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!

German's anti-vegan lifstyle

Last night, Kenny and I went out to dinner at a place in Leimen. I ordered my food, and forgot the German rule of thumb for salad dressing: We'll cover a perfectly good salad with 3 X's more dressing than needed, oh, and it's a yogurt based dressing. So, I wasn't able to eat the salad. I got a spinach pasta. Unfortunatly, I thought they'd toss them in olive oil, like I'm used to. And from the looks of it, they did. But there was cream sauce on the bottom, and I had some of it. I'm lactose-intollerant, so when ever the time calls for dairy, I have lactaid that I usually take. Since I've been like super-vegan for these last two weeks or so, I don't carry it around with me. So, I was punished with an extremely bloated belly, making it uncofortable to sleep last night.

I love Germany, don't get me wrong. But, one thing I am getting tired of is going to a german resturaunt and not having any food choices at all. Or, I can eat a plain salad, with some oil and vinegar. That's part of the reason I 1) try to cook as much as possible 2)eat sushi and thai so much. 3)am partially ready to go back to the states. In the states, the service is usually already crap, so I don't mind asking for no cheese, or no cream sauce, or a vinigerette. In Germany, I don't speak the language very well, and everytime I ask, they look at me like I just asked them to sacrifice their baby. So, it's a little hard.

In lieu of being excited for the food in the DC/Baltimore area, I need to make a list of place to eat at while I'm there. Anybody have suggestions? In the DC area alone, there's dozens of places to try! I'm super excited!!! I've been dying to try Loving Hut, and I want to try vegan bakeries!

On a semi-side note. Kenny said that he'll probably go vegetarian in the states because "the animals there are so stressed in the factories, the meat probably tastes aweful." Those are his words, but whatever gets him going, right?

I'll probably take pictures of my food today, but we'll see.

I had CQ again yesturday. Instead of wasting most of my time doing nothing and looking at funny pictures, I did some reading on one of my favorite pages. PETA. Why is this my favorite page? Not because of the crazy campaigns, or the sometimes rude way they handle situations, but because they have SO much information that I haven't even read yet, and I love to learn more.

At lunch, I didn't have a lunch, so instead of oatmeal for the gazillionth time, I got chinese food. As I was sitting there, picking out the miniscule pieces of egg that were mixed in, I asked myself: Why am I doing this? This doesn't even add up to a whole egg. Would it matter if I just ate it? My answer was, Yes. It matters. Instead of asking myself if I should waste my time, I should be asking the resturaunt to stop adding egg to their noodles. It would save them money, me some time, and help promote more vegan food on post.

Chickens are, in my eyes, one of the most abused animals in the food chain. They are born under lights, debeaked, and segregated. The males are then thrown away, killed, or otherwise "taken care of" because, to the meat industry, they are useless. How can they do that? How can they just throw away all of those countless little chickens, because they were born male? Is it really that important to produce more and more meat per chicken?

Then they are put into little tiny cages, where most go crazy and have either self inflicted wounds, or wounds due to the rate of their growth in comparisson with what their bodies can handle (broken legs and such). Why can't they be free? I understand people will always want their meat, but I think that the blind eye the general population keeps turning needs to stop. If you want chicken for dinner, why not raise it yourself, in your backyard? I did this as a child, and I grew to love my chickens. They were just another member of the family in my eyes. When we got rid of a chicken (my mom sold it) I was convinced the chicken we were eating for dinner that night was the same one, and I refused to eat it. If Americans were forced to raise, feed, and take care of their food, and then kill it and prepare it themselves, then there'd be alot more vegetarians. Or, at the very least, a lot more chickens raised in better situations.

I know this probably won't happen, but why can't it? I get so easily frustrated with people who one minute are eating a hamburger, and the next, are crying because their pet gold fish died. Why is it really that much different? Where is the missing link, that should be there, in Americans today?

I'd love some imput, and thoughts.
Peace out veg-heads.

Ruts, bikes, and insta-smiles!

Happy Wednesday! I had a wonderful workout this morning (cardio, and chest), rode my bike to work, and had a delicious bowl of museli and rice milk for breakfast. I love days like today, everything works out, the sun is shining, I beat the cars on my bike, and everything is wonderful. Unfortunately, yesturday wasn't like this at all. The only good thing that happened was I kicked butt on my brief!

Sometimes I have rough days, but then sometimes I have rough VEGAN days. Yesturday was one of those. I had to be at work early, and ran out of time for breakfast. I also forgot to grab my snacks. Oh, and lunch? Forgot that too. I forgot everything. I was stuck with fending for myself in the shoppette. I had the smallest non-crab-apple I've ever seen, which was the same price as the sometimes enormous apples they sell. The bananas were sold out. So, I had an oatmeal; it was good the first time I tried it, but yesturday, it did barely anything for me. I was starving.

Then, I was supposed to give somebody a ride to the doctor's, so I didn't bike. Biking to work makes my day always seem better, right from the start. But, no, I drove. And do you know what happened? Of course not, unless you are that person. He forgot. So, I drove my crappy car all day. I was going to change it out at lunch, but I had to go somewhere last minute. Awesome.

Today, so far, I've made an extra effort to make it a wonderful day. I ate an extra big bowl of museli. I like it with rice milk, but I think on my way home, I'm going to pick up some soy yogurt. I grabbed two apples, and I grabbed my shaker with the protein powder already in it (and who says I can't be prepared?) I also made a trial-run dish for the wedding in May, and brought that in today. So, if all else fails, I can just snag some more of that.

What do you do to get yourself out of the rut of a bad day? The two biggest determining factors as to how my day will be are: 1) Being super hungry. I hate it so much! I'm always eating, and I like it that way. Being super hungry just puts a snarl on my face. 2) My car. I currently hate my car. Every single bit of it. It only does about 2 things right: It still starts (but it doesn't like to stay on.) and it is accurate with the tempurature outside. That's it. It stalls out (and it's an automatic), the door handle stopped working, the trunk only locks sometimes, no tinted windows, it eats gas like it's candy, and I'm pretty sure I've sprung an oil leak. So, driving in it makes me mad, no matter what my starting mood was.

One of the biggest ways I fix my moods is by exercising. Exercising always makes me feel more proud of myself, stronger, and powerful. I like to imagine that I'm actually stronger, but it's a slow process. That ties into bike riding. Bike riding, like running, releases endorphines, making you happier without even realizing it. That's one of the reasons I bike as much as I can, gotta love those endorphins!

The other way to put me instantly in a better mood? A big bowl of cereal/granola/museli with ice cold almond or rice milk. Insta-smile!

Peace out Veg heads!

A busy week ahead

So, it's Sunday, and what a beautiful Sunday it was, too. The sun kept its glory by shining the entire day again, and it was even warmer than it was yesturday! I had a great time at the BBQ I went to; brought a dozen veggie covered skewers that were amazing. I also brought some blue tortilla chips with salsa, and the Germans that were hosting it thought the chips were the coolest things ever.

This last week was busy, stressful, and fun. This next week is guaranteed to be the first two again, and I'm going to try and make it the third. Most importantly, I am going to my first ever yoga class tomorrow after work. Unfortunately, I don't have a yoga mat, but they should have extras for the people in the world like myself. I'm super excited, and I hope I like it. I'm all about trying new things, and I love love LOVE fast pace exercise. But, since I'm prone to stressing about every little thing, I believe yoga should help me out.

Also coming up this week:

• Brief. I have to present my latest project at work to the Colonel. I'm super nervous, but I'm confident in the project. I have been researching this for about a month and a half, and I know all the ins and outs. So, hopefully it shows.
• Lots of online training for work. It's a neccessary evil of the army. Unfortunately. It's all due on Monday, and I wasn't informed about it until Thursday, so lots of catching up is in order!
• Finish and mail off the wedding invites.
• Find Bridesmaids dressess
• Decide on what vegan food will be served at the wedding. (There will be lots of vegan food, we've decided, with only 1 appetizer containing meat, and one option for the main course. Best Fiance ever for at least giving me that many options!!)
• Start packing everything to get it shipped for the PCS!!

Ok, it may not seem that busy to you guys, but I guarantee, it will just get more stuff added to it as soon as I get to work.

For my vegan discussion point today, I'd like to quickly touch up on one thing that's been bothering me today. I was informed by a few people that vegetarians/vegans don't know what they're talking about in respects to our diets can help people loose weight and become overall healthier. For the non-veggies reading this (are you out there?) do you know at least one vegetarian/vegan? Are they overweight? They might be, yes, but for the most part a diet full of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins will NOT make you fat. If the person eats nothing but vegan brownies, then okay, fine, you got me. That is the only exception I can see. If you're eating as many vegetables as I am, add some fruits, and lots of beans, then what room is there for artery clogging meat? None. Opinions?

Have a great, sunny, week Veg-heads!

Let there be BBQs

Before I post the rest of this blog entry, I just want to say I am the worst person at remembering my camera. Two saturdays in a row, I've gone to farmer markets and forgotten it. Two Saturdays in a row, I've had fabulous breakfasts, and forgotten my camera. Whatever.

This weekend, the weather is absolutely amazing. I am the happiest person on the planet right now. I got to go to the Farmer's Market in Rohrbach (it's like a subdivision of Heidelberg.) I'd love to remain reliant on this farmer's market, but I can't. She didn't even have enough vegetables to last me a week. But, I still support her by buying vegetables and fruits when I make it to her. There's also one cheese person, and one meat person. That's it. 3 people make up this town's farmer's market. I love it. You really get to know a lot about your vegetables and fruits. Everything she sells are organic, and she tries to pick everything the day before (the market sets up at 6 in the morning here.)

After the Farmer's Market (where I got two beautiful red bell peppers, and an eggplant for a BBQ tomorrow) Kenny and I went to breakfast. I got a coffee, half a grapefruit and a roll with margarine. I'm not usually a margarine person, but it was nice. Kenny got a big platter of food, but they forgot his eggs. Oh well.

After breakfast, we walked all over Rohrbach, up and down the hills, just enjoying the sun, the flowers, and the post-brunch workout. We also found an antique store with some really amazing things. I found tea cups from 1914. Wow. I wanted to get them, but they were more than I had on me, so maybe next time.

We decided to go to the Commissary next, on our bikes. My car's been acting up, and we both have bikes. Plus, the commissary is only 3 miles away. So, we rode our bikes over there, got some green onion, cherry tomatoes, skewers, and zucchinni for the bbq tomorrow. Then, we rode over to the Reuse center. (It's a place to give your old things, or anything you want to get rid of, and others can have it for free. It's where I got my couch in the barracks, and one of my purses.) We found a book set on World Literature. The entire set. Almost brand new. Yes, please!

So, Tomorrow is a BBQ. I don't really like BBQs that much, but I'm willing to stand in the sun all day, so I guess that's one way to do it. I'm about as pale as a ghost, and it's finally sunny. So, we got a bunch of vegetables, and I bought a classic American BBQ item: Chips and Salsa. I'm excited. AND my unit is having a BBQ tomorrow as well. I won't be able to make it to both, but that's okay, i'll have fun anyways. I'll take lots of pictures!

So, overall, no long philisophical entry, or questions for the world. I just want to say, I hope that everybody reading this has a bike, and uses it as often as possible! It can make your whole day absolutly exciting!