Not Eating Animals! (027/365)

Day 27 Happy: Not eating animals!

I never made a conscious decision to be a vegetarian.

The last time I ate meat was over a month ago. I hadn't been eating red meat for close to a year, and was only eating chicken and turkey a couple nights a week anyway. One day, I just decided to stop. I will admit that there was a PETA pamphlet involved, but that wasn't the reason I decided to stop eating meat. My sister has been a vegetarian for several years now, and I don't really like the taste of meat anyways, so it wasn't really that big of a deal.

I have run into a few bumps in the road along the way though. There are a few types of food that I love (Chinese food, Mexican food) that I generally had meat with (Orange chicken, and turkey tacos!). My fiancé (carnivore) and I have been experimenting with vegetarian ways to make dinners. Some of our inventions have been great successes (vegetarian chili was super delicious, and vegetarian burritos, which are JUST as good as turkey burritos!), and some have been... iffy (like veggie burger, which I think tasted a little odd because it was overcooked, and I don't really like red meat anyways, so why would I like fake red meat? ... I'm trying the veggie chicken patties next).

We also tried to make our own homemade veggie Chinese food, but that was... questionable. Making your own at-home Chinese food is hard anyways, but we have some little changes to make for the next time we try to make it. It honestly hasn't been that big of a deal to cook and eat vegetarian for the last month. Plus, it has saved us a whole bunch of money at the grocery store, as we are now only buying half the amount of meat we used to. (Marc likes that part, too.)

Yay for not eating animals!

Harry Potter World! (026/365)

Day 026 Happy: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (again!)

Redundancy!

Marc and I went back to Harry Potter World (which I call it, as it is easier to say than "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter"... such a mouthful!). This time, he let me use his camera the whole time so that I could get some fun pictures of the theme park. It was awesome to be behind the camera instead of sitting around waiting for Marc to take all the pictures!



It was way less crowded than the last time we went (on opening day) and we actually got to go into all of the shops, eat at the Three Broomsticks, and ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The ride was awesome, one of those simulated ones. And, it was exactly the perfect length... I'm afraid if it would have gone on any longer, I would have vomited! I tend to have a very sensitive tummy when it comes to that sort of ride, you see.

At the Three Broomsticks, Marc had shepherd's pie (which he claimed wasn't nearly as good as mine) with a salad, and I had a kids meal with mac n' cheese, potato wedges and grapes, since they had next to no vegetarian options. We finally got to try Pumpkin Fizz (like Pumpkin Juice, but carbonated) and Butterbeer, which tastes a lot like cream soda, with thick, foamy whipped cream on top.

I'm exhausted, so I'll leave you with some of the pictures that I took from the day.























For more info (and more pictures!), go to my flickr page: www.flickr.com/kelsieelaine

Shakespeare Is SO Over! (025/365)

Day 25 Happy: Being done with my Shakespeare class!

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

I just finished the two papers that constitute the final exam for my Shakespeare for the Theatre class. While reading Shakespeare was pretty interesting, it was also intense. I had to read a play a week for four weeks, read a book about the life of Shakespeare and watch several film clips and rehearsals of different plays, and finally watch the entire four hour production of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (which I did not finish... but don't tell my teacher).

Now I just have my Adolescent Literature and Criminal Justice classes and my internship and I will have two weeks completely off from school in the middle of August before the fall semester starts!

On an even HAPPIER note, Marc and I are going back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter tomorrow. We figured that we should have a little fun, because after tomorrow I will work (between my job job and my internship job) THIRTY TWO DAYS IN A ROW. And on the 32nd day, I will be flying up to Georgia to see my sister for a few days (and getting absolutely no sleep, I presume) before coming back to work another 8 or 9 days in a row. By the time my break rolls around in the middle of August, I am going to be one very tired little Kelsie.

But at least I don't have to struggle to read any more books that are written in Elizabethan English, pretending that I know what is going on.

The Hobbit (024/365)

Day 24 Happy: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I love to read.

There is nothing more relaxing that curling up with a good book and getting lost in the story. Someday, I want to have a library in my house, full of wonderful books for me to read whenever I want to. Lately, I haven't got much time to read for fun (that hilarious Russell Brand book that I have been dying to finish sits on the shelf gathering more dust every day) because every time I start to sit down with a book, I find myself becoming guilty because I know that there are a million other things that I should be doing instead.

However, one of the books that I have to read for my adolescent literature class was The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. During one lazy weekend several years ago, Marc and I watched the entire Lord of the Rings series in two days. The movies were good, and someday (someday!) I wanted to sit down and read the novels that they were based on.

Today, I read the whole Hobbit book! Procrastination kicked my butt again and I had to read the entire book, and write two papers on it (on top of the other three papers that I had to write for this class, based on The Chocolate War, and on the textbook). All was due at midnight and I turned them in at 11:50! (Haha, Procrastination, I win again!).

The book was wonderful. I expected it to be written in a much more formal language, and to be a little difficult to read, but it wasn't. It was funny, and clever and told a story of great adventure! I want to read the Lord of the Rings series, but not so quickly, and under so much pressure!

For now, though, I am going to take a break from reading and writing and go watch The Lord of the Rings with Marc and play a game of Scrabble!


What is your favorite book to cuddle up with? Leave your answers in the comments.

Sleeping In! (023/365)

Day 23 Happy: Sleeping in!

Today I had every intention of getting up early, doing some homework and housework, and then getting ready for work. Instead, I ended up laying around in bed, half awake, until 10:00, when I finally had to get up for work. I don't usually linger in bed that long, but I figured I deserved it.

A week from today, I start my internship at Graphics Tech in Tampa. I am both nervous and excited about it, but mostly I'm just preparing myself for the exhaustion. For six weeks, I will be working 40 hours a week at my regular job, plus 25 hours a week at the internship, and doing homework for two classes, Adolescent Literature and Survey of Criminal Justice. I am pretty sure that I won't have a chance to sleep in again until the beginning of August, so I took advantage of it today.

Hopefully, when all is said and done, my exhaustion will be worth it! I graduate from college in December, so I only have about 6 more months of this madness!

On another note... I am trying a veggie burger for the first time for dinner tonight. I'm terrified! What will a burger made out of veggie and soy product taste like? My sister, Lyndsey, says that they are pretty good, so I am going to give it a shot. I'll get back on later and let you know how it tastes.

Update: My veggie burger was... not terrible. It was a different texture, and didn't have too much taste, except for a char-grilled taste, which actually kinda made it taste like hamburger. I smothered it with mustard, ketchup, A1 and pickles, and it made for a pretty satisfying dinner. Marc was making fun of me because I was afraid to try it at first, just like I was afraid to try our first attempt at home-made vegetarian Chinese food last night (which actually turned out pretty good, but needs a few tweaks for next time). Being a vegetarian for almost a month has definitely made me expand my normal range of food! So far, so good!

Rain, Rain (022/365)

Day 22 Happy: Rain!

It has been raining for the past two hours. I love this part about Florida summers (not happy for the day... today is the first day of summer, which means it is only going to get hotter. ICK). It is so nice to read my book for homework (The Chocolate War... it is pretty good so far!), all curled up in my PJs on my futon with a cup of hot chai, listening to the rain outside. If only I had a cozy fireplace, the scene would be complete!

Another happy for today... Marc has gotten an insane amount of views and comments on his flickr since posting the pictures from Harry Potter world. It makes him happy to have so many other people enjoy the photos he has taken, and when he is happy, I am happy! Check out his pictures from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (and others) here!

Acting Like Old People (021/365)

Day 21 Happy: Acting like old people!

We have been crazy busy the past couple of days, between going to the Grand Opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and going to see Toy Story 3 last night. We are exhausted!

Last night, we made a plan to come home tonight and go to bed early. We are going to be showered, fed and in bed watching movies and playing Scrabble no later than 10:30 tonight! (I know that doesn't really seem early, but we generally get into bed sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m.) I am looking forward to turning in early and just relaxing before starting the work week.

Hope you all have an awesome night, too!

Update: 
We did not end up playing Scrabble (unfortunate. I love Scrabble). Instead, we laid in bed and watched Dear John, which my lovely friend Miranda let us borrow. She said that she hated it, especially the ending, so I wanted to judge it for myself. I actually thought it was a pretty good movie, and very realistic. I am a little biased, though, because I think Amanda Seyfried is fantastic. Talking to a friend today at work, I heard that the book is a little different, and better for those who did not like the ending of the film version. I'll have to read that as soon as I am not being completely overloaded by homework every second of my life. 
My rating for Dear John: 3 1/2 stars