It was in April of this past year that Zak and I realized we weren't living the best that we could. We were supporting big chain grocery stores, we ate out quite often at big chain restaurants, we used cleaners on our clothes and in our house that were filled with harmful chemicals, I used makeup and bath products that had undergone animal testing, we relied on medicine to fix every ache and/or pain, and many, many other things. We weren't happy and we didn't feel good so we made a plan as a family to change all that and more, step by step. We wanted to feel good about where our money was going and what we were putting into our bodies. We wanted to use the land and support local farmers for our food sources. We wanted a natural lifestyle. 

When I think of a natural lifestyle I think about older generations. They lived in a time when there wasn't a grocery store on every corner and things didn't come pre-made and handed to you. They made their own soaps and sewed their own clothes. They used what they had and they made the best of it. Their kids didn't use disposable diapers or know what a game system was. They ate dinner as a family together every night in their own kitchen with food that came from the backyard. They were healthy, they were productive, they were living naturally!! They used what God blessed them with; their creative minds and this beautiful earth. That's what Zak and I are striving to do, just to go back to our roots and live a natural life. 

We started with a small baby step; switching out our cleaning supplies and bath products to more natural, local, homemade products. I missed my Lysol and my lovely palettes of Victoria's Secret eye shadow, but after a good few weeks I got used to it and here's the best part...I felt cleaner!! Yes, cleaner! I would clean the house and not have any residue on my hands and I wasn't taken back by that heavy chemical smell. I would put on my makeup (too expensive for my taste, but very worth it for the natural chemical free products! This also explains part of the reason why I don't wear much makeup anymore) and my face felt good, it didn't feel caked on, and it's super easy to remove! For the first time in my life I was conscious of what I was allowing into my body.

Our next step was food. This was a big one for us because we lived off frozen taquitos and eating out. We made some healthy choices, but not nearly as much as we needed to. We discovered a meat market right up the road from our house that has been such a blessing to us. They are a family of local farmers who bring fresh eggs in daily, make their own cheese and butter, and supply some of their own meat, most of the meat comes from other small farms in North Carolina, but they do all their butchering right there and offer great prices for their great products! Some things are more expensive than what you find at Food Lion, but knowing we are giving to a hard working family for natural food over a CEO for big farm steroid and hormone fed food is more than worth it in our eyes! We also planted a garden this past spring/summer, but all we got out of it was a single zucchini (that made a few small loaves of delicious zucchini bread) and not even enough beans to feed Izzy a meal. Everything was growing great, we took a 3 day beach vacation, and came back to a white mold that had covered every plant. It was an emotional day to say the least, I thought gardening was in my blood and this summer proved me wrong. In the next month while Zak is rebuilding the raised beds I will be certain to talk to Memaw and make a set plan on how to make my garden productive this year! So since our garden did not produce what we planned, we have been buying our produce at the Farmers Market. Canning was another step in our food plan. Memaw taught me how to can this summer and I enjoyed that so much! The beans and tomatoes are starting to run out, but I can tell you I have more apple butter and jelly than I know what to do with. I hope Zak gets to eating as much jelly as I do, because that's all we're gonna be eating if this apocalypse thing ever happens. We have made a huge change in our kitchen! Vegetables have become the center of our diets, we make tons of green smoothies, use more coconut oil (thanks Leigh!) and extra virgin olive oil, bake bake bake, and our snacks have gone from chips and taquitos to broccoli and salsas. Clean eating has been a long road, but we are loving it now and will never go back to how we used to eat.

Other steps we have taken to start living naturally are just small changes around the house and community. I make bread and granola instead of buying them. It's way healthier, much cheaper, and it tastes better! My next venture, milling our own flour...wish me luck! Zak hunts now and we have enjoyed and are still enjoying deer, dove, and squirrel. No hormones, no steroids, grass fed, and it's only the cost of the bullet! We reuse things we have in the house instead of buying them and we make things last longer than we used to. We recycle everything! I always thought people who recycle are from a different tree, but once I got into it I fell in love, and now I'm part of that other tree. How awesome is this...we only have to take our trash to the road every other week, and even then it's not filled all the way! Do you know how good that feels?? And our recycling bin is filled every week, but they only collect it every two weeks so we have a stash of recycling we keep in the garage until we get space in the bin. Super cool, I know :) We have been more conscious of how we use electricity by taking advantage of the city's peak hours. After 9 pm and on the weekends our electricity is practically free, so all my washing is done when normal people are going to sleep. A funny side note about electricity...two summers ago Zak and I both moved into new apartments and we spent a day with Granny doing some shopping and hanging out. We were talking about bills and Granny enlightened us on how much she paid for electricity each month. Let me tell you now, that price scared the mess out of us! So thinking that we would each have to pay that much, we decided to cut back. Zak took showers at the gym and used only candle light. I used one lamp and used a fan instead of my air conditioning. When we got our bills at the end of the month we were very surprised at the prices! Zak's was under $10, no lie! And mine was very low, $20 or $30 maybe. We still get a kick out of that! And yes, we use lights and we take showers at home now, we are just very thoughtful of how much we use. 

Our next step towards living naturally will wait until Zaylen is here. This is a very sensitive subject and can be lengthy so it will wait for its own post some day. I'm sure I've missed something, but hopefully you understand the concept, we are just striving for a natural, clean, old-timey, healthy way of living. We feel we are doing what is best for our family, and we are seeing great benefits and rewards from it :) If you have any questions about why we do certain things or any questions about how to start your family on a natural path please feel free to ask!