So, Yea. I’m kind of a fanatic (in a good way, of course)…
I never started out to be that way. I was just living my life like everyone else, trying to make my way in the world. But a few things just weren’t right…well, let me back up a bit.
Way Back When….
I grew up in Montana where helping with animal chores, weeding the garden and learning to can were part of life. After I moved out to Portland to go to school, I realized how much I missed those ‘homemade’ ways (and tastes) of rural living. Food at the supermarket just didn’t taste the same. Neither did boxed ‘home style’ dinners! Sooo I began experimenting with growing food and small batch canning in tiny, urban spaces. (You know that saying that you don’t appreciate what you had until it’s gone?? That’s totally me with the food I grew up on!)
Upsetting Life as I Knew it
Fast forward a few years and I was diagnosed with stage-3 cancer. It rocked my world. I’d never been sick before and I found myself navigating through treatment I didn’t understand, in a world I had no experience with. While standing and looking death in the eye, I decided I wanted my life to be different. I wanted to raise more of my own food. I wanted to eat organic and local. I wanted to stop and appreciate more sunsets. Laugh and cook meals from scratch for more people I loved. I wanted to leave a positive impact on the world around me. (Big dreams for someone still recovering from treatment.)
So. Yea. I bought some baby chicks. I haphazardly figured out how to build a chicken coop on my own (with mostly recycled materials and zero knowledge or experience in such things, oh, and a very limited power tool collection). I brought home a rescued cat. I branched out to farmer’s markets. I started the City Girl Farming blog. I tried to pull myself up and move forward in a positive direction.
Chickens = Game Changers
Honestly, I could never have imagined how much bringing home a batch of 8 fluffy balls of cuteness would radically change me. It might seem weird to some people, but the act of caring for and raising ‘farm animals’ (even though at the time I was in the city) and gathering eggs! EGGS! From my own backyard! had a tremendous impact on me. I grew more interested in other forms of health and food and sustainability. I began looking for natural solutions to the chemical laden popular products. And my life literally changed directions.
It was a couple years later that I was introduced to the powerful benefits of essential oils. They were a perfect fit for my lifestyle and the direction I was heading. I loved trading in my various cleaners, personal products, and chicken and garden remedies for essential oils. I loved how they made me feel. I loved how they worked. I loved how they helped the things most important to me. (Yea, I’m about as crazy for essential oils as I am chickens!)
So, here I am now. I’ve moved to just outside the city to a 38 acre farm. I garden, can, raise chickens, and have become an heirloom bean fanatic! I learn new things every day, and support myself (and all my animals and healthy habits) by working from home.
Life is good.
Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to getting to know you, too.
Kerrie