Alabama

2 Comments Posted on January 1, 2015 food reviews, Uncategorized, vegan

How To Have A Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher Or Plant-Based Christmas

Though I’ve been a vegan for more than a year and a half, a vegetarian for 3 years, and kosher (no pork, shellfish, etc.) for 6 years, I haven’t always held non-meat eaters in the highest regard.

Back before my gradual conversion that began in 2008, I used to mock the concept of vegans and vegetarians. I had them stereotyped pretty easily in my mind.

Then, as my eyes began being opened by watching Netflix documentaries like Supersize Me, Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, Vegucated, and Hungry For A Change, I began understanding the attraction towards an “I eat nothing from an animal diet”, but I chose not to participate because I wasn’t ready to make such a lifestyle change.

If you ask me, becoming a vegan or vegetarian requires you to live an alternative lifestyle.

I would know, since I live the vegan life 100% every day, no exceptions.

By the way, part of the lure to veganism is that it means your daily cholesterol intake is less than 1%; or in other words, 0%. While “vegan food” (veggies, fruit, grains, beans, nuts, & seeds) do contain some cholesterol, it’s never enough to register high enough to count as 1% on the food label.

So I thought it would be interesting to produce a collection of picture collages featuring what our family ate during the 5 day Christmas vacation we just came off of.

I must admit, I have a major advantage in my vegan lifestyle: My wife is an extremely good cook, and she loves planning and cooking our family’s meals. (That’s her in the picture above in the blue and back shirt.)

In the way I am passionate about blogging, she is passionate about making good food for our family.

One of her secrets is a website called Oh She Glows. The majority of the food you see today is derived from her plant-based recipe website.

Over Christmas vacation, we dined on sweet potato chili, spinach pasta with “vegan meatballs” (made with oats), vegan veggie pizza (vegetarian for those who eat cheese), vegan nachos (made with potatoes and avocado), and cashew sauce pasta, to name a few meals.

And thanks to my mom and my sister, we definitely weren’t short on vegan desserts.

My mom had a table full of vegan cookies and cakes, while my sister made vegan chocolate cupcakes, per my son’s request.

The biggest challenge was when we drove an hour to a family reunion near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

We wanted to be able to spend time with that side of the family, but we were unable to eat any of the food there; and I especially didn’t want to be a hardship to them because of our dietary limitations.

So here’s what we did: We packed the Lexus LX (the vehicle I was reviewing last week) with Larabars and water; which kept us full through the visit. We arrived 30 minutes early, to maximize on spending quality family time, before the food part started.

In total, we were there for a solid hour and a half, before they started serving their food, which is the point at which we left.

Fortunately, the Whole Foods was only 8 miles away; that’s where we had our lunch that day.

I admit I was a bit skeptical going into this holiday season how as I vegan, I would be able to participate in a feast of Biblical proportions. But my family made it happen.

Honestly, I don’t feel like I missed out on anything food-wise this holiday season. I ate very well and had a great time; just without the cholesterol.

For more on this kind of stuff, just click on tab on the upper left-hand side of the page: My Vegan Life.

And of course, feel free to ask questions in the comments below!

Leave a comment Posted on December 31, 2014 car reviews, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Little River Falls/Abandoned Church Christmas Trip

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

The way I’m wired, I just can’t stay indoors all day relaxing. I have to get out and feel the sun on my skin and breathe in the fresh, brisk air.

So while I definitely appreciated all the fun we had Christmas morning, I headed up a trip to Little River Falls, which is just about 5 miles from Nonna and Papa’s house, in Fort Payne, Alabama.

Papa had a sinus infection, so he had to stay at home. However, had he went, all 8 of us could have fit in the 2014 Lexus LX we were driving that week.

As we made our way down the walkway bridge to the waterfall, I realized something:

Your Uncle Andrew was the one taking care of you, while Mommy was taking care of your cousin Calla.

In essence, it was like Mommy and Uncle Andrew swapped kids for a little while. Like most little boys, you idolize the men in your life.

So while you and I do have a close relationship, I appreciate how much you look up to your Uncle Andrew, who has the mechanical skills I don’t.

We had a fun race back to the car. Of course, Uncle Andrew had a slight disadvantage since he was carrying you!

From there, we visited the old abandoned church we discovered last year while I was reviewing the Lexus LS. Last year, you and Calla were asleep so you didn’t get to check it out.

As we unloaded from the Lexus LX, Nana was concerned you’d fall out on the ground once I opened the door.

However, she saw that because there is an extra step before the running board, so combined with your climbing skills, you managed just fine.

So we did indeed attend church on Christmas day; we were just the only ones there.

Love,

Daddy

2 Comments Posted on December 30, 2014 Nostalgia, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Discovering A Mysterious Purse While Geocaching In Fort Payne, Alabama

Over Christmas vacation last week (Saturday, December 27^th, to be exact) my brother-in-law and I went geocaching, for the first time ever. If you’re wondering why we were driving around in a very impressive 2014 Lexus LX, it’s because I review cars here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog, as you see on the tab on the upper left hand side of the screen.

I had never even heard of geocaching before, so my brother-in-law sent me this video to help me understand it:

Basically, it’s using an app on a phone to discover “hidden treasures” by other geocachers. These hidden treasures typically just consist of trinkets or paper log-ins; just to prove you were there. Once you discover the “cache,” you are able to see who else has been there and how long ago. It’s sort of like an ongoing scavenger hunt.

For example, for the 2 caches we actually discovered, we left dog tags with our names and the date written on it in permanent marker.

It’s just a fun, innocent, legal, grass roots, ongoing pick-up game for people like me and my brother-in-law. We just like to get out and explore new territory.

Just to be clear, one of the requirements for a registered geocache spot is that the area has to be approved by whoever owns the land or in a public area.

All across America, there are these registered spots. Even in my small hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama, they are all over the place; and I don’t mean miles apart either. They are pretty close to one another.

One of the spots we decided to try out was at the bottom of Beason’s Gap, created a while back by a man named David Bait.

While dozens of other geocachers had already discovered it, we were unable to actually find the official cache there.

However, I thought I did, at first. As I ventured down the bluff just a little bit, I yelled out to my brother-in-law, “Hey! I think I found it! Come check this out!”

It was a clear, plastic sealed bag. But all that was in it was make-up, including Burt’s Bees chap stick.

However, there was no clue on the app to acknowledging this was the intended find; especially with the make-up bag being left out in the leaves.

Next to the make-up bag was a pair of newer sunglasses, in the case.

And next to it, was the big one: A purse with all official IDs and money removed; the exception being a folded up one dollar bill and an enrollment form for the Spring 2015 semester at Northeast Alabama Community College for a student named Sydney Noelle Pittman.

There was a heart drawn on the next line down, next to the name Cash; so I assume she might be romantically linked to someone with that last name.

I also found inside the purse a key for a Nissan vehicle with the name Gentry written on the tag; as if the vehicle had recently been in the shop.

However, I don’t understand why Gentry would be the name on tag if the girl’s name is Sydney Noelle Pittman.

As you can see in some of these pictures, there were long black hairs attached to some of the findings; which I assume is Sydney’s.

My theory is that at some point in not-so-distant history, Sydney Noelle Pittman had her purse snatched (maybe it was lifted after she sat it down on a counter or table at a restaurant) and the thief removed her credit card, cash, and IDs, then stopped at the pull-off at the end of Beason’s Gap to throw the purse off the bluff.

What that thief didn’t realize is that he or she was disposing of the evidence literally right on top of a geocache hiding spot; not the low-traffic random spot it would appear to non-geocachers.

Then, very innocently, a few days later my brother-in-law and I happened upon it; thinking it was the official cache. Only in hindsight did I really consider that unlike the other abandoned items I saw there on the bluff, Sydney’s belongings were apparently recent and possibly part of a crime scene.

That’s why I waited a few days to report it to the police. I am definitely new to this whole discovering an apparent crime scene thing.

I’m featuring this incident here on my blog because I want to help this girl at least get some closure with what happened.

Most of all, I hope she is alive and well. I already Googled her name, and found nothing, which I suppose is a good sign. After all, I’ve seen enough crime shows to know to look for a body, blood, or at least signs of a struggle; none of which were obviously present.

So in closing, 2 random guys (my brother-in-law and me) happened to be geocaching on Christmas vacation and became the 1^st to discover a mysterious purse, which happened to be right where the coordinates pointed us.

I can’t know for sure it was stolen. For all I know she threw it off herself, after removing her money and ID, but that makes no sense to me.

Either way, I reported the mysterious purse to the local police, and within 15 minutes of my call, they had located it and picked it up, thanks to my very specific directions.

I also let the local police know not to be too surprised if they get more call-ins on this spot; since it is a registered geocache spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if more unknowing criminals think they are being clever by tossing their evidence off the bluff; which to guys like me, is instead a geocache site.

Granted, we had a lot of fun aside from potentially help solving a crime, as these other pictures demonstrate.

But the mysterious purse part of the story definitely gives this whole thing an edge. The next time we go geocaching, I’ll be ready for more adventure than what shows up on the phone app.

5 Comments Posted on October 4, 2014October 5, 2014 car reviews, funny, Nostalgia, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

2014 Lexus GX 460 Family Friendly Review/Grandma’s Great Escape!

So last weekend I broke my Grandma out of the nursing home without anyone knowing it, then I pushed her in her wheelchair a mile down the road while she wore a “seatbelt” we made from a rolled up blanket…

Wait, actually, that’s probably not the best way to start this story. Let me try again.

The last time my Grandma had seen her younger brother Bob was back in the summer of 1987, back when I was six years old, when we took a family vacation road trip to Buffalo, New York where my Grandma and my mom are from.

That was 27 years ago…

But then randomly this year, my great-Uncle Bob decided that he wanted to visit my Grandma (his sister) by train with his girlfriend (he’s never been in a plane and he’s only left the state of New York once).

So I decided it would definitely be worth the 2 and a half hour drive from Nashville where we live, to my hometown in Alabama; taking my own family (my wife Jill and my son Jack) to witness this great reunion- 27 years in the making!

And to make things even more fun, we were able to review the 2014 Lexus GX 460 in the process. Which, for the record, was my personal favorite out of all the many Lexus vehicles I have reviewed within the past year.

The way it drove reminded me of the Toyota Tacoma, my favorite Toyota vehicle, which I reviewed on my 33^rd birthday back in April.

My wife Jill appreciated was how spacious the 2014 Lexus GX 460 is. We had to transport some of our son’s toys to my parents’ house; as we are in the process of building a new house (as I recently wrote about when I reviewed the 2014 Lexus GS 450h) and needed a place to store some things.

Meanwhile, my son Jack loved the stadium seating in the back because he could see everything that I could from the driver’s seat. Also, it has a 3^rdrow seat from can fold up from the very back.

He convinced us to let him sit in the very back for the entire round trip! Not to mention, to and from school a few days as well.

I was surprised at how easy it was to hear Jack and Jill all the way back there. (I’m sure many educated people at Lexus have labored countless hours over making sure the sound carries that well!)

The visibility from the driver’s seat also greatly impressed me as well. I can’t remember the last time I drove a vehicle with better visibility than the 2014 Lexus GX 460.

So we arrived at my Grandma’s nursing home and along with my dad’s help, were able to lift my Grandma from her wheelchair to the car.

In the process, I also “re-met” my great-Uncle Bob while there, who of course didn’t recognize me as a grown adult. As we talked, I learned from him that it was nearly 100 years ago, in 1923, that his own parents moved to New York from Michoacán, in southern Mexico; though he nor my Grandma ever really spoke Spanish.

The whole family met as a whole back at my sister’s house, just a mile away from the nursing home.

First, we celebrated by brother-in-law (who apparently happens to look a lot like me) turning 30 years old.

Then we headed outside to the “jumpy castle” as Jack and his cousin Calla burned off extra energy they mysteriously gained from not having to take a nap that day.

And of course, we checked out the storm shelter, which has sort of become the routine when we visit.

Next we had a plant-based (vegan) lunch, prepared by my sister…

Followed by an instantly made-up game of “bean bag bumper cars”…

That’s about the time we got a call from the nursing home. Turns out, none of us even thought to actually sign my grandma out. And coincidentally, no one working there noticed us wheeling her out the front door!

The workers were so glad to hear that we had Grandma with us instead of, I guess, her somehow escaping (?) on her own.

However, by that time she was ready to get back to her home. The thing was, she was afraid to be lifted back up into a vehicle for the 0.925 miles back.

We did what every all-American family would have done in the same situation:

My sister and her husband rolled up a large blanket, then I MacGyvered it into a home-made seatbelt. And now this particular photo collage begins to make more sense…

After all, despite it only being about a mile away, the journey was all hills.

Fortunately, my daily routine of mountain biking during my lunch break had conditioned my body to be able to get my Grandma to her destination in less than 15 minutes. She even got to catch a glimpse of the County Fair a few blocks away.

Before we left the next morning, we made sure to snap a few pictures of our family.

Since my brother-in-law/look-alike turned 30 recently, and until Jack turns 4 next month, it means that we are living in a time when my wife and I are both 33, my sister and her husband are both 30, and their daughter Calla and our son Jack are both 3.

So we figured we should take an official picture of this cool “3-30-33” moment.

And that just goes to show that anytime my family gets together, it’s never “normal.”

But it is fun.

If you were entertained by this story, then be on the look-out what happened after we drove back to Nashville to see a Dierks Bentley concert that my wife won tickets for!

Car Review Stats:

2014 Lexus 9700A GX 460 5-DR SUV

4.6 liter V8, 301 horsepower

17 mpg average, 15 city, 20 highway

as shown: $55,505.00

See all 4 posts on the 2014 Lexus 9700A GX 460 5-DR SUV:

2014 Lexus GX 460 Family Friendly Review/Grandma’s Great Escape!

2014 Lexus GX 460 Family Friendly Review/Downtown Nashville

Folding Down/Up The 3rd Seats Of The 2014 Lexus GX 460

Syncing Up Your Phone/Using Driver Assist In The 2014 Lexus GX 460

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Leave a comment Posted on September 18, 2014September 18, 2014 Nostalgia, Storytelling, Uncategorized

New Infographic: College Tailgating Traditions in the U.S.

I admit, I’m not a huge sports fan. However, I quickly and proudly identify myself as a Bama fan. If you’ve followed my blog throughout the years, you’ve probably noticed the subtle product placement of “Roll Tide” apparel on my son; as well as his now much faded Bama sippy cup.

Not to mention, there’s my wife’s keychain as well as my front license plate are both Unversity of Alabama.

If you were born in the state of Alabama, like I was, it was pre-determined by your family before you were born whether you were by default either a Bama or an Auburn fan.

I was born into the Crimson Tide. Of course, it’s so easy to be a Bama fan because of their winning record… so that’s convenient.

In addition to being a Bama fan, I’m also a fan of infographics… and I feel like it’s been a while since I shared a new one.

With all the negative stuff we’ve been seeing in the news here lately, maybe it’s time to just distract ourselves for a minute with some quirky, sports-related info…

With not further ado, today I share with you a new infographic about college tailgating traditions in America; none of which I previously knew about.

Enjoy, sports fans!

Courtesy of: SelfStorage.com

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