Attitude

Reality Farm Style

Liz James · May 22, 2018 ·

A couple of weeks ago, I left a post on my Wellness Prepper’s Facebook page that is really the ‘middle’ of this story of mine. If you know me, you know that I am a lover of animals… I connect with them in ways that most people do not. That said, the evolution of my life (and my thought processes) will likely not make much sense without an explanation. Explanations can answer questions, open a can of worms, or do both. I don’t dread talking about this topic one on one, but writing to the masses who have no idea how much heart I put into caring for my animals is a scary thing indeed. So, that said, I ask you to read onward with a thoughtful mind.

I believe in doing the right thing and living my life transparently. I am what you see and strive to be the same person in all situations. There is no ‘work personality’, ‘farm personality’, ‘church personality’ etc. One of my strongest traits is that of a protector. If I see a wrong, I work towards making it right….. ESPECIALLY if I realize I may have inadvertantly been part of the problem thru lifestyle, ignorance, or social design. (This post is not about my ‘pharm’ life, but this trait has been the driving force behind my personal growth in holistic well care as kind of kismetic gift to those in my world who have struggled with health solutions because they were led to belive that only western medicine philosophy held the right answers).

Nope. This post is about my farm life, and all that it represents. We do a large amount of animal rescue, and have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars caring for those animals who otherwise would not be given a chance. We have foregone so much ‘free time’ that I can’t even imagine what it would be like NOT to have the beautiful responsibility of caring for all the unique lives God entrusted us. I cry (believe me, I CRY) every time we lose a life around here… my heart breaks. God patches it with His presence, and I move on. In farming, when an animal is involved, there is going to be death. Sometimes it is a natural death (common within our poultry flock…. we lose one every so often to natural causes), and sometimes it is a pre-ordained destiny. This is the case with the male offspring of our dairy cows.

Before you throw me under the bus (or tractor), please hear me out. I refuse to be an intentional hypocrit in my life, and strive to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. As a world, we cannot avoid meat products and byproducts. Unless you are the most concientious vegan on the planet, your daily life likely incorporates multiple beef byproducts in it:

of course there is the obvious: meat, milk, and butter
oleo (from fats) for margarine and shortening (NOT the same thing as butter)
gelatin used in marshmellows, ice cream, chewing gum, and certain candies & food items
leather….. but also the base product for felt and many other textiles
the base ingredient for many ointments, lipsticks, face and hand creams
the binder for asphalt, plaster, and certain types of insulation
footballs
industrial lubricants and oils. Renderings are used in the production of chemicals, biodegradable detergents, pesticides, and flotation agents.
buttons, piano keys, glues, fertilizer, and gelatin for photographic film, paper, wallpaper, sandpaper, and violin string.
more than 100 medicines currently on the market, including bovine based insulin for diabetics.
sutures

So you see, some of these are daily use items we simply cannot avoid. Yes, I agree… there should be a vegan solution for all of them, and in some cases there are… but in many cases, there is not. I certainly respect those who live a vegan lifestyle, but the reality is….. nobody on this planet is fully vegan.

The second part of the equation is this…. if you are a carnivore, are you an educated one? Unless you are eating humanely raised meat, do you have any idea of the quality of life an animal leads from birth to death? For the vast majority, life is uncomfortable, unnatural, stressful, and without kindness. It is easier to block this from your mind, and so most people do. They prefer to pick up their packaged meat and blind themselves as to how it arrived at the store. Feedlot raised animals and Factory Farming are abhorrent practices that should be outlawed…. but they’re not.

I once was blind, but now I see.

I challenge you to click on the link above to learn the facts, and I believe you will understand the message I am trying to convey here. The vast majority of farm animals are treated as objects. Their lives have no value in the eyes of the beholder (unless you are talking about $/lb hanging weight). There is no appreciation for the life that is sacrificed so that the consumer can eat a hamburger or steak, and certainly not for the lesser things…. the glue, binder, ointments, etc.

This is NOT the case on our farm.

We can be part of the problem, and turn a blind eye, or we can be part of the solution, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. For in our discomfort, we are compassionate.

When a bull calf is born, we celebrate his healthy birth, but with a bit of sadness. One of the byproducts of our liquid gold (raw milk) sometimes is a bull calf. That bull calf will eventually be old enough, after living a well loved life, grazing without fear in our pasture, with no stress, plenty of space, and with a small herd. He will have plenty of natural forage to eat, fresh water to drink, and shelter from the elements. He will be able to enjoy the sunshine, and will play with his peers. Life will be good. Believe it or not, I begin praying for him and thanking God for his healthy birth, and for the sacrifice he will be made so that some of our friends can have healthy and safe meat (grass fed, nonGMO, hormone free, antibiotic free, chemical free). We have hand chosen the processor we use. He is one of the few animal welfare approved processsors in this area of Texas. The end comes without stress for him. As for me, I drive them myself. It is a rough trip, and I cannot say it is stress free for me, because still…. my heart breaks. I say prayers of thanksgiving the entire 140 miles round trip. Do I enjoy this aspect of farming? Heck no. But this is reality… not just for us, but for everyone. We don’t condone what Factory Farming does, so we provide a better way for a small handful of cattle over our lifetime. Like the starfish principle…. we are making a difference to the ones we raise this way.

People have asked me how we can do this, and I respond…. how could we not? We could put our heads in the sand and sell the calves and pretend we don’t know what happens to them. For the record, most dairy calves end up at the sale barn unless they are replacement heifers. They also end up in veal cages (the worst case scenario for a calf). Our calves stay with their mama’s and are dam raised (as opposed to removed from their mama and given powdered milk replacer instead of the good stuff….. another common practice). They stay with them for several months before they are weaned.

The average dairy cow lives a life of about 5 years before being culled (that’s a nice way of saying killed). Our granny cow (retired) Clementine is somewhere around the age of 15. We have two more that are 7+ years old, with a long life in front of them. They have time to recover from each birth and milking season before repeating the process.

Walking the talk is not easy, but it is the right thing to do. It has given me the true meaning of praying over our meals, and the sacrifices it took to get it there. Mealtime prayers frequently get overlooked or understated. Rote. Not in our home.

I doubt this process will ever get easy for me, and I honestly, I hope it never does. Discomfort ensures compassion and gratitude, something we all need more of.

Hugs and Love, liz

It’s Not Just the Water

Liz James · March 21, 2018 ·

We’ve lived on our farm for nearly 24 years. When we first moved here, our hometown, Anna, Texas was population 900. Today, I believe it is pushing 10,000. Although we’ll likely never move, we’ve learned some valuable lessons about buying property, utility companies, and government. All these things would play a part in a ‘do over’ if that were possible in life.

Little towns everywhere (but especially those within an hour or so of booming metroplexes) are frequently the assailed and hostaged of the aforementioned entities. Things happen. Deals are made behind closed doors. Money exchanges hands. The voices are too few to fight back. In a town of 900, those who try to fight are easily outnumbered by big business and big government. It is tragic. There is a difference between growth and what I can only call a hostile takeover of urban life. Residents in small town USA bear the brunt of the outcome.

In the last 24 years we have fought:

Enormous power lines delivering power to other cities, all while emitting dangerous levels of EMF’s to those who are forced to live close to them due to eminent domain laws. These laws allow the power company to place these things on private citizen property). We’ve fought this battle more than once.
An enormous landfill (aka: The Dump). This was a long hard and lost battle with the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). The deal was done and small towns in our area were dealt a blow once again. It wasn’t even our trash…. it is trash from Dallas and other surrounding large cities. A back door deal that eventually landed a local mayor in jail a few years back when it all came out. Too late tho. The deal was done.
And now, the water. Thankfully, our personal water supply does not come from this company (Is it any coincidence that the same company manages both water and trash?) ….. but I work and serve people within our community who have been deeply impacted. Groups of us have attempted to speak against the water quality for months (if not years), and have been hushed, pacified, and condescended to. I spoke at a city council meeting many months ago regarding the impact that I, as a pharmacist, saw on local resident’s health. Anna, Texas truly is one of the most nauseous towns (I mean this literally) I’ve ever filled prescriptions for. I determined years ago, that it had to be the water. No other explanation fit. Local Facebook groups had long discussions about it… but still nothing was done.

Last week, Erin Brockovich (yes, that one!) drew the NTMWD into the spotlight for the quality of water it has been delivering to its people. Hundreds upon thousands of families. No longer is this a small town situation. Thank God. I’ve seen mention more than once that Anna, Texas might be of particular concern.

If you’d like to read more about this particular fight, please read on here.

Suddenly, we have thousands of people interested and concerned about their health and their personal safety. We are such a litigious society these days….. it’s so easy to place blame for woes we have (on others) without giving due introspection on how we ourselves have played a part.

Friends, the water quality is important and we do need to fight it hard…. but it is a ‘drop in the bucket’ (excuse the pun) when you look at the bigger picture. The chemicals in the water are causing rashes and other health concerns. This is truth ya’ll, and unfortunately, we have no choice but to use the water that is supplied to each of us.

I know thousands of families in this area buy and drink bottled water to circumvent the crummy tap water, but this still leaves themselves exposed to the SAME chemicals when they take a shower or bath. Our skin is not like saran wrap…. keeping everything out. On the contrary…. it is our largest organ and absorbs chemicals like a sponge. (Precisely the reason that drugs applied topically have a systemic effect! ).

Now, here comes the self introspective part of this post that may hurt a little …. people are squealing about the water quality…. which we pay for and have no choice but to allow into our homes…..But what about the items we DO have the choice on what we do or don’t bring into our homes? These things cause equal damage (if not greater)…. and yet you may unconsciously do this every day.

Toxic words to look for in your products:
Fragrance (about 300 chemicals hide behind that word)
Dyes of any sort (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green)
SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulfate)

This is only 3 in a LOOOONG list of harmful chemicals that are in nearly all standard body care products.

We point fingers at the water company who is doing us wrong , but we may also need to begin to take a close look at ourselves too ….. are we grabbing things at the store that are also causing insidious damage? Just because it’s for sale, doesn’t mean it’s safe……. case and point with our water source. Our government does not do an adequate job of regulating chemicals in our country…. again… just look at this water situation.

I know many of my friends have also realized this over the years and now make conscious decisions when buying products…. whether that be food, house cleaning supplies, or personal care products.

The problem, is that now we have companies who operate on subterfuge to sell…. they brand themselves as ‘healthy alternatives’ but then slip in damaging chemicals. One bad apple then spoils the barrel. Take a look at this article by Food Babe (one of my vocal heroes) on the company LUSH as an example: https://foodbabe.com/lush-bath-bombs-not-think/…… and DANG, their products aren’t cheap ($8.95 for a bath bomb?)

I put my pharmacist detective hat on each time I look at a product… and for a long time, that made shopping incredibly time consuming. Over 4 years ago, I found Young Living, and quit reading labels. Originally, it was about the incredible health properties of their oils (because I believe in doing life’s ups and downs naturally instead of with man made chemicals), but YL has evolved into my ‘everything company’. I pretty much just shop once a month for TRULY non-toxic body care products and household cleaning supplies (and yes, they have bath bombs that actually have heal-th benefits, smell great, and cost less than Lush’s… or, you can make your own if you are a DIY’er for even cheaper!).

diy shower bombs

People argue that living healthy is expensive, but I would argue that just the opposite is true. Studies have found that people spend (on average) 16x more on their health on the backside (when all heck has broken out in your body), versus taking care of things up front by eliminating toxic chemicals, exercising, eating right, etc. Our environment really does determine (90%) our health outcome, and we have to take some personal responsibility for creating that environment.

I see the ramifications of NOT doing these things every day I work at the pharmacy and it breaks my heart. It is the reason I have slowly stepped back (not yet completely away) from pharmacy and looked toward ways to help people become whole again. Dolphin MPS, Health Coaching, Christian Yoga teacher training, Young Living product education, other holistic modalities…. all of this. The need for repair in our bodies is HUGE and we need more people being part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

But it starts with what we choose to allow into our own homes …. and that starts with us as individuals…. you and me.

If you aren’t sure where to start, reach out to someone you know who is already walking this path. We all had someone lead us initially too, and I don’t know any one who isn’t happy to share tips and life hacks on how to live a healthier life.

To learn more about the personal care products that Young Living offers, you can take a gander at my Young Living store.

Even our makeup usually contains ‘dirty’ ingredients. Young Living has that covered as well.

Be Well my friends ~

Hugs and love, Liz
#itstartswithpersonalchoice
#todaysthedaytobeginmakingchanges

Joy Comes In The Morning

Liz James · December 3, 2017 ·

One of my passions in life is pursuing all manners of sustainability. I believe that whatever you are passionate about overflows into all areas of your life.

I was sitting in an airport back in June watching people. Summer is a huge family vacation time. Vacation should be synonymous with Happy, right? And yet…. the vast majority did not appear to be all that happy. Granted, flying isn’t necessarily fun anymore, but still… where was the joy in the journey? During the flight, I had a growing conviction that I needed to do more in life to spread Joy and Happiness to others. I started researching and found that I am not alone in this. Did you know that there are actually college classes now on finding happiness? Seriously. Are we that bankrupt on happiness and joy as a country that college classes are needed to find it?

This month, with the help of some friends, we’ve got a Facebook event called Project Joy and Happiness! If you’d like to join us, feel free to do so. Our goal is to spread holiday cheer this December, and hopefully teach others how to spread both where ever they go year round. Let’s make Joy and Happiness contagious emotions! We’ve got science, psychology, posts that bring a smile to your face, and even weekly giveaways.

But wait, aren’t Joy and Happiness the same thing? Uh….no. Happiness is an emotion reserved for moments in time. Joy is the sustainable emotion…. once you choose Joy, it stays with you as long as you continue to choose it. (You’ll learn all about the nuances of Joy vs Happiness in the Facebook event).

Yesterday, I saw the greatest testimony to the difference between Joy and Happiness. It came in the form of a funeral.

You see, a friend within our Young Living family lost their daughter Layla last month to childhood cancer. Her parents, Bryan & Sara, held her celebration of life service yesterday. It was a true celebration, with balloons, snow cones, fun for the kids that attended, bright colors and happy music.

No, this was not a happy event. Happy is not a word that describes a funeral. Ever. And yet….. the service was filled with smiles, laughter, and many many tears. Tears that were joy filled and sadness filled simultaneously. This is the difference between Happiness and Joy. You can’t be happy and sad simultaneously, but you CAN be joyful and sad simultaneously.

Biblically speaking, deep within Psalm 30 you see the words “….Joy comes with the morning”. Joy also comes TO the mourning when a child of God meets Jesus face to face. I believe that celebrating the beautiful life of a beautiful girl who is now sitting on the lap of Jesus is worthy of Joy. Nobody is happy that she is gone, but thousands of her friends are filled with Joy that she is now in the presence of her heavenly Father and is healed.

I can think of no better example of Joy than this.

In all my researching these last 6 months, I found that one of the things that boosts your happy and joy quotient is giving without respect to what you might receive in return. If you’d like to help Stamp Out Childhood Cancer (a 501c3 nonprofit), please consider donating in memory of Layla Stamp (nothing would bring her parents greater Joy than that). Please visit LaylaStrongFoundation.org for more information. I am 100% in favor of practicing what I teach….. so when donating to LaylaStrongFoundation, please reference The Wellness Prepper (in the message section of your paypal donation), and we (Charlie and I) will match donations up to a cumulative amount of $1000.

Find your Joy today my friends, and celebrate! Joy lasts a lifetime. Happiness comes and goes depending on the situation.

Hugs and Love, Liz

Top O’ The World(or at least the chimney)

Liz James · August 2, 2017 ·

Henri has not yet revealed her babies to us. We can tell they are still nursing, so we just have to assume they are ok. Surely we’ll see them soon!

Squirrels are such interesting little characters. They truly are one of God’s cheeky little creatures….. full of sass and impertinence. As vulnerable as they are, you’ve got to give them credit for ingenuity and confidence…. well, until their indecisiveness kicks in when they are trying to cross a road!
I was curious about literary greats who used squirrels in their works. (Don’t ask me why… it was a squirrel moment for me.) Sadly, squirrels don’t seem to portend anything happy or good according to a list I found…. at least in literature. But for me, they are a symbol of joy with a dash of bossiness thrown in for good measure!

I did find this poem in my search. It’s clever. I read a fair amount of RWE in high school and college. He too apparently saw sass and impertinence in our fox tailed friend!

The Mountain And The Squirrel
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel,
And the former called the latter
“Little prig.”
Bun replied,
“You are doubtless very big;
But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together
To make up a year
And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I’m not so large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry:
I’ll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track.
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut.”

Source

Y’all have a blessed day,
Liz

Know Your Source

Liz James · March 19, 2017 ·

Earlier this week I made a comment in a gardening post, and I wanted to expand on that a little more. The comment made was in regards to the purity of our gardening bounty and how important it is to know both your source and how your food (ie: the plants or animals) is cared for from seed (or birth) to the farm table.

As you might have guessed by now, I am an advocate of following this principle in all aspects of life.

Knowing your source……whether that be your:

Information source (Ah! News…. are you a mainstream news follower, or do you seek deeper truth than that which is spoonfed?)
The people in your life who either affirm you (hopefully) or emotionally cripple you (toxic relationships)
Food (we literally ARE what we eat)
Makeup and personal care products (bad news! Have you looked at your ingredient label?.. and are you making choices based on that ingredient label?)
Household chemicals/cleaning products ( I can’t even find current stats on this, but in previous years, household chemicals have been accounted for over 10% of toxic exposures reported to US Poison Control centers… and that’s just Emergency Room visits… we aren’t even counting the health cost of personal toxin load buildup over time)

All of these have great impact on YOU… emotionally, physically, mentally, and on your long term health and wellness plan….. what you allow yourself to be exposed to…. is it sustainable to good emotional and physical health?

Can you expose yourself regularly to toxic relationships (any relationship qualifies here) without health detriment?

Can you use toxic chemicals daily… both on your person (soaps, shampoo, makeup, skin care etc) AND in your home and expect to remain healthy as your body loads slowly with these chemicals?
Can you continue to eat prepackaged food with unpronounceable chemicals as part of the ingredient list and expect your body and immune system not to rebel?

The answer is NO to all of these. 100% NO. (hundreds of studies will back this)

And yet….. And yet….. And yet… we tell ourselves little white lies, because the truth would mean that we acknowledge the need for change.

“That illness will happen to our neighbor, but not us.”
“That person who tries to tear me down daily doesn’t affect my self esteem, self worth, or even my physical or emotional health.”
“I’ve eaten this way for years, and it hasn’t bothered me yet, so I’m sure I’m not affected the way other people might be.”
“If I don’t read the label, I won’t have to KNOW…. and if I don’t KNOW, then it won’t be bad.”
“A little exposure to those chemicals every day isn’t bad, right? I mean, I don’t work in a chemical factory or anything.”

Daily exposure to toxins of any kind IS having long term effects on all of us…. Why do I personally know 3 people under the age of 40 who are currently battling colon cancer? Why are nearly 1 in 5 Americans on mental health drugs compared to 30 years ago (when it was 1 in 184)?

Having an insider’s view of the prescription end of our healthcare system for over 25years has made me extraordinarily aware of this, as has my interest in the health ramifications (both physical and emotional) of toxic relationships versus healthy ones. It is this insider’s view that really began convicting me of making personal SUSTAINABLE changes in MY life and in my family’s life many years ago. Don’t forget, there was a time when I was a statistic just like you yourself might be now…. I’ve written about it on my blog in an earlier couple of posts.

It was the pharmacist in me that followed an initial curiosity with my own personal research before committing to the oil and supplement company you’ve seen me reference. In my humble opinion, buying from companies that cannot give a step by step accounting of the ‘life’ of each and every bottle oil from seed to bottling…… well, that would be equivalent to buying a prescription drug from someone off of the internet (THAT is illegal… but you get my drift)……. You never know what you’ll get. The other thing I like about Young Living is that they have a batch/distilling # on each bottle, so that not only does the company commit to purity, it qualifies that by giving each bottle a number that can be tracked BACKWARDS. This is not a common practice in the essential oil industry.

I leave you now with these thoughts:

You cannot unlearn something that you now know
Now that you know….are you going to do something about removing toxins in your life and the life of your family?
Lauren Crews Dow, another YL oil aficionado commented on her public FB page:

“There are, as of yet, no standards for therapeutic-grade essential oils set by any government agency in North America. Hence, labeling fraud is rampant. Therefore, to be sure you are getting TRUE therapeutic-grade essential oils, you need to know your grower, your distiller, your packager, and your distributor because anywhere along this chain of delivery, oils can be compromised.

There is nothing dishonest about producing food or perfume grade oils. The problem comes when such oils are bottled, labeled, and presented as if they were therapeutic when they are NOT!

A common practice in the Essential Oil community, is to take a decent grade of Essential Oil, dilute it by 90%-95% with an odorless, colorless solvent (usually an inexpensive petrochemical) so that what was a pound of good oil then becomes 10 or 20 pounds of diluted oil to be sold as if it were the original substance, thus multiplying the profit. Understand, that such diluted oils often carry labels stating they are “Genuine” or “100% Pure”, which is allowed by the U.S. FDA. However, when you see a bottle of Frankincense for $10-$20 for a full ounce, you can be sure it has been diluted because you can’t gather the resins from the Arabian and Somalian deserts, transport them to France or England to be distilled, and then import them to North America (or any other country) for that price and maintain quality and purity.

Mysteriously, for every pound of Frankincense distilled in the world, more than a dozen pounds are eventually sold (pretty scary). Pure, unadulterated Frankincense, should cost around $140 per ounce. In Biblical times, a pound of Frankincense oil was more precious than a pound of gold. In fact, in ancient times, it was called “liquid gold”. Today, a pound of gold is worth around $4,800 (referenced in 2010), while on the retail market a pound of pure Frankincense is worth about $2,400.

If you have smelled TRUE Frankincense, then you will know the difference immediately when given a sample of the diluted versions that are very common on the market.

Other signs on labels are when only the common name “Frankincense” is used, and the Latin name, “Boswellia carteri” is missing, that is another clear warning that it is not genuine and certainly not therapeutic.

(Info from The Chemistry of Essential Oils by David Stewart Ph.D., D.N.M.)

Moral of this, you GET what you pay for in essential oils. Period. I know essential oils are “popular” now, but be an informed consumer! Don’t be fooled!”

If you’d like some help getting started detoxing your life, I’d love to help you find your True North. Starting with kicking chemicals out of your home one by one (baby step style) is a great place to start! (Have you heard of The Thieves Product Line?)

In Health and Sustainable Preparedness,
Liz