yeh it's been a while...korean dramas and homemade facial masks

So it maybe has been almost a year since I have posted last. I'm not very good at journal writing so I don't know way I though I'd be better at blogging. I did pretty well when I had a lot of time while living in France. So here is one thing that has been bringing me happiness for the past year.  My friend Melissa got me hooked on Korean dramas and i LOVE it. They are soo cute. There are many reasons that they are great but here are a few they are very entertaining without sex, violence or vulgarity. I know right who would've thought???One thing that we noticed is how amazing their skin is (Koreans). Melissa went and found some skin techniques that they use and we have been making our own masks ever since. here are a few of my fav photos..sooooo much fun.

this was my all time favorite. It literally was a rancid banana face mask . The recipe called for a well ripened banana, but the only bananas I had were past ripe. It made our eyes burn. Good times

even though we both look like crazies this mask was amazing.  Recipe below...

Honey Veggie Mask

This type of mask is great for normal to combination skin and it's easy peasy to make.

To create this mask mix together a dash of cayenne pepper, 2 vitamin E capsules, 2tbs of Honey, and 1/2 avocado. Slather on your face and leave it on for 30 mins.

*I didn't have any honey and used agave nectar instead which seemed to work great. We loved this mask!!!!

His Sacred Name - Amazing video to watch this easter weekend. Enjoy!

Avignon, France home to 9 Popes....oops... haven't posted in a while. here was one of my little voyages in France.

So this was one of my last voyages in France before coming home. Nicki and I had planned to go to Marseilles for the weekend but there was another transportation strike, which made it harder to get to and from places and there was also another strike going on specifically in Marseilles which happened to be a garbage strike. So i didn't want to go there if it was going to be disgustingly dirty so Nicki said that she would go with me to Avignon, France instead which actually wasn't far from Marseilles. It was sooo much fun and we laughed for the entire day. So we went to Avignon, this tiny but really beautiful city which is home to the Palais de Papes, which translates as the Popes Palace. I didn't know this before but Popes from the catholic church didn't always live in Italy. There was a period in time where there were 2 Popes for the Catholic church at the same time. One was in France and another was in Italy. A At the time the people were confused and didn't know which pope they should follow. Since then there were 8 other popes who lived in Avignon, France. Nicki and I even learned that at a time the Palace was overrun and was full of soldiers. Crazy huh?? 

Palais de Papes...  the Pope's Palace

this was soo random and was right in front of the Popes palace. I had fun doing a hand stand in front of everyone

there were some beautiful pieces of art in the palace

Look how artistic I am

This room was awesome but we weren't permitted to take pics inside the room since there is still the original painting done of the walls.

this was my one of my fav rooms. It was enormous and if i remember correctly this is where they would hold their festivities.

this is called the "Crowning of the Virgin" If you can't tell there is an angel on each side of the Virgin holding a crown  

Nicki decided to start climbing up this rock wall that we passed

This is Nicki dancing on le Pont d'Avignon "the Avignon bridge" there is a song about dancing on this bridge and so she started dancing. it was hilarious

these last pics are in a really cool museum in Avignon

Life is crazy!!!! Families are amazing

due to a family emergency I will be coming home. Have you ever had an experience that literally feels like a rug has just been pulled out from under your feet? Well I just did and am not quit sure what to do. It's very interesting to me how quickly ones perspective changes and what becomes really important when something serious happens in life, especially when this something has to do with family. For anyone that has any discord in their family or with a close friend it's not worth it! Don't worry about who was or still is at fault just go and fix it. You'll be surprised especially if you aren't the one at fault (or think you aren't when normally everyone is at fault to a certain degree) to see how quickly the anger and hurt go away. I have aways found it interesting to see that when someone is hurt and chooses not to forgive how it ends up making them them as unhappy or even more unhappy then the person that offended them. There is nothing good that comes out of being unforgiving.

A few pics of some people i LOVE!!!!

little voyage to Valence

So since i hadn't done really anything during my first vacation break at school i decided to go to a neighboring city called Valence. It's where is go to church every week but still i hadn't really seen the city. I would have gone some where further but with the strikes going on for a few months now transportation has been really hairy so i didn't want to go anywhere too far since i didn't know if i'd be able to get back if i was even able to find a way to get there in the first place.

this is the front of the Catholic church in Valence. It is really beautiful

I was just walking around in the old part of Valence and saw this beautiful building

inside the church

loved this image. This is from the back of the church

I really thought this image of Christ was touching

These cookie things are called "suisse" which translates as Swiss

even though i posted about the amazing boulangerie Paul and their Tarte au Citron i think that this one that i ate at a boulangerie in Valence beat it, which i thought was impossible

I love the little streets like this that are all over France.

Zucchini Recipes: Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread and Muffins

Zucchini Recipes: Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread and Muffins

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but i think it looks promising.

Quote from one of the best films I have ever seen...Amazing Grace

"When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon - men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who's achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more."

— Lord Charles Fox (from the  film Amazing Grace)