Call any vegetable and the chances are good that the vegetable will respond to you. - Frank Zappa, Call Any Vegetable

So, let's see. I've been a vegetarian for just about a month now. I'll kinda back up and explain how I got here....because, trust me, I NEVER thought I'd be here....

A few years ago when I lived in the DC area, I watched Food, Inc. It opened up my eyes to the horrible things that are happening in our food industry. Not just abuse and torture of animals prior to them ending up on our plate, but just the injection of antibiotics, hormones, steroids, etc. There are major problems going on in our food industry that are causing E.Coli outbreaks, resistance to antibiotics, childhood obesity, marked elevation in cholesterol (we've had a few active duty guys who are in good shape, drop dead from a heart attack on base) and diabetes, to name a few.

At that point, I really wanted to start eating farm fresh foods. I had a conversation with a friend about caged chickens and it left me in tears all night. At that moment, I stopped buying any eggs except cage free eggs. I would love to be able to buy all my meat and dairy, etc straight from a farm and that is doable and I think it's an awesome choice for anyone looking for healthier and more humane options. Moving around makes it difficult and the other thing is, I'm now married to a vegetarian, so we don't really eat meat at home, it's only when we go out... and you NEVER know where the food comes from. You don't even really know if it is chicken or beef.

I was also haunted by a question someone posed me that if I wasn't willing to kill the animal myself to eat, why would I feel okay eating it? Hmm. Well, I felt like animals were put here for us to eat them....by God, right? I opened up my Bible and started with Genesis....I read all through the beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. It never mentions animals for food! In fact, in Genesis 1:29 it says "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Now, doing some more exploring, the word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general. So, God gave adam and eve everything they needed to eat in the garden without killing anything. The Bible does go back and forth on eating meat and not eating meat, but the original plan was not to slaughter and kill for food. After they sinned, it does talk about God showing them how to clothe themselves with the skin and fur, but it still didn't mention eating them at that point. Now, that we have evolved and we don't need animals for clothing, there shouldn't be a reason, right? Except for that this is how our culture has gone on and on and no one has changed it.

Cameron and I met and he began making me amazing vegetarian dishes that I loved! I would still order meat when we went out to eat and he doesn't really care what I do, so he never said anything about it. I slowly started seeing how cutting meat out of my diet really wouldn't be that hard. There are so many companies, like Morningstar, Quorn, Boca Burgers that all make "chicken", "beef", and "pork" alternatives from other natural ingredients. There are veggie burgers, bean burgers and all kinds of options. I've tried mushroom, spinich and avocado enchiladas.  All of this is good and I slowly started seeing, I can get all my protein (in fact MUCH MORE) without having something die.

Then, I watched a PETA video....and cried my eyes out. I just don't understand how some of these people that work in the factories can do this kind of stuff to the animals. I LOVE animals. In fact, I still think I should have been a veterinarian at times and I've thought about going back to school for it. At this point, I had to ask myself.... "Why AM I eating meat?"

Sure, it's a good source of protein, but soy is better....sure, it tastes good, but so do a lot of vegetarian dishes.....sure, it's what everyone does in our society....but does that mean it's for me? I just didn't know at that point.

I wasn't ready to announce and say that I was a vegetarian until I had been doing it a while, so I just started day by day.

It has been hard to go to some of our old restaurants and not order the things I've always ordered and REEEEEALLLY hard not eating sushi with fish (but, if I say that I'm going to spare every living thing, that means fish too...). It's not been easy. In fact, I threw a few temper tantrums after eating because I almost felt empty. I felt that eating used to be really enjoyable and a few times it was just depressing because I couldn't order what I want.

That's when Cameron reminds me that i don't HAVE to do it....but for some reason I feel like this is the right decision for me....but it's just hard. He then says, well, if you believe in something, it's not going to be easy, but you're making that stand and you're disciplining yourself (which no one really does in our country anymore) and you'll grow from it.

I'm still growing and I'm still probably going to have a few temper tantrums....but tempeh and tofu save me! You gotta cook the stuff right and it's not too bad. The smokey tempeh strips on a sandwich taste just like a BLT!

Plus, Cameron said we'll tell our kids that I went vegetarian because I was stubborn. Could be true. I think it's something I feel I have to "conquer", so I am stubborn about it. But, you know what...I feel better. I know I can eat with a healthy conscience that some momma cow isn't being dragged off the truck to be slaughtered...and that one less chicken might be injected with steriods to make it grow bigger and fatter until it's legs break.

Many people, myself included, don't feel like one person will make a difference, but look at what has happened to the vegetarian food industry over the years! It's grown like crazy! It's not growing because people aren't eating it. It's growing because people ARE eating it. One by one, people are making their own personal choice to stop eating meat and it IS making a difference. At least, I know in my life it is. I never thought I'd be here.....

Relax said the nightman, we are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. - The Eagles, Hotel California

Check out is almost complete! I got almost all of it done today. Tomorrow, I have to go check out with one office (that is only trying to keep me on their list longer for no reason), pick up my medical record (they had to make copies and they send the original to my new command), and get my last fit rep.

Today, I got to be there to say bye to my dept head, LCDR Jago, who is leaving the ICU for a manager position in the internal medicine clinic and I also got to see HM3 Parilla's reenlistment ceremony! I love all the folks in the ICU. HM3 Parilla is an amazing sailor. She's a single mom takes care of her teenage daughter and her ill mother, while running the enlisted personnel in the ICU and taking classes to begin nursing school! I wish I had her energy! She is seriously an amazing person.

Tuesday, I will go in to get my orders stamped and Cameron and I are leaving Jacksonville! We can't leave Florida without going to Key West and taking a cruise...so we're doing both before we leave for Japan.

This is his first time dealing with a military move and it's an overseas one at that! A regular PCS will be nothing for him! haha. We've had movers 3 times come. First one, was our shipment to permanent storage (the stuff that will stay in the states until we get back), then one of our household goods to Japan (which has already arrived in Japan! woot!) and then the other day, they got our unaccompanied baggage shipment! That was the stuff that we want soon after we arrive in Japan. Now, I'm living with only a handful of items of clothes, etc....and no furniture besides some air mattresses and our "rockers". Cameron asked me if it is normally this hard. I told him not at allllll. Normally, they pick your stuff  up right before you move, you drive to wherever you are going and then they deliver it. Done! haha. None of this, "crap...I need to keep sweaters for when i arrive in Japan....and bikinis and tank tops for the cruise....etc etc" but I can only take so much on the plane with me. Ah well. it will all get there!

I was going to wait for him to arrive to look at homes, but forget that! I want to start looking right away. If I can manage it, maybe I will have all our household goods delivered and our home kinda set up before Cameron gets to Japan in late March/early April!

This will be the longest we will be apart...but it might be good. We both have goals of going to the gym and eating better. We both eat pretty good stuff, but are both tempted to eat bad stuff and the other one won't stop us!

I am just so excited to experience another culture. I was talking with another one of the docs that just found out he is going to Okinawa and we are both doing Rosetta Stone and discussed that. I'm great at saying "Otokonoko hashite imasu", but when am I going to need to say "the little boy is running" that much? I need to work on it more. I'm still just in lesson 1, module 1....sheesh.

This weekend, Cameron is driving up to take another round of stuff to Bob's in Tennessee. Mostly, his camera stuff he doesn't want to leave in the car while we're vacationing. I'm going to dinner with some friends in a bit and then dinner tomorrow night with some other friends, an improv night downtown and a sleepover with one of my girlfriends! :) I'm glad to have some girl time before I go! These girls have been so awesome here and I'll love looking back on our time together in Florida.

I also need to take more photos. I guess because Cameron always talks about having fewer quality shots over hundreds of lame shots...I just don't take as many as I used to. I used to flood my facebook with tons and hundreds of photos and I think I just need to be more selective now. I will take some of the trip and blog about it, but I will try and just pick the best ones to share so it's easier to look through.

I will try and be more on top of updating my blog and I also need to write more in my personal journal. I hope this move will change that. No tv shows to waste my time on and more self exploration.

So, here's to checking out and moving on! Next stop.....the Keys!

I'd have all the cars made in the Carolinas, and I'd ban the ones made in China. - Hank Williams Jr., If The South Would Have Won

New Years resolutions give us the opportunity to take on obstacles and challenges that we would never think of randomly, in the middle of the year.


I'm working on my own resolution right now, but I won't talk about it for a while and make sure that I stick to it.

Cameron's resolution is to go this year without buying anything made in China. It doesn't have to be all made in the US, but at least not in China. I've taken it on as my second resolution also. It is a tad tricky!

I have a DSW gift card and I've been on a hunt of brown sneakers for a long time. They are ALL made in China. All of the shoes. New balance. Puma. Sketchers. Keds. Adidas. All of them. Online when I search, the page only says if they are "imported" or not. I challenge you to find a pair of shoes at DSW that does not say "imported". It's even harder that way, because then I can't find if it's imported from Mexico, Canada, Japan, Phillipines or China.

It's taking a stand against the largest group that is taking away jobs from the US. I was shocked to find out that Dickie's (a well known "American" brand) has a lot of their clothes made in Mexico.

This is so wrong that we depend so much on other countries to make our clothing, electronics, shoes, kitchen accessories, etc. Cameron says many times that your biggest vote is your dollar and we are voting every time we enter a store.

I was bummed to find in Ross the other day, a smaller version of my grey suitcase....I really wanted to get it to match my big suitcase for our big move...and then I saw it. Made in China. Damn. I fought for a while with it and left without buying it. I'd rather leave knowing I stood my ground on my choice than to cave.

There is a quote from a person in the book I'm reading, A Year Without "Made in China" said " 'You're a dreamer if you think you can fill your daily needs with things made in America.  That's a thing of the past.  The whole basis of the American economy is people buying a bunch of stuff, and China makes it easier for them to do it by making it cheaper.  People eat up everything China makes' ".

Cameron has really opened my eyes to a lot of things and I think together we make good moves in the right direction. I still don't know if I'm happy that we had the movers take all our stuff to Japan in November or if I like that we are living in a temporary place, that doesn't feel like our own...but it's opened our eyes to see what items in our home are necessities or just junk.  I'm going to be making an inventory when I get to Japan and unpack all our items. I gave away a lot of things before they took our household goods. That's where it's nice to have moves every few years, so you can go through and clean out unused items and donate them. Because we moved all of our big items already to Japan, we have had an excuse to not buy new items. It's been a great thing for us. It has made it easier to not buy Chinese goods.

I just looked in my closet. Mizunos, roxy, new balance....all of my shoes. China! Mizunos?? Really? Just like how Coach purses are made in China....right next to the cheap Walmart ones. Women, does that make you feel more important?

So, what is something I can do besides look at labels? Learn to sew. I sewed Cameron a vest and last night picked up some yarn and did my first line of chain stitches. We'll be all hippied out with crocheted sweaters and mittens. :)

More to come later on our journey!

Do you know where the power lies? I say it starts and ends with you. - NOFX, The Decline

I haven't written in a while, but I figure it's the new year and I need to start it right. A few years ago I started opening my eyes to a lot of things and starting to move over into a new area in my life. I started trying to figure out where my food was coming from and started looking at what kind of products I was buying.

When I met Cameron, I was immediately interested in his view and stances on topics like that. He's a vegetarian and has never forced his ideas on anyone else, but I've slowly been dealing with my own inner thoughts on vegetarianism. I've been able to see that there are so many things we can eat that don't include killing any living animal. The wheels are turning in my head and I may have a final decision to make soon. I definitely think that if you are not vegetarian, you need to be paying attention to where your meat comes from. Go to PETA's website and watch any of their videos or watch Food, Inc and you will also see how the meat industry is inhumane and disgusting! If you can, buy from farms that allow the animals to roam and live normally without being tortured and starved.

The other thing is watching where our goods were made. It was so weird at the NEX today! It was our first time really stopping to look at labels, but just the Hanes undershirts alone were made in Honduras, Cambodia and Vietnam. Isn't it weird that the same undershirts were made all over the place?? None of them in the US. None of them were made by US workers. As Cameron says, our dollar is our most important vote and we chose this year to not buy anything made in China. We're starting with the largest offender and then maybe we'll be able to cut out others.

When I was home, I had my mom help me sew Cameron a vest. It actually turned out really nice (I should get a photo of this!) and my mom sent me off with one of her extra sewing machines. I really hope that when Cameron is editing or off taking photos, I can sew or learn how to crochet. We stopped by Joann's and got me a sewing box for thread, needles, all my little tools and a learn to crochet book. The book and yarn was made in the US and the box in the Philippines.

I know I may not be sewing or crocheting all the time and I won't become a master seamstress, but I'd like to be able to know the basics so that if I want to make something, I can. Especially since we are cutting out a lot of things from the stores.

We put the lancer for sale up on base today. That means we are down to one car now and Cameron and I will try and work on going to work out after he picks me up from work.

2012 is going to be a great year! Trying some new hobbies, moving our lives to Japan and trying to keep our bodies moving as much as possible. I have trouble picking one resolution. Maybe in a few weeks I'll have settled on one so you can all hold me to it. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!