Summer Smoothies and CPR

Smoothie Makin'
It's no lie, I live for smoothies. If everything tasted good in smoothie form, I would blend every meal. I rarely use ice because I don't want my drinks to be too watery (I'm not a huge fan of soy/almond/milk in my smoothies), so instead I use frozen fruit and cold water almost exclusively. I also like adding a decent amount of kale or spinach, or both, because it's virtually tasteless and it's a good way to sneak in some greens. I should probably get better at measuring, but I tend to just eyeball things. Tonights smoothie consisted of:

• A large handful of fresh kale
• Trader Joe's (TJ's) frozen pineapple chunks
• TJ's frozen blueberries
• TJ's frozen raspberries
• Half of strawberry greek yogurt cup
• 1 tsp Chia seeds
• Cold water, enough to get everything moving

  

  The ingredients 

  

  Finished product: Made for a great dinner after a late lunch! 

It was delicious! Side note: I used a Vitamix for the first time tonight and I think I'm in LOVE! It was not too loud, it blended so beautifully and it hardly took any time! I used a friend's, but now that I've been exposed I think I'm going to have to save up and get one. 

CPR/ First Aid Re-Certification

This summer I'm working with an incredible non-profit in my home community to promote college readiness, specifically for low income and first generation students. Part of the program I'm participating in involves spending a week on a college campus with our high school students, exposing them to various resources, taking them on college tours and encouraging them to explore the opportunities available to them. I have been working alongside seven other college student advisors, as well as two staff members from the organization. 

The instructors gave us each a mask and gloves to keep in our purses

Long story short, because we will be the primary adults on call throughout the week, we all needed to make sure our CPR certification was up to date. Mine expired about two weeks ago, so the timing worked out pretty perfectly. Added bonus: Because there were so many of us, they brought the training staff to our office and we got to role play some of the crazy scenarios with our co-workers. Luckily, these scenes were significantly less traumatic than when I had to practice in real life. When I was 16, one of the toddlers I babysat for choked on a piece of cantaloupe her mom had given her for lunch. Between her mom and I, we were able to dislodge it with back blows, but it was the most traumatic thing that has happened to me thus far. I had nightmares for weeks, and I thought I was the worst person on the planet for not being able to rescue her on my own. Lots of therapy helped that, but even though I've worked with kids 4-5 days a week ever since, I still get anxious when kids take big bites or start coughing while they eat. 

Anyway, back to the point: I got re-certified and we managed to have a good time doing so :)

Coming up next on the blog: The MisFit Shine and the beauty of infused water! 

A Week In Nashville

From June 14th to the 22nd, I was in Nashville Tennessee attending the International Convention for the community service organization I'm a part of. This convention was a pretty big deal for me, as it was the last official event of the 2013-2014 service year in which I served on the Board for the California-Nevada-Hawaii district. It was an incredible year filled with all kinds of new responsibilities, events and opportunities. My job as a Lieutenant Governor was to oversee the colleges in the South Bay, to assist their club boards, to plan events and host meetings, and to represent my schools in District matters. It was very demanding and time consuming, but it was probably the most memorable year of my life thus far.

Anyway, back to Nashville! I left on Saturday morning around 9:30, took a bus to SFO and then a flight to LAX. Conveniently, my friend Kayla (who lives in Southern California) had booked the same flight to Nashville, so we were excited to kill time together at the airport. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a two hour layover turned into a six and a half hour layover, so it was a good thing we had each other to help the time pass. Southwest Airlines apologized for the delay by giving us a $100 flight voucher which did make things a little better. We finally arrived in Nashville around 2am and we were super hungry! We pooled our stashes and had a bunch of snack foods on the plane, but aside from that we hadn't had a real meal in twelve hours. Unfortunately, the only place open that was in walking distance of the hotel was a Jack in the Box, but it was better than nothing. 

Pooling our resources 

We slept in the next day and spent a good chunk of the afternoon lazying around our hotel waiting for more friends to arrive and watching soccer. We had lunch at an amazing chicken place called Hattie B's. It was very stereotypical southern comfort food and they had the sweetest sweet tea I've ever tasted. I had to dilute mine to make it drinkable, but it was still good. That evening we took a shuttle from our hotel into the downtown area, referred to as The District. It was very touristy with a lot of honky tonks, restaurants and souvenir shops. 

Hattie B's (that mac and cheese rocked!)

Pulled pork 

The first three days of the event were dedicated to Large Scale Service Project (LSSP). As a member of the planning committee, I spent most of Monday with the committee preparing for registration, finalizing last minute details for various projects and making sure we were ready for the 300+ members who would be arriving shortly. As a team leader, I got to meet and spend time with nine members from all over the world. We worked at two different locations, first at a center for infants and toddlers and second for a non-profit called Project C.U.R.E. It was amazing to see how much we were able to accomplish in just a few short days. By the end of it, our organization had completed more than 4,000 service hours at 25 different projects around the city. Amazing!

The second half of the event was dedicated to more political things. We all gathered to listen to the candidates seeking international office and I got to help a few friends prepare for caucus. This portion of the event last year was incredibly boring, but it was much more enjoyable this year! We also had an awards night in which individuals, clubs and districts from around the world were recognized for their accomplishments. Our district did very well and I even received an award for my work this year, it was very exciting :)

My Distinguished Award :D

All in all, it was an awesome trip. We explored the Vanderbilt campus and learned some new tricks regarding proper etiquette. Spending time with everyone and seeing all the work that had gone into the past year reminded me how wonderful it is to be a part of an organization that spans the globe. And next year, we're headed to Indianapolis!

Etiquette Lunch with Mama Nonnie

Andrew checking out Vanderbilt at night