Introduction

Hello there! :)

Just wanted to start this blog off with introducing myself and how this blog came to be.

My name is Lindsay and I'm currently 24 years old. I'm originally from Montreal in Canada, but upon meeting Ben (my husband), we married and (after getting a US visa) I moved to South Dakota. I'm going to be graduating from college next month with two degrees: Programming and Visual Communication. I'm currently interning at a local hospital where I'm shooting videos of doctors and specialists, then editing them to be used on their website, their Facebook page, and their YouTube channel.

My entire life I've always eaten meat and consumed dairy products, and never thought anything of it. Sure, I loved animals (and still do!), but I guess I never thought about WHAT the animals had to go through for me to get meat and dairy, or the harmful side effects of me ingesting it.

But all that soon changed starting at the end of December 2012. I was browsing Facebook when I came upon the following image shared by one of my friends:

As I loved milk at the time, I didn't want to spend that much anymore. So, I Google'd "milk alternatives" and that's when my eyes were opened in this area. I soon found myself searching for "why milk is bad for you" and my awakening continued. I quickly discovered that cow's milk is NOT good for you. The only milk we humans should be consuming is breast milk when we're first born. Once we're weaned off of it, we no longer need milk. I learned the truth about milk and its side effects.

After that, I stopped drinking milk. For the box of cereal I had for breakfast, I got unsweetened almond milk. I couldn't even tell the difference between that and cow's milk! Although, I haven't had JUST almond milk in a glass, so I'm not positive on how it tastes on its own. I did buy though chocolate almond milk and although my initial reaction was that it tasted very nutty (and I don't like nuts), now about 2-3 months later, I hardly notice the nutty flavor.

Anywho, I soon began watching documentaries on veganism. Most of them showed videos of factory farming and it just broke my heart to watch these animals suffer. I haven't quit eating meat entirely, but I try not to eat as much anymore. I'd like to become 100% vegan in the future, but I think it's going to be a slower transition for me, rather than going cold-turkey.

About a month ago, I soon realised that being vegan isn't just about consuming meat or dairy, but also buying regular day products (such as make-up, hair care, lotion, etc) that don't contain animal ingredients (or, going further, don't test on animals either). Very rapidly, I started noticing just how many animal ingredients were in everything I used: shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, body wash, body lotion, make-up remover wipes. Heck, even my vitamins and supplements seemed to contain animal ingredients! Even now, my head spins thinking about everything I'm going to need to buy in order to live an "animal-free" life. My desire is that within the next year or so that I can use everything I currently have and once an item is all used up, I'll replace it with a vegan alternative.

I should probably end this very long introduction. My future blog posts will be on specific items and my venture into transforming my life into a vegan one. Wish me luck!

~Lindsay