And begin

First task was discussing my feelings and thoughts with my husband. He listened quietly to me as I talked about how I'd been feeling and what my intentions were. He always knew how much I loved animals so that part didn't surprise him. The realization that he won't be eating meat again in our house (since I do almost all the cooking) gave him a start. I found that part amusing. Men usually pay much closer attention to you if it affects their stomach. :) Thinking I would be on the vegan journey alone though, I prepared myself for some sort of confrontation. But he shocked me. He loved animals too and saw the connection I was making. He had a little hesitation and his face was somewhat pale but he vowed to join me. Wow. He told me it was important to him to support me and show me that he wasn't a heartless jerk. He also considered our pets that he adores.. our sweet little Oreo (bunny) and big white Willow (dog). He wouldn't ever dare dream of anyone hurting them and decided to embark on the vegan journey as well. Cool - didn't expect that! So the hard part was over. I not only had his support but I also had a partner. Awesome. This was going to be a snap. Yeah, right..

Second task was looking in my freezer. Seeing the frozen chicken, beef, pork, and fish frightened me. What have I done? These poor animals all had their lives taken. And for what? This flesh isn't THAT good. The tears started rolling down and I knew this part would have to be put on hold.

Not being able to confront the freezer for now, I focussed my energies on my cupboards. I spent an entire day going through everything in the pantry. Can you believe how much stuff has animal in it? Soup, marshmallows, jello, muffin mix, pancake mix, spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, cereal, stuffing, pudding, granola bars, snack cakes, cookies, salad dressing. Crazy. Even vegetable soup had animal in it. What has society come to? We use animal in so many things. We have used and abused animals for so long.. do we even know it is wrong anymore? Ugh. This was going to prove challenging. I realized I was going to have to read EVERY label and question EVERYTHING that came into my pantry. I put the items that weren't vegan-friendly away in a box for the food bank and made a list of things I'd need to find.