Homework #2: go outside and reflect

Let me start by saying I LOVED this assignment! I found it very relaxing to just sit outside and not worry about anything for twenty minutes, almost like meditation with a purpose. The assignment, for all those not in the class, was to find somewhere outside and sit for twenty minutes and just observe nature around you. Then we were to compile notes of what we saw, how we felt, relationships between the different plants and animals, etc. I went and hiked up Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside and sat on a large rock for my twenty minutes.
At first what I saw was lots of rocks, dirt, sparse plants, and then of course the sky above, which today was gray and cloudy. The plants that I saw all sort of looked the same to me, weed like flowering plants, so I was surprised to find that when I went on the Mt. Rubidoux website (http://www.mt-rubidoux.org/vegetation.htm) and found that there are tons of different plant species on Mt. Rubidoux! The one the stuck out to me eventually is called Honey Gum and it stood out to me because this was where I was finding a lot of animal plant interaction. Bees are attracted to the flowering part of the Honey Gum and it is what's called a mutualism relationship.

http://www.floridatupelohoney.com/tupelo_gum_tree.cfmThat is where "an interaction benefits both species by providing each with food, shelter, or some other resource. In this case the bee was getting pollen which I would then turn into food, and the flower was get a way to get its pollen spread ensuring its survival. 
After I sat for a while other animals started to come out of hiding. First I saw a lizard, this is usualy a normal occurrence in riverside, we live in a desert area and lizards are native here. However this lizard looked a little different then the ones I'm used to seeing in my back yard. It had a kind of speckled tail and was blue/purple in color around its tail.

http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/images/ustansburianain508.jpgI came home and looked up native lizards to southern California and found that this particular lizard is called the common side-blotched lizard. It didn't eat anything that I saw but you could give it and the rock a relationship because lizards need heat and the rock warms from the sun and provides the lizard with that warmth, as well as a place to sun baith. This relationship would be considered commensalism because it is really only helping out the lizard, the rock doesn't get anything from the lizard.
The next animal I saw was a wild rabbit! I love wild rabbits because they are so small and let's face it, cute!

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/rabbits/tips/solving_problems_rabbits.htmlPlus i find it fascinating that their fur allows them to blend in with the brown rocks and dirt around them. It came out of hiding only for a few minutes to look around and search for food, but a passerby with a dog scared it off quickly after. Still I enjoyed seeing it without it being afraid of me.
I also had a good time just watching the clouds above me. They were storm clouds, light gray, and they moved enough to be noticeable if you watched. I sort of hoped it would rain but unfortunately that didn't happen.
All in all I really enjoyed this assignment, it was fun learning some new species! And it gave me a renewed want to start doing my meditation and yoga again, sometimes I forget how cleansing it is to just sit and and not think to much. Just enjoy what's around you.

King Barrel

Currently my mom and I are trying to figure out what we are going to do about our backyard because it is nothing but compacted dirt! We've decided that we want a big section of it to be a garden area in planter boxes. But we didn't want just plain old planter boxes so my mom went online and started searching for alternatives, and she found King Barrel!

http://www.kingbarrel.com/Outdoor%20Living/outdoorlivinghom.htmlThis is a company that re-purposes wine barrels by turning them into planter boxes, pet beds, fountains, etc.

It's a great idea because not only do the wine barrels look nice in your garden, but it is taking something that normally would've been torn apart and thrown away and giving it a new functional life. If this ends up being our final pick for our backyard I will make another blog with pictures of the finished product and all the ways we used our wine barrels :) either way I think this is an amazing idea.

Your face needs Vitamin C!

So I have struggled with "adult" minor acne for YEARS! I never had breakouts in high school but as soon as i started college acne started popping up around my mouth and forehead :/ I tried everything and every brand from Neutrogena to Proactive with little to no results, in fact proactive made it WORSE! Then I became much more focused on using natural and organic products and tried everything from Burt's Bee's to Say Yes To and still no results. I was starting to think I would never find something natural that would work on my skin. Then last semester I had a Heath Science class and my teacher said something that made me stop and think, he said that back in Africa (where he's from) they instinctively rub orange peels on their face. The vitamin C in the orange peel is naturally good for your skin! I then thought to myself, maybe if I can find a natural/organic face wash whose main ingredient is vitamin C I could then finally get my acne under control. So I went out looking and found this:

 www.avalonorganics.com Avalon Organics! I started using their hydrating cleansing milk (not the gel) and daily moisturizer and two weeks into using it my acne was GONE!! I'm not kidding it was completely gone! I use the cleanser twice a day (morning and night) and the moisturizer in the morning because it has SPF 15 in it. It smells like orange oil and feels great, all you need is ONE pump! It will even take off your makeup! It is a little pricy at around $10-12 depending where you buy it, but one bottle will last you at least two months, mine lasts longer usually around 3-4. Plus you can buy this everywhere! Ok maybe not everywhere but I've found it at target and my local health food stores. It a wonderful product and I recommend it to everyone I talk to about acne. In fact I shared it with my Health Science class a few weeks after I started using it and a couple weeks later I had multiple people thank me and say it was the best face wash they've ever used! It's soap free and completely organic, seriously try it out it's fantastic :)