Hapkido, learning poker, and Aaron is awesome

Greetings! I'm doing a bit better since my last post, so this will be a happier one.

Some of my older postings involved telling you about my new love for Hapkido, which is a Korean Martial (haha, almost wrote martian!) based largely on self-defense. I just took a beginning class, not expecting to like it, and loved it! This past weekend, those testing for their black belts from the hapkido club did so on Sunday. If you've never seen a black belt test, I highly recommend attending one because it is so powerful! These guys look like frickin ninjas and make it look easy! Another cool thing for me was knowing 5 out of the 8 people who tested. Congratulations guys (and girls)! Kudos to you for all of your hard work!

In a completely unrelated topic, I learned how to play poker this week! Albeit, I am not a huge card player, but it was for a good cause : ) The animal welfare club on IU's campus was hosting the tournament in order to raise money for a non-profit in Bloomington that rehabilitates wild animals who have been injured. I also learned to deal, just in case we had enough people. I was really scared to deal, but I wish that we had recruited so many people that we didn't even have enough dealers. Anyway, last night was the poker tournament, and I won fourth place! I would say this happened in part (ok, maybe largely) because Aaron was my "consultant," but it still felt good! And the best part of all, the organization was helped, if even by just a little bit. Go Wildcare! http://www.wildcareinc.org/ (check out the site, you'll see some seriously adorable baby deer!)

To conclude, I'd like to include a mini ode to Aaron. As I've become more interested in improving the lives of animals (always been an animal lover, but just recently discovered the severity of animal cruelty and ways that I can help), he's been there every step of the way. I mean, seriously, for the past month since I've made my own transition to vegetarianism, he's eaten tofu and other meat substitutes gladly, and he's willing to try anything that I cook.

Another reason that I am so grateful for his support is because he has participated in any kind of activity or fundraising event for which I asked his help. He was there when I learned poker, and he helped me along the way. He then came to the poker tournament with me.

In addition, he encouraged me to adopt Bella, he's supported me when I've spent time researching products and companies that don't test on animals, he's hung up the animal welfare flyers that I've created to educate others on topics that I'm passionate about, he's told others about what I'm doing with regards to specific projects, he's decided to avoid all leather, and we now go to Burger King, BW3's, and have changed other restaurants that we frequent to access vegetarian options.

In short, he's awesome because he really cares about animals too and because he suppports me in everything that I do. I love him so much, and I am wise enough to realize how lucky I am!

I've got some exciting news!

Geez, I've been pretty inconsistent with my posting. I'll have to change that!

Anyway, on to my good news... If you've been reading this blog, you know how passionately I feel about the welfare of animals, and when I had this idea to involve my parents' neighborhood in Indianapolis in on my helping animals, I got to work.

In order to successfully execute this plan, I needed to get permission from the neighborhood association first, so I emailed the president and was invited to go to the meeting last night. I was really nervous to go because I didn't want them to shoot my idea down after I had just driven 45 minutes from Bloomington for the sole purpose of meeting with them.

My idea was not only accepted--they loved it! And I left that meeting in a pure state of euphoria. It felt great, and I felt motivated to take on the challenge.

So the idea? Well, there is a "Mutt Strutt" for Indianapolis in which dogs and their owners will pay a registration fee and go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to walk around the track to raise money for the Humane Society. I thought this was a great idea, so I scaled it down to size. I'll be hosting the same event in my neighborhood, and the registration fee will be $5 per person (free for dogs!), and we'll be walking/running a little over a mile for the event. Absolutely all of the money will be going to a local rescue.

Prior to the event, I'll be opening up a contest for the people in the neighborhood to send pictures of their dogs and cats to enter their furry friend into the cutest dog and cat contest. While registration is going on, there will be containers with pictures of the adorable pooches and kitties in which participants can "vote" on their favorites with spare change. While the walkers and runners are out on the course, the money will be counted up and winners of the contests will be announced. The dog and cat that raise the most money will be given a prize.

The neighborhood leaders loved the idea because it was unlike anything they had ever done, it spanned across all ages, and was easy to do.

Oh and by the way, they agreed to pay for the event! Can't get any better than that!

The other piece of great news is that Aaron and I adopted a beautiful new dog! She's chihuahua, and her name is Bella. She's five, well behaved, and up for anything that Aaron and I want to do. She's been so fun to have, especially because this is my first dog. I'll post something longer a bit later with pictures, but I thought I would share the news!

An Update on Thanksgiving Festivities

For the Thanksgiving holiday, I visited my boyfriend's great grandmother's home in Illinois. I was really excited to go, especially since I knew his aunt, her husband, and their children would be there, as well as his grandparents who live in Florida. The day was pretty interesting to say the least. I felt like I was in a holiday movie.
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No more than an hour after we got there, the house was filled with thick smoke because the macaroni and cheese had spilled over in the oven while baking. It was bareable at first, but after a while, most of the family had evacuated the house in search of fresh air.

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The meal itself was pretty tasty, but I must admit that I was a little nervous about the food. Aaron's great grandmother was in her late 80's, and thus, she's been through some lean times during her life and she keeps everything including food for a long time. Aaron says her philosophy is that if the food package has not been opened, it is still good. He can recall getting barbeque sauce a few years ago that had expired in 1999! Fortunately, most of the food had been bought for that occassion less than a week prior.

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Anyway, back to the story. The house had at least 10 people and the count was increasing. Besides the crowd of people, there were two small and very hyper dogs that took over the living room floor wrestling and running laps. Both were adorable, but shortly after we arrived and were all sitting in the living room Aaron says, "uhh, the dog's pooping on the floor." So you could say that it definitely made the conversation interesting.

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Later on during dinner, we got to talking about some of the Christmas gifts that Aaron's grandmother (grandmommy) had given out the previous year. Aaron's mom Lisa told us that most of her cousins got some really nice hand towels and other miscellaneous knick-knacks that grandmommy had likely had for 20 years in her house. In her package, was a scrotal support sac. Last year, the entertainment for the evening involved brainstorming uses for the support sac. I guess people had tears running down their cheeks from the hilarity. Among the better ideas were 1) a change holder for the review mirror 2) a christmas ornament that can hold two ball-shaped christmas ornaments 3) a tree topper.

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A poker game ensued among the men, but I went upstairs and talked with some of the women, and most of them were older and after a while, I grew tired of sitting in the same place, so I played with the children and ran a game of hangman.

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Shortly before we left, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I accidently walked into a bad conversation. Aaron's twin brothers were talking to a guy named Terry with a lot of radical ideas. Earlier, I had met him and introduced myself to him, and despite the fact that he is married with two young daughters, he lifted my hand and kissed it. My skin crawled. After I walked into the kitchen, he asked me a question, I gave my opinion, and he ripped into me for it. Before I knew it, he was up in my face trying to intimidate me and dropping f-bombs every few words saying things things that I would be embarassed to repeat.

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Of course, I felt offended by what he said to me, but the point I want to get across is the following: I never feel need to change a person's opinions. I think the most that I can do is tell my opinion and explain why I think that way and let the person make their own decision. I get frustrated when a person doesn't let up with their arguing and refuses to believe that maybe their ideas are not the only good ones. Most contentious issues have pros and cons to the multiple sides, and there's really not one true answer.

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At the end of the day, I was really glad I went despite of some frustrationsf. Most of Aaron's relatives were wonderful, and I definitely have a few funny stories to take away.

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Enjoy a few pictures!

My Family the night before at Gray's Cafeteria eating dinner and getting our pies

Playing Hangman with the kids

Grandmommy

Aaron's younger brother Ryan, flashing the cash he won from poker

Me And Aaron

So what would you do with a scrotal support sac?