Hopes for the New Year!

I really wanted to get this blog started on January 1st, but alas, it was not to be. No worries, it has begun. Hello! I am Rowena and my husband/mate Joe, are aka, Eternal Hippies. When I say , "I" I mean what I am thinking/doing and when I say, "We" I am referring to Joe and myself.

As I said, we are eternal hippies who long to break free and waltz to our own tune. 4 1/2 years ago we started exploring what it means to live an organic life; getting rid of GMOs, harsh chemicals and toxic habits. For about 2 years things were going well, but stress of life, laziness and general frustration at the lack to forward movement towards our goals got the better of us and we found ourselves back in many of the habits for which we had worked so hard to be rid of.

Back in August of 2013 I started "juicing" after watching the video, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," by Joe Cross. I juice fasted for 45 days and lost 70 pounds. After the first week, I felt great and soon discovered how nice it felt to consume healthy food. We both learned so much watching documentaries like, "Forks over Knives," "Hungry for Change," "Food Matters," and more. Netflix had many videos that helped. Inspiring and challenging! I want to feel that way again, with this time making permanent positive changes.

The purpose of this blog is to document the following:

I hope to explore living a year homemade/from scratch living, and beyond.

I am not trying to reinvent the wheel, I am trying to implement the knowledge I have obtained over the years and learn more about how to live in a reduced stress healthy life. Hopefully I’ll be interesting enough for folks to follow.

Learn and put into practice what homemade means to me.

-Over time, eliminating pre-made, potential harmful substances from our lives.

-Grow and produce own food.

-Find and use local/regional resources.

-Learn how to make own products for everyday use. Examples include: Shampoo, laundry detergent, dish-washing detergent, cleaning products, candles, soap, rugs, clothes

-Become healthier in the process.

-Get back to making own jewelry. We used to have two Etsy shops. One for my hippie/hemp jewelry and one for Joe's classic/metal jewelry. But closed them after Hurricane Matthew. Honestly, we haven't felt very creative lately.

-Become more self-disciplined, self-sustaining.

-Explore a simpler lifestyle- backing away from over processed lifestyles

I will post goals for each month and go over what I have learned from the previous month, trying to decide what works for us.

My Goals for January 2018

-Stop eating out/ordering take out

-Do a juice cleanse for 3 days to restart system

-Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day 

-Get at least 6 hours sleep each night

-Make own shampoo, laundry detergent, dish washing detergent

-Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week.

-Sprouting grains, greens, etc.

-Make own sweets/stop buying store-made desserts

-Organize and use the recipes I've been collecting over the years (and I'll share)
-Exploring different grains, sweeteners, oils, etc.

-Finish reading the book, "Nourishing Traditions," by Sally Fallon

-Make at least 1 video and post it

I may post more goals for January, but these will get me started. Right now, the hardest goal is to stop eating out. I work four 9 hour days with an hour commute round trip. By the time I get home, even with meal planning, all I feel like doing is putting my feet up and relaxing. Fixing dinner and cleaning up physically hurts. Last week was a killer, after working each day, we had to work on moving my 82 year old mother's dusty nick-knacks and treasures from one assisted living facility to another with the overflow to a storage unit with only our minivan. Joe was the muscle and it would not have been completed without him. He is my hero! But in the process, we ate late take-out dinners each night with horrible health returns, inflammation and digestive issues. Lack of sleep also played havoc on us. This week my work closed Wednesday and Thursday due to the winter storm Grayson, resulting in a much needed break for me. Joe, unfortunately had to work.

I am a receptionist and sitting 9 hours a day four days a week leaves my knees/legs swollen and in constant pain. Unless I make dramatic changes to my lifestyle now, the life goals we have will never come to fruition.

Life goals include: owning a couple of acres of land to have a proper raised bed garden, raise chicken and live off of our handcrafted jewelry, etc. I keep pictures of these goals up at work to remind myself.

But in the meantime, I need to get healthy in order to accomplish these goals. Going back to how and what things are made of and why have them at all, should help.

Okay, here we go. Buckle up, Buttercup! It's about to get all homemade up in here!....Sorry. Please come back:)