Am I Officially a Vegetarian??!!

I can't remember the last time I ate meat. I know it's been months (maybe six or so) since I have cooked meat at home. I think that might make me an official vegetarian.

If you would have told me when Liam was born that I would be a vegetarian, I would have laughed while I ate some really bad, processed food. Our diet a few years ago was horrible. I mean, it's not perfect now but back then, it was a lot of processed, nutrient deficient foods. Once I got pregnant with Asher, I started slowly making changes to our diet. I started adding more fruits and vegetables while cutting out a lot of the processed foods and GMOs. Now, we eat a lot of organic foods and I try to limit the amount of GMOs we consume.

Now I know that vegetarianism isn't for everyone. I'm not here to preach to anyone. I made the choice to stop eating meat when I started watching a lot of food documentaries on NetFlix (like Food, Inc. and Vegucated). It actually wasn't hard to stop eating meat at home...I just stopped buying it and cooking it. Now, going out to eat or getting takeout is a different story. Will still eats meat when we order food and so do the boys. When I first stopped cooking meat, I would eat the meat that we ordered. Well, that changed somewhere down the road and I started looking for vegetarian options and making sure that Will ordered those for me as well. I'll have to do a post soon showing the different vegetarian options I've found at local restaurants (they have all been delicious).

Here are a few of our favorite vegetarian snacks:

Beet, carrot, apple and spinach juice

Beet, carrot, apple and pineapple juice

Organic yogurt topped with strawberries, chia seeds, cacao nibs and whole wheat berry flakes

Egg scramble with red peppers, potatoes, vegan Italian sausage and Sriracha and the best organic grapes ever

Asher's absolute favourite snack: Air popped popcorn, vegan butter, nutritional yeast and pink salt

Life and Hair.

Ten months ago, I made one of the most impulsive decisions of my life (I may be exaggerating just a little). I talked a little about my hair here but if you haven't read that post (and don't feel like reading it now), I'll just go over my hair really fast.
A little over a year ago, I decided to stop chemically straightening my hair. After about four months of no chemicals, I decided to have all my relaxed hair chopped off (leaving me with about two inches of hair growth).

Now, after having your hair look and feel a certain way for 10+ years, it took awhile for me to figure out my hair. There were points were I felt I should just go back to being relaxed but there was one major reason I didn't: I was pregnant with Asher. I wore braids during a majority of my pregnancy but once I took the out, I did not know what to do with my hair. Luckily YouTube saved me and I have started to play around with it more.
If you see me now, I most likely have my hair in a twist-out, which turns me hair into a big, curly afro. Liam and I are hair twins now!
It feels great to enjoy my hair although I have had many trials and moments when I question my decision but then I remember my ultimate goal: to live a natural, healthy life (plus my afro is lovely).

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (Maybe)

I am contemplating a huge hair change tomorrow. This change has been in the making for a few months now but I think the time has come to finally take this huge step.
Since I was about 14 years old, I have been chemically straightening, or relaxing, my hair. Over the last couple of years, I have tried to take better care of my hair. I became a YouTube junkie, bought tons of hair products and spent hours upon hours in the hair salon (literally). Now, I never had an issue with my naturally curly hair. Mostly I kept relaxing it because that's what I had to do. Relaxed hair doesn't revert back to curly so once you make the decision to use chemicals to change the texture of your hair, you are making a commitment to the upkeep that comes along with straighter hair.
One of the main reasons I decided to "go natural" is that I am trying to live a healthier life. I want to eat better, live better and limit my families exposure to harsh chemicals. I had to admit that the chemicals I was putting on my hair every 6-8 weeks was not healthy at all. I frequently suffered from burns on my scalp, headaches and to be honest, my hair suffered at times. The final straw came when I realized that I had severe breakage in the center of my head. I knew that it was time for me to make a change and try something different.
It has now been about four months since my last relaxer. I have about two inches of "natural" growth which doesn't look like much when your hair is tightly coiled. After talking things over with Will and my mom (who actually just cut all her hair off recently), I plan to cut all my hair off tomorrow. I plan to go to a barber shop and explain my situation to them. I want to keep my little two inches of growth but the rest of it can go. I am not the type of person who likes to hang on to something I no longer feel I need (or want). Besides, it's only hair. It will eventually grow back (and hopefully be better than ever). Although this is a big move, I'm excited to make this change. Plus, I think this will make doing my hair much easier while in Germany. Wish me luck!