vegan-ish

January of this year I decided to become a vegetarian. Everyone asks why.

WHY? Why not? Why would you want to put stuff in you that isn't meant to be?

I've always been pretty healthy. Well, the college years were a bust. But other then that....I'll just say growing up I was pretty healthy. I've been to the doctor I think twice for something other than a physical or check-up. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I don't think so. I think it is because the only time I had red meat was once in a blue moon when Dad would grill burgers, or if I was at a friend's house. I think the only pork we ever ate was in a hot dog, and that was rare. We had chicken...sometimes. Pop was a treat and so were most junk foods. 

Back then I thought I was deprived of all those wonderful things all my friends were having. Now I'm just thankful. 

What we did have a lot of were fruits and veggies.

"The consumption of animal fats and proteins has been linked to heart disease, colon and lung cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, obesity, and a number of other debilitating conditions. (Cow's milk contains ideal amounts of fat and protein for young calves, but far too much for humans). And eggs are higher in cholesterol than any other food, making them a leading contributor to cardiovascular disease. The American Dietetic Association reports that vegetarian/vegan diets are associated with reduced risks for all of these conditions."    
 -Vegan Action

So, why not? We all either know someone, or know of someone (probably several someones) that has been affected by cancer or disease. I don't really want to go through that.

Last year Andrew and I watched a few documentaries on food and health:

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Forks Over Knives

Food Inc.

I highly suggest all three. 

Since January I have had chicken once and fish a few times(if you think fish is ok, think again. it can have toxic levels of bacteria, parasites, and mercury). Each time, I wished I had had something different. It just doesn't taste good anymore, which I am so happy about! Don't get me wrong. It's summer, and summer means parties with your friends, backyard fun, and...grilling. Burgers. Steaks. Chicken. Man, I love that smell. At this point though I just breathe in, enjoy, and turn to my veggie burger. 

I thought giving up meat would be kinda hard. It's been the opposite. So now I have slowly started cutting out animal by-products as well. I'm not saying we've stopped hittin' up Orange Leaf for some of that Pineapple-Coconut goodness. It takes time.

Pinterest has been a big help in finding vegan recipes. This board has recipes I have tried and definitely want to make again. 

Last night we had Blackened Tempeh Burgers with Black Bean Salad. They were both delicious.

Angela over at Oh She Glows is one of my favorite vegan bloggers. She has so many yummy looking recipes it's hard to decide which one to try. 

I believe that our bodies have the ability to protect and heal themselves if we give them the right things. Animals are not part of that equation.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, 

who is in you, whom you have received from God? 

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 

Therefore honor God with your bodies."

-1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I guess the next part of the equation is that thing called exercise. I will let you know how it goes. 

Memorial Day Weekend

it already seems like a while ago, but we haven't done anything exciting since so it's the only thing i have to post about. 

our good friends got married the Saturday before Memorial Day in Arkadelphia, so we headed down Friday afternoon for the rehearsal dinner. i didn't get any pictures of the decor but it was such a beautiful, classy wedding. 

Andrew & I after the wedding

i was so happy i finally had a chance to wear my dress from The Mustache! 

it was also neat to see where Andrew went to school and to meet a few more of his college friends. 

Sunday we headed to Harrison to hang out with my folks, their friends, my aunt and uncle, and my brother. and......MAX! he was the main attraction of course. i know i will think my kids are the cutest, but this guy will give them a run for their money. 

i know it's blurry, but i love this picture of my dad and Max. 

"i wish i loved anything as much as kids love bubbles"-Knocked Up

we got some great gardening advice from my parents. Hopefully we'll get to put it to use this year. 

also got this little red bud from them.

can't wait to see it grow!

Procrastination...

I'm a really bad procrastinator. REALLY BAD. There are about 20 things that I've been putting off. Right now there is one staring me in the face. This room is the least inspiring room ever, besides the bird flitting around in the rose bush outside the window.

Granted, we've only been in our house for about 2 months. That almost makes it worse. It's a viscous cycle. There are so many things to do. We've only been here 2 months. One thing at a time. It can wait. WAIT? There are so many things to do.

So instead of doing one of those 20 things, I decided to start my blog... And that my friends, is what successful procrastinating looks like. 

Here's what the Even's ARE accomplishing:

I became a vegetarian at the start of 2012. More on this later. Andrew is actually going along with this quite well. He'll eat meat when we go out, but recently told me he might take it on full time (shhh). 

I'm slowly cutting out all animal by-products.

We are drinking this every morning. It's 100% pure organic ingredients. I think we're going on three weeks so that's a major accomplishment for now. 

We bought shelving for the garage. Have yet to put it together. We were supposed to do this last night, but instead I talked Andrew into going to see The Avengers. Good choice me. 

Yesterday I threw out almost all dangerous toxic cleaners and made safe natural cleaners. Definitely more on this later. 

As of today, I have accomplished starting the blog. So I guess that procrastinating thing is two fold. 

One last thing...last weekend we went to Dallas for our anniversary. We watched my dear friends Eden's Edge perform at Poor David's Pub. If you haven't heard of them, check it out. They are three of the most talented musicians. And of course we had to go to a Rangers game!! If you didn't know, they are the team to beat this year. 

10 days out!!

theknot has informed me that i am 10 days away from being Mrs. Even.

this would probably cause anyone else to kick it in high gear and get things done. but like i told my co-worker today..."i only move at one speed." this has become glaringly apparent during this DIY wedding we are having. i only have one excuse: growing up one of my dad's favorite phrases was "slow and steady wins the race". really?? come on dad, it doesn't. what is does is make you a perfectionist and a procrastinator.

by now, you should have caught on to the fact that instead of doing wedding stuff i am sitting at my computer typing. my original plan was to start blogging after we were married because, well, apparently it's the thing to do. so i was sitting here and i just started thinking about all of the things i am most excited about for the wedding, and i decided i needed to document them...

• my wedding cake-it is going to be the cutest, prettiest, simplest cake you have ever seen!!
• my jewelry-made especially for me
• the food-you probably won't have any room for dessert
• my centerpieces-a work in progress since the beginning
• the flowers! i'm REALLY excited about the flowers.

and no one wants to read a bunch of mush, but i really am most excited to finally be married to Andrew.