Taking the Bad with the Good :)

Isn't it strange that everything can be going wrong; you can have an awful day or week, then one moment just reminds you that everything is okay? Enjoying simple moments in life and letting go of stress is very good for your mind and body.

I had a bad week this week or maybe it was just a long bad mood. Last night, I couldn't wait to get home. I just wanted to go home, throw the covers over my face, and wake up to a new day. I ended up watching a so-so movie with the boyfriend last night after eating a quick dinner and sitting by the fireplace. When it was over and the lights went out, the monstrous 16 lb. cat we're 'house-sitting' for crawled on top of me. He put his cold paw flat on my face and laid his chin on it and purred so loudly. My boyfriend cuddled up to me and kissed me on the cheek. We said 'I Love You, Nite' and smiled at each other. I felt so lucky. I hate how I let little things get to me so much.

Anyone else have a similar simple yet clarifying moment lately?

How do you handle the little things and stay stress-free?

An Albino Whitetail Deer

I always feel I need to share cute, unusual animal stories that I learn about. Here are a few great pictures that I've come across.

An albino Whitetail deer is born once in more than a million births. This fawn was found by someone driving by. The car in front of them had almost hit it. They're sending him to a rehab farm to get strong and perhaps make it on his own some day. It said he was less than a day old!

Totally Fabulous!

Lisa McGlaun (LifePrints) says I'm totally fabulous! This means so much coming from her! Her blog is one of my favorites. What first caught my eye was her quote:

"In every moment we leave our mark on the world through our intentions, actions, and relationships. These legacies are our LifePrints. What do you wish to leave behind? LifePrints is dedicated to stories of individuals and organizations making a positive difference in our world, one compassionate deed at a time."

It's one of those instances you feel like they are saying how you feel, just in a lot better way than you ever could. Not only is her writing style unique and impressive, she always has interesting things to write about. She would be the first person I'd give an award to. Check it out when you get a chance!

Now to pass on the Totally Fabulous Award to a few bloggers that I think are Totally deserving.

Here are a few of my favorite Totally Fabulous Bloggers. Pass this award onto your favorite blogs!

VeganSally - Living Without Meat. A fellow animal lover who has inspired me in many ways. There are new topics every day. One of the few blogs I actually subscribe to; I was pleasantly surprised to find she had written a post about my vegetarian blog! It's a great feeling when someone you admire returns your admiration.

SleepnBeauty83 - a wonderful mother of three. She has a lot to say and doesn't sugar coat anything, that's for sure. I may be a little biased considering we have close for over ten years, but I really enjoy seeing what she has to write about and her creative layouts.

SnowTigressJO - I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Laidback Buddhist, as it has been up for many awards before. You can tell she really has a passion for blogging! She seems wise beyond her years, and I love her use of famous quotes.

30 Million Helping Hands

If you had 3 months with which to spend $ 30 Million in order to change the world what would you do?

Thirty million really isn't that much when you're trying to change the world! There are many problems with this country today but one you don't hear about often enough. There are people with no place to live. We send out tons of money in aid to help other countries, but we have hungry people here, too.

Many people that I know have bad attitudes towards homeless people, like they could work if they really wanted to. Unless you're in those shoes, do you really know? I have never been homeless but was in fear several times of becoming homeless as a child. A college roommate of mine was homeless for a while. It's not easy, and it's not laziness. Would someone choose to struggle for their daily meal out of laziness? It doesn't seem very logical to me. I've read many stories where people were abused and terrorized by awful, usually alcoholic, parents and they run away as young people. What happens then? They're surrounded by not so good people who become their only 'community.' Maybe they start to use drugs from the influence of their new 'family' or just start to spiral downward. Itwould be hard to pull yourself out of that. It wouldn't be easy to survive on your own or raise yourself. You never know a random person's story so I don't judge homeless people.

How can your heart not go out to someone in that situation? How can you not be saddened after seeing a homeless person laying behind a building? No warmth, no safety, no food, no family? It's the American dream to own your own home, but to not even have a place to stay? I couldn't imagine going through that.

Life is not fair! Why do some people get a cushy life with all the luxuries and some don't even have a dime to their name or anyone who cares about them? Ever seen American Psycho? He is really mean to a homeless guy and he kills him and his dog. I cried uncontrollably! Unfortunately, there are many people who feel that way about the homeless and are mean to them.

How easy would it be to get hired? Even at McDonald's, I'd hope they'd want someone who at least showers and appears hygienic.

So, I think I would open a huge shelter for the homeless.

There would be a program, let's say six months, where they're taught job skills. They are given a couple of nice professional outfits, or whatever attire is appropriate, and cleaned up. There would be counselors for them to talk to and groups to help them prepare mentally for getting back on their feet. I'm sure if they did make a better life for themselves, most of them would give back and make donations to the shelter to help others. We would have more people paying into taxes and social security. The streets would be cleaner. There'd be a little more hope in the world.

It wouldn't just be a gathering for alcoholics and drug addicts. If they had a dependency problem, they would be sent to rehab first.

Do you think this is a feasible plan or not? What would you do with $30 million?

Scotch Taped Self-Esteem

Day 2 of a Week of Positive Blogging:

Posts about a person who inspired you to excel in life or who actually saved your life.

Mrs. Johnson - my 4th grade teacher. I will warn you, it starts out with a sad tone, but it has a positive message.

I am a nerd. Many people probably don't know why, not even my closest of friends. They also probably don't understand why scotch tape is my favorite smell or why I get an unnatural pleasure from school supplies in general. Even more weird, I LOVE school. I like homework. I used to play "school" when I was younger and this girl would assign me homework and I would actually do it, for fun!! Freak! Well the reason is, school was the best part of my childhood. Ex co-workers used to say I could guess the colors of crayons of a 64 pack by tasting them :) .

Not having the greatest childhood, I carried much of my stressful home life to school. I was a very shy, withdrawn kid that just tried not to bring attention to herself. On one of my worst days, I went to recess and hid behind some equipment and just cried to myself. It scared me at first when I realized my teacher had seen me.

She came over and gave me a hug. She was a smart woman, she obviously knew what was going on. She said, "You are a great kid. I wish I could adopt you and take care of you." I started to cry and told her I never wanted to go home again. She wiped away my tears and said "It'll get better, I promise. Just keep doing well in school and do your best, you'll go to college and make your own life. You are a very smart girl." From then on I always wanted to do the best in the class. I was teacher's pet. The next year, I did so many book reports, they made a custom-made trophy for me; for which I am teased to no end for winning.

For Christmas I made her a name plate for her desk that said Mrs. Johnson in all different shades of pink and purple. It was hideous, but she proudly displayed it the rest of the year. Every so often she would make time for us to talk. I would confide in her and began to trust her. She never told anyone, at least not that I ever found out.

She helped me rebuild my shattered self-esteem. I am so grateful that she reached out to me. I've always kind of considered being a teacher myself because of her. I would say she made the biggest difference in my life out of everyone I've know. Don't underestimate the impact you can make in another's life.

Powder-Fresh Li'l Sh*thead!

Day 1: Week of Positive Blogging - Post with discussions of your positive memories, writings, thoughts, and images that you have come across in your life. It could be a place, it could be a photo, it could be a film, it could be anything.

My little brother and my nephew.


Back when I was about 13, my little brother Brett was about 3 or 4. He used to imitate people. Sometimes the wrong people. One day after I walked into my room to find him rubbing my deodorant all over his body he did one I'll never forget. It was my dad's roommate, an older woman, heavy smoker, who thought she was pretty hot. In nothing but his little diaper, he did her walk, swinging his hips, and acting like he was holding a cigarette. He then said, "Doughboy, you a**hole!" Doughboy is what my dad's roommate called my cousin. I about died. After my dad passed away, I never got to see him again except one time with my grandma. But I loved him to death. I loved when I'd walk by his room and he'd be standing in his crib and hold his arms out to me and smile :) .


My nephew, who is now five reminds me so much of him. They are both so adorable, the thought of them always makes me smile. I don't have any pics of my little brother but he looked just like this pic of my nephew.


My favorite memory of my nephew was two summers ago. I had this giant body pillow shaped like a fish and he took and said "My fish!" and I teasingly said "Hey that's my fishy!" He looked at me, looked at the sliding glass doors that go out to the balcony, and made a run for it. That little booger threw my fish down three stories out onto the neighbors' lawn. I took one of his stuffed animals and tossed it over and he did not like that at all! He started pouting and tearing up and ran and told my mom. He said Cece is mean! She said did you be mean to her first? He said "yeeeeeaahhhh." He came over and hugged me and said I'm sorry, Cece. It was so freaking cute! I gave him a kiss and went and got the giant fish pillow and the teddy bear and got some weird looks on the way. Cherish all the little ones in your life :) .

Road Trip!

Who wants to make a road trip to Canada?

These pictures are from Butchart Gardens, Canada.


















I have to have some purple trees!


















What beautiful colors!


















So serene :) It'd be hard to feel stressed out here!

A Week of Positive Blogging

I was invited (mass invitation, I'm not that special :) ) to participate in a week of positive blogging. Since this was this idea behind Rainbows and Butterflies, I have to participate. Here are the details if anyone else cares to join in.

"The purpose is to show the world that good things are happening all around us even while bad things are happening. There is also the idea that each of us has a role on this earth, and each of can do something to change the world. Pictures, videos, etc. that help tell a story are good. You have complete freedom to write about what you like."

I joined through Hochmah and Musar. If you decide to do this, let him know on that blog. He will post links of everyone participating.

There is a logo there to use on your blog for that week (pictured above).

Here are the themes for each day that week. You do not have to do every topic if you don't want to or don't have time.

Nov. 4th 2007 (Sunday) Post with discussions of your positive memories, writings, thoughts, and images that you have come across in your life. It could be a place, it could be a photo, it could be a film, it could be anything.

Nov. 5th 2007 (Monday) Posts about a person who inspired you to excel in life or who actually saved your life.

Nov. 6th 2007 (Tuesday) Post about some good news that has taken place in your city, community, etc. that has happened in the last 3 months?

Nov. 7th 2007 (Wednesday) If you had 3 months with which to spend $ 30 Million in order to change the world what would you do?

Nov. 8th 2007 (Thursday) Discuss a time in your life when you helped someone or saved someone's life.

Nov. 9th 2007 (Friday) Before you take your last breath in life, what words of wisdom would you want to impart to the next generation.

Nov. 10th 2007 (Saturday) After blogging about positive things for a week, what affect has it had on you and your life? What blogs that took part did you find the most inspiring? What do you plan to do to inspire the world going forward?

I have FOF

Fear of Flying...

I've never had a phobia that just freaked me out by thinking about it like many people do. Until now - I've never flown before. My boyfriend and I have always said we will take a train and do a cruise for our honeymoon because he is pretty nervous, too. For a Christmas present, his grandparents are booking us a hotel in Florida and the whole family is flying. Yikes. I suggested driving but even the boyfriend overruled me on that, surprisingly. It would take 2 full days of our vacation just being in a car. I have never been so afraid in my life! The vacation isn't until March but when I think about it, I get so nervous.

I always hear planes are safer than cars. But... if your plane goes down your chances of survival are oh... ZERO. In a car you might get banged up, but you're much more likely to live (especially if you drive as slow and cautiously as me).

I also always hear about small ones crashing. Guess what we are on... a small one.

Then I worry about terrorism. I know it's been a long time but I will be profiling people wondering if they're terrorists or not.

I think it was an Alanis Morrisette song (sp?) that said: He waited his whole damn life to take that flight, and as the plane crashed down, he thought, "Well isn't this nice?"

That is my luck, the odds of bad things are tiny, unless I'm involved.

Is anyone else afraid to fly? Does anyone have any advice to calm my fears?

A Growing Panda

I got these pictures in an e-mail of a baby panda growing and had to share. They are adorable!

And the full grown ones are cute, too :)

Unhappily Hypocritical

So I was very excited to wear my new "Mean People Wear Fur" shirt today. My first "statement." But, as I was putting on my jeans that are now way too big now that I've lost seven pounds since starting this vegetarian diet ( appro. 3 weeks ago), I reached for a belt.

Genuine Leather - Damn! I only have one belt but it's leather. So, I decided to sag today. I ended up rolling down the top :). Then I grab for my White Sox bracelet and what do you know?

Genuine Leather, again! What the!? So I take that off, too.

I go to put shoes on. Every pair of probably seven or eight are all leather.

Then I grab my purse and I'm out the door. But, wait a minute? Is that leather, too? Not sure - it doesn't brag about it anywhere on the purse so I will assume it is imitation, but it is Liz Claiborne so it's highly likely that it is also leather.

I have been paying extra money for leather all my life.. and why? I have got myself into a lot of work now. I have to find animal friendly belts, shoes, and accessories. Does anyone know of any good online stores? What are your favorites? I found a couple but they were both very limited in selection. I will have to put this lovely shirt away until I get rid of my leather... don't want to be a hypocrit and everyone who reads it will probably be looking for other animal products on me. And yes.. my car has leather seats, too :( .

I know it is virtually impossible to avoid all animal products, but doing so when you can is also helping! I'm not going to throw away any of my leather things - that would be pointless since the animal has already died for them. In the future, though I will make sure not to buy more.

A surprising person has joined the PETA fur campaign, see for yourself:

Desktop Tagging

I have been tagged! (which means I'm supposed to show you my desktop?)

I was tagged by sleeping beauty.
Here is my exciting desktop - showing support of the ASPCA with neatly arranged icons that don't overlap the cute kitten :).



Now I am supposed to tag four more people back. So if your name is on here and you come to my page, you have to post your desktop, too. Well you don't HAVE to, but I want you to :) .

Joanne
Guitar Keaven
LeighM
Drowsey_Monkey

If you do it make sure you comment me so I know to check our ur page and see what it is!

Ellen DeGeneres

I just wanted to write something to show my support for Ellen DeGeneres. I have always loved her show and she seems like a great, caring person. She's actually an animal lover and has won a Founder's Award from the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). If you look at her website, she has ads for HomeAgain, which keeps you from losing your pet as well as promotions for Susan G. Komen.

She is in trouble with a dog rescue agency called "Mutts for Moms." She adopted a dog from their agency and apparently spent over $3,000 to train the dog to get along with her cats. It was unsuccessful though so she did what most people would think is a good thing, she found it another good home. After giving it to her hairdresser, the agency found out and repossessed the dog from her home like a car. I guess the hairdresser had two kids that were attached to it and now


Ellen feels guilty for causing them that pain. She had a huge display of tears on her TV show to give the dog back. I feel so bad for her and the family that lost the dog.


Do you think they should give the dog back to the family, given it's deemed a safe home for the dog? Or should it just go by the rules? It would be better for the dog to be in a home with a nice family than locked up at the rescue organization, so why not give the hairdresser a chance to adopt it?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We all seem to know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. If you've ever participated in Race for the Cure, you've seen hundreds of people racing in memory of someone they've lost to the disease. It is a horrible thing that affects many women and sometimes even men, too. Remember to always do monthly exams and get mammograms once recommended by your doctor. It is important to remember them, even if you're still young because cases have even been reported in teenagers. Remind family members and those you want to be around for a long time to do them, too. They should be done at the same time every month.

Anybody can get the disease but here are things that increase your risk for breast cancer :

• Smoking


• Drinking


• Family history


• Poor diet and obesity


• Being 55 or older


• Race- white women have the highest risk, then African Americans, then Asians, Hispanics, and Indians.


• Starting menstruation before twelve also has a correlation, but I would think that would also be a link towards obesity, too.


• Not having children before age 30
  
• Breast feeding slightly lowers the risk, since it decreases the number of periods a woman has.


• Walking 2 hours per week reduces the risk approximately 18%.

Visit http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/.
Clicks add up to them giving away free mammograms. You may also register and get a free pink ribbon pin to wear in support of those who have previously experienced or currently have breast cancer. They have informational resources as well as pink ribbon gifts and e-cards.

Another great site to support is http://www.komen.org/. They fund things like breast cancer research, prevention, new ways of detection, and new treatments.

Has anybody had to deal with breast cancer either yourself or a loved one? Share your story.

Interspecies Love :)

I'm sure many people have heard this story - since it's on most popular Yahoo! news but I had to include it on here. A guy from Virginia found a kitten inside an old tire and took it home. It refused to drink from a bottle and the family was scared it would die. Somehow their golden retriever, hearing the cat crying from hunger, began producing milk for it. It said she thinks she is a dog now but that's excusable. Here is the picture of them:





How sweet! If only people could learn this kind of kindness for strangers... but then again if you read my other blog on that weirdo, maybe it is a good thing we don't - it'd be nice if we (safely) could though.

The Beauty of Fall

I was driving the other day listening to my favorite song of all time - "Sweet Child O'Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses and admiring the scenery. I thought about how much fall depresses me because it means it's about to get really frickin cold outside but it does have it's beauty.

I can't wait to go to Tanner's Orchard, it is basically an apple orchard where you can pick your own apples, pumpkins, buy cider, pies, and all kinds of delicious seasonal items. It is my favorite part of autumn. There's also a petting zoo and all kinds of interesting stuff to do. It's easy to spend way too much money there though.

The next good thing about fall... Halloween. Last year my boyfriend and I dressed up like an 'evil' king and queen and the costumes were amazing. Too bad we fell asleep before the costume contest and missed the whole night! I'm having trouble finding anything to wear this year that isn't too whore-ish.

Well, I just wanted to post some pretty fall pictures to make myself a little more cheerful about the seasons changing. Enjoy. Share some of your own photos or your favorite part of fall if you'd like, too!

Money-Worthy Products

I decided to make a list of products that are environment and animal-friendly. I will probably update this somewhat regularly as I find new and interesting products. If they have websites, I'll leave links so you can check them out on the web. If you have any recommendations that fit into this category, please let me know.


Bath and Body Works: They never test on animals. They are always coming out with new products that smell wonderful. This pumpkin is a nightlight that scents the room with creamy caramel. It lasts up to two months (plenty of time to keep up Halloween decorations.) There are other holiday styles and every day styles as well.







Burt's Bees: "Earth Friendly, Natural Personal Care Company." They had to convince a company to produce recycled plastic for their lip balm, which took years, and now it is widely used. They do not test on animals and produce very high quality products from natural ingredients. I Love this stuff! A great humanitarian company!











Alba Organics Skincare: Just tried the bubble bath and it is wonderful :).
My skin felt so soft and smooth. A bit pricy at $8.00/bottle but worth it.
They have a variety of products from skincare to lipbalm to hair products made from cruelty-free ingredients.






Eco Animal: Adorable products for your pets such as this treat jar that are non-toxic and earth-friendly, too. They also have biodegradable items such as litter liners. (They are part of Eco Choices, which has many divisions - not just pets.)

CharityUSA.com has several sites of which the proceeds go to great charities. They have stores with clothing, gift ideas, jewelry, holiday items, and more. There are separate stores set up to help causes such as the rainforest, literacy, hunger, breast cancer, ecology, and animal rescue. I am ordering the cutest kitten calendar for next year :) . You can switch easily from one store to the other. Great site for Christmas shopping! The Rainforest Site Store

Want something more affordable? I have been using St. Ives products for years. They are made from natural ingredients and do not test on animals. You can find their products everywhere. My favorites are their 24-hour moisture lotion, their regular apricot scrub (exfoliator) for my body, and sensitive skin apricot scrub for my face. It leaves your skin soft and pretty :) . There's an even bigger selection of products online.

My 30 Day Veg-Pledge Diary

I am trying this 30 day vegetarian diet to see just how easy it is to stick to and how expensive it is. If you're curious about doing the same thing you can keep checking this "diary" to see how I am handling it. I'll post everything I eat for the first week, then just the new things I try. If I come across any fantastic veg recipes, I'll post those, too. Hope I am of some help to other aspiring vegetarians!

SECOND UPDATE: It has only been two weeks since I started this but I'm feeling like a pro. I have absorbed so much information on it and enjoy it so much, I have dedicated an additional blog to it. http://vegheadnutrition.blogspot.com. I am reading up on material and trying to present it in a manner convenient for and tailored to vegetarians. Anyone from experienced to beginner veg*n, please take a look!

UPDATE: Okay so I got pretty busy and haven't been able to log in what I've been eating. I have not cheated though! I haven't even found it that difficult :) . My energy level has been just as high as before. I went to Barnes 'n' Noble a few days ago to find some recipes. Two workers there I found out were also vegetarian - I think the estimate is that 7% of people are vegetarian, many for religious reasons. They recommend I read a book called "The Ethics of What We Eat" and said I'll never even think of touching meat again - maybe I'll read that this winter.

I didn't need to lose weight but I have already lost 5 pounds. That is not really what excites me though, I am excited because my stomach is completely flat! I could never do that even when I used to work out all the time.

Most importantly, I have always had stomach aches very frequently. I thought for a while it might be dairy but I noticed I would get them without cheese and milk. I figured my stomach just sucked. I HAVE NOT HAD ONE STOMACH ACHE SINCE I STARTED THIS. Could it be that I just had trouble digesting meat? I didn't want to jump to conclusions already but I just found in my reading that some people do have trouble digesting meat - a new idea to me and another reason doctors recommend people become vegetarian. I used to enjoy meat in things, ground up or cut up. I didn't really like to eat thick hamburgers or whole chicken breasts, no matter what spices or flavor - the texture was just gross to me.

I will leave the first couple of days' menus up but I don't think I'll list things specifically anymore. I also don't want to make this whole blog about vegetarianism. So if anyone wants more information than I've given, just ask. I'll be happy to share my new wisdom :) .
This diet is completely healthy and you can get all of your necessary nutrients without meat, which did surprise me - and the meat substitutes are very close to regular meat tastes.

This is good for you, the environment, world hunger, and animals! I highly recommend trying it out or even just learning more about it to see if it is for you or not. Check out the vegetarian food pyramid at the link below:

http://www.vegsource.com/nutrition/pyramid.htm

Day One

Breakfast: Hashbrowns and orange vitamin water = 2.50
Lunch: Salad Bar and apple juice = 5.00 (had every veggie imaginable but also included cheese, eggs, and sunflower seeds for protein)
All Day: 40 ounces of water
Dinner: Cheese soup and baked potato = 7.50 w/ tax and tip - usually get chicken tender wrap there - :( but I was strong.
Late Night: 1 glass of chocolate milk

Today was not so bad.. not too expensive either. I found out the cheese soup had bacon bits in it after it was brought out.. NOTE: to ask for ingredients next time.

Day Two

Breakfast: Raisin Nut Bran
Morning Snack: Apple cake - it was treat day at work.
Lunch: Healthy Choice macaroni w/broccoli and carrot medley, a pb & j sandwich, and 1/2 of a Mt.Dew - I only have a couple of those a week, they are my weakness!
Afternoon Snack: I was completely starving by five o'clock so I had some cashews
All Day: 40 oz. of water again - a daily thing so I'll stop mentioning it.
Dinner: The free dinner tonight was turkey and mashed potatoes.. so I went to the store.
My first meat-substitute: two veggie corn dogs - to my surprise they were wonderful! I had some of the mashed potatoes and a handful of jalapeno cheetos to fill me up.

Besides the late afternoon hunger, today went well, too. Every time someone finds out I'm doing this 30-day vegetarian thing, they give me a hard time... but Oh well. I can handle that. It hasn't been that difficult to get my recommended protein so far.

Day Three:

Breakfast: Quaker oatmeal-raisin breakfast cookie and a banana.
Lunch: Sugar snap peas and baby carrots with cucumber ranch dip - yummy!, Alfredo pasta - carbs don't bother me, and Calcium goldfish crackers.
Afternoon Snack: South Beach Diet cereal bar - 10 grams of protein!
Dinner: I wasn't even hungry at dinner for some reason, just had a toasted whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and milk.

Love... The Best Invention Ever

Kitten Rescue, Old Lady Rescue, and most importantly, MY RESCUE :)

After going through the worst depression of my life, I now feel better than I ever have. Yesterday I was watching my wonderful boyfriend's softball game and just felt like I came to this new realization of what life is about. The sun was beating down on me but a gentle (but dusty) breeze was blowing and I looked over at him on first base. He has this new hair-do, his first faux-hawk :), which he dyed blue for the Cubs making the playoffs and he is getting so much shit for it. He gave me the cutest smile that just said 'I freaking love you.' It made me so happy even though I knew that game would be the last day of the year that I'm not complaining how cold it is. I love how he is so fun, different, and spontaneous and I completely admire how he doesn't care what anyone thinks about him - something I am slowly learning from. I have never felt anything so powerful before.

There were several people there for me while I was going through this horrible depression. I am so lucky that he was SOOO patient with me every day. Now that I am better, our relationship is actually stronger than before I got so sad (we've been together 4 years). That is real love, for better or worse, without the marriage yet. We even made it through me going away for 2 1/2 years to college and only seeing eachother on weekends - impressive for a man, especially a man his age! So I know he is the one I will marry because I know he will be there no matter what. I would not be the person I am today without him. I used to view life as pretty much a hassle but now it feels like such a gift.

I have thoroughly analyzed life and who I am and have a wonderful 1-year plan that makes me look at my current (personal and financial) situation in a much better light. My life already was the best it had been in a long time but it just took me a while to appreciate that.

Last night, I kissed him good night and we both smiled. I turned over and watched the lightning light up the sky while he ran his fingers along my bare skin (it helps me sleep) and I fell asleep with a smile on my face. I don't remember the last time that that happened but it was a great feeling and from what I can tell a big turning point.

That is what life is about - finding someone that really is your better half.. Someone you can tell anything and never judges you. Jono - I freaking love you and we have a great life ahead of us!

A Young Hero

I Love Hero Stories :)

A teenager from my state, Illinois, pulled an elderly woman from her car right before it was hit by TWO trains. I have heard that it's kind of a natural thing for our brains to generalize groups of people - but I have heard a lot of negative, very illegal, comments at my place of employment since I started about "kids" - so I would like to point out that not all young people are bad and they don't deserve the stereotypes they get.

The woman said her car stalled right on the tracks and she was in such a daze, she didn't remember much but thinking that her life was over. This young man saw the train coming, jumped out of his car, and ran to her rescue. After knocking on the windows and realizing she seemed very out of it, he removed her from the car and carried her to safety and then shielder her body with his own in case the impact caused debris to fly that way.

Happy story for the day :) Anyone else have a hero story to share?

Vegetarian?

Oh man, I have used my spare time today researching things like animal cruelty,vegetarians, and vegans. I am honestly considering becoming a vegetarian. I don't know if I can do it though. I don't eat a whole lot of meat right now but it does seem like an essential part of a diet. I have seen a few vegans that look very sickly. Anyone who has become a vegetarian, please share your experience with me. I know I couldn't be vegan; I need cheese. Is it difficult to find good vegetarian things, especially when you eat out? Are the meat substitutes seriously any good? Are these things expensive? I am going to slowly try to take meat out of my diet; hopefully I can find it easy to stick to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Some interesting facts:

One vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year! (for those of you who think one person doesn't make a difference)

One person's meat-based diet is responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than driving an SUV.

Animal Rescue

Animals, especially cute little baby animals, always bring a smile to my face. I have been an animal lover since birth; so I figured what better topic to start my 'happy' blog with than my favorite thing, animals... I read through a lot of animal rescue stories but this one really got my attention.

I will paraphrase because I'm not real familiar with copyright laws, but I'm sure I won't tell it quite as well as this woman from Philadelphia did.

A woman started her engine and heard a horrible sound and a painful cry from a cat. She hurriedly turned it off, opened her hood to find blood and fur, and was crying uncontrollably trying to get through the engine parts to find a baby kitten.
She rushed it to the vet and found it had many severely broken bones. The bill was going to be thousands of dollars if she didn't euthanize her but she hadn't worked in a while herself due to a car accident. She couldn't put her down so she called many radio stations and talk shows and pleaded for help.
Calls started pouring in and vets were willing to help with the costs as well. The cat ended up making a full recovery and lived happily ever after with that woman. :)

It's so great to know there are such kind, generous people out there in a world that isn't always so friendly.

I absolutely adore these "tea-cup" persian kittens than run hundreds if not thousands of dollars. I would never dream of buying one, even if rich. There are so many pets that need rescued from shelters. Why breed animals when there are so many without homes? Many breeding practices have been shown to be unhealthy anyways.

Do you have any animal rescue stories? Please share them! I love to read those kinds of things. Have you ever volunteered for an animal shelter? What do you think of breeding?