Family Snapshot

World Traveling Sisters

Sending Daryn, My little sister, to Bangalore, India

Photo Credit; Shani Studios 

Good Eats!

Looking for a healthier way to make Pizza? 

How about Portobello Pizza’s!

4 Large Portobello Mushrooms

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Clove Garlic

½ Onion

1 Turkey Burger, Thawed (optional)

2 Tomatoes/ ½ Cup favorite Tomato Sauce

Tablespoon Olive Oil

Grated Mozzarella

Cilantro

Preheat oven to 400° F.

In a pan drizzle olive oil, sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add the bell pepper and continue stirring until softened. Add the turkey burger and cook thoroughly. Add tomatoes or sauce.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or olive oil and place Portobello’s topside down, to create a bowl. Fill with pan mix, top with mozzarella and cilantro. Place in the center of the oven for 12 minutes. ENJOY!

Compliments of www.bodyrock.tv

 

A little of this and that...Random Life Events

Some things in nature make absolutely no sense, like instinct. How is something so ingrained into our being that we know we should do it? Though humans have instinct in their own right, this month’s random life event is about my 10 month old puppy and her motherly instinct. We bought Eskimo, while we were still living in Holland, as a four month old. Three months later, shortly before relocating back to California, Eskimo started her first heat. I couldn’t believe that at only seven months my puppy was already having this happen. With a little research I was assured that it was normal between the ages of seven and ten months for puppies to fall into their first heat.

We got through it and the trip back to California with no incidents, and Eskimo is not yet a proud puppy mommy. However, now 2 months later, her instincts are telling her that she should be preparing a den, worrying about where her young are and hiding from the rest of the world. At first, my fiancée, Bryan, and I were baffled by her abnormal behavior. I thought she had fallen ill and that something could be terribly wrong. Then Bryan remembered his dog Honey going through the same motions when he was a kid, and the explanation; False Pregnancy.

Non spayed dogs, usually following their first heat will have a pseudo-pregnancy based off of two factors, their hormones do not go back to normal, pre-menstruation levels and basic pack mentality instincts. According to the Internet, wild pack dogs do not all breed. Only the alpha female is allowed to have puppies, but with so many mouths to feed, all of the other female pack dogs will go through a pseudo-pregnancy so their motherly instincts kick in allowing their bodies to produce milk and care for the packs new additions.

With domestic dogs, their instincts are no different, and the only thing to do, is wait it out until the hormones go back to normal. Spaying a dog during a pseudo-pregnancy however, can only prolong the symptoms.

 

Beyond Our Boarders

Children are our countries future, so when I hear about budget cuts for schools and teachers not being paid well it makes me wonder how our school system can be so different from that of Europe’s. While living in Holland I spoke to many of my friends about their educational careers.

Students in Holland go through three different levels of schooling, as we do, but during that time they are taught to speak at least three different languages in addition to the normal math, history and science. A major difference is that at twelve years old, based off of advice from elementary teachers and a placement test, children and their parents choose the style of education they would like to be involved in, setting them up for specific career fields.

The difference in the educational system was not what was the most shocking to me. When speaking of higher education I was informed that students were awarded full funding by the government for school for the first four years, while students who do require extra time on their higher educational degrees, only need to go into minimal debt, of €4-6000. From government funding, educated youth are able to enter the work force following graduation and begin saving immediately for a house, car and their life.

Government educational funding does not end at Dutch citizens either. As a partner of a Dutch citizen I would have been able to enroll in a Dutch university and receive a certain stipend from the government to follow a new educational path.

If our children really are our future, why aren’t we doing something to make sure they are not just educated, but ready for life?

Dutch Children enjoy the last few days of summer before school begins.  © Shani Studios

Local Gluten Free Heaven

Miglets is definitely my favorite place to stop and treat myself for a cup cake or even a savory breakfast quiche.

Since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease in June 2010, I have been struggling to figure out how to make GF cakes and bread, and honestly wondered what I was going to do when it came to my wedding cake! Then Katie Alin, a local and graduate from Athenian, opened Miglets, a gluten free bakery. The cupcakes are moist, scones are crumbly and tasty and the cookies are AMAZING!

If you know a celiac or are looking for healthy bread alternatives, go get a treat from Miglets, I promise, you will be impressed! 


www.Migletsgf.com
Located at 480 San Ramon Valley Blvd 
Suite A2 
Danville, CA 

Photo of the Month!

 © Shani Studios

Our New Blog Focuses on Real Estate Agents!!

When it comes to sales, clients want what looks the best and what feels perfect. Presentation is everything. Shani Studios new branch of photography “Presentation is…” is geared towards helping real estate agents present their homes for sale in the best possible light.

Photography allows clients to get a feel for a house before they even set foot inside of it. With the right photography techniques and style for home photography, Shani Studios’ “Presentation is…” will help your clients envision their life in any home you present them with.

For samples of home photography presentation, please visit www.presentationis.blogspot.com and give your home profiles that extra shine!

© Shani Studios/ Presentation is...

Do your research!

It’s the beginning of the school year and everyone is scrambling to get textbooks, note pads, binders and other small school supplies together. The schedule is changing and some of you are sending or have sent your children for the first time away to college, others are dreading the end of next summer when you have to send your baby away to school for the first time.

Personally, I couldn’t wait to get out of the house and get my own place, but I didn’t want to go to school anymore. Having worked through all of my primary school years as hard as I could to maintain a 3.5 GPA, I was done with it. At the end of my Sophomore year when everyone was talking about college, I didn’t want to hear anything about it. A lone wolf, I was going to make it on my own, join the army or figure it out along the way. The decision I did make lead me to where I am today, however it also dropped me into the biggest hole of debt I never wanted to be in.

As a junior I allowed myself one class in the arts. Photography, it was my safe haven, the class I went to and excelled in with out having to over think anything. It was my way of expressing myself, and I reveled in it. When a prestigious art school entered the classroom to speak about their accelerated photography programs, that was it for me. Three more years of schooling and a promise of ninety percent job placement, and I would have it all, or so I thought.

Getting accepted was a sure thing and the promise of what lay ahead for my future was grand. Within one month I was enrolled and would be beginning classes a month earlier than all of my other college bound friends. With in the first few weeks I was having anxiety issues from being home sick, but I was determined to stick it out. Orientation information explained that most students quit with in the first year because of the tough curriculum and rigorous hours, leaving them in a debt of thirty thousand dollars and no degree. I didn’t want to be one of those students, so I stuck it out through the thick and the thin, each year digging my self deeper and deeper in debt.

Issues didn’t stop with the immense amount of money we needed to spend for our tuition though. One of my friends, in his last semester, was told that he would not be receiving any more money because he now required a valid co-signer, when upon enrollment he was promised the full three years of tuition would not be a problem. We were all digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt, but knew, according to our representatives, we would be in jobs following graduation, so we didn’t worry. With in my last year the accreditation board was reviewing my school to alter and renew their status as an accredited school. If the accreditation was revoked, we would not have accredited bachelor’s degrees upon graduation, but the school would also be in violation of their contract pertaining to our loans, meaning we wouldn’t have to pay our tuition back. I know most of us prayed secretly for the accreditation to be revoked, but it was not, which was also good news, as our degrees would still be transferable.

 Upon graduation I made the choice to enroll in a community college to study Anthropology. While enrolling and trying to place myself in the correct classes I was informed that my bachelors degree was not transferable for a second bachelors. I came to find out that a privately accredited school would not be able to transfer credits to a state accredited school. I would have to start my general education as well as my major courses over, completely.

Its been four years since I graduated from college, and though I try to live with no regrets, I wish I had done a little bit more research, that I would have come home and gone to DVC when my mom told me I could, that I had not been so stubborn. I wish we had done more research so that my monthly loan payment did not reflect a normal car or mortgage payment.

With this, I advise you to ask questions about the schools your children are going to go to. Ask questions about the amount of money they will be putting themselves into debt with. My parents had made educational plans for me and wanted me to be able to achieve my dreams, and I don’t blame them for the choices I insisted we make. I do want this story to reach others though, so that emerging graduates have the ability to live a stable and successful life without the burden of unmanageable or nonpayable debt. 

 ©Shani Studios

Help your child to choose the right college career path, do your homework on every school choice.

Flipping Latches

A random name for a blog, but if you can tell me where it is from, I will explain why I chose this name for my new newsletter! ENJOY!