Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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What is a fear you carry deep inside? One that not many may know about, but affects many of your everyday decisions? Me? That somehow there won’t be enough, and my family will be left short.
Why does this affect my decisions? Because the last thing I want is for my family to be short somehow. Short of food, finances, or simply time.
So what do I do? First, I try to not let the fear overtake me. I acknowledge that it is there, and then remind myself of all the ways God has continued to provide for us in the past. My heart calms, and I can clearly think towards my next step. I then thank God for His provision and ask that He continue to remind me when that fear comes up again.
This fear has also been a motivator for me. When I started staying home, our income was drastically cut. While we would no longer be paying for daycare or as much in gas, we now had to pay our own insurance and the grocery bill would be increasing. How were we going to offset the cost?
I looked around. We already lived on an acreage. I had gardened some in the past, and was getting pretty good at it. Why not take it to the next level and have the garden provide as much of our food as we could!
And so it began, in more earnest. I planted more of what I knew we would consume and less of the extra stuff. I learned how to preserve our food supply for the winter. I also started learning how to grow more of the vegetables my family liked, so we weren’t buying as much at the store.
The garden is still expanding and growing. I use the winter to learn more about the next vegetable or fruit I want to grow. I take notes and perfect the methods for our farm. I’m playing with double cropping and starting a permaculture orchard now.
What started as a fear of not being able to buy enough groceries, has turned into a huge garden with the potential to meet 80% (currently around 50%) of our family’s veggie and fruit needs when it is all mature. All this from not giving into the fear, but stepping back and looking for the opportunity in the fear.
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How do you learn to trust your gut? What does trusting your gut even mean? Trusting your gut is that small voice or feeling inside that says something is right or wrong. It’s a small feeling that can easily be ignored, but when listened to, more often than not, is correct.
We have been conditioned to think logically, ignore our feelings, and listen to the professionals. Here’s the problem with that. Professionals only know the average normal of a population. They do not know what your normal or your child’s normal is.
So how do you learn to hear that small voice of intuition again? One moment at a time. I find that I have the biggest gut feelings, when a big decision is at hand. So often I have ignored the feeling that something wasn’t right, because logically and using reasoning everything made sense.
I started learning to listen to and trust my gut again, by simply listening and tuning in. Did the situation feel right? Did something seem off, even a little bit. Does something seem to be missing? Many times it is a feeling that something just doesn’t seem right. I can’t put my finger on it or explain right away, but if I step back, investigate or wait, I find the answer.
When it comes to my kids or me and seeking medical care, I tune in carefully. I press for answers, not just “it’s normal”. A good example is this spring I started bleeding abnormally. Concerned for my baby, I sought the expertise of my provider. It was recommended that I go in to be checked, because the color and amount of blood was concerning. After countless hours in the ER, baby was fine, but they weren’t sure why I was bleeding so heavily. So the next day we had follow up appointments with an OBGYN. We discussed possibilities, and had another ultrasound which revealed a large subchorionic hematoma laying fairly close to my cervix. At least we now knew what was the cause, but no one was sure why it happened in the first place. We still aren’t, though we have some suspicions.
I pushed for answers, trusting my gut, which gave us answers and a direction.
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As mommas, typically we are also incharge of the food in our home. Although sometimes this is the dad’s responsibility. Cooking has generally been my job, even when I was working away from home. Part of that is being married to a farmer. He comes home when the work is done or it is dark.
One of my hardest week to week decisions is what to cook when. I have a few quick meals for when we’ve stayed outside too long, but those get old in a hurry if I don’t mix it up. So how do I mix it up and still keep everything spinning? Meal plan. Now how do you do that?
The best way I’ve found for me so far is a white board, cook books, and an inventory list (in my head usually or written), and 30 minutes. I’ve found the white board works great, because it is quick to look at and I can erase as I go or leave it there for next week if I didn’t actually make it. My meal plans are usually more like guides for the week so I have an idea what to make before everyone is hangry and we are eating rice again.
Step 1. Take inventory of what you have in the pantry, keep it in your head, or write it down on a running list.
Step 2. Grab your white board or planner (whatever to write your meals on), grocery list, cook books, and timer.
Step 3. Set your timer for 30 minutes, it's a mental game that helps to keep you focused.
Step 4. Open your cookbooks and start looking for recipes that stick out or sound good to you. Look at the ingredients. Make sure you have what you need or will be able to go to the store before you cook it. Anything you will need to buy, write on your grocery list. Write the recipe name on your meal plan with the page number.
I like to cook once and reuse it if I can. Depending on the day and recipe whether that is supper or lunch meal. I then use the leftovers to make into other food, or add together for another meal.
Simple and done for the week. The biggest help meal planning is to me is that I don’t have to think about what to cook when the time comes. I have my list and I can pull the meat the night before, so it speeds the cooking process up a bit.
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Tough question, but one most of us will face at some point. Something we loved doing must be put on hold for a time, sometimes known, sometimes unknown. Hobbies or passions are held or altered for different reasons: life circumstance, health, finances.
When this happens there usually is a process of grieving. You deny that you really have to give that hobby up and find ways to still include it. Then you have feelings of anger or frustration that you just can’t make the hobby work. You might try bargaining for time, money, health, to get just a bit more of that passion. Then you fall into a bit of a depression as you long to do what you used to love. Finally you accept that maybe one day you will be able to do your passion again.
Feeling like my passions are being taken away has happened to me recently. I am a strong willed, independent, woman. I love riding horses, and being in my gardens. With the addition of each child my time riding has decreased, but I am ok with that as I still have them and have continued to care for them. My garden has increased as our family has increased, filling much of my used to be riding time, because it is something else I enjoy and the kids can do it with me.
Late this winter however, I saw both of these hobbies start to be limited and felt them being taken away. I had started bleeding heavily during pregnancy and found I had a large subchorionic hematoma. I was put on activity and weight restrictions of 10 pounds, until the bleeding stopped. This made it impossible to feed hay to my horses, help my kids ride, or start yard prep for the garden. At first I was ok, ‘it’ll only be a couple weeks, then I can resume’ (denial). But the two weeks turned into a month and still no end in sight. In total I bled 7 weeks. Even after it was done, I was still advised to keep the lifting light and limit activity so nothing would reinjure.
I was angry. Angry there was no clear reason or answer to why. Angry I couldn’t take care of my portion of the chores, upset I was having to rely on everyone else to feed hay, get feed, pour the feed into the cans, and do the heavy lifting in the gardens.
I then went through a bit of depression as I realized all the things I might not be able to do this summer. Planting was going to be difficult, weeding, mulching. Planting the bushes was out of the question. Clean up in the wind break was on hold. My plants I started suffered, as I didn’t care for them like they needed.
Only recently have I been able to accept that I will not return to full normal activity until months after delivery. That has been helped by being surrounded by friends and family that are willing and able to step in and help, with the chores I cannot do (thank you to my husband, who does the bulk now with his own cattle chores). Friends who come out and help with the big garden days (Nicole and Andrew) and get the digging, mulching, weeding done.
Is it still hard? Yes. I want to do so much and don’t like relying on others to have to help me all the time. I have accepted that some things just won’t happen this year, but there is next year. I also know this is not forever and one day I’ll be back to full speed. But that buggy horse is sounding really good right now….
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Many people are seeking better health, but where do you start? What is the best way to improve your overall health and energy? Simple answer, the food you eat. The complex answer, eating your nutrients from food sources that your body can easily digest and absorb. How do you even start!?! Let me guide you through three simple and easy steps.
First, eliminate the processed food as much as you can from your diet. Processed foods are void of many essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. They are also heavy with preservatives which are difficult for your body to break down and eliminate.
How do you eliminate the processed foods? Shop the outside of the grocery aisles more than the inside. The outside aisles are primarily the fresh and frozen foods. When you do shop the inner aisles, look for simple ingredients. Packages with 5 or less familiar ingredients, and no dyes. If you come across an ingredient you are unfamiliar with, google it.
Second, eliminate refined sugars. Yes that means the cookies. It is ok to have an occasional treat, but sugar feeds inflammation and yeast in your body. By eliminating sugars for a few months, you will starve the yeast and allow your good gut bacteria to repopulate and better digest your food.
How do you know if you have an overgrowth of yeast? An overgrowth of yeast in your mouth, called thrush, shows up as white, bumpy patches on the tongue, inner cheeks, gums, tonsils or throat. You maybe extremely tired and crave sugar/carbs. Recurring urinary or genital infections is another symptom. You could have digestive issues, such as constipation, diarrhea, nausea, gas, cramps and bloating. This is caused by the bacteria imbalance in your gut. Chronic sinus infections that don’t get better with antibiotics or last longer than one month, is another sign. Fungal infections on the skin and nails, such as athlete's foot, ringworm, toenail fungus, rash in warm moist areas, such as the armpits and groin. Yeast overgrowth also causes inflammation in the body, which can lead to joint pain and decreased immune system function.
Third, eat more vegetables. Fresh is best, but frozen works, canned is the next option. Canned is not as good, because some of the nutrients are lost, during the high processing temperatures. Fresh is preferred because these vitamins and minerals are left intact and not denatured. They also are more likely to have active enzymes to help break them down during digestion.
How do I afford more vegetables?!?! Not everyone can grow a huge garden with vegetables for the year. However, everyone can look for the sales. Buy fresh when you can. Farmers market season is coming soon. Visit one and buy fresh. If someone is willing to do a bulk deal take them up on it. Bring it home and freeze what you won't eat in time. Watch local grocery store ads. Fresh and frozen vegetables go on sale occasionally. Stock up when they do. A freezer is an investment, but pays for itself quickly when you can buy large quantities and keep them on hand.
Have more questions on improving your health? Contact me and let's chat!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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What is something you want to pass on to your children? One lesson you want them to remember. I want my children to know and remember that God gave us everything we need, you need to know where to look and how to use it.
When you look around you in nature, you see all different colors, textures, and fragrances. You see beauty in the minor details. But what about when you look closer? The beauty gets even better! Different parts of the plants have different uses, for healing, for poison, and for nutrition.
Throughout time plants have been used for good or bad, healing or poison. As we have moved into a more medically minded society much of this ancient knowledge has been lost. As I have begun my journey in using food and nature as our first line of defense to keep us healthy, and help to heal our bodies when we do become ill, I have come to appreciate much of this old wisdom. Some of it is as simple as lavender or aloe vera for a burn, some more complex like which herbs and spices to use to warm the body and increase the energetics.
Bringing my children along on gathering trips around the yard or when we are cooking or making a salve, helps them to not only learn the plants early, but also how to use and preserve them. They will know how to care for or find the plant they need to heal a wound. How to make the salve or tincture to use in the winter when the plants are not available.
Does this make the process take longer? Most definitely! I will be honest, there are times I would rather just do it by myself, but then I remember the bigger goal. I don’t want to just take care of them now, I want to give them the tools and knowledge to take care of them and their families once I am gone.
I want my children to remember these lessons I am now learning. I want them to remember when times get hard, God provides in many ways. Bow your head and pray for wisdom in what to do or use.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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What is the biggest mistake in pregnancy? This is a loaded question, whose answer will change depending on who you talk to and their experiences. From my experience and research, three of the biggest mistakes come in the form of poor nutrition, medication, and mindset.
Poor nutrition is not just a calorie imbalance, it is an imbalance or deficiency in vitamins and minerals. Proper nutrition can prevent so many complications in pregnancy especially. I’ve talked quite a bit on this before, so I’ll let you check it out here, instead of me repeating myself.
Medicine. Hear me out here, do NOT stop taking a medication your doctor has prescribed without first consulting them and researching. That said, unneeded medicine, that is recommended or prescribed as a blanket policy (like a baby aspirin a day), can hide a lot of imbalances. Medications work by forcing action in the body chemically.
I have come to the conclusion that supporting the body and giving it what it needs to correct the imbalance itself. The body naturally wants to maintain homeostasis, or balance. The body is incredibly beautiful in that it can heal itself if given what it needs, soon enough. Living this way also requires more digging than just taking a pill. It requires digging down to the core problem to find the real reason for the imbalance.
Finally mindset. This is a loaded one to, and one that I will be completely up front and honest. I AM STILL WORKING ON IT. Mindset has huge affects on our overall wellbeing and health. Our mind is another fascinating topic, for another day. In pregnancy, our society has so many stereotypes that we willingly buy into: Pregnancy is supposed to be uncomfortable and birth painful. That is not necessarily so.
Your mindset on how you view pregnancy and birth, starting with something as simple as your words, can change how you view the potential challenges in pregnancy and birth. For example, take the work contraction. Sounds painful right? What about rush? Now which one makes the picture you want during birth: The contractions were intense but manageable, or the rushes were intense but manageable? Changing the word contraction to rush, makes birth less scary.
What are some other words you can change in your language that will change your mindset on pregnancy and birth?
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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What is a personal routine you have? Routines change over the course of time and life. As your life changes, you have to change your routine with the new circumstances.
My routine before children was much different than it was when I am pregnant, which is different than it was with one child, or two children. Life demands that you change. You have to adapt or you break. One of my favorite lines came from a training for camp counselors: “Blessed are the Flexible for they shall not break.”
So what is one of my routines? I am going to share with you my personal supplement routine, as that one is the most consistent. First I am a terrible pill/supplement taker. If I can drink it, or apply, or eat it, I am much more likely to stick with it.
Much of my supplements come in the form of essential oils, they fall into the apply or drink category. I have selected my routine based on imbalances I tend to have in my body: My digestive and toxin elimination systems.
First, Ningxia Red. So many things to say about this one, it is loaded with vitamins and minerals and antioxidants. It is a powerhouse of nutrition in a 2 ounce drink. I like to mix mine with a little Lemon Vitality essential oil or Grapefruit Vitality essential oil, and some Lacroix for an afternoon ‘soda’. Both my kids beg for this drink as well.
At night, I apply Digize essential oil over my intestines. Why? Because I tend to swing from constipation to diarrhea very quickly, even when I am eating clean and avoiding my food sensitivities. Digize helps to keep my system regular and my colon eliminating the build up. I also apply Endoflex essential oil over my liver at night. Why? Endoflex helps to support liver function (your primary detoxer) and hormone balance.
Remember when I said I had imbalances in my toxin removal/digestive systems? If the colon is not removing the toxins from the body (ie. pooping), those toxins your liver worked so hard to get rid of are reabsorbed. This is why I focus on supporting both of these systems as they work so closely together.
Also in my nightly lineup is Progessence Plus. This is a serum that helps to boost progesterone levels in the body. It comes from wild yam extract. This is one that I stop using in the second trimester of pregnancy. Why? By then the placenta is producing enough progesterone an additional progesterone boost is not usually needed.
As far as actual supplements (pill form)? I regularly (not usually every day, as I forget) is Super B, to boost my vitamin B levels. Essentialzyme, to help break down and digest food. Dr. Berg’s Gallbladder formula, because I don’t have a gallbladder which greatly affects my ability to digest some foods and break down potential allergies.
Others that I use regularly? Harmony essential oil. Not really sure how this one works honestly, but I have found if I apply it over my uterus my mood stays so much more balanced over the day. Clary Sage/ Lady Sclareol/ Sclaressence essential oils. These I use only during certain times in my cycle, when I tend to be a little dry and need an estrogen boost to get in the mood. Caution! Use extreme caution with these three when you are pregnant. All three of these are estrogen booster, which can bring on labor if your body is close.
Tell me about your routine! Have questions? Ask me!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
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