Meat and Venetian Night.

Yesterday marked the end of an era.

Ok, that's being a little dramatic. It was a big day for me, though, as it ended my 15 month stint as a vegetarian. I really enjoyed being meat-free for that time, but my body finally told me to stop. After these last few months of health issues, a friend clued us in to blood type diets and when we looked up the foods recommended for my blood type, we immediately saw, "Vegetarianism for Type O individuals is detrimental." Great. As it turns out, people with different blood types have different stomach enzymes which process food differently. For Type O, meat is processed very well and is integral to maintain health. All that to say, I don't think this is the entire problem - but if it helps at all, I'm willing to give it a try.

So last night, Shawn and I decided to make an event of it. I dressed in black (it was, afterall, a funeral for Vegetarian Whitney) but we celebrated my newly expanded diet! He let me choose wherever I felt comfortable eating meat for the first time in a while, and I chose P.F. Changs.

Just before leaving for our meat date (self-timer pic)

First on the menu: chicken lettuce wraps. I know the chicken is mashed up and disguised in all of the chopped up veggies, but hey, it was a start! To give myself credit, I did eat lots of orange peel chicken (delicious!) and a bite of Shawn's lamb.

I'm praising God that the transition was as easy as that. Again, I know this seems dramatic, but after not touching meat for over a year I had to be psychologically ready to attempt it again. I prayed that it would be an enjoyable experience, and it really was!

After that, I met up with my sweet friend Kirra for Venetian Night on the lake. Neither of us had ever been, but had heard about it and wanted to see what all the hype was about. It's basically a parade of boats with lights on them and it seemed charming.

We followed the masses - literally thousands upon thousands of people all headed for the same small spot along the lake.

It became less charming as time went on.

Kirra, following the crowds. Look at all the people and traffic!

What are we really doing here? :)

The tiny space where thousands of people stood to see a few boats parade by.

Once we finally weasled our way into the crowd and tried standing on our toes to see the boats, we got smashed between people on all sides and quickly decided this just wasn't worth it. We did see one boat:

They were doing the Thriller dance, dressed like Michael Jackson and his dancers. :) Overall, I'm glad we attempted it - and we did see some beautiful fireworks on our way back. It ended up being a fun city walk with a precious friend and good fellowship. So thankful for that!

Update: I wrote this post last night but didn't post it. This morning I woke up at 3:45am with severe symptoms of what I've been dealing with for the past 3 months or so. I'll be seeing another doctor as soon as possible, hopefully for some more specific tests. This just isn't getting better - even as hard as I try with diet and exercise - so it's time for another opinion. We would so appreciate your prayers for wisdom, peace, and healing.