My commitment to change.

Short Term Goals (1 year or less):

1. Composting
2. Tower Garden/Hydroponic/Aeroponic/Raised bed Gardening
3. Learn more about healing herbs.
4. Encourage my children’s interest in music by acquiring a piano and re-learning to play myself.
5. Homeschool my children and keep them involved in these goals.
6. Create a list of my go-to healthy recipes to rotate through for meal plans.
7. Remove environmental toxins from our day to day life.

Long Term (1 year or more):

1. Grow all of our own produce.
2. Own property with the potential for a small hobby farm with goats, chickens and cows.
3. Live as close to “off the grid” as possible using solar power, geothermal and other methods.
4. Create a stockpile of essential items for emergencies.
5. Homeschool my children through high school.

I wouldn’t quite say that what I am embarking on is a New Year Resolution driven adventure.  My journey down the road to natural living really started 6 months after our twins were born.  That is when we decided to eat healthier.  To do that we had to learn what that actually meant!  We started by cutting out processed foods.  No more Dorito binges on the weekends and we said goodbye to things like Hamburger Helper.  Just by doing that I started losing 2 lbs a week!  I had gained 50 lbs while I was pregnant and lost some of it after delivery but cutting out processed foods REALLY kick started things!  I actually lost so much weight that I went to the doctor.  He told me I would stop losing soon and then possibly gain a little back and plateau.  That is exactly what happened.

Many books, support forums, and a several life style changes later, we are all living a much healthier life.  Once you start down this road your eyes are opened to all of the toxins that we ingest on a daily basis.

Our food, medications, drinking water….the list goes on.  Making a commitment to minimizing this exposure started me down a road to self-sufficiency.  We were sitting on our small plot of land just outside of Charlotte, NC longing for fresh vegetables, grass-fed beef, and real dark yellow yolk eggs.  Our easy option was to buy them at the local farmers markets and pricey health food stores.  The grocery bill quickly grew.

I wouldn’t call myself a farmer but I’m a pretty smart person and can figure things out.  I refer to myself as the Brown Thumb Gardener.  Here is photographic proof of why (these are the herbs I bought over Thanksgiving for the stuffing).:

I have a lot to learn but I’m committed to figuring this out.  I want to be more self-sufficient and grow my own produce.  We decided to sell our home on our meager piece of land to upgrade to a home with more breathing room on several acres that would at a minimum provide us with the opportunity for us to accomplish some of the above goals.  As I am writing this we are still searching for our oasis.  In the meantime, I am getting started on the research and planning portion of our new endeavor.  After running my own business and running a household with two kids, I know that to be successful you need to plan and prepare.  Then when all of those plans fall apart you’ll at least have an idea of what you intended to do and you can move forward from there.  🙂

This blog is going to help me through this process.  I intend to update it weekly with progress updates toward my goal.  As I move through this process I will update you with any resources I come across that may help you as well!  Please feel free to comment and share!