Never be a dog owner if you're not willing to commit, to anything for that matter. I kid you not, having a dog is just as the same as having a child. No joke.

I took in my german shepherd, Hunter, when he was 5 weeks which is not the recommended age to retrieve so do inform yourself with the acquired age that is appropriate.

Reason I had to take him in so early was because the owners simply did not want to keep the puppies any longer and the puppies were kept outside in a kin and due to the cold weather conditions. But I do say one thing, that Hunter is one firecracker. So much energy for such a little size and he will only get more energized and much more bigger.

Dogs in general need a lot of attention and of course lots of love. Yes, I know my Hunter feels the love I give him. I can't stress enough the importance of bonding with our beloved pets. Their lives are short lived yet their lives revolve solemnly on us and that is a blessing.

Cost of Textbooks Are Rising

      It seems as working two jobs is not enough for a De Anza College student, wondering whether buying gas or books is more beneficial.

      Luis Gonzalez, 21, a sociology major, works at two restaurants to pay for school. Even with financial aid it is difficult to buy school supplies such as textbooks.

    Gonzalez already has to help his parents out with house bills and lives in San Jose, commuting to school is more than 40 dollars a week. On top of that, textbooks aren't helpful.

   “It's bs because I don't feel like we should be paying that,” he said, “the school should provide that for us. It's a big stressor. If we don't have the money on time, then we fall back on our homework.”

                                                    photo courtesy: usatoday.com

• "The College Board estimates that the average student in this country spends around $1,200 a year on books and supplies. A single book can cost as much as $200."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/02/02/cnbc-college-textbooks-expensive/5038807/ 

• "College textbook prices are 812 percent higher than they were a little more than three decadesago, the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank, reports. Textbooks costs have well outpaces the 559 percent increase in tuition and fees over roughly the same period."

photo courtesy: huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/college-textbook-prices-increase_n_2409153.html

   
 Gaby Barajas, 20, a major in business marketing, also agrees on this notion.

Already having her plate full with being a new mom, money is very tight around her household.

      “Textbooks costs are ridiculous books shouldn’t be that high even when college is already expensive. We already need laptops for college and that is expensive enough,” Barajas said, “Supplies are reasonable but textbooks shouldn't be 100 dollars to rent a math textbook.”

   Barajas doesn't have the money to purchase these books for she would rather buy diapers for her son, therefore she doesn't buy the textbooks. Barajas tries to find the books somewhere cheaper.

    Out of 6 students asked about this dilemma, all agreed that textbooks in general are too expensive.

      Kevin Garcia, 21, a political science major, think this is absurd.

     Garcia doesn't believe in the education system, “I hate it. Institutions used to be free and the fact that I have to pay more than I should bothers me.”

    Working a 8 minimum wage job does not help Garcia either for he knows that the beginning of every quarter he will have to pay for textbooks and it will come out of his check.

    Victor Noguera, 22, a economics major, believes that the cost of textbooks are they way they are for a reason.

     "The high cost of college texts would be lowered in a minute if college instructors had any financial responsibility for the cost of textbooks. Of course some instructors are very diligent about watching prices, and some institutions have made it a goal to lower textbook costs. But the average instructor? In the battle between moral imperatives and economic incentives, follow the money."

http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/10/10/why-are-college-textbooks-so-expensive/

photo courtesy: nacs.org

http://www.nacs.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=_Jz-tFOW7oM%3D

 
 “It depends if there is a shortage of supplies, is theres a surplus of textbooks then the price should not go up like that, but if theres a shortage then the higher of the price,” Noguera says, “ Its all about supplying demand, not everyone will afford it but those that really want it are willing to pay whatever the cost is.”

    This study conducted students to realize there needs to be a change in the education system.

   Cristin Marin, 20, a civil engineer major, supports the idea of making changes to the price of textbooks.

   “It's too expensive for a community college. Even though students work, it is still not enough for someone that works part time. There are also other concerns. Giving so much money for a book that will only be needed for a quarter is ridiculous,” Martin says, “I believe the dean should look into getting the prices dropped. The school should at least help out the students.”

Classic Homemade Apple Pie

Ok, this isn't the first time I bake an apple pie but the first time I make it from apples. Which I recommend, last time I got lazy and reluctantly bought the canned apples and it did not taste so good. In that case I will show you guys the recipe courtesy of Food Wishes.

Ingredients:
 2 Fuji apples, 2 Granny Smith, 2 Braeburn (I didn't use Braeburn for this one)
1 cup of graduated sugar
3 tsp of cornstarch
1/8 of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tsp of butter
1 egg, beaten with slight water
1/2 lemon juice
ready to go pie crust

OK! Let's get started

So as I said, I didn't use Braeburn apples but these are the apples. You can use more depending on the size of the tray and how you cut them also.

Slice the apples on the ends and then peel them

Once you do that, cut the apple in half, then again. After, take away the core of the apple and place the apples in big bowl. Another tip is to add lemon juice so that the apples do not turn brown.

When you are finished peeling and slicing all the apples (I feel like this was the most time consuming process), add the sugar first, the mix, and the rest of the ingredients. BUT leave the cornstarch till the end when the apples appear to be wet. Add the cornstarch until dissolved. 

Alrighty. Almost done. Now here you place the dough over, pretty self explanatory. 

Add the apples carefully so you don't spill any over. You will have excess juices from the apples and I like to pour it on the apples at the end. 

  Now place the top layer over the apples and to make the closing of the dough I simply placed the top layer behind the bottom layer, then I rolled both over towards the pie. You can get fancy with how you want you're crust to be like. I simply just place two fingers on the dough and with another finger pushed up to make the pretty creases. Anyhoooo, your pie will need air vents, again, which ever design you choose, cut the top of the pie with an X and then carefully make some slits.

And now the hard parts of making the pie is over now. (Add the egg wash with water on the pie and sprinkle it with some sugar).

 Pop this little guy in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes. Or whenever the crust is visibly cooked. There will be some juices spilling over so don't mind that. Also I placed an aluminum tray under the pie. Make sure to put the pie, once cooked, on a cloth, only if you're tray is glass.

And VOILA! 

Your result should look like this. I took it out for 20 minutes and it's still hot to I don't recommend eating it right out of the oven.

The smell of the house will be worth the hour wait trust me!

My thanks/appreciation to those wishing me Happy Bday and other rants

My 19th birthday!!!

9/11

I remember everything. I was 7. My mom woke me up abruptly, perhaps to get ready for school, I thought. But it was way too early, roughly around 6 am. She led me to the living room where she was watching tv. First image I saw was a building on fire. I couldn't quite make out what I was looking at. It wasn't until I knew that those were the Twin Towers and I saw them collapse.

On my trip to New York in 2011, I was very frantic because I knew I was going to the some memorials and the site itself. This was already a touchy subject for me over the years so I couldn't bear the thought of seeing it for myself. Around the third day of my trip, we went to lower Manhattan. The first visit was a church that was probably between 50 feet away for the construction zone (where the towers were) and it was set up as a memorial. I already got chills before walking inside. There was a lot of quietness inside, I saw a huge banner that said "WE LOVE NEW YORK" and then I saw something disturbing. It was a firefighter uniform and it was demolished. Debris covered the entire uniform and the boots looked burned and torn out. I stood there probably longer than I should've, just staring at this, I could only imagine what this firefighter went thru. It was the only vivid image that I got out of that church, everything else was a blur.

We walked across the street to another memorial and there was pictures, books, magazines about the event. Of course I start crying. We then started to walk next to the construction site and I got chills. I looked up to only imagine the Twin Towers hovering over me. Then come to the realization that a lot of people were standing where I was when it was all happening. And, of course running away from where I was standing when the towers collapsed.

It was a memorable visit, one that I won't forget, not forget how I was feeling during the entire time. Today marks the 12th anniversary since the attacks in 2001 and I remember everything and I will never forget.