I'm out to dinner with my Aunt and cousins in Arizona. Lately, I have been trying to live a simplicity based lifestyle and for the most part, I fall short of the goal, but I'm trying. The restaurant we go to is one I normally avoid. A glittering, monolith of post Y2K consumerism; a Cheesecake Factory. If you've ever been to a Cheesecake Factory you know the menu is extensive. Most of the stuff is filled with meat, cheese and generally things I am trying not to consume. As I peruse the menu, item after item of sumptuous, delectable artery cloggers call out to my former self to get me a gulping. In April of this year though I made a decision that would limit the rest of my choices as long as I followed through. I went Vegan; or at least Vanessa went vegan and I am along for the ride. In all honesty, what started as a health based decision has turned into a quest to eliminate all animal products from our lives and it has a liberating effect on what we decide to eat and not eat. As well as what we wear and buy in a range of areas.
Becoming a vegan was not easy for me at first. We tried it a year ago, launched this blog and spent 3 months living vegan and suddenly crashed. Some dramatic life changes happened, including moving back to Alaska and now after settling back into our lives we are back to being vegan but with an important change. This time it's not just for us, it's for the animals. It started with health again but after doing some research and watching some pretty gnarly movies we are in it whole hog and Vanessa even ditched her makeup to get the cruelty free kind. And all of this has been intensely liberating.
