Why We Moved: What Motivated Us to Move to the Country ?

  The Starting Point

I had just had my fourth child in September 2000. I had been losing energy slowly over the years. Because it was gradual, I had adapted to it. I figured the reason I was tired was due to having a new baby and not getting enough sleep. Our other children were 5, 3 and 1. Sleep was a luxury for the future. People would tell me, "of course your tired, you have four little ones". I figured they were right and tried not to dwell on it.

The tiredness continued even after the baby started sleeping through the night. By that time it was hot here in Arizona so I figured that was making me tired. My husband started to ask the question, "Maybe you're sick. Maybe you should go see a doctor." To which I would quickly disagree. I imagined that after the hot summer passed, I would feel more energetic. I began praying daily for more energy.

Then summer passed. I had four kids that needed me. They were all home with me as my husband and myself were committed to homeschooling them. We had decided to wait to formally teach them until age eight based on research from educational expert, Dr. Moore. Fortunately, our oldest daughter, Bree, was six.

I would wake up and know my energy would last until around 10am. I fed my kids, started laundry, dishes and put the house and kids in order the best I could for the rest of the day. By around 10am, I would have to run to the restroom after having stomach pains all morning. I would spend a while in the bathroom in excruciating pain with diarrhea and vomiting. I wondered how I would be able to handle old age if the pain was already this bad. It had slowly increased through the years of my life. (I was in my mid-30's). This sapped all my strength so it was couch time until my husband came home to save me in the early evening. I rested, slept, and was grouchy. Bree took care of things during the day and my husband, Gary took care of things in the evening. What a blessing my family was during that time. Neither Gary nor Bree complained. Gary kept cautiously commenting, "Maybe you are sick".

I finally admitted I was sick. Now I had to find a doctor. I looked through all my husbands paperwork and found our Primary Care Physician. I called and they referred me to a specialist. I called and set up an appointment but it wasn't until a couple months. I asked to talk to a nurse. I described my symptoms the best I could - the list was endless by now. I let her know I had four children to take care of and she said she could get me in in a week. I was to go to the day surgery where they would send a scope down my stomach and look around. If they saw any inflamation, they would squirt some antibiotics in. Sounded good to me. Anything to make me feel better as I had now moved into desperate mode.

I knew I had to tell someone besides my husband. I had been in denial so long I needed to verbalize it to somebody to help it become more real to me. I decided on two people. One was a good friend who lived in another state and was a great person to talk to. She sympathized and made a few comments. I heard the words come out of my mouth with unbelief but knew I needed to keep saying, "I'm sick". Next, I reluctantly decided to tell my mom. I didn't want to worry her as she lived so far away but she is my best friend and I just had to tell her. Not to mention, she is tough inside, even though you would never know it just meeting her. To my shock, upon telling her, she replied, "I know. I knew you were sick in January when we came to visit." It was now November. She insisted on me listing all my symptoms. So I started in telling her I had no energy, pain in my whole digestive system, sores in my mouth, depression, headaches, diarrhea, and vomiting. She seemed to be taking mental notes.

The next day she called me and said she had gone to her nutrition store and talked to the lady there. She found something to help my whole digestive system and she had already mailed it to me. Sounded good. I was desperate for any help and it would be a few days before I could get into the doctor.

By the next day, it had arrived. I read the information that came with it and it scared me to death. Some of the possible things that could happen by taking these tablets were symptoms I already had. I was scared to put anything into my mouth anyway but I was desperate. I decided to cut the tablet in half and take it. I would know in a hour or less if it would make me sick or not.

It didn't make me sick, so I took a whole one before I went to bed, one the next morning and another before I went to bed that night. The next morning I rolled over on my back. Then it dawned on me, I was on my back. I always slept curled up in a ball because my stomach hurt but now I was stretched out laying on my back and it didn't hurt. I felt my stomach, pushing on it, seeing if I could feel any pain. There wasn't any. I got up quickly in excitement. I felt like I had been shot with adrenaline. My energy was back. I said a quick thank-you to God and made a run for that bottle. What was that stuff? Was it a caffine pill?

It was called Primal Defense and was composed of friendly bacteria. Supposemly, I needed it for my intestines to help digest my food. It did not have any caffine in it and it seemed to be working. It was like a miracle drug for me - only it wasn't a drug. It was a food supplement. My body changed direction that day but unbenonst to me, this would lead to a pursuit of a higher nutrition level for my family and me.

What Next?

I cancelled the doctor visit and headed in pursuit of making myself better. I didn't want to be on a supplement for the rest of my life. There were still times I would get sick over something I ate and I knew there was something more to it.

In my searching on the internet, I came across two books, one on candida and one on digestive disorders. I ordered them both. I got the candida book first and began to read it. I got through the first couple of chapters and ruled it out as the foods the book suggested eating I knew would make me sick.

The next book arrived. It was called, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gotchall. As I read it, I would say outloud, "no?...no?...no?". Everything that she was saying not to eat was mostly what I ate. I decided it was worth a try. I began eating the way she suggested and within a week I knew it was working. I stayed on that diet for about two years. Many of the meals I cooked, the family ate as well. To my surprise, they were benefiting from these same foods. We were noticing behavior differences in the kids and Gary began making comments about how much better he was feeling too.

Whenever we went out to eat, I would get sick within an hour of eating even though I thought I was eating within my diet boundaries. At this time, the Atkins diet was the new thing and my diet was similar to it. The Atkins diet allowed access to several products at the store I would of otherwise have had a problem finding. Many people assumed that I was on the Atkins diet because I ate several proteins but I also had many carbohydrates. It allowed me to stay on the diet for a long time. It was not a struggle as I had all my dietary needs met.

I understood the concepts of the book. It was simple. My body could not break down complex carbohydrates (i.e. in potatoes & rice) or 2-part carbs (i.e. in milk & white sugar) but I could handle 1-part carbs (i.e. ripened fruit & honey). I made yogurt regularily as the process of making yogurt would cause the "friendly bacteria" of yogurt to eat the milk sugar, Lactose. We would have strawberry or orange smoothies almost daily and they became my kid's favorite drink.

By understanding the concept of my problematic digestive system, I kept my ears open for more foods to try. I added maple syrup upon discovering it as a single sugar carb. This was pure maple syrup much to my husbands delight.

My reading of different materials focused on what other foods were made up of single carbs. Jordan Rubin came out with a book called, "The Makers Diet" where he mentioned sprouted flours and how the sprouting process broke down the carbohydrate in grains. I could hardly wait to find some sprouted grain bread. I found some at Trader Joes. I was doubtful I could actually eat it but it was worth a try. After not eating bread for two years, I had grown accustomed to not having it and really did not miss it. If I couldn't have it, it would not be a big loss. To test it, I ate 2 pieces of toast for breakfast. I knew if I couldn't have it, I would need a nap before lunch. I didn't get tired at all so I had 2 more pieces for lunch without any tiredness. I knew I was home free. Now I could have bread like the rest of the family - even french toast!

A friend of mine said she had read "The Makers Diet" too by Jordan Rubin and had tried the diet. The diet? Oh, you mean the book suggested a diet? Hence the name. Never comprehended it. I must of missed the whole premise of the book but it changed the way my family eats today (the whole family switched to sprouted bread).

Conclusion

Nutrition became not only a way of life but a curiosity. We read numerous books and were becoming convinced that nutrition was key to a better life for us. The kids were vibrant and healthy. Gary was feeling better than ever. I was waking up early and bouncing out of bed with a new idea every day (I have never been an early riser).

We now were in the pursuit of grass fed beef, range-free eggs and raw goat's milk for my kids who were alergic to cow's milk. And then a thought occurred to us...why can't we raise chickens? goats? cattle?

I checked with the zoning laws where we lived and we could have chickens. We were not zoned for goats or cattle although people in our neighborhood had horses and donkeys. We got some chickens and started looking to move out to the country. We looked for over 2 years and during that time, we acquired over 20 chickens and 2 small female goats. We had plenty of fresh eggs and had even tried some chicken meat. It was delicious. The goats were too young to be bred but we were planning on eventually milking them. We could buy goats milk from a nearby farmer.

We were so excited when our chance came to move out the country. We immediately acquired a steer and 2 little pigs to raise for meat. We were on our way to producing some of our own foods. This is why we moved.

By Shelly Curtis