2013 Buy Local Challenge

John got me the movie "Fresh" for Christmas and we just watched it and it has inspired me to inspire YOU! There is so much that most of us don't understand about how our food is produced and how that affects our health and our environment.  I think that most people get that it is better to buy organic but many feel they just don't have the money. Well I am here to issue a challenge! Take $10 worth of food in your budget each month and switch it to a local product like beef, chicken, eggs, milk, honey, fruit, lettuce, etc. If you are already buying some local, can you push yourself to switch one more thing?

Expect to pay more for the item(s) that you switch.  If you just change a few items to local, it certainly won't break the bank and you will be supporting your local economy. Not to mention all of the awesome health benefits from eating local foods.  We have got to stop pretending that it is ok to support these big corporations and how they abuse animals and fill our food with toxins and anti-biotics. To make the switch less overwhelming, just start with one or two items. Find a farmer that grows and sells it locally and buy it from them! You may have to call them and even visit their farm. It may be uncomfortable at first, but push through it! You will be blessed and be a blessing. Or if you are lucky to live in areas like Shipshewana or Ann Arbor or Flint, etc, there are many food stores that carry local, healthy foods. www.eatwild.com is a great website to find out who sells what that is local to you! Trader Joes is a favorite of mine. Let me know what you are buying that is local! Let's start a movement!

2012 Year in Review

 

Well it has been a FULL year for our family! We had Paul join us at the end of last year and so we have been watching him grow this year. He is a very fun-loving baby that smiles as big as his daddy.  He is a sweet baby and has greatly blessed our lives! 

Hope and Grace are also growing! They are getting taller and more hair (even Grace!). They are very good at playing together and love each other very much.  Their current favorite thing to do is to check eggs from the chickens. It is fun!

John got a job at the Mt. Pleasant Housing Commission and has fit in very well. They are all jokers and it didn't take John long to start playing pranks on the office people from post-it notes all over a desk to Christmas lights tying up a chair and phone.  As long as there is opportunity, I am sure that he will find some joke to play! He has been getting to know the 99 different residents in the building and trying to love on them as many are old and lonely. He gets along very well with his maintenance co-workers and we are so thankful for this blessing!

I, Kristin, have been enjoying living so close to family again (my mom and dad are right next door!).  We moved into our house in May and so the housework has grown! It is fun living in my great-grandparents and my grandparents house.  We are still trying to figure out exactly what we are going to do but I have been enjoying taking care of 12 hens and collecting eggs. I lost one when I first got them to a fox or coyote which was a bummer.

We are adjusting to a new life here and making some friends.  We love being in our house. There are still finishes that we need to do like window trim, mirrors etc. We are now saving for a kitchen. Our current kitchen is the old cabinets painted and I am hoping that within the year we will be ready for a new kitchen! We have been very blessed and are thankful for all that we have been given.  We still miss our friends from the Three Rivers area but we have enjoyed a few visits back.

We hope that this Christmas season, you will know how God loves you as He sent His Son to earth to take away YOUR sins and unite you to the one true Almighty God. Merry Christmas!

Love,
John, Kristin, Hope, Grace & Paul