Today is a very special day. Today is HUG A VEGAN DAY!!! I try to keep my blog for my photography business only, but I just wanted to share a little bit about myself. You may or may not already know  (or have figured out by now) that I am vegan. I have been vegan for 16 years and along with my husband, we are raising our children vegan as well. The thing that turned me vegan was my love for animals along with exposure to a gruesome animal rights video. If you ever care to see a fraction of what I saw (and will never need to see again EVER) you can visit http://www.meat.org/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MJeGLV8Kw. Immediately after becoming vegan, my health improved. I have Chron’s disease, but I have not had to take medication for my disease for 8 years! And prior to that, I rarely had to take any while on a vegan diet. I found my own treatment for my disease. No more steroids! YAY! The reason why I am sharing all of this is not because I am trying to convert you to my lifestyle, but to share some images from our recent visit to Farm Sanctuary. I care about animals as much as I care about photography. I am not an activist, but if I care about something as much as my photography, I think that it’s about time for me to share this part of my life with you. If you ever want to visit the farm, the tour is really affordable and you can learn A LOT. Just don’t go on a sweltering hot day like we did. 😉 Hope you enjoy seeing these peaceful images today.

This was the barn cat that didn’t bite my kids. 😉 Don’t pet the grey one.

This was a funny turkey. He was lucky enough to have been rescued before they chopped the tip of his beak off.

I’ll admit it. Turkeys are pretty ugly, but they really have personalities and they are big, funny, and sweet personalities.

This turkey was not so lucky in the beak department. But was a sweetheart nonetheless.

The kids loved feeding them grass. 

Amelie is the one kid I am certain will remain vegan. She really connects with animals.

I was actually most excited to see the pigs. After all, Babe is one of my favorite movies. But, to be honest, sleeping pigs are quite boring. I had no idea they grew so big and I had no idea that their fur (or hair?) was so coarse. Fact: Did you know that pigs are very intelligent? Research shows that they are smarter than a 3 year old child. They are also very clean animals, social, and can run a 7 minute mile! They seem to love belly rubs too…and sleeping…I guess they sleep a lot….so boring….can you tell I had higher expectations for the pigs?

Blake looks confused. I guess it is confusing to be called a pig in life, but called bacon and pork in death. We don’t candy coat things for them. When we eat vegan chicken, we say “soy chicken” If someone is eating a burger, we say “dead cow.” I must also mention that we are raising our kids to make their own choices. They all have eaten non vegan foods before. Cupcakes at birthday parties and even the dreadful marshmallows have ended up in their bellies. Thankfully, Whole Foods sells vegan Marshmallows and so I don’t fear them going off the deep end of rebellion anytime soon. 😉

Who doesn’t love horses? This horse was a tripping horse. He was so friendly and came right up to us. He was able to see through those eye guards and was only wearing them to protect his sensitive eyes from flies.

I had NO CLUE cows got so big! These gentle giants were by far my favorite! Such sweetness! Apparently the meat industry slaughters cows by 2 years of age before they are fully grown. These cows were about 4 years old. One of the things that I learned about cows was that they don’t have the best of manners. If they decide to walk, you better get out of the way. Luckily they are slow movers.

This Goat was rad. I can’t remember his name, but he just looks like a cool dude. I totally want to hang out with him.

His name is Prince. Eloise helped him reach a tasty snack.

The sheep were a bit skittish. Very similar to my impression of sheep via the movie Babe. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this tour of what most people imagine farm animals lives really being like. I only wish life was this kind to all of them. If you are interested in learning more about living a vegan lifestyle, there are loads of resources out there. I found this lecture to be up to date and inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4 Thanks for reading! xoxo!!!