Happy Early Birthday to Me!

My birthday is Saturday and we will be in New Jersey for a wedding so Matt decided he wanted to celebrate my birthday on Thursday. As usual, he did not disappoint. He planned a camping trip for us at the end of August at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park and got me all the camping gear needed. A new cooler, tent, lantern, grill sleeping bag and pillow.  In addition, he also got me a really nice wine chiller filled with one of my favorite wines, Fiano! Mel will be so jealous...hehe.  

Camping!

Chiller!

Fiano!

Matt also did research and bought me supposedly the best book on my new life change, vegetarianism, I've been considering it for some time now. I have eaten meat my whole life and always considered it an integral part of any meal. I feel like I was not focusing on the truly essential entities of the meal the vegetables and complex carbs. There was too much meat in my diet. I started reading about the health benefits of vegetarianism and decided to give it a go. That was 3 weeks ago. I'm feeling pretty good about it. This began with concerns for health but the more I read about the ethics of eating meat and the cruelty the animals face, the more certain I am becoming that I will most likely never eat meat again. Right now, I am still eating fish to wean myself but I doubt that will last much longer. I am excited for this adventure and Matt supports me completely. He gets nervous when I mention the word "vegan" but I told him I would not consider going vegan anytime soon.  

Matt made veggie lasagna, it was incredible!

Happy birthday to me!

Thanks for everything babe!  I love you, you're the best!