Meatless Mondays

Yep. I know. It's Tuesday. But I wanted to share with you all something that my family has started to do recently. We've decided to have Meatless Mondays. This is where we eat meals without any meat in them for the entire day of Monday, both improving our health and the environment.

   This is what the Wikipedia entry on Meatless Mondays says:
"Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. The program follows the nutrition guidelines developed by the USDA. Meatless Monday is part of the Healthy Monday initiative. Healthy Monday encourages Americans to make healthier decisions at the start of every week.
   Meatless Monday focuses its initiative on Mondays for multiple reasons. Monday is typically the beginning of the work week, the day when individuals settle back into their weekly routine. Unhealthy habits that prevailed over the weekend can be forgotten and replaced by positive choices. A weekly reminder to restart healthy habits also encourages success. A 2009 trial published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine provided individuals with weekly health prompts and encouragement. Approximately two thirds of participants responded with improvements in their overall health, eating habits and physical activity levels."

  And PLEASE check out the Wikipedia entry on the Environmental impact of meat production.

  This is just a little something my family and I have decided to partake in, doing what little we can. And there are tons of meals you can have that are meatless! We've had Veggie Stir-Fry, Pasta Salad, Quiche (we obviously aren't doing Vegan Mondays since we wouldn't be allowed eggs then LOL), and I plan on having fun looking up different meatless meals!

Bucket List

   Yes, I have tons of LOs to share with you all, but I feel like I've only been posting about digital scrapbooking lately, so thought I'd give ya'll, me dear friends, some personal insight. Inspired by my wonderful friend Star, here is my very much impromptu, unofficial

Bucket List

1.  Finish my degree (OMG, this is taking forever. Someone get me off my butt!)

2.  Be out of debt (this is kind of hard with #1. Student loans for the rest of my life. For reals. And owning a house kinda makes this one hard, too.)

3. Be financially stable (This seems easier than #2. Not easy, but easier...)

4. Instill in my daughter how important education and learning are without sending her over the deep end.

5. Keep my happy marriage happy.

6. Go to Nova Scotia. (My love of NS started with Anne of Green Gables.)

7. Learn how to use my digital camera really well. Like out of auto mode.

8. Read Atlas Shrugged. I've tried. Honest I have. I just can't seem to make it past the first 20 pages!

9. Meet...somebody famous.

10. Buy a dSLR and learn how to use it (yes, I know I just typed #7, but SOMEDAY I WILL have a dSLR!)

11. Go to Disneyland (yes, Disneyworld is closer to me, but if we go to Disneyland, my sisters will be closer and their whole families can come, too!)

12.Do karaoke. Yes, I'm a singer. No, I've never done karaoke. (My Missouri friends...help a sister out!)
13. Take my Mom to Rome. (She's fascinated by all things Catholic...well, religions in general).
14.Learn digital scrapbooking even better. Yeah, I kinda know what I'm doing, but there's always room for improvement.
15. Throw a successful surprise party. (Sounds fun, huh?!)
16. Be a Cardinals Baseball season ticket holder.
17. Grow a vegetable garden.
18. Write a children's book.
19. Refurbish/refinish and old set of furniture.
20. Be in the audience at the Ellen Show (I know, right, Star!!!)
21. Get a total makeover by someone who really know what they're doing. Clothes, makeup, hair. The works.
22. Exercise at the gym/exercise class/some form of exercise for 6 months straight.
23. Learn to cook steak well.




I'll be adding and crossing things off this list for a while. This is all I could come up with right now. I'm sure there's quite a few important things I'm forgetting...