Britty - My Vegan Life

Pick Me Up

2008-01-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

I have a book called Pick Me Up. It's really neat and has tons of different and random subjects. One of the neat ones was, What is the meaning of life? Under it, it had all kinds of things, such as:

How do I know I'm not dreaming?

Supposedly, if you pinch yourself and it hurts, it isn't a dream. Well, why couldn't someone dream that they pinched them self?
That was a question someone called Rene Descartes asked. Rene even questioned his own existence thinking it was a dream! Later on, he thought that he could only doubt his existence if he was truly alive to doubt it!

"I think, so therefore I am,"

Pretty weird stuff, huh? Still neat that someone even thought about that though.

Is the world getting better?

It seems like it! We have cars, airplanes, and the internet, and many other things.
Still though, is the world actually getting better? A man named Pluto, who had lived in ancient Greece, thought that we should try to make the world as perfect and flawless as we could. He also thought that there was another world that was called the World of Forms. 1. 'The world of Forms is not a place we can go and live in. It is more like a set of standards we aspire to. The world we live on is just a bad version of the World of Forms. Pluto told how we could use our powers of reason to understand the world of forms and to use our understanding to make our world a better place.'

So, is the world really getting better?

That's just one of the TONS of random subjects! If I find anymore really neat or just totally random ones, I'll post more here! :P

....

2007-12-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Lava Cake!!

2007-12-05T22:20:00.001-08:00

I decided to make a lava cake today and it came out pretty good!

Sadly, I didn't make it from scratch but we actually found a vegan mix at our grocery store! We had to use two eggs so I used our replacement and used vegan butter. that was all I needed to add. It was so weird because I'm use to it taking forever but this probably took me about 15 minutes.

Anyway, when they came out, they were great! SO chocolaty and you need silk/rice milk with it but it was so good! :)

Candi and I have been thinking a lot about rescuing a bunny recently. We miss Smokey but we keep seeing bunnies at shelters that only have a few days to live and we just want to save them all! We might go to a shelter tomorrow and check out the animals but if we do, I have this feeling we may come back with a lot more pets than we really need! Lol!

Who could not want them?!

Happy Birthday BJ!!

2007-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today was BJ's birthday!!! Today he is 11 years old and looks only 5!

Candi is so funny always worried about him, saying that he's turning 20 tomorrow and is going to get sick! He's not that old yet Candi! He got really spoiled with tons of treats and a new bed so he can sleep in my room. Also, we needed to clip his claws because he's been ice skating everywhere recently! While he was in heaven with his treats, we were able to clip them FINALLY!! I think that makes him feel a lot better not falling everywhere. :p

Our other dogs are always stealing food from him...but today he got his revenge! He went into their crate and stole his new favorite little bones from them. It looked so funny!

Smokey

2007-11-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

Sadly, I come back to blogger with very sad news. Our bunny Smokey has passed away.

Read her story: Abandoned bunny

She was a beautiful girl and very loved. Only a night ago she had come inside and got spoiled with some of Candi's veggies and got to hop around the house! We have had many bunnies in the past years and by far, Smokey was my favorite. It felt great saving her and then being able the teach her to trust us and be able to tame her. I know she is happy now though and she'll be with Beanie and her two kids.

Beanie

Smokey's day old baby girl

It is so sad how bunnies can instantly pass away. I witnessed this when I went out side and saw her hopping around and then came back outside and she was gone. :( She was an old bunny. She could be between 5 and 7 years old. She never showed signs of sickness and she was happy until the end. What a good girl! You'll be missed Smokey!

Photoshop!

2007-10-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just though I'd do a random blog with some of the pictures I made on Photo Shop. I'll put them from oldest to newest:

I learned how to do this in an art class I took! I also made one of Boots, Oreo, and Mittens. Oreo looked so cute!

I'd never known how to use the clone stamp on Photo Shop before but now I do! This picture used a ton of it and I got to learn from an expert....CANDI!!

I have no clue what made me do this, but it was fun changing around the layers and moving the wolves around so it looked like they were interacting at each other. This one is my favorite. :)

Wolves! I <3 drawing them. I was playing around with textures and if you look closely, you can tell the white wolf in the back is different!

Wolf looking the water...the water and moon were made by using liquefy. The fireflys look like a necklace around her. :)

Sharks!

2007-09-13T06:52:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got a zoo books magazine and it was all about sharks. Most people are afraid of sharks. Movies, books, and stories about shark attacks scare you into fearing that you'll be one of the 6 people attacked every year. But after I read this magazine, I didn't feel like I would have Jaws stalking my ankles when I went swimming. :)

Sharks are so different from fish, that some scientists wondered whether sharks should even be called "fish" at all! Usually, fish don't have eyelids, but some sharks have three. The had an upper and a lower lip, then a third that protects the entire eye.

To swim, sharks do not have to wriggle their whole body side to side like a fish. They have a powerful fin called the caudal fin that can give them all the power they need. Some sharks and even swim up to 40 miles per hour. Fish are cover with smooth scales, but the shark has a rough skin. You could cut yourself by rubbing it and that is because the skin has lots of tiny teeth. These are called denticals.

The Whale shark is the world's largest fish. It can be more than 45 feet long. Its mouth alone can be five feet wide with rows of 300 teeth. With a mouth that big, it can scoop up lots of very mall plankton, which is its main food source.

I was shocked when I read about some of the things sharks ate! Here they are: Nails, crates, wine bottles, a drum, a box, necklaces, a crown, a licence plate, jackets, and a suite of armor!

Frank T. Hopkins and Hidalgo

2007-07-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Last night Candi and I watched a movie we've wanted to see for a long time...Hidalgo!
The movie is based on the true story of the life of Frank Hopkins and Hidalgo. In the movie, Fank and his tamed mustang travel around doing long distance racing.

1"Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire--a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert--was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the U.S. cavalry--and had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders--some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible."

Frank won over 400 long-distance races, including the 3,000 mile ride across the Arabian Desert in 1890 on his mustang stallion, Hidalgo. :O Frank raced all the way into his sixties then died at age 86. Can you believe this person was real?

ABOUT THE MUSTANG!

2"Some people think that mustang and wild horse mean the same thing. They do live in the wild but are not really wild, they are untamed horses that could have escaped or have even been released into the wild.

Ancestors of the mustang who were already tamed where brought over by Spainish explorers, like Christopher Columbus, and Francisco Pizarro. Some horses escaped from their owners and went to live in the wild and that is how they got the name mustang other known as mesteno, meaning untamed.

the mustang depends mostly on grass and water. Mustangs can be found in ten different western states; you can find the most mustangs in the Great Basin in Nevada. Mustangs are smaller than the regular horse; they only weigh about 1,000pounds, which is 450kilograms, or they can weigh less. The regular horse can weigh about1,200pounds which is 545kilograms, or weigh more. The mustang is smaller becasue they have trouble finding enough food in hot areas."

Source 1:Here!
Sorce 2: Here!

What do you eat?

2007-07-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

I'm good with keeping up with my blog... O_O

Most people I know think that I just eat carrot sticks and apples all day long. I constantly get the question, "What DO you eat?!" Well, this is what our breakfast/lunch was:

Cheerios
Soymilk
A tofurkey sandwich with kale on 7 grain bread
Cherries
Pasta salad

It's all totally normal, just instead of mayonaise we use veganaise in the pasta salad and on the tofurkey. (Plus, why use turkey when we have tofurkey? :P)

These people have seen to many advertisements for milk because all of them seem to think I'm going to be weak if I don't drink 2 glasses of milk a day. -_-
"Calcium, needed for strong bones, is found in dark green leafy vegetables, tofu made with calcium sulfate, calcium-fortified soy milk and orange juice, and many other foods commonly eaten by vegans."
Dark green leafy veggies? Kale. Soymilk? Yep. :P

One annoying thing is that if you sneeze once, people think you're sick because of your diet. O_O I've only been sick twice in two years and these people have had the Flu, stomach bugs, and are taking about five pills a day. When a meat -eater is sick, it's totally normal. Weird huh?

There is some sad news that came to us a few days ago...my Aunt's hedgehog, Razzle had passed away. I was shocked and very sad. He'd been having some problems recently but I was still surprised. I know he'll be missed a ton.

Quote from Here
Images from Here

Museum Of Science!

2007-04-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today, went to the Museum of Science in Boston! It was so much fun. One exhibit we saw had neat illusions and talked about how the world wide web was created. On the other side, it talked all about your body. They had a machine that used CGI (computer generated images) and you could look through the human body. (It was gross looking through an intestine!) You could also see x-rays of someone's lungs with the start of cancer in it.

There was an animation room filled with cartoons showing how they were made and letting you do some of the drawing. There was even a part where you'd get to talk through the cartoon's mouth. They'd show what to say and then you'd have to say the words into a microphone. Then, you'd replay the show clip and your voice would come out! It was SSSSOOO fun!!

We also found a circle room with camera all around it. We went inside, and jumped when the screen told us to, and when we came out the picture of us jumping was on a big screen! The picture was really funny! :) We kept going back and doing more!

All of that was fun, but the BEST part of the museum was the animal room in the New England Habitats exhibit. They had huge replicated scenes of life-sized animals of New England. They had a cougar, HUGE moose, a doe and fawn, a black bear and her two cubs, and a lot more. It was so neat. That was my favorite part of the whole thing. :)

We saw a lot more but I can't post it all! Check out their website
here!

Feral Cats!

2007-04-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor (the person who lives above us) is great! :P She is very sweet to us and the feral cats who live in the woods! It all started by some people dumping off cats they didn't want. Our neighbor was quick to start feeding them and putting beds and little houses out for them. :) She takes all the cats that are not fixed and spays/neuters them so they can't keep having more and more babies. She also tries to find them homes, but most of the cats are full grown and have been living in the woods for a long time so people don't want them. :( Luckily, one of the kittens (I named Cookie!) found a home. She's really cute and I have been trying to socialize her to lure her out. She is getting better but this is going to take a while!

I fell in love with these cats at first sight! There is a very cute one named Daisy that I love but my favorite is Boots. He is a small dark gray with black stripes and huge yellow eyes, and always greets me when I go outside to give the kitties treats. :) I usually go outside and help feed the cats, give them treats, socialize them, or just play with them! (Candi was laughing and said it looked like I had no friends because I'm always playing with the cats! :P)

A lot of the cats live in the shop next to our place, but go outside so people seem to think they can just take any cat they want. Our neighbor's cat, Daisy, was taken by a group of kids and it took her four days just to get her back! Grr! I am so worried about Boots being taken because the kids also took two other cats and keep coming back. Luckily though, our neighbor is going to put up a "No Trespassing" sign so our kitties will be safe from these people!

Here is Boots:

Some of the cats have Feline Leukemia which is an non-treatable disease that can kill cats. There are two stages of the leukemia: "Primary viremia, an early stage of virus infection. During this stage some cats are able to mount an effective immune response, eliminate the virus from the bloodstream, and halt progression to the secondary viremia stage. Secondary viremia, a later stage characterized by persistent infection of the bone marrow and other tissue. If FeLV infection progresses to this stage it has passed a point of no return: the overwhelming majority of cats with secondary viremia will be infected for the remainder of their lives." *1 Feline Leukemia can be transfered by a infected cat to another though urine, milk, saliva, biting the uninfected cat, and by eating together. Sadly, there are some cats here who definitely have this sickness. The cats' life span with Leukemia is unpredictable. It can be from 3 years to 9 months. One good thing is that they have had Boots and Daisy tested and they do not have it! Yay! :)

I want to adopt Boots so much! He already likes the dogs and he loves trying to sneak into our house every time I open the door! Awww! He is short-haired so it won't bother Candi's allergies. He doesn't meow much at all, and also he is just has the best personality! :P I hope Candi gives in...hehehe!

"Give in to me, Candi!"

*1 source: Get more info here about Feline Leukemia

Warrior Cats

2007-02-19T14:42:00.000-08:00

"Fire alone can save our clan..."

I decided to blog about my favorite books EVER, Warriors. The first series starts off with a kitten named Rusty who joins a clan of wild cats. There a four different clans of cats: Windclan, Riverclan, Shadownclan, and Thunderclan. Rusty, now called Firepaw, lives in Thunderclan where he learns how to live in the wild. All through the first six books you follow Firepaw through his adventures until the next series came out...

"Darkness, Air, Water, and Sky will come together...and shake the forest to its roots."

The next series is called The New Prophecy where we follow a cat called Brambleclaw and Firepaw's two daughters as they try to find a new home for their clans as humans come and rip up their original forest.

"Before there is peace, blood with spill blood..."

I am so sad because I read these books so fast and I've now finished all of The New Prophecy and have to wait until April for the next series, Power Of Three, to come out! I can't wait! :P

The offical Warriors website: Click!

Vegan Meetup!

2007-01-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, Candi and I went to a vegan meetup! :o This was our first one ever and it was fun! (It was funny seeing people from online in real life!) We went to a place called, OneLove. They had some green soup, (No idea what it was though! lol!) little veggie patties, rice and beans, salad, and lots of other things. :) I really liked it would want to go back. They were thinking of doing a potlock for the next meetup and I hope they do! It will be my excuse for making thousands of cupcakes! :P

A picture we got at the meetup. :P Thanks Lex for letting us use your camera!

Also, yesterday I made scones! I got the recipe from VwaV and they turned out really good! Even though the recipe didn't call for vanilla extract, we added it in because we love it! :P (We just did a little splash)

Brownies

2007-01-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

I think you've seen Candi's blog about our dinner! We're addicted to peanut sauce now! :P

Anyway, I got the recipe to make brownies for dessert from Vive Le Vegan! They were so good and easy to make!

They only thing I changed was instead of using ground chocolate chips, I just put whole ones.

I found out that we didn't have Arrowroot powder and I was so sad thinking we couldn't make our brownies! I later looked online and found out I could substitute cornstarch for it! :D (That was great to know!)

Night at the Museum

2007-01-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

After so much hard work in the last two weeks, Candi and I decided to go see the movie, Night at the Museum. It was kind of scary at first, but I loved it! It was a really neat idea and it was very funny! The place it was based at was at the American Museum Of Natural History Museum in New York. I had already wanted to go there and after seeing that movie...I REALLY want to! (I'm going to be staring at the lions waiting for them to come to life) One day, Candi and I will go to New York and hit it up as a homeschooling trip! :)

American Museum Of Natural History website: Click me!

If you haven't seen this movie yet, go see it!

Into MA!

2007-01-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Candi and I did end up driving cross country to MA! It was such a long trip and got boring staring at the hills for hours, but we brought things in the car for entertainment. :D We got to hit up Chicago and see my aunt and that was so fun! We stayed in a pet friendly hotel for two nights and got to go to the Chicago Diner! It was SO good! I got the Pan-Seared Tofu and a Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter 'Milkshake.' :P

Anyway, we finally made it to MA, and we love our new place! (Though we are very sad not being able to have our two dogs who are being taken care of by a friend.) We've already decorated a ton and got our place setup nice. It's still missing a few things, but it looks great so far!

For Christmas, which was only a few days after we got to MA, we did setup a tree and decorated it. :) It was really fun getting to see all of our family (whom we hadn't seen for two years!) for Christmas. :)

Also, there is some bad news. One of our bunnies, Beanie the black bunny, died yesterday. He seemed perfectly fine too. :( Candi and I were so sad but got to bury him in a nice place today. :(

I know this is late but...Happy New Year! Candi and I had Isa's pizza and Candi made a carrot cake. (which was SO good) Then, we got to watch the count-down until midnight and saw fireworks on TV and also saw a few real firworks through the trees! Lol! I haven't thought of any resolutions yet though. :(

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!

image source: MSN Encarta

Moving!

2006-11-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for our move back to Boston! The road trip is going to be very fun and once we get out there, we get to see friends & family again and the fluffy snow! No more crazy rain storms and flooding! :D We've been doing well on packing though we still have a LOT of other things to pack!

Also, it did snow today. It was slushy though. :( Later on, it ended up snowing again and actually stuck! I was shocked! It stayed on the ground but it's too shallow and icy. :( (I can't wait for Boston!!)

BJ and I walking in the snow last year. :)

Pumpkin Carving

2006-11-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am feeling guilty! I haven't written a blog in a long time or blog hopped! :o Tomorrow I will be checking out all of your blogs though. :)

On Halloween, for the first time, we didn't go trick-or-treating and carved pumpkins instead! I was going to carve a horse from the web, but it was SO hard! I was expecting it to be pretty easy, but we didn't have the right tools! I ended up not carving the horse and making up my own design. I ended up creating a wolf instead. Here's what it looked like all lit up:

While I was making mine, I hadn't noticed Candi making a very cute raccoon:

:) I think I'll stick to just dressing up for fun though. Carving is so hard! :P

Chip!

2006-10-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

I know I already wrote a little about this but just thought I'd share some pictures! Sadly, I couldn't bring a camera on Chip (I would've if I could!!) and Candi couldn't walk the horse trail with our group but she able able to snap the pictures of Chip and I. :P

Candi got this picture through a barn window. I'm in the pink jacket getting ready. :) (Chip is in the way background too! Aww!)

Just meting Chip. I still couldn't believe I got him to ride!

Chip all all saddled up and I'm ready to go! I loved the fact that they let you choose English or Western. I love the look of Western and the little horn on the saddle!

Us coming back from our long trail ride. It was fun! What a good boy Chip is. :)

Cupcakes!

2006-10-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

I since I was finally feeling better after days of coughing, I made one of the recipes from the new book I just got, ""Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" (I am so thrilled I got the book! All the cupcakes look SO good!) I ended up making a basic chocolate cupcake and then made a vanilla frosting and put oreo cookie crumbles in it. Though they didn't look anything like they did in the picture, they were SO good! :o I didn't get any pictures of them yet but I will and I'll put it soon. :)

OK! Here is the pic!! :)

=|

2006-10-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

I had my horse riding camp AND I got the best horse! I got their new Appaloosa named Chip. I wanted to ride him since the day I saw him. He is so cute and a not threatening at all, so it wasn't scary. They have lots of small ponies, but Chip is big and that thrilled me. (I don't mind riding the small ponies, but the bigger the better to me! ;)) I didn't do great tacking him up, but luckily you had someone with you who actually knew what they were doing, and they were able to help. Once on the trail, Chip and I had fun! Even though they (sadly) held a lead rope and lead him, I still got a chance to turn him without their help. Overall, it was fun, even though my hands froze off since it was morning and SO cold! :P

Sadly, there is some bad news: my hamster, Starlight, died yesterday. I am so saddened. I keep looking at her empty cage expecting to see her running around. :( I can't believe almost two years of having her passed by so quickly. It feels like I got her yesterday. I have never lost so many pets in a year, and I just can't believe what our animal ark has dwindled down to. Even our fish tank is looking more empty than ever.

Lush

2006-09-29T17:18:00.001-07:00

Sadly, I have a lot of old bath products that are animal tested, and I was looking for a company that has vegan products. I found Lush in my search. I found out they are only 73% vegan and hopefully more in the future. "An amazing 73% of our current product range (Not including the gift range), is suitable for Vegans"

Here's a link to the vegan products they have: Vegan items!

This is my favorite item that I want to get when Candi and I go there:

This is just a fizzy ball called Big Blue Ballistic. The black stuff on the top is seaweed. If I buy it, I will let you all know how it smells! :P

Quotes from the Lush website.

Rice Protein Powder

2006-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, Candi and I found a supplement called Rice Protein Powder. "Rice Protein is a great tasting vegetable protein free of the common food allergens normally associated with products such as soy, milk, egg, wheat and yeast. NutriBiotic® Rice Protein is a highly soluble powdered formula that mixes easily into a glass of water or juice. Add to beverages or meals for an extra protein boost. No chemicals are used during processing. All that we use to process our rice protein is purified water and natural enzymes."

I thought it would be disgusting, but really, you can't taste it at all! I LOVE tomake shakes with it for breakfast. (Most of the time I use chocolate, but sometimes I'll have fruit ones.) I think it even makes a really good snack or dessert. They have three different flavors: Vanilla, chocolate, and fruit. I like vanilla the best, but the chocolate one is OK. :P

It isn't really good to make up for lunch, but it's perfect if you're running out the door. :)

More info from the web:

"Low Temperature Enzyme Process:
The whole brown rice is first ground into a fine flour. Pure filtered water is then added, forming a thick slurry (called liquefaction). Natural enzymes are added in at different stages to break down and separate the carbohydrate and fiber from the protein portion of the whole grain. All processing temperatures are kept below 90 degrees F. The low temperature and chemical free processing prevents denaturing of the amino acids. The final stage involves filtering, drying, and low temperature milling.

- 80% Protein Content
- Vegan
- Completely Vegetarian
- GMO & Gluten Free

Contains no soy, milk, egg, yeast, corn, wheat, sugars or preservatives. NutriBiotic Rice Protein is free of the common food allergens normally associated with soy, milk, and egg proteins."

Quotes from here

Dumdums!

2006-09-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Candi and I always go to the restaurant The Teapot. They always gave us dumdums and we never knew if they were vegan! I did not want to take the risk because I know a lot of candies use gelatin. "Some candies are made from things like gelatin, which is mashed up cow skin, cartilage, and bones. And carmine, the red coloring used in some candies, is made from ground-up bugs." GROSS. x_x When I finally remembered to look up the ingredients, I found out that they were only made of: sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, malic acid, salt, and artificial colors. YAY! I'm thrilled because I love dumdums. :D

I had to look up malic acid and citric acid since I wasn't sure about those and I found out citric acid only comes from citrus fruits, and malic acid comes from plants or animals. I kept researching malic acid until I went through PETA and found out that all the ingredients in dumdums are vegan. :)

Breakfast Ice Cream Part II

2006-09-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

I finally remembered to make it! :P It was so good! I just put half a bag of the frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, and a banana in the blender with some vanilla. I was kind of worried it wouldn't be sweet enough but in the end...SO good! Now I am addicted to it and I want to try it out with all different fruits! Thanks for the idea, Gaia! ;)

Breakfast Ice Cream

2006-09-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

I happened to be lurking on Gaia's blog when I found her breakfast ice cream recipe! It looks really good! I am going to try to make it tomorrow, so hopefully it will work out!

I'm also really excited about the new book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Candi doesn't want it because she doesn't want any more desserts, but I LOVE making desserts so it will just go on the Chirstmas list. I think the pictures of cupcakes will lure her though. :P

Photography

2006-09-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ok...the oddest thing EVER just happened. My mom is going to be my photography teacher!! She got a call from the school that my photography class didn't have a teacher and that they thought she would be a good teacher. Well, I just figured Candi would say no and my class wouldn't start until they found a teacher. Candi called and said yes! The class happens to be the one I'm taking too! :O :O WOW. For some reason I was expecting to have LOTS of homework from this class but now I know that I will be able to do it (if there is any homework. I don't know if Candi will make any) and that Candi can help me and gets to set the rules of her 'class.' :P I am nervous for her because class starts tomorrow and we have Nothing ready. O_O We'll think of something though.

Math Test!

2006-09-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today school started! I've been SO nervous throughout my whole weekend because today I had a math placement test. I had to do fractions, decimals, percentage, multiplying fractions and decimals, and a lot more. I think I did OK! :D This Wednesday, I get to go to photography and ASL! I'm excited! I know I forgot a lot of my sign language but my teacher won't mind...she likes me. ;)

Squash Blossoms

2006-09-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I thought they looked disgusting at first! Tonight, Candi decided to make them and I was horrified! She washed out the blossoms and started to stuff them with tofu and spices. When they were all stuffed with tofu, she fried them in tempura batter. When all the tempura was golden, they were ready!

I loved mine! I didn't love the tofu but the blossom itself and the tempura were SO good! I couldn't have it all the time, but it's perfect for a once in a while dinner. IF you haven't had it before...you should. Check out Candi's blog for the recipe!

Abandoned bunny

2006-09-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, Candi and I went into our friend's pet supply store to get hay. That day, a white bunny happened to have been abandoned there. The owner said how he didn't want her and how she was just left in front of his shop. It was sad to see this little skittish bunny and to imagine someone just leaving her carelessly. Candi asked what the guy was going to do with her, but the owner wasn't sure. Of course, Candi and I had to save her! :D We took her home and added her to our family.

That night, we got a call that the same place we just got our bunny from had caught on fire. We were SO sad for the shop owner, but also felt so happy we took hthis bunny when we did. If we had waited until the next day to decide, it would've been too late. Even though our bunny was white, we named her Smokey after the store catching on fire.

We are still SO glad that we took her that day, and now she is very spoiled and has a boyfriend, Beanie. :P She also has a big double decker hutch and gets to go outside in a play pen once in a while. Also, when we first adopted her, she was so scared and would run eveytime a hand came near her cage. Now, I can hold her for as long as I want and pet her all the time! She sure has come a long way! :)

The Last White Elephant

2006-09-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today, Candi and I went to the store, The Last White Elephant. The Last White Elephant is a thrift store that benefits animals. I loved it! I picked out a jammie dress, a blue gown, and another dress. (The blue dress is SO pretty and was only $3!)

I also got three books: Big Mutt, Ghost Eye, and Escape from the Carnival of Horrors. I just finished reading Ghost Eye and love it. (It was about a cat that could see ghosts.) Big Mutt looks really good too, but I won't be starting it for awhile since I have lots of books to finish!

Also, my classes for homeschooling start this Monday. I'm nervous because I am taking a math class and to see what level you're at, they give you a test. Besides the math class, it should be fun.

Animal Minds

2006-09-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a blog in a long time! :( I'll try to get back into it!!

I recently got two DVDs from the library that are so good! I got Animal Minds and America's Greatest Caverns. Animal Minds talks about if animals have emotions, if they are intelligent, and animal consciousness. I have always thought that animals have emotions and are intelligent...what do you think? If you happen to be in the library, check for this movie because it's really interesting and I loved it!

The second DVD, America's Greatest Caverns, was also very good. They went through all the different types of caves and how they are made, showed the different types of crystals, and also talked about the wildlife! I LOVE the ice caves and the caves with waterfalls in them! They also showed how in some caves, there is deep enough water to boat! I would NOT want to do that because the water was BLACK and I would be nervous about getting lost!

Animal Minds

Fire, the Dragonfly

2006-09-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today, while Candi and I were outside, a dragonfly landed on my hand. I LOVE drangonflies, so I was excited! It stayed for a LONG time while Candi got her camera. Fire, that's what I called it, stayed the whole time even when our dogs barked or I walked around. Here some of the pictures Candi got of Fire:

When we had to go back inside, I tried to put him on a leaf, but he just flew off my hand and onto my shoulder! I just sat outside until he flew away. Well, that's my exciting story for the day! :P

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2006-09-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

Mmm! A few days ago, Candi and I made chocolate chip cookies! We once again got out VwaV and went to work. They were really crumbly but still so good! If you haven't tried them yet, you must. They are very good!

Also, Candi made a tart for the tart contest. I didn't end up making one...I just ate Candi's tart! Anyway, we picked blackberries and bought peaches and made a peach/blackberry tart. It was SO good. We have to stop making desserts though! we have SO many! :P

Hike!

2006-09-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for the nice comments on my last blog! They helped and today I'm doing great! :)

Candi and I went up to Cougra Mountain today with BJ our big black lab. :) It looked fun and we had lots of water and snacks. We started at the summit so it was good going all down hill but after a while it turned into a steep uphill journy. We were walking for so long then realized we had no clue where we were and were in a different place. (Some place called King County or something. We think it would have connected back to Cougra but we couldn't guess since it closed at dusk and it was getting late) We had to turn around and I was SO sad because my legs were killing and I didn't want to waste all that work going up hill AND have to go do all that again. We walked what felt like forever ALL uphill untill we FINALLY came to a Cougra Mountain sign. We walked another mile uphill and we made it to the car. I though I should be on that show, "I Shouldn't Be Alive." LOL! It really felt that hard! Poor BJ was panting a ton so he got a bowl of water. :) Anyway, the begining was fun but I know we won't be going on that trail again for a LOOONNNNG time. :P

Sick.

2006-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

UUGGGGGG. Today I woke up feeling like I was going to throw up. :'( I ran into the bathroom and did end up getting sick. Poor Candi was locked out forever. So, now I'm just drinking lots of water and have my laptop in my bed. :P I'm taking advantage of this sickness!

Farm!

2006-08-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Candi and I went to Farrel McWhirter. (That's the place I'm going to take my horse camp. :)) It was really fun because they have swings that I love and tons of animals! Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies, and cats. I took tons of photos of the horses. :P

We also had to see a cat get a cute, screaming, gray mouse. >:( We saw the cat chasing something and when we came closer we saw the poor mouse in the cat's mouth and the cat took off behind a fence. Candi wanted to throw pinecones at it to make it drop the mouse, but we didn't. lol! Though we couldn't see cat and mouse, we could still hear the mouse and I felt bad. :( I hate seeing that stuff and wish we did throw pinecones at the cat!

Anyway, here are some pics I took:

This little pony is very sweet! As we walked around the fence, she followed us. <3

I think this is the horse I rode last year. I'm not sure though. :)

This poor cow was really itchy but we couldn't reach him. :(

Aww! She came right up to us.

A random duck...

Late

2006-08-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

I started my blog last night and forgot to come back to it. :(

Candi bought me some books for homeschooling a while ago and they just came in! I LOVE them. They are not boring at all, and I am learning TONS from the books. Here are the ones I got: Understanding your Body, Vegetarian Cooking for Beginners, Introduction to Music, Little Encyclopedia of the Human Body, Dictionary of Math, Genes & DNA, The Young Naturalist, and Big Cats. O_O; A long list. There's still more too but I just won't list them. Anyway, those are some of the ones I got. :)

I'll come back to this later! I'm going on a hike with Candi! Bye!

Horse Riding

2006-08-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Well, Candi signed me up for a horse riding class at one of the parks nearby. I'm kind of nervous because I'm so unbelieveably bad at tacking up a horse. >_< I love riding them though, so I'm excited too. It's a forest trail, and you have someone who walks beside you in case you get scared. I wish they didn't do that! I kind of like walking alone! ;) The only thing is...they have a race. You trott your horse in a straight line and that's where I want someone to hold the reins. (Luckily, they do. I'm such a wimp! lol!) Anyway, I get to go September 7th, so it's kind of soon...I hope I can at least get the blanket on right!

I can't help but wonder if things like this are going to happen even though I know they won't!

School

2006-08-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

Even with being homeschooled, I am still going to a few classes at a school that is just for homeschooled kids. Last year, I took American Sign Language (ASL), math, writing, and science. This year, I get to take math, ASL, and photography! I love my ASL teacher, and I can't wait for the photography class too! I'm not sure exactly when the classes start up again, but I know it's somewhat soon.

Here's a picture of our ASL alphabet:

Oooh! Muffins!

2006-08-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

The subject says it all...I made Candi some muffins! Once again, I stole Candi's VwaV book and found a good looking Lemon Poppyseed Muffin recipe! It was so fun to make, but I had to have Candi make the zest. :( I couldn't do it. I also had her put them in the oven and take them out since I'm not yet comfortable using it alone. I only changed one thing in this recipe...I didn't use rice milk. I used a really good hazelnut milk that made the muffins SO good and different. I love this new cooking thing...

Home EC.

2006-08-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Candi got a new cookbook! It is called Vegan with a Vengeance. Usually, I let her do the cooking, but then I got an idea! I looked through the book and found Chocolate Chip Pancakes. They looked SO good! I knew I had to make them! So, today I asked Candi if I could surprise her, and she let me buy the chocolate chips. :) She had to wait upstairs while I got out the cookbook and items and went to work!

In the end the pancakes looked nothing like they were suppose to, but they were really good!

History!

2006-08-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

So, today is history and P.E. day! We'll be playing tennis again and I'll be trying to hit the ball straight. And then, the worst subject of the worst...HISTORY. *cries* It's so boring...... I'll try to post here about the chapter I read. If I don't fall asleep writ- *zzz*

*UP DATE*

Well, we didn't end up playing tennis because we went to a book shop where I got some awesome books! First of all, I got three of one of my favorite book series ever. AmericanGirl. I got, What Would You Do, Staying home Alone, a Smart Girl's Guide to Manners, a Goosebumps book (How I Learned to Fly), and lastly The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Yes, The Call of the Wild and White Fang is one book. :D Great deal, huh? Mom even got me some math books... they look hard but she said she'd help! :D

Ok. Back to the subject of history. Well, I can't say 'here's what I found interesting' because...there isn't anything interesting about history! SOOOO, here are some things that I managed to soak in:

"When fighting broke out in 1754, the colonists found themselves at war with the French." Good luck colonists. "In 1755, French soldiers and their Indian allies attacked a British force under the command of General Braddock in Western Pennsylvania." *sigh* If it weren't for these people, the world wouldn't be the way it is today...still... THEIR LIVES ARE BORING!!! OK. Time to change the subject before I DIE.

I am going to be making a pie for Home Ec.!! It's for a contest. It has to be vegan and creative! I think I'll have fun with it! I really want to do a pear pie (They are SOO good) but I think it may be too hard to make vegan. I may have to stick with apple or something easy to convert to vegan. :( It's in awhile so I have some time to think about it. Hopefully I'll come up with something!

Thanks again for reading another HS blog! ^_^

Homeschooling

2006-08-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Ok. So, I decided that this blog will be about homeschooling: where I go for field trips, books I use,what I learn, what I do for PE, Home Ec., projects, and other things I can't think of right now. :P

Today, I'll be doing Geography. (I LOVE it! It's probabaly my favorite subject.) I believe it's on cultures, but when I'm done, I'll come back and edit and post about it!

*UPDATE!*

:) Yay! I finished another book today. I have a book log that I use to keep track of all the books I read. I made it on Excel and it just has: the title of the book, the author, how many pages, fiction or non-fiction, and the category. I love it, and I realized that within two years, I've read more than 60 books. :) So, if you want to keep track of your books or just see how many books you can read in a year, create a book log! :P

Candi and I played tennis today. It counts as my P.E. since I suggested it and I am learning how to play! I am quite bad at hitting the ball straight right now so I'm working on it! It's tough! How do people do it...

Also, here were some things that I found out in Geography today that I found interesting! First of all, I found out that this chapter wasn't about cultures. It's about industry. I found out that before factories, people had to make everything by hand. "To make a coat or a chair took many hours or days of labor." Wow. I can't imagine making my own chairs! Lol! The term for making your won items was, cottage industries. The factories that were built drew thousands of workers away from the cottage industries. "By the nineteenth century, small, scattered cottage industries could no longer compete with factories." Consumer goods are goods that people buy for their own use. Some examples are: cars, bikes, and stereos. Ok. My hands are breaking off from writing this much. I read a ton more but I can't post it all. Thanks for reading! :)

Source: World Geography, McGraw-Hill

San, Juan Island

2006-08-16T14:55:00.001-07:00

Candi and I know we want to go there! It is so pretty and I would love to go collect crabs! We are saving up so we can put the dogs in a kennel and be able to maybe stay overnight there. We could hike, bike, collect crabs, SHOP, and try out vegan food shops! :P I so can't wait until the next time we go there! The Ferry ride is so long and but Candi and I make it fun with cards, Gameboy, Sketchbooks, and books!

Darn. School starts kinda soon. The good news is, I take ASL and photography! I love those things! I forget what else I'm taking...math I think. I'm so happy that I am free of writing. I would take ANYTHING to stay away from that witch/devil/alien women! Heh... she's probably really nice.

Teapot!

2006-08-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

:) Today I went to the Teapot! It is so good! I got the rose drummets, rice, and mango juice and Candi got Suki Yaki and I loved it! It was baby corn, carrots, tofu, green beans, peppers, glass noodles, and veggie broth. SO good! :D

Small blog but I lost things to write about.

Zoo!

2006-08-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have been getting Zoo Books for a very long time now and I love it! At first I thought it would just be babyish but when I read them, omg! They have so much info and are not babyish at all! The info is awesome and they have very neat pics! I have whales, horses, baby animals, birds of prey, gorillas, monkeys, and (and MANY more) right now I'm reading one on snakes!

Check out their awesome web site:

"Many vipers have venom glands so large that the sides of their heads are expanded to make room for them."

Quote from the Zoo Books website

~Day~Two~

2006-08-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

:) Today and yesterday have been better! Mom and I didn't cry yesterday and so far today! We still REALLY miss Minnie but are doing better. We also got a package yesterday from Auntie! The card was SO cute. She drew Minnie and it looked just like her! :o Mom took pictures of it so check it out on her blog. She also sent us a little Candle (That I love!) and Doggie Daycare! I LOVE them!! I already had two sets and the one she sent was the one I happened to not have! :D The little swing set and sandbox is really cute.(Now I just need to keep Oreo and Lily away so they won't eat it! They won't because it's in my room and my door is always closed.)

Siggy

2006-08-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

/\-/\ >__> ___
( 0_0) ( -.-) (O O)
| | | | |\/|
/( ||| ) ( ||| )> ( m m )

Wow! I just randomly made up these siggy animals. From left to right: Cat, Dog, Owl The owl looks weird but I couldn't find anything that looked like wings! Lol!

Yay! I got onto a new level of Frogger last night. It's a fun one too! Wow. I'm really searchin' for things to write about aren't I?

Cremains?

2006-08-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today was ROUGH. We had to pick up Minnie's kitty carrier and her ashes. Omg. It was so sad just seeing the waiting room and remembering the times we brought her in, brought her home, and were waiting to visit her. When I saw her carrier with her name on it and a little box of ashes inside I felt like screaming, "THIS IS SO WRONG! MINNIE IS NOT THAT BOX! SHE ISN'T DEAD!!!" I guess I'm still in the shock and denil part, huh? Lucky me!

Yesterday I did see something though. I was sitting on the couch when I saw a tail jump from the table to the chair and it looked like heat waves around it. I thought the heater was on and I was imagining things but when I looked to see where the heater was...it was WAY off to the right and I'm positive it wasn't on now. Minnie? A crazy mind? Depression making me see things? I don't know! I asked mom but she said she's heard Minnie's meowing coming from the dining room and going into the living room. It's probably something so logical. LOL

A candle a night keeps...me sad.

2006-08-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

*sigh* We are having this candle lighting thing for Minnie tonight. People everywhere gather together at 7 PM. It's like a ceremony. You light three candles and dance around a fire with weird face paintings and feathered headress. LOL! JK! You light three candles and in your mind or out loud tell your pet how much you love them...things like that I guess! :'( IT IS AWEFUL!!! :'( :'(

So, we pick Minnie up tomorrow and her cat carrier. It's going to be sad but we'll put Minnie into a cute ashes box wit her name ingraved into it and put it all on one shelf. The shelf already has the lock of fur and the letter we got from the vets. It made Candi cry!! AWWWW. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US MINNIE?!!

Tarot!

2006-08-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Woo! Mom bought us some animal tarot cards yesterday! They are awesome! I hadn't wanted to go into Soulfood books but mom dragged me in by my hair. Lol! We got some soy hot chocolate, water, tea, and played the game Uno. :D When we were done, we looked through the tarot cards and I was quickly drawn to the animal ones! They were awesome looking but expensive! I figured mom wouldn't get them but she told me not to look and bought two things. :o When we got home, she showed me a CUTE (and sad!) rock cat that I love and I think is lucky. Then pulled out the taro cards!! We played and I got cards that said things like: "The Snake: Things die and are reborn all the time. Just like the snake sheds it's skin. It leaves behind the old and continues on the unknown path." (Minnie) I (Minnie) reworded (Minnie) it (Minnie) but (Minnie) that's (Minnie) close (Minnie)! :P

King Of The Wind

2006-08-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

I just read the book King Of The Wind and it was really good! It was much longer than I thought it was going to be but so worth it! I think I bought this book from the library for 75 cents. :o SO cheap for such a good book! Usually I wouldn't really like this type of book but this one was so entertaining! :D

sigh

2006-08-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to wonder if if I'm going to be on of those people who never stop being sad for a lifetime. (Not just missing your pet but crying all the time) I really feel like that. I'm a time bomb ready to burst into tears if I see anything else today. We got a card from the vets that really saddened me but I held back. My dream about her was good though. She was healthy, happy, and playful when I played with her in the dream. I hugged her, pet her, kissed her, and played with toys with her. :) Happy dream. I need lots more if I EVER want to feel ok.

aww.

2006-08-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Last night mom made us both a Minnie pillow. They are so cute and I loved hugging mine. I think Minnie's still around but I still get sad looking at videos or pictures of her. :( I keep looking at her cat bed and thinking I see her. When I look again, it's just Tia or Mittens. Someday, it won't be Tia or Mittens...she'll visit us.

2006-07-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm still in shock but I am getting better. I'm not crying at everything but when I see her things it makes my nose red and I come close to being a sniffle. :( She's still around us though. Everytime I go in the bedroom, where we spent most of our last two weeks together, I feel like she's watching me and is laying on the bed or something. It's for sure she's not just gone forever. I'm positive we'll see her around sometime. I already thought I saw her but did I just imagen it? I don't know...the world may never know.

"A Britty filled with doubt down and out and so alone
A ship tossed and turned lost and yearning for a home
A survivor barely surviving not really sure of her next move
All of this, I would have been if there hadn't been you

If there hadn't been you where would I be
If there hadn't been you here for me
I made it through times I never would've made it through
If there hadn't been you

A girl filled with hope who finally knows where she belongs
A heart filled with love more than enough to keep it strong
A life that's alive again, no longer afraid to face the truth
All of this, I would have missed if there hadn't been you

If there hadn't been you on my side
You In my life
All my dreams would still be dreams
If there hadn't been you

All my dreams would still be dreams
If there hadn' been you"

I recently found that song and though it's a little sad I like it.

:o

2006-07-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

WTH happened?!?!?!!?!?! Candi and I got a call this morning with the worst news I could possibly imagen. Minnie had passed away in the night. I am feeling like I'm going to barf since I heard the news. I feel like I just want to lay in bed and never ever come out again. Just lay...forever. So I tried pinching myself to see if this was some unbelieveablely horrible dream. It didn't work. I feel sick after crying into my stuffed animals for so long. All day I've been off and on sad. I guess Candi and I will never get the chance to show Minnie the scrap book or play twister together or have the 'Minnie Party.' Maybe we will ust show her ashes the book and have the Minnie party with a pile of soot Minnie. :'( :'( :'( THEY SAID SHE WAS CUREABLE! They should have given her back so she at least could've been with us! She would be purring and happy. But NO, she was alone in a dark cage! :K GRRR!!!

Tick Tock...Tick Tock...Tick Tock...

2006-07-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

I swear I want to drive to HFH and yell at them for not calling me! :k Where are they?

Anyway, we visited Minnie today and we weren't allowed to take her home. :( We really miss her so are going to have a 'Minnie Party' when she comes home and watch the movie Duma.

Also, I got my SAT scores today. I was SO scared to see what they said but when I brought myself to look...it wasn't that bad!! I'm going to compare these scores to last years test to see how I've improved and if I got worse on anything. :)

Hmm....

2006-07-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

"LISTEN TO ME!!"
"Geesh! Get off me! I'm lisening!!!"

-----------------------------------

DARN! HFH still didn't call! :( I tried to call again but we just got the machine. Hopefully this time they won't just ignore us and get to their messages and call us back! If they don't we'll have to drive there so they can't ignore us!! HAHAHAHAHA! Try as you will but you are never safe from a horse lover!

C'mon!

2006-07-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm still waiting for HFH to call back!! Where are you people?! I guess they must be busy with their new foal but still! There is no excuse! :k

Anyway, Minnie, my kitty is sick again today. Poor baby! I hope that she is doing well in the vets. :(

Hope for Horses Update

2006-07-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ok. I've sent off the email but I got an error message saying it can't go through so I had Candi call them today. We left a message and hopefully they'll respond soon! I can't wait to see what they have to say. I really would love to go there and be around these homeless/retired horses. :)

Also, Faith just had her foal! The colt was a bit small but they said he and his mother are doing great now.

HFH

2006-07-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Hello!

This is my first blog and I'd like to write about HFH! A while ago I ran into a girl and her horse, Bean. She told me to look into Hope For Horses and that I could be a volunteer! I loved the idea! I emailed the Hope For Horses but my email failed. I guess I'll call them tomorrow and see what they say! I'm so excited!!