the magic formula for happiness.

do you ever feel like me, and you finally get sick of all the worry and stress... and you just sit down and decide, not to give up, but to just enjoy life for a second?

there are far too many reasons not to love life.

today i decided that biochemistry was far too stressful, and that i needed to sit still and just STOP WORRYING for one afternoon. while surfing netflix, i found the "happy" movie.

what makes you happy? 

when it comes down to it, a lot of things make me happy.

(i'm quite easy to entertain, actually...)

1. cuddling on the couch makes me happy. 

2. a hot cup of tea with a good book.

3. buying something random. especially from the dollar store.

4. fuzzy things.

5. feeling healthy.

6. learning stuff.

7. getting tips at work.

8. having someone remember your name.

9. inventing something for dinner that actually turns out. 

10. compliments. especially from strangers.

11. starting something new. a cause.

12. fruit.

13. having a clean room. (is it just me, or does having your room organized just make it feel like the rest of your life will just fall into place?)

14. finishing something.

15. sunsets.

16. holidays.

17. pinterest. and even better than pinterest: having someone ask you if you found something cute on pinterest, and saying "heck no! this was 100% jess!!!

18. having my toes painted and

19. having time to wake up in the morning and feeling drop-dead gorgeous when i walk out the door.

20. spending time with my family.

what did i learn from the happy movie?

life changes so quickly. unless we are truly happy and content with the person we are right now, we will be chasing an idea for the rest of our lives. 

we can choose to be happy.

accepting yourself completely comes as a part of the healing process.

there is no such thing as pleasure without pain.

"what do you want in life? to be successful, to be happy, and to live a long, healthy life."

what is it to be successful? and at what cost?

there is a lot of talk about a "toxic lifestyle" - the way that we live, trying to be more successful, and earn more money, and be more... just more.

i think it's time that we slowed things down.

take some time to sit down and read a book without feeling like you are wasting time.

i don't like to get too deep on my innermost thoughts here... but i had a thought the other day. i had basically failed a biochemistry test, and was thinking that my life was pretty much over because i need that class to get into grad school. 

so i called my mom. (aren't they just great? especially when the world seems like it is coming to an end.)

and after i told her how my life was ending, and feeling dejected, inadequate, and completely stupid, she just said, "it's gonna be ok."

is it bizarre that my whole day changed after that little comment? 

so grad school might have to wait a little while, but does that really mean my life is over???

no.

so when you are feeling like the world is ending, just think to yourself: it is going to be ok.

until there is an alien invasion, or an asteroid hurtling directly towards earth, i think that i'm going to keep moving on, keep moving forward, and just be happy.

even then, who knows?

:)

***

on a different note, this is my newest obsession/phase.

for the next 30 days, i doing the whole30 challenge!

find out more here.

a little bit of every scattered thought.

how is everyone this (lazy) holiday morning?!


i'm fantastic... just in case you were wondering. :)
today is one of those mornings when life is just good. 
happy music-baking-motivated-i'm gonna go on a long run-type of morning!








so i have to work on my motivation to try this... because you know me, i am a very lazy person when it comes to my hair. anything that takes over an hour to do just isn't worth it in my book. 
this one looks like it could take a while...





and you remember that granola that we made like, two days ago?
it's gone!
crisis! i need to make some more!!!
this time, i think i'm going to try this recipe. and then maybe this one. this one??? (i have a surplus of recipes, most of which i haven't had the chance to try yet!) 


pumpkin granola
originally from baking bites


ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas


directions:
1. preheat the oven to 325° F. line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. mix well.
3. in a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. whisk until smooth. pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. they will be moist. evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. bake for 20 minutes. remove pan from the oven and stir. bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. let cool completely. store in an airtight container.




i was reminiscing this morning... and decided to plan my next big adventure.

my favorite pic

[21]

my favorite picture (of me) of all time.

why is that?

i think to me, this picture represents a lot of the changes that i've made in my life over the past four years of being in college. (no... not becoming more of a nerd...)

this picture represents how comfortable i am with myself. if you would have asked me to pose for a picture dressed as a nerd, and then told me you were going to post in on facebook... a few years i would never have done it. wouldn't have even given it a chance.

this picture also reminds me of the semesters that i have been able to live with my sister. (you see that empty spot on the couch next to me? she goes there.) i don't know anybody that can read my mind or function on the same exact wavelength as me all the time. we know what each other is thinking so often that it is actually freaky. if we weren't two years apart we probably could be twins.

in this picture, i felt good. i look at this, and i think of being healthy, happy, and even though i was stressed out of my mind with school - i loved life. looking at this picture gives me something to strive for. a goal to reach. 

my new goal for this year:

run a half marathon. 

anyone care to run with me? 

i want to make these sooooo bad!

gingerbread "clif" bars

:)

yum.

bubbly toes

do you ever have a day when you don't know why, but you just wake up and feel glum?

i have a solution for you:

(just try it one time and tell me that it doesn't make your whole entire day that much better!)

last night, the sis and i decided that we needed to use the massive amount of food that we had just received from the parents... and grandpa.. and winco...

(i think my roommates hate us. we take up at least half of the refrigerator.)

but we got squash.

buttercup squash.

and a lot of buttercup squash.

and guess who got a box of apples from grandpa's tree yesterday?

it was meant to be.

my version of buttercup squash & apple soup

kind like this one. and this one. but mostly different.

ingredients:

chicken stock (mom got us some rotisserie chickens from costco... so we de-boned them and then used the carcass to make stock)

2 buttercup squashes

3 onions - roughly chopped

2-4 apples cut into large chunks(depends on the size... and how much you want your soup to taste like apples)

cut the squashes in half and throw them, the roughly chopped onions, and chunked apples on a cookie sheet that has a little bit of water on the bottom

bake in oven until you can easily scoop the squash out of the shell (we left ours in about a half hour at 400)

throw the squash, apples and onion in stock, let simmer and cook together for a few minutes (you can season it with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, chicken bouillon... i don't ever really measure when i'm making soup. i go purely by taste)

throw it into a blender - and voila!

yummy soup and a very happy tummy.

worst week ever invented.

who thought of finals week anyway?
the should be drug through the streets, whipped, and then flogged.
what's that? i sound barbaric?
oh really?
i am so ready for this week to be over though.
you know that feeling you get, when you are ready for something to be over, and you are ready to move on? yeah, it's like senioritis. but instead of just being done with high school, i get to go on a fantastic trip. but that trip can only happen after i make it through this week. so it bugs me that it is taking so long.
as you can tell, i have a lot to work on when it comes to patience. (or maybe it's just the fact that this is the adventure of a lifetime... and i might just be a little bit excited to go. just maybe.)
21 days.
did you hear that? 21 DAYS! :D
and now i'm starting to stress out.
i like stressing out.
i function best when there is a little tension in my life... if there wasn't, i would probably sit on my butt all the time and... i'm gonna stop there. (cuz it is sounding way too representative of the past few weeks of my life.)
this is where i am going to be.
oh be jealous.

soon. real soon. i am actually going to be able to take a picture all for myself.

(and i might just decide to share with you all!)

my next question: what should i buy? where should i go??? i don't want to miss anything - so i need help! 

that should have contained a disclaimer... my "question" usually turns to many questions... 

and i have to buy a new camera.

since the old one has run away. i really have no idea where it would even be. not even remotely.

yeahhhhh. at this point i do not like spending money. especially when it should be spent after my trip starts... not before! poo.

so i have some zucchini in my fridge right now. and i need to do something with it.

now, if you knew anything about my life at home, you would understand that the "zucchini" i am referring to in my fridge is a shame to its name. my first semester up at school, my mom sent me a zucchini that was probably the size of my thigh. no, i am dead serious. my roommate, a girl from california that i'm pretty sure had never seen produce anywhere other than a supermarket, couldn't believe it.  

i swear these things are on steroids.
we have to get very creative with out zucchini at home, so luckily, i have several go-to recipes for zucchini bread that i can go to in a pinch. but i found this recipe the other day, and it looked fairly interesting. i might just have to try this one. 


stuffed zucchini (from kayotic kitchen)

ingredients:
1 tbsp sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 tomato
1 tsp thyme
2 zucchinis
1 onion
cheese
pepper
optional: bacon


directions:
preheat your oven to 400 (200C).
give the zucchini a good scrub.
slice them in half length-ways. you can trim the ends if you like. 
spoon out the guts. just take it out (leave about 1/2 an inch in) until you end up with boat like shells.
now give the zucchini pulp a good chop, also chop a small onion and 1/2 a tomato while you’re at it. i’m only using half a tomato (more for color than flavor, really) otherwise things will become a teeny bit too fluid. having everything gush out of your zucchini is not a pretty sight, trust me!
sautee the onions in one tbsp oil or butter. it’s ok for them to brown a little this time ’round.
when the onions are almost done, add 1/4 tsp curry powder and cook everything for an additional 30 seconds. no longer or the curry powder will turn bitter. when they’re done, transfer them to a big bowl.
now this is completely optional. if you want to stick with a vegetable dish, fine, just leave the bacon out. (the bacon will give it a little more crunch and saltiness, so you can cook a few slices and let them drain on a paper towel.)
now (in no particular order), add 1 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, 1 heaping tbsp sour cream, a good pinch of pepper, the zucchini pulp, the tomato and crumble the bacon in as well.
lightly butter a baking dish and put the zucchini boats in. they’re best served straight out of the oven. 
grab a spoon and fill the shells with the mix. sprinkle some aged cheese on top.
put them in a preheated oven, give them about 20 minutes and then turn on the grill until the top is golden brown. sprinkle some coarsely chopped curly leaf parsley (the most underrated herb there is) on top and you’re done!


if you grew up and used an easy-bake oven like me... you might find this interesting. and kind of sad. 

only one more day til freedom!

stay sane til then! (for me.)

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i am grateful that my computer decided to act up

today

and not while i am in jerusalem.

(not much to be grateful for... but at least it's somethin!)