So as most of you saw on Facebook, Pete broke his clavicle bone. This morning, when he was pretty happy on Vicodin, I asked him if he’d be up to going vegan for one week starting today!

If you’re injured and can’t make your own food and have a vegan nurse-maid, what better time to try going vegan, right? I mean he’s almost there anywyays!

The best part is that he agreed!

So today for breakfast Pete had his smoothie (10 ice cubes, 4 bananas, and lots of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries wtih unsweetened almond milk, cocoa powder and chia seeds) like he always does. For lunch he is having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For dinner I will be making a simple spaghetti and sauce. The spaghetti will just have oil on it instead of butter and he won’t have any cheese. Pete is of the belief, like me, that vegan cheese is creepy.

So stay tuned for the The Broken Claivcle Bone Vegan Project. Who knows! Maybe SH Smile has encouraged someone else to vegan by association. And if she hasn’t convinced you yet, she’s coming for you!

Sara Sawochka

I woke up at 3:30am yesterday and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I accomplished more in that three hours before I get ready for work than I do on weekends where I have 48 hours all to myself.

Here’s one accomplishment I made in the wee hours of the morning (amongst other greatness, of course!):

I have an internship at Mercy For Animals which starts on September 4, 2012. I’m not allowed to carry any type of purse/briefcase, etc. or wear any kind of boots, belts, clothing made from animal products (such as leather) on the premises. I’m trying to extend this practice into my life outside of the internship as well by eliminating animal-based products that wouldn’t necessarily go with me to the office.

As of yesterday I had one Guess purse and matching wallet, three Coach purses and two Coach wallets in my closet.

Here’s the approximate monetary value of each purse:

1. Small pink Coach wallet: $50.00
2. Large Coach wallet: $150.00
3. Carly Coach purse: $300.00
4. Black Coach Medicine Bag-style Purse : $450.00
5. Black and Silver Coach purse: $290.00
6. Guess purse: $99.00
7. Guess wallet: $40.00
8. Franco Sarto boots (2 pairs): approximately $75.00 per pair I believe.

I felt it would be hypocritical of me to continue carrying these items in the future. I feel conflicted when I tell people that I’m a vegan and am trying to get into the animal rights activism movement and am standing there with my black Coach purse with leather on it. I’m not practicing what I’m preaching and that’s not cool.

For a fun(ny) side note, the calf-length Franco Sarto boots were never worn. I have really muscular calves. Bless the lady’s heart that was able to zip me up into those boots. It’s the only time I’ve ever had to be zipped into something and it will be my last. The value here is just sheer laughter and stupidity on my part for purchasing boots that I wouldn’t be able to zip myself into! I learned my lesson.

I’ve been reading VegNews magazine and have been noticing an ad in each issue for Vegan purses made by Susan Nichole. The ads showcase very cute, both casual and professional, purses which are very stylish.

At around 4:00am, I was on her website purchasing purses. Susan Nichole had a back-to-school SALE! I bought one purse and got a different purse of equal value free. (And the best part is that I didn’t have to be going back to school to take advantage of the sale)! I got one shoulder purse and one cross-body purse. They are so cute!

After I bought the purses I pondered what to do with the multiple purses and wallets and also boots I had setting in my closet. I wondered what would happen if I posted that I was giving my Coach andGuess purses and 2 pairs of Franco Sarto boots away for free on Facebook. I made a post at 6:30am that read “Does anyone have any interest in 3 Coach purses….?” Ask a stupid question…There was immediate interest. By noon I was pleased to report on Facebook that the purses and boots had new owners.

I couldn’t sell the purses because, to me, that would be selling a product that has leather on it and profiting from the death of an animal. However, I couldn’t justify throwing the purses away either. Reduce, reuse and recycle of course, right? I wanted my items to go to good homes.

My friend Robin had a great suggestion for me. She said that she’d take 2 purses and would make a donation to a charity for me in return. I selected Lakeshore Paws as my charity. I thought what a fabulous idea! I never made the donation a requirement. I wonder if the items I was offering would’ve gone that fast if I’d made the donation a requirement or had set a minimum donation amount. I won’t ever know. I found people willing to donate even though they knew they didn’t have to. I love that!

By giving away my stuff everyone was happy! The new owners of the designer purses and boots are happy with their slightly used items. My closet is happy…if a closet can be happy. An animal at Lakeshore Paws will feel safe and that makes most people feel happy. The value isn’t a monetary value. The value is the feeling of happiness knowing we’ve helped an animal at risk.

Be happy. Be all kinds of happy! And help animals in need too!

Sara Sawochka

What is Mercy For Animals?

Mercy For Animals (MFA) is a company that fights for the rights of all animals but is particularly focused on domesticated farm animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, etc. MFA also promotes a vegan diet mainly to cut down on the number of animals farmed and slaughtered each year. While a vegan diet can and does promote good health it also has another benefit of cutting down on the amount of animals slaughtered each year. If everyone slowly, over a long period of time, switched their way of eating from carnivores to herbivores, there would be less cows, pigs and chickens for slaughter and also for byproducts use. Lastly, MFA fights for the humane treatment of animals that are on factory farms. What I love about this company and also companies like PETA is that they face the realization the people are still eating meat. Animals on factory farms are suffering while they are alive and it is unnecessary. Despite the fact they are being raised for food doesn’t mean that they couldn’t live a happier, better-treated life.

Why do an internship at 31 years old? Why not go back to school instead? What can an internship give you that college can not?

I don’t see “Animal Rights Activist” listed on any college degree lists. I’d like to do something for the animals right now to help. Experience through an internship will give me the chance to take action and get experience in what I want to be doing in the future. Rotting away in a classroom where experience is simply not taught is not what I want to do.

An internship is a way to commit without committing fully. This will be a safe way for me to get a lot of experience with MFA without having to commit fully to a full-time job and then finding out I may not like it. My plan during this internship is to keep my full-time job while working at MFA part-time for the minimum internship requirement of one month. At that point which will be in October I will decide and MFA will decide if animal rights activism is a good fit for me and also if I’m well suited to work for their company. If I’m enjoying the work in the field then I can always apply at another company such as PETA if MFA turns out to not be an option. If I discover I love animal rights activism, my ultimate goal is to quit my job at the law firm and work in animal rights full time.

I want to do something fulfilling with my life. Helping out animals and promoting a vegan diet is the best way I know how to live a compassionate and fulfilling life. I’d like to be able to call animal rights my career, meaning my life’s passion, instead of just a job, meaning a paycheck doing work that I don’t personally believe in but happen to be good at.

Have you thought about going back to school for a degree that supports the basics of what you want to in your chosen work field of animal rights activism?

Yes! I would particularly enjoy working in the blogging sector or the legal sector of animal rights. If there was a blog writing journalism major out there I’d like to think I’d sign up in a heartbeat. At the very least, I’m open to taking some classes to get more become a better blogger.

I mention the legal sector meaning legal assistant. I wouldn’t want to go back for school for that since I have some experience in the field. I truly believe you can learn what you need to know with experience instead of in the classroom. So many life lessons and job lessons/experience are taught on the job and not in the classroom. Job experience is one thing I was never taught in college.

At this point I do not know a lot about what I will be doing for my internship although blogging was brought up. I love writing/blogging and if going back to school or taking some sort of class would help me get better at it, then I’d be willing to get schooling in that field.

What does the MFA internship have to do with my Sarathlete blog?

My official start date for my internship is 9/4/2012. I will post once a week to my blog to let you know what I’m doing on my internship, how I’m liking it, and what I’m learning about.

You can read my story of my beginnings as an animal activist. I hope it inspires you to follow your own animal activist path to become a vegan, volunteer at a dog/cat rescue or to become an activist in whatever way you find applicable to your life.

I want to share my journey along this new and exciting path with you.

Enjoy!
Sara Sawochka

This Saturday and Sunday I had the chance to interact with people who aren’t vegan and have no idea what a vegan is allowed to eat. What I was reminded of very forcefully is that most people stigmatize vegans as people who just eat vegetables.

Friday night, as I sat at Red Robin, my sister-in-law asked me, “So, can you have any treats?”. As I sat there with my plate of unexciting-looking hummus with roasted garlic and olive oil with veggies, I realized the food I was eating didn’t look that appealing and wasn’t helping my case.

Today, Sunday, after church, my friend Elizabeth asked me if I was allowed to eat dairy or eggs or even egg whites.

These two discussions helped me realize two things:

1. I am spoiled by my close circle of friends who are vegan or understand what a vegan can eat and that they don’t just eat vegetables.

2. Sometimes people hear the word “vegan” and have a perception of a militant person, don’t understand it’s a lifestyle choice, and, most importantly, don’t understand what we choose to and not to eat.

Not all vegans are militant people.

Not all vegans act or want to have that stigma of militancy associated with themselves. Some vegans choose to use the words “plant-strong” or “plant-based” to describe their lifestyles. Stating that you choose to eat a “plant-strong” diet doesn’t create the same picture in a person’s mind that the word “vegan” does. You will see this example of “plant-strong diet” used a lot in Rip Esselstyn’s book The Engine 2 Diet. He doesn’t use the word vegan a lot. I do believe putting the words “plant-strong” on the cover of his book has helped his book sell better because there’s no stigma attached to that phrase about trying to save animals or factory farming or other things that people tend to think of when they think of veganism. I don’t believe the book would sell as well if he put the word “vegan” on the cover.

Stating that you eat “plant-strong” gets you away from having to fight the stigma most vegans are faced with: the moral and ethical reasons for why we chose not to eat animals. It’s an easier and much softer approach to eat plant-strong but not have the moral stigma attached to you. If saying “plant-strong” gets you to eat plant-strong then I support that.

So there is a way to say choose a vegan lifestyle without ever stating you’re a vegan: say you eat plant-strong and you won’t get as many questions.

Why are you a vegan?

I get asked this question a lot. It’s almost like asking me, “Well, what’s the point of what you do?” I always answer that people are vegans for either dietary reasons, moral reasons or a combination of both. For me, being a vegan started with dietary reasons and the more I learned about veganism, the more I became a moral vegan concerned with animal rights. It’s been a journey that’s snowballed for me into an internship for Mercy For Animals, a non-profit organization that works to promote veganism and works towards humane treatment of animals on farms.

A dietary vegan will tell you they are vegan because they believe it helps their athletic training: perhaps they are looking for a lean body or perhaps they have some sort of condition like diabetes or high blood pressure and they’ve heard that eating plant-strong will help their condition. Whatever the reason, dietary vegans follow the lifestyle and may or may not stick with it. However, whatever their reasoning at the time, there are definite proven health benefits to being a vegan.

I started as a dietary vegan and my journey led me to become a moral vegan: I would rather be called vegan than plant-strong. I believe that it’s unhealthy for humans to consume animals and their byproducts (the dietary perspective). I also believe that it’s wrong to eat other animals and their byproducts because the animal is hurt in the process. I believe it’s morally wrong to treat an animal without any respect for its life and also wrong to eat it for food. I believe animals can feel pain. I believe that all animals, including domesticated animals, are created equally. I wouldn’t eat my dog and I won’t eat a cow, pig or chicken. Just like I won’t abuse my dogs, I don’t believe that cows, pigs or chickens should be abused on farms either.

What do you choose to eat and not to eat?

Whether you’re a plant-strong, dietary vegan or a vegan that follows the lifestyle for moral reasons, we all eat the same things: fabulous, plant-based food. Vegans choose not to eat animals or animal byproducts. We do eat a lot of vegetables, pastas, rice, nuts, seeds and fruits. There are a lot of things that can be veganized (made vegan) with substitutes and some things come very close to the original non-vegan creation (like desserts) and some things just never taste the same (like cheese). But believe me, if it’s out there someone has tried to make it vegan. There are even vegan marshmallows! How awesome is that?

Honestly, when my sister-in-law saw me sitting there with a plate of vegetables and hummus, it probably looked like I was on a diet and trying to watch my waistline. The truth is that since I started on a vegan diet I don’t count calories and fat like I used to. I never obsess about whether or not I’m getting enough protein. And I never have to think about cholesterol! It’s the best lifestyle ever! The best part of it for me is that I am not harming anyone by choosing to eat plant-strong and I get all of the health benefits from a plant-strong diet. I really get the best of both worlds.

There are a lot of fun vegan foods—part of the fun of being a vegan is the discovery! For instance, did you know Oreos and Twizzlers are vegan? I didn’t say they were healthy, but they are vegan. Do you know how fun it was to discover that? Why? Because it’s kind of a shocker to people. And if someone like my sister-in-law asks me if I can eat treats I will tell her, “Yes I can have Oreos and Twizzlers, just to name a few.”

Most people don’t know that most chocolate is vegan. Chocolate with no dairy milk or milk derivatives in it is vegan. Cocoa powder is vegan and goes great in smoothies! And yes, I have a chocolate smoothie with fresh fruit and chia seeds for breakfast every morning.

But you can’t have milk, eggs, or meat…

Who the heck cares? Well, you might, but I don’t. I tried a bite of Pete’s pizza that he had at Comic Con just to see if I missed real cheese and realized…I don’t miss real cheese. I couldn’t stand the flavor or taste in my mouth. A lot of vegans will tell you cheese is the hardest thing to give up, and when I first started, I agreed. There wasn’t—and honestly still isn’t—a really good vegan substitute for cheese (in my opinion). So instead of substituting, I choose to go without it.

So for all of you out there that say you could never give up cheese, eggs, bacon, milk, or whatever: Yes, you can if you’re ready too. I did. You simply aren’t at that point on your journey.

I highly encourage you, as I was encouraged, to watch movies on Netflix like Food Matters, Food Inc. and Forks Over Knives, just so you can get an idea of where your food comes from and what processes it goes through so you can make your own educated decision on the matter. Try not to say, “Oh I could never do that.” Why doubt yourself that much? Instead say, “I have no desire to do that right now.” At least be honest about it. Everyone can be plant-strong but not everyone wants to. I believe if more people were educated about where their food comes from that they might choose a plant-strong, dietary vegan lifestyle too. And from that point, if they were to stick with it, well…who knows! The possibilities are endless! It could even lead them to a new career choice, like me!

Sara Sawochka

In my last half-hour of being 30 years old I wanted to celebrate my journey into my thirties with a quick blog post about what it was like being 30 and how it all came together for me at the end.

Turning 30 was a definite learning experience for me. Most of the lessons and experiences I had were quite humbling. I learned a lot.

Here’s a quick list:

1. I spent my 30th birthday (the actual day) mostly in tears and having a panic attack (no joke) at home. My parents left me a check inside a card on the counter and my father sent me a text message wishing me a happy birthday. I felt like the people that gave birth to me couldn’t even be bothered with me because of some stupid disagreement we’d had. Also on my birthday, people at work and I weren’t getting along so there was no celebration like the department does for everyone else: no food day, no flowers, no singing…just an obligatory card that meant “we have to do this as a minimum and that’s all you’re getting.”

2. Running a marathon and doing two Olympic triathlons and coming in near the very end (and in one case last) were humbling experiences. Marathons, I discovered, are not my thing. I discovered, however, that triathlons play on my ADHD personality very well. I did well at the sprint distances I covered. I’ve done two Olympic tris so far but wasn’t trained for them and did each one on a whim. Nevertheless, I did them and crossed the finish line each time.

3. I told my parents off at Christmas after one final confrontation when I couldn’t stand their bullshit anymore. It was the best and healthiest thing I’ve ever done for myself. It made me a stronger woman and not the little girl seeking mommie’s approval.

4. I finally made a good friend, Shawn, through running. She opened me up to marathon running and endurance events and joined me in my vegan project.

5. I became a vegan, which was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It made me more interested in food and nutrition and eventually lead to this deep compassion for animals and wanting to do more work to save them. I owe so much of this to my friend Sarah H.

6. I took a trip to Comic Con and was encouraged to not be so judgmental by my friend Tim Fealy. He taught me to look at Comic Con a different way and try it again. Sometimes the first experience can be a little rocky.

7. I’ve become so sick of my job and crap that we put up with there. I’m tired of foreclosing on peoples homes and not doing anything fulfilling as a career.

8. There’s strength in marriage. My relationship with Pete is much more settled and complete now that we are married even after having been together for 8 years. There aren’t words to describe how glad I am I married him. That’s right ladies…he’s off the market for good now.

So moving forward into my thirties at the age of 31 here’s where I am. And let me tell you things came together fast for a whole new set of journeys:

1. This year I’m not going to wait by the phone on my birthday for my Dad to text me happy birthday. I no longer have any expectations when it comes to those weirdos, other than expecting to be treated like dirt, which is why I avoid seeing them as much as possible.

2. This year at work my fellow employees and I seemed to have resolved some of our differences—people brought food in for a food day for my birthday, they sang to me, and I got beautiful flowers and a nice card. It felt like people cared this year which is such a nice thing. It made me feel very appreciative and full of graciousness on the inside. Even though I couldn’t eat most of the food, it is the thought that counts. (The pretzels and fruit and raw veggies were the only things that were vegan that I could eat.) But food day is about everyone enjoying the food, and I did steal Pete a chocolate-filled twinkie (and he ate it!). Pete says don’t eat chocolate-filled twinkies…they’re gross.

3. Before my birthday I found out that I had received the official opportunity to start working on my internship with Mercy For Animals in Chicago. I can’t wait! It’s going to work out awesome and I will learn so much. I’m on the right career path. It only took me 30 years to figure out what I wanted to do.

4. I’m doing something I swore I’d never do again: dancing. I took a pole dancing class tonight and I have to say I’m absolutely hooked. It was amazing even though I’m the worst one in the class. It’s nice to take class and be the student instead of the teacher.

5. I’ve got my goals set for my triathlons going forward: I’m going to compete in 5 Olympic distance triathlons next year and will definitely do the SheRox sprint triathlon. That was just so fun. And I will be training for my first 70.3 ironman! I’m looking for a flat and fast course so if you know of one please let me know.

Life will be good at 31. Moving into my 30s is going to be a good journey. Who would’ve thought I’d become a vegan working in the animal rights movement and even have friends at work! I’m so happy with the way things are going right now. I pray (in my own way) that the bubble doesn’t burst and send me spiraling back into a pit of depression again. I don’t think I could take that.

I only have 30 minutes left to enjoy being 30. But that’s okay—I think 31 will be a great year!

Sara Sawochka

“My Review of Sara’s Review of Comic Con
by Tim Fealy on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 7:31am

Meet Tim Fealy on the left with a very another attendee wearing an authentic Batgril costume on the right!

You can check out my friend Sara’s blog here:

https://sarathlete.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/did-the-cool-girl-have-fun-at-comic-con/

Even before she posted her review, I was preparing my own review of her review just in case she decided to trash my beloved event. It turns out she liked it. I think Comic Con won her over this year.

Sara went last year with her boyfriend Pete and had a miserable experience. You can read about that in her blog. She shared with me her misery over a vegan lunch one Saturday and I was surprised she could have so little fun at Comic Con. My advice to her was that she should try it again but really try to appreciate the talent and creativity of those who come to Comic Con.

I told her she was the “cool girl” being plunged into a world of nerds. She keeps saying I am teasing her but I am not. It’s true. If you watch “The Big Bang Theory”, she would be the Penny in a room full of Sheldons and Leonards. She would be the normal, well-adjusted girl at Comic Con. If Sara hasn’t seen that show, oohhhh is she in for a treat! So, rebuttal #1 is she actually IS the “cool girl”.

Rebuttal #2 is that I didn’t ditch her at Comic Con. Early on, Pete wanted to attend a panel discussion with James Marsters while I still wanted to be available to meet Stan Lee. We just had different agendas. Our agendas would bring us back together again in the afternoon when we both Pate and I wanted to check out the light sabre workshop! But, I don’t think you can say you were ditched when you are hanging out with your husband for the day to celebrate his birthday.

Now, this next one is not a rebuttal but just an observation. Bruce Campbell “roasts” his audience during his panel discussions. I get it. And that’s ok to do with adults. But, he was saying some pretty mean things to young kids. I thought that crossed the line. Not all panel discussions are like that. Pete and I also saw a panel discussion with the guys from “Star Wars”. That movie had such an impact on our lives. And right there in front of us are TWO guys who were intimately involved with the making of it. That’s cool.

Ok, this would be rebuttal #3. As Sara says, “Stan Lee, an artist for …was signing autographs”.

See! This is why I adore Sara and why she IS the cool girl. Even after going to Comic Con, she is still not quite sure who Stan Lee is. Stan Lee created my favorite superhero, Spider-Man. He thought it up. And not just Spider-Man. He created the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, the Amazing X-Men, & Thor. But, getting back to Spider-Man, the character I most adored while growing up was created by this VERY guy who I was now standing in line to see. Stan Lee was personally responsible for a LOT of really good childhood memories! Thank You! The value isn’t so much in the signature but in having that moment when the 9 or 10 year old boy that still resides somewhere inside you gets to MEET the guy who made those childhood memories possible!

Ok, this is my final rebuttal. I DID promise Sara a vegan meetup! I told her the coolest vegan EVER regularly attends Comic Con. That’s TRUE!!! At least it was until this year. However, the fault squarely rests with the promoters of “Flashback Weekend”. They lured Linda Blair, one of my very favorite celebrities, away to attend their event on the same weekend.

Now, Linda and I have not always had the best relationship. Like most of us, she terrified me as a child! I told her this the first time I met her – as I am sure everyone does – and she suggested that we “hug it out”. I thought that was pretty clever of her. Also, that first time my friend Kristina and I met her, we waited an extra 30 minutes in line while Linda left to do a panel discussion. When she returned to the line, she apologized to us and then started filling us in on what she had talked about since we hadn’t been able to see her. She talked to us like we were the only two people in line. And we weren’t. It was still a huge line, but she wouldn’t be rushed. She wanted to give everyone personal attention and a really good experience.

The next time I met her was a few years ago as part of my “garden brick” project. I have friends, celebrities, sometimes just anyone… write the words they live their life by on a brick and sign it for me. This way, I not only have their autograph, but I have their life philosophy as well. The idea is to be able to walk through the garden and be surrounded by the way people (for the most part, those who are close to me) have decided to live their lives.

Anyways, I wanted a brick from Linda. Now, most celebrities just sign the brick and move on. No, to her this would be a work of art for the garden. She filled it with decorations and really got into it. And when her handler said she had to wrap things up, she ssshh’d him and kept going until she was finished.

She is among the most kind-hearted and warmest people I have ever met and this kindness spills over into her love of animals and is the reason for her being a vegan. Had she been there, Sara would have LOVED her. And it would not have only been a vegan meetup, but the best vegan meet EVER because Linda would have been a part of it.

I’m glad you came back to Comic Con Sara. I had the best time and I’m glad you were a part of it!”

Tim Fealy

P.S. Thank you Tim for letting me post your review to my blog!

Sara Sawochka

My answer: Yes. I go to church and don’t believe in a god. I enjoy the pastor’s sermon and always acquire a non-religious message from the religious message presented to me.

I’ve posted before about my religious non-beliefs before. Recently I had a conversation with someone close to me regarding my non-religious beliefs. I’ll call her Gina for privacy purposes.

After telling Gina my beliefs she said that she would pray for me. Gina said I should tell my pastor my beliefs. I responded that he already knew about them. Gina felt that the pastor was tolerated my beliefs so I would keep coming to church but he was praying for me as well.

Gina and the pastor were praying for the same thing but what were they praying for?

When I asked Gina specifically what she and my pastor were praying for me I never got a response. She said I’d have to ask my pastor. I feel like Gina couldn’t tell me what they were praying for me because she wanted to avoid a conflict with me.

I’ve heard people tell each other all of the time, “I will pray for your” or “I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers when the person being prayed for is sick or dying, or has just lost their job, etc. How is my situation different? Why can’t Gina tell me what her prayer is?

Why would Gina deflect me to my pastor? How do I know he would be anymore honest with me than she was? If she wouldn’t tell me as someone close to me then what obligation did my pastor have to tell me that information?

In my frustration I did what I always do: I went to Pete. Pete said that Gina probably meant that she and the pastor were praying for me to find a god (specifically their God) and the eternal light so I wouldn’t go to hell at my time of death.

While I respect the kindness of praying for me and I cannot reject the prayers, I do not feel that prayer for something someone doesn’t want or seek is warranted. Would you want someone praying for you to make the U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball team if you wanted to be a basketball champion instead

I did some more research on prayer and looked up a definition of prayer. I took this excerpt from wikipida.org regarding prayer:

Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity or object of worship through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private.

There are different forms of prayer such as petitionary prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and worship/praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one’s thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit or for the sake of others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer

I find it interesting that the definition never says which god is the right god to believe in. Which poses two interesting questions to me: What is god or what is a god? In other words, a god has many definitions and one of those definitions could be does a god even exist.

Wikipedia.org defines deity which is used in the prayer description above as “a being, natural, supernatural or preternatural, with superhuman powers or qualities, and who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred.”If Gina is praying to a deity then her deity maybe different than my deity. The beautiful idea is that we can all pray or meditate to something/someone or look inside ourselves to find out what’s really going on.

If someone wants to pray for us then I can’t stop them, however I do not believe it is right to pray for something that someone else may not want. Would you want me to pray for you to get cancer? Perhaps I find Gina praying for me to find her god similar to getting cancer: it’s just something I really don’t want right now.

I do not believe that we have to pray to the same god to find inner peace and happiness. If it makes you feel better to pray for me though please just keep doing it and don’t tell me about it. Whether you pray to a deity or don’t pray at all it’s okay. No one is judging you except you. Don’t put pressure on yourself. If you believe a god is judging you then that’s what you believe. Just be careful with pushing your beliefs off on someone else. And if you have plans on doing that, then at least tell the person why. Gina, I wish you would tell me why you were praying for me because I would really love to know.

Sara Sawochka

This is a man who has put up with a lot. And even though it’s not his birthday anymore why not celebrate him one more time?

Pete Sawochka is my husband. There should be reason to celebrate right there with having to put up with me and my….well let’s say feisty ways.

When I went vegan in February 2012 Pete wasn’t for it at all. He was hoping I would finish my project and go back to my old ways of eating animals and animal byproducts. Pete told me things wouldn’t be fun anymore if I was a vegan. He said it wouldn’t be fun to cook or prepare any kind of food for me, it would be hard to find places we could eat at together and he just went on and on.

After 6 months of being a vegan, I’m happy to report that my frustrated man has actually become supportive of my decision to become a vegan. It’s become very important to him that when we go out to eat that we go somewhere that has vegan options. We’ve also started cooking together. I knew Pete liked stir fries and they have a lot of vegan options/alternatives you can do on their main dishes (like substituting tofu for chicken and eliminating egg altogether) so we’ve been cooking and eating the same dinners. He’s even come to love (hopefully) the avocado, tomato, hummus and sprout sandwich on vegan bread for lunch.

Did I mention breakfast? Poor Pete has a fit if he doesn’t get his “morning shake” as he calls it: almond (or coconut milk), chia seeds, 10 ice cubes, 3 bananas, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and cocoa powder is Pete’s breakfast (and mine too). It’s very good and I highly recommend it.

If it wasn’t for his snacking, there are some weeks where Pete would eat 100% vegan. Pete snacks a lot on cheese. He always says that giving up meat wouldn’t be as hard as giving up dairy milk and dairy cheese would be. He’s obsessed with the cheese station at the Whole Foods we go to every week at Lincoln Park.

Pete has lost weight. If you see a svelte, slim figure pass by you, it might be Pete! He’s lost a lot of weight by cutting down on a lot of the meat and dairy in his diet. He eats way more vegetables and fruits than he ever did before. He even likes fun vegan recipes like the spiced banana pancakes we make.

Pete is a good husband by showing his support of his vegan wife. However he reaps some of the benefits of not eating a strong meat and dairy based diet he’s lost some weight, his clothes fit better and he has that vegan glow (even though men don’t really glow—he still has the glow)!

I’m sending out a big thank you to Pete for adapting to my lifestyle and not condemning me for staying vegan. You have no idea how much your acceptance means to me. It means even more to me that you participate with me and try to understand why I do what I do. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today with my veganism.

And this was all from a man that said, “Well I hope you don’t stay vegan at the end of your Very Vegan Valentine’s Day blog project.”

Support is always important when you are trying to do something. I hope you have someone by your side supporting you through whatever endeavors you may be going through.

Sara Sawochka

This is a re-post from the Mercy For Animals blog. Your tax dollars don’t just go to bail out banks. They go to bail out the animal agriculture industry. I hate that my tax dollars go to support something that I don’t believe in. Can you watch this video and still continue to support the meat industry? Or will you just turn away, not watch it, deny the situation exists and continue eating meat?

“Earlier this week, the Obama administration announced that it would buy up to $170 million-worth of meat products to bail out the animal agriculture industry from drought-induced profit losses. Associated Press reports, “The USDA plans to buy up to $100 million of additional pork products, $50 million of chicken, $10 million of lamb and $10 million of catfish.”

While the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is more than willing to rake in a federal giveaway of a hundred million dollars, it strongly opposes federal laws, such as the egg industry reform bill, that aim to improve the lives of animals on factory farms. The NPPC seems to support federal involvement only when it benefits its bottom line.

Further, the pork industry continues to use, and defend, inhumane practices that are simply out of step with the values of the majority of America’s tax payers, such as confining pregnant pigs in gestation stalls so narrow the animals can’t turn around, lie down comfortably, walk, or engage in basic natural behaviors.

The governmental program is choosing to bail out cruel factory farmers instead of looking out for the best interests of animals, the environment, or consumers.

A recent Mercy For Animals undercover investigation at a Walmart pork supplier revealed some of these cruel practices that the USDA-protected animal agriculture industry tries so hard to keep hidden from the American public.

At this Walmart pork supplier, pregnant pigs are confined to filthy, metal gestation crates barely larger than their bodies, and sick and injured pigs with severe, bleeding wounds or infections are left to suffer without veterinary care.

While MFA continues to expose the cruelties inherent in pork production, ultimately consumers hold the greatest power to end the needless suffering of animals by switching to a compassionate vegan diet. Visit ChooseVeg.com to learn more.”

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Sara Sawochka

Here is part two of two that I promised you in my Comic Con saga.

I was called the “cool girl at the party” by my friend Tim. At first I thought he was serious but when we got to Comic Con and he kept ripping on me for trying to talk to the nerds, I realized he was going to give me a hard time all day. He lived up to his potential.

Seriously though, it’s because of Tim that I was willing to give Comic Con a second try.

Pete and I went to Comic Con last year. Pete had a blast. I had a miserable experience. I spent part of my day in a hotel lobby with magazines and a cup of coffee that I bought from a coffee shop and paid way too much money. The second part of the day showed some promise by getting to see Christopher Lloyd’s panel discussion. After that, the day’s flame of fun dwindled down to candle wax on the holder as I was left in a large warehouse-type room while Pete went walking around the comic distributor room looking for comics. That room was so crowded that it gave my anxiety a serious run for its money. And since I was marathon training at the time, I had no interest in running so I found a spot on the floor in this huge cement room, laid down and text messaged my friend Shawn who was nice enough to respond back because she knew how bored I was. Would you want to go back to anything if you’d had an experience like I had? I think not!

Tim encouraged me to give it another try and told me how cool it could be even though I’m not a nerdy girl. Tim said I’d be the cool at the party amongst a group of nerds. He was right! I was the cool girl at the party that had absolutely no clue what she was talking about so in some respects I was the dork amongst everyone around me.

Going to Comic Con last year gave me a chance to get over the shock of people wearing strange and revealing and interesting outfits of characters that I didn’t recognize. This year, they were just part of the crowd. I never felt the need to stop and stare. Instead I appreciated how much time and creativity people put into their costumes because this is what they’re really in to and it’s neat to see them support such an amazing event.

Tim told me that I would not get ditched this year either. This was partially true. Tim ditched us. However I was with Pete all day so I was never alone.

After seeing the panel last year it gave me a clue as to what I would really like to see this year. Pete and I saw a lot of panels. The panels were the most interesting part of my day. James Marsters was very intelligent and had a very quick wit about him. Bruce Campbell turned out to be quite the sarcastic a$$hole, in my opinion, however I later learned that is how his panels tend to go and his audience expects a roasting. Tom Felton was very gracious (and cute with a British accent too)! Tom Sorbo from “Hercules” was also interesting. I was fascinated with how much time he had to spend training in the gym for his role as Hercules.

Stan Lee, an artist for …was signing autographs. There was a fee of $500.00 per person for a meet-and-greet with Stan Lee during Comic Con. There was also a chance to have him sign something for $55.00. At those prices, we decided to pass. Tim made an interesting post on his Facebook page: “Fun math problem… If it takes Stan Lee 10 seconds to sign each item and he makes $55 a signature, how much will he make in one hour? I figure he is making $19,800 an hour!! Wow!”. To me that seemed like a lot of money and not worth it at the time. I do understand that it will add some value to whatever comic you have signed (assuming that’s what you have signed) and will make it even more valuable especially if it’s a rare or collectible item.

Tim said to get there early so we left our house at 7:00am to get there at 7:30am. We were even on time because I told a white lie to Pete that we had to be there at 7:15am. When Pete was getting out of the shower at 6:50am I’m really glad that I told Pete a little white lie! Sorry Pete but it had to be done. I despise being late. Tim was right. We left early and stayed until the end and it didn’t take us an hour to get from the expressway to the convention center.

The only thing Tim didn’t deliver on was a vegan meetup. Tim said that it would be a Vegan Comic Con trip and the only thing vegan about it was the Chicago-style vegan dog and vegan chocolate shake I had at Whole Foods afterwards which Tim was NOT present for! And no, I don’t consider a baked potato and salad in the cafeteria much of a vegan meal. Meet a vegan that doesn’t really enjoy a good salad. The lesson I learned is next year I will pack my own food in a cooler and go back to my car an eat it in the parking lot.

A note to Rosemont parking garage: you need alternative fuel car parking spots in your lot. That’ll be something to work on for next year. What fun is it to drive your Prius up to Illinois and not have a fun place to park it. I guesss I can’t have it all!

Thank you Tim Fealy for forcing my stubborn self to look at Comic Con in a different way and for getting me to go again even though there was nothing vegan about it and we probably spent a total of an hour with you the entire time we were there!

Pete Sawochka I hope you had a fabulous birthday.

As for me, I’m very much looking forward to going back to Comic Con next year. With two years under my belt, I feel I have a lot of the kinks worked out and will have an even smoother ride Back to the Future next year! Haha bad geek joke!

Sara Sawochka