New Beginnings!

So as many of you may know by now... Alex and I have moved to DC!

It has been a crazy and long process, but it has finally happened and we couldn't be happier. 

To start off many people ask us where we were before DC. When we reply with Nebraska, we typically get a very puzzling look. Like a "are you crazy?" sort of thing. 

The truth is yes, we are a bit crazy, but we enjoyed our time in Nebraska and the wonderful people we got to meet. So in respect to Nebraska here are some take aways about this Midwestern state we came to love:

1. I have met some amazing people in Nebraska. People say Midwesterners are nicer. Not sure it that is true, but I can say they are very caring and I have made life long friendships with people in and out of the blindness community that I will treasure for the rest of my life. 

2. Nebraska has some amazing steak. Here is a little secret, I do not like steak. I am sure if I did I would be missing the great steak coming out of Nebraska. Alex is very sad by this predicament. 

2. Blind people in Nebraska are very fortunate to have such a great rehabilitation program. Your average blind Nebraskan is very competent thanks to the Nebraska Commission for the Blind. I had the privilege of working for the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and can honestly say that they are light years ahead in having a positive philosophy on blindness, providing their clients with accurate information and just caring. Many states dream of having such a place. 

3. The City of Lincoln is very progressive. I had the honor of getting involved in different activities and organizations run through the city and they have their stuff together. They see the value of having minorities participate in city affairs and building an inclusive community for all! Not sure that I can say that for the rest of Nebraska, but Lincoln is on top of it. 

4. Alex and I were part of the most bad ass Toastmasters out there! We had our get togethers every Friday at 6:30 am! But is was so worth it. We got to meet awesome people from all walks of life and I truly became a better and more confidant speaker because of it, you rock Southeast Toastmasters!

5. If you are looking to party you can get crazy inexpensive alcohol at bars, clubs and local breweries  To give you an idea, we had a night of 5 drinks for about $14 with tip included. There are many local breweries to enjoy and beer and wine galore! Some of our favorite places were:

Lazlos: They brew their own alcohol and are located in the old town Haymarket. Cute place and great local beer!

Marz Bar: Cute, Chick bar for the young professional crowd with some yummy appetizers. The decor is also so posh!

LeadBelly: They have a great selection of beer and drinks and I must admit they make a bomb ass tostada. Which is a hard shell flat tortilla with tons of yummy food on top.

Sher-E Punjab: The best Indian restaurant in Lincoln. Very home style, nothing fancy. But aren't those the best places?

The best Mexican restaurant in town was  El Chaparro: You know it is good because they do not have a web page lol. DC has no Mexican food so we miss this terribly. You could tell is was authentic because mostly only Mexicans eat there. Alex spent his last week there. 

Pan Dulce Bakery: This was the most amazing place ever! They make fresh Mexican bread everyday at a super low price!

Now that I am getting hungry, I want to finish by saying that Nebraska truly gave us so much that we treasure. Yes it was small and a bit conservative for us, but all in all we had a great time and value everything we got to experience. Good-Bye for now Husker State!

  

Off the Grid!

So I did it! The unspeakable... I quit Facebook!

 

What started out as a “I am sick of the privacy issues” idea turned out to be quite interesting. It turns out, yeah I do like to post meaningful, educative, let’s-get-rid of-bigotry posts and my friends appreciate it! But the fact is I do not care that you woke up and had a cup of coffee. If you really were so miserable in the morning how did you manage to write a status update?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not (or actually did not start out) trying to make a political statement. I just got tired of all the nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, there are also great things about Facebook such as keeping in touch with people I have not seen in years. But is it really keeping up? Or is it just stalking to see what they post on Facebook? I don’t actually talk to all of these people and much less send them a card on their birthday or the holidays. I figured if I really want to stay in contact I and they will find a way. I am trying to stay in contact more with people and so thus getting rid of Facebook seemed to make sense.

On the plus side, I will be able to keep up with my blog instead of just posting what others have to say.

But Facebook is not all I am changing; I am changing the way I live. For those people who know me, they know I try to live a conscious life. Equality and social justice for all people are  huge priorities of mine. I can't help but live a life thinking how my actions affect those around me. Not just your typical "be nice to others around you", but how does every one of your actions affect the world? This includes your purchasing habits. How do your consumer urges and purchases impoverish and make life unbearable for others? How do your actions affect the destruction of the environment? Did you know that every single water bottle that you throw away has enough plastic to contaminate every single ocean in the world? So trying to stay true to myself I have decided I will not be a consumer as much as possible. This includes not buying anything from a department store, such as clothes and the like. How will I survive you may ask? Pretty simple actually. There are many second hand stores and thrift shops that have really cute trendy and lightly worn stuff. I also trade my clothes all the time with frineds and sisters. And it may come as a surprise but I hate to go shopping! I would rather go in and get out! This may seem like something really hard for some people, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I have been doing this pretty much my whole life. Growing up we did not have a lot. And very seldom did we buy new clothes and the like. I spoke to my mom and my sister about what I am doing and they were like "oh ok." So all I am doing now is taking charge of my consumer habits and trying to make this a better world. I have more that I am doing, but that will wait for another post!