41 Things more important than your GPA in college. {Nyla}

I'm coming up on my senior year of college.

Panic has set in.

I decided I would put up a post today I had on an old blog.

It seemed fitting.

Hopefully you enjoy this as well.

1. Finding Yourself.
2. Finding a major you enjoy
3.Making friends you actually like.
4. Interning.
5. Volunteering your time.
6. Taking a class on something you know nothing about.
7. Learning how to pay bills.
8. Figuring out where the money is going to come from to pay your bills.
9. Learning to live with people besides your family.
10. Learning what you like to do.
11. Learning how much alcohol you can handle
12. Learning how much alcohol you can't handle.
13. Finding a passion you didn't know you had.
14. Opening your eyes to the world around you.
15. Realizing you actually really like your parents.
16. Discovering the value of a dollar.
17. Learning what a deadline means.
18. Making deadlines.
19. Doing something stupid and having a good story.
20. Learning to keep in touch with people while your in a different place.
21. Traveling
22. Taking a class you absolutely hate.
23. Failing miserably at something.
24. But getting up the next day and trying again.
25. Learning to do your own chores.
26. Managing Stress

27. Eating healthy

27. Exercising when you don't eat healthy.

28. Starting to figure out what you want out of life.

29. Changing your mind about things.

30. Forming your own opinion and thoughts about things.

31. Especially politics and what you like. 

32. Changing your major if you find a new one you like.

33. Trying your hardest.

34. Accomplishing something you thought you couldn't.

35. Going to a college football game.

36. Tailgating

37. Learning to work with people you don't like
38. Figuring out how to make a budget.
39. Sticking to a budget.
40. Figuring out how to make things work when you don't stick to your budget.
41. Making it to graduation.

Sidenote, I am not saying your GPA isn't important.

Because it is, but people get so caught up on a number. 

Just like with your SAT score, which by the way only 4 years later and I have no idea what I got.

There is so much more to learn and discover during college.

Try your best and learn something new everyday.

You'll be fine.

Hood to Coast

After the success I found in my 100 miles for Relay for Life, I decided that I would join a Hood to Coast team.  

Our team this year is through Living Water International, and we are fundraising to build a couple wells.  There are 783 Million people without safe drinking water in this world.  

Everyday I take for granted that I can walk into my kitchen and fill up my water bottle and not worry about boiling it or having to travel to get my water, it is right next to me.  Many walk miles one way to the nearest well everyday to get water.  That's time spent that could be used to help bring income into the family or educate children.  

My goal is to raise $500 towards Living Water International.  

I have 3 legs during Hood to Coast.  A 7 miler, a 4 miler and a 3 miler.  The last two are cake.  BUT I have never ever ran 7 miles before in my life.  But as of today I am currently at 5 miles.  I have over a month and until Hood to Coast and just need to go 2 more miles. 

Join me as I help build wells with the rest of my team!

Here is the link for our fundraising page.

https://www.crowdrise.com/HoodtoCoastRelay/fundraiser/nathanclark1

Thanks Everyone!

One Pot Pasta {By Nathan}

I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I would try it.  It is very simple and fun to make, as well as very tasty. 

Ingredients:

1 Pound of Spaghetti 

2 Andouille Sausage Links (12 oz.) Thinly Sliced

1 Large Onion Thinly Sliced

3 Cups Halved Cherry Tomatoes

4 Cloves of Garlic

Basil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Dubliner Cheese (grated)

In a large pot on medium-high heat, combine spaghetti, sausage, onion, tomatoes and basil together over medium-high heat.

Once that begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer pasta until water is gone, roughly 8-10 minutes.  Top with cheese and enjoy.

Serve Immediately.  

I strayed a little bit from the recipe I found because I accidentally bought cherry tomatoes instead of grape, and I didn't have parmesan cheese.  But it gave it a delicious taste.  

The original recipe can be found on my pinterest here:

http://www.pinterest.com/nathanlclark/all-things-edible/

It was incredibly easy to make, it took less than 10 minutes of prep time, and it cooked itself after that.  Great for a dinner in a hurry, and it makes quite a bit, so if there is only one or two of you, it gives you lunch the next day.  

I think next time I will add some more garlic and Nyla suggested that I char the tomatoes and add them later in the process.  

Hope you all enjoy it!

Summer Bucket List

Since we both are in summer school, we will be staying in the Eugene area for most of the summer.  But even with school and work, we will still get a good amount of free time, and that means.....

SUMMER BUCKET LIST TIME!

So far, this is what I would like to either accomplish, or in general do more of.

Nathan's List:

Travel Abroad

Finish In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck

Paint

Run Hood to Coast (Coming August 22nd.)

Run 7 Miles (Must do this before I do Above.)

Visit Crater Lake for the first time after 16 years in Oregon.

Read A Call to Action by Jimmy Carter

Make a Fruit Tart

Work on my Mcmenamins Passport

Nyla's List:

Go on more hikes

Attend an outdoor concert

Finish The Fault in our Stars

Take more photos

Go Wine Tasting

Finish our gallery wall

Go to the Zoo

Do you have any Summer Goals or a Bucket List?

Tell us about yours!

Tacovore --Restaurant Rec. {By: Nyla}

Last night Nathan and I were out and about running errands and decided to stop and get some dinner.

We have been both been dying to try out Tacovore since it opened a few weeks ago.

It's located in one of our favorite neighborhoods in Eugene, the Whiteaker.

The area is located on blair and features tons of great places to eat and drink.

It's a fun neighborhood for walking around and enjoying these great summer nights we have been having.

So when we heard a new taco place had opened we knew we had to try it.

Tacovore has a great open area making the place feel huge.

We both really liked this because it instantly felt like somewhere you could come with friends be loud and stay for hours while not bothering anyone.

You walk up to the counter and order what your hungry for.

One complaint we had was the menu was not listed anywhere so you had to decide what you wanted once you reached the register.

This made me feel like I needed to make a fast decision and I couldn't really weigh my options out.

I went for a fish taco and carne asada.

While Nathan ordered the taco of the day (A lamb taco) and went for a bowl of gazpacho.

We also ordered chips and salsa to share.

I heard a lot about their margaritas so decided to try them out as well.

The drinks and chips and salsa arrived first.

The had a salsa bar so we grabbed some other flavors that looked good.

The Margaritas lived up the their hype. Salty, limey and delicious. 

Fair warning though, they are strong but oh so good.

They were 8 dollars which isn't bad especially for the size of these bad boys.

The chips were really good. 

They are homemade and fried fresh.

They came out nice and hot.

The salsa was pretty good. It tasted fresh but I may have preferred something with a little more kick.

Nathan's Taco of the day. Featuring Lamb, Olives and feta cheese.

My Fish and Carne Asada Tacos.

Look at that fish, it's huge!

Nathan's Gazpacho soup. A cold Mexican soup. I had never had it before but it was good!

Limey and sweet!

All in all we highly recommend this place. 

Great food, drinks and atmosphere.

Not to mention a great location at the start of the Whittaker.

If you decided to go:

Tacovore

Address:  530 Blair Blvd Eugene, OR 97402

Eat: Fish Taco

Drink: House Margarita

If you try out Tacovore let us know what you think!

Where to Eat: Isla Mujeres {By Nathan}

I'm not sure of the actual name of this food stand, or if it even has a name.  But I do know that it is owned by a sweet and talented lady named Algentina (I believe that is the correct spelling.  The g makes the h sound.)

We stumbled upon it as we walked home from the beach on our first full day there.  We were enticed by the sign with everything being 10 pesos each.  As we walked up we noticed that she had a large bowl of cornmeal, and told us that she was making beef and chicken empanadas.  Not wanting to miss this opportunity, we ordered some.

OH MY GOODNESS they were heaven.  She fried them up right in front of us and gave us our choices of toppings.  They were soft, but crispy, and greasy.  They were delicious.

As our trip went on, visiting Algentina became a daily necessity.  We tried her tacos and quesadillas as well.  Her tacos were basic but tasty, and her quesadillas were filled with your meat choice and white queso.  I loved getting pork quesadillas, and then stuffing it with pico de gallo and cabbage.

It is my favorite place on the island, for its price and its experience.  Everyday we would chat about the island, the school across the street, and about our lives.  It was great to learn about life through someone in a completely different culture.  Her husband worked across the street, chopping open coconuts for customers to drink the water out of.  The whole street that this was on had other small carts selling hot dogs and hamburgers (which made me laugh) and more traditional foods such as tamales, fruit and tacos.

I loved eating here everyday and giving my money to a family that worked hard to have a successful small business, and that created mouth-watering and scrumptious food.

Eugene Farmers Market {By: Nyla}

Since we have gotten back from our vacation we have had no food in our house at all.

So last weekend we got up early saturday morning and walked over to the farmer's market.

This past year or so we have been working to buy more local and fresh produce. 

Buying at the farmer's market is a great way to do that.

We love being able to buy straight from the source and buying from neighboors.

The Eugene Farmers market is huge, they have one block with arts and crafts and a whole other section just for food.

There are stands with produce, meats, cheeses bread and even starter plants for your own garden.

Getting up and going saturday morning has become one of my favorite activities that we do.

Let us know in the comments if you love going to the farmers market and what your local one is like.

Here our a few snaps from our trip this past weekend.

Heres a photo of some of the goodies we picked up.

-Cilantro

-Tomatoes

-Carrots

-Red Leaf lettuce

-Beets

-Yukon potatoes

-Purple Potatoes

Not Pictured:

-Olive bread (SO DELISH)

-Ground beef

What's your favorite item to get at the farmers market?