Mothers and a Blogiversary

First of all, happy Mother’s Day to all mothers! Especially to my mom (pictured above with me) for all of her sacrifices and strength, which I’m beginning to understand. Whether you have human children or furry ones you are all appreciated. As being a mother of both furry and not I now can assure you the unconditional love is the same. The word mother is more a verb than it is a noun. Just because you did not give birth to the one you care for does not make you any less a mother. I’m also reminded on this day of all the animals we have spared from being separated from their mothers just by being vegan. Take a moment to think about how awesome that is!

While my first Mother’s Day didn’t go as planned I hope everyone else enjoyed a lovely day with their families. Papa tummy and I wanted to take little tummy to the Wild Animal Sanctuary to give her her first animal experience. We couldn’t go for a few reasons; one of them being the non-stop snow. It felt like we were in the middle of winter today. Yesterday was beautiful, I even did yard work for the first time of the year because it was so nice. Oh well. Instead, we stayed inside all day and I cleaned the house. Exactly what every mother should do on this day of all days to celebrate moms, right?

Anyway, we love this sanctuary. Too much time has passed since our last visit though. We’ve been wanting to check out their new expansion they just completed and some of the new rescues. I know two of the bears they recently acquired were pregnant and they just gave birth so now they have cute cuddly cubs running around! All very exciting. I can’t wait to share this place with little tummy. I know she will love it.

Before all the excitement of dusting and vacuuming papa tummy made me a most delicious breakfast. He decided to surprise me with Gluten-Free Vegan Buckwheat Waffles from Gluten-Free-Vegan-Girl. Well, they were supposed to be waffles. They actually ended up as pancakes. Our waffle iron is really finicky. If you don’t make the first waffle right it ruins it for the rest of them. As pancakes they were heavy yes, but somehow fluffy. He topped it with fresh blueberries and Coconut Whipped Cream from Oh She Glows. This was the first time I’ve had coconut whipped cream and OH EM GEE it was delicious! I could have eaten that for breakfast all by itself. It’s also super easy. I’m definitely going to experiment with that.

The other reason to celebrate today… it’s my 1 year blogiversary! My first post feels so long ago, but is actually perfect for today. Having this blog has helped me find my voice and define who I am. I believe I have greatly grown as a person and a writer within the past year. All of you have been on that journey with me. I hope you continue with me on this path as more changes are made and lessons learned. I want to thank everyone for choosing me to be on your reader list. It means the world to me to be a part of this virtual family. I have had the pleasure of getting to know some amazing and inspiring people and I hope to meet many more.

I’d like to give a shout out to a few of my favorites on WordPress, both new finds and old: Sweet Bella Vita, Superfoodista, Lisa’s Project: Vegan, Elle’s Vegan Food Diary, Meaty Vegan, foodbod, and Honk If You’re Vegan. If you aren’t reading them already maybe you should start!