Raw Diet

When Ethan made the comment that my entire blog would be about our dogs, I tried to prove him wrong. Well..I made it 2 posts without mentioning them. What can I say? Besides Ethan, they're my favorite part of walking through the front door each evening. Which is why their health is really important to me. When my step-mom told me how incredible a turn-around my brother's dog, Jack (a large German Shepherd/Husky mix), made when switching to a raw diet, I took notice. At 7-8 years old, he was already having a hard time enjoying the 5 acres where they live. Just days after visiting a holistic vet in Kokomo and switching his diet, they were seeing changes. As I started to do some online research and read this book, I realized that Willow's excess energy and Tanya's skin problems could all be a direct result of consuming commercial food & getting yearly vaccinations (most holistic vets don't believe in continuing vaccinations, besides rabies, past the first year). The biggest testament to this, is the story of the author rescuing a stray, bringing it into her home, finding out it had Parvo, and her two dogs didn't so much as lose their appetite.

Our new Saturday ritual

We've found a couple local butchers that will give us their scraps for free or really cheap. Ethan has been such a champ about grinding the meat - as vegetarians I don't think we ever dreamed we'd have a freezer full of raw meat. We give them meat and brown rice, with the occasional raw egg or yogurt, in the morning. In the evenings they get cooked vegetables with brown rice. Surprisingly, they get as excited in the evenings as they do in the mornings. I'm happy to report that both of them are doing incredibly well on this diet - Willow is beginning to calm down (as much as an 11 month old puppy can, at least) and Tanya's side is slowly clearing up. We're saving a substantial amount of money by feeding this way and they're getting the proper nutrition they need. Win-win.

Adventures in Soap Making

My family, especially Drew, finds it quite comical to remind me of the phase I had as a child wherein I would make soap. By "make soap" I mean that I poured water and shampoo into a bottle and demanded my family try my new creation. I never claimed to be normal. Well, guess what guys, I've actually made real soap. I got the recipe here and was drawn to it mostly because of its simplicity. The whole working part of the process takes less than an hour, and I suspect will shorten the more times I do it ...that's not to say there were no incidents. I used beeswax instead of stearic acid and I didn't add any scent - this makes for a bit of a strange smelling soap, but it doesn't stay on my skin after showering. All in all, we'll definitely save money by making, instead of buying, all-natural, organic soap, AND I got through the entire process without acquiring a Tyler Durden-esque lye burn. Success.

Yes, beeswax tends to boil over. Lesson learned.

Finished product: 16 rather large bars of soap

It's me, Aunt B

One year ago today, I checked my voicemail to hear Drew saying, "Brittney! Answer your phone! Your nephew is coming!" A very short time later, Carter Jordan entered the world. There's something beautiful about seeing your brother look at his son for the first time, or any time for that matter. Carter is the happiest baby I've ever been around, always smiling and content. You can already tell by the way he looks at Drew that "Dada" is his hero. 

Meeting Uncle Heath for the first time