With my recent changes in life, my view has changed so much and I love where God has me right now. I want everything I do to reflect who I am and to show the awareness of understanding the value of loving yourself and living authentically.

You will notice that this theme is totally different than the last one. I took away the header and replaced it with a more serene one. I love water and everything it represents: cleansing, purification and peace; so I knew I wanted something with water. Now I cannot swim to save my life but I love water…go figure! I wanted to add a bit of nature because nature is so healing.

The grass is representative of life and how we need to be nurtured to grow strong. It is growing in water because water is a natural nurturer and it helps us all to thrive. The pebbles are just pretty and add a certain sort of ambiance to the scene.

This is why I created the header that you see. I am a very simple girl and my life is not all that complicated. So why have a header that is complicated and says way too much. Just keep it simple is my mantra!

I plan on blogging more about how women can live more authentically and have a life that is peaceful. I will be very real as I have been for the last year, so hold tight to your hats and get ready for it real, raw and to the point. In order to reach that level of authenticity that one may want to reach they have to open up that trunk and get out the junk. This will be the approach here are Mom Unplugged: Showing how I have removed and still do remove the junk so that I can live a more authentic life…out of the socket.

You are getting the same package, I am just adding some more stuff to it.

Yes I talk about God and the fact that He is the source of strength and the strength of my life on this blog and will continue to do so. I hope this does not turn you away from what is being said. There is a reason for everything and a reason for everything.

So what do you think of what you see?

Some of the things that I have concluded are:

• I have to be the example to my family and show them that glorifying God includes keeping the home in order and being more organized. I had given up somewhat with Mr Messy in the house. However, I have been pushing him daily to get it together by reminding him that the Word tells us that whatever you do, you are to do it to the glory of God. Talk about conviction
• I am to teach Brehane now the value of clean and organized. He does pretty good with it but misses some point and that is to be expected at 4. So I am to model it for him.
• In order to get my office organized I need my own space because my husband and I understand organization a little differently. That issue will be remedied once we get to GA in a few weeks.
• I can’t get frustrated when they don’t do it as I want. As long as it neat and organized I need to be ok with that. I have to say that to myself about 10 times a day.
• Your style and personality says a lot about how you organize yourself. For example my family is very simple but also a little anal (ok that can be a good thing really it can) in how we do thing so my organization efforts must reflect that. I am very tight on keeping thing in their place and I try to organize my home to reflect that and to make it easy to accomplish.
• An unorganized mess equals an unorganized mind.

Those are a few things that I have concluded but not all. And I am still learning as I go.

With business I am learning to use tools and resources that will help me stay on task, keep up with my to-do list, keep meeting time straight, and be more functional as I work through that day.

Here are some of the things I have been doing:

• I found that the to-do list applications online don’t work for me without writing it down on paper as well. I find that often times I open my email and ignore the ones telling me what I need to do. So I am writing it on paper and keeping it right beside me as I work. I am even reverting to using the whiteboard on my wall to help me stay on task. When it stares you in the face, you just can’t ignore it.
• I add appointments, events, weekly tasks to my Google calendar as soon as they are confirmed. With Google you can print out the day, week, agenda, and month so that helps a lot. I am a very visual person.
• I found a very cool way to Twitter and stay on task with Zenbe. You cna even invite your clients and friends to see your scehdule, documents, etct.
• I am also using a very simple application called CreativePro Office for keeping up with all my clients, sending invoices, keeping time, and more. I am not using it as efficiently as I should be but I will get it all together soon.
• I keep track of all my clients in a notebook. I jot down stuff like their names, phone, likes, dislikes, project possibilities, notes from meets we may have and more. It really helps me to keep up with them. I do the same for an JV (joint venture) projects I have.
• I am creating charts. Charts for goals, blogging, and more. Did I tell you that I am a very visual person.
• I narrowed down my daily work schedule for clients to about 6.5 hours per day. It really helps when accepting clients and assignments or projects. To work on the back end of business and my blogs I have set aside Sundays because my husband is either home or he takes Brehane with him to work. Sure there are days when I work longer or Sundays when the family is out but that is when you learn the value of flexbility.

A little sidenote: I am not an affiliate of any program mentioned here. I just think they are very valuable tools for getting and staying organized.

Now I am still organizing for homeschool but it should be pretty simple because AJ attends the academy now in Oklahoma and Brehane will only be 5 when we get started. Most of my time with him will be creative play and we only homeschool for a few hours per day.

So there you have it. A portion of my journey to getting back to organization. A good book to read about getting and stay organized is Organizing From The Inside Out. It is a great little read and will get your organizing wheels turning.

My husband actually brought it home and I told him that he needed it more than me. But I picked it up because you can never learn too much - well actually I think in some instances you can. I figured that if I read it my husband and I can talk about the ideas in the book and that will help us to communicate better when it come so organization because sometimes I can go on one of “Tara Rants” and that is just not a cool thing to do. To watch me fuss and clean can be hilarious but it wears this woman out.

How are you getting it all together? Do you have any tips for me?

He said…

“Give me the information I need to start working with Vegan Family Living so that I can start working on it.”

My heart did a patter and I heard that song in my head, “Someday My Prince Will Come” because my husband looked like a Prince to me who had come to answer my plea and rescue me from the dragon. I was so elated.

You see I had already made the choice to sell Vegan Family Living in September if he did not step up and I had told him so. However my husband normally does not follow through on things that concern helping me with business very often. Not sure what that is about but I don’t sweat it either. So I was not expecting him to actually follow through.

Anyway, I sure do feel good about him taking the reigns. I will help but I am no long responsible for it..YAY!

Some people may say that I am giving up VFL, but I am not. I am simply giving it new direction. A direction that I am no longer in charge of. I did not stop because I wanted to. I stopped working it because I needed to.

I am a woman of God, a wife and mom before I am a business owner. Those three things matter most to me and I will give it all up to maintain those three if God told me to.

My health was starting to suffer again and I had to let something go. My value of my life was being sucked away, so I had to release it. I was suffocating from the toxic fumes a life buried in work can cause, so I had to make some serious decisions.

I am watching God move as I listen. Let me give you an example.

Alexander (AJ) will be starting school tomorrow and between my mom and I we are paying $150 per month towards the $500 tuition. That means $75 for each of us. I know that in order to pay that amount monthly and send him money for lunch and teenager incidentals, I needed to bring in one more retainer client per month. I prayed and told God that He had some work to do.

I got the client this weekend. Coincidence? I think not. I believe that there is a reason for everything and for everything a reason.

I know that if I had not listened when God kept telling me to use my writing to bring in income, I would still be working hard at Vegan Family Living and making pennies. Now don’t get me wrong I am thankful for those few pennies; but you know like I know that a few pennies just does not make it in America.

I had to make some choices when the money well started running dry in our home. We were hurting and my kids were going without.

I came to my senses and said, “Ok something has got to change. LaTara, it is time to come out of this poverty, ‘robbing Paul to pay Peter’ mentality. Girl, you are so much better than this. It is not fair to your husband, the kids or yourself.”

Within a week The Natural Writer was created and I received my first three clients by the end of the week. It took me 6 months to see my first dime with Vegan Family Living. Now, please don’t think I am talking about a “money fast” idea because I am not. However, I have not missed a week of income since starting The Natural Writer and the marketing and planning come so much easier for me.

Driving in my Lane, I have discovered…

• I am sleeping better
• I have more confidence
• I can help my kids
• My husband no longer has to buy groceries or worry about things like clothes, toiletries, and her can focus on rent, utilities and gas
• I am more focused on my health
• I can take time during the day to really focus on my home and family without worrying about what I need to do next
• I can work for 4 to 5 hours per day and make full-time pay.

I have discovered more while driving in my own lane but that is for another time, another day, and another post.

A part of being Authentic is recognizing who you are, what you can do, why, and accepting the answers to those questions. Once you accept the terms you have to sign on the dotted line, get in your car and drive in your own lane.

Are you driving in your own lane or working hard to run everyone else off the road?

I have listened to this person and that person about who I am and yet I never quite felt comfortable about what they had to say. It was as if something were missing. However, there were times when I listened and found myself in the middle of some situations that I did not want to be in. Now I don’t blame anyone because they were just trying to help and meant well, as we often do when we give advice. However, I should have listened to the voice that was guiding me elsewhere.

I have decided a few things about my life where my family, business, and my ministry is concerned:

• My family is blessed beyond measure and we have to appreciate that daily.
• Brehane is a major focus for me right now and everything I do must reflect that fact.
• If am not satisfied in my personal life, I will not be satisfied in anything I do.
• My business direction is changing and I must accept that and move with it.
• I only play to an Audience of One and it is He who I must seek to glorify
• I don’t have to feel guilty because my business direction is changing. I need to do what is best for my life as it is.
• I have to work smart and not wear myself into the ground. If I am overworking myself I am no good to God or anyone else.
• I must use what I have effectively
• I have to work being married daily because it ain’t no joke.
• My business must surround my personal mission and focus, if it doesn’t then for me it just won’t work.
• I love serving others and helping them to succeed.
• I have a heart for your women and want them to learn to see themselves as God does.
• God has given me the uncanny talent of creative communication. I have to use it and do it well.
• I am tired of spinning my wheels trying to make things work that aren’t. It is time to use the skills and talents i have and create a stream of income that will be beneficial for my family

There are many other resolutions I have reached but I think this is enough to share for because not everything needs to be shared.

I am at a point where I am at peace with the decisions that I have made and I love where I am in life. This has been a long time coming and I have gone from one end of the world to the other (figuratively that is), to discover what in the heck I am supposed to be doing. There is no way I am turning back now and allowing myself to be trapped back into what it not working for me.

Man, I feel so free writing that out. I really do feel so good about me!

How do you feel about YOU?

Your mind must believe in what you are doing and faith is the catalyst for the belief. Even if it is as small as mustard seed you can move a mountain.

There is not trick to making the paradigm to a new way of thinking. However, you must be aware that renewing your mind is not an easy thing to do; but if you are determined to make the change, you can. No matter how small the steps are that you must take to do so, it can be done.

Some of the negative thoughts in my own mind were:

1. I will never lose the weight
2. I am in debt and will never crawl my way out
3. I want to get out of this hopeless marriage. My husband is just not getting me.
4. I will never profit in my business.
5. I am not a good mom. What mom would send her son to live elsewhere. I should have just left my husband.
6. I never finished college so what will I really amount to?
7. I am so and so years old and this is where my life is…nowhere

Now, that is just not the way that God would have you to think. That train of thought does nothing for abundant living. In fact it goes totally against everything that Jesus taught. You see when I read my Word, I see where it says that I am the head and not the tail and how Jesus came that I might have abundant life. I also see where Paul tells me that God does not give me the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. Oh yeah, and in Nehemiah, it tells me that I am the apple of God’s eye.

With affirmations like that this is what my thoughts should be:

1. I did not get this way overnight and it will not come off over night. I am fearfully and wonderfully made and God did not make me junk. Yes, I gained some weight and need to lose it but I am the best me I can be at this moment in my life.
2. I am in debt. I need to figure out why and take the steps necessary to get out.
3. I can only work on me. I come with flaws. Who said that my husband would be perfect.  He is the man that God intended for me and I have been more than blessed to have him in my life.
4. If I apply what I know and listen to His leading, I will create an income and my business will thrive.
5. Sending my son to Oklahoma had nothing to do with me. It was his choice and he is doing so well there. He needed to be somewhere where he could fly on wings of his own. I am a good mother because Iistened to God’s leading.
6. Girl, look at what God has given you. You are intelligent, wise, and have the skills, talents and gifts to go far in life.
7. You may have taken some wrong turns in life, but you are striving daily to stay the path He has set for you.

Do you see the difference?

A paradigm shift is an absolute must if you are to live that authentic existence that God intends for you to live. Your thoughts can not dwell on the negative because that will get you no where fast. Instead bask in the fact that God has great things in store for you and let your thoughts rest there.

A side note here is that while you bask on what is good, pure, lovely, and of good report, please do not think I am speaking of any new age philosophy, because I am not. Know that for every level there will be problems - that is a given. However, the best thing to do when issues arise is to reposition yourself to meet the challenges that stand before you.

Keep your head where it belongs and stop that gutter thinking. Reposition your mind and change the direction of your life.

I dare you to take the chance and change the way you think!

My husband’s family has a serious issue with being on time and it has proven more than detrimental in my household; manifesting itself in a number of undesirable ways. I in turn just sorta gave up trying to keep it all together because the Man just knew he had it al together. I stayed prayerful and knew that eventually, it would blow in his face. I just prayed for God’s protection and comfort when it did.

The last two years have really shown my man how cluttered and disorganized he has been living his life. Thank God. It took some serious storms, pissed off folks, and lost of income but he started seeing it.

Even got himself an organizing book. Had the nerve to tell me I need to read it. To which I laughed and said., “Dear, I know how to organize. I have just been figting with your lack of for the last 6 years.”

So the last few weeks have found me helping him because he is ready to listen and me also getting myself back on track.

I see that I need to go back to my lists: kitchen inventory, household cleaning, daily business tasks, and even a library so that I don’t take books back late. I am also trying to keep budget straight.  There are other things that I have to get straight but it is coming along.

For those who are married, please don’t think that your habits don’t have a direct effect on your spouse, because they do.

I am going to try and write my goals out here on Mom Unplugged and if you have tips, please share them with me. Here is what I am working on now:

1. Off the Computer by 9:00pm
2. In bed by 10:00pm
3. Developing a Home Inventory List
4. Organizing my blog posts so that all my blogs and those I am a guest blogger get attention
5. Organizing my daily schedule and limiting my Twitter time

I am good with cleaning my house, doing my laundry and things like that because I hate a nasty stale smelling home, but the rest I let get away from me.

Do you have any tips to help me get on target?

She told me that my son, AJ’s best friend, Michiah and his family lost their mom last night to an accident that could have been avoided. Not only did the kids lose mom, but dad lost the love of his life; his highschool sweetheart. Her name was Candy.

When AJ first went to OK, he joined the homeschool basketball team and that is how he met Michiah. This young man and his family embraced my son and he quickly became a part of their lives. He and Michiah’s mom, Candy, grew really close. So close that she was willing to be responsible for AJ attending the homeschool co-op that her kids attend. She was to be his sponsor, until I arrive. She told me that she loved AJ as if he were her son because he is just a good kid.

He called Candy mom and Michiah, called me mom, because they now consider themselves to be more than friends, but brothers. I was very excited to met her because of her generosity to my son. They picked him up for practice, took him to games, and helped my mother a lot with an active teen. For that I was so grateful and could not wait to get down there and give Candy, a great big hug.

But now I will only know the memory or her as people tell me about the woman she was.

As I was washing this morning, I considered my life in the last few years and how often I complained about what wasn’t or what should be. How very selfish of me to be so concerned with ME.

There are children and husbands who lose their moms and wives daily. They have no other choice but to deal with the lost. I don’t have to choose to complain.

Perhaps this has all come full circle for me because I am at a point in my life where I am truly changing from that complaining, miserable woman I was. Candy’s death showed me that the road I am on is the right one. I am on the road to LIVE LIFE WITH MEANING!

Tomorrow is not promised. We are not even sure about today.

I am not sad, but I am in awe of the life of a woman who homeschooled 6 children, took care of her husband, who traveled a lot with his job, and she still had her own massage business. And, get this, she lived her life to the fullest from what AJ tells me.

Do you live life to the fullest? Or do you complain day after day about things that you can do something about; whether you control them or not?

Hello, My name is LaTara, and I am a former complainer! But to this day I can’t tell you why other than I wanted people to do it my way or the highway. If I could not see the good in something, I complained. If I was broke, I complained. If my husband did not follow through, I complained. If he forgot to kiss me when he walked out the door, I complained. If my son worked me to the very last nerve, I complained. If I someone did not do as promised or if they broke a barter agreement, I complained. If I did not make a sale or if a campaign went wrong,  complained. I complained so much, I could not see clear to work things out in a more postive way.

The bible says that we are what we think. Can you imagine what I was? Let me tell you it was not very nice.

Today I see that my decision to take things as they come and adjust my mind to deal with what is in a proactive manner, was a good one. I am doing it right and I thank God, that even through this tragedy, I can see that.

I just spoke with AJ and he was with the family at their request. He, Michiah, and the basketball coach were playing basketball and living because they know that is what Candy would want them to do.

We are given so many gifts, so much to enjoy and be grateful for. So many people to love and spend quality time with. So much to do in life. A purpose that is just ours to fulfill.

And you complain….WHY?

This past weekend I felt compelled to read a book that I borrowed from the library in June and only glanced at the pictures. It is a copy of Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration and it is a celebratory biography in honor of Ms Angelou’s 80th year of life. For many of us we would look at 80 as life ending, but I saw life beginning and so much more as I read this wonderful depiction of a life truly lived; and one that continues to live.

I was taken into the world of a woman who I have admired for years and who, through her book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, gave me hope for healing from an abusive past. I have loved Ms Angelou for years and though I have never met her, I always felt that my soul connects to hers in some strange way. Through the words in the book I learned this weekend why I was so connected.

Maya Angelo, who looks very much like my 75 year old aunt and matriarch on my father’s side,  is the definition of a self-made woman. Funny thing is so is my aunt who I also greatly admire, and, who many say, I am very much like with a quiet strength that roars like a lion.

Outside of her honorary degrees, Maya never attended college ( I attended but did not get my degree) but has received numerous honorary degrees and is a college professor. She has traveled the world and never let anything stop her. Her life has become ours through the series of autobiographies and poems she has written over the years. She has shown us what is means to be a Phenomenal Woman and how to stand tall and say “Still I Rise” in the midst of adversity and strife. So much to say about a woman who has lived and still does so today.

For years I thought that Maya Angelou’s fame came at an early age. While it did in so many ways, her writing did not. She was first a singer, a dancer, and an actor.  But is was writing that won her heart. Maya Angelou was near or in her forties, when what we know as fame found her; although she had come into her own in so many ways from the time she was a little girl.

As a little girl, Maya, then known as Marguerite Johnson Angelos, was raped by one her mother’s boyfriends. He, after his trial where she testified, was found dead; the victim of unknown assailants that many believed to be her own family. Maya says in the book that she felt like her voice had killed him and so she stopped talking for about 6 years. It was through poetry that she found her voice.

What struck me was the fact that I too found my voice through writing, poetry to be exact. However, that was just one parallel that helped me to see why we I felt so connected to a woman I have never met. We both love people, relationships, making a difference, and our children with a passion. We love having gatherings, cooking, and sharing about God who is our Creator without judging others. We are both transparent, open, and ready to share our experiences to help our fellow man.

This weekend, well this morning to be exact, I had an epiphany of Who I Am as I rounded the corner to the end of the book. As I was reading the last chapter, tears started to flow and I couldn’t help but to just say thank you to God. It was as if my life opened up before me and I felt a peace that truly does pass all understanding. I was truly in a moment with God as I read each word. Of all I read in the last chapter, it was the words of Ms. Angelou’s son, Guy (written as a dedication to her in his first book), that struck me the most, causing an overflow of joyous tears:

“You have taught me there is no end of learning, to growing, to reaching higher, to pursuing the right path, and perhaps greater, that all pursuits are lost if there is no love, no investment in others”( Guy Johnson, Standing at the Scratching Line, Random House, 1998)

That is when I knew, This is Who I Am. I strive to learn, grow, and reach everyday. I have been on a discovery of self for quite some time and thank God, today I really saw it. You see I am more than wife, a mom, and someone’s daughter. I am God’s creation first and foremost with a sure destiny and purpose; and then, I am ME. I can never forget that. If I lose who I am then I lose all that God has created me to be.

I love making a difference in life and sharing who I am, in hopes that I too can show someone that all is not lost. You just have to get up and go find it. It is waiting. I too believe that to be in pursuit of something for selfish gain, is a lonely way to live and means absolutely nothing if you don’t care about others along the way.

Writing is like breathing to me and that is why I know I could never give it up. I may never be a famous writer as I hope to be; that depends on the road God has for me. However, like Maya I will never stop using words to make a difference.

God has given me the skill and talent of creative communication with the gifts of encouragement, leadership, wisdom and discernment to know ho to use it.  Right now it is through natural health and proactive living; and yes, even in my poetry that I still dabble in.

This is who I am!

In ending this post, I want to share a poem by Maya Angelou that reaches into my core every time I read it.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

There are many layers to the story of my life with the Man but for the sake of this post, I will only focus on the ones that I think had the most impact on why I went through so much pain.

My husband and I met on July 4, 2002 over the internet. It was a fast courtship as we both knew what we were looking for and we were older than the average couple when they marry, so we married after his visit to my home in Los Angeles. I had already been told by my mentor years before meeting Rupert that I was going to marry fast. I did not believe her and look who was right. Were Nancy still alive today, she would still be laughing.
I moved to Chicago in November of that same year and while on birth control, became pregnant with Brehane in December. Talk about a shock to my system. We were not expecting that at all but we worked our way through it and thanked God for the blessing that would be Brehane Yosef Ham-Ying.
My husband is an odd man who I think has way too much intelligence for any one human. As result it can sometimes make living with him very unbearable. But he can find a solution for just about anything. Ever heard of McGyver? Well my husband is him in the flesh. I have to admit though that being married to a hot headed woman for the last 6 years has taught him much and he see that he does not have the control he thought he did.
I went into the marriage depressed and as result it reaked havoc on many things in our marriage. I also had an attitude issue because I was not as trustworthy of men as some women are. I was raised by my momma who after being abused by my sister’s father decided never to marry again and she never let another man step over her. However, she did not teach her daughters the value of a man outside of making sure he had money and a job.

I had to help my sister fight her husband, watched my momma beat up my drunk aunt’s drunk boyfriends time after time again until my momma finally told her to get out, and I was sexually abused by, not one, but 5 different people, 4 of them being male. When my daddy found out that one of the men was my own step-brother he beat the fool out of him and told me that he would never bother me again. Which he did not but my daddy also did not tell my momma which in turn means I received no help for the problem. And then my daddy died in 1985.

When Daddy died it was as if my very life slipped from me and I went deeper and deeper into an abyss of mistrust, bitterness, and even anger.

I realized sometime later that all of these events perpetrated by men left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth when it came to trust. For me I had been disappointed by every man who entered my life, even Daddy because he died before it was time.

Yet, I knew I wanted to be married. I learned that while I had forgiven all those who were a part of my downfall into depression, I did not heal from that abusive past. I carried it with me into my marriage, unbeknown to me, and in turn I did some very mean things to my husband.

So you see a few of the layers and you can see that they run pretty deep because there are more.

In 2006, I began to work on LaTara and all I had contributed to our marriage. I allowed God to show me all the ugliness that dwelled deeper than I had imagined. What He showed me was not good but I had to look in the mirror in order to begin the healing process.

Let me pause here to say that while I am not the only one in this marriage and it takes two to tangle, I can only be responsible for me.

What Repositioning Yourself is confirming for me is that I am on the right road. When TD talks about dealing with those voices of reasons, I felt very connected to L Lover. I gave my husband the blues in many instanced and mis-trusted him, closing him out of much of my life out of fear, that like many of the men in my life, he too would disappoint.

My marriage is much better today than it was yesterday. I am learning to appreciate and trust the man that God put in my path for a life together; bringing Him Glory. Is it perfect? Heck no! But it is much better.

I don’t do a lot of blog parties but when I heard about the Mom Talk Network having an artsy momma blog party, I just had to join in. I was a bit confused on what and artsy momma is but when I read what they were looking for I thought “yep, I fit the bill”. So here I am sharing why I am an artsy momma.

I have been into crafts for some time. Having owned a day care for 4 years and working at a church as a VBS teacher, Youth retreat facilitator, and Pre-teen bible study teacher, I have the opportunity to make many crafts.

I have always enjoyed crafts but I never thought they would come in handy for everyday living. You see I am a natural living momma and I make a lot of my own products for the home and body. It sorta happened out of necessity more so than a passion to make healthy products for my family.

Because of finances I went in search of how to make products at home that the entire family could use. For us it was hard to even buy lotions at times and the cheap stuff is just no good for the body and it tends to leave my pretty caramel skin a little ashy. Sorry, LaTara was not having that.

So the first thing I experimented with was making bath salts and body sugars. My very first body sugar was a honey lemon one that we wanted to eat more than putting it on our body. But we did and I tell you after a shower that included this body sugar, your body was well polished and smooth.

Then I learned how to make a coconut and olive oil mixture with shea butter and tea tree oil. We call it the head to toe body cream because it is a good cream for the hair, face, and body. Especially here in Chicago in the cold winter months when your skin becomes dry and crackly from the harsh low degree tempts. Before I made this cream I was one scaly looking sister from the knees down.

It was such a great experiment that when it came time to remove the toxic chemicals from the home I started using everyday around the house products like baking soda, Borax, lemon and vinegar to clean the home. Of course I added essentials oils for that disinfecting need that a bottle of Clorox would often solve.

It has been a joy actually using the knowledge I have from years or research and combining it with my love of crafts to make products that are non-toxic and healthy for the entire family.

As a woman who strives to live an authentic existence being able to create products that speak of who I am and what my family stands for makes it all worthwhile. I think a huge part of authenticity includes doing what you do with joy.

If you are an artsy momma why not join us this week over at Moms Talk Network for the party.