The Beginning

Wow, I have done it, I have gone and created yet ANOTHER blog. Blogger and I have been good friends now since our introduction in 2000. Of course, I have deleted most of my old blogs, blame it on my youth I guess :-)

Let's start with an introduction, shall we? My name is Heather, I am 26 and am married to the most wonderful man in the world, we will just call him husband until I get his permission to actually use his name here :-) I am an accountant and love it. We just bought a house, and are in the process of remodeling it...and it is taking a very long time. During all of the hoopla I got to thinking more about where my food comes from, why I, as a Christian, am not doing all I possibly can to preserve the wonderful creation that our God has given us, and just thinking in general about how I can simplify my life.

I guess it all started way back when I was still in college, can I say way back? Sometimes I feel like it has been forever since I was in college, but I'm not that old! Let's say that I love TV, and especially reality TV. Well, one day, while I am in my apartment and flipping through the channels, I come to PBS. Now, just an aside (one of many I'm sure), I really enjoy the programming on PBS. It is always educational, and considering the amount of TV I used to watch, a little education now and again is a good thing :-). OK, so I come to a show called "Frontier House." It is about 3 families who travel back in time, not literally, to the 1880's when people were going out west to stake their claim on a nice chunk of land. It was interesting to see people from present day America travel to this completely foreign idea of living. It was awesome to see people baking and taking care of the animals, and living in such a natural way. Of course, when the show came to a close, I went back to my accounting classes, going out to eat every other day, buying whatever electronics I could get my hands on, and generally not conserving anything. I didn't even attempt recycling. I was completely at odds with the world, and could have cared less.

Now, let's fast forward here to February, 2007. The husband and I are in the process of remodeling...extensively. We are eating frozen meals just about everyday, which totally sucks since I LOVE TO COOK. I mean obsessively love cooking. There had been a bunch of recalls recently on food, baby spinach, cat and dog food, salmonella in peanut butter. Then there was one that didn't get as much attention, which I thought it should, Earth's Best Organic Baby Food. Apparently the baby food may have been contaminated and contain Clostridium botulinum which can cause botulism. Are you kidding me?! Even ORGANIC food was dangerous. OK, so that is not usually the case, but it still freaked me out.

When all of this happened I started researching like crazy. People at work call me the google queen, although I do use blackle.com now because it is supposed to use less energy due to the black screen. I found out that each ingredient in my meals traveled an average of 1200 miles to get to my plate. Then I found out that amazingly enough I had a local AND organic farm just 2 miles down the road from where I live, and a local AND organic meat farm just a couple miles from where I work. Amazing what information the internet provides someone.

Now I am starting this journey of self discovery. I am trying to be closer to my creator and also making my home healthier for my husband and me. There are so many things that I want to do, but I don't even know where to begin. I find that writing helps me find the path. I guess it maybe some type of prayer to God, and listening to Him. I hope that I can make the changes that I so desperately want to make...but as I continue to research and make goals, I realize I can only take baby steps. Welcome to my journey.