Is my strive for innerpeace bringing inner turmoil?

I have to admit, after yesterday's post, I began to feel a little apprehensive. Honestly, I let my ego get in the way (bad ego! trying to get rid of it!). I began to think, what if people thought I was trying to be perfect. First of all, we should not care what people think. As Dr.Wayne Dyer says, "You can meet 32 different people and they all will have 32 absolutely different opinions of you, non of which you can control." Nobody's claiming to be perfect here (hello - there's no such thing!). We are simply trying to get on the path of contentment. We all want to be happy. If we were our happiest, then imagine what we could accomplish. We live in a society where ego truly gets the best of us. We think of ourselves too much and are quick to judge. Imagine if our world didn't consist of hatred, jealousy, egos, and the desire for lots of money.

What if our world was more simple? Probably war, poverty, cancer, the desire to bring people down, chemicals, etc. wouldn't be issues that we face today. We are all here to live out our lives to the best of our ability and to help one another. We will all die one day - it's a fact. Why don't we work together, bring one another up and truly work on allowing our best selves to be present. Believe me, this is not the path of least resistance...it's easier to go the other way, but what's the point? Being negative might temporarily make us feel better (misery loves company) but in the long run it hurts us and those around us.

Yesterday was a trying day for me. Not judging or making comments wasn't as easy as I thought but I was able to catch myself. When I found myself on the verge of thinking something that might be considered a judgment, I stopped myself. We CAN control our minds, peeps! I'm going to try MY best to work on this. For MY innerpeace.

The path of contentment isn't a clear one. There are lots of branches to cut through, big obstacles that we must persevere through, and many setbacks that we will encounter; but I'm absolutely confident that once we reach our destination, it will be so beautiful and filled with love, we will never want to turn back. That's why I am on this journey. Why are you?

Passing Judgement

I'm currently reading a great book that I borrowed from my daughter's school, "The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents" by Deepak Chopra. The book is quite enjoyable and eye opening. One part I found particularly interesting was about teaching our children not to pass judgment on others. Passing judgment is a common practice for a lot of people, but it brings nothing but negativity back to our own lives.

A great way to teach our children not to judge others is by example. Let's all try to go one day without making negative remarks about others. I must include Chopra's words with this post. They are beautiful, simple and inspiring.

"Passing judgement is not part of a spiritual person's approach to life. We all project negativity onto other people, but we do this because we confuse our emotional reactions with reality. If people make us angry, distressed, afraid and so on, we feel that this negativity is their responsibility. Spiritually, the Law of Pure Potentiality tells us that no one can be labeled or judged because life is all possibilities; everything is inside ourselves. Nothing in our nature can be created or destroyed by someone "out there." The very person who makes you angry or afraid can have the opposite effect on someone else. So it is worth setting aside some time to see everyone in the light of love, to hold no judgement, to call no one bad or wrong."

Clean Up in Aisle Four

Feeling a little leery about cleaning with bleach or other equally dicey chemicals where your children play and pets roam? We do have options people!

Natural All Purpose Spray

32 oz. spray bottle (dollar store)
2 cups h2o
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castile soap
3/4 cups hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil (Trader Joe's)
20 drops lavender or lemongrass essential oil (Whole Foods)

This magic spray can be used on acrylic, ceramic tile, wood, marble and granite. I found this wonderful concoction in one of my favorite earth-friendly resource guides: Gorgeously Green, by our hero Sophie Uliano.

Cloth Diapering-The Real Scoop

As a mom of 2 small children in diapers, I was concerned with the cost factor and the impact it has on our earth. My concerns prompted me to take a cloth diapering class at Be By Baby in Chicago. The instructor was totally gung-ho about cloth diapering-it was almost scary. She made it seem like moms who use "evil" disposable diapers are as bad as those moms who put pop in their baby's bottles. I did learn a lot though and it prompted me to take the plunge and invest in those colorful sacks for poop. Here's the real scoop on how cloth diapering works and you decide if it's worth it for your child and the environment.


PRO- They are super cute! My 2 year old daughter loves all the fun colors. We enjoy hang drying them together and we discuss all the colors as we hang them - a good learning lesson!
CON- It's not so fun scraping the poop off the diaper and let me tell you, my son has a lot of poop! I'm talking 4 times a day. I say I have a very close relationship with my kids' bowel movements. In fact, I found a googly eye in his diaper this morning.
PRO- The new cloth diapers are pretty easy to use. They come with snaps or velcro - no need for pins like the oldies.
CON- They do have a tendency to leak if you leave the diaper on 20 minutes too long. It can get pretty inconvenient if we are hanging at the park or the museum.
PRO- Gotta love the diaper sprayer that helps deposit the poop into the toiliet. This is a must. I cannot imagine this whole process without it.
CON- Sometimes they smell funky if they aren't washed well enough, e.g., not enough water in the machine, which I tend to do often.
PRO- No more stinky diaper pails hanging out in the room! Man, my hubby and I hated that thing. We were elated when we realized we didn't need it anymore and chucked it (actually recycled it)!

Sure some of the pros look like cons masked nicely, but what really assured me was the positive feedback from other moms who cloth diaper. They were all really positive about it. In fact, they all LOVE it. I think it's great too but it's not so glamorous when having to change 10+ diapers a day. On the flip side, the peace of mind you feel from knowing you're not contributing to the smelly diaper mountain, er...landfill., makes it worth the effort. It makes me happy that I could help this Earth stay cleaner. I just wanted to give you the real low-down on this process. It's not always fun and exciting but it's helpful for our children and for our earth.

Here are a few more facts I learned from the class:
-Every baby produces approx 4000+ pounds of disposable diaper waste that ends up in our landfills (whoa!)
-It costs between $2500-$3500 for disposable diapers for one child vs $700 or less ( I spent less than $400 for both of my kiddos), and many can be reused on siblings
-It can take 500+ years for a disposbale diaper to biodegrade if it ever will
-Dioxin, Tributyl-tin and Sodium Polyacrylate are all toxic substances used in disposable diapers
-Washing cloth diapers uses the same amount of water as flushing the toliet 5-6 times per day

Now you tell me, is it worth it?

Got (Raw) Milk?

Wherever I turn lately, it seems that someone is talking about raw milk or the cyclone of questions surrounding this mysterious white substance. What is it? Where do I get it? What are the benefits? Why is it illegal? Is it safe? Should I? Shouldn’t I?

Raw milk is exactly that, raw. This means it hasn’t been pasteurized (heating until at least 130 degrees), homogenized (process that prevents milk from separating and cream rising to the top), or frozen.

Currently selling raw milk for human consumption is indeed illegal in 42 states including Illinois. Why? That really depends on who you ask. There are some conspiracy theorists that claim our excessive dependency of the pharmaceutical industry stifles our chances of benefitting from the natural beauty of raw milk.

There is a long list of health benefits linked to a diet which includes raw milk ranging from increased digestive enzyme activity to elevated resistance to many common viruses. Safety is common concern for many raw milk virgins. Like anything, the safety of the product lies in the safety of the source itself. If the cows are healthy and eating a clean diet, their milk is healthy and clean as well.

Ann Monroe of MSN.com states "…after illegal drugs… (raw milk) may be the most briskly traded underground commodity in America…." For more information on how you can score your own stash please visit: http://www.realmilk.com/where2.html#il

Still deciding if you are a should I or shouldn’t I? I am personally in the should I/not yet column but am certainly looking forward to scoring my first fix!

Share your thoughts on the Raw Milk Movement.
For some more info, check out http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1598525,00.html

Bath Time!

A lot of great things start in Europe-delicious wines, wooden shoes, and most recently the Tummy Tub! I haven’t been this excited about a plastic vessel since Caboodles entered the scene…

The Tummy Tub is a natural tub alternative, and appears to be part bucket part flower pot and offers a plethora of benefits for babies from birth up to six months. Much like swaddling, babies feel a great sense of security being confined in this small space and the buoyancy of water encourages motor development. When babies are submersed in warm water, they remember fondly the time spent in the womb. The water stays warm throughout the bath and less water is needed, making this an optimal choice for green families.

Definitely worth checking out!

What is the (inner)peace project?

Greetings Peace Seekers!

Hello, and how do you do? We are Ashley McAllister and Megan Loewe, full time friends (since the fifth grade!) and part time child wranglers (actually, Ashley is a professional momma and wife, while Megan represents the single ladies). We are two urban cowgirls on a mission to exposing the secrets behind true balance of the mind, body, and spirit, while trying to help our planet in our free time.