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Victory Gardens

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Springtime is one of my most very favorite times of the year, for many reasons…. Not the least of which is the anticipation of getting my fingers deep into the earth in preparation for seed planting time.

Spring this year has been somewhat challenging. Lots of distractions, an incredibly wet February and March, and a spirit of unrest that seems to have enveloped our world.

And yet….

The leaves and flowers continue to unfurl from the safety of their buds as if to tell us that life will go on, despite the circumstances at hand.

It makes me want to talk to the old timers…. The ones who were around as kiddos and young adults during WWII. What did it feel like, to have such a great unknown? To know that a loved one could be taken from them because they said yes to following God and their country? With only snail mail letters to communicate in the interim?

I hope a bearer or two of these memories will comment because I have a strong love of history and would love to hear the stories of resilience on the home front……the peace they perhaps held that surpassed all understanding even when the world seemed anything but calm.

Perhaps this was another reason the people at home returned to gardening in 1942-43? Canned food and buying from grocery stores instead of self sufficiency was a relatively new concept to the world back then.
It had only been about 25 years since the first grocery store (A Piggly Wiggly if you remember those!) opened and self serve grocery shopping had quickly taken over supplying the USA with food.

25 years. One generation. Many had already lost sight of where nourishing food must come from.

1942….. Not 2020.

And then World War II happened…. and it didn’t last days….it lasted years. 😥

Ask one of the old timers about those times. Invariably, one of their strongest memories will be the rationing of foodstuffs. Food was in short supply for a variety of reasons:

🍅The processed and canned foods they had become accustomed to buying at Piggly Wiggly suddenly were reserved for shipping overseas to the soldiers who were fighting and to our Allies who were bearing the brunt of the war devastation.

🍅Transportation of fresh foods was limited because of gasoline and tire rationing (priorities were placed on getting those to soldiers and to the war effort)

🍅Many farmers in the USA were off fighting instead of growing food.

🍅Imported food, especially the likes of coffee and sugar, were limited in supply.

Rationing books were issued. (I have one that belonged to my grandmother.) Stamps inside the books were for certain food categories, and if you had already used your stamp for that product for the month, you were not eligible to buy it until the following month rolled around. It prevented hoarding and encouraged creative menu planning. ( Hmmm …. Seems like we could use that principle these days for basic things like toilet paper!)

Suddenly, the skill of gardening became an asset again…. Not reserved for someone living on a farm. By 1920 tho, more Americans lived in cities than in rural areas for the first time in America’s history so this had to have been hard.

Real hard.😔

This situation was something they felt unprepared for, they had no land to make gardens. For others, it felt like they were being called home….. back to their roots…. and it was those whom the former leaned into and learned from….. And a beautiful thing began to sprout around the United States…..

Victory Gardens.

They began to sprout up across America and eventually across the world:

👩‍🌾People plowed up their beautiful front yards and lawns and began growing fruits and veggies.

👩‍🌾They pulled up their rose bushes and flowers and replaced them with edible foodstuffs.

👩‍🌾Pots and containers were used to grow gardens on back porches, patios, and stairways.

👩‍🌾Even public land was put to use….. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park had one of the best public gardens in the country!

Neighbors helping neighbors. 👫

Sharing knowledge.

Sharing bounty.

Relying on God to supply no more or less than they needed.

Back to their roots.

The food, of course, was important, but so was the community idea of doing something for the common good, and the daily grounding… the resetting of emotions and release of nervous energy expelled just by getting dirt under their fingernails. In times like those, I am sure that gardening felt heavenly!

Anyone can do this…. Gardening.

All you need is Sunlight. Seeds. A container or two, or 12 (or a plot of land of any size). ….. And a desire to be part of the solution.

A time to heal.

A time to return to our roots.

If this post is calling to you, there are TONS of seed packets for sale at the feed stores. There are also half grown “teenager” plants if waiting is too much to bear.

Never gardened? Don’t let that stop you. You never know, you might pick up a new hobby you love while in this time of national time out.

The best growth comes during times of adversity…. Knowing that, our Great Nation should be due for a bountiful harvest. The Bible says it. This I know.

Garden on friends!

xoxo ~liz

#GodblesstheUSAandtheworld
#wecandothis
#strongerthanyouthinkyouare
#learnsomethingnew
#embraceyourdowntime
#youwillbeproudofyourfood
#springtime2020
#healthyfoodismedicine

#2 Corona Virus 101

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Post #2 Corona Virus 101…. The Facts… let’s unpack them, shall we?

👉Fact #1:
NOTHING is secure about the statistics being presented…. NOTHING.
Current stats as of Friday 3/6/2020…….
101,714 confirmed cases and 3,461 deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of March 06, 2020, 18:05 GMT….. remembering that this doesn’t even include mild cases that haven’t been tested or were tested with a false negative. If the rational person were to factor in the false negatives AND the mild cases that aren’t even tested at all…… the conservative estimate of deaths vs illness would be <0.1%, with most of those deaths having primary serious health issues already. (more on this in a later post).

👉 Fact #2: Corona Virus….. A cousin of the common cold virus with a ground zero in Wuhan China….. although strong evidence suggests that contrary to popular news coverage, this particular virus likely originated in a high security lab at the University of North Carolina several years ago. As is common practice, scientists from another part of the world (Wuhan, China in this case) bought into the research, and took some of the findings back home with them. #thingsthatmakeyougohmmmmmm
Additionally, this particular virus has, within its DNA, the written chimera (ie: a grafting) of an RNA snip of one of the HIV retroviruses…. something that is impossible to achieve in nature. Again,….. #thingsthatmakeyougohmmmmmm
This does NOT mean someone can get HIV from this virus… (so don’t go there mentally), but it does indicate manmade tampering and a “gain in functionality” which means the virus transmits more easily than the traditional common cold virus.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: This is a multibillion dollar business (if not trillion)…. Approximately 20 companies are vying for the right to make a vaccine….. whomever “wins” will make billions of $$$

👉Fact #3: Don’t compare to 1918 spanish flu or any other historical plague like event…. They were all Pre antibiotics, pre- better hospital care and most importantly…. before we had better hygiene practices.

👉Fact #4 251,000 deaths per year due to errors in medical care, 3rd only to heart disease and cancer…. WHY are we not talking more about THESE things? THIS topic should warrant pandemic alarm…. and all we hear are 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗.

👉Fact #5 National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease chief, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said, “The mortality rate (of Covid 19) looks like 2% to 3% but could be much lower if many mild cases or infections with no symptoms are going undetected.” SARS proved fatal in about 10% of cases. The flu’s mortality rate is only 0.1% btw this year.

👉 Fact #6 Pollution (external and therefore internal) and the role it plays in disease and immune support…China has among the world’s most dangerous air pollution… Ya’ll…. have you noticed that even when there isn’t a pandemic virus in China, many citizens still wear face masks?

👉Fact #7 Smokers…. China, and some of the newer harder hit countries are still heavy smokers. In China, an estimated 354 MILLION people still smoke regularly. #healthhabitsmatter

👉Fact #8 the Germ vs Host Theory
I can’t take credit for this well written piece…. but it hits a homerun in truth and it’s THE reason I implement toxin free living suggestions in my health coaching. Either you are or you are not living this way. There really isn’t much of a gray area here.
“The big difference between the two is this: If your garbage piles up in your home for weeks or years, you will invite pests, rats, cockroaches, mice, ants…all sorts of unfavorables to your home. The Germ Theory states we need to continually bring something in to kill the pests, while the host theory states, “Hey, how about we take out the garbage?”

Dr. Julian Baldor, a surgeon, in a speech before the Florida League of Human Progress, talked about Dr. Bechamp as one of the greatest scientists of all time. He said, “Dr. Bechamp proved that our bodies become hosts to a germ only after chemical and mechanical changes have damaged our system and that as long as our bodies and tissues retain a high vitality and resistance, a germ, infection or disease will not make progress. Furthermore, the disease organism will not survive after its entrance into a healthy organism. For example, we see flies on a manure pile, and other parasites also. Some of these parasites may be dangerous and capable of producing disease under favorable circumstances. If, however, we remove the pile of manure, the parasites disappear at the same time. Which do you think is the more intelligent: To fight disease by swatting flies or removing the pile of manure?”
Pasteur was better connected, more well-spoken, and wealthier than Bechamp. When it came down to it, these proved to his advantage when their two scientific papers went up against each other. Pasteur won out, paving the way for the Germ Theory to gain in popularity. Bechamp fell into disfavor and his books listed on the Index of Librorum Prohibitorum (the index of books prohibited by the Catholic Church).”

👉Fact #9 …5G – What in the world? What does faster stronger cell phone reception have to do with the virus? This topic is for another post another day…. but understand this…. regular exposure to 5G very much has MUCH to do with how easily people contract a virus or bacteria. Wuhan was one of the first countries to roll out 5G and they have over 10,000 cell phone towers in their city. The citizens of the city simply cannot get out from under that radio frequency…. that frequency affects us at a cellular level. This (in addition to the pollution/toxin load) is VERY important to keep in consideration. #unplugregularly

…..more to come friends. Stay tuned.😘

xoxo ~ liz

#aintskeeredandyoushouldntbeeither
#knowbetterdobetter
#yourtoxinloadmattersnowandforever
#ThanksYL

Whoops…We Did It Again(smh)

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Yesterday, while at work in the pharmacy, we got official word of a voluntary recall on several brands of valsartan containing medications. A voluntary recall means that the drug company requests that products be pulled from the pharmacy shelves, and selling of that product cease immediately until new product is issued. It does not extend to the consumer level. You can read more about the recall itself here.

Recalls like this happen every so often in pharmacy, and are not usually call for alarm unless it happens to be one that extends to the customer level (not the case this time). That said, media caught wind of it and began reporting on the recall, causing fear and worry amongst customers who are on this particular blood pressure medication. I began and ended my pharmacy day yesterday fielding these many calls from customers who were fearful of continuing their medication even one more day, now that this information was known. 

Once you know something, you can’t un-know it.

The cause of the recall? It became known that one of the ingredients used in this particular medication is a ‘probable’ cancer causing agent.  (Ironically, one of the people I spoke to was a smoker. SMH!) Now, before you start calling your pharmacy wondering what you are supposed to do if you are on valsartan,  let’s take a look at the facts:

  1. Right or wrong, the alleged ingredient has been in the medication since at least 2015.
  2. The recall is not at the customer level (meaning that the situation has not given the FDA cause to issue a recall on dispensed medication too).  In fact, this statement was issued by the FDA: “Because valsartan is used in medicines to treat serious medical conditions, patients taking the recalled valsartan-containing medicines should continue taking their medicine until they have a replacement product.”
  3. “Probable” cancer causing agents should be fully excluded from our daily lives, but sadly they are everywhere you turn. The FDA and the EPA turn a blind eye daily as companies pump probable (and known) cancer causing agents into the environment, our homes, our food and drinking water, AND our personal care products. It’s no wonder that the cancer rate in the United States has skyrocketed since the 1950’s.

Visit the American Cancer Society website, you’ll see a list of  these ‘probable  (and known) cancer causing agents’ that people unwittingly use and allow into their lives.

Once you know something, you can’t un-know it.

I would advise stopping reading now if you want to remain blissfully unaware, because I’m about to give you the lowdown on just a few items on the FDA/EPA list.

Seriously. Stop now. 

Here are just a few offenders from the long list:

Giving you examples of known and probable carcinogens could easily consume my day, because this list just goes on and on and on.…… and ultimately I will bore you to tears (or wake you up to what you likely have in your home).  

I’m hoping by now you see my frustration in yesterday’s moment of media hyped hysteria over the valsartan recall. Of course it should have been recalled, but friends…… we have much larger fish to fry if we are going to worry about this.

I would venture to guess that each person I spoke to about the recall yesterday has more than 100+ known carcinogenic products in their home and garage that they willingly (but perhaps unwittingly) choose to expose themselves to on a daily basis.

SMH.

If you didn’t listen to me, and read this post to completion, you’ve got some decisions to make. What you can’t choose tho, is to now ‘un-know what you now know‘. Knowing gives you personal responsibility for the skin in the game (your own) and begs the next question….. what are you going to do about it?

Reality is this:  It’s not possible to avoid every carcinogenic or body damaging product out there, but there IS so much we CAN do to avoid the majority of them within our own home. There are also many ways to encourage detoxification of the body cheaply, effectively, and holistically.

If this post has you thinking that maybe it is time to wake up and clean up, I’d encourage you to start small in big ways. Get the ‘standard’ household cleaners out of your home…. one by one. When you run out of a product, don’t buy that junk again. Consider switching to Thieves Cleaner (a completely healthy way to clean).

Get the candles and formaldehyde laced air fresheners out of your home, and replace them with healthy diffusers. I promise…. you’ll sleep better, be happier, have fewer headaches, and….. if you diffuse the right oils, you’ll even boost your immune system and provide positive emotional support. This trumps possible and probable carcinogenic loaded products any day. Science backs this ya’ll….. as a pharmacist, I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t.

The cosmetic industry is rife with concerning chemicals. Use up what you have, but as you get close to needing more, consider ‘clean’ skin care and makeup. Yes, it does exist. I’d love to send you a few samples of whatever you’d like to see or try that is not only beautiful, but also loaded with health promoting ingredients. Ever heard of Savvy Minerals? If not, you are missing out.

This is one of the (many) things I love about Young Living. They stand in the gap for us where other companies do not. Scouring labels for toxins was time consuming and the print is small and fine (purposefully I think). I know I am taken care of safely with whatever I purchase for my family and our farm, and that we are taking personal responsibility for us….. because clearly, the governmental entities, are not doing enough of it.

If you’d like to learn more about living a more carcinogenic free life, please feel free to private message me. 

I am not perfect in my walk, but I’ve done it now for much of my adult life and would be happy to walk with you as you begin your journey. It’s never too late to start.

Hugs and love  ~ Liz


​References:

fda article
freeethoughtproject-baby powder
fda harmful ingredintst tables
poison papers
nbc news – chemicals cause cancer

It’s Not Just the Water

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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

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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

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