Garden

Our garden is growing well. I hope next year to have a better plan so we have vegetables ready to pick all the time. It all takes planning and this year I just planted stuff for fun with out much thought. I am finding though that I do not have enough room for all I want to grow and I am thinking I need more garden space. In fact I think I need a whole backyard makeover especially when it comes to our patio. I was hopping to get some work done in my yard while my sister was here but so far it has been very rainy.

Natural and not so Natural

On the natural end of things I have started using apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. It works well and makes my hair softer then using nothing after shampooing. So now I have my whole beauty product line. In the morning I use my face scrub, shampoo, apple cider vinegar conditioner, and body wash. When I shave I use my body wash. After showering I use my lotion on my face and under my arm pits then I put on my everyday minerals makeup. After that I spray some apple cider vinegar on my arm pits and then brush on some of the powdered deodorant. I then use my toothpaste. At the end of the day I wash my face with a bar of castile soap and use my lotion on my face. Everything is going well and I feel so much better knowing I am not using chemicals.

Although it is not natural Emily and I got tattoos on Monday. I have always wanted one and she did too so we decided to get matching tattoos. We spent a lot of time trying to decide but we settled on two purple pink flowers. We both got them on our hips mine is on my back and Emily’s is on her front.

Experimenting with different ingredients

Today I made lotion and lip balm with my mom. She has had trouble with cocoa butter before so we decided to try using shea butter. We also could not get almond oil so we went for grapeseed oil instead. Although the lotion does not have the chocolate smell you get with cocoa butter it turned out pretty good. The lotion is a little softer then I like I think next time I will add more beeswax or less oil. The lip balm turned out very well I added peppermint oil to it for a good smell but it does not add taste. I think that if I was going to make it again with shea butter I would get an essential oil for a good smell.

I now use almost all of my own products. I love knowing exactly what I am putting on my skin and in my body. My shampoo seems to be working better this week. I found that I have to work up a good lather and scrub my scalp well and then rinse. When my hair feels dry I wash it with a little of my body wash and it adds some moisture. One not on the shampoo and body wash though is that they do separate and you have to shake it to mix them before using.

It is so hard to find real natural beauty products with out chemicals. There are a lot out there that claim to be natural but they are far from it. I get so angry every time I look at an ingredient list that claims to be natural and I see chemical names. Most companies are preying on the uneducated consumer. Do not be one of those. Look at what you are buying and do some research. Read the information on this site about good and bad ingredients.

http://www.terressentials.com/ingredientguide.html

Organic in California

As most of you all know I am currently at my parent’s house in California. I am visiting for the next month which is great because I have three other people to help care for Andon so I get a little break. Andon is having a great time watching the "gog" (dog) outside and learning new tricks from his Auntie Em. She just taught him how to show off his muscles. As soon as I get a picture of it I will post

I am currently working on helping my mom to start living more naturally. The biggest problem we have is that there are not as many organic options at the stores here. I have not checked out all the grocery stores but the ones I have seen do not have the options that I have at HEB. We have found some organic products at Safeway which is the same as Randalls but they do not have the supplies need to make beauty products. In order to get the supplies for making lotion and stuff we had to go to a natural food and vitamin store which unfortunately is more expensive then they should be. Roseville will be getting a Whole Foods soon so maybe my family can shop there although I have heard they have high prices.

We will be making beauty products while I am here but we will be trying some different things. My mom has had problems with cocoa butter so we will be using Shea butter and the store was out of almond oil so we will be using grapeseed oil. We will see how it goes.

Shampoo

Well I have decided the Almond oil is not good in Shampoo. I love the original recipe for body wash and shaving gel but it was just not right for shampoo. I made a new shampoo using just baking soda and liquid castile soap and it is working much better. I use Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap which comes in many different scents so you can find the one that is right for you.

Shampoo
7 TBS Liquid Castile Soap
½ cup Baking Soda

Mix ingredients together. If too runny add more baking soda if to thick add more soap.

On another note I was thinking today as I prepare to go to CA that although I miss my family and friends back home I really like my home here. I have incredibley great friends. Andon and I are so very lucky and I am so thankful for each and everyone. So Thank you to our wonderful friends who have made being so far away from our family a wonderful experience. You are our like our second family and I love you all.

Playing in the Grass

This afternoon Andon and I went outside to play in our backyard. It was a wonderful day in the shade but very hot in the sun. Andon played with his sand table, house, and swing set happily for over an hour and a half. I even had a chance to read a magazine and weed some of the garden!

While I was out there I was thinking about the yard and the grass we were sitting in. Stephen loves to have a very green yard and I do not blame him. For the last two years we had chem-lawn coming to the house to help keep the grass looking good. It was Stephen’s special extravagant thing. This year though with Andon old enough to play in the grass and my new ambitions of living natural I wanted to cancel chem-lawn but Stephen could not give up his beautiful lawn. I did not want Andon playing in grass sprayed with a ton of chemicals even if the company said it was “safe” (we all know better then to trust a company and its advertisements). Then at The Woodlands Earth Day Festival we found a solution, a company called Soils Alive. Soils Alive is an organic lawn care company they use liquid compost to build better soil. They spray not only our lawn but our trees, flower beds, and even our potted plants. Although it costs more then chem-lawn we are getting more then just our lawn taken care of and we are making our yard a safer place for playing.

www.soilsalive.com

Going Natural is Hard

I am feeling so frustrated today. Trying to live with out harmful chemicals is very irritating. We just assume that what they sell at the store is safe but we are wrong. Many products have not been tested for safety or are known to be unsafe and yet they are still out in the market. Some days I get so angry that this is not a simpler process. Why do companies lie so much and why is there not more being done to protect people from the harmful chemicals out there? You can not trust any company or advertisement and really you have to research every product and ingredient before knowing for sure if it is ok. I read article after article and research ingredients and sometimes it just seems so overwhelming. I sort of miss the days that I was blissfully unaware of the horrible chemicals throughout my home.
There are so many things wrong in today’s world that sometimes I am just so angry and depressed. I do not know what to do to help. I just hope I can raise my children to each do a little better for this world.

The one thig that can always cheer me up.