Vegetarians do it better

I gave up meat. All meat. While I wouldn't call myself a level four vegan (I won't eat anything that casts a shadow), I'm trying to give up all animals (this includes poultry and seafood).

I had this epiphany in the middle of the honeymoon. I'm not even sure where to begin with why I made this decision. I'll just explain myself based on the type of food:

Pork: I've never really been into pork. I had a horrible experience as a child with sausage where I threw up violently on a plane headed for Disney World just from the stench of it. I also had an awful experience that same year with ham where I threw up all over my friend's bathroom after eating it. So since the 4th grade, I haven't been into pork so much. The only exception I've made over the years has been with bacon but I like bacon to be burned to a crisp so it doesn't really have that pork-y flavor.

Beef: I've had a love/hate relationship with beef all of my life. I've gone through many phases where I've stopped eating it but something always lured me back in (and its generally Korean food). Recently, my distaste for beef came from reading and then watching "Fast Food Nation". The book is brilliant... the movie is AWFUL. The movie, however, included a scene of the slaughtering of a cow. While the Mr. didn't even flinch, I was bawling uncontrollably. This poor unsuspecting cow was shoved into a pen where it was shot in the head then dragged into a factory where awful awful things were done to it. That image still haunts me. I know its silly and according to the Mr., Americans have the most humane practice of slaughtering cows but its still AWFUL.

I have to say though that its been slightly difficult to admit to not eating beef at the gazillion cookouts we've been to lately. I bring along my own soy burger and deal with the consequences of rabid meat-eaters harassing me because they don't understand my cow-hugging ways.

Poultry: I can't say that I've been a HUGE fan of chicken. I generally don't order it in a restaurant because I feel like its something that has a 50% chance of being delicious... the other 50% is super dry and gross. This is difficult to give up, however, because I feel like its everywhere! And I love Chick-Fil-A. After reading some chicken facts online and in Dan Mathew's memoir (you should totally pick up a copy... its a fantastic read), I was left with a bad taste in my mouth.

I am going to miss turkey though. I love a good turkey sub/sandwich.

Seafood: This is going to be the MOST difficult thing to give up since summer is here. I mean, I live in Baltimore... its delicious crab season. My reasoning for giving up seafood is by far the lamest. During our totally awesome honeymoon, we snorkeled everyday. While the idea of swimming around fish and having them potentially touch me grosses me out, I had a fantastic time. Some of the stuff we saw was amazing... and even stranger was that I saw some human qualities in the fish. They were playing, they were hanging out with their families, etc... so, I can't eat fish without feeling like I'm eating a family's mom or dad leaving orphaned fish behind.

*Update* I totally forgot to mention that I secretly long to join PETA. The Mr. is against this idea as he believes I'll be added to some sort of watch list. Hello? He just made it so much more appealing to me! I want to be an outlaw!

So far, having a meat-less diet hasn't been too difficult. The hardest part has been trying to find great vegetarian dishes to cook. Last night Theresa and Jamie came over and I prepared a Giada vegetarian dish.

I'm not so sure they were very into it but Jamie was very polite when he said he enjoyed some of the vegetables. Haha...

I also made a batch of my new favorite brownies. I recently stumbled across No Pudge! Fudge Brown Mix in the grocery store. How cute is their logo?!

I thought it was too good to be true and that it probably contained a plethora of scary chemicals but it didn't... and its delicious. I've made 3 batches this week.

And I've gotten some requests for wedding pictures. I have a ridiculous amount of pictures sent from friends so I'll only show a few in each post. We're going to check out our professional pictures on Saturday from our strangely obtrusive photographer so hopefully I'll be able to post them soon.

Wedding of the Year pictures!
My totally awesome wedding cake:


After the pae baek ceremony posing with my brother (on the left) and Juli's bf, Martin (on the right). Martin is actually a Scot... my brother is trying to get in touch with our family roots.


Us after we were pronounced "man and wife" making our exit. I look like I just crapped my pants and notice the strange way the veil is laying on my head. It actually fell off as I was walking.