Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

Wow! I apologize for my lack of updates. The past two weeks have been absolutely bonkers with work, traveling and being sick for a week.

Yes, I have been down with a nasty cold since I got back from Toronto on Monday and I am finally starting to feel better to actual do things instead of just sleep when I get home from work. I would have joined Nathaniel at the Brave Astronaut CD release party but I felt that after cooking dinner and baking some cookies I needed to rest this evening to be able to travel to Huntsville tomorrow for the rest of the Long weekend.

So yes, the week prior I was busy working and preparing to leave for TO for the Fan Expo!! It was my second year going and Nathaniel was able to join me this time. It was fantastic! We spent four days with my lovely fellow nerdy vegan friend Kelly, her boyfriend Brandon and his friend Stephan exploring the world of Horror, Anime, Sci-Fi, Comics and Gaming!

I am a huge nerd at heart and had a blast. I even budgeted enough that Nathaniel and I found some great stuff from all areas. I am looking forward to next years. Coming back from TO with a cold was diffidently worth going. As well, going and coming back from the Expo has began to symbolize the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall for me! I am very excited about. I love Fall and the smells and sights that it brings. Plus I look forward to all the harvest cooking and baking I will be doing this year and it will all be VEGAN! My first fall as a Vegan. I can't wait to do my first Vegan Thanksgiving. It should be interesting.

I can't wait to be more active in updating. Plus, this September Nathaniel has promised to help me with my French language skills. Now that should be interesting!

Just patiently waiting...

... for that big thunderstorm!

All summer long we have been getting a little teasing from Mother Nature with our weather up here in the Bay. I love thunderstorms. BIG ONES!! I love counting the seconds between lighting and thunder. I love watching them especially in the dark. I give myself an eerie feeling by reading one of my favorite Vampire novels or just watching the storm in the dark. However, I am still waiting for that day this summer.

For the majority of the summer, the weather report would say chance of thunderstorms and what would result with be this tiny little storm with some rain and some thunder. The results of that weather though is usually days of mugginess with minimal relief. For myself, the result is always a headache and inability to sleep properly due to that muggy weather.

One of the reasons why I did not post anything Monday. I spent the majority of the day lying on the couch trying to be nice to my fiancee while my head was pounding. So I didn't really get a chance to bake those Vegan donut holes like I promised; however, I was able between good and bad moments to cook some Chocolate chip cookies from Isa's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I needed comfort food, and I needed it bad ;) It took all my willpower not to eat every single one on Monday. These cookies are delicious and so chewy!

In my experience with Vegan baking both my own and taste testing others - I do not see the purpose to having to use eggs and diary in our desserts when there are so many cruelty-free and healthy alternatives from bananas, apple sauce, dates, oil etc... It still amazes me every time I bake something and taste the fantastic results.

My first experience with Vegan food was a piece of chocolate cake from the restaurant Fresh in Toronto. I was cautious at first trying it. I wondered how could they make cake with Tofu? That stuff is just gross. My friend Kelly( who had been Vegan for quite a few years now) had a great time watching me tentatively take a small bite and watch my facial expression go from fear to sheer pleasure. It was the best chocolate cake I had ever tasted! After that moment, I had a hard time sharing the piece with my boyfriend. From then on, I didn't go Vegan yet, but I did spend time researching Vegan desserts and experimenting with them.

That is how I introduced my fiancee, Nathaniel, to Veganism. He had had a bad experience with Vegan food a few years back. It was a cookie that he described as hard and tasted like saw dust. He remembers thinking, "Wow, does all Vegan food taste like this. Not very appealing" Then he met me. By then I was doing all my baking Vegan yet still hadn't done the complete transition - I was partial Vegetarian( I will go into detail about that in another blog) I baked him his first Vegan Chocolate Cake for his birthday. He was tentative at first; however after his first bite his opinions on Vegan food started to change.

So when I decided to go Vegan seven months ago, my fiancee joined me as well. We both went Vegan for our own reasons (compassionate, health, environmental) but it was easier knowing that we would not be giving up anything because we were going into a world of new flavor and outstanding tastes!

Sharing Vegan Food is the best introduction to Veganism. So bake a Vegan Chocolate Cake and share it!!

Compassion

One of the reasons why I went Vegan - Compassion.


Revealed: No Country for Animals


"We fork ourselves to death with the tines with which we spear the muscles of innocent animals.” 
- O Anna Niemus

"The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”
- Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

Quotes provided by Vegan Underground (veganunderground.com)

Consistency

So you maybe wondering(or maybe not) what is with the title of this second blog?

One of the reasons why I have failed twice at blogging before was my lack of consistency. I was never good at updating them regularly or making it part of my daily/weekly routine. I think it was more because at the time my life was boring and I lacked to ability to state my views or thoughts without fear of criticism etc. For a good twenty three years, I was able to make my voice small which allowed me to go pretty much unnoticed by others because I wanted to avoid conflict. Also, for a long time I thought my opinions and thoughts didn't matter. I was not really encouraged by people around me to speak up and when I did, I got some pretty strange looks.

 I was diffidently hanging out with the wrong people at that time.

That was two years ago. Two years ago I decided that I was tried of being a shadow of myself and playing small to those around me.

Around that time the decision to choose which Masters program I was going to attended was fast approaching. Would I move to Waterloo or stay at Nipissing and be the first to attend/graduate(which I did) from the first year of the Master of Arts - History program? I was in a conflicted state. On top of that, my live in boyfriend of two and a half years, did not really cared what I did; however he did make it clear that if I moved he would not be going with me. Nice. I choose to go to Nipissing. Then two weeks later I came home from work, walked into my bedroom, woke my boyfriend up and broke it off with him. He moved out the next day.

When I look back over the last two years and a bit and the many things that happened after that, I still see that moment as the moment when I choose to be 100% me. I was not intending to break it off with him at the time - I was considering talking things out. It was not like anything was wrong between us or we were fighting. I just got this overwhelming feeling as I walked in the door that night, that I had to make a decision and stop prolonging what was inevitable.

Of course, even the breaking up it is not easy and the months after that were HELL. But I got through them and came out on the other side - a new person. Actually she had always been there but she just merely existed but now she decided to BE.

Ha! Pardon me for the rant. I may do that from time to time. Review an experience from my past to reflect upon moments that helped push me be where I am today.

So back to the 'Consistency' title. My goal this week is to write a blog every night this week to help make this part of my routine as well as get used to sharing my voice with others. Over the past two years my voice has gotten stronger and when I went Vegan I felt it strengthen more. However, I still get hesitant and quiet, especially when I am around people who are not Vegan and who enjoy giving their views on it and why they could never make that change.

This is where my activism begins. In strengthening my voice, I will be consistent in sharing with others who I am, what I feel, believe and think.

Thank you

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There is always a Beginning.

Hello everyone,

While I am waiting for my bananas to thaw so I can make a new Vegan banana bread recipe from one of my new cookbooks, I thought I should get a start on this blog.

Honestly, this is my third time around in the blogging world. I have tried twice before; however, I felt that my previous experiences were very minimal and lacked substance to really share with anyone. However, as this blog is titled, one decision led to into various multiple experiences I wish to share with everyone now.

Some people ask, was it when I went Vegan when my life started to change. Yes, it did change. However, it was the big decision I made two years ago when life started to change for me in very drastic but freeing ways. Becoming Vegan was an outcome that has led me on another journey of many different experiences and relationships with people.

So you wonder, what was this BIG decision? Basically, in simplest terms, I decided I wanted to be 100% ME! When I made that choice, I felt that the universe opened up to me and life became colorful and much more enjoyable.

So what is this blog all about?

Well, recently I was asked to write a few articles for a Women's Magazine at my old University about Veganism, my journey, my choices and sharing with others my love for the cooking (which I only started to discover when I went Vegan). So this blog is going to be a practice run in generating ideas for these articles.

As well, I feel it is important for people to share with each other their experiences, views, ideas and even opinions.  Really, this blog is going to be many different things - from my favorite songs, to movies, Vegan meals I have made from the library of cookbooks, ideas and much more.

If something profound comes out of this blog for someone that is great. If not, that is okay as well.

I just want to share my journey with others in the hope that they will share theirs as well and from there something changes for them because really that is how my journey began.