A Little Bit About Me and Sunday Links (April 1, 2012)

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First up, my Sunday Links.  As always, totally random!

The Week in Pictures (from MSN)
Crunch a Color
Does a Chocolate Habit Help Keep You Lean?
4 Ways to Add Chia to Your Diet
Brands That Rock
The Best Homemade Remedies to Treat Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies
Out of the Box Ways to Enjoy Hummus
Vegan Product Guide

Next up, I recently received two beautiful awards from Kayle at The Cooking Actress.  We just "met" and she was gracious enough to already honor me with some recognition.  Trish from In Fine Balance also "passed the love" with an award a couple months ago, and I let that one fall through the cracks.  Thank you, Trish!
  
All of these awards require some work on my part, and that is to share a bit about, well... me.  You get to have a little insight into the life of the All-American Vegetarian!

The Kreative Blogger Award: Share 10 things about yourself. 
The Versatile Blogger Award requests 7 things about yourself.  I went with 11...

1. I don't eat breakfast.  I know it is the "most important meal of your day."  It "breaks your fast" and gets your metabolism kicking.  Unfortunately, I can't stomach food in the morning.  So, I preach to my kids about how they have to eat a healthy meal before school - while I chug down my beloved cup of coffee.  I have a love affair with my morning (and afternoon and anytime in-between) coffee.
2. My husband is a hard-working attorney with a law firm = long work hours.  We met in college, our senior year and have been together ever since - 14 years.  We will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary this July.  He was raised in a vegetarian home and his parents are still vegetarians.  Pretty cool, right?
3. I am a full-time stay-at-home-mom.  Gave up my career as a Kindergarten teacher - not sure if I will ever go back to teaching because...goodness, it is one of the hardest jobs out there!  But, one of the most rewarding.  I'm just not sure if I can handle taking care of my own family and be responsible for my classroom family of 5 year olds (they really become my extended family and I would truly do anything for them).
4. I should have brown hair by now... but I will always be a blond :)  I try to lead as much of a "natural" life, but there are certain things I will never give up: my hair color, eyebrow waxing, shaving, and makeup...to name a few.
5. I have always had a deep love for animals and their welfare.  When I was little, I wanted to go to Cornell and become a veterinarian (and then realized what a vet actually does - surgery, blood, I don't think so!).  When I was a teenager I declared my desire to become a vegetarian (and then had Sloppy Joe's for dinner that night).  In college my dear roomie of three years was a vegetarian (I had avocado for the first time at her parent's home.) and she helped me become vegetarian - I have been ever since.  My affection for animals is one of the reasons why I initially went vegetarian and has now prompted me to go almost all vegan. 
6. Along the lines of #5, I attended the University of Rhode Island, earning my B.S. in Wildlife Biology - to pursue my love of animals and the environment.  I loved my coursework, but being a student wasn't my strength ;).  Graduated and...now what?  Moved to Boston, worked as an Administrative Assistant at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and also volunteered at the New England Aquarium with the puffin and shorebird exhibits.  Finally decided teaching would be my profession and attended Lesley University in Cambridge, MA to earn my M.Ed. in Elementary Education.  My small regret with that was not specializing in Early Childhood Education - my true love are the young children - preschool-first grade level.
7. I get frustrated by vegans who disrespect other eaters (sorry, but I'm putting this out there).  I am working hard with my children for them to show respect to their friends when there is a discussion about food.  Bottom line, I want people to show me respect by how our family eats - therefore I respect them (Of course, I also try to feed them my delicious food!).  Golden Rule, you know?
8. I am in the process of starting my own baking business.  Starting small - craft fairs, farmers markets.  Exciting and scary, but I will never know if I don't try!
9. My kitchen is one of the big reasons why I didn't want to purchase our home a few years ago.  The layout is frustrating and it is quite outdated (I have an ancient Jenn-Air oven! It must be at least 25 years old!).  Guess where I spend a majority of my time when home - in my kitchen!
10. When I have exercised in the past (and I will get back to it.  Refer to #11, below.) my favorite forms were Zumba and Pilates (not in the same class!).  I love Zumba for the heart-pumping and sweat-inducing workouts and I love Pilates for the stretching, core strengthening, and breathing.
11. I am trying to improve myself and be more thoughtful and aware, grateful and gracious, healthy and physically active.  I'm trying to live in the moment and not get caught up in the daily stress of being a mother and wife.  I am reading the book The Happiness Project, like the concept of The Four Agreements, and have been going to church on a regular basis - to name just a few things.  I'm also trying to motivate myself to get out of the house in the morning or evening for brisk walks!

The Sunshine Award: Answer the following questions.  For fun, I had my son, age 3, and my daughter, age 5, help out with a few of these.

Favorite Color: blue (Tommy) / pink and purple (Rose)
Favorite Animal: cows and pigs (Tommy) / unicorns (Rose)
Favorite Number: 1 (Tommy) / 3 (Rose)
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: coffee (Tommy) / "It's tea!" (Rose) By the way I never drink tea!
Prefer Facebook or Twitter:  Just Facebook (and nope...no Pinterest for me!)
My Passion: "I have a headache!  Why do I have to do this?" (Tommy) / "Sell granola!" (Rose - refer to #7, above.)
Prefer Getting or Giving Presents: I love giving presents, but it is always quite nice when surprised with a gift (Like my husband coming home this week with yellow flowers...just because.).
Favorite Pattern: trendy florals and preppy plaids
Favorite Day of the Week: Friday...I'm in love!  Seriously, I think Fridays are so nice because if you had a difficult and long week - it's over.  But, if you had a quick and easy week, Fridays are a nice reward and the weekends are typically something to look forward to.  I will never say no to a Friday Happy Hour!
Favorite Flower: Roses...for an obvious reason


Pay it Forward.  Nominate about 10 of your favorite blogs (and let them know!).  Below is a random mix of blogs I enjoy.
Crayon FrecklesThe Green Phone BoothKiss My BroccoliJL goes VeganJ's Everyday FashionMy Vegan JournalProfessor VegetableThe Spunky CoconutVegan CrunkVegan Heartland
Check out the other award I received and you can also see a different list of blogs I nominated!