Meatless May...a vegetarian adventure

I've decided to try out being a vegetarian for the month of May.  It's no animal rights thing, I'm a firm believer in the food chain...the circle of life.

So now I'm playing the part of the antelope--I just pray the lion in my life, Skittles (my cousin's cat that I've temporarily adopted), won't pounce and eat me.  ps...I am aware antelope is misspelled in the picture.

I'm mainly doing this because I want to see if I can do it without breaking down at 2 in the morning and driving to Cook Out to order a BBQ sandwich and a corn dog...and I'm trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle.  

There are several challenges with this commitment.  I don't want to do this and end up eating pasta every night.  I need to push myself to really explore all the vegetarian options out there.  Which I can see becoming pretty costly.  Sadly, eating healthy is not cheap.  Veggies and fruit can rack up the grocery bill if you aren't careful...pasta and sauce is way cheaper.  So I intend to find a way to do this on my normal grocery budget without eating bowls and bowls of pasta. 

So there you have it.  My Meatless May--stay tuned for recipes, pictures, and comments!

Cuteness!

Trapped

It's that itchy, claustrophobic feeling.  The one when you've realize that you are trying desperately to claw yourself out of the room but aren't getting anywhere.

The room is dark, damp, and smells like decay.  When you rub your hands along the walls the splinters stab your fingertips.  Eventually you don't even notice the roaches that run across your feet or the spiders that fall in your hair.  There are no windows, the only light comes from the door.

The door stands there tall and looming.  A glass door.  It's smooth to the touch and feels cool on the tip of your nose when you lean into it.  I can see my life on the other side--I see myself smiling, laughing, and truly happy.  I can see goals, aspirations, friends, and family.  The other side of the door is bright and colorful--my knuckles are stained red from knocking.  I need the key and I know that it has to be somewhere in this room hidden away.

I may spend hours searching each day but in the end I end up staring through the door--watching and dreaming--until I've exhausted myself and I collapse on the floor.  And just lay there and wait, possibly for something that will never come.

Absentmindedly flicking the spider off my forehead I shut my eyes with the thought that tomorrow I'll finally pull up the plank that my key is hiding under.

The Hunger Games!

The Hunger Games.  The first of a series of three---is an amazing book.  And to those comparing it to Harry Potter and Twilight: STOP RIGHT NOW.  All three of those series are so different and should never be compared to each other--so stop it.

The Hunger Games is a series that appeals to a very large audience--men and women; teenagers, young adults, adults; readers and non-readers.  It's full of political, economical, and ethical issues that will stay with you as you read about a government so controlling that it throws 24 kids into an arena to fight to the death once every year while forcing everyone to watch and celebrate.  It's not a book focused on the violent actions themselves so much as the cruelty of the government: The Capital.  It's emotionally riveting and I highly recommend it.

And the move was fantastic as well.

As we maneuvered through the Effies, Katnisses, Peetas, and Haymitches (notice that no one dressed up as Gale) Paige and I discussed which scenes we were most pumped to see:





SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD-this will contain plot spoilers and spoiler photos from the movie

The cave scenes.  
I don't need to explain why to those who've read the books.  The movie didn't do every single cave scene--just the big ones.  And they were good.  The only drawback was that any middle school girl in the audience giggled and laughed because they are too young to appreciate it.  I'm also not entirely sure a non-reader quite understood Katniss' motivation in those scenes--and that's important. 

One the big things I wanted to see in the cave scene was Katniss forcing Peeta to pass out so she could go the Harvest feast to get the medicine he needed.  They didn't do that.  Instead she waited until he fell asleep and took off.  She also didn't pass out from blood loss as soon as she got back--but by that point she had already gone through a lot so I figured that's why they redid it a bit.  Which leads me to....


The Capital Outfits /Cinna and stylists.
Oh the "fashion" of the capital.   The film did not shy away from this at all.  It went wild with the outfits and the hair and it was really enjoyable.

Cinna is one of my favorite characters and I was super excited to see Lenny Kravitz play him and he did not disappoint. From his gold eye shadow to his calming tone of voice...sublime.






Tracker Jacker Scene.
Oh--this scene was phenomenal!  The set up, the trakerjackers, the dead body, the hallucinations----very well done.  I was so nervous for Katniss the entire time and seeing Rue and Peeta come to the rescue was awesome.  The camera and sound effects in this scene made it my very favorite scene in the entire movie. 

Mutts.
The mutts are one the scariest things in the books.  They're different each time you see them and they make their first appearance towards the end of the 74th Hunger Game.  Why are they so scary?  Because they are dead bodies that have been manipulated into a creature--in the film they resemble dog like creatures.  The film doesn't touch on what the mutts are though, which is fine--it may have been a bit hard to explain.

The Arrow to the Apple.
Such a fierce moment for Katniss: book and film. 


Rue.
Rue and Prim are the source of many tears for me--especially Rue.  In the film she is super cute and adorable and I was definitely caught bawling during a certain scene.

 
This scene was also fantastic.  Katniss glances up to the sky, waiting for them to stop her while Peeta, blissfully unaware of her plan, touches her braid lovingly.  It was a perfect display of what their relationship is at this point: Katniss playing to the audience to survive and Peeta completely in love. 

God's Timing

I was sitting at a stoplight today.  Don't ask me how but somehow I absentmindedly put my car in park---when the light turned green I hit the gas and of course went nowhere.  Looking down I realized the car was in park.  I quickly corrected this and went on.  (Let's skip the part about how I put the car in park without realizing--it's quirky and dangerous--I get it.)

But even stranger is what I was doing while this happened.  I was complaining to God.  I had begun by praying for a friend of mine, wishing her patience for God's timing in her life.  Then I went on a rant about how I wasn't married yet.  How I was ready and I didn't understand why God was making me wait--can't he see how badly I want this in my life?  How I need my life to move in that direction.

That's when I hit the gas pedal and didn't go anywhere.  I've never absentmindedly put my car in park like that before. Never.  It's not coincidence that it happened when I was questioning God's timing.  He was telling me to wait.  Forcing me to wait. 

It's impossible to see things from God's perspective.  The past three weeks have left my family with a lot to think about regarding God's will in our lives.  And why he lets things happen so slowly...or with my uncle's passing--way too soon and quick.

As frustrating as it is for me to wait patiently for my husband I need to remember that God's timing is perfect.  Maybe if my car hadn't been in park I would have been in an accident--waiting those few seconds spared me some sort of pain and gave me safe passage.  These years of waiting for the one God has chosen for me is preparing the way for a beautiful ride.


On a related note---I heard this song the radio and it touched my heart and made me think of my aunt and uncle.

Walking Dead Finale Predicitons

**SPOILER ALERT** if you aren't caught up then don't read this!

So the big prediction is this:  Who dies?
Well, Cameron and I both pretty much agree that Hershel and his whole clan will die--except for Maggie.  Hershel is not going to leave his farm and he'll die defending it.  We also think Carol will probably die, with Sophia gone there really isn't anything left for her.  T-dog has a chance of dying as well, but we don't see this happening.

Who do I wish would die?  Andrea.   I don't like Andrea--and I think there is 50% chance she won't make it through tonight episode.  But she is also getting to be more of a crazy character as the series progresses so they may keep her on to fill the Shane void. 

Who do I definitely not want to die?  Daryl.

Daryl is my favorite character and I will be devastated if he dies--so I'm gonna need him to live.  No matter what.  If we have to sacrifice Carl for Daryl to live...so be it.

Airborne Zombie Virus?
Um yeah.  No question about it.   I spent a good deal of time thinking of all the ways the zombie apocalypse could have spread so quickly.  Let's be honest--people going around biting people is not a quick way to spread something at all.  Especially worldwide.  It would need to be airborne--or even something in the water possibly.  So if it's airborne why isn't everyone a zombie?  That was the next question.  Perhaps it takes place after death.  Yes. That's the ticket.

Say the zombie virus is released in the air one day.  Everyone becomes infected.  Over 100,000 people die everyday.  BOOM.  You have 100,000 zombies walking around and attacking people.  That causes more death, either through being bitten and bleeding to death, having the bite cause so much damage that it leads to death, the bite itself increases the infection and kills you, or by other causes like car wrecks and people being shot in hysteria.  Suddenly you have an apocalypse on your hands.


 Last week we had two zombies on our hands.  Two zombies without any bites.  What does this prove?  That everyone has the virus.  Remember these two guys?

The two walkers with no bites?  Remember the obvious remarks that Shane and Rick made about their being no bites?  Remember Rick's lack of concern?  Rick knew.  Rick knows.  I'm pretty sure we finally know what the CDC guy told him.  It's airborne.  It happens after you die.

I'm pretty stoked for tonight's episode.  It has a lot to live up to after last week's was so phenomenal.  The combination the Shane/Rick duel, Carl shooting the gun, and the army of walkers at the bottom of the heel is almost too much to handle and I can't wait to see what happens.

Dark Shadows

Hey remember my previous post?  The trailer for Dark Shadows hadn't been released it.  But now it has! ENJOY

So Many Great Movies!

There a lot of great movies coming out this year and I can barely contain my excitement.  The only thing that would make it better would be if I could find a movie theater that would sell Red Vines instead of Twizzlers.  So here we go---a preview at the amazing things coming to a theater new year (hopefully in order)

The Hunger Games.  (March) To all those that don't know much about Hunger Games here is the most important thing you need to know:  IT IS NOT THE NEW TWILIGHT.  Twilight is not good.  Twilight is a lot like getting addicted to Sno Balls.  They aren't that good and yet you somehow feel compelled to eat them.

Anyways...The Hunger Games.  The books are phenomenal and I hope that the movies stand out on there own.  As everyone knows, the movies are never as good as the books--but that's not important.  The movies should be good on all their own. I already have my midnight ticket to this one and there is no one else I'd rather see it with other Paige (although if Sage could be here that would be awesome).

Titanic.  (April) Oh yes. I'm not including a trailer.  It's Titanic---everyone knows it.

Dark Shadows (May)  Based on an old soap opera involving a vampire.  I don't much about this one but what I do know is that it's a Tim Burton with Johnny---and that's enough for me






MIB 3 (May) I can't imagine this being bad.  The second one wasn't great but a lot of time has passed and Will Smith doesn't need this movie.  Therefore I assume if it's good enough for him to agree--it's good enough for me.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  (June) You read that right.  Abraham Lincoln--Vampire Hunter.  It's Time Burton without (gasp) Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter!

Dark Knight Rise (July) Nothing really needs to be said about this one.

Frankenweenie (October)  As a Tim Burton girl---I'm already familiar with this movie, I've seen the short and it was cute and demented.

The Hobbit (December)  No words.  Just the trailer.

Tragedy and Revelations

A little over a month ago my uncle was put in the hospital for what seemed to be something to not cause too much worry.  Four weeks later I was speaking to a huge, packed out church standing over my uncle's casket.  I'm not going to go into the emotions that my family experienced and are still experiencing--it's unexplainable and impossible to emphasize with because each loved one lost is a different experience to everyone.  What I do want to go into are the things that God has revealed to me through this tragedy.

Life is short.  No matter how long you live--life is still short.  I've spent so much time saying "I'll do this eventually when I can.  What I can afford to. When I loose weight;" the excuses are endless.  So I'm trimming the fat in my life.

I'm no longer going to surround myself with people mindlessly.  I know who my best friends are.  The ones who called me.  The ones who cried with me. The ones who know me inside out.  Those are the ones that I'll keep close.  I like all my friends, but my heart can only be open to a select few.

My family is everything to me.  I cherish every moment I spend with them and I'm happiest with them.  It's time to make them a top priority.

There is a reason I haven't found a church in Raleigh.  I already have a church.  That I love.  That I intend to become more involved with as things start falling into place soon.

 God has revealed a new life to me.  A life that I ignored and decided against when I moved to Raleigh.  It's time to change.

This post is dedicated to my Uncle Mike

Blog recommendation!

Check out my best friend's new blog site:

Into the Beautiful