Betty Leigh Verbeke

Hey lovies!  <3

Happy Friday!

Sooo, I received some good GLORIOUS news last night!

My cray-cray roommate situation is OVER!  She moved out!  And the apt mgmt is changing the locks!

SWEET!

I can finally have peace in my apartment again!

My home.

My abode.

My sanctuary.

My security.

My haven.

My shelter.

My place of rest.

It’s drama-free again!!

:D

So excited!

Also, I woke up to a beautiful thunderstorm this morning.  <3

Have a wonderful day y’all!

Sending all of you much peace, love, and happiness! XoXo

Hello lovies!  <3

So, for those of you that don’t know, the last few weeks have been a roller-coaster of emotion for me.  And I finally figured out why.  And thank the fucking goddess of the universe because I thought I was going insane.

Things really haven’t been that intense, but I have been feeling over-whelmed with my over-flowing cup of life.

Mostly it’s been stress about work, roommate issues, quote-un-quote relationship unsureness (wow that is some horrible English, haha), and the unknown future of everything.

I am normally very level-headed in my life and can take on each day as it comes.

However, the last few weeks have been full of tears and stress and old habits that I should not be practicing because they are not cool and harmful to my body and mind.

I was thinking yesterday “why the fuck have I been freaking out?!”

I have been writing things down more and looking at them and thinking “these things are not a big deal and mostly out of my control, so why are they bothering me so much?!  What is causing me to think these thoughts and do these things and have emotional mood swings like I am going through menopause or something?!”

I was sure (sorry if this is t.m.i. (but not really sorry because this is my blog and I can post whatever I want to)) it was my period that was making me cray.

I am a girl, duh.  Periods happen.  And they usually come with some waves of estrogen that can cause some various mood swings.

But mine only last for like 4 days and these thoughts/actions have been occurring over the last 3 to 4 weeks.

Then it clicked!

I started taking “Women’s One-A-Day Vitamins” about a month ago… and obvs, it was a bad fucking idea.

Why did I start randomly taking vitamins?  Well, I’m vegan.  I have been for around 19 months.  When I bought the vitamins I was thinking “well since I’m vegan I’ve probably been missing out on some needed nutrition and vitamins are good for you and I should take them so I can have a balance… blah blah” .. WRONG!

Also t.m.i.: I haven’t been on birth control since I was 18 because it gave me cray mood swings and caused depression and I got in my head about too many things that didn’t really matter and I over stressed myself out way too much and did some really stupid things to myself (yikes, horrible ranting English, haha).  Unfortunately, in the last few weeks I had been falling back into those bad habits and thought patterns.

But I figured it out!  It was the vitamins!  They are meant to “balance” women.  Give EVERY woman (even though we are all completely different) the “balance” they need mentally and physically.  Haha.  NOPE.

So, I threw them out!  :D

I don’t need to take some artificial shit to feel my best.

I need sleep, exercise, and good-for-you food.  Like I have been doing.  And everything has been fine until I decided to change things for no apparent reason.

Stupid “Women’s One-A-Day Vitamins.”  So glad you are out of my life so I can get back to normal.

So glad I figured out what had been happening before I ended up in a destructive hole of a life like I did for a few months when I was 18.

So grateful I am 23 and everything is ok and I know that the universe is unfolding perfectly in every single moment and I have nothing to worry about and so much to be grateful for.

So grateful for contrast so I can see things clearly.

So grateful for all the support I have in my life with my family and friends and myself.

I love ya’ll so much!  <3

(Disclaimer:  This is not to say that birth control or vitamins are bad.. they just work for some and not for others.  BUT I definitely recommend doing some research before you take some artificial pills packed full of things you possibly don’t need in your life.)

Sending all of you much peace, love, and happiness!  XoXo

Hey there, world.  (:

Damn, I’ve missed blogging.

For the most part, I’ve been tweeting my face off through my smart phone.. but nothing compares to sitting down at a laptop and typing out your thoughts and feelings in length for the general public to view and judge at their will.  Haha.

To be completely honest, I’ve put off blogging because my laptop is hella slow.  When I say slow, I mean it took about 10 minutes for me to get the internet up and this page loaded.  Quite annoying when you’re a spoiled american used to instant gratification.  #firstworldproblems  <- See, I even hashtag outside of twitter now.. jeeze.

Well, over the last (or first, rather) quarter of 2013, a lot has happened.  There have been many ups and downs on this roller-coaster and I have loved every second of it.  Contrast keeps life fun and interesting.  Even when it sucks, it makes the good so much better.

In chronological order (for the most part) this is what has happened:

I read some books!  Yeah, I know I normally do a little book review with every book, but I would have to back-log quite a bit, so I will just say you should read more and these are some options for you:

“The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake” by Aimee Bender (a light read)

“Secret Daughter” by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (will give you some heart-warming tears)

“Sophie’s World” by Jostein Gaarder (if you like philosophy, read this)

“Water For Elephants” by Sara Gruen (also a light read, but I liked the story better than the “Lemon Cake” book)

“Diary” by Chuck Palahniuk (great read, but “Fight Club” is still my favorite of his)

Ok, now that the quasi book reviews are done, I’ll start this review of life-happenings by backing it up a bit to give you some reference for what has happened over the last few months..

I jacked up my ankle while on an amazing vacation over the 2012 holidays and was out of work for the first three weeks of the year.

While my ankle was healing, I was also getting over a break-up with my ex, Luke.  Things happen for a reason, I guess.  Considering we work for the same organization, it was nice not going through the emotional cray of angry break-up blah blah in front of my co-workers.  Instead, I did it rather gracefully in front of my parents while my ankle was in a cast.  (I stayed with them because it turns out crutches and apartment stairs are enemies, not friends.)

Have I mentioned how grateful I am for my family?  I love my parents so much. <3 <3 <3  Gah, they are so amazing!  It literally brings tears to my eyes when I think about how much they have done for me and how much I love them and wish I could give them everything in return, times 4958729845, to be exact.  :b

Also, while stranded in the Cedar Park suburb, I was able to spend a lot of time with my lovely long-time friend, Marissa.  <3 Her little girl, Aja, is growing up so fast.  I really need to spend more time with them..

So February came and went and I turned 23!  (:  I spent my birthday in Corpus Christi, on a work trip, with a few other really awesome TCE folks.  Hooray for project 181!  We were there for a week and had a blast staying in a legit cabana of a long-time supporter/activist that lives right off the beach.

Also during February, Mark Seyer came back into my life.  <3  Oh the love I have for this man…  I’m so glad he is back in TX and out of war.  <3  I’ve known him since we were 17/18 and I am just smitten with him as a human being.  Can’t wait till he moves to Austin this summer!

The end of February/ beginning of March was very sloppy and filled with too many drunken and dosed nights, but it’s all part of the fun.

Also,  I lost a dear friend, Michael, suddenly.  He was found in his apartment .. and I was called by my sister with the news while I was at work.  This really sucked.  There is no other way to describe it.  It did bring together some friends I haven’t seen much over the last year, which was very nice, but the circumstances were horrible.  Yes, everyone dies eventually, but it is never fun to deal with the loss of a loved one.  Bah, enough on this, it’s too sad.  Rest in peace, Micheal.  Miss and love you tons.  <3

I spent a lot of March hanging out with a new guy in my life named Peter.  He is very sweet and we have done some pretty awesome things together, like SXSW, riding his motorcycle, trying new foods, and riding a tandem bike (after not being on a bicycle for 18 years, this was fucking amazing)!

So, the end of March brings me to the beginning of April, where I spent 2 weeks on a cross-train in White Planes, New York!  It was ridiculously cold there.  Haha, also fun, but very cold.  I am so grateful that my work gives me the opportunity to travel all over the country.  (:

After my cross-train, all of the field managers across the non-profit network I’m in (about 60 of us) met up for a 3 day weekend/conference in Pittsburgh.  It was very cold and rainy there too.  Haha.  This conference came at a great time though.  I was able to see some faces I haven’t seen in a while and it was so good to get rejuvenated by the meaning of what it is to be a field manager and the passion behind why we do the work we do to make a better world for future generations.  We are the movement.  I am the movement.  This is powerful. <3

Then after a great week back in Austin, I was sent on another project 181!  I was the one who ran it this time though, and I thought it went pretty well.  (:  We just got back on Friday .. and yes, ’twas great to be the one in charge.  Haha.  We were in Kerrville, Fredericksburg, and Lampasas.  We camped out at the Kerrville-Schreiner Park, and Enchanted Rock.  Both lovely areas, but both cold and wet.  Haha.  What is up with the weather?

Ah, yes, the lack of nice weather.. perhaps this correlates to my moods lately?  I’ve been vegan for about a year and a half now, but the last month or so I’ve been pretty lack on the strictness of my vegan choices… eating about 75% vegan, 25% vegetarian.  And this has definitely been altering my moods.  I feel “heavier” (closest feeling I can describe it as is depression, but not really, maybe guilt?) when I eat dairy products.  As a result, I have decided that for the next month I am going to go mostly raw!  I’m thinking raw for 5 days of the week.  It will be a nice “cleanse” and still allow for drinking and processed food every now and then.  (;  Oh, and definitely no more dairy.  Fuck that noise.

Also in the stormy weather category is one of my roommates being evicted.  I have been dealing with some cray tension in the apartment and the court room..  The sooner this is over, the better.  Coming back to negative energy in my own apartment is not cool.  How are you supposed to unwind after a long day when your home is filled with drama and lacks love and peace?  Yeah, difficult.  Patience is key in this matter though.. I can’t do anything but wait ’till it all works out.  And it always does.

Oh the universe, how you mysteriously unfold perfectly.  Every time.  <3

Well, that about sums up everything that’s been happening in the last few months.  As I mentioned, lots of ups and downs.  In the future, I promise to blog more..  I am going to be getting a new laptop with my ballin’ tax return that should be hitting my account here soon!  So excited!

Sending each and every one of you much peace, love, and happiness!  <3  XOXO

I’d like to start by saying how very grateful I am for this life and all of the opportunity I have been afforded.  I love all of my friends and family and strangers yet to meet so very much.  We are doing wonderful things together!

Also, I am so glad I have this blog.  It is so fun to see what has happened, aka, what I’ve published, over the last two years.

2012 has been such a great year!  So many things have happened:

I worked briefly at the beginning of the year as an administrative assistant for a paralegal and I am so grateful I had that job.

I took some classes at ACC and kicked ass, duh!

I started working at the best job ever with the most wonderful people in the entire world, TCE! <3  And with them I have traveled all over Texas, New Jersey, and New York, and have met some absolutely fabulous folks along the way!  Now I am in the process of working into my 2nd promotion.  (:

I fell in love with someone.  Though it may not have worked out, I am so glad that I met him and that we shared the moments we had and that we can (hopefully) continue to be in each other’s lives.

I celebrated my one-year anniversary of being vegan!

I celebrated my three-year anniversary of quitting cigarettes!

I am now car-free, which is pretty great, honestly.

And for the end of the year, I went on a marvelous 3 week vacation!  My family and I went to paradise, aka, Anguilla, for the holidays!  (You can see pictures through my twitter @blverbeke or facebook.)

I cannot say “thank you” enough to all of the people in my life, especially my family.  I love you all so very much and I am so excited to see what all we can do together in this new year! <3

I am sure there are things that I forgot to mention in this post, but in general, I love my life, every second of it.  I am so very grateful to be alive!  <3

Miss B. Haven, a well-loved orange Honda Fit, died Sunday November 18th, 2012.

In an unfortunate event, a large 8-point buck decided to end it all, for he had been suffering from chronic depression by being teased all his days for his deformed antlers.  It is believed that he was unaware that his suicide would take another life, the life of a sweet little car.

Miss B. Haven led a good life, being owned, and now surviving in memory, by Betty Leigh Verbeke.  Betty adopted Miss B. Haven in 2006, right out of the womb of the automobile industry.

Over the last six years, the two of them spent many hours on the road together, approximately 81,000 miles worth.  Miss B. Haven was able to see much of Texas and had a few long road trips through the United States, one of which was to Florida and back, just car & owner, a bonding experience never to be forgotten.

If you’re wondering where Miss B. Haven got her name, she was deemed such in the last year of her life for her rather debaucherous and fun life style she led with Betty.  Such occasions will not be elaborated on.

However, not all of Miss B. Haven’s life was a luxurious road to wheel experience, she had been in a few accidents before the final blow of the horn.  She had encountered a stop sign, a concrete wall, a large tree limb falling after a storm, and sadly enough, another small deer a few years before.

In summation of her life, through the rough and the wonderful, she was a well cared for and loved vehicle.  She took on many passengers and kindly assisted friends & family in moving from one location to another.  She will be missed and always remembered.

Cheers to you, Miss B. Haven, may your engine forever roar in Honda Heaven.

<3

Yikes, this year is just flying by with magical colors of awesomeness!  I can’t believe it’s already 10 days into November..  This is what happened in October:

I celebrated my one year veganiversary!

I participated in a Fracking protest in Dallas!  ”Parks are for chillin, not for drillin!”  Why would you want to drill for gas in a beautiful park?  That’s cray!

I went on another Cross Train for Texas Campaign for the Environment!  This time I was in Syracuse, NY with Citizens Campaign for the Environment!  I was there for three weeks of super success getting folks involved to pass plan BV7.  What’s BV7?  Well, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have had artificial water-level regulation for over 5 decades and it has caused severe damage (especially in extreme weather conditions)  to not only the ecology, but also the economy.  The plan is to allow a more natural flow of water throughout the year and to revitalize the shore line, which will allow the environment to flourish and boost the economy through longer fishing, boating, and tourism seasons.  It was an interesting issue to work on and I hope it passes!  Fingers crossed.  (:

Syracuse, where I was staying, is a cute little town with a surprising amount of vegan options at local restaurants.  I was rooming with the canvass director, Lisa, who lives a convenient 3 blocks from the CCE office.  The first week I was in Syracuse, there were two other cross trainers, McCartt from Dallas TCE, and Jess from NJEF!  We all had so much fun together!  On the first full weekend I was there we went to New York City and partied hard at the gay bars!!  That was one probably of the funnest nights I have ever experienced.  The next two weeks were more relaxed with just Lisa and I (and her roommate, Lacey) in the house.  I also have to mention the beautiful fall season, which was sooo nice to experience again.  I loved seeing all the trees with different colored leaves and the crispness in the air.  We definitely don’t have that in Texas.  Haha.

Finally, to wrap up October, Halloween was spent back in Austin.  <3  I was working, but I still dressed up (as an environment fairy)!

I love my life.  And you too!  <3 <3 <3

Wow, last night while at staff night with TCE, I realized that this month marks my one year anniversary of being vegan!  Woot!  We were at this cute bar on Rainy Street called Bangers that had 101 beers on tap!  Go there sometime!

So anyways, it’s pretty fucking awesome that I have been vegan for a year.

A lot of folks want to know why I went vegan..  Well, I don’t support factory farming.  Period.  And we vote with our dollars.

Yes, I know that meat and cheese taste delicious.  I used to eat them.  I used to order my steaks medium-rare.  But frankly, there are plenty of vegan recipes (I never run out of new things to try) and I am never dissatisfied.  Yes, sometimes I crave meat.  When that happens I buy a meat substitute.  Yes, those exist.  Also, since I live in Austin, I am fortunate enough to have plenty of restaurants with vegan options.

Over the course of the last year, I can’t say that I have been 100% vegan, but I have been pretty close.  I say I haven’t been 100% because there have been times when I went to a non-vegan restaurant and ordered something altered, with no cheese, for ex, and it came to the table with cheese.  Well, the portion of cheese is already used, so I will not make the restaurant waste food and re-make my plate without cheese..  that makes no sense.  That’s just wasteful.  So, in those moments I have been non-vegan.  Also, there have been times at restaurants where I didn’t ask if the bread had eggs/milk in it, etc, but when I shop for myself I make sure that everything I buy is vegan.

It has been such a fun year trying new vegan recipes and new vegan restaurants.  There are plenty of vegan meals I have posted under “Food I’ve Made” .. feel free to check those out.  (:

Being vegan has been so rewarding.  I feel better inside and out and I feel good about buying what I believe in.

Plus, it helps that a few of my friends and my wonderful boyfriend are vegan too.  <3

Wow, the last update I did was about the El Paso Epic journey I went on with Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE).. which ended August 19th.  I know, that was over a month ago, but I have been so busy living life I haven’t had the time to blog about it!  So, this is a little recap of what has happened since my last post:

Luke spent a week with me in Austin from August 19th – 26th!  He did stand up comedy at the Velveeta Room and was a huge hit!  They told him he could come back any time!  (:  Oh how I love my handsome and hilarious and talented and wonderful and sweet and too-many-other-adjectives boyfriend.  <3  Feel free to vomit now.

I dropped the online accounting course I was supposed to take this semester because I took a summer course online and decided this fall semester is now my summer break from class.  (:  What a relief.

Luke turned 26 on September 4th!  I stayed in Dallas with him for his birthday and it was a very fun and inappropriate four day weekend.  Haha.  I did get to meet a lot of his family (mom, grandparents, uncle, nieces & nephews, etc) which was pretty cool.  I was also afforded the tour of his life in pictures.  Priceless.  For is birthday, I bought him some nice cologne that we had picked out together a few weeks before.. he was previously wearing some shitty chocolate scented axe spray that made him smell like a 13 year old weirdo.

I had a much needed dinner with my old roommate/friend Molly.  It had been months since we had seen each other so it was really nice to catch up.  (:

I finally got my hair cut!  Gah, January was the last trim I had, so it was so nice to get rid of all those split ends!

I went to the Austin Poetry Slam, one of my favorite things in the world to do on a Tuesday night!  My friend Dan went with me.  It was so good to see him and to go to the Slam because it had been about six weeks since the last time we had gone.  Oh live poetry, you will always have a special place in my heart.  <3

September 15th was TCE’s 21st birthday party and the event we held was a great success!  There was free booze and food and a fashion show with outfits made from recycled materials and a silent auction and not to mention a kick ass dance party that lasted till 2ish in the morning.  There were supporters who came from all over Texas as well as some news stations and the press and all three TCE offices (Houston, Dallas, and Austin).  Yeah, you should have been there.

The next weekend (September 20th – 23rd) was a freaking ridiculously rad weekend.  TCE Austin, Houston, and Dallas canvassed in Dallas on Thursday then drove through the night and arrived in Paducah, Kentucky on Friday afternoon.  Once there, in our executive cabin suites, we popped the tops to too many beverages and partied through the night with offices from all over the entire HBC network.  (TCE is part of a nation-wide network of various nonprofits – HBC.)  It was so awesome to meet new people within the network and to see folks from when I went on my cross-train in New Jersey back in July!  <3  The next day we all went to different “workshops” with speakers talking about various topics such as GMO’s, plastic bags, whistle blowers on our corrupt government, phone canvassing, etc.  All types of goodness.  After the workshops we had a rocking talent show and floated a few kegs.. then we went back to our cabins and partied all through the night, yet again.  After sleeping less than 5 but more than 2 hours, we got up and drove our hung-over asses back to Texas.  It was one of the shortest and most fulfilling road trips I have ever been on!

Over the last month, I have also had a few dinners with my family, which happens about every other week.  I am so grateful for them.  They are so supportive and full of love and laughter.  <3

I also chilled with various close friends who I feel like I never get to see.  (:

I am sure there are some other significant things I am leaving out that happened over the last month, but I can only remember so much..

Either way, September was a magnificent month and I’m sure October will be nothing short of that either.  You know why?  Well, of course you don’t, but I’ll tell you:  I am going on another three week cross-train in Syracuse, NY!!!  (:

I love my life.  And you too.  <3

I love “workations” (work-vacations)!  Working with Texas Campaign for the Environment is so fulfilling and fun!  For two weeks (8.4.12 – 8.18.12) we traveled through West Texas gaining support for better electronics recycling so we can keep lead & mercury out of our ground/water!  We only have one world, so we work to keep it beautiful and healthy.  (:  This is a summary of our epic 2 week journey:

Saturday we left at 3 in the morning to travel to Big Bend National Park where we camped for two days!  The park was vast and beautiful.  We slept in the Chisos Basin and on Sunday we hiked through the Santa Elena Canyon (which bordered Mexico) as well as the not-so-hot hot springs.  Here are tons of pictures which come no where close to express what we experienced there:

Monday we were in Ft. Stockton/Alpine getting folks involved, then we drove to Balmorhea State Park to camp out for the night.  Some of our group went swimming in the morning in the natural springs while the rest of us drank coffee and read.  Most of the down-time in our trip seemed like a book club, but with alcohol.  :b

Tuesday we drove to El Paso and canvassed there for three days.  I met the weather man from one of the local news stations and Renee was able to gain exposure for TCE!  These are from our days in El Paso:

Friday night we drove to Guadalupe National Park and camped out for three nights with the most ridiculous amount of flies there should ever be at a national park.  For real, it was like they thought we were throwing them a fly party.. but we didn’t manage to catch any of them on camera:

Monday we went to Carlsbad Caverns (which was awe-mazing) and camped out in Brantley Lake State Park for the night (which had a not-so-lake lake).

Tuesday we drove to Lubbock to get folks involved & camped out at the Super 8 till Thursday.  :b  While in Lubbock, we visited the Buddy Holly Center as well as Prairie Dog Town.

Friday we canvassed in Brownwood and stayed in Abilene State Park for the night where we woke up to gun shots & rain in the morning.  That was a treat.

Saturday we organized in Abilene, then drove to Dallas to party with the TCE office there!

In summary, the trip was nothing short of Epic!  Five parks, one cavern, six towns, and more salsa than you can imagine.  (Question of New Mexico:  Red or Green?  Answer:  Yes.)  Haha.  I love my life.  <3

I am so grateful to be in a relationship with this wonderful person, Luke Sampeck.  <3