The Beginning…

My husband and I began our “foodies” journey independently while we were dating about 6 years ago well, in 2007. It was not until about 2012 that our paths really began to converge into one instead of running parallel.

But first, let me return in time, to how boy met girl…or in our case computer programmer meets pharmacist.

I had just completed pharmacy school and was starting my first year of residency training in the land of manana, Albuquerque, NM. I was on track to becoming a “Clinical Pharmacist” and eventually the world of academia. I was completely on my own financially, emotionally and mentally. All my choices were about me. First, I needed to lose the 50lbs that I put on during pharmacy school. I was introduced to trail running in the Sandia Mountains and I joined Weight Watchers. Basically I was following “conventional wisdom” and I lost about 25 lbs before stalling out. I relied heavily on frozen meals for dinner, but soon began to crave real food. I grew up in Arizona with a dad who gardened and cooked and a mom who baked. Eating out was a rare treat and we kids were no strangers to home cooked meals. So I began cooking more…

I met Erik about 9 months after I moved to ABQ and well, I had met my match. Our second date was an elaborate dinner that he spent ALL day preparing. I am embarrassed to say but I cannot quite remember everything he made because there was so much! Needless to say, I was impressed. I called my Dad and told him, “I found someone who can cook!” More importantly we discovered a shared passion for the outdoors in addition to cooking. Just as our relationship took off, I accepted a position in Dallas, Texas for a second year of residency training and would be moving in about 4 months.

It was while I was in Dallas that I discovered two great things: Central Market and farmer’s markets. And for me this is where the journey to becoming a “foodie” begins….

Texas…let’s just say the only thing I miss about Texas is my friends and Central Market. But, it did put a few key words like “local” and “organic” into my vocabulary. Meanwhile, Erik remained in ABQ and had subscribed to a CSA (community supported agriculture) and was receiving bi-monthly delivers of organic food that was not quite local, but was at least real food. After a year in Texas and a long distance relationship, it was decision time. I accepted a faculty position in Columbia, MO and Erik decided to leave ABQ and move with me. This is where our food horizons expanded exponentially to include local AND organic farmers market AND grass-fed meats. I discovered the joy of raw milk, canning, new vegetables, container gardening and a few life changing books. We caught our own sourdough culture and Erik was baking 100% whole wheat sourdough bread. Shortly after moving to Missouri in 2009, I became pregnant with our daughter, Briana. This led to more research into natural births, breastfeeding and homemade baby food. We moved to SE Missouri shortly after my daughter was born and about 10 months later we purchased our 20 acre farm complete with a 106 year old farm house! Around this time the word “permaculture” was starting to be heard in our household (along with the sounds of remodeling of our house).

Erik is the one who stumbled upon permaculture first and really started digging into it. Our conversations go something like this:
Erik: I just finished this awesome book, you should read it.
Me: Put it in line with all the other books you want me to read.
Erik: Well, let me tell you about…
Me: That sounds awesome, we should do that

BUT there is hope and I finally (2.5 years late) started reading and catching up on many great books relating to permaculture and sustainable living during my 8 weeks of maternity leave after my son was born (at home) in 2012. Since then our discussions are a lot more in-depth and now we are (almost) on the same page.

It is interesting to think about our careers and that we have and/or will be giving up lucrative positions within our careers. But, the expected job satisfaction was not present and what we wanted was not “corporate careers”. I now work for an independent pharmacy, no longer in academia, but still participating in “clinical” services. Erik telecommutes for his work, but as of January 2014 we paid off my student loans which was the last of our debt.  Yup, we are debt free!

To date, we still cook real food and have discovered that it takes TIME and COMMITMENT! We have yet to find a restaurant that compares with our home cooked meals and the food experimentation has continued. Cooking remains a family affair and my daughter if very much involved in meal preparation. Honestly, I love telling her to go pick me a couple of tomatoes out of the garden for dinner or collect chicken eggs for breakfast. In fact, we are not into just REAL food, we are into SLOW food.

So if I have to try to describe who I am, well, I think it will go something like this:
I am a slightly “crunchy”, “granola” or “foodie” wife, mother and pharmacist who is disheartened by modern health, lack of local community and self-ownership and who is learning how to be concise with my words again….
My priorities in this life are to slow down and spend quality time with my husband and children. I want to make my slice of the world a better place by changing the trajectory of my life to become a better wife, mother and member of society through simplified living, real food and sustainable practices.

With that I think I will end this post 