The world through her eyes...

My oldest daughter, Emma, has always loved taking pictures. I began letting her use my camera to take pictures when she was about 2 years old, she is almost 5 now, and I am pretty impressed with how great she is at it! As I have mentioned before, I love looking at the pictures she takes, and seeing the world through her eyes. I would like to start sharing them with you (hey, what can I say, I am a proud mama!)

Here are a few she took last year...

flowers on the steps

her baby sister

her proud mama!

And some of her most recent work...

a self-portrait

chasing Abby through the hall

When I see these pictures, it reminds me of a time when everything in the world was new, exciting, and special. As we get older, we become more focused on the things we must do, and forget to appreciate the little, exciting things all around us. I want to begin taking a moment each day and reminding myself of all of the wonderful little things that surround me.

My New Recipe Project

Many people ask me what I eat as a gluten-free vegan. It does become a little complicated and unconventional when you are unable to eat anything containing wheat, oats, barley, rye, beef, poultry, pork, eggs, dairy, or any other product made from an animal. Sometimes, I am even at a loss as to what to eat! I find that I have become increasingly bored with my current menu, and cooking at home rarely happens anymore.

Luckily, my amazing sister gave me a wonderful cookbook, The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien. It contains 150 interesting and yummy recipes that are perfectly suited for my diet. It has given me some new motivation to cook, really cook, at home and make healthy, delicious, and exciting recipes for me and my girls. My goal is to test each of the new recipes out and share them with you. Then, maybe you can try them out for yourself, or at least find some inspiration to try to incorporate some vegetarian meals into your diet.

Say No to TV!

It is amazing to me just how much of the American culture is influenced by the media, especially television. For most it is a way of life, it's what you do when you are at home. It has become a main conversation topic at dinner and amongst co-workers, it is how we relate to others.

When I was moving out on my own in May 2010, I did not personally own a TV, and I chose to keep it that way. I barely watched TV anymore, and I was finding much more interesting things to do other than staring at this glowing box in my living room for hours on end. I had become tired of the ridiculous drama of reality TV and bored with the predictable comedies. Plus, I was finding myself feeling completely irritated and guilty over the fact that my oldest daughter, Emma, would sit and watch TV all day. She would be absolutely devastated when I told her she had to turn it off or that she couldn't watch it for a while. I didn't want my daughter to be so influenced by the media. I wanted her to actually be a kid! You know run and play, go on adventures in the backyard, play dress up, ride a bike, draw, just be creative!

When others find out that I do not own a TV, their reactions make me laugh. It is usually a response of true concern. To them, I am obviously a struggling single mother that cannot afford a TV. There is generally a long pause followed by an offer of an extra they have somewhere. It's hilarious! It's only when they find out that it is by choice that they think I am insane. I always get asked what we do all day without it. My response is, "everything". We go for walks, bike rides, go to the park, read books, draw pictures, play dress up...we live. I refuse to go on the rest of my life simply coming home to watch other peoples lives; I choose to live my own. I choose to raise my children without the constant pressure of the media telling them that they are not good enough and that what we have is not good enough.

I can honestly say that I have felt a release of the pressures I felt before. I am no longer concerned about the latest styles and trends, or which celebrity is the hottest, or which is the trendy decorating style. Consequently, I have saved so much money without feeling that I need go get the latest, hottest things. It is a freedom of sorts. It allows me to simply be me. My girls are also calmer, more creative, and even more sociable.

Maybe it seems to be a bit much for you to throw out your TV; however, I do encourage you to try to live without it a little more. Find new hobbies. Get out and be active. I am sure you will find that you are better off living your life without it.

The Butterfly Effect

"The idea that one butterfly could eventually have a far-reaching ripple effect on subsequent historic events" - Wikipedia.

That pretty much sums up my theory on life, but let me explain...

I grew up thinking that my life was going to end up a certain way. No matter what I did to try to make things different, things weren't going to change for me. This is just how life is. But deep down I knew there had to be a different way, a better way. I just had no clue as to what it was.

Then, I had an awakening of sorts. I was in college taking sociology, western civilization, and speech in one semester, and the combination was perfect! My western civ and sociology classes were unveiling myths about American culture (I'll go into more detail about them another time, trust me!) that I had never thought about before, and my speech class forced me (a very shy and quiet young girl) to form opinions, back them up, and tell them to a room full of people. And I began forming strong opinions about the American culture and the way we the American people just blindly followed along. Only now I had some facts and research to back them up. It was liberating to finally start being the person I wanted to be. I began studying art more intensively. I became a vegetarian. I dyed my hair black (I was always a blonde and from a family of blondes). I pierced my nose. As silly as all that may sound, I finally felt free!

However, my life was turned upside-down. I met a guy, fell "in love", and got married and pregnant way too young. I won't go into any details, but I definitely lost the person I discovered I was, and my new found freedom slowly slipped away. I stopped going to church. I felt completely void of all the passion for life I once had.

So here I am now five years, two kids, one divorce, and plenty of life lessons and experience later and I am finding more joy in life than ever! I have definitely learned through my experiences that no matter what happens in life, you have to find joy in what you have and make the absolute most out of it! I know that if you do not like the way your life is going, you can definitely change it! In the beginning, it was hard though. Here I was a 25 year old single mother of two with no degree. I could never obtain the "American Dream". According to society, I had screwed up my life. I would just have to go on struggling, working three jobs, going to school, and letting someone else raise my kids. Then, maybe someday I'd meet a nice man that would take care of us...I don't think so! I knew I could make my life awesome by doing what I felt was right:

• simple, natural living
• loving my children and investing in them as individuals
• taking care of this amazing planet that God put us on
• taking care of the bodies He created for us
• loving everyone, no matter what they look like or what race, religion, or social class they might be

I think the world as we know it now is so sad. People working away their entire lives for stuff, (for more on this please watch The Story of Stuff) all the while losing the most important substance and joy in their lives.

I want to make the world a better place, and I really feel that it can be done if we all can come together, working towards something better. I know no matter how little the changes I make for myself and my family might be, it is creating a butterfly effect. These small changes, in time, may revolutionize things. At least I know it has for me.