About Marie

My name is Marie and I will be 30 on June 15th.  I am married with 2 children–a boy who will be 5 soon, and a 1 year old girl.  I have been trying to live green for less than a year, so I have a lot to learn, and a lot of products to try as my wallet allows.  Every little bit counts, I think, and I am slowly trying to change my entire house over to green.  My blog will be about everyday encounters with trying to lead a healthy life for me and my family.

I try to eat organic, and if I can’t afford or find organic products that I need, I go as natural as possible.  I make my own body oil to use instead of commercial lotions, using household ingredients.  I buy cheap soap that is all natural.  My husband and I ripped up our living room carpet and replaced it with lumber that would have been thrown away by the lumber cumpany.  We laid it out in a pleasing design, sanded it, and sealed it with shelac.  My children drink goats milk from our own goats, and we eat eggs from our own free-range chickens that we feed our organic leftovers and scraps to supplement what they find in the field.  I clean with vinegar, Murphy’s all-natural oil soap, and baking soda and old cloth diapers.  We donate any toys, clothes, books, etc. that we can’t use anymore to Goodwill instead of throwing them away.  I plant my flowers in old horse manure from a large horse barn nearby.  When I need to shop, I make sure I buy everything I need for a couple of weeks so as to not drive much.  I only leave the house once or twice a week, and I would even less except I have to do things for my elderly stepfather.  My husband is a carpenter/contractor, and we are fixing up our house with things he brings home from clients homes that they were going to throw away.  When we paint, we use the low VOC paint.

My son loves to watch nature programs, and we are trying to teach the children to love and respect animals and nature.  I would never take them to a circus that had animal acts, as I do not condone it.  We have many pets, but they have a good life.  We have two hamsters, many fish, a dog, and a cat, and my husband just brought home 2 baby ducks.  The goats and chickens are like pets also, but are really “owned” by my mother and father-in-law that live next door.  The fish have large tanks with live plants, the hamsters have fresh bedding (I use their old bedding as mulch around my flowers) and when the ducklings get big, they will be turned loose in the large field with the goats and chickens.  The dog has a large lot, and the cat has free reign.

So that is my background.  Let the blogging begin.