Monday, March 28, 2011

Vegan? What is that? and why?!

When I was in middle school/high school, I was very conscious about what I put in my mouth. Some people might think, "that's too much to think about" or "that takes the fun out of eating." I'll be the first to attest that "no it's not" and "no it's not." Even if it was, isn't that a good thing...I mean, HELLO?! You're putting that stuff in your body! That's what keeps you alive...or what's going to kill you, I'll let you decide. I have never felt more active/energetic and more content with my body than I did during those years. Those are the years that are most awkward for us but I took pride in how I looked, felt and most importantly, my eating habits.

Well, here I am, give or take 10 years later and feeling so unsatisfied with myself. Not necessarily my looks (because that's not necessarily what this is about) but more in my energy level, the realization that aging is going to start kicking in any day now, and especially because I'm going to bear children in the not too distant future. I feel the need for change. I need to step it up and off the laziness scale and get with it again.

Don't get me wrong, I have loved a good burger or a good sandwich...but in almost every instance, I get the nagging feeling that "I shouldn't have eaten that" or "I'm going to have to work out 5x's as hard for that 5 minutes of pleasure." It's to the point that those thoughts aren't worth what initiated it to begin with.

With that said, I have decided to alter my eating habits. Starting this morning for breakfast, I became a vegan. Something I've wanted to do for years but since marrying a carnivore who loves to cook, almost made it impossible. Well I'm doing it anyway. I need to do it for me. Don't worry babe, Ill still cook you meat...I just don't want any part of it. I won't miss it. I haven't been the biggest fan of meat for a long time so I don't feel like I'm going without at all. The only thing I won't have is meat, dairy and eggs or anything that contains animal products. Totally fine by me! It's almost like a detox really, because most of the fat American's eat is from those things I'll be cutting out.

I've had a few people bring up the point, "isn't that against the commandments" or "that's why God gave us animals." Well murder, especially the way today's factory farmhouses "prepare animal products" is against the commandments. I'll spare you the details but really, the production of today's animal products is, what I'm sure, the way God didn't intend.

I'm not looking for disputes, or reasons why I shouldn't do this; I simply wanted to share why I CHOSE to do this. :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A little about me at this moment...

Candy: DOVE Milk Chocolate or Chewy Sweet Tarts. The Sweet Tarts are long time favorite; my daddy always buys me one...)
Soda: strictly Coca-Cola! Although, I don’t have one everyday. Absolutely none of that diet stuff...
Show: anything on HGTV, I get so many good design ideas! I love the Kardashians too…
Favorite I-Pod Playlist: “Current Fav’s”
            Sia- Breathe Me
            Mumford and Sons- entire “Sigh No More” album
            The Asteroid Galaxy Tour- The Golden Age
            Better Than Ezra- Breathless
            Katy Perry- ET & Fireworks
            Ke$ha- Crazy Beautiful Life & Blah Blah Blah
            Matt and Kim- Daylight
            Natasha Bedingfield- Strip Me
            Adele- Rolling In the Deep
            Flickerstick- Beautiful (long time favorite- Dallas local band)
Lady Antebellum- I Run To You & Need You Now
Time of the Day: evening. LOVE my baths and chilling out
Snack: Swiss Miss Chocolate Swirl Pudding, fruit or chips and salsa
Cosmetic: Neutrogena Naturals Lip Balm and Mascara
Websites: online magazines- Real Simple, Women’s Health, House Beautiful
Dream Job: Interior designer/organizational expert or apart of the creative team for Nordstrom’s or Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas.
Pet Peeve: clutter and things on the floor
Restaurant: Whataburger (Texas) or Toscano’s Italian Bistro
Things that are important to me: accept & befriend those who are different than me and to forgive.
I’m proud: to be Mormon, to be an American, to be Native American and to be a domestic abuse survivor so that I can experience and appreciate my amazingly loving and devoted husband.
Book: The Travelers Gift by Andy Andrews
Thing to do: 4-wheeling with Josh in the mountains when the suns going down or lying in bed at night talking.
Makes me laugh: Josh’s little voices he makes, Leo getting as close to me as he can whenever I sit down or when he yells at me for his treat.
Hobbies: Cleaning/organizing, decorating and finding as many cute clothes as I can for my money (i.e. bargain shopping) Why the hell would you spend $200 on jeans?! Waste.
Something I wish I was better at:  not being so OCD about little irrelevant things.
Vacation: I LOVED Hawaii and do plan to visit again soon! Turks and Caicos/ Nassau were pretty fabulous too…
Quote: “Life is not waiting for the storms to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”- Vivian Greene


P.S. I do this for journaling purposes only...and so my kids can look back years from now and realize how normal I used to be. ;)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Latest...

It's been a few weeks since I last posted anything but not a whole lot has really happened! This past week I have been SO SICK! I think I caught Bronchitis from my sister and it seemed to hit me HARD! I ran fever for 3 days, body aches like you wouldn't believe and lungs that burned with every breath. It was NOT FUN. Yesterday was the first day that I felt decent and managed to make it to the doctor. He said it should be clearing up because my lungs didn't sound too bad anymore, thankfully! Today I feel great except that I get winded pretty easily and I can't shake this cough for the life of me!

Also, news to post is that we're headed back to Texas this summer! I'm sure everyone already knows but it's still blog worthy because afterall, I'm headed back home! We will be in Lewisville which is about 45 minutes north of my family and I could not be happier. Last year, we we're in Houston which is a 4 hour drive; I did not complain about that one bit because I was at least in the great state of Texas. I'm just happy that I'll be in the metroplex! HALLELUJAH! I love the sight of this skyline...Home Sweet Home.


This last news update is a sad one. On Friday, March 11th; Japan suffered one of the most devastating natural disasters in it's history. A 8.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Sendai, Japan and was soon followed by a massive tsunami that just about wiped Japan off the map. As of today, 2 days later, an estimated 10,000 people have been killed. Not to mention that the death toll will still continue to climb through the coming months as rubble and debris get cleaned up. To add to the devastation, they are expecting a few more severe aftershocks as well as several unstable nuclear power plants. It is so sad and my heart goes out to those affected by this tragedy.


Japan, you are in my prayers!