Vera v.s. Coach part 2

Accessories:

            When choosing between accessories my answer is clear. Vera Bradley has a very low selection of accessories. In fact, when clicking on the Accessories button on their page all that comes up is lap top cases and cosmetic bags, and in my opinion these are not accessories at all! However when clicking on the Coach Accessories button a wide variety of hats, scarves, fragrances, key chains, and pet accessories pops up! Now that’s what I call accessories! So my clear choice is Coach!

Luggage:

            Under this category there is no competition! Literally! Coach doesn’t even have a travel or Luggage section on their web page! How can this be? Coach lovers must go on vacation sometimes! However Vera has multiple duffels, rolling luggage, dopp kits, luggage tags, and backpacks that make travel so much more fun and colorfully organized! So obviously my luggage allegiance is pledged to Vera! For now and forever more!

Apparel:

            This category is just pathetic! Coach has an assortment of coats and jackets and that’s it! Not T-shirts or jeans, no tank tops or underwear! Coats and jackets is all they have to offer! But this offer is better than the one given by Vera for there is no apparel on that web page. Vera has nothing to wear on your body. Period. Not even jackets!

School:

            Another Clear win for Vera. When looking at all the school options coming from her end you end up with laptop cases, dopp kits, pens, laundry bags, coffee mugs, blankets, picture frames, everything you could possibly need when getting ready to go off to college! Coach however is no comparison. All they have to offer is a dinky lap top case. LAME! How am I supposed to carry my laundry home in a laptop case! Selection is much too stingy!

Men:

            The final category discussed on this blog is men. When browsing through Vera I see nothing manly enough to make it into a guy’s wish list! So unfortunately I must say that Vera looses this one. Coach has a variety of shoes and bags for men. Not to mention phadoras, key chains, wallets, and belts. So the win for the Men category goes to Coach!

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Vera v.s. Coach

When someone asks me my two favorite brand names I have no problem finding my answer. It would defiantly be Vera Bradley and Coach! But I don’t know if I could say which I like better. I like them both for different reasons!

Shoes:

            When I think of shoes I defiantly like coach better! Coach has a very wide variety of shoes such as boots, high tops, heels, exc.! The list goes on and on! Almost any style of shoe you could possibly want you can get in any color! Vera however only has flip flops! Although flip flops are great in the summer I really only wear them when going to the pool or beach! I, not being one to take a visit to the pool very often, find myself standing strong with Coach on this one.

Bags:

When it comes to bags, totes and clutches alike it is a very tough decision. I would probably have to say though that I prefer Vera bags. There are so many styles and patterns there are probably millions of combinations that could be made to personalize a bag to my style. I being a softy for options have to choose Vera. Coach though does have very good bags! I myself have quite a few purses and clutches at home. But the patterns aren’t as exciting and the variety just isn’t as broad. So Vera it is!

Sunglasses:

Although I don’t own Coach or Vera sunglasses I would have to say I am a Vera sunglasses fan. Most Coach sunglasses are quite big and chunky and I am much more a sleek sunglasses fan. I did come very close to buying a pair of Coach sunglasses once but now looking back and comparing them to the Vera sunglasses I want now I simply couldn’t go any way but Vera! The bold patterns and thin-rimmed glasses frames sore far above that of the chunky rimmed Coach sunglasses.

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Floaters, Sinkers, and Skidders

Growing up in a family like mine you learn a lot of very different things. You may be thinking, yea so what my family knows fun facts too! But trust me! My family is especially knowledgeable on any topic most would think to be odd! One of my mothers favorite thing to talk about is Poop! She is a health freak so when she learned that you can use poop to gauge how healthy you are she dove right in!

Poop can be classified into three groups. There are the floaters, the sinkers, and the skidders! Now you may be thinking, floaters?..skidders? Well no worries! In due time you will be a poop expert!

Most people eat meat during every meal, every day! They think to themselves, well protein is good for you! So they just go right on eating. Animal after animal. Well im here to tell you your poop disagrees! Too much protein is not good for you! Have you ever looked in the toilet after taking a nice steamer and noticed its position in the water? No? well im here to tell you that it probably ALWAYS sinks down to the bottom of the toilet! this my friends is not good! When your poop sinks down to the bottom of the toilet it almost always means you have consumed too much protein! Protein is good to some extent but too much is just no good! Don’t belive me? Ask your poop!

The next kind of poop you may have is a skidder! Now when you think about skids they really aren’t a good thing! Weather its breaking to fast in your car or falling down on the cement, skids are never a good thing! Well my friend’s skids in the toilet are no different! When your deuce leaves skid marks while exiting the Lou it means you have eaten too much sugar! We all know sugar is bad for us so why do we continue to stuff ourselves will unhealthy sugary snacks? Well let me tell ya your poop wishes you would stop! Nothing ruins a good bowel movement more than looking down to find that your unhealthy life style is affecting your poop!

Now the most uncommon type of poop! A floater! If I had to guess I would think that right about now your thinking, wait a minute, my poop has never floated! Well to be honest most peoples don’t! But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing! If you drop the kids off at the poop and you notice that they float, then that means you have been eating food that has a good balance of everything in it! Not too much protein, not too much sugar, just the perfect balanced diet! So floaters are good!

 So next time you pop a squat on the john take a looksy after wards to see how healthy you really are! And remember “Floaters” good! “Sinkers” and “Skidders” bad!

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So Many Choices

As high school students of the twenty first century we have so many things offered to us. There are so many different things we can do during our high school career, it really seems as if there is no limit.

At my high school you can be any person you want to be. We have something for everyone it just depends on what your interested in. For example If you like video games we have a actual video game club you could go to. If your more of a do gooder there is multiple volunteering clubs at school you could get involved with such as Interact club or key club. Or if these aren’t to you liking you can come to school and make your own club suitable to anything you like to do! We have so many options and this is only the beginning.

Also at my high school we have AP courses. You can take any you like and there are multiple in all different subjects! We have AP for government, economics, US history, Human Geography, World History, Music Theory, Psychology, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Language and Composition, the list goes on and on and these are only the beginning. You can be in any classes you want to and it’s all offered to us in high school.

Another thing you could do in high school is be involved in the arts. We have classes for choir in all grades, ceramics, sketching, show choir, select choirs, jazz band, band for all grades, orchestra, and again on and on goes the list. There’s so many things you couldn’t possible manages to do even half of them!

One very different thing offered by my high school is classes at Kirkwood community college. You can excel in high school and once you have gone as far as you can you can start taking college classes that go towards you getting your high school diploma! You can take classes for engineering and math or anything else you wish to excel in.

Most obviously high schools have sports. You can try any sport you want and most of them are offered at your school. You can do things from track to wrestling and cheerleading to football. It doesn’t matter what you want to do your school will most likely provide it.

High school allows us to find out who we are and what we like to do. It lets us excel in things and maybe even suck in things to. But without high school our lives would not be as diverse as they are in today’s world. We are lucky to have so many options.

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VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI

Welcome back to my blog! I hope all who tried out the Black Bean Burger had a successful experience and are ready to try out my absolute favorite vegetarian dish! This meal although very different from the Black Bean Burger is still very good and would just taste lovely on a chilly night.

VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI

I know when most people think of a good tastin chili they think either lots of meat, lots of hot sauce, or lots of both! This recipe while not hot or meaty is still amazingly good! I never turn down a good bowl of vegetarian chili and this dish will just leave you wanting more. This recipe will make four good sized servings and everyone, vegetarian or not, is sure to enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive ore vegetable oil

1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped

1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped

2 large green pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock/broth

1 (32-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can black beans

1 (14-ounce) can dark red kidney beans

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cayenne hot pepper sauce, several drops

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 can spicy vegetarian refried beans

The first thing to do would be to sauté onion, peppers, and garlic in the olive/vegetable oil. This should take about 3-5 minutes over moderate heat. Then add in the beer or broth, tomatoes, black beans, and the red kidney beans. Make sure to stir and combine the ingredients.

Now season the chili with the cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. To thicken the chili stir in the refried beans. Now just let the chili sit over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes longer and you are ready to serve.

When serving the VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI make sure you have all the needed toppings such as, shredded cheese (Monterey jack or smoked cheddar! YUMMM), sour cream, and always bread and butter for the side!

Now that you VEG-HEAD THREE-BEAN CHILI is completed and your toppings are ready it is time to serve! This chili is guaranteed to please!

Bonne Apetite!

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BLACK BEAN BURGER

If you have read some of my previous blogs you probably know that I am I vegetarian. It will be three years this July since I made the switch from carnivore to herbivore but still I continue to feel happier than ever to be a vegetarian. Being a vegetarian in high school (pretty rare) I receive a lot of questions about what I eat. Of course there’s a lot of different things but I do have a few that I just love! Over the course of my next few blogs I will share with you some of my favorite vegetarian recipes.

BLACK BEAN BURGERS

            Although out in the world there are plenty of different types of meatless burgers this black bean burger is defiantly one of my favorites. Another up side is that it is probably one of the healthier veggie burger options. This recipe makes 8 burgers and although they may not look like something you would like to eat, you cant judge a book by its cover.

Ingredients:

1, 15.5 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup walnuts

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ small yellow onion, cut into quarters

3 garlic cloves

½ red bell pepper

1/3 cup wheat germ

2 TBSP whole wheat flour

½ TSP dried oregano

½ TSP dried basil

½ TSP ground cumin

½ TSP mild chili powder

½ TSP Celtic sea salt

½ TSP black pepper

1 ½ TBSP agave

1 TSP extra virgin olive ore grapeseed oil

dash cayenne pepper

Now that you know the ingredients all you have to do is just throw’em into a food processor and wait till they are blended but not too watery. It’s better if the mixture is a bit course.

            To make the patties you must first cut out 4 by 4 inch squares of parchment paper. When this is completed put a 1/3 cup of the BLACK BEAN BURGER mixture in the center of each sheet. Then place another 4 by 4-inch piece of parchment paper on top of the BLACK BEAN BURGER mixture and press down so the patty will be about ½ inch thick.

            Now you have the option to either cook you burgers or freeze them for a later date.

            Now there is actually different ways you could go about cooking your burger. I my self prefer cooking them in the oven so that is the way I will share with you today. Place your burgers on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. (Time may vary if patties were frozen) Cooking your burgers this way will make them a bit firmer and easier to eat.

            Now that your BLACK BEAN BURGERS are completed it is time to add all of your favorite burger toppings! Lettuce, pickles, and cheese are always a must!

            Have a great meal! Bonne Apetite!

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How to run your own mowing business

If you want to stop looking for coins in your cushions and start making money you should really go into the mowing business! This is the perfect way for someone to make money because a lot of people living in their nice new homes don’t know how to mow or are just to lazy to get of their butt for an hour and a half each week. The grass is always growing in the warmer months and that’s why mowing is a great job to have!

            If you wish to start a mowing business you first have to get a lawn mower. Depending on if you buy one new or used, riding or push, they can really vary in cost. However don’t but whatever lawn mower you find that is cheaper. Depending on what kinds of lawns your going to mow is what kind of mower you need! If you will be mowing big open lots or the grass on a college campus you need a riding lawn mower. If however you will be mowing half acre lawns with trees and gardens I recommend a push. For smaller lawns riding lawn mowers can often just be a hassle because of their size.

            Now that you have you have your mower you have to learn how to use it, if you don’t already know how. Unfortunately mowing isn’t something that’s very teachable over computer so just try it out a few times its easy once you get the hang of it. Always do a border around the entire thing and then do the inside in any direction you please. But make sure you don’t do the same direction every time because once you do it enough in one direction it could start tearing up the grass.

            After you learn to mow you have to get your name out! I recommend business cards because they are fast easy and it will be easy for the client to find your number if they need to call you! So think of a funky name for your business and slogan and you’re on your way! For example my business is called the tinker bell lawn service. And my slogan, a wave of my wand and poof your grass is gone. If business cards aren’t for you try flyers or signs.

            Finally you have your mower, the ability to mow, and you have clients, so now its time to start making money! I always do my bills in months so my clients know when they will be receiving their bill. Also you must decide what you will charge your clients. Always make it reasonable or you run the risk of loosing the client to a professional lawn service. If the lawn is of average size go about thirty dollars and then adjust from there. Now that you have everything you need you’re ready to go start your mowing. A check is just a month away!

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