10 Things I Said I'd Never Do ...

This started out as part of the About Me page, but it seemed more appropriate for a post, so here it is!

10 things I said I would never do (or never even knew enough about to say I'd never do them!), but now I've done:

1. Give birth naturally - I thought I would be the first one running through the front door of the hospital asking for drugs, but instead chose to give birth naturally at a birth center. I LOVED it.  I cannot recommend the Birth And Women's Center highly enough. Who wouldn't love to have a baby in this room?

2. Cloth Diaper - when going to my birthing classes - for the natural birth I said I would never have - the instructor asked if any of us were considering cloth diapers - my answer was an emphatic NO! Well, fast forward 14 months and my mind was changed. Cloth diapers ain't what they used to be! We now cloth diaper our son full-time and don't plan on every going back. I look forward to using cloth diapers on any future children that God might bless us with.

3. Use cloth wipes - just seems to come naturally with the cloth diapers - it was more work to separate the disposable wipes from the cloth diapers. Now they all go in the same bin and go through the wash together. Plus, they are so much softer and sturdier than disposable wipes!

4. Use cloth 'tissues' - this has been a recent change - I cut up some leftover fleece and we use it for tissues. So much nicer on the nose than the paper ones.

5. Stopped buying 'commercial' cleaning supplies - I have a spray bottle of vinegar/water that is pretty much the household cleaner.

6. Stopped buying paper towels - finally getting some use from the 200 kitchen towels and dishrags that I have bought/been given over the past 10 years!

7. Buying organic - in my early 20's, I would have been happy to exist on Cheetos and Diet Coke and the thought of buying organic produce and other items never even crossed my mind - now I try to buy as much organic produce as we can afford. And, milk is all organic as well.

8. Buy free range meat - Again, never knew enough about this in the past to even say I wouldn't do it, but after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - my thought process has really changed. I am now in the process of buying a quarter of a cow from a local rancher. I'll have to do a post on that when it comes about. I am also hoping to purchase some pastured chickens from the same ranch in the spring.

9. Become a locavore - trying to buy local as much as possible - this came from the book above as well. I never gave a thought to the amount of fuel it took to get me some of the foods I buy in the grocery store. So, I have been trying to support local farmers as much as possible. In Dallas, I loved the White Rock Local Market. All the vendors had to come from within 150 miles of Dallas and they had to grow at least 60% of what they sold - which kept out the resellers. Even better, the vendors all tried to keep to organic practices. We have just moved to Tyler, and since it is smack in the middle of winter, there are no farmers markets, but I am looking forward to checking out East Texas Fresh in the spring.

10. Start a compost pile - this has also come with our recent move. We are now in a house in Tyler, and while I try to buy as much organic food as possible, we are on a limited budget, so, in an effort to help the budget, I am going to try and start a garden this year - grow at least a few things myself. Well, what better way to help along a garden than a little compost. So, we just created a huge pile of leaves, etc., that we raked from the yard and have been adding vegetables, fruit, coffee grounds, etc., from the kitchen. We'll see if we actually get compost. I've never done this before, so I don't really know what I'm doing!

Well, that's it for now, the spring will be bringing more new things for me - like the garden, new farmers market, the search for more local farms and ranches to support. I'll keep you updated!