So let me start by saying that my first foray into blogging was this, a blog that explained to vegetarians how to cook meat. That was really strange, but, in my defense, I’ve evolved as a vegetarian and have rediscovered my main reasons for wanting to continue with this lifestyle since that time. So sorry, and let’s move on!

I’m 27 years old as of now, and I’ve been a vegetarian (pescatarian for you purists…) since I was 7 years old. I saw the movie Babe and it traumatized me into being a better person. As time went on, I sort of just continued being a vegetarian out of habit, and I definitely never had the desire to eat meat. I also honestly never felt like I was missing out on anything, having not eaten meat for so long.

People would often get really frustrated when they asked my reasons for living this lifestyle. They were usually met with a shrug or something equally noncommittal. I finally just started saying that I didn’t LIKE meat, because that sat with people much better than trying to say I had principles.. sort of.. but not really.

Recently, though, I got 2 sweet and adorable dogs. I never really had been a pet person for whatever reason. We had this cat that I was obsessed with when I was in 2nd grade, and she ended up running away when we moved to our new house. I sort of didn’t want any more pets after that (again… the trauma!).

Look how sweet they are! I never knew I could love any animal as much as I love these two. And it made my wheels start turning and got me really thinking a lot about animals and animal welfare in general. In college, I had a roommate whose grandmother was obsessed with pigs. She loved pigs because she said they were really smart. Recently, I Googled it, and some random website said that pigs are as smart as dogs and even as smart as 2 year olds! Then, even though I don’t eat pork and haven’t for 20 years, I started feeling really insanely guilty. I started looking up videos of factory farms and crying my eyes out. I was thinking about my two sweet dogs and how I don’t want them to ever feel any hurt or pain or fear. What makes one animal okay to eat and another animal not OK to eat? Who decided?

My husband is always exasperated with me because I watch all these horrible videos of factory farming and follow all these pages online with homeless dogs who need someone to love them. “Stop watching those videos! They just make you sad!” He’s totally right, but for some reason, I can’t look away. There’s something seriously wrong with me. My feeling is that just because I don’t watch these things doesn’t mean they aren’t happening! Blissful ignorance is something of which I’m not a fan. If we all walk around being intentionally ignorant so that we can remain comfortable, that’s pretty scary.

So, anyway, within my new found hobby of watching disturbing videos about factory farming, I came across lots of videos about the dairy industry. It’s really messed up. I don’t know why I always pictured cows casually and ethically being milked, but I totally did. These cows are kept pregnant, separated from their babies who are taken immediately and made into veal, and basically have to endure tremendous pain and poor treatment in dirty conditions for what.. so I can eat cheese? I really like cheese, but Jesus. I also thought buying organic was doing something. Organically raised milk is not humanely raised milk, as I discovered. Sad but true.

So, as I often do, I called my mom to tell her about my outrage, and we were going to try to stop eating dairy aaaaaaaaaaand, we couldn’t. The first day I tried to do it, I ate a potato, some Fritos, some broccoli, and a piece of bread that probably wasn’t even vegan. I felt like I was dying, and I was really depressed. So, we aren’t ready. And that makes me feel like such an asshole because I want to do this, but it’s just too damn hard. So, I’ve decided to take small bites of this whole vegan thing and work my way up to it.

We are doing VEGAN MONDAYS.

Did you know that vegans save 198 animals each per year? What’s 198 divided by 7. I’m not sure. Update: it’s 28 and some change. That’s a big impact you can have by going vegan one day a week. I’ve found that since I’ve been doing this for the past month and a half, I don’t dread Mondays, but I actually look forward to them and coming up with creative ways to be healthier and more conscious. It doesn’t feel like a sacrifice, but it does make me feel incredibly good about myself. Like all vegans do. So I hear. HAHA.

So, join me! Here, I’ll be posting recipes, ideas, and tips to help you along your way! Maybe we’ll get up to 2 days a week sooner than we think!