Taking steps to change your life

Each day we wake and have a choice.   That the knowledge of yesterday will help make better decisions today so that tomorrow is even better.

Over the past few years, we've gone from taking baby steps to shifting mindset and making new habits.   Take for instance toxins.   They are all around us!  Replacing some things seems daunting.   But we've taken a long look and decided we want to try and be our best selves in our 40's and beyond!  This list isn't necessarily in order, but my top 6 items to replace.

#1.  Deodorant
B and I have replaced our deodorants with more natural products which do not contain aluminum.  Not to scare anyone, but I used to get a lump which felt like a blocked pore.   I switched my under arm regime almost two years ago and have never had a lump since.   Once you find a lump, and you relate it to the products you've used for years, you take a hard look around at all the other things in your life.

Now I am going to give you fair warning.   When you change to a natural deodorant, you'll notice your "scent" more than ever.  This is your body clearing away toxins.  As you continue on this path, you'll notice your scent will change - depending on your stress and diet.  It may take up to a month to totally clear out some buildup in your system.

#2. Household cleaners.
The only thing that gets my oven clean?  Baking soda and vinegar.   Those two things have more than cleaned my house 100 times over.   It removes soot from walls, hard water stains from showers, pans with grime, carpets, beds, it's a"miracle".   Now I cannot clean everything this way, but using the natural alternatives with less toxins helps!

# 3. Personal cleaning products
I can't get my husband to give up his liquid soap - but we've added more natural shampoos, bar soaps, bath salts, and toothpaste.   Whatever item I cannot find in my local Fred Meyer store, I usually can find on Amazon.  Fred Meyer carries the Simple Truth brand, which I find pretty comprable to the national brands.

#4 Sunscreen
I am of Irish/Norwegian descent.   I do not tan.   I burn and get more freckles.  I only look tan due to my freckles.    B tans though.  He gets super dark, rarely ever burning.   Growing up I burned really bad, many times.  I was almost maroon from the deep burns I would get.    Suffice to say, I bathed in sunblock.    I couldn't go out without slathering it all over, and to this day my chest is forever pink.
When I was in my 20's I read that the main ingredients were known as an endocrine disrupters.   There is a very large possibility that due to my excessive use of sunblock, my PCOS was formed at an early age and could be the leading cause of my own personal infertility.    I doubt the damage will ever be fully reversed.   I've found a few good brands, and most with zinc as the #1 ingredient.

#5 Laundry products
Washington State bans phosphates in laundry soap, which in my mind puts us that little bit ahead.   For B's work pants, we use plain vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser, and at times sprinkle a little baking soda!   Then while reading about how much dryer sheets cant add to your toxic buildup, we did a bunch of research and bought some wool dryer balls.  They seem to work.   Maybe not for the fleece blankets (way too much static), but for everything else, they work great.

#6  Makeup and Beauty products
I am amazed at all the money that people spend on make up that is supposed to help them look younger.  Embrace your age and wisdom!   I baffled at the lack of oversight of cosmetic ingredients.  Then there are the companies that advertise and hook you on a monthly subscription promising that their cream or serum will reverse damage and change your life, as long as you keep spending hundreds of dollars.   Lies, lies, lies.   The secret is simple - look around at what you eat, how much you sleep, your environment, and the toxins you are putting in and on your body. 

Don't believe me?   My skin has always given me  issues.   Sun blotches, burns, blemishes, dark circles, excessive hair, swollen eyes and more.  It wasn't until I completed 45 days of AIP that I realized my skin issues are almost fully diet and lifestyle related.   Change is hard though.    I still want some makeup that is free from major toxins as I don't eat as clean as I should 100% of the time (sometimes you just gotta have that brownie).

I make all of my own sugar and salt scrubs.  I've a few hand salves, lip balms, and I was thinking about making my own eye shadow with dehydrated vegetable powders.  Then I thought of my space and decided to forgo making more of my own beauty products, for now.    I follow a few people on Instagram and Facebook and I've recently seen the name Beautycounter.     I ran out of my grocery store foundation and was willing to give something else a try.  It's not cheap.  It's the most I have ever spent, and I'm hoping it's worth it.  I only wear makeup a few days a week (the days I drive into the office and occasional trip to town on the weekends), so I can make it stretch (have I ever mentioned I am frugal?).

So tomorrow starts the test!
I'll add a review after a week or so, cause if this stuff works as good as I hope it does, this may actually convince me to join the bandwagon members or consultants!!

Have you replaced items with more natural products?  Have you found things you just cannot give up?

Is it Summer Yet?

Summer 2019 in the Pacific Northwest has been gray and dreary.  We've been warm, then rainy, then overcast, then warm, then cool, and we're back to wet at times with a higher humidity level.   My garden plants are loving it, but me not so much. 

In a typical PNW summer, it begins to creep and get hot after the 4th of July festivities.  We usually get that one rain and then boom!  HOT time!    We haven't reached that tipping point yet.   Hopefully soon! 

This year's gardens have onions, tomatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, radish, broccoli, artichoke, pumpkin, watermelon, garlic, corn, lettuce, peppers, and of course potatoes.   We've also let a few things go to seed, like these carrots!

So who knows what folks will get with their Christmas baskets this year!   Handmade salves, scrubs, creams, and maybe some glorious carrot, brocoli or kale seeds!

Book time.

Some may wonder what came first?  the books or the brew?  Brew as in whatever food I've made not a witches brew or craft beer brew.  Books came first.

When I was a young girl, my sister and I shared a room.  I learned a specific way to read while I was in 4th grade (imagine all of the words), and from there I was lost in whichever world the book described!   The only downfall is that I can recall lines and text I've read and even get a song stuck in my head for days.   Those people who say their hear voices?   Yup, that's me.  I recall things and they get stuck on a loop in my mind - maybe it's a chorus of a song I heard - maybe its praise or a harsh word from someone.  Don't fret as I have learn to use spin those downfalls into mighty accomplishments!   I can remember lines that I have read, text I have written, and with a prompt music and songs!   The surefire way to get on track, fight insomnia when things are rambling in my mind?  Find a book and read - block everything else out and immerse myself.

You see friends, it is not just books that are my first love - it is the written and spoken words that make them up. Language, communication, diverse dialect, emotion conveyed through words.  Words are important, they can lift or crush you.  We should choose them with care for our audience and not be reckless with them.

I have not kept up on the trends - but I do find it fascinating how fast - or how slow- that slang language can take over.  Remember when texting was limited to a certain number of characters?  Or how you couldn't write a novel on a FB post?  Or go back farther and ask about a telegram!   The written and spoken Iword has gone through so many changes - the American English language is as fluid as the rivers which run from the mountains to the seas.  It can change with the seasons and swell with the tides!

Nowadays I read for so many reasons.   To escape, to quiet my mind, for entertainment, for stress relief, to learn something, for cooking, and just because I can.  You are reading this - so that counts too.   Maybe my book choices are not Nobel peace prize winners - I may not lean toward an autobiography of a famous person and certainly try to avoid the "in" trendy book of the moment (I never read the "grey" book series which everyone gushed about).  When I do like an author - I tend to buy their books, and man oh man is my library busting out the seams again!

I have read some not so great books too.   Perhaps the writers style was not too my liking, perhaps the content was not in my interests, or perhaps the delivery of the story was not...  See, trying to find the right word and "shitty" isn't right.  I recently bought a popular authors book (no I won't bash them), and it was so... summarized.  It felt as if the author published a rough draft, or it was meant to be a screenplay, or maybe someone else wrote it - but to me it was off-putting.   I read reviews on Amazon and others felt the same.   But again, reading is highly subjective.  Just because I did not care for it, doesn't mean another won't.

This all being said, I do more than just cook around here!  I may use the tablet, Netflix some shows while cooking and cleaning, but to really escape - I like to grab a cup of coffee or tea, a tangible book, and sit in a quiet place for a few hours.  Reading is what helps me to recharge.

Now onto the next book!  I am starting a new series by Erica Spindler.  The Lightkeepers "The Final Seven".   I love her other books and actually just finished "Justice for Sarah and "The Other Girl".

So the question I pose of you.  Why do you read? Do you find yourself drawn to a certain style of writing, or a particular subject?

Annual asparagus event

It happens every year.  The asparagus grows, we buy it, pickle it and enjoy the bounty all year long.  Sometimes we give them as gifts, but many times we hoard them so we can make super delicious recipes.


My pickling recipe is pretty standard.  Water and vingear in equal ratio; sugar, salt and a spice mixture.  We redo this mixture every year, in search of the best one.  It is a work in progress!

Pictured above is dill, garlic, mustard seed, black pepper, red pepper flakes, onion, celery seed and juniper berry.  I know there are several non-AIP ingredients, so if you are sensitive to nightshades, unfortunately this is not the recipe for you.

Store for 4 months, then enjoy!  Then what do you do? Snacks, bloody mary cocktails, salads? How about a pickled pasta salad?

Enjoy the bounty of the season!

Anniversaries

2019 marks 10 years in a few anniversaries.   I quit smoking,  my dad was diagnosed and died 3 months later from lung cancer.   

This year I had a long conversation with my doctor.     My own health is at a turning point.    I am at the point that unhealthy habits that seem minor now will lead to a shorter lifespan down the road or have me suffering from medical issues.  I don't smoke but that doesn't mean my 12 years of doing so didn't do enough damage.

How does this happen?     You go from what you thought was healthy to a crash in 10 years.  My hair started falling out 10 years ago too.   Stress is not my friend.   While I have made several changes to get back on a better path,  it's time for some more.      Nerve pain is getting worse so I have to keep doing the good things that help and use products that don't hinder the healing.

Instead of giving things up,  I am trying to change my mindset about what I am gaining.   More time with my husband.   The lung capacity to take a high altitude hike!   Less mass on my joints leading to less pain.   Maybe less psoriasis flares.
The possibilities are endless!

I am going to slip back,  I am doing to fall down (I am a but clumsy at times),  but I will keep pushing forward!

I have a goal set,  a time frame.    Spring helps as I am naturally more active.   Gardening is a big job around our home, so expect to see a few more reading in the garden posts!

Don't fear change.   Take it slow,  be well,  keepoving, and rest when you need it.

Blessings to all.
AK