Green Smoothie Challenge: Take 2

I tried in April to do the Green Smoothie Challenge from Simple Green Smoothies but I didn't make it through the entire month. I got sick and just didn't feel like having smoothies everyday. I decided to start the challenge again this week for the month of July. I am really hoping I can stick to it and have a smoothie a day. I will most likely be drinking mine for breakfast and am not sure yet if I am going to blend it the night before or throw everything into my blender (minus the liquids) the night before so I just have to blend and go in the mornings. Anyone have any suggestions for quickly making smoothies in the mornings?  

This is my favourite green smoothie recipe but I love how the challenge emails you shopping lists and a ton of new recipes to try. What is your favourite recipe?  Let me know if you decide to join the challenge as well! 

Jaclyn

After I wrote this I was on Flipboard and I came across this article. It talks about the health benefits of spinach and how it is good for your brain. All the more reason to join me and drink your greens! 

Summer School

Hi Everyone,
I decided to join Mary's Summer School once again. I had a lot of fun doing it last year so why not do it again. It is actually perfect posting it today, as I am starting actual summer school today. I'm taking an extra credit in order to lighten my load for next year.

I really want to do the homework where you go to the library and take out a CD for everyday of the week, but my local library will not be open until Tuesday. So I will have to wait until then to get my CDs.



Genetic Disease:

This year in biology we did an entire unit on genetics and it was actually my favourite part of genetics. I loved doing punnet squares and working with pedigrees. It was very interesting to see how genes are passed down through generations. I want to share a genetic disease with you that after researching about and reading the stories of those who are affected by the disease really touched my heart.

SCID is often called Bubble Boy Disease due to David Vetter. He was a boy in the 70s who lived in a plastic bubble because he was affected by this disease. The disease affects the immune system.



What is SCID?
- A primary immunodeficiency (a state in which the immune system’s ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or absent) due to a defect in a gene.
- A severe defect in both the T- & B-lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) systems.
- Also known as “bubble boy syndrome”.
- SCID can be successfully treated early. Otherwise it can be fatal within the first year of life
- Rare disease
- Most Common SCID is X-SCID

Signs and Symptoms:
- Signs of SCID include an increased susceptibility to infection (more infections than usual). I.e. A baby with SCID may have recurrent bacterial, viral, or fungal infections that are much more serious and less responsive to treatment.

- Numerous, serious, and/or life-threatening infections that are not easily treated and do not respond to medications (as they would in children without SCID), including the following:
o pneumonia - infection of the lungs.
o meningitis - infection of the brain.
o sepsis - infection in the bloodstream.
- other infections, including the following:
o chronic skin infections
o yeast infections in the mouth and diaper area
o diarrhea
o infection of the liver, skin, or ear


Reasons For Malfunction
X SCID
The mutation occurs on the IL2RG gene
The gene codes for a protein essential to the immune system
The protein aids in development of Lymphocytes (an immune system cell)
Lymphocytes protect against invaders, regulate immune system and make antibodies.
If a body is lacking Lymphocytes it makes it impossible to defend it against infections.

ADA SCID
Spontaneous mutation
Lack of enzyme that removes toxins

Pattern Of inheritance
X SCID
Sex Linked recessive disease
Affects more males
Females can be carriers of the disease
In order for females to be infected with the disease both X chromosomes must have the defect.
ADA SCID
Affects males and females equally
It has an autosomal inheritance pattern



There are a few treatments for SCID. They include bone marrow transplant and an experimental treatment of Gene Therapy.
If you would like more information about SCID check out this website.

If you would like to read about a child who suffers from SCID visit this blog and this one.



Summer School has allowed for many hallway moments! Why is it that the best laughs always happen when your sitting around in the hallway?

I hope you all are having an amazing summer.
Love,
Belle

Summer School Homework Week 2

Heyy Everyone,
So its week 2 of Mary's summer school. You can check it out here. The post was very thought provoking and was very well done. I really enjoyed it. She gave out homework once again.
The first item of homework was to eat something different for breakfast. As a rule I love breakfast, it is my favourite meal of the day and I can't function without it. I pretty much always eat plain Cheerios with chocolate milk. Which when I tell people this they go "eww gross" but seriously its really really good. Anyway, I have been told that Yogurt with cereal is really good, but I haven't tried it. So I took this as an opportunity too. It was pretty good. I don't have a picture but I found these online:

My room wasn't extremely messy, as my mom makes me clean it. Haha. But my closet was in need of a cleaning so I cleaned that out, and got rid of a bunch of purses that I no longer use, along with a few tops that are too small.

I decided to cover this bangle:

I never really liked it, it was always an ugly faded yellow colour. So after looking in magazines for some inspiration. I found some ribbon covered bangles in an old Elle Girl. So I decided to cover this bangle in ribbon. This is how it turned out:

I think it is a major improvement from the yellow. Now I want to buy some more cheap bangles to cover, in different colour ribbon. Tissue paper might also be nice. I shall have to try it.

I am going to try to give up swearing. Lately it seems I have been swearing more, and honestly there really is no reason too. I know that it takes about 21 days to make a habbit, but I'm not sure how long it takes to break one. I think it might be about 30 days but it just depends. So it is somthing that I am going to have to work on.

Next I researched hydrogenated oils, and the first website I came across called them Silent Killers, so that was very reassuring. Haha.
Hydrogenated Oils form Trans fatty acids which the body does not know how to break down. Which can cause the body to produce abnormal or deformed cells. Crisco, often used in baking, is basically a lump of hydrogenated oil. Yummy. I'm not sure if I answered the question that was asked, but basically it's a lot of scienctificness, on the websites. The main point is that they are bad for you, can cause cancer and other diseases.

Here are 7 Random facts about me:
1)My favourite subjects in school are science and math. Most people hated going to science class but I loved it. Math was a different story, I hated my teacher.
2) I love bright orange nail polish, and have 4 or 5 different nail polishes that are just slightly different in colour.
3) I watch endless hours of the food network, hoping that one day I will be able to cook like that.
4)I find something very satisfying about eating junk food while watching The biggest loser, X weighted or some other weight loss show.
5) I hate pop, coffee, ice tea, and lemonade. Ya I'm very picky when it comes to beverages.
6) I am allergic to perfume.
7) I wear glasses.
It's hard to think up random facts about yourself when you try. Anyway, I hope everyone has a good week, and I should be back sometime this weekend with another post.
Love,
Belle

Cultu(red) Challenge Homework

Heyy Everyone,
So Hail Mary has a summer challenge going, and I decided to join. Check it out here. So she gave out homework, and when you think of homework it is automatically a negative thought, well for me at least. However Mary had eating an ice cream Sunday on her homework list, and I don't know about you, but that seemed like some pretty good homework to me. So I decided to give the homework and the Challenge a try.


Here are my 10 pictures of thing that I really like/ that appeal to me:
I have been playing around with my new camera, so some of the picture are better then others. I was having fun trying it out, while doing this homework. They look better when they are bigger.

I took this photo on vacation (is that cheating?) I am quite proud of it though.
Pretty flowers; there was a bee on them, and it would have been a really cool picture. Except the bee got mad when I tried to take the picture, and I didn't feel like risking getting stung.
My Grandmother has this tree in her backyard that has some sort of berry like fruit on it. Anyway every summer we pick them straight off the tree and eat them. They are quite good.
I have always wanted to take a picture of a tree while I was lying down looking up. I am very pleased with this picture, although it is slightly blurry. However that didn't stop me from making it my desk top back ground.
An unripe tomato 'cause hey why not right?

A candle stick, that makes me think of that poem: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candle stick.
A really old pair of my skates. They are all scratched, but I still love them dearly. My old, first and only, pointe shoes. I went up on pointe, but because of my bad ankel I had to quit a year later, I then just did ballet (not on pointe) and then it got boring becuase I couldn't be in all the dances, so I quit.
Shells!
My puppy!

My poem about anything:

So I typed it out and then printed it on blue paper and scanned it back onto my computer, because I wanted it to look like a tear. So you might have to click on it to read it. I know its not great, I have never been really good at poetry, but I wanted to try.

My Ice cream Sunday:

So I didn't have chocolate sauce or smarties, but I did make homemade strawberry sauce, and I'm betting it was just as good.

My very yummy smelling body wash:

I get bored of the same body wash all the time, so I have many different ones that I buy from the Body Shop when ever they are on sale. I just started using one like this but it is the cranberry scent, its from their Christmas line. Shhh...

So I have been trying to run at least three times a week all summer, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm lucky if I run once a week. So I don't know if that can really count as completing my homework. I did however map out a route at MapMyRun.com check it out, its a pretty cool site, with some great features, I used it a lot when I did Track during the school year.

Another piece of homework was to comment on others blogs, which I have been doing.

Anyway now that I finished my homework, I am going to go and sit outside and enjoy some of the sunshine, I might even eat another one of those Sundays (Can you tell that I love ice cream.)

Enjoy the beautiful sunshine,
Belle