NEW BLOG

Hey everyone!!! I have a very important announcement! I have a new blog domain for this blog, and it is www.urbanlifexo.wordpress.com !!!! I am super excited and I feel like the look of my new domain fits my content better. So, I will no longer be posting on this blog anymore!!!! All my content is on  www.urbanlifexo.wordpress.com. I am so excited for this change and I think you will all enjoy the layout better as well!!!
As Always,
xoxo Em

Vegan Ice Cream Recipe

Yes, I know it sounds a bit odd. Especially because ice cream is made of, well, cream, and that is not vegan. Well, I am here to tell you a beyond simple, and healthy ice cream recipe that is totally vegan. The ingredients are super simple, and this is a recipe that you can add anything you want to it.
Ingredients:
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (You can do any kind, I prefer soy milk)

Optional Extras:
2 Tbs. PB2 (powdered peanut butter) and 1 Tbs. water.
or
1/4 Teaspoon mint, vanilla, almond, etc. extract
or
1 Tbs. protein powder (any flavor)

Directions:
Simply put all the ingredients into the blender. You may need to move it around a bit, so if you do not have a Vitamix I would cut the banana pieces into smaller chunks.

I love to do this for an easy snack or dessert. It is surprisingly filling, especially if you add the protein powder. Bananas are a good blank canvas, so you can add almost anything to them! Here in Colorado it is starting to warm up, and this is a perfect recipe to enjoy on a nice spring day.

As Always,
xoxo Em


Photo Attributions:
Banana - By Thamizhpparithi Maari (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Soy Milk - By Veganbaking.net from USA (Soy Non-Dairy Milk) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Into the Abyss

Every March, my family and I journey down to Moab to rock climb, hike, and to relax. This morning we hiked into a small canyon and repelled down two different rocks (using the word "rock" in a relaxed sense). Last year we just rock climbed, so canyoneering was a whole new ordeal. Skipping all the details, in summary we went with another couple (the husband was an ex-army repelling teacher) and a guide. 

The picture quality inside this first canyon was to be desired, so instead I am only posting the photo I have from above. In this photo you can see our guide, setting up the ropes to go down into what seems like a big, never ending, hole. It was also extremely windy, and I can still feel the sand in my hair as I write this post. Like many things, the worst part of repelling was getting into the mindset of relaxation and enjoyment. Another hard part was leaning back, into your harness, into a very unnatural position. Putting these things aside, looking back repelling was a very liberating experience. 

Here is a photo from inside the canyon (try to ignore the slight graininess). After it rains this whole thing turns into a huge waterfall, which would be amazing, yet frightening to see. The next repel was a short walking distance from this one, but looked a whole heck of a lot scarier. 

This photo does not do the repel, or the rock justice. The first kind of "bridge" is actually an arch (Morning Glory), and we repelled down the wall next to it. The following photos are from when my dad captured some of our descents down.

In this last photo you can see the arch in the background, surrounded by the many other rocks in the area. 

I hope you are enjoying/or enjoyed/ or are going to enjoy your spring break!!!! I am personally going to post this, take a shower, and then binge watch American Horror Story :)

As Always,

xoxo Em

Healthy Eating Habits

Recently I came across the fact that I have been feeling better. I am happier. I am less anxious about everything in general. I have more energy. Overall, I am just...better. This may seem cheesy, but it is truly because I have been eating healthier. No, I haven't made any drastic changes, but the small ones that I have made have made a huge difference.
1.) I drink loads of water

By Grant from Oslo, Norway (Sailing into the Trollfjord) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I think it was around December when I realized that I was drinking almost no water on a daily basis. I was really only getting my daily water intake from my glass or two of tea I had (as well as from my food). THAT IS REALLY BAD! I have now been drinking about 80 oz. a day, and obviously it has made a world of difference, because I was basically living on no water. Not only have I lost any water weight I was unknowingly carrying, but my skin looks lightyears better. So, if you just can't seem to lose those extra few pounds, chug some water. About 64 oz. each day should do it :)
2.) Yoga

By Earl J McGehee (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Every night I have made it part of my routine to do 15 min. of yoga. All I do is search "Yoga" into my YouTube search engine and find a video that suits my fancy. Yoga is so good for toning, and it relaxes me and prepares me for bed. I enjoy "Yoga with Adriene", because she does all types of yoga on YouTube. Some nights I am not in the mood for strength yoga, so I might do one of her flexibility videos. Plus, I now have a reason to buy super adorable yoga outfits and mats.
3.) Homemade bread

By Taken by fir0002 | flagstaffotos.com.au Canon 20D + Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 (Own work) [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

My mom has recently started to make homemade bread, and I could pretty easily say I am in heaven. Not only does it give us so much freedom as to what we put in it, but we actually know everything that goes into it. And I mean, nothing beats warm bread from right out of the oven. Homemade bread for me tends to be a lot more filling then regular bread, so if I have one slice a day it is plenty. If you don't have the time to make bread, try and buy bread from Whole Foods, or better yet, from a local bakery.

4.) Writing in a Journal
This change is not new to me, I have always had a journal. What is new is that I write down what I eat at each meal, how much I exercise, and how much water I drank for that specific day. You can also try the apps, there are many of them. I personally am more of a fan of the old fashioned way, mostly because I have a reason to buy a cute pocket journal. I like to glance at what I have eaten, to see if I need some more greens or fruit.


I am sorry that I have not been posting recently, time slipped away from me!!!! I hope you are all enjoying your Spring Break, mine is next week :)
As Always,
xoxo Em

Boba

I have two words that will change your life. Well, maybe not change it, but greatly improve it. Boba Tea. You may know it as bubble tea.
Definition:

a frothy E Asian beverage consisting of sweetened tea with milk or flavorings, usually served over black pellets, or pearls, of tapioca. 

Seriously. Go get some of this!!!!!!!!

Anyway, that was kind of an intro into this post. Earlier this week a few friends and I went out to lunch after our first day of finals. We had sushi, where they tried unagi, or eel rolls. I, did not. After that we went to the tea shop and to some other stores. 

To be honest mine isn't in this because I was drinking it, oops. But this shop is the cutest thing. It is on main street in my town and it is kind of like a tea house. It is cozy and great for a place to just go to and chill. You can do what one of my friends did and order a pot of tea to have right there.

You can actually see mine! It is on the far left.

When there is a bench, you have to take pictures with it. Duh. And when there are cute decorations in front of a store.

While walking we found a cute vintage shop with a backyard area. I thought I didn't have any good pics of it, but once I added a filter some turned out pretty good!

I hope you all survived finals week! It is finally break for me, and hopefully for all of you as well! This year I am really hoping for a white Christmas, we haven't had one here for years.
As Always,
xoxo Em

Through the Looking Glass

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where –"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I was going to write about ways to keep calm and organized during finals week. It turned into this instead. Basically it was 4:00 in the afternoon yesterday and I was studying until I could no longer stay focused. I decided to take a break. This break turned into an hour long photo journey. My advice for you during finals week is to not overwork yourself. If you are stressed and overwhelmed you won't be able to absorb the info you are studying. Just take a deep breath. Go on a walk. Or run. Or anything that makes you happy. I took this break and then studied some more. Now I am in my PJ's at 1:00 in the afternoon doing this post. Once I am done, I will go back to studying. I promise, you'll do great.
As Always,
xoxo Em

Art Class

It has been....awhile since I last posted. There are several reasons, but the main one is simply blogger's block (like writer's block, but for this blog). I haven't been able to come up with any good ideas for things to post, so I just haven't posted. I am here to say that this cycle of having no idea what to write is over! Now, on with my post.

For the past semester I have been in art class. Why you ask? Good question. I have little to no talent when it comes to visual arts, but I signed up for the class anyway. Our first assignment was to draw a self portrait, and I may scar you with the end results later. We then did a mask project, and then a printing project. We are now onto photography, which means I might be able to show off some pictures I have taken! I figured I would give you guys a sneak peek into what pictures I'll be turning in, because in all honesty, I care about my reader's and fellow blogger's opinion on my photos more than my art teachers. In the end we have to turn in three abstract photos, three portraits, and three still life.

Abstract 1.
I thought this photo was interesting because of its dimensions. It almost makes you dizzy when you look at it from the bottom up. When we were walking around I just saw the brick wall and sat down and put my camera right up against the wall. Did I get strange looks? Yes. Was it worth it? I think so. 

Abstract 2.
Just like the brick one, this is kind of a shift focus with the subject being the purple paint bottle. Originally I thought this was going to turn out bad, because I didn't think a box of paint would be that interesting. When I took this I rotated the image and really started to enjoy it. The stains on the paint bottles themselves add to the photo, as well as the paintings in the back. I took this in the art room, which is probably pretty obvious.

Abstract 3.
For my last abstract photo I chose something that was from nature. This is the stump of a tree, and I tried to focus on the leaf in it. I saturated it a bit, but other than that there are no filters on it. In this photo I really like the various textures in it. 

Portrait 1.
This first portrait is of my friend Katie (hey Katie if you're reading this :)). I took this photo on a VERY flimsy bridge near my house. In a perfect world I would have liked a bit more color in the trees in the background, but that would have taken more photo editing. For this project our teacher wants our photos to be as raw as possible.

Portrait 2.
If you see the bench in the other photo, that is where this was taken. The colors in this are a lot stronger than the other one in my opinions. The sky, her hair, the bushes, etc. The mood in both of these is kind of mysterious or peaceful.

Portrait 3.
Remember this? I used this photo in my camping post, but she said I can use it for the project as well. To be honest this is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. I have not edited this at all, and the colors are still very vibrant. To take this picture I thought I was going to get stung.

Still Life.
I am still working on this part, but when I finish them I will post them! 

 I will be updating the pages soon, and I am excited especially for the DIY part of it. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!!
As Always,
xoxo Em