Happy Memorial Day!

Other than Memorial Day being a day to remember our fallen service men, it has also traditionally become a day of cook outs.  It is a kick-off to summer, time to fire up the grills.  As I sit on my back patio this afternoon I can smell the meat grilling.  While to some this smell is yummy, to me it turns my stomach.   Before I became vegan I never was a big meat eater....I could not step into a steak restaurant with out feeling nauseas.  For me Memorial Day is the beginning of the abundance of delicious summer fruits and veggies.......

You can only get strawberries this big in the summertime!  So sweet and fresh!

I love marinated cucumbers..... I could eat this all day!

If you must grill something, grill up some corn.  When else can you find corn on the cob at 4 for $1 and so sweet?  Other grilling options:  portabella mushrooms (make a great burger substitute), veggie kabobs,   

asparagus, and the best grilled pinapple!

What is your favorite veggie/fruit to grill?

I Despise Litterbugs!

It infuriates me every time I am sitting at a light and see the car in front of me throw out their cigarette butt out the window.    I see it at least once a day during my commute to and from work.  I just don't understand why they think that is ok.  What do they think is going to happen to that butt, who is going to pick it up for them.  According to "Butts Out" @ 4.3 trillion butts are discarded each year.  At least 30% of those end up as litter, this creates over 500,000 tons of litter each year!  Since butts are made of synthetic polymer they never degrade.  On top of that, once the butts come into contact with water they begin leaching chemicals into the environment....yuck!  How would these people that throw their butts out the car window feel if I went over to their house and poured toxic chemicals in their yard, I am pretty sure they would be very upset.  Yet, they continue to litter their butts not caring about the environment impact their actions have.

Below is a picture of a car that I have seen throwing out their cigarette butt more than once during my morning commute to work!

The driver of the car pulls into Hall Office Park on the corner of the tollway and Gaylord Parkway every morning.....I am assuming that is where this man works.  I wonder if he litters his cigarette butts at home in his yard.  I bet at home he disposes of them correctly!  Litter bugs beware.......

Garden Update

My garden is growing!  It is so cool to watch it grow, can't wait until we can start picking veggies.  We had a caterpillar issue a couple weeks ago, they ate the broccoli leaves down to the ground.  We hand picked them all off...about 50 critters!  Hated to do it , but had to buy some organic caterpillar killer:(  Sprayed everything down real good and the broccoli leaves are growing back!

Check out the bell peppers!

There is a chile pepper growing......

It won't be long!

What Rain?

Ok, so on Friday it was windy and rainy.  Woke up on Saturday morning and it looked like we were in for the same, however by mid-afternoon the clouds had burned off and the sun was shining!  We went to the park and walked the trails, it was great.  We saw tons of dragonfly's, 2 squirrels, a bee hive swarming with bees (yikes) and tons of beautiful wild flowers.  That night we were even able to have our cook out with the fire pit.  What a great day.  Today, the sun was shining bright.  Started off the day with another long walk, this time on the track with the dogs.  After ward we tested out the water in the pool.  This was the first swim of the season.

Rainy Week-End

Rain is in the forecast all week-end and I am bummed!  The sun is peeking out a little this morning, but the humidity is thick.  The past couple week-ends we have grilled out on the patio and hung out enjoying a fire making s'mores and drinking wine.  Looks like that won't be happening this week-end.  Here are some pics of our outdoor fun!

I think we are going to head to the park and see if we can get in some walking on the trails before it rains again!  Want to get in some outdoor time this week-end.  It is important to me that my son gets an appreciation for the outdoors.  I truly feel that the closer his bond is to nature the more inclined he will be to protect the environment as he gets older.

Day @ the ZOO!

Last week me and my son went to the zoo!  It has been years since we have been and we had a blast!

We go to feed the birds!  You could buy popsicle sticks with birdseed on them and go inside a giant birdcage with tons of birds flying around.  A very interactive exhibit.

The monkey's were so cute....I always loved watching the monkeys!

Right after I took this picture, the elephant took a huge dump.  I swear the elephant laughed about it!

Catching Up!

I know it has been awhile, but I have been super busy!  Where should I start??  Let's back up to Earth Day....April 22nd!  My employer held an event in the cafeteria and I volunteered to run a booth.  The booth was called "KNOCK OUT PLASTIC."  It was basically a bowling game with one of my son's soccer balls and 2 liter soda bottles filled with rocks.  I had a great time!  There were other booths with lots of information regarding the environment.

Then on Saturday me and my son volunteered at our city's "Green It and Clean It Event."  We met up with some other kids from his school and picked up trash around the school.  We actually had a good time and the weather was great!