Earth Hour is Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night my husband and I will be turning off all the lights for one hour, beginning at 8:30 pm. We are taking part in Earth Hour - a global event in which millions of people will turn out their lights to make a statement of concern about our planet and climate change. It's easy, free, and a great way to get involved!

Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world. Last year, more than 50 million participated and the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the Coliseum in Rome, just to name a few. Even Google's homepage went black for the day. This year, Earth Hour will be even bigger - already 250 cities in 74 countries have agreed to take part including Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day. Around the world, cities like Moscow, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Mexico City will turn out their lights.

So, I'm thinking maybe we'll play a game at the dining room table by candlelight. And no, I don't think the glow of the TV or computer screen can take the place of lighting candles, so those should be turned off, too!

Visit www.earthhour.org for more information. And don't forget to turn off the lights at 8:30 pm on Saturday!

Happy weekend y'all!!

thought for the day.

So, I try really hard not to preach about being a vegetarian. I'm a big believer in leading by example, and I don't think pushing ideas on people has a positive effect. Of course it would be great if more people in the world made the choice to cut back on eating meat, but I try to just focus on myself and know that I'm making a difference in the lives of animals, my body, and the planet. I've been meat free for almost one full year, and I think that's pretty damn great.

I'm not sure how well my quest of keeping it to myself is working out, though, because my parents have dubbed me with the nickname "food nazi". But it's taken me this long to post about being a vegetarian, and that's gotta say something, right? My poor husband takes the brunt of it, but he's a good sport and thankfully lets me say my peace and move on when I get all up in a tizzy. Anyway, I just heart this picture of little Lisa Simpson. She's so cute, no?

new toy.

Yes, I said toy. When was the last time I bought myself something fun? Something just for me? Well, the last I could remember is my original iPod mini, which I purchased in college. So, it's been quite a while, and I feel it was well deserved. So, while my main reason for getting a pretty new bike is to ride her around town, who knows? Maybe I'll branch out and hit a few trails this summer. Wouldn't that be great?!

3 days until...

Spring.

day 5 and pouting.

Okay, so it's the fifth day of my quest to give up patially hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup for Lent. I've already encountered two separate events where I would have consumed the evil trans fats. Dun! dun! dun!

First of all, my poor husband had an episode at urgent care and then a skin graft surgery the following day. He's doing fine, but I'm a firm believer that if you're sick or recuperating from a stressful event, you should be waited on hand-and-foot, and be given whatever you want. So I splurged and bought him his favorite candy - Reeces Pieces, which I am never willing to buy for him based on the lack of nutrition of this tasty treat. Anyways, while he was enjoying them, I, of course, wanted a handful! But, alas, I had to refuse, as they contain partially hydrogenated oil.

And, just now, reaching for a mid-afternoon snack to get me through to dinner. A small, Quaker Oats chocolate chip granola bar. Dang ingredient list! But, my willpower prevailed, and I'm still going strong.

Here's to another 35 days!