What is that smell??

So I love Target. Who doesn't right? Just the convenience of being able to buy the new car seat I want, fruit leather, and a cute pink cardigan is fabulous.  I'm there today and I'm all for trying new things which drives my darling husband crazy...so I pick these up. Dried apples.

I get home open them up and start snacking, the bag says they are Great For Snacking so I obey. Mind you I haven't eaten since 8am and it's 1pm so the fact that I'm smelling and tasting chemical doesn't hit me until a few mins later. Now my head kind of hurts and I'm looking up the ingredients: Apples (good), citric acid (ok), sodium metabisulphite (not so good). This is what good ol' Wikipedia says...I will take notes and highlight the best parts :)

Sodium metabisulfite or sodium pyrosulfite is an inorganic compound of chemical formula Na2S2O5. It is used as a disinfectant, antioxidant and preservative agent. How are these words used in the same sentence??

It may cause allergic reactions in those who are sensitive to sulfites, including respiratory reactions in asthmatics as well as in those who do not identify with the condition.

It is used as a cleaning agent for potable water reverse osmosis membranes in desalination systems. It is also used to remove chloramine from drinking water after treatment.

Concentrated sodium metabisulfite can be used to remove tree stumps. <- No. I'm not making this up.

When mixed with water, sodium metabisulfite releases sulfur dioxide (SO2), a pungent, unpleasant smelling gas that can also cause breathing difficulties in some people. For this reason, sodium metabisulfite has fallen from common use in recent times, with agents such as hydrogen peroxide becoming more popular for effective and odorless sterilization of equipment. Aww it's all coming clear now. If you can't smell it it's not there. That works, right??

No Nuking In My House!

We haven't had a microwave since Oct 2009. I know insane! What first lead me to this info was a blog (http://www.4littlemenandgirlytwins.com/) then a documentary called Beautiful Truth (Netflix instant play). It's a bit on the slow side but loads of info! Anyways, they tested a carrot's 'vital energy field' first raw and then cooked in the microwave. You can see this light (vital energy field) shooting out of it in it's raw state and then hardly any light after it's been cooked. Talk about 'dead' food. I looked for a picture but I could only find this...It's a comparison of vital energy fields in an organic Mushroom vs. a commercially grown mushroom (I know.Whoa.) This is what the carrot looked like before and then after the microwave. I'll definitely be doing a post on Organic foods but a picture is louder than words right? Just think about what the average mushroom would look like after a microwave. Scary I know. Why even eat it when it has nothing to give your body?

Moving on....this is from Natural Cures By Kevin Trudeau...Page 395-397 I will take just a few notes.

• 
  
  The soviets took over the research that was started in Berlin, and looked very intently at how eating microwaved food affected the body. They found so many physical ailments that seemed to be caused directly from eating microwaved food that the Kremlin (government of the Soviet Union 1922–1991)banned these machines for use. (Yes I know the microwaves of today are different from the beginning)
• 
  
  Russian researchers found microwaved food had a decreased nutritional value and a significant diminishing of their "vital energy fields" of up to 90%!
• 
  
  Food that is in the microwave, even for just a few seconds, has the B-complex, C, E vitamins virtually destroyed.  These vital nutrients are important for stress reduction and the prevention of cancer and heart disease.
• 
  
  Eating microwaved food has been shown to increase high blood pressure, migraines, dizziness, stomach pain, stress, anxiety, hair loss, appendicitis, cataracts, infertility problems, abnormal hormone levels, adrenal exhaustion, heart disease, memory loss, attention disorders, crankiness, depression, and poor sleep. Wow.
• 
  
  Eating the molecularity altered food alters your blood chemistry as well. Researchers have shown that if you eat organic vegetables that have been cooked in the microwave, your cholesterol rapidly rises.
• 
  
  From Dr. Mercola..."Recent research shows that any food that comes out of a microwave oven suffers severe molecular damage. When eaten it causes abnormal changes in human blood and immune systems."

He gives you an experiment you can do too! Plant seeds in pots and water one with filtered water and one with 'nuked' water and see what happens!! I'm so going to try this. I need to have my mom nuke a bunch of water for me first :) and I'll let you know how it turns out!

So you're sitting back in your chair thinking...'I don't know about all that. It can't be that bad? And it's just so convenient to use. I'm keeping mine. I don't care what this chick says. I grew up with a microwave and I'm fine.' Well I'll say this...'What if. Just what if a small portion of this is true? Could it be possible that we've taken convenience over health? Have we increased the chances of cancer and disease in ourselves? In our kids? I did something about it and now I won't be wondering later on.'

Baby Steps...

We do not have cable. I know, kindda crazy. I would REALLY like no tv period....but that's not going to happen :)  So...I'm over it. 

Christmas 2008 I received The Duggars: 20 and Counting! book. First I'll say it's such an inspiring read whether you have 2 children or 20. Anyways, this is what's on page 30...

'Dr.Wheat (family physician and author) counseled us and encouraged us not to have a TV and not to have any pets during the first year of marriage. He said those things would distract us from each other....After the end of that first year,we got a pet rabbit and a television. We had the cable service hooked up and were instantly glued to the television during every waking moment at home. But the more we watched, the more we realized how bad some of the TV programming was, and we also saw our communication drop off.' (They now only watch educational videos, special events, and sometimes a Razorbacks game.)

Reading this was such a confirmation in what I had been feeling for the last few years but couldn't put into words. I didn't think my husband would be up for it (for sports mostly) but I told The Lord this is what I was feeling and wanted for our family and low and behold when I mentioned it to him he said...'Well, we spend like $60  a month on cable right? We would be saving some money. Long Pause Yeah, lets try it out. We can always turn it back on.' I think I canceled it that next day just in case he changed his mind!

So here we are a year and a half later without cable and we love it. Unknowingly at the moment this was our first step in simplifying our lives. We have Netflix and enjoy it so don't think we don't watch ANYTHING. We just watch things we want to. Here are some other reasons I was concerned about having cable in the home:

- We get to monitor closely what we all watch and no commercials telling us what we "need"
- We don't do Halloween, Santa Clause, or the Easter bunny and the preschool shows my kids watch of   course had these themes for weeks (we did a lot of renting during those seasons)
- My husband and myself don't have to watch all the sex-hyped movie/show previews
- MY kids aren't concerned with the latest toys, cereal, juice, theme parks, etc. We go places of course. Just not because Mickey Mouse or Shamu told us too :)

So! I dare you...no double dare you! Turn off your cable for 3 months, start connecting with your spouse and children. Two things will happen: You may find out you really like the people you live with. OR That you don't know them at all and what a great opportunity to do something about it.

Simple

A Simple Life. What does that mean? And what does it look like? What examples do we have to glean from?

Over the past two years I have felt a tug from The Lord. Only a year ago did I discover what it was. To strip. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) I've found the desire; no the need to start striping our lives of the clutter, the constant moving or need to be doing something or going somewhere. 

Constant busyness leads to discontent. And this is where I find myself. Ourselves really. I see it in myself when I've had a full week of errands and 'to-do's'. I see in my kids when we've watched too much TV or had constant playmates all week. We just can't find peace with ourselves when the box in my planner says...nothing.

So here's my new mission...simplify. Why? I want to cherish these years with my kids and husband and really live in the moment. Jesus has a plan for our family and I don't want to miss it because I'm busy planning on what I'll do in heaven.

You may like the chaos and really thrive on it and be wondering what the heck I'm talking about with this slowing down stuff. But...I can relate. Two years ago I would have said 'I love being busy!' and 8 years ago I would have said 'I thrive under pressure and love it!' So bear with me. I'm excited see where this leads us.