Meet meatless...

Being a vegetarian has always crossed my mind as being a very empowering choice, chosen by healthy, selfless,  beautiful people, that I could never try. I love bacon, I love tacos, and I am, lets just say, a penny pincher. I always looked up to my countless vegetarian friends for their decision to save the world one animal at a time, and I knew that I would never take the chance to give up my delicious sausage pasta. I hate beans and most vegetables, so I never thought I could do it. Growing up catholic, my family and I have always spend our 40 days before Easter partaking in the Lenten season. We would give up items for that period of time that would help us sacrifice, minutely comparing to the journey of The Man himself, some time ago.

This year, my sister Erin, began this journey with the idea of becoming vegetarian for Lent. My husband excitedly volunteered us for the meatless venture. At first I was hesitant, but Chris and I knew we wouldn't get the vitamins we needed unless we included fish. Therefore my hesitation was calmed when we so fortunately decided to become...pescatarians. Vegetarians who eat fish that is.

This journey has pushed me to the "theme" of my newly acquired blog. My goal is this. Try something new for an entire month. (30 days give or take a day) Then...blog about it. I know! Pure genius. I am sure I am the ONLY person in the world who has thought to do this. My reasoning came to the idea that there are so many things that I want to do, but I shut it down before even starting. I want to give myself some time to try new things and decide if they should stick around. 

My first adventure is being a pescatarian. I have the support surrounding me to do it, and I hope that my next blog post will be a positive one about my new adventure. I already feel different, cleaner, healthier, so you never know it just may stick!

Life at Home

Amore e di vita roughly translated (in italian of course) Love and Life is the title I have chosen for my impromptu blog. After a recent (typical) breakdown about life, I told myself I need to do two things. 1. Love. Love is something we all need in life and it comes in many forms. It makes us feel better, and it gives us self worth. Many people feel love is only shared in a relationship of partners. I am fortunate to have that love with my husband, but Love should be embraced in many aspects. Love in family, love in peers, love from my students, love in pets (shout out to coops), and love from God. Being in love does not mean holding a relationship with a spouse, but it means having a relationship with others beyond yourself. LOVE

The second thing I told myself I needed is Life. Now I know, I have a life and it is good, but we all need to work towards a goal. Somewhere in the midst of routine and consistency I would slowly lose my sense of self. After a slap back in to reality from my husband and a much needed conversation with meaning, I realized that I need goals and aspirations (and a vacation). We sometimes lose who we are in the fog of daily activity, and we need something different to free our brain.

My thinking place is uninhibitedly the shower. I come up with most of my ideas there as I let the water numb me from the day. For a while I only thought of things I should do to catch up, no idea of brilliance (haha) or dreams of splendor. I found myself bored and lazy and I knew that with no kids, and minimal work, I should not feel that way. 

This particular day, I would come up with what I thought were great ideas and then immediately shoot them down giving myself no possible oppurtunity to fulfill them. I felt trapped within my own ideas and I knew I needed a slap in the face! One of my ideas was this very blog. Although it seems silly and worthless, my idea was big and I never even gave myself a chance to start. I envied my friends and relatives who were so fluent in their blogs and it made me jealous to see all of the things that they had accomplished. I was in need of a change and this blog was a good first goal.

It is, as you see, the 30th and I gave myself to the end of the month to start something new. It may not be big, or important, I may never post again, or it may even put you to sleep, but it is a milestone.  I start my "goal" today spreading love, and enjoying life. Amore e di vita.