Unraveling

I apologize in advance if this post seems overly personal and the thoughts extremely scattered.  They are and it is.  This is merely MY experience coming home.  From deployment.  From a combat zone.  From a trauma hospital.  Back to my life that has completely changed in the time since I've returned.  I'm not the same person who left over a year ago.  That girl is gone...

Dear Mom,

I've been home almost four months now.  Four months since I set foot on US soil again.  Yet some days it feels like I left yesterday.  I've struggled to put this all into words... but I'm going to try because I feel like it may be a form of therapy, and trust me, I could probably use that about now. 

People constantly ask me questions..." How was it?" "How are you?".  Such well intentioned, innocent questions.  And yet the answers still allude me.  It's not that I don't try to answer, but in all honesty I don't think I can.  So usually I just give the same answer, "life changing."  It was...

They prepared us so well to go there.  Every element of trauma, combat, and life covered in excruciating detail.  Of course they glossed over the things we could expect upon return... and then again as we processed out in Germany.  But we barely listened.  We were tired.  Really tired.  Bone deep kinda tired.  Seven months in Afghan land will do that to a person I guess. 

We were given lists of symptoms we might experience as we returned to our "normal" lives.  And I truly think if life occurred in list form I may have understood the signs.  But that's not the way it works.  Life isn't organized like that.  Life is messy.  Sticky fingers, kids yelling, people shouting, world changing kinda messy.  It was easy to miss the signs.  I missed the signs.

Put me in a small space with crowds and you'll find me pressed against a wall on the verge of tears.  Normal. Perfectly normal.

Sleep... or the lack of it.  Waking up every few hours from the nightmares not always of things I'd seen... but of being trapped, unable to get home.  Of course sometimes there were bombs and broken bodies, but that isn't always the case.  Normal.

Racking sobs at a commercial or a movie trailer that vaguely reminds me of life there.  Tears running down my face dragging my mascara with it.  Normal.

But it's not normal, is it?  I'm not "normal" anymore.  WE aren't normal.  Those of us who have lived in that place aren't normal.  We have to adjust to our new normal, but we aren't the same.

But why?  I wasn't beyond the wire constantly on guard and fearing for my life with every step.  I wasn't wearing my body armor knowing it was the only line of defense between me and an IED.  I wasn't the one rolling into the trauma bay on a gurney and full of blood.  That wasn't me. 

I've been a nurse for a while now.  I've worked in a trauma center since day one.  I've seen death on every level.  The expected, the senseless, the hopeless.  I've seen it all.  I've held hands as life has slipped away.  I've been the only witness to last breaths and final prayers.  Why was life and death in this place so different?

I've figured out a small piece of that difference.  A small string in the unraveling of this post-Afghan life.  It was about walls.  Those high, almost insurmountable walls I had built around my heart.  In the states we all know that every patient has a story.  But I don't know it.  I don't live it.  I can keep them at arms length and not let it get to me.  Those walls came down there.  The patients there were not merely patients.  Many were friends, comrades, brothers and sisters in arms. 

The boy in trauma bay one had sat at the next table at the DFAC that morning.  The girl in bay four had passed me on the street on her way to the motor pool to head out on her mission.  The Major standing at the foot of the bed had been in front of me at church last Sunday.  The boys milling about the trauma bay had been here before, many times.  Some so often they'd earned nicknames.

I'd stood beside them at countless Purple Heart ceremonies.  Seen their faces in too many crowds.  Knew their names.  They were fighting for me, with me, next to me, in front of me.  They were so familiar to me that every time my pager went off it came with the fear that I would know the face in front of me on the gurney.  These patients were personal.  They were not nameless.  I knew their stories.  Even if I didn't know them directly, I lived the same life they did.  I wore the same uniform. There were no walls.  Only us against them.

While I still don't entirely understand the why of it all, this is a start to figuring out why a piece of me will always be at the base of those mountains in Southern Afghanistan.  A piece of all of us will be... and in that we have an everlasting camaraderie and kinship that will last a lifetime.

I know this is only the beginning of putting these pieces back together.  It's a long road and I'll always be a bit different now.  But I'm not broken, just bruised.  Fixable.

Life.  Changed.

XOXO,

Me

Whew! What a Whirlwind!

This was probably the busiest weekend I've had in a LOOOONNNG while!

And I know, I know...I missed a TILT (Things I Love Thursday)...I tried, really I did...but there was just way too much to do!

Just to recap the weekend a bit...Friday was Mike's pinning (pinning anchors on him as he made CHIEF!!!).  Saturday morning was my race (Nautica Malibu International).  Saturday night was the Khaki Ball (back in San Diego).  And Sunday morning I did swim buddy for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF...also back in Malibu).  It was a lot of coordinating and driving...and not much sleep.  But it was all worth it and it was a great weekend overall!

Alright, that was the Cliff Notes version...here are the more in depth deets (plus a race report) if you are interested...and there is also a little recipe (plus my racing nutrition strategies) in here too!

Friday morning started out hot!!  It was definitely a precursor to the warm weekend we had in So Cal.  We all headed over to the USS Carl Vinson at 9 am.  Our support crew (besides myself, my kiddos, and my mom) included all of our best friends and we were sooooo blessed to have them all with us on this special day (with senses of humor in the heat fully intact)!!

The ceremony was long but so amazing...the kiddos and I got to pin Mike's anchors on his collar.  Both Mike and I had to choke back tears...there aren't enough words to describe what that moment meant to both of us.  We have been married for over 9 years now and every important career decision we have made has been in preparation for this moment...to get him to this point.  Every separation...every lonely night...every missed moment of our children's lives...every deployment...they have all been for his love of our country and to bring him here.  The last 2 months since his selection have been hard...very hard...on both of us.  He has been tested in ways I'm sure he never imagined. 

But it's done. 

And he is a CHIEF!!!

It was a fabulous moment...and a beautiful day...

After we headed home, changed, and packed the car we headed up to Malibu!!  I had signed up for the Nautica Malibu international distance race back in March (long before we knew he was selected for Chief)...so we had to do a lot of coordinating once we got the news.  It was a long, hot drive in traffic but we had a beautiful two bedroom suite right next to a Trader Joes...totally worth it!

For dinner I had roasted potatoes, veggies, black beans, and a balella salad (a TJ special with lots of protein packed beans!).  Then it was off to sleep to be rested for an early race morning.

Woke up at 3 am on race day...oy...always feels soooo early!

I ate my special race ready muffins (recipe is at the bottom and made busy life friendly as they are based off a mix that I doctored to be nutritious and vegan) and drank some coconut water for breakfast.

 I have a hard time putting too much in my stomach on race morning.  I have to rely more on my overall nutrition and fueling on the bike to make up some deficits.  I'm still tweaking this...and I'm sure it will always be a work in progress.

We headed over to Zuma beach in the dark and I checked in and set up my transition area.  I was feeling tired and really not wanting to race (which I'm learning is a good sign for me).  I also had awesome stomach issues (always) despite taking a bunch of immodium.  I visited this little beauty 8 times total before the race!!  Thankfully it all worked itself out in the end (literally)...

But as I stood on the beach waiting for the race to start I tried to simply enjoy the day and the beautiful course.

Swim (25:49):
My wave went off at 7:35 and the water was thankfully not too cold.  I settled into my pace after clearing some waves and rounding the first buoy.  It really felt like we were swimming close to the break and I remember having a thought of feeling bad for those that only trained in the pool as this would probably be rather challenging (that thought would bite me in the behind on Sunday).  I really did end up zoning out (or having tunnel vision rather) on this swim.  I felt good, I was putting in a good effort, and I was happy...all negative thoughts were gone and I was actually enjoying the swim.  Suddenly people started cutting me off and swimming in front of me.  I picked up my head to see what was going on and was shocked to see the last buoy and people rounding it to head into the beach!  Holy crap!  I was done! 

T1:
The worst part of Malibu is the crazy long transition area...no matter where you rack you are running a long distance one way or another to your stuff.  I ran, changed, and was gone...no issues in T1.

Bike (1:22):
I felt great as I headed out on the bike and got a boost as I passed my family early on.  As I headed out onto the road I hit a speed bump trying to be a rockstar and pass someone...huge mistake.  My only water bottle went flying off into the brush.  Ummmm...hmmmm.  Can't see it, can't stop...now what?  I kept riding.  I quickly remembered an excerpt from Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run where he talks about what he does when things go wrong...

"[The] first step is to allow myself to feel hurt, and bad, and sad, and all those emotions that unexpected loss...inspire...My next step was to take stock.  Was I going to die?...Step three: What can I do to remedy or improve the situation?...Then the final step: mentally separate all my alarmed and distressed thoughts and emotions - Why did this happen? How will I continue? - and plop them someplace where I wouldn't dwell on them.  One way to do that was to focus on the tasks at hand and on the benefits of the situation..."

So that's what I did.  I allowed myself to be angry and freak out for a few moments (seconds really).  I took stock.  I knew I could do the whole bike without water.  I didn't have water in transition, but it was out on the run.  I'd be behind on my fluids...but I'd survive and be fine.  I also then vaguely remembered an aid station around the halfway point in the bike.  I had some nutrition with me and I figured I'd be fine until then.  So I put the thoughts away and kept riding.

I unfortunately had one more mishap when I went to open my flask of homemade gel (chia seeds mixed with tart cherry juice) it exploded everywhere!!  If you don't know the benefits of chia seeds check out this post from Purely Twins.

Again, had to stop, think...breathe...and move on.  Oh well, worse things had happened.  Up side?  I was feeling great and enjoying the views as I sailed into T2.

T2:
Again another smooth transition...better then last times...still feeling great though starting to get hot!

Run (50:58):
I had hoped to PR this run (as I had already PR'd the swim and bike)...but I wasn't able to.  I was hot and just didn't have the extra gears needed to accelerate.  I've also been focusing alot on my swimming as well as biking and have neglected my run training a bit (probably since I went so run heavy at the beginning of the year).  Unfortunately you can't hide a lack of proper training and I was slower then I wanted to be. I took water at the aid stations to throw over my head and drank sips of gatorade.  I also took one packet of Clif Shot (90% organic!) at the turnaround as I was feeling a bit lacking in the calorie department.  I only missed my PR by 2 minutes though and felt fine...just hot.  I love this run course and I flew into the finish line to the cheers of my family with a 6 minute PR overall.

I love this race and will for sure be back for more...but at that point I was already a happy girl and ready to get a shower and some rest!

After cleaning up we headed back to San Diego to prep for the Khaki Ball!  It was a great time and I'm so happy we got to be a part of it!

We ate, drank, sang, and danced our way through the night...we were so tired but it was the party to end the pain of induction.  It was wonderful to feel so accepted by the Chief's mess.  I seriously am already looking forward to next's years ball!!

Then I jumped back into the car and made my way back up to Malibu with the best chauffeur ever!  Keep in mind this is an over 3 hour drive each way...so it was a lot of driving this weekend!!  We made it back to the hotel around 1 a.m. and had to be up by 3:30 a.m...talk about tired!!

The next morning (Sunday) I was up and over to Zuma beach again by 5 a.m.  I was supposed to be helping my friend Jamie from CAF...

As his leg handler...

But plans changed and CAF knew I had experience as a swim buddy for athletes with spinal cord injuries.  There was an athlete racing that had never swam in the open water before (much less the Pacific Ocean at Zuma Beach!!).  His name was Edwin and he needed my help. 

Luckily we had the help of 2 other handlers to get Edwin into the water...then it was up to me to get him through the half mile swim.  A lifeguard graciously helped me get him past the break as it was a struggle.  Not only do I need to keep myself upright I have to keep Edwin's head out of the water so he can breathe.  Every wave that hits I have to hold onto him and not let him get swept away...it's a daunting task.  But we made it. 

The swim was long...Edwin ended up on his back as I sidestroked in front of him alternating between pulling him, steering him, and blocking other swimmers from hitting him.  It took almost an hour but I have never seen someone so darn determined to finish.  He just gutted it out and I was in awe.  Another CAF athlete, Travis Ricks, came to help block with me after the final buoy.  As we came in and I gave him over to the handlers I was relieved and proud.  I helped him into his bike in transition and was so happy to have been successful at helping him through his first open water swim in his first triathlon!!

That night we chilled at the pool and soaked in the hot tub...and went to bed SUPER early!  This morning we headed home in time to get the kiddos back to school.  Now I'm prepping to take a longer nap as I work the next 3 nights.  It truly was a whirlwind weekend, but it was a total blast!!  I wouldn't change a thing...and I'm so proud all around of everyone and everything!  Hope your weekend was awesome!  Here are those muffins I promised...may they power you through your life too!

XOXO

Jackie

Race Ready Muffins

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients (30 mini muffins)

• 1 box gluten free muffin mix (I used Gluten Free Pantry mix)
• 2 scoops protein powder (I used Life's Basic unflavored)
• 1/2 C chia seeds
• 1/2 C sliced almonds
• 2 bananas mashed
• 1 C almond milk
• 3 Tbsp applesauce

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Spoon into mini muffin tins and bake according to box directions. Can eat hot or cold (or just rewarm on race day!)

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Aloha!!

My monsters kiddos heading to school

I really love that Aloha has two meanings...of course, as most people know, it means hello.  But it also, thankfully, means goodbye.  So in the case of today I say Aloha with the alternate meaning of goodbye.

Now you may be wondering what I'm saying goodbye to.  See those adorable little children in the photo above?  Well I said goodbye to them this week as they headed back to school...which was awesome. 

I also say goodbye to this handsome man several times over as he has been diligently training to become a Chief.

The hubby doing Chiefly things like washing cars

But what I would REALLY like to say goodbye to is this...

In full on tantrum mode...please note clenched fist slamming ground

Yeah, for those of you who don't know the joy of children...this is known as a tantrum.

There have been several this week.  One so bad from my older child it kept me up for hours into the night with screaming, kicking the wall, tears (on his part AND mine). 

It's been awful.

Sleep has been limited.

But now I say Aloha to it.

Sounds simple, right?  Say aloha and it's gone? 

I know, not that easy...but luckily daddy came home for a day and laid down some law (and substantial threats)...and things have been a bit calmer.

Plus, I get to escape to work for a few nights...and earn some holiday pay to boot!  I'm not complaining!

All this Aloha-ing though had me dreaming of Hawaii.  We are headed there ourselves in 37 days (not that I'm counting).  We will be oogling half naked people volunteering here and then chillaxing on the Big Island for 2 glorious weeks!

So in order to bring myself to a more zen-like state I started reading some of my favorite blogs and was inspired by Ms. Lindsay Cotter and her steel cut oats in a rice cooker to pick up some of this yummy L&A juice...

Which then made it's way into some oats reminiscent of a warm Hawaiian day...make them...I swear, you can feel the ocean breeze on your skin...

Or that may just be the fan on full blast to combat this heat wave. 

Either way, they are pretty tasty if I say so myself!

Aloha Oats

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 C steel cut oats
• 4 C L&A coconut pineapple juice
• 2 C raw cashews soaked overnight
• 1/3 C agave
• 1 mango diced
• Almond milk to taste (or desired consistency)
• Could also use coconut milk

Instructions

Soak cashews overnight in just enough water to cover them. Set aside.

Place oats and juice in rice cooker (if you don't have this amazing, cheap piece of equipment cook oats according to package directions using juice instead of water...but really, I recommend the rice cooker).

Meanwhile place cashews and agave into food processor or high power blender (e.g. Vitamix or Blendtec). Mix until creamy...you can add small amounts of soaking water in order to blend better, but don't overdo it!

Once oats are cooked place in bowl. Mix with almond milk to reach desired consistency (some like it thick, some like it runny). Sprinkly mango pieces on top. Dollop with cashew cream...mix and eat! ALOHA!!

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Eye See You!

Yep, that's me on the left...and my buddy Alli on the right

I'm an ICU nurse.  More specifically I'm an MICU (medical intensive care) nurse.  There are many "dangers" that are part and parcel of my job.  I've been kicked, hit, spit on, poked (literally by my own fault), yelled at...you name it, it's probably happened to me.  I take care of the sickest of the sick when they have no where else to turn.  And I love every minute of it...usually.

Let's segway a bit and talk about my coworkers.  They are truly the best ever.  They are my second family and some of my best friends.  We all have a sense of humor that no one else would understand.  We help each other, we support each other, we laugh at each other, we are just THERE for each other.

See, we really like each other!

We also potluck with each other...ALOT.  MICU has a reputation for potlucks.  I remember when I came to night shift, the first thing they said was that I needed to always participate in the potlucks...they are mandatory.  This sounded great...except for the fact that for someone who is gluten free (and later vegan) the early days of our potlucks were a nightmare.  I could usually only eat what I brought.  Through time, education, pestering, and trust they started to come around.  Potlucks became healthier with way more gluten free options.  People caught on.  They learned what I could and couldn't eat...and more importantly they cared.

Jenny and I doing our 'thang

Ok, now back to my story.  It was potluck night.  I made a fabulous salad (hold your horses the recipe is at the end of the story).  I was so excited to eat it!  It was a night set aside for a "healthy potluck."  Right up my alley.........

Then life happened, my job happened, the ICU curse happened...

It was awful...

I got unmentionable "stuff" in my eye...my right eye...IN my right eye.

This is our OMG!  EWWWW face...

OMG.

For SERIOUS.

EWWWW!

Yeah, I told you my job has inherent dangers.  I made my way begrudgingly downstairs to the ED (emergency department) to have my eye washed out after standing in the eye wash (aka the freaking jet blast of water directly into your eye!) for 2 minutes.  I had no idea what to expect.  Once there they lead me to a quiet little room where they proceeded to tell me that they would be numbing my eye with drops, then attaching a contact lense type suction cup directly to my eyeball and washing it out with 2L of NS (normal saline).

Ummmmmmm...what??

I am a girl who wouldn't wear contact lenses if my life depended on it.  I hate touching my eyes...geez, I hate OTHER people touching their own eyes.  And you want to do what????

Fine, whatever...don't expect me to be happy about it, just get it over with quickly.

So I laid there...looking like this...

Seriously...not cool (well actually it was freezing)

For TWO hours!!!!

Yeah, you read that right, 2 hours.  And to top it all off I was soaking wet and cold...that 2 liters of fluid had to go somewhere so it soaked directly into my scrub top.

Not so happy face after I'm done

Oh...and I was missing the potluck...my healthy potluck...and my salad!!

So once I was done a mere 3 hours after I left the unit I headed back to work...I looked awesome.

But I got to eat...and my eye was clean...really, really clean.

It was time to enjoy my Eye See You Quinoa Lentil Salad...now you get the name??  Pretty fitting huh?  Don't worry, it's not bad luck...I ate it again the next night and all was well.

Eye See You Quinoa Lentil Salad

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: N/A

Keywords: side entree salad vegan vegetarian gluten-free potluck

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 cube vegan boullion
• 1 package cooked lentils or 2.5 cups cooked lentils
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup basil
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup artichoke hearts
• 4 small cooked beets chopped
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• Balsalmic vinegar, salt, pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook quinoa in water with bouillon according to package directions (I used a rice cooker). Once cooked and cooled mix with remaining ingredients in a large bowl (preferably one you can take to a potluck!). Stir in balsalmic, salt, and pepper...now you are ready to rock your potluck!

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Enjoy! 

Welcome to Crazy Town

I say that my life and home are crazy town in jest...but to know me is to know the truth of this statement...so because of this I only just recently realized it's been nearly a year since I last posted a single blog! So so sad on my part but a long break was needed...from this apparently, from racing, from training...from so many aspects of my life. This post is basically going to be one big catch up!

Going into this year I had so many lofty goals...and shortly after Palm Springs enduro weekend (first century ride on Saturday, half marathon on Sunday) I realized I needed a break. I never really took an off season or gave myself any time to just stop and breathe for a minute...I just kept hitting it hard and it all eventually caught up to me. So I stopped, cold turkey. I'm pretty sure I even had withdrawals. I raced only one other time this year and that was as the relay runner for the San Diego Triathlon Challenge...and I didn't even "race"...I just enjoyed the day with my best friends.

Now as the year comes to a close I'm starting to really feel the burn to train and race again. Now don't get me wrong, I haven't sat on my duff all year, I've been working out. And the payoff has actually been better then expected. I'm lighter, leaner, and stronger then I've been in a long time. I have paid attention to my diet, strength training, flexibility, and the balance of it all way more then I ever have before. But I've also learned to really listen to my body...so much so that I buried my Garmin in a drawer and barely used it all year. I dug it out last week (actually I had to borrow Mike's) and took it on a run around Balboa park....lo and behold I had a 7:59 min/mile average for just over 5 miles. Not to shabby for not paying attention all year! This will mean nothing as I head into the new year with a completely new goal in mind...to complete an ultramarathon. Haven't officially decided on a particular race, but it will be a 50K (30 miles) and it will be early in the year...looking forward to that challenge!

But there have been many other recent changes in my life that are going to affect me greatly going into 2012. First and foremost my husband has once again deployed. He left just last week aboard the USS Carl Vinson and won't be home until spring or summer. It's our 3rd deployment since we've been married but our first in almost 4 years. It's been an adjustment getting used to his absence again...moreso for how to deal with two children who are now older and understand the magnitude of the amount of time daddy will be gone...but we've been trucking along and getting by. Christmas will be a bit more lonely...but time passes and he will be home safely again before we know it.

Photo courtesy of USS Carl Vinson photographers

Work is also going to be keeping me busy as we roll into the new year. I can't even believe I've been on night shift for almost 2 years now. I can honestly still say I adore my job and I'm so lucky to be where I am. I am constantly learning and growing...and I'm surrounded by the most amazing team of nurses and doctors I could ever imagine. In January I will start taking classes for my CCRN (Critical Care RN certification test) and hope to take the exam by the end of Feb. This is a pretty big deal in the ICU community as it a daunting test that will really force me to buckle down and learn the core concepts of the human body as they apply to the patient populations I work with. I'm excited, nervous, and really ready for this challenge.

On the health front there have been some recent developments that have made me ponder my own decisions regarding my health and the steps I can take to ensure I stick around for a long time. Though I always considered myself basically healthy since I ate well and exercised a ton, a recent blood test revealed I had elevated total cholesterol, my LDL was high and my HDL was low. I wasn't entirely shocked as both my mom and dad have bad cholesterol. So I gave up milk (since it was bothering my stomach anyway) and tried to reduce my intake of red meats. Shortly after that I went to see my primary care doctor for a routine checkup. At the end of the appointment she told me she wanted me to see an oncologist (I'm currently in the process of moving all my personal healthcare from Naval medicine to my own insurance with the health group I work for as I feel I get much better continuity of care with them). I felt like this was coming out of left field but she explained with my crazy personal history and my awful family history of cancer that she didn't feel she could follow me adequately enough. So I was sent for labs and a number for an oncologist. Of course I stalled for a while...but I eventually got around to making an appointment with him. Once at the office I was told that my blood counts were abnormal (seriously?) so now more tests are pending...love the waiting game. It was also noted the my cholesterol numbers were still not normal (guess I didn't really lay off the red meat like I said I would). I also got a referral to GI to follow up on the years of stomach problems I've had an hopefully get some answers (I went gluten free over 2 years ago and that has helped immensely but hasn't gotten rid of all my problems). After these numerous blows and moments of clarity I realized I needed to make a drastic change.
This realization happened to correlate perfectly with my viewing of a movie/documentary called Forks Over Knives (www.forksoverknives.com). The entire premise of the film is the ridiculous links between the main diseases of the Western world (cancer, heart disease, etc) and an animal based diet. Numerous studies have shown that if people eat a plant based diet they can essentially halt and even reverse the spread or development of these diseases. After watching the film and doing a bit more research on my own I was convinced (of note my dad went vegan a few years ago due to health reasons and has completely reversed all his problems...hello proof!). Even Mike realized that a change was needed (this from the most self professed carnivore I know!). So I have now embarked on a new journey...veganism. And tomorrow (Dec 12th) is day one. I've been playing around with recipes for the past few weeks and sampling new brands and foods. I'm feeling amazing and not deprived in the least. I'm tracking my nutrition as testing has shown that I have a great metabolism and with lofty ultramarathon goals I can't afford to skimp on nutrition or calories. It's been touch and go but I'm finally dialing in the ability to hit my caloric goals (roughly 2200 cals on a good training day). I will be blogging alot about my adventures in vegan cooking and eating to be sure....should be a culinary blast!

Vegan Sushi for our kickoff dinner!

I think that about wraps up my updates and it's officially time for me to get some shut eye...lots to do tomorrow (isn't that always the case?). Looking forward to getting back into the swing of training and learning how to adapt to a new life of alternative eating. :)