Sand In My Sheets

You should all take a gander over to Youtube and listen to this man sing. Tommy Green Jr. He certainly has captivated me! Sultry voice and handsome looks... Dang, what's not to love?

This song is my favorite: Sand In My Sheets
But this one is great, too: Both Ways
And if you like what you hear, you should go to my page and watch the videos that I recorded of him while on the Carnival Splendor.

Happy Listening!

Week #1

This is my wardrobe and window.

Week One is in the books! Junior year, 19 credits, balancing a job on top of that... Dang. Gonna be one busy term! Is there even time for a social life in there....?
I am still getting all settled into my new digs, but so far I like my roommates. I live with 3 other students in an apartment/suite style dorms (pics included). *refer to this post:  http://sydneymayfield.blogspot.com/2012/08/its-start-of-something-new.html for more info.
Classes are great so far; granted the first week is always the easiest. I think that I am going to like them all! While Web Development is certain to be the most difficult, I think that it is going to be very worth my time in the end.

My desk!

Right behind my desk I have a shelf and little nook.

This is my bed. It is lofted to the very top and has plenty of room for storage underneath.
Thank goodness the fridge fits under there!

A Day In The Kitchen

I quite literally mean a day. A whole day. I was over at my aunt's house yesterday canning and juicing. Originally, our plan was to make salsa for me to take back to school, but that plan changed when a friend of ours gave us pounds and pounds of apples. So then we decided to make apple sauce and then take a stab at apple butter.
Okay, now that I have said that.... This is what we actually did:

• 13.5 pints of salsa
• 10 half pints of jam
• 4 pints applesauce
• 6 pints apple butter
• 5 quarts of various juices
• Large bowl of fresh salsa

PHEW! I am tired just reading that list.... ha ha. Needless to say, that couldn't have been a breeze. All  of that took us about 9 hours to tackle. When I got home I needed to sit down; my back hurt! Can you say 'old woman'? ... That's how I felt lol. But I do have to say, the hours upon hours was way worth it. Now I have fooooood to take back to school with me!

If you have the chance/opportunity to can fresh veggies (granted you or someone you know has a garden) then I say DO IT. It was wayyyyy cheaper and tastes wayyyyyy better than what you get at the grocery stores. Plus, if you do it with someone like I did, you get to spend time with someone you care about! :-)

Jars and jars of salsa!

Winner, Again.

You remember I won those Fun. tickets last month? Guess what I did THIS month..? Well, I can't take all of the credit, here. Here's the story: My dad and I carpool to work in the mornings (we work at the same place, after all) and we love listening to K103.3 FM every. morning. Around 5:30am the radio hosts "get your day going" with the Nearly Impossible Question. The questions are a fun way to wake up our minds.

When one of us thinks that we know the answer I get to call in! Busy signal? Hang up and call right back. I get to be on air (most times)!!

This morning's question: On average, we do this 125 times a year. What is it?

Do you know? (*answer at bottom of entry)

So my dad, the "genius" that he is, yells at me the answer and I told him we would wait til we heard some clues from the callers that we on air. What I decided what happened this morning, in terms of the stations call volume, was one of these 2 things:

1. Being Friday, several people had the day off and therefore were not awake at this God awful hour
2. It was a really hard question

Either way, after the first lady was on the air and made her guess I called in. We were certain that we had the correct answer. It rang and rang and rang....... Then FINALLY when I got on the air, guess what happened? WE GOT IT RIGHT. *I say 'we' because the answer was really my dad's idea... I couldn't think of anything better. Yay for us! I will update later when I pick up the prize package.


*Update: Prize package was 2 Regal Cinema tickets to see The Words, 4 tickets to the RV and Camper show at the Expo center and 4 passes to OMSI






















*Answer: Sneeze.

How To Avoid The Dreaded Freshman 15

I saw this book, The Dorm Room Diet, in my school's bookstore last year and skimmed through it. I thought, "Yeah I should get this..." but I didn't. And, while I haven't gotten "fat", I have seen my weight fluctuate and change. This of course is expected; New environment, new people.

On our school's meal plan the cost of one meal point in the cafeteria is "all-you-can-eat", ie: I can fill my plate with food and continue to go back until I am full/satisfied. And at first, this can be awesome. One can try a little bit of all the fare or one could eat just a meal of french fries. Sounds awesome, right? (You remember we are talking about weight, don't you?) Eating without restrictions of your parents and encouragement of this all-you-can-eat style is a sure sign that you will come in contact with that Freshman 15.

I already knew what I should and shouldn't adapt as healthy eating habits, but that doesn't mean that the temptation wasn't there... Cause trust me, it was (and still is!) But with portion control and some exercise, you can keep off a few pounds from your waistline, or wherever you collect extra weight.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you out:

1. Indulge only in the treats you will really enjoy: Savor the homemade brownie, skip the store-bought one.

2. Keep stress in check! Swap massages with your buddies and boyfriends, go for a walk.

3. Snack smart with foods containing fiber and fat to keep up your energy. Almonds and pears are great choices.

4. Go easy on late-night and early-morning sweets: The carbs can disrupt your sleep and mess with blood sugar.

5. Vary your workouts with a mix of cardio, weightlifting, and yoga or Pilate's.

6. Keep your immune system strong with a daily multivitamin, good hygiene and low stress.

7. Work out with friends, or take group fitness classes to stay motivated and get to the gym.

I think that this year I will buy this book. It's not just good for the dorm room; soon you will be getting a place of your own, right? And you will still be on a tight budget, right? Yeah so maybe you should go out and get this too ;-)

Here is a synopsis of Daphne Oz's book, The Dorm Room Diet: "The transition to college life presents a golden opportunity to seize control of your health for good—and now the secrets of Daphne’s success are available to you in The Dorm Room Diet. This national bestseller written by Dr. Oz’s daughter, Daphne, speaks to college students by a college student who avoided the Freshman 15 with her own healthy lifestyle plan. The Dorm Room Diet will empower you to use your new found independence to create a healthy lifestyle while in college–and for the rest of your life."

#NeverForget

11 years ago, for those old enough to remember, Americans witnessed 4 suicide attacks. A total of 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked 4 American flights on the East Coast. On September 11, 2001 there was news coverage of the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA.
If I can recall, these events started happening as I was getting ready to go to school on that unforgettable Tuesday morning. I was nine years old and at the time just confused why the Twin Towers were collapsing... I stared at the television screen and could not understand why those people crashed a plane into the side. I believe that this day of American history should be talked about in schools across the nation and recognized in public work places.
September 11 is now and forever going to be a time to pay tribute to those who quietly work to prevent attacks and to those in the military who have sacrificed so much, namely their lives.

Thank you to those who are out there serving to protect our freedom and keeping us safe. You are braver than I am and I am truly thankful for all that you do.

I Love My Ducks

Oregon Ducks or Oregon State Beavers.... Which side are you on? Seeing as how my mom is a University of Oregon Alum, I wear green and yellow, but besides that my dad is a hardcore Duck fan... On Saturday, I experienced my first Pac 12 game; I attended my very first Oregon Ducks game at Autzen Stadium. Boy, was that fun! I was sitting on the 35 yard line, Oregon side, 26 rows up! Only thing better would have been if I were in the student section! I absolutely loved the experience. And to top it all off, I got to go onto the field! I touched and sat on the turf where De'Anthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner play... What?! Surreal.

The Oregon Ducks took on the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Ducks moved to 2-0, beating the Bulldogs 42-25 at Autzen Stadium.

What Would You Be?

Halloween. I know that in a previous post (circa last year?) that I "bashed" on the holiday. But really, I was only hating on the girls my age who think that they have to dress a certain way to get attention. Having said that, I will have you know I DO like dressing up as someone/thing for Halloween. This year I am toying with the idea of being a mermaid. I bought a few materials and supplies to start to put together a costume, but to my dismay is became a lot harder than I originally thought. I want to be unique and creative! And not copy to a T someone else's pattern from Pinterest, etc. So we shall see what comes of that...

 

Do you have any awesome ideas? I have a black skirt made of a jersey knit stretchy fabric, a strapless bra, an XL silver sequined shirt, some blue sequined fabric, and tulle in light blue and dark blue. If you can help me out in ANY way, shape or form I would greatly appreciate it.

• You can tweet me: @20000WordsADay
• You can hit me up on Google+ : 20,000 Words A Day (under pages)
• Or you can comment on this post :-)

Also! You should tell me what you are going to be for Halloween! I would love to hear what you are going to be wearing, what your friends will be wearing, etc. Are you going to be themed? Homemade? Store bought? TELL ME! :-)

We Belong Together

"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich"  ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

What is better than being with the people you love? Being able to fully be yourself and still be accepted.

There is nothing quite like snorting while you laugh and, as a result, laughing harder. Nothing quite like eating together or playing games for hours on end. There is just nothing quite like my family....

My Mayfield Family.

How 'bout Them Apples?

While in the backyard at my grandparents yesterday, I discovered that the apple tree (and, well the rest of the garden, really...) had not been tended to in quite sometime. I found that there were apples ready for the picking as well as some that got ripe and fell to the ground. I brought those babies in and guess what I made with them? APPLESAUCE. Yes, good 'ol homemade applesauce. Can you say YUM?!

I had been dying to try this crock pot recipe that I found on Pinterest for some time, now, but hadn't had the chance to try yet. Now, I was going to use my grandmother's crock pot BUT A) it is sloooooow to heat up and B) it was already 5pm when I started this so I didn't have all night. With these things in mind I got out a pot and got to work. I winged it; So here it is if ya wanna test it out.

Sydney's Chunky Apple Sauce

Ingredients:

• APPLES (of course) of whatever kind you want *How many you use depends on how big a batch you wanna make. I used about 15 apples this time around
• 5-7 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• Water
• Cinnamon to taste *I did not use any this time around because I have a family member who is allergic

Steps:

1. Place a large pot in the sink and fill with about an inch of water
2. Peel the apples
3. Cut the apple away from the core (throw away core)
4. Chop the apple up into chunks then toss into the pot
5. After all apple chunks have been put into the pot, place on stove and turn it on Medium to Medium/High heat; Cover
6. Occasionally check on apples and stir
7. After about 10-15 min has passed you can add the lemon juice and brown sugar (you can always use more or less to taste, of course); Stir and cover
8. Keep checking on the mixture and stirring it; when the apples are tender/slightly mushy you can take a masher to them. I like my applesauce a bit chunky so I just did a once through and didn't mash too hard
9. Turn off heat, set lid off kilter a bit and let cool
10. Serve and enjoy!

*If you want cinnamon you can add it with the sugar and lemon juice, or you can add it to your own serving!