Sustaining My Community Commitment

As I previously reflected on my blog, throughout this semester, I would like to take a minute to reflect on the class that all of this work was for. My Sustainable Communities class was much different than I had anticipated, though I thoroughly enjoyed it. Having taken many sustainability classes in the past I thought I was well prepared and would not gain much from this class, but at the end I would have to beg to differ. The texts that we read, and the intellectual discussions that we had every class were extremely beneficial. I was able to finally see all types of sustainability that has been initiated in areas and proven positive to be synthesized together. My favorite part of the class would have to be the times we were given tasks to create a company, a community, or an idea and present it using sustainability as its main focus. It taught me a lot about combining different aspects of communities and sustainability depending on the need, demographics, and location of the place. I truly enjoyed this class and the discussions. Not to mention, I am now an avid listener to TedTalks and even downloaded the app on my phone. I also found a lot of enjoyment out of our Walkability Bloomington project. I always tend to enjoy a class more where there are tangible results, ones that I can see initiated in the community. As I noted in a previous blog post about my Loyola University agriculture project and how I am still attached to it, I know I will be the same way with this project in Bloomington. As our presentations approach to the city I am excited to see how it goes over and if it will end up being implemented as we had hoped. All in all I really loved this class and am happy to know that it will be extremely beneficial in my career as I am only one semester away from being a SPEA grad. I would also like to send a thank you out to all my followers and readers. It has been an amazing push to continue to write enthralling posts as many of you comment and even tell me in person how much you loved my recent post. So a big thank you to all of you for your support.

-Stephanie

A Penny for Progress

Well well well, after a semester spent trying to green my dog I would have to say not only was it WAY more difficult than I had imagined, it turned out well and I had fun doing it. In my attempt to make Penny a healthier, happier dog I would think I have succeeded. And not only did I end up making her greener, but I did the same thing for myself. As I revamped furniture from her, learned more recipes for myself and Penny, and even came up with a dog shampoo I found other neat green things for myself. I found a lovely farm where I got my pumpkins and will be getting my Christmas tree from, I found an awesome organic restaurant in Chicago for when I move back home, and I came up with a lot of new activities for her. For Christmas I am even going to make Penny a little snuggle blanket cove out of a blanket that she ruined the corners of. One of the easiest things I learned throughout this whole blog is puppy ruined furniture and things aren't really ruined, they just need to be repurposed. Obviously if your dog did something naughty like eat your blanket it's because they were lacking something... like attention and warmth. So not only have I learned to constantly keep Penny extremely active by taking her on long long walks and to the dog park, but on rainy days indoor hobbies like building a little obstacle course in the house with all the left over material from the ottoman I had. I am really happy how this project turned out. I feel like I have bettered her life even further. There is no reason why I should be living a healthy life and forget about her. She is just as important as anyone else is. Any why not take her greener. It has honestly only bettered her and made her a happier puppy!

Friend Fur Ever,
Stephanie & Penny