Things that I do that I Never Imagined I would do

A few days ago I read a post titled Confessions of an Earth Club Dropout, on smallnotebook.org.  It inspired me to think about how far I've come in the past several years.

Things that I'm doing that I never thought I would be doing:

 I have had two homebirths... I always thought people who did this were crazy.  I would never change a thing about those births.  They were amazing, beautiful, and empowering.

I am an advocate for natural childbirth, and have done it twice... I used to wonder why people would go through that pain if they didn't have to... after having done it twice, I understand why!

I'm currently working really hard to breastfeed even though I have low supply issues (I stopped with the last two because it was difficult and won't do that again!).  I use herbal tinctures to help with this issue.

I wear Levi often (and I wore Ethan)... I love my sleepy wrap and I can't wait until I can use my Ergo carrier (when he gets bigger).

I cloth diaper Ethan, and will start cloth diapering Levi very soon.  I'm just waiting until he's big enough to fit in them :).

I grind my own flour (using hard white winter wheat berries!) and bake most of my own breads, biscuits, muffins, etc. (and I plan to start making my own tortillas, crackers, etc again soon).

I make most foods from scratch, and what I don't make from scratch, I read the labels carefully.

I avoid hormones and antibiotics in meats and dairy.  I try to only buy from local farmers when possible.

I make homemade yogurt.

I buy raw milk when I can, and buy most of my meat from a farm.

I use mostly natural sweeteners such as sucanat, agave, maple, raw honey, etc.

I use coconut oil and real butter because I have found that they are actually healthy.

I'm selective and delayed on vaccines.

I no longer use hormonal birth control.

I use natural and/or homemade personal care products, cleaners, and detergents (I'm working on improving in this area).

I rarely wear makeup or any other products (including nail polish).

I use reusable bags at the grocery store.

I plan to homeschool our kiddos (never thought I would be able to stay home... and I thought homeschooling was crazy).

I actually enjoy menu planning and grocery shopping.

Robert and I are talking and praying about adoption in a few years to add to our family and to give an orphan a home.

We now only have an antenna for t.v.... and we hardly watch it!


Some things that I plan to do eventually... and some goals that I have:

I will eventually have chickens in my backyard for eggs (and maybe enough one day for meat).

I would love to have goats for milk (and if you ask Karis, she wants goats too!).

I want to get to a place in which I make everything from scratch, eat in the dining hall much less (go back to only lunch... that will never change because I think it's important for the kids to be with their daddy), drink no soda (right now I drink one as a treat every once in a while), and don't eat out at all except for date nights (we've gotten much better, but still have a long way to go).

I want to try homemade deodorant, soap, and toothpaste.

I want to get back to making all of my cleaners and detergents. 

Get back to doing lessons/activities for Karis, and start doing some for Ethan.




What things do you do that you never would have imagined doing?  What are some things that you would like to start doing or plan to start doing?  What are some personal goals that you have?