Januarian, Vegetarian.

I have officially completed one of my New Year's resolutions! I mentioned this one a couple posts ago, but didn't give any details other than the fact that I started on January 4th, and since it was a month-long goal I successfully finished on February 4th. Did you gather what the goal was from the title of this post? I went vegetarian. Why? Well, for many reasons: I had never tried it before, I wanted to learn how to cook more vegetable-based dishes/experiment with cooking, I only cooked 1 to 2 meat dishes a week anyway (who wants to wait that long to cook a meal when you get home from work and you're starving?), I have a roommate who is vegetarian, and I was just curious.

Let me make sure I clarify the definition of a vegetarian here (thanks to merriam-webster.com):

Definition of VEGETARIAN
1
: of or relating to vegetarians
2
: consisting wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products

So, no meat. Of any kind. Now if you're still tempted to ask "did you eat fish?" I urge you to look at the definition again and ask yourself if fish is a vegetable, fruit, grain, nut, egg or some type of dairy product.

My results? I felt slightly healthier in some ways (nothing dramatic in my case), I had to plan ahead to have a balanced meal, I enjoyed feeling full on produce, and I never once cheated or slipped up on my goal! It really wasn't a difficult talk for me either since I was used to not having meat every day. The only time I wanted to break my goal was when I was down to the last 8 or 9 days and my boss took everyone out to dinner - at a sushi restaurant. My coworkers seated close to me all gave me a ton of grief (I am the only female employee of the company), and tried to convince me to throw in the towel early and just order the sushi. I resisted anyway, and I had some sympathetic waiters who took pity and brought me some excellent vegetarian dishes, some that were on the menu, and some that weren't.

Grilled vegetables (over a live coal) and edamame (of course)

Seaweed salad wrapped in avocado and topped with other greens, served on a slab of stone (cool!)

I think my favorite was the dessert platters they brought out for everyone to share.

It was an interesting experience - one I'm not likely to repeat, but I do know that I'll continue to eat little meat (1-2 times a week), and I plan on adding more vegetables to each meal. I like veggies, so this shouldn't be hard. I also got better at controlling how much I eat; noticing when I'm actually full and not feeling like it's necessary to always have seconds. Goal 1 - Check.

A Change of Hue.

Before:

During:

Waiting:

Loving:

Just because.

New Year, New Goals

I feel like the Grinch at the end of his story where things just clicked and his heart grew three sizes.

For years I didn't think of Christmas as my favorite time of year - not because I don't like Christmas itself (because I do!), but I noticed that a lot of people seemed to exit my life near Christmas. Friends would move away, I would move away, I even finished my mission in mid-November of '07, so I left an entire country full of people I will most likely never see again in the Christmas-ish season. I really don't like the feeling of people leaving my life.

I also have been a Grinch when it comes to New Year's Resolutions. I would argue - "Why make one or two huge goals only once a year that you'll forget about by March? Then what do you do, wait another 9 months to do it all again?" I was more in the mind set of having smaller goals throughout the year that I made based on need/desire, etc, so, I avoided New Year's Resolutions for the most part.

And then this year something clicked. I was excited for Christmas because I realized that, like it or not, people will come in and out of my life, yet my family will always be a part of my life. And I always get to see my family at Christmas. Cheesy realization, maybe, but it felt personal, and healing.

As for New Year's Resolutions, I still don't think that's the only time you can set goals, but I made a cool connection while attending my parent's ward in Colorado:

The holidays in the Fall and Winter are lined up extremely well. Thanksgiving reminds you of all the great blessings you have, then Christmas follows reminding you of Christ and all He has done for you, and then there's New Year's, where you can re-commit yourself to being more Christlike and following His example. Our goal on this earth is to become like Christ; what a wonderful reminder these holidays are, right?

As for this new year I am starting to make new goals. I started a month-long goal on January 4th and can say I've been successful for an entire week! I really think this one is going to be easy. I'll probably post something about this goal upon completion, so I won't go into details now. I've also decided I want to try some new things; it doesn't matter if I'm 27 - I can go learn a new skill or talent and be successful at it. You know how some people put their kids in all sorts of classes and sports that are incredibly demanding because they think that's the only way they can be successful doing it? Yeah, I don't think that's true. So I'm going to go try something I've never done before - and I'm excited!

So Happy New Year, everyone, and go set some goals!

I Like My New...

Layout!

It's the first time I've decorated my blog to match the season, I think. I even switched up the music for a change.

Enjoy!

(Haha, like my lame post that I did just so people would look at my page?? Pathetic, I know.)

"You Have Really Beautiful Hair..."

There are many nice looking men in California. Because of this it is easy to have little crushes on several men at once, which can lead to potentially embarrassing situations.

Today one of these beautiful men that I've noticed a little more within the past month or so sat down on the bench in front of me at church. Seeing as his head was almost directly in front of mine it was hard not to notice how great his hair is. By that I don't mean that it was styled well (which it was), I mean that it's just a really good head of hair! Thick, dark, pretty much perfect. I won't lie, I was a little jealous; my hair being thin and fragile.

At the end of the meeting I got his attention and asked how his week had been - you know, small talk. After all, we are still new friends and need the small talk as a buffer until we get to know each other better. I started fumbling for my keys in my purse - as I still get nervous when I talk to attractive men. I'm not sure what possessed me in the next moment, but before I had time to change my mind I told him:

"Don't take this the wrong way... but you have really beautiful hair."

I wasn't sure how a guy would take a compliment about their looks that included the word beautiful, but suprisingly he said thank you - and looked sincere about it! Starting to feel myself get even more nervous I tried to play it cool and said something to the effect of "I'm not one of those weird psycho girls... sometimes I just call it like I see it." This was my feeble attempt to appear as un-stalker-ish as possible. His response? He said thank you again, and said that he was flattered.

Standing now, I told him to have a good week and tried to make a quick exit out of my row before my face flushed red.

Yes - I still get nervous and run away after talking to a cute boy.