This is the most hated question I have ever been asked. Honestly, I would rather play a game of truth-or-dare with people who know things about me that I never want to talk about or face again. If I had known that becoming a vegan would be so challenging, I would have moved away first to be surrounded by understanding and supportive people. I don't understand why everyone has something to say about my food choices now, but never bothered to say things the first 24 years of my life. Let's just get real for a moment.

It hurts. I've been extremely hurt by people. And for what? Do they really care about the nutrients I'm taking in? If they cared so much now, why didn't they care a few years ago when I ate fried meat 3 times a day, gluten filled breads and pastas, boxed products, and unhealthy fats? Why weren't they so concerned then? I find it hard to believe that people genuinely care about my food choices. I think it's more of a combination of being nosy, thinking they are all knowing and better than me, wanting to put me down to make themselves look better, and maybe feeling a little threatened. But why?

When I ate meat, it was very rare that I ate hamburger meat. It's just one of those things that has grossed me out for years. Do you think anyone said anything nasty to me at cookouts when I only ate the hotdogs? You guessed it, no. So why now? Why do people feel the need to attack me about what I eat?

I'm not talking about real questions and concerns. I understand those and I love answering them! My mom asks me all the time about eating this or that or what she can feed Zaylen or why we choose this over that. Those are questions that are coming from a sincere heart. She really wants to understand and know more. And I'm so happy to talk about everything with her and answer any questions she has. I have friends who ask questions because they really want to learn more. Those are fine, but the attacks aren't. Sending me pictures of meat and telling me to read my Bible are attacks. They hurt. Even though it's tough to get through sometimes and I have to grab a few more vegan cookies to push me through, I get through it. Those people will not ever have any power over my choices or my mind.

I'm going to talk about our food choices and why we choose them. Maybe that will answer some questions and back people off.

Zaylen and I are vegans. To be a vegan means to not consume any animal products. We don't eat meat. And meat means any living flesh. Chicken, fish, cows, shrimp, turkey, pig, deer, anything that has had life. I hate when people call themselves vegetarians while they are digging into a turkey burger. Meat is meat. Zaylen has never eaten any meat product and I haven't eaten any (seafood) in about two months. (I've been a pescetarian since August.) We also don't consume any animal by-products. This includes cheese, milk, yogurt, sour cream, butter, cream cheese, ect. The only exception to this is when we eat out at a restaurant, I don't hound the waitress about the food being cooked using butter. I understand some things are pre-cooked and I already take off the meat, cheese, eggs in rice, no ice in my water, ect. so I try not to be picky about the butter. I was a waitress for 7 years and let's just say picky customers aren't that welcome. Being a vegan goes beyond what we eat though. I don't buy leather anymore and I don't support the circus or any animal captivity habitat that I see as unfit. Zachary is a pescetarian. He eats seafood every once in a while as well as cheese and eggs, but doesn't consume any other meat or milk.

How did we choose this lifestyle? Zachary and I decided together last August that we wouldn't eat meat anymore, with the exception of seafood if we went out. We never brought it into the house to cook, we only ate seafood if we went out to dinner or someone invited us over and prepared it. For a year before this change, I couldn't deal with the smell or texture of meat. I hated cooking it so I would make Zak cook it. I didn't eat it much unless someone else prepared it. I'm not sure what happened or why, but I couldn't deal with it. When Zachary mentioned trying to cut out meat I was all on board! We started that day. We gave away most of our meat and kept a few bags of deer meat and bacon to sort of wean us off. We caved in about a week later and ate meat at a restaurant and we both felt horrible for it! It didn't taste the same and we didn't enjoy it. We did have bacon once after that, ate deer twice and that's been it.

Eating meat had been weighing on both of our hearts when Zachary initiated the conversation. Thank God for men who listen to their spirit. If Zak hadn't have started that talk, I'm not sure where we would be today. When we stopped eating meat, we could tell a significant difference in everything. I loved being in the kitchen again because I didn't have to worry about touching meat or cross contamination (which I'm deathly afraid of!!!) Our bodies felt better, we had more energy, and we didn't feel sick or heavy after we ate. The grocery bill was cheaper and we had a good peace of mind. We knew we were doing what we were called to do.

We also still ate butter, eggs, and cheese, even though it wasn't as much as we used to. I stopped eating eggs and milk 15 years ago. If they were in a cake or a milkshake, I was fine with that, but to consume them plain bothered me. Well, until I got pregnant. When I was pregnant I craved bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits and after I had Zaylen I craved chocolate milk (it was soy though.) Pregnancy is a strange thing sometimes.

Two months ago I watched the documentary Earthlings. It's free on YouTube if you're interested in watching it! Zachary was working late, Zaylen was asleep, and I was sitting at the kitchen table eating shrimp lo mein when I decided to finally watch this film. A few minutes in and I couldn't eat any more. I cried, my stomach knotted up, I felt anger, I was torn, and I was humiliated that I belong to a race who exploits animals the way that we do. I was a mess. And from that moment on I knew I would never be a part of any animal abuse again.

Why did we choose this lifestyle? We didn't. It may sound cliche, but the lifestyle really did choose us. As I said before, this had been on our hearts for a while before we came together and made a decision. We were convicted about eating meat. We didn't know why or what was really going on, but we knew it was from God. We always blessed our food before we ate it and prayed over our finances to cover the grocery bill, but we never even thought about praying over what to eat. We are called to seek God for everything. After becoming vegetarians we realized we need to seek Him for more than we were. The more I dug into this trying to find answers, I came across Romans 14. I'm not going to go into everything the Bible says about what to eat, but I strongly encourage you to read about it for your own understanding.

Romans 14 talks about the strong in faith and the weak in faith and how they do not need to agree on every matter in life. We shouldn't judge anyone based on what they eat. This is such a minor detail in the grand scheme of life. From what I have read and studied, no where in the Bible does God instruct us to always eat meat or never eat meat. Meat wasn't eaten until after the flood when God gave Noah permission to. He gave Adam and Eve and all living creatures green plants for food. After the flood when everything was destroyed, He gave Noah permission to eat everything that lives and moves. I'm sure people ate meat before then since the world was so wicked, but this is the first time it came from God. Then there was the covenant with Moses where God gave him rules about what animals to eat. Only clean animals could be eaten now. When Christ died for us, His blood created a new covenant. The veil was torn, old covenants were thrown away, and we were now able to go directly to God without any barriers. This is the covenant we are still under today, the covenant of Christ's blood. In this new covenant, God made all animals clean to eat in a vision to Paul in Acts.

So we went from vegetarians, to meat eaters, to clean meat eaters, to all animals being clean to eat, and I believe we will be vegetarians again in Heaven one day since there isn't any death in Heaven.

Romans 14:5-6 "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so the the Lord and gives thanks to God." Paul tells us that we are free to eat what we want based on our own conscience as long as we give thanks to God for it.

Romans 14:20-23 "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." Paul tells us here to not cause our brother to fall into sin over something we choose to eat. He also tells us that we should follow our conscience when we eat.

I know I said I wouldn't go in depth, but I just got too into it. I hope that clears things up for the people who think I don't follow God's word.

Other reasons why we chose this lifestyle include health reasons, the way animals are treated, sustainability, environmental factors, and world hunger. Vegetarians have lower cholesterol, better blood pressure, less heart disease and cancers, less diabetes and strokes, lower body weight, better moods, better love life, less food allergies, clearer skin, and are overall more conscious about their health than their meat-eating counterparts. We are living proof of this! Once we cut out meat, Zachary's liver issues have mostly gone away, we don't have breakouts anymore, we have more energy, my food sensitivity to fruits has disappeared, and we have healthier bodies. Factory farms aren't sustainable at all. They use a substantial amount of fossil fuel energies that could be better used elsewhere. Our environment is being damaged by factory farms. The amount of water, food, land, and waste they put off is deeply hurting everything and everyone. It's also really selfish of me to eat an animal that consumes more food than some humans do. These issues are real and they are important to me.

The way animals are treated is a huge reason why we live this way. I really don't have time to get into everything, but here's a little summary. The animals you consume are kept in small crates or are packed together their entire lives. Babies are taken away from their mothers at birth, tails and genitals are cut off without anesthesia, infections overtake their bodies from mutilations, bacteria and viruses, or fellow animals attacking each other due to overcrowded conditions and stress, and antibiotics are given to them in their feed of genetically modified corn to fight the infections they get. They are beaten, kicked and hit if they don't do what the humans want and they never see sunlight or feel grass and wind. When it comes time to get slaughtered they wait in a line, hearing the screams of their brothers in front of them, and in the last moments of life they take an electric shock to the head or have their throats slit. Most of the time this doesn't kill them so they are then able to feel their skin being torn from their bodies and their limbs being cut off. Eventually they die, but it isn't a quick and painless thing. This isn't just meat either. Milk, eggs, and cheese are just as cruel. Male chicks are ground up alive in their first few days of life because they don't do anything for the egg industry. Baby calves are taken away from their mother after birth, never tasting the mother's milk, and kept in dark small boxes for a few weeks until they are killed for veal. This is all done so that we can have antibiotic laden, genetically modified, pus-filled milk.

The way animals are raised and killed is disgusting. If you consume animal products, that's your choice, I'm not here to change your mind. But I will encourage you to know where your food is coming from and what's really in it. Find a farmer near you and buy direct from him. Support local meat markets that bring in their own food fresh every day. Watch documentaries that expose the horrors of factory farming. Hunt for your own food, kill it and prepare it for your family. Raise your own chickens and milk your own cows or at least buy local from people who are treating animals better and giving them a better life. Be involved in your food.

Those are the reasons why we live this way; God called us to, we don't support the unfair treatment of animals, and we want to be healthier.

Here we are today. Zachary is a pescetarian. I am a vegan. Zaylen is a vegan. This isn't a "diet" in terms of what we are eating today in order to lose/gain weight or be healthier. This is a diet in terms of our food choice, our food lifestyle. Through this journey I have become a more compassionate human. I have become more alert, more aware, and more conscious of what I support and what I put into my body. This has changed me, but only for the better. I'm not a crazy person, this doesn't mean I'm not a Christian anymore (which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard, "Watch out, she doesn't eat meat anymore so she must not be a Christian now."), this doesn't make me a mean person, or a person you should be scared of.

I want to share what I know about veganism. I want to share what I've learned and what I've experienced with people. If those few people who I learned about veganism from, hadn't have shared what they knew with me, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I have never thrown this in anyone's face. I have never made fun of someone for eating meat. Although, my siblings and I pick at each other about how meat is murder and how I eat like a rabbit. This is truly all for fun. We pick on each other for everything and we enjoy it so much! My siblings are also my biggest support system. They don't eat how I do and I don't eat how they do, but we get it and we love each other through it. My mom is by far my biggest supporter. We don't eat the same stuff either, but she is there to fight the people I don't have time and energy for and she has been my biggest advocate through this.

I don't hold signs in peoples faces telling them to convert or die. I'm not going around slaying things in the name of veganism. I don't stare at plates and put a cover of shame over the owner. I don't give dirty looks or call names. I don't understand what people perceive me as and I don't get why people are threatened by me for not eating certain things. But I'm a little over it and I'm here to set the record straight. My family and I get enough protein, calcium, iron, vitamin B-12, folic acid, DHA, essential fatty acids, minerals, the list goes on and on. We get plenty enough, thank you for your sincere concern.

We don't just sit around a shrine of vegetables, holding hands, eating kale, and worshiping the vegan gods. We live very normal lives and eat very normal things. We have amazing dinners that are better than anything I cooked a year ago. We take showers, we have dogs, we drive cars. Although we aren't as mainstream as most people, we live a very normal life and it's nothing to be scared of or threatened by.

Questions and concerns are more than welcome and I will be so happy to share my knowledge with you, but please stop questioning me out of anything more than pure curiosity. Please stop the name calling, stop the pictures of meat, stop saying "bacon" around me (this is honestly the oldest trick in the book and it doesn't make you look cool), just stop being mean, please. If you have a serious problem with me because of what I eat, maybe you should do some self examining. And if you still have hurtful things to say, keep them to yourself. I'm not not eating meat to make people mad or to get a rise out of people. I'm doing this because it is what I have been called to do. It is what I have been led to do. My conscious won't let me eat meat right now. That may change in a few years from now, it may not, but whatever way I'm led to go, I will go and I will praise God through it. Comments and attacks are just small roadblocks in this great journey I'm going through, I will get through them, but it would be much easier for everyone if the judgment went away.




This blog is getting a makeover right now and will be done any day now so stay tuned for my next post (hint: it's Amish!) and the showing of the new website!

Also, click here to visit the site of All About Vegan Families. This is a community of vegan parents who come together and support each other through raising vegan children. I've faced problems and I know other vegan families have too, this is a welcoming place where we can stand together and share our hardships. advice, stories, recipes, and much more! I am contributing vegan recipes for children to this site, so you can check them out there! If you are raising vegan children, need some support, or are just curious about things, please visit this community!

A few weeks ago I wrote about a journey that our family is taking. A journey of simplifying and getting back to the basics. If you missed it, you can catch up here. We are taking a slow approach and breaking everything down into phases. If you missed that, you can read it here. I talked about an overview of how we are breaking it all down and what to expect from each phase, and now it's time to dig in and go a little bit more in depth. 

I love having quick snacks for my son. They are easy to feed him during snack time, while I'm preparing his meals, and even when we have to rush out of the door in a hurry. Unfortunately, the popular kid-friendly snack foods are filled with junk. Artificial coloring, harmful preservatives, wheat, eggs, dairy, the list can go on and on. There are some great brands that have wonderful snacks filled with real food, but most still have to include some type of preservative in order for it to last on a shelf somewhere. Always read the ingredients, labels are very mistrusting. Even though there are good snack foods out there, who wants to pay an arm and a leg for them? Not I. Six dollars for a pack of crackers seems a bit much for me.

I can't feed my son mainstream snacks and I can't pay for the nice brands, what is left to do? Make them myself! These are super healthy vegan cheese snacks! No dairy, no preservatives or artificial coloring and flavor, they are loaded with omega-3's and are very easy to make. I've had more today than Zaylen has, they are beyond addicting too.

Before you make up your mind about me being a terrible mother, please take a look at what I have to say about this subject. I promise I'm not failing as a mom that bad.

Zaylen's first birthday is right around the corner. I have been thinking of this day since before he was even born and I have been planning this day for the last few months. Turning one is a big deal!! Maybe not to Zaylen, but to me it certainly is. This precious little gift who I was blessed with to nourish and grow inside of me for ten months, and who I have helped along side each small milestone since he was born, is about to celebrate his first year of life. This is a big deal!!

I had a venue chosen, I had told several people, the food was arranged and picked out, the invite list was set, and I was beginning to start testing out different gluten free vegan cakes. I had the perfect outfit in mind, we had to find a "I'm turning one" bib, I needed to get stamps, and I had decided to not bring ice cream.

Everything was done. Everything was planned. So why did I cancel it?

Here's a little peak inside of my mind for the past few months...

Stress, stress, stress...

Right before Christmas is when I began planning little one's party. I was thinking of themes, venues, food. With the amount of guests that would be invited (around 40) we weren't able to have it at our house because of size. And let me go on record, 40 is way too much for us, but there's no such thing as having a low key anything with my family. After some thought, I figured we could have the party at my grandparents house or pick out a public venue in Greensboro. After looking around for a while I came across a great deal. There is an indoor bounce house place in town that had such a great deal for an awesome price. They set up, cleaned up, offered food and drinks, supplied invitations and decorations, we had a private room for two hours, and then we were allowed to stay and jump until they closed. All this was just above $200. It is a great deal! So I talked with some friends and my sister about how they handled birthday parties. After finding out the money they spent and hearing they weren't able to spend time with their children because they were focused on entertaining everyone else, I decided this jump place was perfect for us.

Zachary and I went to the place a few days after our decision and booked the date and time. They needed a deposit to hold our spot, but we went ahead and paid the full price since we had the money and knew this is what we wanted.

Some of the stress went away for a few days after we booked the party, but more began to develop as I had to plan for other things. I wanted to tackle food first. The place was supplying two pizzas and a few drinks. I was upset about the pizza. It may not make sense, but I lost sleep over it. I'm a vegan, I don't support anything that has stemmed from animal torture. And I just paid for pizza with cheese. That really bothered me. I tried to brush it off as best as I could, but it took a good toll on me. I had to bring more food in because those two pizzas wouldn't make lunch for 40 people. I planned on a vegetable tray, fruit tray, hummus, and a Mexican dip. I wanted more pizza, but I wasn't paying for cheese or meat. I personally love pizza with just sauce and veggies and wouldn't have had a problem buying those. But I knew I would hear feedback.

It's always the same questions. "What do you eat?" "What can you eat?" And they are always followed with judgmental looks and talk about how I think I'm better than you. I think that's when some people's conscience starts talking, but they choose to be ignorant and spread hate to someone who is a bit more compassionate than them. But that's just me.

I was starting to get anxiety pretty bad, however, I knew I had to keep on pushing through.

How was I going to do a cake? I couldn't spend the money it would take to buy two gluten free vegan cakes. They use less ingredients and it's a much healthier option, yet they are expensive. I had to bake them myself. I love baking breads and cookies, but cake is not on my top ten favorite list. I would have to do at least one trial run. The type of cake Zaylen would have and what the guests would have circled my mind for weeks. I couldn't decide what flavor, then I had to look into natural dyes, I wasn't sure about candles, and it was becoming a real mess. More anxiety, please?

Next was the presents. My husband and I had decided not to allow presents. Zaylen is loved inside and out and he has been blessed beyond anything we could imagine. He has an entire room filled with toys and this doesn't even count the toy baskets set up around the house or the kitchen drawers. He still has toys from Christmas that are in his closet, unopened and untouched. I have made a few donations this year, but you wouldn't be able to notice with all the stuff he has. All of his cousin's clothes get handed down to him. One wall of his closet is filled with boxes full of clothes up to 24 months. Zaylen doesn't need anything. Help with his laundry and baths or his grocery bill would be nice, how do I explain that?

We planned on asking for canned food donations instead of gifts. Zaylen is warm, he has shelter, and he eats more than most adults do. He is set. But there are countless people in our area alone who never know where their next meal will come from. We just wanted to help others who are less fortunate than us. I didn't know how people would take that. If that response is anything like the treatment we have dealt with over the past year, then I don't want it. It just brought on more anxiety.

The list of invites was growing and growing. We originally wanted a small gathering of close family and friends, but as I mentioned earlier, that's impossible to do with my family alone. The list went from 25 to 40 fast and it was still growing. Even though I wanted to invite some people, I just couldn't due to the size already. People would ask about his party, when and where it was. Of course then I felt obligated to tell them the details and invite them. It was getting to be a bit much.

My mind has been in a war since day one of this party planning. I have lost sleep, I have been angry, I have felt confused, and I felt judged and criticized before the invitations even went out. A few days ago I knew this wasn't right. All gatherings as such require a little stress, but the amount of stress I was under wasn't right. I should be unbelievably happy and excited about my precious baby turning one. I shouldn't be weighed down and anxious.

This is when our decision happened. I came to my husband crying and upset and asked him, "Would it make me a bad mother if I didn't give Zaylen a first birthday party?" His response is just one of the million reasons why I adore him. He comforted me and let me know that it was the best thing. This was going to be a good choice and he would defend our decision to anyone who dared questioning it.

We got on the phone with a few people to let them know, and to ask if they would spread the word around so we wouldn't have to deal with everyone. Most of them were very understanding, and the others who weren't don't really matter that much in my book anyways.

This was a difficult choice to make, but once it was made I felt such a weight lifted off of my shoulders. I went from a crying depressed mess to a smiling happy woman in a matter of minutes. This is when I had complete confirmation we were doing the right thing.



Some people weren't going to like bringing canned food they were never going to eat over a $40 gift they would never see a return on. Others would be judge-y about my decision to have all vegan food since I'm apparently "so much better than them." Some would question the venue. I know what germs are and I know how they are spread, and that's why my one year old has only been sick once in his life. Look at your kids. I didn't want to deal with the people. That was a reason why we canceled, among several other things. You're probably saying, "But Cursty, you shouldn't let people's opinions affect your son's birthday party?" I'm not. We canceled it and I'm sure people have a lot more to say now. And to be honest, I could care less what they have to say. I am standing firm in our decision.

The stress was too much. Zachary and I are making a conscious effort to reduce the stress in our lives. We are decluttering and simplifying every aspect of our life together. A party would be nice, but cheese and opinions aren't worth it to me. The stress and anxiety factors are another big piece of why we canceled it. This is a prime example of why we are on this Amish journey. The life we were living was too much. Too much stimulation, stress, worries, pain, unhappiness, money, you name it. I got so consumed in planning a party for my one year old, that I didn't see the big picture. Zachary and I made this tiny baby. We brought him into this world. We have been beside him for his first bite of food, first crawl, and first melt down. We have had the privilege of learning from him. We have had the honor of raising him. This is a celebration! On his birthday we will celebrate his life. We will watch him, feed him, love him, show him new things, and soak in the moment when we will realize we have a toddler now. I won't worry over the amount of food or get stuck in conversation while Zaylen digs into his cake. I will not miss any beat of this special day.

Instead of a party, Zachary, Zaylen and I will be spending a great day together creating more memories than any party could dream of making. We will be saving our sanity, money, and time.

It may not be for everyone, but this is what we want. We aren't seeking approval from anyone. We simply ask that you will respect our decision.

"The more you love your decisions, the less you need others to love them." I love our decision.


Cursty

A few months ago I bought several containers of Charlie's Soap (my absolute favorite laundry product in the world!) on sale from a little hardware store in the big town of Reidsville, North Carolina. I still had a bit left, but wanted to stock up since they were marked down. I bought 200 loads which came out to be about $30. Not a bad price for such an amazing product. I thought the tubs of delicate powered angel wings would last a good while seeing that I do around 6 loads of laundry a week, but this isn't the case. I'm almost out of Charlie's.

I have been using their products for a little over a year now and just love them so of course I was going to order some more. I looked online a few weeks ago to compare prices. I looked at bulk prices, different website prices, and retail prices. And I came to the conclusion that I couldn't pay that much for detergent any more.

First off: What would the Amish do? They certainly would not pay that price for that product. They would make it themselves with good quality ingredients and save the money.

That's just what I did. I looked at countless homemade detergent recipes, most of which are very similar, but I wanted something that would be mine. So I took in a lot of tips and advice, kept those recipes in the back of my mind, and began creating.

This is what I came up with...I call it "Boober's Soap"



And yes, I bounced the name off of Charlie's Soap, super original.

Last month, I got rid of our satellite service. I fell asleep and woke up to a Monsanto commercial and I did what any rational person would do. I called Directv and closed our account. We didn't even have the money to cover the early buy-out fee, but you better believe I pulled it right out of savings that day. 

We have talked about getting rid of our television service for a few months now, but we never really had that push to do so, until this happened. I was sick to my stomach. My eyes were finally opened to the mind control we were under. But good news, our minds are free now! In fact, Zachary and I enjoy our non-tv life 100000000000x better than we ever did when we had it. Uhh the amount of time we wasted was unreal. 

You may ask, "well what do you do now instead of watch television?" And I'm glad you asked that! We do everything!! We read books, spend more time with our son, clean, organize, play cards, play games, spend time face to face, we talk with each other, take the dogs out more, and work on things that need our attention. 

The best part about it? We broke free. Our minds are free from any type of control the media had on us. Our moods are free from the shows we watched. We felt a chain lifted off of us the first night we didn't sit on the couch for 5 hours wasting away in front of a black screen. 

Did you know that 90% of the media is controlled by six corporations?! SIX!! Here's a picture for ya...


http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/10/23/owns-media-6-monolithic-corporations-control-almost-everything-watch-hear-read/

Do you think this is just a coincidence? No, these companies know what they are doing and they are doing a great job at it. Do you ever really pay attention to the things you watch? 

Let's start with commercials. Have you ever caught yourself saying you've seen something before, but you're not sure from where? My money would bet it's from a commercial. What about this...have you ever gone out and bought something purely because you've seen it on a commercial? I have several times. As Seen On TV products used to be my weakness. Or maybe you're saying, "Cursty, I have never bought anything just because I saw it on a commercial, I don't give in that easily." Okay good point. But why then do we have commercials for toilet paper? Something that everyone buys and uses. Well, because if they put their brand out there enough you will begin to recognize it. 

Charmin verses Quilted Northern. I'm a Charmin type of girl, but I'm trying to convince my husband into family cloth. Some time last year Zachary and I made a trip to Sam's Club for some items, toilet paper being one of them. For some reason they were out of Charmin and panic started to set in. How pathetic was I?? Take a guess at which brand I went with instead. You guessed it, Quilted Northern. I could have chosen from Angel Soft, Cottonelle, White Cloud, or even Scott, but I didn't. Those brands don't appeal to me. Who are they and where did they come from? Charmin is owned by Proctor and Gamble. Quilted Northern is owned by Georgia-Pacific, which is owned by the Koch brothers of Koch Industries. Angel soft is also owned by G-P, but since Quilted Northern is in a huge race up against Charmin and those cute bears, there isn't a need to advertise it as much. That corporation will push Quilted Northern a lot more than their other toilet paper brands because it's such a big name. Follow the money. If you think commercials don't have any control over you, ask yourself why it costs $5 million for a 30 second slit during the Super Bowl. 

Commercials are useless garbage. I've never heard/bought/seen one thing from a commercial that really mattered that much. Ever. Seriously, the lint lizard and pocket hose have never performed a miracle in this household. 

Now on to television shows. I can name about two good shows that are worth watching. Umm. Well. Ehh. Okay, I can't even name two. Television shows are created to entertain. Entertaining is perfectly fine if it can be done in a good manner, which most shows can't these days. I used to be addicted to housewife shows. Do you know what it did to me? It made me want nice things. I wanted jewelry and expensive clothes. Those clothes and necklaces never made me happy. Those shows also made me want friends I could fight with. I know I sound really pathetic and stupid right now, but I'm just being real with you. I don't have friends to fight with, what's wrong with me?? I wished for a lifestyle we could never afford and one we would never fit in with or be happy with. All because I watched rich housewives every Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I watched every season of every city. Addicted.

I also used to love reality shows. The Challenge and Teen Mom, whoa we are talking about some shows! I would even watch Teen Mom episodes two or three times each because I was so wrapped up in them. I have even caught myself thinking about the possibility that I had gotten pregnant in high school. Would I finish school? Who would I live with? What kind of mother would I be? I was so stuck in "reality" that I couldn't see my own real life. I bet you're thinking I was a real loser when I watched television...and I was. 

Television shows rarely do anything good for you. Not even "harmless" shows like Andy Griffith, which programs you to think all cops are good. Kid shows aren't good anymore. All the violence, lying, not listening to parents, hitting...I don't want my son watching any so called children's programming on television these days. I've used to turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for him until I saw a few episodes I didn't agree with and a few commercials that should never have been allowed on the Disney Channel. Now if he watches anything, it's a Spanish or sign language tape. You may be getting a little upset right now at what I'm saying, but I'm here to speak truth, to share truth, and to open eyes and minds. I was a slave to it for so long and now I have a fire under me to share my story and open other minds to what's really going on. 

The news...this is the most dangerous thing about television. The news that we see today is nothing like what is really going on behind the scenes. Almost every story is scripted and specifically designed to put fear into your life. That's where this country wants us, living in fear. People in fear are much easier to control than people who are awake. When we fear things, we constantly worry. What do we do when the news station tells us a big storm is coming and we need to prepare? I don't know how other states do it, but North Carolinians go absolutely crazy!! We stop what we are doing, run to the nearest store, and stock up on milk, bread, and eggs. What on earth are we going to do with milk, bread, and eggs when the power goes out?!? We grab those things because that's what we are conditioned to get. That's what we are told we need. And half the time that we do go buy those things, we don't end up needing them. That huge storm hits us for all of three hours. Why were even worrying in the first place? Because the news told us to. 

When we worry, we doubt God. 

I stopped watching the news a few months ago. There was too much negativity, too much lying, and I honestly couldn't handle the amount of force they were pushing the flu vaccine with. So I just stopped watching it all together. I deleted my news apps on my phone as well. 

There are too many stories to count about how news channels and/or anchors get caught in lies. Those are just what people have brought to light, it doesn't include every story we are being lied to about. Look at Brian Williams right now (I know part of this story because I checked my AOL mail a few nights ago). Every big media corporation is funded by the same group of people who all share the same agenda. It all links back to the dollar and power. Fox news, CNN, MSNBC, local news...it's all the same. They rarely share the full true story, they don't show unbiased opinions or studies and they never give you real experiences and testimonies from honest people. 

The media has an agenda. It's a very dangerous agenda. It makes you fear, worry, and doubt. It makes you believe everything you are being told. It makes you believe we live under a good government that only has your best interest in mind. It will make you agree with what they say, what they do, and how it's done. It will make you scared of and target the wrong groups of people and wrong things. The media is conditioning you for something big. 

I don't want to cause any hurt feelings and I'm not here to rip apart your television set. This is something I feel very strongly for, I'm very passionate about it, and it's my job to share the truth. My mind was stuck in the "Fox news is the only news" mindset for my entire life, until a few months ago when I woke up and snapped out of it. And I'm not dissing the news, please don't get me wrong. I'm sure someone somewhere shares the whole truth about a story at some point. I believe we should generally know what is happening in our world. We need to know stories that may affect our rights. We need to have a sense of what is going on. But we should also be very cautious and not let the "big" stories blind us from the real stories. When there is a big story going on, please research what is really happening. 

Think about the Ebola story. It was on every news channel, 24 hours a day, for months. And then all of a sudden it disappeared. It's a distraction. Ebola is a serious disease and shouldn't be handled lightly, read The Hot Zone, great book. But if it were ever a real threat to us, why weren't serious measures taken? We are told about how we need to close down our borders and restrict air travel, but did that happen? No. We were told to stay inside and keep our kids home from school. Remember that? Did you happen to notice when Ebola disappeared from the news? A few days before Black Friday. Why did it go away like that? Consumerism, capitalism...it's all the same agenda. What you didn't hear on the news while Ebola was hot and heavy, was the severe drought California was under. What else didn't we hear? The letters and tapes from people in West Africa saying the story wasn't real and that the United States brought something to those countries so that we could take their resources, wasn't shown on the news. Those were probably just all made up to keep the conspiracy theorists talking, right? Or maybe they were just some dumb kids who wanted to cause some trouble? Read the book I mentioned above and learn about Ebola for yourself. Maybe then you'll see it's impossible to keep a disease like that so contained and orderly and then wipe it away so fast. I still wonder why we sent so many troops to "help with Ebola."

My point is, we shouldn't believe everything just because they said it on the news. We shouldn't allow the media to condition us to hate other races, fight against hurting mothers, or support wars that are made out of greed and power. If the media convinced you that Michael Brown was some thug kid who was looking for trouble, turn off the news. If they convinced you to attack non-vaccinating families and believe we should be put in prison for medical neglect, turn off the news. If the media has you so wrapped up that they convinced you to get a flu shot even after the CDC stated the shot wasn't effective, please turn off the news. We need to research for our own knowledge. Research, research, research. I cannot stress this enough! Dig deep and make your own conclusions about things. Look at articles, read different books, visit our history, ask questions and get the answers that satisfy you. Don't take someone's word out of convenience, especially not a multi-million dollar paid word. Do your research.



In light of all this, I am proposing a challenge to you. I am calling it the Wake Up Challenge. I directly challenge you to unplug for one week. Please, just give me seven days! Turn off your television set. If you have to unhook the cable cord, cut it, cancel your service like I did, or even take extreme measures like turning off your power, you do what you need to do to resist the temptation to turn it on. Leave your TV off for one full week. No movies, no news, none of your must have favorite shows, nothing. Delete any news apps you have on your phone. Don't leave them up there to check the weather or whatever, just delete them to resist the temptation. Don't call around and see what's going on. Turn off your radio or your Pandora. Completely unplug from every outlet you receive media from for just seven days. After the week is up you can decide what you want to do from there. 

It took Zachary and I one night to realize what we were doing was the only way to escape the mind control that media had us under. It may take you one night or it may take one week. It may never even affect you, but at least you could say you gave it a try. Unplug for seven days and see the miracle it will do for your family. Play games together, spend time reading, go to the park, pick up trash on the side of the road, volunteer at a soup kitchen, go to church, visit family and friends. You will have so much time to do things that matter. You will not be depressed with fear. You will not worry about tomorrow. 

Seven days. That's all I am asking for. Turn it all off, unplug, and spend time with your family and on things that truly matter to you. As I said before, after the seven days you can decide what is best for your family. You may want to cancel your service, limit TV time, set parental controls, or just go back to how you lived before. That choice is completely up to you. 

So there's the challenge. Seven days with no media influence. If you do accept this, please let me know how your week was. I want to hear stories. I want to see family lives transform and minds become open. Please leave a comment below, write to me on Instagram, or send me an email (zcboober@gmail.com) if you plan on taking this challenge, if you have any questions, and if you need any encouragement along the way. Also, let me know about the successes and failures (if any) that you faced during this challenge. Since I can't ask you to something and not do the same, I will also be taking part in this. I don't have television, listen to the radio, or watch any news in any form, but I do love a good movie at night sometimes so I will be cutting that off for the next week and participating with you.

Good luck, you've got this!!!

Cursty

In my last post, The Boobers Go Amish, I introduced the start of a journey my family and I are walking on. This post is designed to show how we are approaching and how we will adapt to our new lifestyle.