: graduation day! : & how to be proud! :

happy sunday, everybody!

todays 'ask a vegan' will move to next weekend.

why?

because yesterday was a rad day for our family & i wanted to share!

my little sister graduated from college yesterday.

and i know that people graduate all the time & maybe its not a huge deal. but it is a huge deal.

college is a lot of work. and it takes a lot of time [uh, hellllo 4+ years!]

anyways, on my dads side [he has 6 siblings, who have 10 kids] sara & i are the ONLY siblings to have BOTH graduated college ; that is pretty cool.

our relationship with our dad has been pretty rough for most of our lives, but in the last 2 years things have *really* turned around [and thats pretty cool, too]

my family was there yesterday [there were 11 of us] & at one point, the president asked all the alumni to stand & be recognized [i graduated from the same school as my sister]. as i stood, my dad got really emotional & said that he was really proud to have 2 college graduates.

anyways, i think people have a hard time 'being proud'. we try to avoid it because we dont want to come off as 'show-off-y' or pompous, but today, i am SO proud of my sister [and myself]. we jumped some serious hurdles in our lives to be healthy, happy & have solid educations.

be proud!

: vegan meal of the week : week 22 : MEAT :

so, last night i was here.

with my mama and sister.

and i ate this.

seriously.

let me tell you : it tasted good.
now, you know i really dont eat animals.
at all.
i have a dairy intolerance and i just dont love the taste of meat.
also, after i do eat meat [and dairy!] i feel so, so crummy [bloat-y and gross]

i would say that i am 95+% vegan.
so, while i wont eat meat again for a really, really long time ; i will say that i enjoyed my hot dog.

thanks for reading.

: she got it from her mama :

happy friday!
[i have a few fun posts to get out today. hopefully]

guess what i got in the mail the other day?!

THIS!

a yoga-mat case from my mama.

[you think i am crafty? you should see my mother. she can sew like crazy. shes so talented.]
maybe you are wondering : diana, did your mom teach you how to sew?
hahaha. she tried.
[my mom isnt a great sewing-teacher. and i was sooooo not a good sewing-student]

anyways, besides sewing, she is AMAZING [seriously!] with floral arranging. she can take some really ugly stuff and make them into a really cute display.

she made this for us this winter.

and where did she get her talent from?
my grandma!
shes such a talented painter. an incredible artist.

last year, blake and i went to seattle and i took a black and white photo. gave it to my grandma. and she pen-and-inked this!

also, she made these mini-canvases that we have displayed in an old, old suitcase.

just a quick peek at how talented my family is!


thanks for reading!

: walnuts : headcolds : thunderstorms : [oh my!]

remember on saturday, i went to bed early??!
i thought my body was pooped from riding and being in the sun for 10 hours!??

pretty sure i was wrong and my body is just sick. seriously, i eat 3 oranges a day!

yesterday was low key. i would tackle big projects cuz i like to cross stuff off my to-do list and then i would need to sit down and take a break for 30 minutes.
silly.

i got a lot done!
this morning, we were woken up at 5am to HUGE THUNDER and hail.
ya know, i just moved back to minneapolis last fall after being on each coast for a couple of years, and storms in any other part of the country arent the same.

yesterday, i cracked open 150+ walnuts. with a hammer.

if you sent me an email wanting to be pen pals [thanks!] check your mail soon!
and if you are still interested in being pen pals - send me an email with your address
[take.a.picture[at]live[dot]com]


also, happy belated mothers day to all the women that have had humans!
and to my mama. and my grandma. [blakes mom, too!][she did a great job raising a beautiful mister]

 i dont know if i have seen this picture before, but its hillllllaaaarious.

: motivation challenge : day 3 :

today, i made a monster sale on etsy!
that is very exciting for me.

i have a lot of hopes/plans/anxiety around my future as a business owner/ crafty-human, so its always fun to have a 'high-five! you can do this!' day when it comes to business.

also, day 3.
i know that a lot of different people with different intentions come to this blog, so i dont want this to be too personal, but i will say this : my dad and i have had an extremely trying relationship for the majority of my life. that being said, we have a better relationship right now than we have ever had. ever. and that has just happened in the past few months. its huge. and it makes my heart huge.

today : my dad called. third time in three weeks. that has never happened. ever. in my entire life.
i am so proud of myself for learning how to forgive things that have rocked my being for 27 years. with that, i am so, so proud of my dad for finally seeing what is important in this life.

i had a good chat with my dad tonight. it feels good knowing that i have a sister, two parents and a partner that love me to the moon.

and sara, do you remember this human? hahahahaha.

: look! : -----------------------> I have a button :

so, blake made me a button.
and he put it on the blog.
all by himself.
no help.
im impressed.
[hes so cool]
[and if you have a blog, add my button][thats fun]

i have TWO NEW pairs of babypantz [like dianapantz, get it!?] up on etsy.
if you have a small human in your life.
or know a small human, grab a pair.

remember, 40% of ALL purchases made this month will go to world concern to help with aid in haiti. on top of that, blake and i will be matching the total donation! right now, we are looking to buy at least one micro loan and we really want to buy a goat for a family so they can learn husbandry and sell the milk to support their family! you should help.

new legwarmers :

and this face [hi mom!] is coming here this weekend! yay. i havent seen my mother since christmas. [beast, are you so excited!?!]

: feb 7th : today i am thankful for :

my grandpa.
for his memory.
for my memories.
for all the things he did to make me this person.

he has been gone six months now.
its crazy. i still think about him always.
and you have no choice but to keep moving.
everyday.

six years ago today, my whole family [like, 20+ of us] flew down to arizona in three waves to surprise him for his 80th birthday.
i would like to think that those days, he felt so much love.
he knew how big our hearts were because of his goodness.

he would have been 86 years old today.
my grandma is arizona today.
without her other half.

grandpa, we miss you.

so today, be good to someone.
send a nice postcard [cuz thats soooo much better than facebook]
be good to someone at the store. on the road. in your building.

: feb 1st : today, i am thankful for _______ :

my dad.
really.
he and i definitely have an emotional history, but today, i just needed a phone-hug.
and he called.
unplanned.
and he let me talk about how hard my job is right now. and how i am physically, emotionally and mentally taxed. and he just listened. [honestly, im bawling while i write this][its so huge] i totally needed it. and he was there. 

so today, i am thankful for my dad.
and he totally looks like john locke : 

hahahahaha.