Wow, I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that guys, I've been super busy, and without internet for a while. I am currently sitting in a temporary room, using an internet stick which means that my connection is slow, and not very trust worthy.

On the vegan front, it's not been so good. My microwave doesn't work, and I don't have any cooking stuff anymore, so i've been stuck with mostly raw foods, or out to eat. Awesome.

Today is the day; the day I final-out. Final-out is when you are completely done with everything, you've cleared every office that you have to, and you are ready to fly to your next duty station. Everything is done. I hope no curve balls get thrown at me, but I don't think there will be.

I'm super excited, but a little nervous as well. This is it, I'm done, finished, ready to go, move away from Germany, from my home for the last 2 years, from the country and culture that has shown me so much. Now, I'm moving to a country that thinks pizza is a vegetable, where vegan is seen as a disease, and if somebody exercises more that 3 times a week, they're obsessive, not just trying to get in shape. Don't get me wrong, I love America, I love being able to call people during the day, and not at 11 at night. I love that if I've got an upset stomach at 11 o'clock at night on a sunday, I can go to the store to get some medicine. I also love that it is becoming more easy for a vegan to eat out without just ordering a salad. (Something that Germany lacks ever so slightly.)

I'll keep everybody updated on my travels. Wish me luck!

Happy Sunday everybody! This week was a short week at work (technically) but it felt very very long. I had CQ on Friday, and that was a long day. Tuesday I got ready to start clearing. Thursday I officially stopped work, and am focusing on clearing.

It was a jumbled week, and this one won't be much better. Kenny has to clear his apartment this week, and I'm already in the Temp rooms at the barracks. The microwave doesn't work very well, and my cooking utensils are already shipped. So, I'm on what a lot of people have been calling the PCS diet. I eat out a lot, or a lot of raw/instant foods. I have a water boiler, so there's these noodle bowls at the commissary that are vegan. (only one brand, so if they run out, I've got nothing.) Kenny still has a rice cooker, so combined, we can eat a lot of grains, and raw veggies. Awesome. It's one way to eat super healthy, but it is putting a strain on the vegan thing.

The topic I'd like to discuss today is Vegan Travel. I love traveling, and I love being a vegan, so, in theory, they go hand in hand in my world. However, contrary to popular belief, the world is not completly vegan friendly. I know, I'm completly shocked as well. But, traveling as a vegan doesn't have to be completly miserable! Sometimes, it's trying, I'll admit. In the states, airports and resturaunts are becoming much more vegetarian and vegan friendly. Websites like happycow.net and even peta are making where to eat an easier option, or at the very least can educate you on which cuisines to eat at for the most options.

When I'm in doubt, I usually pick thai food, or italian for some plain pasta with marinara sauce. But, incase you readers aren't aware, here are some of the best places to eat, and what to get:

Thai: Curry, pad thai, and stir fried veggies. I am lucky to have a thai place down the street that has vegan spring rolls (the not fried kind), soup, and 7 or 8 choices for entrees. Just make sure you let them know that you don't want fish sauce. Sometimes they think that fish is still okay.

Italian: You can get plain pasta with marinara, or, if it's not on the menu, you can explain as nicely as possible that you are a vegan, and ask for some sauted (in oil) vegetables to be added. Some other options are: cheeseless pizza, or calzones, vegetable raviolis with an olive oil or marinara sauce.

Mexican: Beans! Anything with beans, as long as they don't have lard, can be used. Taco Bell is my favorite "fast" Food, place for mexican, they don't use lard, and you can substitute beans in for mean in just about anything! Chipotle is another place that is the perfect place for a vegan, black beans, some rice, some vegetables; the perfect meal on the go.

Japanese: If you're eating japanese, I'm assuming that you're eating sushi, and never fear my friend, you are in the green zone. Just ask for anything with vegetables! I've even had fruit on one before, and it was delicious.

Misc. Asian styled food: I say this one because sometimes it's called a chinese resturaunt, but it doesn't resemble any actual chinese food. But, they will usually have steamed veggies, and white rice if there's nothing else to eat. I've convinced the chinese place where I work to stop mixing egg into their noodles, so now I can eat those too!

American: Don't eat at an "all-american" place unless you KNOW that they have vegan food. This is a setup for disaster.

Well, I'm off to google places to eat at while I'm traveling, have a great week!

Hello Goodbye!

As my days in Germany draw close to an end, I must start saying Goodbye to lots of things; my friends, my living space for the last 2 years, all my stuff (that's on a boat now) and my car. Today was my car. I must greet this ending with as much confidence as I lacked when I got here. I will end this chapter of my book on a happy note, I hope, and start the next on at a totally different setting, with different characters and possibly different roles.

My car is officially off of my name today. I didn't really like the car, but it did its job. It never officially died on me, never blew a gasket, or even kill a battery. I sold it for dirt cheap, because nobody in their right mind would have paid more. I tried to fix it, but, to my dismay, all I did was reaffirm my dislike for cars. They're nice to have once and a while, but the upkeep is too much, gas is aweful for me, the environment, and my walet, and they're just money pits that never pay themselves off. Here is a (crappy) picuter of my car when I first got it.



Stupid car that wasn't worth what I paid for it.

Another part of ending the Germany chapter means no more trips to places older than my country. It's sort of depressing, but I'm glad I got to see some of Germany. I never seemed to have made it North, and now I can't think of why I didn't. ...Pictures from trips in the past...

Me, probably a month or two ago.

Me, just hanging out in the new barracks room... my hair was so long!!!









Kenny is driving to Bavaria



A cow in Austria

I'm getting all reminiscent and I'm not even touching on the Vegan thing.... here's today's quick topic: How OCD are you when you go shopping? I've heard people telling me not to buy produce from the grocery store beause it's covered in wax (from bees, duh!) and then I have those that just don't eat meat, egg, or dairy (no, I don't search the entire ingrediant list for that one thing telling me not to eat this.) I'm somewhere in the middle, which is probably good. The lactose intollerant thing makes it important to ensure that dairy isn't lurking without me knowing. But, I have never even heard of some of the lists that people come up with, naming chemicals out of the yin-yang that are from animals one way or another. I feel like I'm stuck eating the grass outside some days.

Anybody else feel like this? (I bet the cow does!!! Look at that gorgeous cow, eating the grass!)

Well, peace out veg-heads, there's more goodbyes to embrace tomorrow.

Happy Day-after-Easter!!!

We have the day off from work, so I'm just running around getting things done. Today, I am finallizing the wedding invitations, buying the stamps, and mailing them off. I am also getting my laundry done from the weekend, that way there's less for next weekend. Finally, I am going to yoga tonight.

I've really come to love yoga. I do it almost every night now, just to destress right before bed. I love centering myself, and finding me. I think that this ties into the vegan thing, but who knows.

As for easter, I went to a vegetarian-friendly dinner party at Kenny's place. I ate vegetarian because there was nothing, not even the bread, that was vegan. Awesome, but poor planning on my part. So, one day out of a while isn't bad, I think.

I didn't dye eggs, mainly because of the vegan thing, and also because of the no kids thing. But, I was extremely happy to find that you can get ceramic eggs now to dye, for whenever I decide a child should enter my life.

I also had a semi-serious discussion with Kenny. We're getting married in a month and some change, and we'll be living in the United States. The meat in America vs Europe is different; the laws towards how they're treated are different, the laws dictating what can be fed to them are different, it's all mostly different. Our discussion was on how I don't feel he should be eating American meat as it is now. We talked about it, and he's agreed that (after the wedding) he'll be eating 99% vegetarian with me. That last 1% will be the "I'm not cutting it out officially" percentage. Men, what are you going to do?

I'm glad that he is at least open to the idea of cutting most of it out. I hope that this is the gateway to him going completely vegetarian. Will it be? Probably not. But, one can only hope.

In lieu of Easter/Spring (even though it's raining here) I'm going to post some pictures of animals and spring related beauties.

       

Today was day two of yoga class! I'm still in love, and I even bought my own yoga mat. (It's in the mail.) Today's class size was around 9 people, so double from last time. I liked that more people were doing it at first, but then I got slightly annoyed with the constant door opening, and people walking around because they were late, and dropping things. I'm trying to be more considerate, and I realize it's a $4 class, so there can't be too much complaining. I just hope that Friday's class is better. (I'm going Friday because my yoga mat should be here by then, and I want to get more of a rhythm before I go back to the States, and have to do some of it on my own.)

I have ridden my bike a lot more, and I'm loving it. Sometimes, it's irritating, others, it's not. So, I will continue to ride it. I even rode it to the movie theater where I saw the Hunger Games. It was a great movie, I thought, and I can't wait to see if there's more.

As for the vegan front: I made sushi again tonight, mainly because a pot of rice will make my lunches all week, and I'm tired of buying my lunches. So, I'll probably post a better one tomorrow.

Have a happy week!

--This is the OM sanscript in yoga. I think it's pretty. Enjoy!