after a month of using a neti pot daily I no longer have to take any medication for it. My congestion, scratchy or irritated throat and post-nasal drip have drastically decreased. 


However, a neti pot does have a learning curve. In an article on Mother Nature Network someone compared using a neti pot to “waterboarding for hippies,” which I completely understood. The first time I tried it was horrible. First I poured it through my noes, straight down my throat, which ended in me coughing up salt water and shooting it back out my nose. When I tried again instead of coming out the other nostril in a steady stream it came pouring out of my eyes. But once you get the right angle set, the nasal wash is pain free. 


Want to know more about potential health benefits of using a net pot?
WebMd has great health information, for a better idea on how it works head on over to MMM, and for safety check here. You can also check out how Oprah jumped onto the new trend here.