Smiles : ]

Today was the first really enjoyable day I've had in about a week. I took my physics midterm this morning and I had the rest of the day physics free. : ]

I went by the Rush to get a free 2 week membership and then by the farmers market to sign up for the CSA with Mountain Meadows Farm. If you're unfamiliar with a CSA program I'll tell you. Basically, you sign up with a local farm (Mountain Meadows is in Anderson County) and each week they gather a share of all of their crops. So, that's like a couple different fruits, a bunch of veggies, herbs and greens. They bring it to a meeting place (UT gardens) and you pick it up. My roommate and I are splitting it since it is meant to feed a family of 4 or 2 people who cook a lot. Well, I sure do cook a lot. : ] And now that I'll have an abundance of fresh, local, organic produce every week, I can only imagine that I'll be doing much more cooking. So basically all of my produce is paid for through October. I'll also be able to can any leftovers (I'm expecting a lot of tomatoes) and freeze (just learned how to freeze herbs) so I'll be able to enjoy healthy, delicious produce throughout the winter as well. I'm so excited I can't even stand it. I pick up my first share tomorrow so I'll post again soon, hopefully with a picture of all of the yummies that I get. I'm expecting all of the things I saw when I was at the farmer's market today like: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, all kinds of summer squash, onions, cherry tomatoes, heirloom and other varieties of tomatoes, eggplant. I'm also expecting bell peppers, potatoes, beans, peas, corn, and some greens like chard, collards, and herbs. I'm hoping there will be some really great herbs. Fresh basil is the best thing in the world, and fresh rosemary, parsley, cilantro and oregano would be stellar.

Also, I dropped off an application for Mellow Mushroom today. The manager was out at the moment, but I was assured they are hiring and I am going to go by tomorrow to talk to someone. That would be a stellar job. I need to get my ABC card so I can start serving. The next class is on July 24th so that's not too far away.

I have a wonderful trip to Chicago coming up that I can't wait for. I've been looking up some vegan-friendly restaurants that would be really cool to hit up while I'm there. My friend that I'm going with is a new vegetarian and I'm really happy that there won't be much pressure to go to some very un-vegan restaurants. I know that she really wants to have some Chicago-style pizza, and that's cool. Pizza is pretty easy to make vegan.

Anyway, today is the last day of my fast. Good thing too because the guy who I talked to about my 2 week trial at the Rush is going to give me a free training session in the morning. So, I'll be able to eat some breakfast tomorrow before my workout at 8am. Also, I'm gonna try to get a free juice out of the deal from the juice bar there at the Rush. My detox is tomorrow even so I'm not supposed to have any fat before my detox so it will be some delicious oatmeal in the morning and some fruit or a smoothie to follow-up my workout. Then I'm hitting the pool with some good friends before I go to check on my app and the job at Mellow Mushroom before going to pick up my CSA box.

This week is looking a lot better than last week. I hope it continues this way.
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