Author: Emily Gautreaux

Book an Unforgettable Vacation with these Tiny Homes

For many, the idea of living day-to-day life inside the walls of a “tiny home” is just that, an idea, or unreachable fantasy. Though, just because it’s not the ideal fit for most long-term homeowners doesn’t mean that it should be ruled out as a vacation destination, as suggested by Tardiff and Stamp’s Architectural Digest article.

From a variety of international perspectives one could take, many of us are living in spacious, sometimes excessive situations, so of course it’s fun to imagine a life basking in minilatlist, utilitarian design and function. So that’s just what makes the escapist fantasy of a vacation that much more exciting when you book a micro-lodge, because you’re not just living in a different location; you’re experiencing a different lifestyle.

Tiny houses have had a recent surge in popularity due to the fact that their innovative design and unique decor options that maximize small spaces tend to make for great photo opportunities. Thus, the trend of renting tiny homesnaturally followed their inception with the lack of square footage being supplemented by environmental conservation and diverse locations. Many of these micro houses are built on areas such as forests and beaches, where other homes can’t be bulty, thus making their rental all the more inviting.

Welches, Oregon

Located in the Pacific Northwest, Mt. Hood Tiny House Village consists of five handcrafted holiday homes just outside of Portland, Oregon, and the 233-square foot “Scarlett Tiny House” is a dream-filled, picturesque escape that allows for up to five guests to dwell inside. The space is inspired by a rustic, farm-house design, and it’s filled with antinue goods and other repurposed materials. The neighboring houses each have distinct design-based personalities that range from the femininely floral Savannah to the masculine Atticus. This collection of homes is operated by Petite Retreats, which also owns tiny-house villages in Leavenworth, Washington and South Hampton, New Hampshire, but at $139/night, this is one can’t-beat escape.

Marlboro, New York

This quaint tiny home is better known as the Hudson Valley Glass House, as it’s set against a backdrop of 30 acres of orchards, vineyards, and wildlife. This beautifully-designed home is filled with modern comforts like wi-fi, air conditioning, and a well-stocked kitchen, though guests are able to buy fresh eggs from the host’s chicken coop in addition to grilling on the communal fire pit. Located just 90 minutes from New York City and close in proximity to otherHudson Valley attractions, for just $169/night this is the ideal New England getaway destination.

Augusta, Georgia

Located in the suburbs of Georgia, this 200-square-foot rental home is complete with two lofted beds, a full kitchen and accompanying outdoor areas that include a picnic table and fire pit. Though tiny, it truly has everything a traveler needs for a comfortable stay outside a historic, yet  charming city to explore. When home, you’ll enjoy quirky decor and a lovely outdoor living space at ust $102/night. All profits go to the local nonprofit, Camp Helaman, a group that provides outdoor recreation facilities to community groups.

Southern New Hampshire

This particular home has a utilitarian design that will have you bragging and sharing photos of your lumber-filled vacation for years to come. Owned by the Getaway property group, this property is found just outside of Boston at a former family-run campground in the Southern New Hampshire woods. The 43 simple, stylish tiny homes offered by Getaway are surrounded by a beautiful backdrop of forest and lakeside views. Take a technology break and escape to a fire-ring and picnic table meal under the stars at just $125/night.

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Baton Rouge Students Earn Associate Degree & High School Diploma

Recently, an innovative new program has emerged in Baton Rouge Louisiana that involves local high schoolers earning an associate degree and a high school diploma at the same time, as reported by an article from The Advocate.

The program is similar to other early college programs that have emerged in Louisiana in recent years, though this particular Baton Rouge-based program, known as the East Baton Rouge Career and Technical Education Center’sEarly College Academy, is set to zero in on specific, high-demand, higher-paying job fields. The end result is to have students walk out of high school and right into a job, having gained the education and experience alongside their diploma requisites.

Earlier this year in March, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the new academy by officials from both the Baton Rouge Community College and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Though, the coronavirus outbreak and the surrounding closures of schools shut down the operations involved in opening the academy and getting students enrolled. However, officials from the two educational institutions recently reconvened to sign a proclamation that commemorates the partnership between the school system and the community college.

Though the program is beginning with a manageable, smaller size than intended, it’s allowing officials to observe what does and doesn’t work about the program from the onset, as four Baton Rouge teenagers from Broadmoor Senior High School are starting their associate’s degree alongside their diploma pathway this month.

These students started the year by taking both their high school and college-level classes strictly online, and they’re set to return to twice-a-week instruction in-person soon. The in-person instruction will have students taking their traditional classes at Broadmoor High and taking their field-specific college courses at the school system’s Career and Technical Education Center. These four students are the first ninth-graders to attend EBR CTEC, and they’re joining 155 juniors and seniors from other local high schools.

Chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College, Willie Smith told the Advocate just how graduates of the program can make an immediate impact upon exiting. He stated, “Could you imagine — we’ll have 18-year-olds now paying taxes — what that will do for our community?”

Similarly, Associate Superintendent Ben Necaise, who was filling in for Superintendent Leslie Brown addressed students at the ceremony directly by saying, “Congratulations for taking that plunge and being the first students to go through this amazing program. We can’t wait to see what you do.”

These four students from Broadmoor High entering the program are pursuing associate’s degrees in automotive as well as information technology with more degree pathways to be added in the future once the program opens up to more high schools.

So far this year, the students have been taking online IT courses as they await a return to in-person instruction that will allow them to gain experience that comes with full utilization of the hands-on lab equipment.

One student learned of the program just by viewing a promotional poster in the office while he was registering for school earlier this year. He viewed the program as a good opportunity to broaden his expertise, as he had already begun independently learning how to code.

The Executive Vice President of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, John Spain, traced the genesis of the program all the way back to 2008 when he and other civic leaders were trying to decrease the amount of teenagers dropping from local area high schools.

This program, once expanded, wil serve as a great companion to a high schooler’s education as it’ll propel them directly into the workforce just as they receive their diploma, making the students an active investor in their education as early as Freshman year.

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Six Simple Sauce Recipes

No matter the dish or the chef, it’s a hard-to-learn truth of cooking that a sauce can make or break a main course, so it’s always a good idea to have several recipes in your back pocket. Thankfully, PinchofYum has curated a list of sauce recipes that will compliment your various served dishes, regardless of flavor profile.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This sauce is ideal for complimenting your next sangwich and bringing it to new, savory heights, and it does this while only requiring five ingredients. Fresh garlic, lemon juice, and roasted red peppers build a flavor base and then almonds and olive oil are added to create a silk-like texture that is similar to magic green sauce. This red pepper sauce is colorful, saly, and zesty enough to be placed atop a variety of Mediterranean dishes like vegetarian bowls or fries, as well as the following dishes:

  • Sandwiches.
  • Burgers.
  • Eggs
  • Salads.
  • Grilled chicken.
  • Grilled vegetable

Basic Garlic Butter Tomato Sauce

This sauce is a one-pot wonder that can definitely give a breakfast sandwich a much-needed flavor explosion, but it’s not for those who dislike seeds and tomato skins, as the recipe incorporates a lot of them. You start with approximately two cups of cherry tomatoes, olive oil, minced garlic cloves, balsamic vinegar, and butter. For a thinner product, it’s suggested that you add water to the pot, and it’s always a good idea to add fresh basil as well. It’s suggested that this sauce be placed on:

  • Breakfast Sandwiches
  • Flatbread
  • Pasta
  • Garlic Bread
  • Ravioli
  • Sandwich wraps

Honey Mustard Sauce

Leave the branded squirt bottle on the grocery-store shelf and begin making your own honey mustard sauce that’s catered to your particular taste with just five ingredients and five minutes of preparation and mixing time. This recipe produces a creamy, smooth dipping sauce that doubles as a simple, yet delicious dressing. It only requires you to whisk together organic honey, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, white distilled vinegar, and cayenne pepper.

  • Roasted sweet potatoes
  • Chicken tenders
  • Baked tofu
  • Colorful salad
  • Sandwich wrap
  • Baked potatoes

Chipotle Cashew Queso

This recipe goes beyond recipes that are mexican-inspired or tex-mex while being simple to make and vegan-friendly. You’ll need just five ingredients: chili powder, salt, chipotle peppers, cashews, and diced green chiles. It’s a great idea to simply dip a chip into your mixture or drip it on top of a sheet pan fajita gathering, as well as the following:

  • Roasted corn
  • Quesadillas
  • Grilled chicken
  • Rice bowls
  • Nachos
  • Fajitas

Cilantro Vinaigrette

Unless you have the gene that makes you taste soap when eating cilantro sprigs, this recipe is perfect for a summary salad while just having a handful of ingredients. You’ll need cilantro (of course), garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and salt alongside a pinch of red pepper and a splash of water. These ingredients are placed in the blender and ready to serve atop

  • Chicken tacos
  • Roasted potatoes
  • Green rice
  • Quesadillas
  • Cobb salad
  • Sweet corn

Sunshine Sauce

With such an attractive name, this recipe lives up to the uplifting, golden expectation while also being an ideal, complimentary sauce that’s ideal for meal prep. To prepare, you’ll need vinegar/lemon juice, olive oil, salt, dried oregano/basil, and garlic. The beauty of this recipe is that it is quickly concocted with pantry-friendly ingredients, though it’s always made better by adding fresh herbs. Place this tangy, sweet sauce on top:

  • Scrambled eggs
  • Grilled Chicken
  • Roasted Potatoes
  • Sandwich wraps
  • Chicken Fingers
  • French Fries

The above six recipes are ideal for those looking for a last-minute addition to their meal or a meticulously-planned compliment to be served in its own dish, and it’s made all the better by not necessitating too many ingredients.

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Louisiana Public Universities Report Fall Enrollment Increase

Despite countless obstacles leading up to the start of the 2020-2021 school year, nearly across the board, Louisiana public universities saw higher student enrollment numbers for the fall semester than in previous years, as reported by the Advocate.

In fact, several public universities across the state saw record-breaking statistics, such as Louisiana State Universityin Baton Rouge and Northwestern State University seeing their largest classes in the histories of either school. Similarly, Nicholls State University is holding its largest class since 1990 with similar increases to enrollment observed by the University of New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana University, and LSU campuses in Eunice, Alexandria, and Shreveport.

The only school to have a slight dip in enrollment numbers for the Fall 2020 semester was the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, but president of the University of Louisiana System, Jim Henderson attributes the school’s enrollment decline to a nearby school district. He remarked that due to the Lafayette Parish school board’s delay in activating the dual enrollment program, which allows current high schoolers to enroll in collegiate sources, attributed to the decrease in enrollment in an otherwise “good recruitment year.”

The increase in enrollment for most universities certainly came as a shock to the state, collegiate communities, and the schools themselves with the Covid-19 pandemic casting a hazy shadow on the specifics of how the upcoming school year would be affected. Earlier this fall results from a survey of 433 senior admissions officials detailed that 60% were “very concerned” about meeting their institution’s enrollment goals for the fall.

Similarly, Gallup conducted the 2020 Insider Higher Ed Survey of College and University Admissions Officials, and they found that most colleges expected there to be a general decrease in enrollment for the 2020 semester. Earlier this year as colleges around the country closed down to slow the contagiency of the coronavirus, many officials in higher education were anxious about enrollment numbers dropping, and they launched task forces to calculate and mitigate the expected losses.

President Jim Henderson told the Advocate, “we had a lot of uncertainty this year. We’ve been through a lot: tumult, pandemic, campus closures, now storms.” The University of Louisiana System, for which Henderson is the president, oversees nine four-year institutions that educate 91,000 of the state’s approximately 215,000 post-secondary students.

The increases in enrollment data comes from campus censuses conducted by the Board of Regents, who oversee all public colleges and universities. The data is required in an official capacity, as a few weeks following a school’s opening of classes, they are to report their “Enrollment Counts,” and being that each school’s opening timeline differs from school-to-school in a traditional year, the data comes in on a varying timeline.

One particular school that was set to receive more students than in previous years was McNeese State University, but with the damages accrued by Hurricane Laura, the campus suspended classes, thus setting back the Regents’ timeline.

National job losses that accompanied the economic shutdown motivated many students across the state to improve their credentials and become more employable, resulting in the enrollment rise that puts Louisisna’s post secondary schools against the national expectation. Remarking about the recent drive by Louisiana students to improve their economic outlook is the University of New Orleans president John Nicklow, who told the Advocate, “In recent months, we have learned a number of lessons about how to be more flexible and better support our students in completing their degrees; those lessons will help us serve our community and state far into the future.”

UNO added 144 more students this semester, bringing the total enrollment up to 8,375 students, which is 1.75% higher than the previous year. Additionally, 20% more freshmen students enrolled. President Nicklow stated, “especially in light of the pandemic, a college education will be even more important.”

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.

The Best Urban Bike Trails in the U.S.

Autumn brings a special brand of weather across the United States, making conditions absolutely perfect for holding classes outside, going on a picnic, or exploring bike trails wherever you are. Similarly, fair weather causes more travel to nearby cities, being that the conditions are perfect for urban exploration, so why not combine the rush of a bike ride, the utilization of American’s bike trails, and the visiting of everything a great U.S. city has to offer from historic landmarks to unforgettable parks? Travel and Leisure has the answer with their catalogued list of the “11 Best Bike Paths to Explore U.S. Cities.”

Before immediately jumping on the old Schwinn and merging onto a metropolitan highway, it’s suggested that you should forgo that unsafe and stressful path and instead find a dedicated bike path, as nowadays many U.S. cities have paths that allow for bikes to traverse for miles and miles through diverse terrain and not ever have to cross a multi-lane street. Bike paths also allow you to explore the city at your own pace, allowing you to take a pitstop (or several) to partake local parks, ice cream shops, public art exhibits, and historical landmarks, all without the stresses that accompany looking for a parking spot.

Katy Trail; Dallas, Texas

While only three and a half miles long, this trail has a history of being an abandoned railroad line from 1865, but it’s since been revamped into a shade-filled peaceful route that’s owned by the city of Dallas and managed by a nonprofit. The local community regularly comes together to maintain the trail’s accessibility and aesthetic for its hundreds of daily travelers who bike, jog, walk, and rollerblade atop its winding path. Once finished, stop by the Katy Trail Ice House,  since its patio borders the trail, making it a perfect people (or dog)-watching station.

Poudre River Trail;  Fort Collins, Colorado

Fort Collins, Colorado is widely recognized as one of the best cities in America for biking, as its 285 miles of trails tends to reflect enthusiasm in its cycling-friendly culture. The Poudre River trail runs a 15-mile path diagonally through northern Fort Collins, and there are plans to connect it to another 22-mile section along the Poudre River, giving locals a lengthier path to explore northern Colorado. While riding along the river, look out for the expansive wildlife of the area, as deer, bald eagles, hummingbirds, foxes, and (sometimes) mountain lions are visible to respectful travelers.

Lake Monona Loop; Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin is a beautiful city, and that beauty is highly visible from this 13-mile scenic bike path that winds through small parks, cozy lake-side neighborhoods, and botanical gardens. Riders will also take in wonderful views of Lake Monona and the city’s skyline, as the loop is a part of Madison’s extensive cycling infrastructure, which includes a growing total of 240 bike paths and trails. If planning a visit, try and get the most out of the scenery with an autumn visit, as the scenery is magical when set against leaves cast in deep reds, oranges, and yellows.

Burke-Gilman Trail; Seattle, Washington

Seattle is a very bike-friendly city, and it has been for some time, so while it might seem intimidating to bike through one of the country’s largest cities, this 20-mile trail takes you across the city and surrounding areas in a peaceful introduction to the majesties of the Pacific Northwest. Burke-Gilman trail follows a historic railroad route, and as it passes through several Seattle neighborhoods and nearby cities, it’s a popular choice for commuters, experienced cyclists, and casual bikers alike.

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National Blue Ribbon Program Awards Ten Louisiana Schools

This fall, the United States Department of Education recognized ten Louisiana schools as winners of the 2020 National Blue Ribbon School awards, as reported by a Louisiana Department of Education press release. The Louisiana schools receiving this monumental honor are located in East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Natchitoches, St. Martin, St. Tammany, and Vermillion parishes.

Since 1982 the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes both private and public elementary, middle, and high schools across the United States for their overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. This program is a part of the U.S. Department of Education, and as this is their 38th year recognizing schools, the organization has bestowed nearly 10,000 awards to more than 9,000 schools. Schools become eligible for awards after operating for five years, and to earn an award is an industry standard of greatness in that it signals that school for displaying evidence of exemplary teaching and collaboration among students, educators, families, and entire communities.

In 2020, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos recognized 367 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools. While presenting the nominated schools with this honor, Secretary Devos remarked on the prestige of the award by saying, “It’s a privilege to recognize the extraordinary work you do to meet students’ needs and prepare them for successful careers and meaningful lives.”

The two performance categories in which the schools are recognized are:

Additionally, four nonpublic Louisiana schools receiving the program’s national honor are:

Each year up to 420 schools may be nominated with the U.S. The Education Department inviting National Blue Ribbon School nominations from top school officials in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education; the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools.

With Louisiana receiving so many honors for its schools across the state, the Louisiana Superintendent of Education,Dr. Cade Brumley remarked, “This national honor speaks to the high expectations and student-first cultures you will find at all of these schools. I’m proud to have them represent Louisiana and congratulate them on this remarkable accomplishment.”

The 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony will be held virtually on November 12th and 13th with the United States Department of Education celebrating the total 317 public and 50 nonpublic school honorees via the virtual awards and by mailing out the traditional plaques and flags to recipient schools via mail.

Profiles on all of the 2020 award recipients can be accessed on the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program site as well as a historic database of all National Blue Ribbon Schools from present day to the program’s first year, 1982.

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