The V Word.

I've known I was lactose-intolerant for a little over a year now. I replaced milk with soy milk and it was amazing. But even after I found out about my intolerance I continued to eat cheese and dairy based products. They didn't bother my stomach as much as an entire glass of milk would. I self-diagnosed myself with mild lactose-intolerance. It wasn't until after reading the book "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, that I decided to give up dairy based products completely. If you think about it, mammals produce milk to feed and fatten their offspring after they've given birth. We produce milk to turn a tiny, helpless infant into a screaming, energetic toddler. That's about 16 pounds of baby. A cow, on the other hand, has to produce milk to turn a calf into a 2,000 pound cow. Milk is not only unnecessary for your body, it's not as natural as we think it is. Women stop producing milk after their baby is done nursing. That's how it works for all of the other mammals on this planet also, including cows. The milk industry injects the cows with hormones that force them to lactate. The hormones make their way into the milk and meat the industries sell and eventually make their way onto your plates and into your bodies. The milk industry also slips chemicals into your cheese that actually makes it addictive. There are plenty more reasons that explain why milk and dairy based products aren't very beneficial to your bodies but they're not too pretty and I'll let you gross yourself out with your own research.

I've given up every single dairy based product on the face of the planet and I've also given up meat. After reading "Skinny Bitch" and doing my own research on meat industries and our bodies, the thought of eating meat makes me queasy. Take a look at our teeth. They're not sharp and pointed like a tiger. They're flat for grinding vegetables, not sharp for tearing apart muscle. Carnivorous animals also possess an enzyme in their mouths that breaks down muscle (meat) and makes it easier to digest. Humans don't have that enzyme. It takes meat about 10 times longer to digest in our bodies than it does vegetables, fruits, and grains. The time our body spends digesting meat takes an incredible amount of energy, leaving us tired. That's why carnivorous animals sleep all day long.

The meat industry is the nastiest industry in America. The treatment of the livestock is inhumane and discusting. The animals injected with hormones and forced into tiny little crates from the day they're born until the day they're slaughter. Sounds like good ole' fashion torture to me. The research I've found about the meat industry is by far the worst bit of information I've ever read. I would be pleased to share it with anyone but I don't like to preach. It's changed my mind about the so-called food pyramid and daily nutritional requirements.

I don't preach my opinion and knowledge about the milk and meat industry. I know people don't like to hear that what they're consuming is bad for them. I also don't tell many people about my dietary habits. It's not embarrassing, I just don't like the ignorant questions I receive. Such as, "Where do you get your protein?" or "Are your bones going to get weak?" It's pretty annoying. I am aiming to become a nutritionist or a dietition. I believe I know what is healthy for me and what isn't. I don't eat dairy and I don't eat meat. I am what they call a vegan -the V word- I hate that word but I love being one.

Rest In Peace

Sunday I found out one of my best friends father passed away. He was 43. He was so sick with cancer for a very long time. It's been really hard on my friend and every one who knew his father. The calling hours are Wednesday at 1 p.m. I will be going home after my 8 a.m. class to pay my respects.

The type of cancer he had was throat cancer which spread throughout his body. He got the cancer from years of smoking. Smoking is such a dirty, consequential habit. I was looking at my friends pack of cigarrettes one day and I never noticed that tobacco companies don't put the nasty ingredients on the package. WHY? Half of the people who smoke would probably quit and the potential smokers would never want to start. Smoking is discusting.

Snow Day

So today was the first snow day of the semester and I was most likely the only student on this campus who wasn't happy about it. I missed a class that I really needed to go to today because I needed the review for my final. Today was very unproductive.

I really don't like the snow. Other than snowboarding, there's really nothing about it that pleases me. I hate walking it in because it soaks my shoes and the wind up here in Cortland is so strong when it snows that I can barely see when I walk around the campus. Snow also messes up my tires. My traction was off a little bit Sunday when I had to go to Syracuse and my wind-shield wipers were frozen. Oh and the salt! The salt the plows put on the road to melt the ice completely ruins my shoes, makes me car really dirty, and creates gross slush. Sure, it's totally helpful because it does melt the dangerous ice but I still hate that I can't wear my warm suede boots and I have to get my car washed every week.

San Pablos

I work at Dragon's Court here on campus Wednesday nights from 6 to 10. I work at the taco/mexican station called San Pablos. I absolutely despise working there. First and fore most I'm on my feet the entire time which hurts my rectus femoris because I pulled it during soccer season and it's taking forever to heal. The rectus femoris is one of the four quadraceps. This muscle attaches at the hip bone and extends down to the cap of the knee. It's about a foot and a half long. My pull isn't severe or I'd probably be on crutches but it's the most irritating injury. I can't run or do any type of exercise that will strain this muscle because it's incredibly painful. Second of all, the woman I woke with is large and the space behind the counter is VERY limited so I'm constantly being ran into because she doesn't take her time with anything she does. She's just scurrying around back there like a chicken with it's head cut off. Don't get me wrong, she's so nice and very personalable but she's too much to take sometimes. She always mixes the lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes together too. I will spend an hour trying to pick out the wrong pieces of food from each little container because it's discusting when they're all mixed together, and with ONE taco she makes she will mess up an entire hours worth of picking through! With one grab of the cheese, she will sprinkle it into each bin! And I told her she should be more careful and she goes "I can't help it I like to make the tacos fast". She makes the sloppiest tacos. I might put in my 2 weeks notice next wendesday. It's stressing me out.

Cortaca

I'm not really excited about Cortaca this year. I didn't get a ticket to the game and I'm pretty pissed off about it. And I can't go to the sorority house to hang out with the girls because I'm haven't pledged yet and Saturday is only for the girls and their "friends from home" because they want to spend time with the this semesters new sisters. Whatever. I should have pledged this semester but I wanted to play soccer.

I can be excited though, because my 2 best friends who go to Daemen in Buffalo might come up!! They're twin guys and they're the best guys to be around when you want to just lay back and have a great time because we're constantly laughing. Also, my friend from East Stroughsburg is coming up to stay with his friend in Ithaca and I haven't seen him since May so that'll be nice to see him and party with him. So yay, I get to watch the game on TV and party with my friends from a.m. to p.m.!

Why I love warm weather..

Warm weather makes me extremely happy. I don't know how I survive in Cortland sometimes being so cold and all. I belong in a place where I can wear flip flops all year round. I love to tan too. I hate being pale, it's not a good look for me. And summer/spring is just so much more fun. I remember the first warm day we had at Cortland last year. The guys in my dorm taught me how to play lacrosse and we played wiffleball after sunbathing for hours. Warm weather smells nicer too. The sun warms up all the good smells like flowers and fresh cut grass. Don't get me wrong, I like autumn too because I love big sweaters but summer/spring is just so much better. I'm writing about this because it's so cold outside right now I never want to leave my room. I walked back to my room from the gym today in icy rain and tornado winds. Whatsup with that? My forehead froze. I was not a happy camper.

Halloween weekend #1

So this weekend was fun! I had a soccer game on Friday against Oswego. We won 6-0. It was freeeezing though and rainy so it was miserable. The game got over aroung 8:30 so I decided to go out with some girl friends. We had a great time! I got home around 1 a.m. and my roommate's boyfriend was there and they were hanging out. Her boyfriend is a wonderful guy but he SNORES like a grizzly bear. I got about 4 hours of sleep. I'm a very light sleeper and it drove me nuts. I woke up at 11:30 because I had to go to the Syracuse mall to get a halloween costume for Saturday night. I found a beer girl costume at Hot Topic. It was really cute. I bought white fish net knee highs and white platform shoes and my roommate braided my hair before I went out. My friends and I looked great before we went out. But the parties weren't too fun. Oh well I've got 5 more to go to this week!

We had a soccer game today against Binghamton. We won 4-2. The weather was worse than Friday. So bad that it even hailed. Nobody could feel their toes and legs were completely numb. The ball slapped our legs so hard because it was frozen and wet. I fell on the turf about 5 times. After our game my mom took me out to dinner at Central City Bar and Grill. I got a giant baked potato with portabella mushrooms and salsa on it and half a veggie wrap. It was pretty good but I should have gotten pasta instead.

Broken Down

So before I continue my "interesting" weekend.. My car broke down yesterday afternoon in Syracuse and I was stuck there forever. How wonderful. I had to call AAA and get it towed to the nearest auto place and it was there overnight. Thank God 2 of my friends from home were at the Syracuse mall shopping or I probably would have been stuck there over night too. The mechanic said it was the security thingy (whatever that means..) in the car and it would turn over but it wouldn't "rev" the engine. Just my luck. I just put $2,000 dollars worth of work into it too. But I called the place it was towed too, Midstate Auto, today and they said there would be no charge and that I can pick it up tomorrow. I guess that's a relief.

"My karma just ran over my dogma."
I saw that on a bumper sticker while driving to Syracuse, talk about foreshadowing. I don't feel like writing about my Saturday in Buffalo right now, so I'll do it tomorrow or something. Later.

Canada/Buffalo

Friday night I went to Canada with some of my girlfriends. It was absolutely awesome. We went to a club called Dragonfly and boy, was it nice. After spending $27.50 on drinks and getting hit on by multiple guys, we were invited into the 5.4 million dollar VIP lounge for free drinks. They were giving out bottles of Grey Goose like it were soda. We sat on huge couches in the room that was higher up than the dance floor and were surrounded by glass walls. The bathrooms had their own personal caretaker and the sinks were off the hook. It kind of looked like a scene out of a mafia movie. The men had to be dressed nicer than the non-VIPs, they could only wear black shoes. One of the guys we were sitting with had to buy black shoes off of a man in the casino for $100 because he tried to wear white shoes into the club. A HUNDRED DOLLARS, yea right. The cutest guy in our little section was 19 and a sophomore at ECC. We exchanged numbers and have kept in touch so far.

We left the club around 3 am and started to walk around by the FallsView Casino and Clifton Hill. We were going to some duty free shop to meet our ride. By this time I'm thoroughly intoxicated and enjoying myself to the fullest. Getting in and out of the border was actually very easy despite what I had heard about the US side. We stayed in Buffalo for the night at my friends house. We planned to go to the piercing shop and to the night clubs in Buffalo on Saturday.

...to be continued! : )

Birthday!

Today was my birthday! I'm finally 19, legal in Canada. I'm the baby of all my groups of friends; friends here and friends from home, so it's a big joke that I'm finally legal in Canada. My best guy friends are actually taking me to Canada next weekend so I'm pretty excited.

So it started at midnight last night. My best friend called me at midnight on the dot like she does every year and my 3 roommates surprised me with presents. I got 2 handmade picture frames and a "pimp" cup and I barely fell asleep last night. One of my best friends bought me a stuffed monkey, clay and play-dough, a slinky, candy corn, a squishy ball, silly string, and a little piggy bank I can paint. Talk about bringing out my inner child. For my birthday lunch, me and my 3 roommates met up and ate together and when I came back from my last class my roommate had decorated the room with balloons and streamers! It was awesome and I absolutely loved it. My little brother and my dad came up from Elmira to take me out to dinner but right before I left, my 3 roommates surprised me again with a huge cookie cake! They're so good to me! Dinner was amazing. I had stuff rigatoni with meatballs and a chocolate cheesecake with a red candle for dessert.

Update

So I made the club soccer team! I'm pretty excited to play and the girls are all great. It's going to be a little hard juggling soccer, a job, and schoolwork but we'll see. The tryouts were rediculous and my butt hurt for days after just a few lunges. My roommate also made the team so we'll be sore together.

My roommate's name is Caitlin but she's much more than just my roommate. She's my best friend here. We met at our freshman orientation. I actually met her in the bathroom in Corey Union. She was all by herself because her parents couldn't make it so I had her hang out with me and my dad. She one of the nicest people I've ever met, very genuine and laid back. We've had the best times together. Cait's got a new boyfriend and his name is Bill. Bill's a great guy especially because he bought me french onion soup and sushi when I went to visit over the summer. Bill's coming up this weekend and it should be a good time.

French onion soup is by far my favorite food other than sushi. I usually go to Applebees and order two bowls of french onion soup, one for an appetizer and one for a meal. The waitresses always look at me like I'm crazy but I don't care, it's just that good.

Soccer Tryouts

Soccer tryouts for club soccer are today from 4 to 6. I'm not as nervous as I used to get during varsity tryouts for high school which is good. Although I've played soccer for a very long time, I've never felt I was very exceptional. I'm not great at ball handling skills but I do have a powerful right- and left-foot shot and I can hard body another chick like it's nobody's businesss. I'd like to say I'm pretty well conditioned but I guess we'll find out for sure today.

I've pulled both my left and right hip flexers 2 times each during my high school varisty soccer career. I used to get blisters the size of half dollars on my heels every single preseason. My bruises lasted for weeks at a time. During a tournament scrimmage, I bruised the bones in my knee. How somebody bruises a bone, I have no idea but that's what they called it and it lasted for my entire season. No more damage could be done if I continued to play, so I played through the shooting pain and it ended up being a wonderful season regardless.

First Blog Ever

Hello, my name's Julie and I'm a sophomore. I live in Elmira, NY which is about an hour and a half away from Cortland. I'll be 19 on September 19th.

This is my third attempt at this course and I'm not too proud of it. I tried this course in high school for ACE college credits but I only passed the first half of the course. I attempted it last semester as an online course and it was horrible. I'm not too fond of e-mail and computers, or technology as a matter of fact. It always seems to screw up for me. I dropped that course after the website deleted my essay one too many times.

I'm a biology major here at Cortland. I love learning about the environment and the human body. I was contemplating about becoming a marine biologist or a nutritionist but I've decided I'm going to join the Peace Corp. after I graduate college. I want to help underprivileged people and their communities.

I'm a very active individual. I love sports, whether I'm playing or watching them. I've played soccer for a little over 9 years. I kick box during the summer while I'm home from school. I work out and run frequently. I used to swim and play basketball.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my first blog ever.