Holy smokes its been a minute.

How do I even start when there have been so many changes since I last wrote. I mean I can start with the two most drastic. The emergence of Miss Emily into this wild world, and the fact that we are no longer, “border line Vegans”. I know, I’m shocked. But maybe not. Well not shocked about Emily but I was in it for the long haul with the no meat, no cheese, no dairy, etc., but as with the seasons (so cliché), we change, we ebb and flow, and now we are here.

So lets see. Miss Emily joined our crew back in 2019, before the madness that ensued. She is exactly what I always hoped for in a daughter. Tough exterior, soft and sweet in the middle. She is a leader…well I don’t know if anyone is following her, but she certainly isn’t following anyone else, not her friends, not her teachers and not her mom. We try to drum it in her that while we love her independence, following directions helps with making things move along. She is funny and very animated when she speaks. Her relationship with her brother is as you would imagine, sour patch kids all the way. She loves to cuddle, won’t let me not read her a book EVERY night, and if I claim I have stuff to do, well, then she will wait. Even if that means waiting until 10:30pm. I can see our future clearly, and while I know there will be headaches and frustrations, I immediately tear up with happiness knowing how much love and fun there will be.

And so lets talk about the Vegan no more life style. Everything changed just a few months after Emily was born. I was getting bored with our meals, and while it was still all whole foods (none of the pre-made junk they push now), it was just not as rich with variety. Plus, the reason we started also had a lot to do with Andrew and his health issues, and after seven years he hadn’t see much of a difference. And honestly, looking back, my husband was gaunt. I mean people would comment that he was skinny, but only since he has gained back 20 pounds, do we we see the difference. I took to steak like it was a long lost friend (we weren’t really that close pre-veganism). I ended up easily falling into an almost carnivore lifestyle, which may or may not have caused me some health issues that I am still trying to workout (but more on that another day), but now it seems I’ve balanced out with including more vegetables to my meals. Wyatt enjoys meat but also will gladly devour a block of uncooked tofu. Emily once she had some teeth would steal steak hot off the grill and house it. Andrew seems to do best on a carnivore diet, both mentally and physically. Do I miss being Vegan? No, but I do know that it gave me a greater capacity for what I can drum up in the kitchen.

So now I guess the next thing is to figure out if I’m back. And if I am back, how can I contribute. Maybe I just talk about life. Maybe I talk about my health issues. Or just give a glimpse of a day in the life of someone who homeschools and still eats 95% homemade whole food meals and drives to all the afterschool activities. Who knows. Till next time.