I giggle on the insides when I think of becoming hippie-fied! It all started a few years back. Brylee had just turned one and all of sudden we couldn't keep her bottom clear of terrible diaper rashes. I was tired of putting medication on her bum every diaper change...we switched from pampers (which I loved) to huggies hoping that would make a difference...nope....so I started secretly researching cloth diapers. I had tons of friends who did this but I always thought they were a little crazy for doing it! I mean, you have to wash out poop and who needs another load of laundry to do??? When I thought of cloth diapers the image of prefolds kept together with pins and the white covers (that you can still get from walmart) over them came to my mind....but I was desperate for my sweet girl to have a clear bottom. I didnt mention it to Tim because I knew he would laugh out loud and tell me flat out NO.....but....one day he came home and caught me red handed looking up cloth diapers....he said "are you thinking of cloth diapering Brylee?" I hesitantly said, "possibly... I mean... I don't know..." yes, I was stuttering and choosing my words carefuly! He then said, "if you want to try it I will support you and do it with you." and that is what started our journey of becoming hippies! We researched, found what we thought was economical (since at the time we weren't having any more kids) and made our first order! Obviously, we fell in love!
The next step to becoming a hippie family came not long after that when I decided I wanted us to start eating a little more healthy. We already ate what we though to be healthy but I wanted to make a few changes....this came a little harder to pull over Tim but with the encouragement of our doctor in Charleston, we made some minor changes to what we bought at the grocery store...then the next summer we even started our own garden..some organic seeds, some not...but a chemical free garden! We loved the whole process!
Not long after cloth diapering I started looking into making our own cleaners and laundry detergent. I went at it from the stand point of saving money...We had just went from a 2 person income down to a one so I could stay home with Brylee and I knew Tim would come more likey to trying these things if it was from a financial stand point! HA! I was right......we started making our own detergent and some household cleaners! Let me say I love our detergent and all purpose cleaner and window cleaner... however I never did find a recipe for bathroom cleaner that I liked...oh well, method works great =) I should say this though...when it comes to making laundry detergent, I may have made it the first two times, with the help of my lovely husband, but it quickly became something he loved to do and he took over it! He makes all of our laundry detergent now and has for a few years.... he is a huge advocate of it and spread the news all of the time... he even helped a friend of ours that was about to have twins learn to make it... they had themselves a little laundry making party at our house one night! (I thought it was pretty cute!)
The last adventure we have taken started a few weeks back....and we are back to foods....we have meal planned with e-meals for 3 years now and have loved it....it took out the fight of whats for dinner...it cut down on our grocery bill...and it has given me some amazing recipes....just a few weeks ago I was thinking of changing things up a bit and wanted to eat a little healthier and was thinking of changing our meal plan to a different one offered by e-meals when a friend posted a blog about the frest 20... I looked into it but was kind of skeptical... I didnt know if my family would eat the kind of meals they plan.... but at this time, Tim was making huge changes in his diet...he had cut out almost all artificial sweetners...he was trying to make healthier decisions with food and I knew I needed to join him... So, I asked him what he thought of changing our meal plan to The Fresh 20.... I told him a little about it and showed him a sample meal plan. he quickly said it sounds great! I was going to wait until our e-meals subscription ran out but he encouraged me to go ahead and make the switch. We could always switch back to emeals after the 3 month subscription of The Fresh 20 if we didnt like it.....So I ordered it and we are on our second week! Let me say we havent had a meal yet that we dont like! They have been amazing and i know they are good for us and for our three miracles! The meals are centered around 20 fresh ingredients each week. My fridge is all of the sudden full of greens, and yellows...and reds..... and my pantry is kind of empty. I am cooking with a lot of herbs and fresh veggies and we are LOVING IT!!! Tim and I are loving cooking together...some of the meals take a little time to prepare but we both love to cook and it is sooo worth the time! (There is a way to cut down on the time in the kitchen though and the meal plan tells you how each week.) I found out this past week that Tim loves cooking with me.... I never knew that... We've been married for over 6 years and I didnt know! I knew he loved to cook but never thought it mattered whether he cooked with me or not. When we started this plan two weeks ago, he told Darbie, "mom is getting hippie again and we are changing the way eat and what we eat!"
I used to think the term "hippie" was bad...ugly...old fashioned...i dont know but I can tell you that if breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, detergent and household cleaner making,buying as much organic food that we can afford, and cooking with I'd say 75-80% fresh ingredients is "hippie....then that I am....and Tim Hill, you are a hippie lover!
