No Soda!!

Okay, so far the past few weeks my brother, RJ, has cut out soda from his life and replaced it with water, orange juice, etc. In the matter of about 3 weeks he has lost 14 lbs!! So I finally said to myself, um, why not try cutting out soda?? So I did!! I did not have one drop of soda at all last week, Monday-Friday (I had one ice cold Coke on Saturday and one during a bbq on Sunday) and lost a little over 2 lbs!! TWO POUNDS!! All from cutting out soda for a few days!! So I'm back at it again... NO SODA for me!!


I think that leaving the soda behind and losing a few pounds by doing so is totally worth it! Don't you? So, I know I have asked you to join me on pledging to become a vegetarian for 30 days, now I am asking you to join me in cutting out soda from your diet. This is all about living a long, healthy, happy life!

So CHEERS (with a glass of ice cold water) to you & your health!! :)


P.S. my favorite bottled waters are: Dasani, Aquafina, & Fiji
(Arrowhead has a bad after-taste. If you drink Arrowhead water and have never noticed it, take a drink of it and "savor" it, pay attention to the taste and will you notice the bad after-taste! Sorry, I just had to share that!)

Vegetarian 30-Day Challenge!

Okay, so I joined my mom on a quick trip to the local market just about an hour ago... it was going great. We picked out some fresh produce, said hi to some people that we ran into, and then the horror began... (cue suspense music) we walked to the meat section!! aaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! There I was, pushing the shopping cart, with no where to go, no where to turn, nothing to take my attention from what was in front of me... the nasty meat section! There I was, looking directly into it, dumbfounded, wondering what compelled us, the human race, to do such a horrible thing! I was starring straight into a cow's head, its eyes looking straight at me!! A head that belonged to a slaughtered cow!! I am not being dramatic, I am not exaggerating, tears really started to form in my eyes and when I least expected it, my mom turned around, saw the look in my face, and asked me why I was crying! I had tears rolling down my eyes, down my cheeks! I could not understand why we do this to the animals! There I stood with a cow's head, tripe, hoofs, tongue, stomach... all in the meat section refrigerator for sale.. for human consumption! What ever made a human think that eating an animals tripe, stomach lining, hoofs, tongue or any other body part was healthy for us!? I don't understand. What I saw a few moments ago and the emotions I felt at that moment made me realize that I made the right decision a few months back in becoming a vegetarian! I am so proud of myself and now I know I will continue in this path, with this commitment! If you want to find out more about becoming a vegetarian, please visit the PETA website and find out more... also, please take a moment and consider joining me on my vegetarian path; click here to pledge to be a vegetarian for 30 days! Also, please take a moment to watch the video on those sites.

And if you do decide to join me, please let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Love The One You're With

Last night I finished reading "Love The One You're With" by Emily Giffin. I really enjoyed reading this book! I have also read her "Baby Proof" book and previously wrote about that here. I will check around for other books by her to read next!

Anyway, back to this book... I really felt that it was speaking to most women, most married women who had a serious relationship before the relationship they married into. It was about loving the one you are with, hence the title, but perhaps still loving your past love, even if just a little bit. Your past love is in your past, yes, but what happens when that person crosses you in the street, per say, what do you do then? What if that encounter triggers old sparks, feelings you thought you had taken care of and no longer felt? What do you do then? Do you risk everything you have in your marriage to find out why that relationship had ended or if it was a mistake even ending it? Or do you say hi and just keep on walking? What do you do? Do you give up on your current love for a past love in hopes that it will be better? Well, to find out what Ellen does, you will just have to read the book! I am telling you, it's a great story with a lot of background... and I totally was able to envision everything as it happened!! I loved it!!

Love The One You're With...

Life Happens...

Totally random, I know... I saw this video that somebody sent to me in an email and it just goes to show that sometimes, things are just out of our control and life happens!

I bet this bride planned, planned and planned some more to have the perfect wedding, not knowing that something out of her control was going to ruin her wedding ceremony!

And you know what, we have to learn to live by the moment... because not always will everything be under our control; not everything will always go as planned! Like the "Facts Of Life" show's theme song said, "you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of life!"

So I just wanted to share this video with you and remind you that life happens... and if it hands you lemons, make lemonade!! =D

LOVE, A Very Beautiful & Artistic Video

I was emailed this video this morning and it is seriously a beautiful video. I have never seen anything like this. This person is a true "sand artist" that expresses love so beautifully with its sand art designs. If you have not seen it before, please take a moment to do so. It is about 3 minutes in length.

It really touched me in a very deep way. Perhaps it was the beautiful saxophone music, which I LOVE; perhaps it was the awesome sand art that this person was creating; perhaps it was the fact that I'm a romanticist; perhaps it was the fact that I am very in love with my husband; perhaps it was a combination of all these things! Whatever it was, I loved this video... and I hope you can enjoy it as well!

<3

sTORI telling...

In my continuing effort of reading a new book per month, I decided to finally give in and purchase “sTORI telling” by Tori Spelling.

Let me tell you, I couldn’t put it down; I read it in one sitting! I just kept on reading and reading. I was hooked reading all of her stories and feeling like I was getting to know her a little bit more. Silly, I know, but true! Anyway, I enjoyed reading her book and now I am her “friend” on MySpace as well!

By the way, when I went in to Borders this past weekend to buy the book, the cashier was telling me that Tori’s mother, Candy Spelling, had a book signing there at that store location for her own book, and that only 11 people showed up! Seriously! Anyway, I enjoyed reading Tori’s book… now on to the next one! :-)

Become A Vegetarian, Save The Animals, Get Healthy

Hey everyone, I wanted to share a little something with everyone… Like I have mentioned before, for the longest time, I considered making changes to my eating habits, which included taking out meat and other animal products from what I eat; essentially becoming a vegetarian. I thought about it for a very long time, but never had the courage or the will power to take that step. I finally decided it was the perfect time to make the change and read “Skinny Bitch”. Reading that book helped me realize I was making the right choice. I thought that becoming and being a vegetarian was going to be so hard. But you know what, it has been the easiest thing I have ever done! I am not doing this to lose weight, though I have lost a few pounds, it’s an added bonus! I am doing this because of the cruelty to the animals, all so we could have a delicious steak, burger, fajita, etc. I have to admit, my first weekend as a vegetarian was hard… I forgot!!! And I ate some delicious tacos al pastor. Yes, they were delicious. I haven’t said meat isn’t delicious!! But then I realized what I was doing and the decision I had just made; I let myself eat the tacos anyway and enjoyed them as my last non-vegetarian meal!! That was about a month ago, for my sisters’ graduation party!! I haven’t gone back since!! I have found healthy, animal-free meals that I am truly enjoying. Believe me, it’s easy! For example, I made spaghetti last night. My husband hasn’t joined me in becoming a vegetarian, so when the pasta was done I separated some into a different pot for me, I added the marinara spaghetti sauce to both pots of pasta and then added the cooked ground meat to my husband’s spaghetti and mixed it up. He loved it and I loved mine, without meat! I have discovered new snacks, fruits and vegetables and tried different salads!

I listed some websites here that you can take a look at and perhaps join me! Copy and paste the links into a new tab or window:

• http://www.peta.org/
• http://www.goveg.com/
• http://www.vegcooking.com/makingthetransition.asp
• http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp - video on animal cruelty, watch and you’ll become a vegetarian as well!

Also, here is a link if you would like to pledge to become a vegetarian for 30 days!
https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2055
I'm excited to try healthy, delicious foods and help save animals from the horrible cruelty of the meat industry. Would you join me in pledging to try a vegetarian diet for 30 days? You will be sent links to delicious recipes, restaurant reviews, and product recommendations as well as the 'Top Six Tips for Making the Switch'.

My wish would be that you all join me… but I thank you ahead of time for reading this far, looking into it and perhaps considering it. If you do decide to make the switch, let me know. Together we can save thousands of animals and become healthier along the way!

Thanks! Much love,
Estrella Castillo *Star*

P.S. - I also recommend that you read "Skinny Bitch"