" A few insights " feline01's Profile

Exciting news for our family. I found out that I was pregnant 2 weeks ago and last week, found out I'm having twins again. I'm nervous, excited, scared and happy. The kids are excited about their new baby brother/sister, sister/sister or brother/brother. They turned 5 years old last week so they might be able to help out a bit. My husband is dealing with the news very well consider he is a stay-at-home dad and we homeschool. I guess I'll have to update this page more.

I've always lived within less than one hour driving distance of New York City (except when living in England and Ireland). The nearest I've lived is 15 minutes away and the farthest is where we are moving to this month, it's about 37 miles to NYC, a 45 minute drive if we're lucky to avoid traffic.Growing up in the shadow of New York City has been fantastic. My husband is a native New Yorker and we visit NYC most every weekend. We usually travel overseas once a year and within the USA and/or Canada a few times a year.

My travels were much more extensive pre-marriage and I can honestly say that I miss those times. Not that I don't love my husband, it's just that growing up can alter things. No more backpacking + sleeping rough. Now, it's hotels or renting a place for a short time. A rather unexpected outcome occurred post-marriage-my travel-hating husband has turned into a travel-loving one. Now he is asking me where and when are next trip is going to be.

So altogether, post-marriage travel is not necessarily worse than pre-marriage but it does effect the amount of travel done due to increased expenses. I would still choose the husband over the extra trips (most of the time). And I still get away for those occasional single journeys.

I appreciate VT so much because it has given me the opportunity to travel in my mind when I can't drag my carcass away. I've met some really nice people on VT, some really helpful people and some seemed-to-be-nice but were really phony/cruel people. So VT duplicates real life since that phenomenon certainly occurs in one's day to day life.

Most of the time that I spend on VT is (shhh) spent at work. It really helps make the day more pleasant. I went from having jobs to a career (social worker) and it was definitely easier traveling when it was just a job. It's not as easy walking away from a caseload of 150+ individuals who are homeless/drug-addicted etc.. welfare recipients.

Keep checking back for more updates & photos from my rather extensive but completely unorganized collection. For years, I've been finding travel photos in almost any hidden box or bag in our apartment. Rather funny considering it's only a small 1 bedroom apartment. I don't know how the photos moved around so much. My pages are constantly being revamped whenever I find and identify new material. Thanks for your patience.

My best VT pages are New York City and United Kingdom though you might have guessed that by now but I have been working diligently on my NJ pages to provide some much needed PR for this rather maligned state. I advise anyone who has an interest in visiting NJ to do so quickly as the entire state is rapidly turning into a giant condominium development/shopping mall/McMansion development. All of its natural beauty and charm (yes, it really does have some) is disappearing at an alarming rate.

2012 Update: Those adorable babies in the above photo will be turning 8 years old on the 21st of April 2012! My youngest twins are now 2 years old. We are working on planning our first major family road trip this summer to celebrate my 45th birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary. We are hoping to drive to Canada and spend a week in Val David, in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal.

Laughing Kitty

Yes, life can be dull at times but it only makes the interesting and funny times so much better. I have always found travelling a great way to escape the mundane activities of everyday life. Even trying to catch a bus in a foreign place is more interesting than catching a bus in New Jersey (at least the buses in foreign countries actually show up and stop at the bus stop!)

LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG!

You can find more photos of my cat on my Roselle, New Jersey page (old hometown).There is more to her than what you see!

The most amazing news of my life*

Now on a fantastic note, I found out today, September 30, 2003 that me and my husband are expecting twins approximately May 19, 2004. So long-distance travels are off for quite some time, maybe just some short weekend breaks. Gotta start putting some money away!!!

Check out the Babies are Coming album for upcoming ultrasound photos. And see VT member "Caddy" homepage to gaze at her latest creation, due around the same time as these two.

The babies arrived on April 21st, a month early due to complications from a rare syndrome called H.E.L.L. P. The babies were never in any danger though I was pretty close to dying. Obviously, we all pulled through and are healthy. For information about this syndrome as well as more baby photos and the story of their birth written by my husband, check out our website.

Sweet Sarah, 6 months

Who could resist this face?

Beautiful Ben, 11 months

And we were blessed with two of these beauties!! For more beautiful baby photos (or babies) plus more kitty ones, visit: Vegantwins

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.
Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel 1952)

Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.
Isaac Bashevis Singer,
Writer, Nobel laureate (1904-1991)

As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.
Pythagoras

About 2,000 pounds of grains must be supplied to livestock in order to produce enough meat and other livestock products to support a person for a year, whereas 400 pounds of grain eaten directly will support a person for a year. Thus, a given quantity of grain eaten directly will feed 5 times as many people as it will if it is eaten indirectly by humans in the form of livestock products....
M.E. Ensminger, PH.D.