Mason Jar Self Reliance Projects Craziness

As part of a project that Kirk and I are working on to be more self sufficient we are trying to put together as many mason jars as we can for as little cost as possible.  I just got 96 mason jars for $48!  Granted they are all used, but that doesn't really matter to me on this one.  60 of them are pint sized and 30 are quarts.  I'm so excited!

I'm going to use the pints for fermenting vegetables and fresh veggie juices in small quantities, so that we don't have to eat tons at a time (even though the probiotics from tons at a time would probably be really healthy).  I also want them to put our homemade soups into (with a bone broth base) for Kirk to take to work with him.  I heard that they are also great for storing spices properly too.  Of course once the ingredients are in them I am ultimately planning on vacuum sealing everything for either pantry or freezer storage.

The quarts could be for a number of different dried goods.  One example is chocolate chips, which can last longer than 3 years when vacuum sealed in a mason jar.  I have also heard that it can triple the life of grains like rice to vacuum seal those in mason jars too (one lady I talked to said her rice lasted 7 years instead of 1 - now thats what I call extended shelf life).  I want to get as many of my dried goods vacuum sealed as is feasible in mason jars so that it all can last longer in the pantry.  I hate throwing away food that would have been good if we had eaten it sooner or stored it in a better way.  Outside of dry pantry style goods, I am kinda excited to use quart jars for "salad in a jar" and "soup in a jar" and even what I am going to term "bakery in a jar".  The first two are kind of self explanatory, just making a soup or salad compilation in a mason jar.  To make it fun though, you can layer parts of the salad to make a fun pattern for "eye-candy" before shaking it all up and eating it.  The "bakery in a jar" refers to all the different types of baked goods that can be baked in mason jars.  To do this properly, it is my understanding that they must be placed on a deep cookie tray that has a layer of water in it.  Its awesome.  You can make mason jar bread, pies, cookies, brownies, etc.  I'm excited to experiment and start making more of my own recipes for these like I did when I wanted more multi-grain recipes and couldn't find what I liked or wanted.

I think it would be cool to only have wide mouth straight edged jars, however that would cost a lot more.  So I will try to slowly accrue larger straight edged jars (that I need to do the bakery stuff) and just go with the great deals on these other jars for all the other awesome things I am gonna start doing with them.

Because of purchasing our foodsaver type vacuum sealer called the seal-a-meal secondhand it did not come with the tube that sucks air out of attachments.  We could not find any place that carried the tube attachment so decided we would take it into our own hands and figure out making one with parts from home depot.  We read online that some people did this, but no one said how.  We decided to make a video to post on you tube for those in our same situation with this same project.  It was a clear tube 1/4" big, the length doesn't really matter (although if its super long it can take a longer time to seal things) and the nozzle thing (called a double sided barb) we found was 3/16".  Here's the video if you are interested.

Reading for Empowering Strategies

I've been reading the book by Kim Kiyosaki called It's Rising Time! and love it!  One of the things that really hit me was her idea of using creativity in everything you do, if you want to be succesful, along with noting what the problem is you want to solve and then solving that problem becomes the good business opportunity.  She told some stories, one was about the mother who created the first sippy cup lid for her toddler.  It was simply a solve the problem scenario, but that lid has changed the way parents raise their children.  It is rare to find a home with little ones in America that do not also have sippy cups.  This was all because of one mother, with one problem, and one good solution.  This idea has inspired me to make a list of those things that are frustrating to me so that I can not just deal with them, but rather, find my own solutions.  For example i'm frustrated that it is so hard to have a nice relaxed walk with my husband now that we have 3 kids.  We have a bunch of things like strollers or wagons that fit 2 kids and are fun for walks but 3 just isn't working unless we carry one or make one walk.  If our oldest walks or rides her bike than, instead of rekindling like I want from the walk together, we end up focusing on her or the stroller to keep the kids in line, un-injured, and happy.  I want a 3-4 kid stroller or wagon but am not in a place to purchase one for $400 or more as that is far too overpriced in my mind.  We also need something that we can tote them in while riding bikes to the market once winter is over, which could be the same thing if I designed it right.  The words from this book I'm reading made me feel that I should just design a stroller thing instead of just being frustrated every time we want to walk as a family.  That idea is so EMPOWERING, its great!

I LOVE His Toothbrush Impressionist Paintings

I was thinking about the Hubby's art portfolio today and I really wish more people could see the kind of paintings that he does.  They are amazing!  He developed what I believe is a revolutionary style that combines realist with impressionist or abstract art.  He did this with some smaller but mostly large scale pieces painted in an acrylic medium with none other than a disposed of, old, knarly...  TOOTHBRUSH!  This sounds crazy to many I'm sure, but "found brush" is a common activity in art classes where the students paint with things other than typical brushes, and thats kinda what inspired these.  The toothbrush bristles give such a unique texture and adds so much depth to the paintings.  From far away the paintings are beautiful, but up close they are amazing... there are probrably about a hundred layers of paint placed in this painting.  So seeing his temple from far away looks gray, but up close has blues, purples, and many other colored blended in.  He is not just a great art teacher in a high school, but is also a very talented artist and painter.  I hope one day he gets more fully discovered by those around him in the art world so that others can see the beauty and talent that I see every time I see his work.

A New Nutrition Plan Diet

So I've been trying to do this new diet to try to help my body overcome some major challenges.  I've done a lot of research and came up with my own plan based on quite a few different theories and statistical information.  I am nursing, but my body has gotten to the point where I need some type of cleanse in order to function normally and stay a good mom.  I almost went to the ER a couple weeks ago for an immobilizing pain we thought was my appendix (but I am stubborn and went to our chiropractic doctor instead) and then I ended up with blood in my stool several times.  I can feel something major going wrong in my gut, but don't know exactly what is happening.  This has just increased my desire to share my story in a book once I find my cure through nutrition and has pushed me to do much more research as well.  This latest diet I think will work well and be gentle enough that I can keep nursing my 8 month old baby without any issues.  My most recent attempted diet consists of mostly fruits and vegetables with some eggs, nuts and fish/meat.  Its very similar to the Paleo diet, but has a few differences, one being that I don't think its healthy to have the majority of food intake be meat, but rather veggies.  I'm completely cutting out processed sugar, processed milk, any pre-made foods from the market, and all grains for now.  I want to add whole grains back in later because I believe they have great nutrition if made correctly, however lately I feel sick when I even eat the gluten free grains (though temptation takes over sometimes).  So I'm trying for 80% veggies and fruit, with 20% eggs, nuts, fish, and meat.  I want to limit my meat intake to mostly fish and a little chicken cause I don't feel very good when I have much meat right now either.  I am also trying to re-balance the good bacteria with probiotics in my body and have been doing the My Feel Good Foods Cleansing Product Line for a little over a week.  I was feeling awesome, then realized how much it was costing to eat this way.  All the vegetables it takes to fill up when there isn't any filler foods like grains and beans (along with limiting the amount of meat) is just crazy.  Vegetables don't cost that much, UNLESS you have to buy this much of them.  Then they add up to A LOT.  I talked to my mom about it today and decided that what I really need is a good meal plan to stay in budget and still keep the healthy diet.  So here goes writing a meal plan.  Maybe I can share it in my book when I'm done with it too.  :)

He's Getting Ready To Film His Viral Video

This weekend was so productive!  Kirk took over the garage and set up this huge area with a green screen and most of his instruments for making up a band.  We finally have all of his drum set out from storage!  He worked on writing out, planning and practicing quite a bit of music that he is planning on playing for some artistic videos he wants to make.  He didn't film in the 8 hours I let him work out there on Saturday, but he'll probrably film soon and once he films and edits it in Final Cut Pro I expect he'll be super excited to see if it ends up going viral.  He wants a lot of people to get excited about how cool he is going to make it.  He really doesn't have time during the week because of work, but maybe he can film this weekend.

The kids were very good too, giving me some much needed time to work on my book.  Yes!  We got so much done!  Sometimes with 3 kids and work at home its hard to feel productive because the kids are so much work to take care of, but there are good days like this that seem to work out perfectly too.

Hypno-Labor Birth Preparation - An excerpt from my course

Today I thought I would share a small portion of the Hypno - Labor course I am creating.  This portion is about things you can do to prepare before and during labor to help it be the best experience possible.  There is more to this in my course, but this is what I have written thus far for this section that I am sharing with you of my course.  Enjoy!

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What does it mean to be in LABOR?

According to Dictionary.com Labor is a “productive activity... (to) exert one's powers of body or mind... (in a) job or task to be done... (that takes) physical or mental work, especially of a hard or fatiguing kind.”

Labor is just a job to be done that will take some work. Not all work is hard, long, and frustrating though. In fact much work is fun to do, and nearly all work has the potential to be peaceful and even relaxing. For example a big task that most Americans have to face regularly is doing the dishes. This is one of those household chores that I usually just dread, and because of the way I feel about it, it's hard to do them sometimes. However, there have been plenty of days that I have woken up rejuvinated from a good nights sleep and been happy about digging into working on the dishes. On these days when I've had the good attitude and just went at it, it wasn't emotionally painful to do them at all, but instead was methodically relaxing. Even though birth is a very different task it can have the same effects, dependent upon personal expectations and perceptions brought into the labor by the Laboring Mother and those closest to her or who are attending her labor.

Instead of viewing birth as this painful and dreaded task thats gotta be done at some point in pregnancy, if we can switch our thought process to think of it in a positive light then it will be much more rewarding easier on us in that pivotal moment. There are many aspects of staying positive though, especially when performing a task that takes so much from us in every aspect: emotionally, spiritually, & physically. Knowing that we need to use all these areas in the laboring process, it only makes sense that we should also individually prepare in each one of those areas. If we only prepare in one or two of these areas we may find ourselves unprepared for unexpected feelings or events during the labor. This being the case, it is good to learn all the coping strategies and problem solving solutions available naturally to prevent unexpected stressors that will hurt or inhibit the labor.

Spiritually Prepared Birth – Turning It Over to Christ

The labor of birth is the most empowering and noble of any work or accomplishments. Creating a child through procreation and then birthing that child into the world is the closest act we have in this world to being like unto God. It can be related to Christs atonement very easily as well. An amazing woman who was with child told me of her birth story and how she turned to Christ. Her story will change the way I look at birth forever. She talked of how she felt a spiritual presence so strongly and then when things started to become very difficult for her that feeling left for a time. She related that to when Christ suffered on the cross the spirit of his Father had to leave him for a time too, and that she felt great pain and suffering just as Christ had to bear (though not to the extent he had to bear it). It is so true that birth can be related to Christs Atonement in so many ways. May I add to what she said that the blood spilt during birth also can symbolize the blood that Christ spilt for us. This was a powerful experience for her and similar experiences have happened to other women I've spoken to, though her's was the most powerful one I've heard. The other way to look at birth in relation to Christ is that he has given us great power by suffering the atonement. He came to this earth that we may learn of him and follow him to make it to our own Celestial Glory in the next life. He can literally take away our pains and sorrows, be they emotional, spiritual, or even physical. He has given us the power of the priesthood which is the power of God used under the proper authority. As children of God we all carry many of his attributes and have more power than we typically think of. As we turn to Christ as our Father in Heaven has asked us to do, it strengthens us spiritually, which in turn can help us more easily strengthen ourselves emotionally and physically as well. Naturally our bodies are synergistic, so when one area like our spirituality is suffering or in need the other areas can start to suffer as well. This is true when the other areas start to decline as well for causing our spirituality to weaken.  So if we can let go of our fears and have full faith in Christ, it gives him the opportunity to give us the kind of birth that we truly desire.  If we work on being well rounded and spiritually sound in preparation for birth, then it can help us have a discomfort free birth, even a comforting & empowering one.

Emotionally Prepared Birth – Positive Mind-Set, Meditation & Self-Hypnosis

The 4 Laws of Pain Free Birth

1)Psycho-Physical Response: Body has chemical physical response for each thought.

2)Harmonious Attraction: When we direct our thoughts in a positive direction such as glass half full rather than half empty, we improve the quality of what will happen and how it will affect us.

3)Repetition: The more we practice and repeat what we want to achieve, the better we will be at it; not only through our conscious mindset and physical condition, but also through our subconscious power.

4)Motivation: You can do anything if you are motivated enough and simply allow it to happen.

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The Power of Words

Words have a very great power over us as people. It is our key source to communicate with others, but also helps us internalize and face what we feel within ourselves as well.

If we use words that symbolize or feel scary to our inner subconscious selves than our body will respond defensively. That is the reason it can be so empowering to practice using words that are more positively geared.

A good example of this is to refrain from using the word pain when talking about birth or contractions but rather focus on using words like strong sensations, tension, or pressure. In regards to contractions specifically words like surges or waves may be preferable to keep the subconscious working its magic.

To help the subconscious keep your body free from pain, focusing on what you feel rather than just thinking "oh this hurts" is very important. When you feel discomfort then changing positions can increase your comfort and your babies comfort. This discomfort is actually a healthy signal to you that moving into a different position can be more beneficial to your body. So if you start to feel discomfort, you can move and change positions, however also step back and observe what you are feeling as you do this. "I feel the baby moving into my pelvis…. I feel myself opening up for my baby… I feel the baby moving down and turning… I feel a wave of tightening move into my muscles like the tide, then move out as I breathe…"

Practice makes perfect so its important to practice 15-30 minutes per day. One way of practicing in the evening is to play the visualizations right before bed or even while asleep when your subconscious seems the most active.

Physically Prepared Birth – Knowledge, Health, Actions & Coping Strategies

With knowledge comes power. In our society most people believe they can't do something unless they have all the knowledge needed. Though birth is possible with very little knowledge, it can still bring great comfort and relief. The more a woman knows and prepares the more options she will have to fall back on for things to do when things take an unexpected turn in labor

Dietary Tips for Optimal Results Pre-Labor

-Red Raspberry Leaf Tea - Daily will strengthen uterus and other organs along with correct hormones.

-The Master Cleanse - This is also known as the Lemonade cleanse. It has shown to help all the organs function more efficiently and smoothly as well as help the elasticity of the pelvic floor to prevent tearing. This is 10 days of any teas or supplements that are desired but also no food other than the drink. The ingredients are fresh lemons (organic if possible for best results), Grade B Maple Syrup, Powdered Cayenne Pepper. It is either half a lemon or 2 Tablespoons of fresh pressed lemon juice with 1-2 Tablespoons Grade B Maple Syrup and 1/10 tsp. Cayenne mixed into 10 oz of good water. Drink as often as hunger indicates and feel free to drink water and take other supplements as needed.

-Omega 3,6,&9 Supplement - Daily to improve health and increase tissue elasticity.

-Perineal Stretching - Daily with the help of a Latex glove while sitting on the toilet put primrose oil (helpful to scarred tissue especially) on the glove and then rub the tissues in the perineal area. Every part of the tissues down there just needs a good massage and it really prepares it to stretch a lot more easily.

-Breathing & Meditation - The more practice with this the gentler the birth can become.

-Eating a Nutritious Diet Full of "Super Foods" - When your diet includes all the micronutrients that are needed to perform at its fullest through the healthiest foods you are setting yourself up for success in so many ways.

Dietary & Other Tips for Optimal Results in Labor

-Red Raspberry Leaf Tea - 1 Quart Freshly Made : Drink entire quart when desiring to push labor along at home or right when arriving to the hospital. This will take away discomfort and help the uterine muscles function more fluidly so that the labor is spead up substantially.

-Eat during labor to sustain the right amount of energy (but only light foods).

-Drink in labor - Don't let yourself get dehydrated. Warm teas or warm "Lemonade" from above have been used in asian culture to help the laboring woman not become dehydrated and stays down easier for most women.

-Perineal Stretching - This can just give an extra boost to the tissues down there so they have an easier time stretching.

-Warm Perineal Warm Wash Cloths - These can be put on while in labor before it is strong enough to push. The warmth helps the tissues open more quickly and easily.

-Dim Lights - Helps relax the situation so that stress cannot inhibit the labor.

-Soft Music or Nature Sounds Playing - Also is a relaxing way to help stress stay out of the birth process.

-Essential Oils Diffusing - Using a relaxing essential oil in a diffuser during labor such as lavender oil can be very relaxing to the spirit, helps with alertness of the mind, and also gives the mothers body some great health benefits.

-Relaxed and Comforting words and touch from birth coach - These have a very powerful effect on the mind and are extremely important.

-Breathing & Meditations - More than anything else, our bodies need oxygen through the blood to function properly. This makes it crucial to have a constant awareness of our deep breathing to & for the baby.

-Affirmations/Mental Coaching Statements - Our mind is one of the most powerful tools we use in birth. That is where the signal that we should have pain vs. pressure comes from and if we are scared this causes our mind to send a signal to the rest of the body that something is wrong and then the muscles start working against each other instead of together. This causes pain and cramping. However with the proper mindset & positive affirmations along with some of the previously practiced self-hypnosis techniques all that nature requires us to feel is pressure from the uterus pushing the baby through the birth canal.

-Light Touch Massage - This creates a chemical reaction in the body creating natural pain relievers 200x stronger than morphine along with oxytocine which will help labor progress.

-Pressure Points & Acupressure - These are a good coping technique to release more feel good hormones and inhibit pain. Essential oils such as Lavender may also be used on these points if desired.

-Movement & Positioning - This makes all the difference in the world. If your body isn't working optimally in a certain position there will be discomfort which is a big signal to change positions so that it can be optimal for the birth. This can include many types of movement and positions including those recommended by those who use belly dance in birth.

-Making Primal Noises - Surprisingly this can make the labor function better. There is so much momentum going through the laboring body that doing deep primal sounds can direct the energy and pressure where it needs to go better and helps the mother release some of the tension and adrenaline as well. This is usually only done during or right before the pushing phase of labor.

-Special Attire - Some women prefer no clothing as their adrenaline starts to kick in during labor, however there are many who prefer to have something on. If you know you are one of the latter, or do not know how you will feel I highly recommend that you think about finding a special birth dress. There are birth skirts meant to be taken off once the baby has almost arrived but even better than that is a dress that is low cut and stretchy enough to nurse right after birth if that's desired, is short enough to not get in the way and long enough to feel covered, but most of all makes you feel beautiful for this amazing moment. This can be a great help to many women to help release tensions so that the birth will flow better and be more empowering.

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That was just part of Chapter 1, I hope you all enjoyed it and that in someones preparation for birth that it can help.  My last birth (3rd child), was completely pain free due to the techniques I used and I have developed a great love for birth because of it.  My hope is that one day every woman will be allotted the knowledge and opportunity to have the perfect pain and discomfort free birth that those of us that want children desire.

My Quest To Write & Heal

I thought today might be a good day to write a bit about the book I've been working on writing.

My quest to natural healthcare really began after the birth of my first daughter almost 5 years ago now.  It was such a traumatic experience for me that I began to fear the medical community and hospitals in a lot of ways but especially when it had to do with birth.  This led me to search for a home birth for our second child and I wanted exactly the opposite experience so I wanted to find someone as hippie as possible or maybe just someone who had extensive knowledge in herbs, but I also really wanted to find a midwife that could kinda be a kindred spirit for me to lean on while feeling like a grandmother type figure to my kids in the future.  The woman I found was awesome.  She had that knowledge that I yearned for about herbs and natural care.  She also had access to many medical things so that if they were needed they were available.  I never felt like the whole grandma figure was there but that can be rare so not too big of an issue.  Anyway, she introduced me to quite a few new ideas in regards to diet and healthcare along with what is now a deep love for the use of essential oils.  That birth was 100 times better though not that perfect birth I dreamed of (mostly cause I got scared of tearing at the end and when you get scared your body causes pain by working against the birth process).  I started really heavily doing more research into what I was interested in that she taught me as well as some other things in regard to natural health after that and started my book along with creating my own selection of healthy recipes and then I became pregnant again.  This time I felt like i needed to not only do it naturally but go a step further to try for that perfect birth.  I took every birth class available through my insurance to prepare myself for this coming child.  It was amazing!  I used a lot of hypno-birth techniques along with belly dance and movement techniques; and the outcome was a birth with no complications, only an hour and a half of active labor, and a beautiful pain free birth.  I believe everyone has the ability to have just as great of an experience.  Because of how much I love it, I actually taught a program I am calling Hypno-Labor to a couple over the course of a few weeks and thy used it to prepare for their birth.  I want to turn what I taught into a more comprehensive course for others that becomes more of "Christ Centered Hypno-Birth."

Though my births were what brought me to my quest they are not all that my natural health quest has been about.  While pregnant with my second child I had some anonymous blood tests done to determine if I had an autoimmune disorder called Lupus.  Every test that was done came back positive in determining that I did indeed have an autoimmune disease.  I only did 3 of the 5 tests and the last two would be what could prove which autoimmune disease it was, but because of my symptoms it was pretty obvious which one.  I took these anonymously because I didn't want them on my medical records and affect my insurance in the future.  I also full heartedly believe that in the ability to health through natural means from "incurable" ailments.  I plan on fully healing my body through natural means along with some heavenly help.  :)  The search for ways to cure and heal myself and anything that has come up in the meantime with my family is what really made this into a quest for myself and now into the workings of a book.

Learning About Myself Through Opportunities

Wow... Its amazing how much happier and better it feels to make a decision to combine so much of what I love to do in one place.  This decision brought so much introspection and peace.  I feel like I've really started to re-find myself amidst all the craziness around me, just by doing this, its great!

Since my last post, I have had some great experiences.  I went to a baby shower of a dear friend of mine who just adopted an adorable baby girl on Saturday.  It was a fun little celebration with her friends and family.  The host of her shower had a beautiful and large home that my hubby and I admired greatly.  We just recently purchased a home that we went into knowing it would be a starter home because it doesn't fit us in quite every aspect of how we would like to grow as a family and business.  If we did not have our business it would fit much better, but that is not who we are or want to be.  Also we want to have many more children in our future (at least a couple more years down the road though).  Its not super conducive to more children fitting.  We wanted to buy a place that would fit all our future dreams so we could stay in it forever if we wanted but fell short in qualifying funds by about $30,000-$55,000 for what we found that fit that desire.  It made more sense to not rent anymore and settle into a starter home that was functional, cute, old, and had a lot of character along with an amazing yard and garden.  Because we chose a different more financially logical residence we still ogle at homes that would have appealed to us while we were looking.

Anyway, back to the topic.  The couple that owned the home that this party was hosted at were so amazing!  They were entrepreneurs just like Kirk and I.  It is so fun to meet others with the entrepreneur spirit.  The big difference is that they had been doing businesses of sorts for much much longer with substantial success.  I was awed at how much success they had actually attained when I looked up their information online later.  They gave my mother in-law a bottle of a natural supplement and being the detail oriented person I am I wanted to see what it was and what was in it.  I am very picky about supplements and healthcare guidance because I have a deep passionate love for natural health and have been researching and writing a book on the topic for over 2 years now (hoping to finish it before this summer).  I didn't really have an opinion about it at that point but was very interested in learning about it and had a distinct impression that I could really see myself and my hubby working with this woman and her husband on some type of entrepreneurial venture.  I voiced an interest and told her that I was writing a book and she gave me some of her information before I left.

I then researched their product and business.  I tried to think of ways I could implement their business in my life.  They are an amazing and brand new MLM company called Ocean Avenue that started in September.  They have the best compensation plan of them all, value and include the family in their business strategies, and have what appears from my small amount of research to be a great product.  I came up with lots of ideas for how I could become involved in their MLM and product line.  Then I realized something about myself.  I will always get excited about good opportunities.  Though this was a good opportunity for someone, it was not one for me.  The reason is simple.  I am a person who is not satisfied with my work unless I have a creating element in it.  This could be creating something that is more left brained that is not seen like a workflow or budget.  It could be something right brained (that seems more creative) like a design element or something that is sold like a book.  Even if I was financially successful in their business and implemented it with the other things I am doing, I would not feel emotionally successful unless I were given a task or something that could be produced or used by the company.  This being the case, I now know that I don't have the right personality to join any MLM.  For the right personality, this would be an awesome opportunity, but it would not satisfy what my inner being would need to be content with my contribution style for my work.

Its nice to learn something new about myself like that.  So for the moment I am making my next goal to test out some new health information and dietary recommendations that may help my health conditions and if they work as well as I am thinking they will, I will have a lot more to add to my book.  I am very excited about adding my newfound knowledge from research (into Leaky Gut Syndrome, Gut and Psychology Disorder (GAPS), Body Ecology Diet (BED), ADHD food cure, along with their similarities and health ties to the Paleo diet and the My Feel Good Foods diet) to my book.  I do need to test my hypothesis on myself before writing on it however, for two reasons, 1-my health has been struggling of and on for a while with an auto-immune disease and more recently consistent blood in my stools that I need to cure; 2-there is a lot of conflicting studies and opinions on health and so there needs to be some type of system to determining what is actual truth vs. what is just someones opposing opinion and what is right to actually do for me (although some argue that all thoughts and teaching are opinion and perspective making truth just another perspective rather than an absolute in most things).  This week I have a pretty intensive diet planned and hope not to make so many exceptions like its easy for me to do, so wish me luck!

Why This Blog & Why Hats?

Hello all who read this!  My name is Kim and I have a family of 5 now!  Holy cow that seems crazy at my age.  I am a mother of three amazing children that I love dearly and I have a husband that is just as amazing.  I decided to start this blog today because I have been having the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with my life.  I mean just one thing.  Like that one job that you tell people you do.  For me, leaving my kids to go work for someone else is not an option.  Its not about needing a job because my husband has one, he's an art teacher for a public school and loves it.  His salary just barely covers our essentials, but it is all we NEED to survive.  The real reason I'm looking for something for myself has been because much of the time I feel like I am losing myself in the care of my family.  That is not healthy for anybody.  I also think it would be fun to do a lot of things.  I am an entrepreneur at heart and have a very hard time settling on just one idea.  I guess that comes from watching my Dad run a business of his own growing up.  :)  So, I have decided, to just do it all.

My husband and I started a business a few years ago doing photography, videography, VHS to DVD conversion, photo slideshows, some audio, and most projects that you could think of relating to digital media and the arts.  We have enjoyed that for quite some time.  He still had nearly 3 years of college left when we started it and so with school, our business, his kindergarten teacher aid job, and the needs our family (of 4 at the time) had all pulling on him, he was overwhelmed much of the time.  Then one day he was given a unique art assignment.  What he ended up drawing that day was amazing.  It turned out to be a self portrait of all the hats of life scattered on the floor.

He ended up using that drawing for a printmaking assignment.  It inspired him to then make a sort of series of art that he called "Man with Many Hats."  The combination of these works of art were very empowering for our family.  They made us feel strong enough to endure all the craziness that was bombarding us in life, because we knew if one more thing happened or if there was one more thing we needed to do it was just another hat.  Sometimes we even tried to look for which hats might be what things from our lives.

To make a long story shorter, this morning as I awoke, I had the thought "why don't you just do all your hats at once and put them in one place?"  Its brilliant!  I've been thinking for so long that I would have to let go of certain things I care deeply about so as to pursue something else I care about.  I really can just put all the hats I want to on though, and this can be my place of refuge that I can do that freely.

Here are my main hats that I am so excited to share!

     - Art & Design in EVERY medium.  (Photo, Video, Music, Act, Draw, Paint, Printmaking, Int. Design, Architecture, Kinetic, etc.)

     - Natural Healthcare (Natural Healing, Remineralizing, etc.)

     - Naturally Eating & Cooking (Mmmmm...never need to give up flavor for healthy if have right recipe) 

     - Birth (Natural, Pain-Free, Home-birth, &/or Hypno-Labor)

     - Family & Raising Kids (making home happier, preschool lesson ideas, etc.)

     - Financial Education & Entrepreneurship

     - Preparation & Education (continuing growing knowledge and talents is essential to happiness)

     - Spirituality (things that make me or my family feel closer to God or understand him better) 

I have business style ideas for a few of these areas, and even if I didn't do any of them, they are the areas that really make up who I am inside and what I care about.  Its about time I started sharing them somewhere.