bring joy

orange glazed baked tofu with sesame stir-fried vegetables {RECIPE} + a life update

main dish

I’ve missed you.

Here’s what’s been happening in the house, of late:

A huge step towards our goal of becoming debt-free. Buuut, this was followed by a huge binge spend this month: a spring break vacation (just a two-day trip up north to Dallas to see LegoLand, which mercy, even little trips are expensive!); a new mattress (to replace our jankety eight year old bought-used mattress); an ipad to help with our language learning endeavors (see #3); some new clothes for muah–I’m now *really* back to pre-pregnancy weight (more on this in a future post) & I’m tired of wearing worn-out, stretched out, stained clothes); a rather substantial car repair ($1500 tune-up & radiator replacement); & loads of books & other resources for our Japanese learning adventure. Japan? Yup, that’s...

9 myths about plant-based diets

vegan/health

Recently I was talking with a friend who didn’t know I was vegan.

We were talking about our family’s new assignment to Japan, & how exciting that will be.

“Of course you’ll be eating a lot of fish,” she says.

“Actually, we won’t, because we’re vegetarian.”

Silence, bewilderment, followed by,

“Say what?!”

“Yup,” I nod, “I haven’t eaten meat in nearly a decade.”

(I didn’t bother to mention the bleak periods of my last two pregnancies when I did eat meat because my staple healthy vegan fare made me vomit. Literally.)

I might have well said I was really the Princess of Wales, or that I walked on the moon. She couldn’t believe it.

“But, I thought you had to eat meat once a day for good digestion? Like, don’t you have to eat meat??”

I’ve heard a lot of crazy/random stuff about why you should...

I didn’t have kids to “have fun”

motherhood, parenting

I asked myself this question while listening to an Fresh Air interview with Jennifer Senior, the author of the book, All Joy & No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting.

I won’t rehash the interview–you can read it or listen to it here–but it got me thinking. About modern parenting & how I think we’ve got it all wrong.

Who said parenting was about having fun anyway??

If people are having kids because they want to “have fun” they’ve got themselves into the wrong business.

I’ve been in the full-time parenting sector for a decade now. I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about.

Don’t get me wrong.

I being a parent (which is part of the reason why we’ve signed up for it five times).

There are fun moments, frustrating moments, poopy & messy moments.

Pretty much any type of moment...