Everyday Saturday, there is a local farmers market a few streets over from our school. There is live music, hot food for purchase, fresh loaves of bread, and an abundance of produce provided by local famers in the surrounding area. It is one of my favorite places to visit on the weekend with friends, and is centered around one of my all time favorite things: produce.

Look at all the lovely produce 🙂

As a college student, it can be difficult to have access to fresh produce because we are all broke and confined to the food available within our meal plan. Yes the dining hall does provide a salad bar, and apples for purchase, but the produce does not taste anything similar to that of any farmer’s market.

Farmers markets are one of the best resources for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables because they provide whatever is in season. Often times when produce is shipped to corporations or grocery stores, it is not always local, can be filled with preservatives and pesticides that take away from the nutritional value of the fruit you are eating, and can be more expensive. Farmers markets are a great outlet to purchasing fresh, nutrient dense, and quality produce that can be close to your local neighborhood.

Check out the abundance of variety!

While carousing the isles of my farmer’s market, I saw all of the usual things: bundles of lettuce, cartons oranges and strawberries, and potatoes bagged by the pound. I saw a few stands for local honey, and even loaves of bread that were gluten free, dairy free, and vegan (wow). However, I was struck by a small stand that caught my eye across form the fresh orchids at the end of the isle.

It was a small fish bowl with lettuce on top of it. At first I thought these people were just using the bowl as an eye-catching display, but it turns out, these people used the water these fish were living in to grow all of their lettuce they were selling.

It turns out you can have an aquaponic fish tank in your home too!

I stopped, asked these two ladies who were sitting there to tell me how the lettuce grew, did some research on the internet because I was genuinely intrigued by this concept of growing produce over a fish bowl, and this is what I found:

The Aquaponic Circle of Life

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics and is a circular system in which the fish help fertile the plants, and plants help to purify the water. The fish will absorb the nutrients from the soil of the plant that is growing, and the waste of the fish acts as a natural fertilizer for the plant growing on top of the water to prosper. However, this process cannot be done on its own if being cultured on a large scale; in order to maintain circulation of the nutrients, it is essential to have a pump in order to ensure there is movement.

I thought the idea of growing plants by using fish was the most organic and energy saving technique I had ever head of. Before that, I had always thought of planting seeds in the ground, water, sunlight, plants are sprouted and that was all there was too it. This type of agriculture was the most innovative and green forward thinking I had ever been exposed to and in turn, I ended up purchasing a bundle of butter lettuce from these exciting people.

More information about the benefits of aquaponics can be found in this link here, but ultimately, I challenge all of you visit your local farmers market and see what you find. Aquaponics was my spectacular find of the day, and I hope you can find something for you too.

♥Little Kelli

How many of you have taken a survey before? Yeah me too. Sometimes they come in annoying emails, sometimes their after you use a service and offer to enter you into some kind of contest after you submit your contact email. For me it usually results in them spamming my with endless phone calls. The point I’m trying to get at, is that surveys may be great for feedback, but as someone who takes surveys, they’re not my favorite thing.

Me every time someone asks me to take a survey

For the next step in our class research learning, we were all assigned to compose and conduct surveys. When my professor told us the assignment, I thought to myself, piece of cake, how hard can a survey be. But it turns out, surveys actually require a lot of thought because every question and answer counts.

Same Rae same

I made my survey about the dining services at our campus, what works, what doesn’t. I had to break it down and ask if people had a meal plan, provide options, ask if they liked it and used a scale to show how much. Thanks to google forms, the sharing of this survey was easy to complete, but what was interesting was how strategic I had to be in my questions and answer options. So here are a few tips from your very own first time survey maker: Little Kelli

My very own Google Form

1. Write clear, concise questions and answers for your survey. I CANNOT STAND when surveys have unnecessarily long questions and answers. *ironic because I’m a wordy writer* If its a survey, its optional, and should be easy to follow. Because the attention span of most people is short, it is important to get right to the point.
2. Do not add short answer boxes to the answer of every question. I am sorry, but most people do not want to take the time to write out their entire opinion for every question. It is exhausting, and variation will help your survey taker feel the survey is going by faster if there are questions with a variety of answer formats.
3. Maximize your questions. No one wants to fill out a survey with pages of questions, but it is also hard to feel as if the survey is meaningful if it only has two yes or no questions. I would say shoot for a variety of types of questions, and try not to make your survey longer than it needs to be. If it is going to take more than 5 minutes, let your audience know so you have a higher chance of people answering honestly, instead of rushing to finish.
4. Understand your survey will not be perfect. I spent a lot of time trying to make the wording of my questions very precise, but it turns out there were so many other questions I did not even think to ask until after my survey was completed, that it would not have mattered in the end. So write down the questions you have now, don’t worry about what you find after, and roll with what you’ve got.

I am currently waiting for the results of my survey to roll in, for it is still being filled out by the specific demographic I targeted, but am excited to see what my results will be. This if the first time I feel the research I am doing is my own because I am creating the questions and finding the data myself instead of looking for the answers in someone else’s database. It was fun to be one the other side of the survey for once. More details to come in new week’s episode and if you get the chance to make a survey, try it out, so far I’ve had a blast.

♥ Little Kelli

So with my archival excursion at an end, and my first narrative of the quarter turned in, it turns out I still know very little about research… I learned a lot from my archival experience, however, I still do not feel confident looking up information on topics I am not familiar on.

I was assigned to  read another article regarding research by Michael Klein, and I found it particularly intriguing because like me, the whole concept of research was unclear to him as well.

He devised a strategy with two of his other colleagues comprised of hunters who find what they are looking for, and gathers who distinguish what is useful and what is not. I found this strategy to be extremely enlightening, because it simplifies research in a way to where I can understand it.

Not quite like the stone ages, but you get the idea.

When dividing the process by hunter and gatherer, not only is this strategy applicable to archival research, but it is also applicable to research on google. Searching for what we need, and sorting through it later seems to be the perfect balance to analyzing materials for research instead of copying what we find in textbooks. With this method we are able to really comprehend what we are looking at by forcing ourselves to read deeper because we have to decide if this source is of use to us or not.

I started to think about how I would approach any topic in a hunter and gathering fashion. I imagined myself hunting by sifting through the library and pulling any book by using keywords, but then I also imagined me going on google and also browsing articles on the internet. I would implement the gathering technique by opening the books or links and then reading to see if the source had any relevance to my topic.

When we were discussing the topic in class, my professor brought something up very interesting; she mentioned to us that you could also maybe take a spin on the hunting perspective because when you are reading the materials you found, you can be hunting for material within. This made my head spin, because things no longer seemed as simple as they were before… I began to wonder what was hunting, and what was gathering, and how can you decider one from the other?

I have yet to figure this mystery out, but Klein’s article gave me a new found confidence and made me want to try research again. Stay tuned for more research updates regarding what I find next.

More to come in next week’s episode

♥Little Kelli

Part of owning my “California girl” title is coming home with a golden bronze tan. I along with many other college students lounge outside for hours on end to achieve this goal.  When it comes to being out in the sun, I’ve never been afraid because my skin tone is darker, and I do not burn often. However, when it comes to choosing between putting on sunscreen and not, I usually do not.

Soakin Up the Sun

Now, a few things could be happening right now: either you could be someone who thinks I am absolutely crazy for damaging my skin, you could be in denial in that you’re just like me because you know deep down sunscreen is good for you, or you could agree with me because you also hate the smell of sunscreen as much as I do. Regardless of where you stand, I am here to tell you that despite how much I hate sunscreen, it actually may be one of the greatest inventions ever created.

Me when people ask about my tan

I grew up with a mother who would slather on the Banana Boat Sunscreen whenever I went outside (spf 90). It would never get into my skin all way, make me feel sticky, and had me smelling like plastic and fake fruit. Even when the spray kind came out, she never wanted to buy it because “it wasn’t strong enough.” In other words, I grew to hating sunscreen with a passion.

My face the minute you smell the sunscreen

When I got to college, I started to notice how much everyone cared about tan they were, and how much time I really did spend indoors. I started to spend lots of time outdoors with friends as the weather got nicer, and did not think twice about applying sunscreen. I got what I wanted, very tan, and was content with what I had accomplished. It was not until I had gone home one weekend to visit my dermatologist when all my pride in my tan quickly faded away.

My dermatologist when she tells me to wear sunscreen every time I see her

She asked if I had been wearing sunscreen, and when I told her no, she practically scorned and belittled me for taking such poor care of my skin. As someone who is very conscious of her skin, her words hit close to home and was the reality check I needed to save my skin. Here are a few of the reasons she shared with my and why you should in fact wear sunscreen:

1. Sunscreen prevents discoloration and wrinkles. Have you ever seen the people who look a little older than they really are? This is usually due to sun overexposure. When people spend extensive periods of time in harsh lighting, it causes the skin to age prematurely. This results in reduced amounts of collagen and elasticity in the skin than can result in someone looking significantly older than they are.
2. Sunscreen can help prevent sunburns! Okay this one is a no brainer, and I am by no means saying sunscreen applied once will solve all problems. Sunscreen with at a minimum of 15 spf should prevent most sunburns if applied 20 minutes before entering direct sunlight, and reapplied every two hours.
3. Sunscreen prevents cancer. Skin cancer is the the most prevent cancer in the US and is due to UV radiation from the sun. The three most common types are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, all of which can be reduced if people wore sunscreen, and reapplied according to the instructions.

Bottom line is I wear sunscreen everyday at least on my face now, and every time I go outside with exposed skin I make and effort to apply my shield. Sunscreen is protection and should be a tool we take advantage everyday. As the weather I encourage you all to utilize some SPF because I am for protecting skin.

Sunscreen is important for everyone

♥ Little Kelli

Did you know that the food you eat affects more than just your waistline? A balanced diet not only helps improve energy and overall bodily function, but the food you consume also has a significant impact on your skin.

This is exciting stuff

I remember when I was in high school, and acne hit me like brick wall. I was embarrassed, awkward, and tried my best to cover up my blemishes with pounds of makeup. It turns out not only was my acne then getting worse from the clogging of makeup, but my diet is what was affecting my skin.

I visited my first dermatologist when I was in high school for acne.

At the time I was consuming small amounts of water, a very low amount of healthy fat, lots of dairy, and high amounts of refined sugar products. I wake up everyday to paint a full face of makeup everyday in order to hide my skin, but when it came to my attention that I would not be able to achieve a good makeup look without clear skin, I made it my goal do whatever it would take in order for me to achieve clear skin.

Here are a few foods to help kick start your healthy skin diet

After lots of research, I determined one way I could start was with my diet. I washed my face twice a day, had been through several drug store lines for acne products, and decided I would try to make a change in my diet. After a few months of switching up what I ate, here is what I found to most successful for cleaning up my skin:

1. Healthy Fats! Okay I know what you’re thinking, “No way am I going to eat fat because it will make me fat! I’m here to tell you that is far from true, because healthy fats will not only keep you full and satiated throughout the day, but healthy fats contain omega-3 fatty acids to help keep skin-cell membranes strong and elastic. So alternatives like oily fish, avocado, and nuts are great additions to incorporate into your everyday meals.
2. Drink Water! Around 80% of our bodies are composed of water, and in order to replenish our bodies, it is important to incorporate lots of water in between and during meals. Unfortunately, chugging water will not immediately clear skin, but it will help detoxify your body by keeping fluids moving. This small step can really help clear your complexion and overall improve the texture and resilience of your skin.
3. How many of you struggle with oily, dull, and wrinkly skin? Simple sugars such as refined grains and cereals significantly contribute to the amount of oil on your skin. Unfortunately, because high-glycermic foods transfer to sugar quickly in the body, they typically lack antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids that contribute to the overall being of skin and result in excess oil.
4. Minimize the dairy. The good news is for all of you ice cream, chocolate, and cheese lovers is that you do not have to give up what you love completely. However if your skin is sensitive to what you consume, consider minimizing dairy because the saturated fat content and hormones often results in a build up of waste that can result in pimples and breakouts throughout the skin.

Unfortunately, not all skin problems can be resolved by simply making these editions to your diet but this is a great beginning to kick start good skin care. Not only will these changes improve your overall nutritional intake by incorporating options for a more balanced and varied diet, but also help to improve your skin. All of these editions will help you glow from the inside out and the key with these tips like all food advice, consume these food groups in moderation.

You’ve got this 🙂

♥Little Kelli

Hello hello world. I have returned from the depths of my school’s archives and am here to regale all of you with tales from the depths of the Santa Clara University Archives:

For starters, the archives, did not at all pan out how I thought it would be… I was no Indiana Jones nor Nancy Drew. Instead my luxurious archival endeavor consisted of a two hour session in a small room where I spent the entire time looking at old editions of our student newspaper, The Santa Clara.

Initially, my goal was to tell a story about a history of Santa Clara University and relate it to a personal experience of my own. I would then use the information I found in the archives to help with this process. I decided I wanted to research the history of all things food at the university, old menus, ordering receipts, where we got our produce from, because the point dining system we have is one of the main reasons I decided to come to this university. Our point dining system allows for students to pay for meals as if they have a dollar value, enable take out options, and our dining system offers an abundant of gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, and organic food selections. I marched into the archives with much gusto and ambition, only to find that there was no information regarding any of those topics within the archives…

Me when I finished in the archives

Concerning? I think so.

As alarming as it sounds, there was no information regarding food AT ALL within the archives because according to the archivist who was assisting us, all of the information is thrown own each year with the taxes and is not saved. I was frustrated, disappointed, and tried my best to find anything about food in The Santa Clara, but unfortunately had no luck.

I left the archives feeling defeated, frustrated, and began to wonder what I could have done differently. A potential I did not think of until after I left was to maybe look at old bank receipts and repots in order to see if there was anything about food. From the article I read by Tirabssi, she mentioned using a principle of selectivity in order to understand how to think of where information would be put by someone who created it. It was not until after I left where I thought this might have been a possibility.

I wonder what would’ve happened

After my archival adventure, and writing an essay regarding what I found (or did not find) I am by no means a research expert. I have a lot to learn, but I am excited for the next time I have to look up more information on something now that I have new methods to approach it with.

Nailed it

♥Little Kelli

As I mentioned in my last post, my critical thinking and writing class this quarter is based on a research project. I wrote about how at the time, not only did I not have a lot of experience with research, but I also had no idea what I wanted to write about. Two weeks later, I am unfortunately still in the same boat.

But fear not! This is not about to be some lame repetitive post of the last (I hope please bear with me).

Every girl has these moments whether she wears makeup or not

So for my class, our professor assigns us readings on articles and snippets from books that not only reference our research process, but give us a source of discussion for our class time together.

My professor mentioned to us we would be visiting the archives for resources for our research papers. Initially when she mentioned the term archives, I thought Indiana Jones, archaeology, and digging through some ancient cave for readings and maybe artifacts. However, that is not exactly what she had in mind.

Archives will be EPIC

The archives are our schools catacombs in a way. They have all of the information from the beginning of the establishment and then some. She mentioned to us we would be visiting the archives and to have some ideas in mind as to what we would want to research.

But walking in the archives is not going to be the same thing as walking into your public library. So she gave us some articles to read in order to assess the archives with the best of our abilities.

The first was from Tirabassi. The first few pages were interesting because not only was she a normal archive goer, but she specially sought out a cushioned chair in order to begin and I found that hilarious. I found her principle of cross referencing to be extremely relevant  to no only searching through the archives, but understanding sources in every day reading. This technique was understanding how to link the gaps between the sources found in the archive, and using that knowledge to get a better understanding of how the documents relate not only to the question you are searching to answer, but how they ended up in the archives in the first place.

The second was reading by Gaillet and it was titled as a survival guide to the overwhelming stacks or archives. I enjoyed how the chapter laid out basic instructions and guidelines for visiting libraries and the material to be found there because if anything else, that is good general information to know. I found it interesting how that the first step when examining archival data, it is important to reference the initial question you are trying to answer… the only problem is… I currently am still sitting with out a question to be answered henceforth, I cannot maximize the data I find.

Gaillet mentions that it is the role of the researcher and how it is about infusing our interests as the author with historical context of the writings we find, and I thought it was interesting because obviously, our taste and experiences could initially hinder what we do find. Who we are and what we prefer may taint how we see artifacts, so it is important to really analyze and read what we are reading in the context in which it should be read.

All in all, after reading these articles all I can think about is what I want to research since I have not found an idea for a topic. I’ve toyed with college nutrition, STD’s and skincare, but I can’t seem to find a solid idea on what I can write research paper on. I am excited for our trip to the archives in the upcoming week. More details to come.

…For next week’s blog post

♥Little Kelli

As a child of the early 21st century, I grew up with the idea that milk should be consumed not once, but four times a day. According to the USDA food pyramid, dairy should be consumed on an average of 2-3 servings a day and the calcium, iron, protein, and probiotics were “natural” vitamins that could and should be ingested by the consumption of dairy. These were not practices brought down by and enforced by my parents, but social norms that all families in America from 1940 to 2012 believed.

Remember this from your elementary school cafeterias?

My senior year of high school I became dairy sensitive due minimal consumption of dairy products, and my body evolved to not being able to process dairy without making me feel nauseous. That was in 2016, all at the same time while almond and coconut milk were taking over Starbucks and Whole Foods as a nondairy moment seemed to be on the rise. Obviously because dairy was once a strong leader in the nutritional world, I want to know is how did dairy even get instituted into the American diet in the first place, why was it so prevalent and what changed.

Yes people do pay 60 cents extra for coconut milk

It turns out that all of health emphasis on dairy can be traced back to World War II. In the 1940’s, farmers had an abundance of animals and produce on their farms including cows, chickens, pigs, tomatoes, corn, etc. When men were injured and traveling overseas, they would send milk, cheese, and powdered milk to supplement the injured men and provide for soldiers in the field because dairy products were cost effective and nourishing.

American WWII Soldiers chugging milk for strong bones

Because milk and dairy products were in such high demand, farmers across the US swapped their variety of animals and produce to mass breed cows and harness all of their milk in order to feed the need of the nation.

This poster dates back to 1947 post WWII soldiers coming home to big cow farms

When the war ended, America was left with these seriously overpopulated farms of cows and mass production of dairy that did not seem to be slowing down any time soon. So the country would not go broke, American sold a lot of their dairy to other countries and ended up buying the remains. The dairy industries combined with major companies such as the US department of education and the US department of agriculture to sell this phenomenon that milk (and a lot of it) is essential to a healthy diet.

Milk began to become a staple for child development and was a staple to American family households.

Milk commercials and posters with celebrities from the Got Milk campaigns began to pop up everywhere. Dairy was considered a health food and trend that began to take over the nation. With the USDA and USDE advocating for dairy intake, it seemed only healthy and natural to want and consume vast quantities of milk, cheese, and yogurt in order to have sufficient amounts of calcium, iron, and protein.

What is interesting is that the a quarter of the American population is actually unable to digest dairy products. When the major health emphasis that one could only receive their calcium, iron, and protein from milk began, the truth is that is not the case. It turns out if is possible to get a whole 50% more calcium from leafy greens than from any dairy product, and that one consumes a significantly high amount of saturated fat from the portion sizes of dairy while trying reach the iron and protein count.

Calcium is surprisingly not limited to dairy products

Today we have nut milk and plant protein on the rise while red mean and dairy are slowly being kicked out. Unfortunately, because we have the least amount of people working in agriculture in the US than ever before, the transition from big only cow farms to a variety of plants and poultry, will only slowly occur over time.

My best suggestion would be to compare the nutrition labels on your food if you are looking to have a balanced diet because you cannot depend on big companies and corporations to tell you what is or is not healthy for your body. Because maybe dairy isn’t what you need most to get your protein and calcium and the government is just trying to pay of debt…

♥ Little Kelli

Today on the market there are a variety of products that carry the label “superfood.” These foods include products such as nuts, seeds, powders, fruits, and vegetables, all of which I consider be just health foods. But my question is: what does the label “superfood” mean exactly?

An example of a superfood salad containing fresh fruits and vegetables

A list of ranked superfoods from the previous year

Whenever I think of superfoods, I think of acai berries, chia seeds, brazil nuts, flax seeds, etc. Most of these foods have longs lists of benefits including packaging that says “good source of fiber” or “vitamin rich” or “omega-3 fatty acids” or “antioxidants.” All of which as health supplements we need in our diets, but never seem to get enough of it.

Super foods come in all forms including powders, dried, ground, roasted and raw.

So I’m wondering, this title of superfood, is it something that is regulated, or is it something that people are slapping on their products as a marketing technique? Because more often than not, the term comes off as trendy more than anything.

According to the American Heart Association and Live Science, superfoods are thought to be nutritionally dense and thus good for one’s health and there currently is no set criteria to determine what is a super food and what is not. So it turns out, companies can actually use the label superfood as a way to get you to buy their products, but the fact people desire super foods must have some meaning behind it.

Foods in their raw form will most likely provided the most nutrients and vitamins.

It seems to me that anything that is identified as a superfood is any food that contains multiple health benefits, and contributes to our diet in a natural way. Although superfoods are not something I personally seek out in the grocery store, whenever I find a product that is labeled as superfood, I read the ingredients within the packaging to ensure it is in it’s most natural form. This way, I am able to acquire all of the components of the superfood effectively and organically.

Any vitamin or mineral you can ingest from a natural food is going to be significantly more effective and sustainable that a man-made supplement. Therefore finding superfoods can be a great alternative to incorporating healthy fats and minerals instead of purchasing pills usually filled made with sugar and additives for binders.

I hope you can see the vitamins and minerals within these fruits

I have determined that superfoods are quality component of a balanced diet because they do in fact supplement what we eat everyday in a natural way, but like all things must be consumed in moderation. For example, chia seeds offer a significant amount of fiber that can assist with digestion and portion control by making one feel fuller. Berries are a great natural source of antioxidants which are essential for supporting immunity and skin. Coconut oil, although it is a saturated fat, is a natural microbial that can help cleanse your gut, skin, and burn fat. However when consumed in staples instead of enhancements, they can lead to vitamin or mineral toxicity, and end up having the opposite rather than intended effect on the body. They key is to remember to read, research, and vary any food you consume.

Moderation and variation of all things is what will lead to a balanced and whole diet

So the next time you are at the super market and are unsure of what the label “superfood” means, read the lists, and ingredients on the packaging. No superfoods will not give you telekinesis or give you the ability to fly, but they will enhance your diet by supplementing essential vitamins and minerals in their most pure form.

In my Critical Thinking and Writing Two class, the topic is research. Throughout most of the schooling I have received, the majority of my writing curriculum was based heavily on summarization, rhetorical analysis, and narrative writing, hardly ever research. The extent of my research writing includes a fifth grade paper on black holes, and a senior year high school paper on the life and accomplishments of Madonna Cicionne. In other words, I have little to no experience with research papers, and now am going to be spending the next ten weeks on writing on a topic of my choosing, but with no idea how to start.

When the professor described the theme on the first day of class, I was excited. The idea to be able to learn more about whatever I wanted and write about it was the academic freedom I had always dreamed about. However, as I began to ponder on topics, my innovative free-writing fantasy quickly came crashing down.

That feeling when you think everything’s going to be great but it’s not

From the same class I was assigned an article to read about this research writing technique called the BEAM. It categorized the sources of research writing into background, exhibition, argument, and method. All of which sounded the same to me at the time and when I finished, I thought about two things:

1. This article is great for identifying sources and how to make them most effective, but in order to find sources, I need a topic.
2. I need a topic…

I began to think back to one of my favorite shows, The Carrie Diaries. The show is a about a young high-school  and her adventures as a young Connecticut writer who aspires to make it as a New York City author. In one of the episodes, she gets accepted to a prestigious writing school and half of her final grade is dependent on a research paper, similar to one I be crafting in my class.

The only two seasons of this show are available on Netflix. Highly recommended.

Throughout the episode, she racks her brain for any idea (I really mean any idea) from snakes, to the history of trains, to sex. After long nights of writer’s block, procrastination and extreme brainstorming, she decides on a topic she desired all along when everyone she admired advised her against it.

Throughout my research process, I found myself doing the same things Carrie did. Racking my brain, procrastinating to no end, and depending on the opinions of people I admire in search of a topic I deem satisfying. I would ask people what they thought about topics such as obesity, portion sizes, and sugar intake (things I was kind of interested in) and based on the positivity or negativity in their responses I would decided if it was something I wanted to learn more about. I ended up frustrated, overwhelmed, and still with no topic.

Frustration and overwhelm are in no way limited to high school students

Disclaimer: I am not in any way saying that you should not consult people when deciding on personal preferences, but I am saying that you should not always depend on only their feedback for decision making.

On the verge of giving up, I turned to my Pinterest feed to procrastinate and escape my lack of success. I was refreshed with all things I enjoy free: recipes, fitness routines, health tips, and travel guides. I began to think, maybe if I enjoy reading and speaking about these topics, maybe my research writing should be about something I want to explore for myself, not for other people.

Please follow my “Saucy” page on Pinterest @kellibates_ for fun, easy, and healthy recipes

I look forward to incorporating the BEAM once I have decided on a topic for this research endeavor. But for now, I’m going to start by finding a topic to research I want learn more about.

♥ Little Kelli