Now that we’ve lived in our new house nearly 8 months, there’s not much new material to say about it other than we really enjoy our new lifestyle in the cul-de-sac.
We discovered a beautiful, sea foam colored, New England style dresser.
It seemed to be the perfect addition to our guest room, so we brought it home in the back of my Element. (Needless to say, we did pay for it first!)
Now that it’s in our guest room, it looks even better than I could have imagined.
We are purposely trying to keep the theme of our guest room neutral. We don’t want it looking too feminine or too masculine. But we want it to be fun and inviting.
The color blue of the dresser is muted enough to where I feel it’s not explicitly masculine.
Right above the dresser is a bird cage decoration that matches our gender neutral theme very well. And we may end up painting that part of the wall later on as an accent.
Then, across the room on one side of the bed is a small matching nightstand and clock. On the other side of the bed is the tree branch decal that Aunt Dana and I put up.
Our guest room has only been used a few times. It’s the one room of the house that we virtually never have a reason to walk in to. I actually tend to forget it exists.
So it’s been a lower priority to finish furnishing.
But now with our cool new dresser, the room is starting to feel complete for any new guests who may be stopping by in the future.
Take a look at me in this corny picture I took yesterday using a self-timer and a tripod.
If you saw me, and didn’t know who I was, would you think to yourself, “I wonder if that guy is getting enough protein…”?
Chances are, you see a guy who really doesn’t have weight to lose or to gain in order to be healthy. And that’s the truth: For my age and weight, I am perfectly in the “optimal” range.
I’m 34 years old, 5’9”, and weigh around 153 pounds (I fluctuate between 148 and 155 throughout the year).
But back in 2008, I peaked at 178 pounds, which according to the chart, put me in the “overweight” category.
So now that we’ve established I’m not underweight, or overweight, why is it that in the past few years, people have asked me if I’m getting enough protein?
After all, that’s not something people typically ask each other:
“Are you getting enough protein?”
In fact, I challenge you to name 3 people you’ve personally known in your lifetime who weren’t getting enough protein; excluding people with eating disorders or people dying of a disease- neither of which apply to vegans like me.
But the moment people find out I’ve been a vegan for about 2 and a half years (and a vegetarian for more than a year before that), they feel compelled to make sure I’m getting enough protein.
Why is that?
Because we’ve collectively been brainwashed to believe that without eating animal products, we will not get enough protein.
In reality, vegans easily get enough protein from 6 easy sources: veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains.
And again, look at me. How am I not living proof that vegans get enough protein?
Granted, if all I ate was white bread and apple juice, I could see the concern. But that wouldn’t be a healthy, balanced diet. To me that’s the equivalent of someone who “experimented with veganism in college.”
However, they failed because they weren’t actually getting enough all around nutrition, instead, they depended on processed foods.
It’s simple: I eat plenty of unprocessed veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, and grains.
I don’t have a gym membership. Instead, I simply take at least two 10 minute walks each day, as well as ride my mountain bike and go for runs throughout the week.
I don’t count calories. I don’t go hungry; I eat as much as I want. No portion control.
I have been waiting for quite a while for my nearly 5 year-old son and me to sit down and watch the new Ninja Turtles movie. He was a bit too young to see it when it came out in the theatre, but now that it’s available on Netflix streaming, I’ve been hyping it up to him.
However, we’ve still yet to watch it…
That’s because the same week Ninja Turtles hit Netflix streaming, we received the Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection in our mailbox, to review here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog.
With that being said, every night before bedtime, we’ve sat down as a family and watched an episode of Peanuts. This set contains more than 4 hours (265 minutes) of Charlie Brown and his friends.
I would have to say our favorite episode is “It’s Magic, Charlie Brown.” Produced the same year my wife and I were born, 1981, this hilarious episode features Snoopy trying out his newly acquired “magic tricks” on all the kids.
When Snoopy turns Charlie Brown invisible and but is unable to turn him back, Snoopy desperately tries to find ways to remedy the situation; including covering him in mud, as well as wrapping him up in a sheet and a necktie.
The most memorable episode is “Why, Charlie Brown, Why?” from 1990. Linus befriends a girl named Janice, who he soon discovers has leukemia.
It’s so heartfelt to watch Linus care for her, visit her in the hospital, comfort her as she loses her hair, defends her against a bully who teased her, and celebrate with her when she recovers from her cancer.
Needless to say, my son has thoroughly enjoyed watching Peanuts every night. And with a few more episodes left to go, we’ve still yet to watch the new Ninja Turtles movie.
PEANUTS: EMMY® HONORED COLLECTION
A COLLECTION SHOWCASING 11 CELEBRATED PEANUTS SPECIALS
IS SET FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Two-Disc Collection Features Over Four Hours of Peanuts Specials
For our final stop of our Camry family road trip across northern California, we drove from Monterey to Santa Cruz, before ultimately heading back to Sacramento, where Mommy’s side of the family is from.
Mommy had told me that once before she had been to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach Amusement Park and thought our family would really love it.
So we put it on the agenda, following our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Here’s my video I made about our trip there:
To get going, we stopped at Staff of Life’s Café Del Sol for some vegan donuts. I know that to an outsider that may not seem like that big of a deal, but for a vegan dad like me, it’s epic.
Where we live in Nashville, there is no easy access to vegan donuts; they definitely don’t sell them at our Whole Foods. It would be different if we lived in Portland, Oregon; which I hear is the “Vegan Donut Capitol of the World.”
But where we live, donuts made without eggs and milk basically cease to exist. Therefore, we enjoyed our breakfast!
When we arrived at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we had about 45 minutes to walk there on the beach; since we had arrived before the amusement park itself had opened yet.
Our family budgeted $50 for the 2 hours we were there; and we based on the 2 hour time limit on how much we were willing to pay the parking meter.
You definitely wanted to play some games, so bought $50 worth of tickets so we could go on two rides with all 3 of us, then let you go on several rides by yourself, then spend the rest on games.
I loved how ambitious you were! You rode your very first roller coaster with Mommy and me: the Sea Serpent. It was pretty thrilling for a boy who’s not quite 5 years old yet.
But at 42 inches tall, you were just tall enough to be permitted to ride.
Our other family ride was the Cave Train Adventure, where we were able to “time travel” to the days of caveman and dinosaurs; it was completely dark in there, except for the black lights.
For your individual rides, you were able to fly a plane as well as a drive a monster SUV, a boat, an orca whale, and a big rig truck. You loved it all!
And then there were the carnival games…
I made sure you only played the games with the sign that read, “A winner every time!”
Your best venture was Bob’s Fishin’ Hole. On the first try, we accidently figured out that the blue fish, which flowed further away from the ledge nearest you, were the heavier fish, which were worth the biggest prizes.
So you caught 3 blue fish and one the biggest prize they had: A giant blue pirate fish stuffed animal. On the first try!
By the end our 2 hours, you had a prize in each of the 3 sizes.
We returned to the Camry with 7 minutes to spare, then he finished our day with dinner at Whole Foods, where we enjoyed more vegan donuts.
And finally, that’s it.
That’s our whole Camry family road trip. We had a blast. I look forward to next year when we travel to San Diego for your Uncle Jake’s wedding.
Our family had so much fun road tripping in the 2015 Toyota Camry from Sacramento to Monterey, California. Of course, our main stop on that leg on our trip was the historic Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Here’s my video I made about our trip there, where you can also hear the jingle I wrote for them:
First though, we stopped at Ike’s Love and Sandwiches; a sandwich shop that openly welcomes vegans and vegetarians. I had a very manly vegan meatball sub; as the picture demonstrates.
Once we parked the Camry, we enjoyed our walk from the parking garage to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I liked taking the picture of you standing in front of the giant otter at one of the shops there near Monterey Canning Company.
The aquarium itself was everything we could have hoped for. I was snapping pictures the whole time as you pulled Mommy around, saying, “Hey, look at this fish!”
You seemed most excited by the sharks; as well as the station where we got to draw our own sea creatures, then “set them free”, by watching them swim across the giant screen in front of us.
I think my favorite part was how they presented the jellyfish; in colored lights which really showed off their translucent bodies.
Plus, an extra benefit of visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium is that our family got to check out the Pacific coast; as the aquarium is situated right there on it. Looking down from the pier, we were able to see some seals in their natural habitat; just chilling out on a rock.
I love it that you’re at such a perfect age now to truly appreciate such a fun and wondrous event. It was such a treat for our family to experience the Monterey Bay Aquarium!
Before heading to the hotel for the night, we drove to El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant for dinner, as we talked about our favorite parts about the aquarium.
Mommy got to drive the Camry from there; you fell asleep within a few minutes.
Our next and final stop for our Camry road trip took place the next morning, when we visited the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park…
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