#liverevised One woman’s mission to change lives Fashion:
Faith:
God in our Every Moment
a reVision publication
March 2016
Join the movement at www.revisionforwomen.com and receive a FREE e-journal!
“I have a personal mission to encourage, empower and inspire women to chase down their purposes, live out their passion and perform at the highest level God created them. I am scouring the globe for women who want to leave behind mundane, passion-less lives and who are ready to exist in the greatness they were created to be!” —Christie www.revisionforwomen.com
From the editor
rePeatedly reVised It’s ironic that this issue is coming at you with a spring-y, fresh appearance. It’s also ironic that I have my editor’s note titled “repeatedly revised.”
The reason it is sort of comical is due to the season this magazine has lived in these past few months. As popularity for the magazine has grown, we’ve had to evolve with the need, the legalities of producing such a publication and the growing demand for the content we offer.
These growing pains aren’t easy, but they are exciting! It means we’re on to something that our readers, and women across the globe, really want. We took a few issue to get our foundation reestablished in light of this new growth and now we are excited to see were the future is gonna take us!!!
That being said, there’s some great opportunities for you or those you know! We’re looking for contributors and advertisers! If either sounds interesting to you, contact us to get more information. We want to expand our readership and that comes with a few needs — great, consistent content and the financial support of advertisers to make it so!
We also launched a subscription model for those who want to receive reVision magazine in the mail! This allows us to keep the magazine in your hands by covering the cost to produce each monthly issue. Of course, you can always read our magazine online, at www.revisionmagazine.net, in two forms — a beautiful flip book and individual articles in our drop down menus.
I hope you are as amped about our growth and changes are we are! This journey has been a personal passion of mine and a dream come true in a lot of ways. It’s been an incredibly outlet for me to live out my personal mission — to encourage, empower and inspire women everywhere!
Christie Browning — Editor, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Coach reVision magazine is a monthly publication with issues made available online and in print. For submissions, please email christiebrowning@outlook.com and include a method of contact. reVision magazine and it’s editor/publisher reserve the right to refuse submissions without explanation as well as edit content without preapproval of its contributor. Contributions are offered complimentary. reVision magazine nor its parent company, reVision for Women LLC, offer compensation or payment for the contributions it receives. Images used are done so with credit to the known photographer and with permission from said creator. All other content, images and articles are the property of reVison magazine and may not be reproduced or used without permission from its editor/publisher. Contact reVision by emailing christiebrowning@outlook.com or visit online at www.revisionmagazine.net.
11 On the cover: Christie Browning is the owner of reVision, a company aimed at encouraging, empowering and inspiring women. Her new initiative brings about a new, authentic way of life. Photo courtesy of Casey Brothers, La Petite Studios (www.lepetitestudios.com)
6 Get some gardening how-tos to prep for spring produce and healthy options.
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10 Fashion Forward: Mixing up sweet and salty looks for fun!
23 The real cost of real food.
18 Multiple Choices: Making decisions with more confidence
In the garden
How to make your garden grow! Originally by Megan Phelps & Barbara Pleasant courtesy of Mother Earth News (www.motherearthnews.com)
If you want to grow a garden this spring, it’s never too early to start planning. One of the best ways to “learn as you go” is to read the seed catalogs that many companies will send for free. One of our favorites, with lots of gardening advice and great color photos, is Johnny’s Selected Seeds. If you’re a beginner, consider starting with the 10 crops discussed below. All are easy to grow, and this combination offers lots of possibilities for cooking. Some of these crops are best grown by setting out started seedlings, but most are easy to grow from a packet of seeds. 1. Radishes. Radishes do well even in not-so-great garden soil and are ready to harvest in only a few weeks. Plant the seeds in spring and fall. 2. Salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula and corn salad). Pick your favorite, or try a mix — many companies sell mixed packets for summer and winter gardening. Plant the seeds in spring and fall, and you can pick salads almost year-round. 3. Green beans. Easy to grow and prolific. If you get a big crop, they freeze well, and they’re also delicious when pickled as dilly beans. Start with seeds after all danger of frost has passed.
4. Onions. Start with small plants, and if they do well, you can harvest bulb onions. If not, you can always eat the greens. 5. Strawberries. Perfectly ripe strawberries are unbelievably sweet, and the plants are surprisingly hardy. Buy bare-root plants in early spring. Put this perennial in a sunny spot and keep it well weeded. 6. Peppers. Both hot peppers and bell peppers are easy to grow. Start with plants and let peppers from the same plant ripen for different lengths of time to get a range of colors and flavors. 7. Bush zucchini. This squash won't take up as much room in your garden as many other types, and
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it’s very prolific. Start from seeds or transplants. You won't need more than a few plants for a bumper crop. 8. Tomatoes. There’s just no substitute for a perfectly ripe homegrown tomato, and it’s hard to go wrong when you start with strong plants. If you get a big crop, consider canning or freezing. 9. Basil. Many herbs are easy to grow, but basil is a good choice because it’s a nice complement to tomatoes. Basil is easy to grow from seeds or from transplants. 10. Potatoes. An easy-to-grow staple that stores well when kept cool. A simple and low-maintenance approach is to plant potatoes in straw rather than soil. ‘Seeds’ are whole or cut sections of potatoes, sold in early spring.
Creating Your Garden Space You’ve had your eye on a certain space in your yard for a while now, thinking about revamping it into a garden, and the weekend weather forecast couldn’t be better. You’ve been brainstorming what you want to grow, envisioning the harvests ahead. The time has come to dig in and discover how to start the vegetable garden of your dreams — but perhaps you’re not sure exactly how to get started. Right on time, MOTHER is here to help!
Choosing a Good Garden Site First, ask yourself a few questions about the potential site. Have you watched to see what happens after a heavy rain? If water doesn’t absorb into the ground or run off after a couple of hours, the site could have a drainage issue. Evaluating the sun pattern is important, too, because most veggies and herbs need at least eight hours of full sun each day. After you settle on a site with good drainage and plenty of sun, you’ll want to gauge the depth 7
of your topsoil, which can vary from a couple of inches to several feet. Use a sharp spade to dig a few holes about 1 foot deep in the site where you want to start your vegetable garden. Topsoil is usually darker in color than subsoil, which tends to be much harder, too. If the soil is so hard or rocky that digging is impossible, drive a rebar stake into the ground in various places to see what you hit. I’ve started two new gardens on mountainous land and have learned that I can remove rocks that are small enough to lift, but boulders are forever. After you’ve done some poking around, choose spots with the best topsoil, avoiding any buried boulders, and begin imagining your garden’s size, shape and design. If you’re losing hope because you’ve found that your promising puddle of sun has scant topsoil or sits atop huge rocks, opt for raised beds. In-ground beds tend to work best where topsoil is deep because plant roots stay cooler the deeper they reach into the soil, but raised beds make gardening possible even in soil-less sites. (See Six Ways to Build Raised Garden Beds for more on gardening in raised beds.) If you’ve found a good in-ground site, though, your next step is to start clearing the way.
Sheet Composting to Start New Garden Beds Plants live on light, so covering them with any material that deprives them of light will cause them to die. When you cover the ground with a thick, light-blocking layer of cardboard or newspapers, and then add a second dense layer of grass clippings, straw, wood chips or another organic mulch, whatever was growing in the site is doomed. Sheet composting is slower than cutting and moving sod, but it requires much less work, and cardboard mulch in particular may offer special benefits to soil. The last time I moved, I used alternate layers of cardboard and clumps of pulled weeds to reclaim some garden space gone wild, and I grew a decent crop of tomatoes in holes I dug into the compost layers. In other areas, I had to commit to dedicated digging to push back weeds and nettles, and then I piled on cardboard and held it in place with bricks and more clumps of pulled weeds. In my climate, three layers easily decomposed in one season. Plus, besides blocking light, I found that the cardboard invited activity from beneficial garden critters, such as night crawlers, crickets and salamanders. The use of cardboard mulch is permitted by National Organic Program (NOP) standards. Brown cardboard with minimal printing is preferable because it has undergone less processing and bleaching compared with white or glossy cardboard. Thick folds of newspaper are also an option, but cardboard is easier to work with and quicker to lay down, especially when it’s wet.
At Wahatoya Community Farm in southern Colorado, farmers layer cardboard with compost and straw to build organic matter in newly cultivated space. At Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Massachusetts, farmers recently evaluated the effects of beds mulched with cardboard or newspaper. The cardboard-mulched beds stayed weed-free longer and showed more positive changes in soil chemistry compared with beds mulched with hay. According to project coordinator and farmer Rachel Scherer, the cardboard system allows the farm to run without machinery and with the labor of only one full-time farmer.
Creating Working Garden Beds
United
for the joy of
giving
Now it’s time for the fun part: bringing the site to life with permanent garden beds. When deciding how to size your beds, keep in mind that 3-foot-wide beds are easiest to outfit with row covers or other accessories. At the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation’s farm in Ardmore, Oklahoma, researchers have found that beds 40 inches wide or less are easiest to equip with black plastic mulch as well as row covers and other season-extension devices. In the interest of efficiency, they settled on 40-inch-wide beds with 20-inch-wide pathways between them for both raised and in-ground beds. The 20-inch-wide pathways provide ample room for a gardener carrying a bucket or tools, but aren’t wide enough for carts or other wheeled equipment. If you plan to use a wheelbarrow or cart as you garden, perhaps you’ll want wider paths for maneuverability. When deciding on dimensions for your setup, keep in mind that all of your beds and paths need not be the same size. You’ll need to do some digging in your new garden beds to aerate the soil and improve drainage, and I recommend starting the process by hand with a digging fork. When the soil is moist but not wet, dig through the first bed you want to make, loosening but not turning the soil, and pull out any remaining weeds and grasses by hand.
Fashion
& By Kennedy Slavicek Who says you can’t be sweet and salty? I mean, with your outfits at least. It’s easy to combine hard and soft colors and textures with leather and lace. Pair a lace skirt or dress and layer it with a graphic t-shirt and leather jacket. Wear combat boots and top it off with a ribbon in your hair. All of it together will make you look like a rock and roll angel! This outfit is perfect for any occasion and any weather (especially if you want to wear some tights underneath the skirt). Wear this sugar and spice outfit today! Wearing: American Eagle skirt |Vintage t-shirt and hair ribbon | Forever 21 leather jacket | H&M boots.
You can learn more about Kennedy by visiting her at her online clothing store, kennedynoellescloset.com and her blog, kennedynoelle.com .
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Feature
Christie Browning shares her new passion to teach authentic, significant way of living for any woman‌
By Christie Browning
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Quick Tips to #liverevised: Christie offers these concepts to start taking steps for a more authentic lifestyle!
Make your purpose known — What are you here for? What makes you excited and on fire!
Make your purpose passionate — Whatever you think your purpose is, it has to be tied to your heart, to a personal feeling. Otherwise it will die off when life gets tough.
Make your decisions based on your passionate purpose — When you know what your purpose is, decisions you are faced with can be filtered through that purpose definition. Make your purpose visual — When you can articulate what is important to you, others are more likely to get on board. Making your purpose visual also keeps you focused. Make a list of your greatest accomplishments — If you are having a hard time de-
I
grew up in a home full of support and encouragement, with parents who would have helped me do just about anything I set my sights on. However, at 22 years old, I found myself unhappy, unfulfilled and quite depressed with that my future looked liked.
I remember being newlywed, living in a new house, in a new town, with a new car and a new job. It was my adult life coming together. But I sat in my gray cubicle at work one day, and cried. I thought… “if this is what the rest of my life is gonna be about, just show me to the grave.” That moment sent me on a 15 year journey to figure out “what was wrong with me.” I really felt there was something physically wrong with me… something that needed to be diagnosed or pinpointed. I decided to start making changes. I changed jobs, my hair, my habits, my church, my car, the books I read, the food I ate, the clothes I wore, how I spent my free time, what friends I hung out with… I even changed my mattress and the paint color in my house. Nothing made me feel better. Finally, I went to get help. I saw a therapist who suggested I wasn’t living my authentic life. He told me I had identity issues, was unsure of my purpose and had no honest direction for my existence. It was
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a hard pill to swallow, but he was completely right! You see, since I can remember, I did whatever I was told to do. I didn’t move without the approval of someone that mattered. As a kid, that was my parents. As an adult, it was still my parents and now my spouse. The problem with that manner of living… it wasn’t true to me! Although those folks loved me and wanted me to be happy, they couldn’t decide what I should do or be about. They couldn’t define me or direct me. It was time for me to get to know me! So the evolutionary process began. It was tough and at times very lonely. It seemed everyone else knew who they were, and when I tried to explain what I was searching for, they looked at me like I had three heads. My once therapist had identified the issue, but didn’t offer a lot of real solutions. My church friends, all well meaning, simply told me to pray about it. I did spend time praying, but this evolution needed to have some real movement and action added.
Making the change
I am happy to say that although the process was hard and painful at times, it was the best thing I could have done for myself. Now, almost two decades later, I am confident in who I am, what I am about and what makes me, me. I no longer have the need to please everyone and I can make surefooted decisions for myself, knowing what I want and where I am headed. I chose to #liverevised. And now you can too! As you can imagine, it was incredibly depressing to know that the journey I had to go on was without real help. So, after coming out of my own experience, I knew I wanted to help women and be that resource for change that I didn’t have.
termining your purpose, listing some of your proudest moments will help. It will boost your confidence, but it will also show what has meant a lot to you.
Make note of what made those moments special — From what you see as great moments, what was it that made it so awesome? That can be a great indicator to what matters most.
Make time to stay connected — We talk about taking time for ourselves, but those moments should be more than just bubble baths. Taking time should also bring you back to your heart and how you feel.
Make “unique” a defining trait — Nothing is worse than watching someone diminish what makes them great in order to fit in or make everyone else happy. When approval addiction takes over, no one is happy and your uniqueness is lost.
Make a pledge to #liverevised — Choosing to live different than the masses is challenging so why not take a stand with other women who are shooting for the same thing! Visit www.revisionforwomen.com and click on the #liverevised pledge to get in the group. You’ll be invited to join our Facebook community and you’ll also receive a free e-journal to take your revisions further!
I’ll be super straight and tell you, my experience took me to the bottom. I actually ended up gaining my greatest insight and change while serving nine months at Indiana Women’s Prison. A list of felonies that stemmed from my overwhelming approval addiction, meant I lost just about everything, but gained so much more in the process. Not knowing how to live in my own skin meant I mad a lot of bad choices and destructive decisions. In 2014, I launched my company reVision. The main purpose was to give me a platform to encourage, empower and inspire women to live their best life, embrace the greatness within, and to shirk mundane, mediocre lives. I began privately coaching women one-on-one and holding group events where I could begin to share the very techniques that completely transformed me into a confident, purpose-filled, significant woman. My process involved bankruptcy, a divorce, a lot of forgiveness, repairing relationships, and a prison stay. Like I said, it was rough. It was gut-wrenching work. But it was the absolute most amazing thing to happen to me. Now I am married to an amazing husband and truly love every aspect of my life.
What does the #liverevised movement mean? You may want to live a revised life because you’ve been wrapped up in doing for everyone else. Perhaps you have felt like something was wrong with you. Disappointments and setbacks might have left you in the dust without direction. Maybe your sense of self, purpose, passion or significance has died off. #liverevised became a way to challenge myself to stick to the changes I’d made. It was a conscious effort to stay true to me and not be sucked back into my old way of living. In a society where we are pushed and pulled in a 100 directions, made to feel as if we have to measure up to others, fed the lie that we have to fit the mold… #liverevised is a movement to encourage, empower and inspire women to live their own authentic life, their own unique version of their selves and to not feel as if they have to apologize for wanting more, wanting something different or wanting to be defined by a different meaning. This movement is for the woman who is tired of just existing, of just going through the motions, of just checking in and checking out of each day. #liverevised is for the gal looking to make a difference, wants a great sense of fulfillment, and wants to leave a mark on her world. You can join the movement! Visit www.revisionforwomen.com and take the pledge to #liverevised. You’ll receive a free e-journal to help you start making changes right away.
We want all women to live with purpose, passion and significance!
Faith
By Toni Ryan Where does God belong? Does He only belong in church or the hospital waiting room when we are pleading with Him to save the life of someone we love? Is He just supposed to be available when we have a list of requests only He can fill? I don't know about you, but I'm rather tired of being told where God does or does not belong. Many years ago, while working in an office, I started a lunch time bible study with a few co-workers. We were all independent insurance agents, working in the same agency, so our time was our own. What started out as about five of us became most of the office; about twelve in all. It was a nice group of people all enjoying the fellowship that came with studying about prayer together. It was great! The day the manager of the office came to me to discuss our bible study gathering will forever be imbedded in my mind. I'd love to tell you he wanted to join our little group, but unfortunately, it was just the opposite. He wanted me to disband our bible study. He didn't mind if we all got together to eat lunch in the office, but he didn't like the idea of having a bible study.
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He didn't feel God belonged in the workplace. I reminded him that I rented space from him and since we were all independent contractors, he did not have the authority to make us disband our study. He agreed I was right and left. That should be the end of the story, but.... The manager began privately talking to each person that was attending my little bible study luncheon. Sadly, many caved and decided to leave the study. They were intimidated by the phrase “God does not belong in the workplace”. It saddened me then as it saddens me today. I've had this sort of discussion with others over the years and always ask the same question. If God does not belong in the work place, where does He belong? You'd be surprised at the looks I get when I ask that question. It confuses them because they don't know what to say. They just think He does not belong in certain places.
God belongs everywhere, period! One of the things the office manager said to me is said by many these days. “We don't want to offend anyone by
bringing God in the office.” Are you as tired as I am of being offended because my
love of God is somehow offensive to others? @$%@$!&$* Sorry, that's just me SCREAMING!
He's always with me
Why doesn't God belong? What are we afraid of? Are we really afraid to offend or are we afraid to be labeled? “Oh
It's very simple for me and I want it to be for you too. He's always with us. He's in our everything. Hey, He created everything, so why would He not be involved in everything?
she's one of those Jesus freaks!” Even when I was a young Christian I understood it was something to be proud of, not something to hide.
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven,” Matthew 10:32
I am a fully devoted follower of Christ I get it, I really do. No one wants anything they don't believe in shoved at them all the time. I don't want someone throwing the Quran at me any more than I should be throwing the bible at anyone else. But that's not what this is about. This is simply about God being taken out of so much and those who claim faith in Him being afraid to let the world know they love their Creator. If I call myself a fully devoted follower of Christ, then I should not be afraid to let people know how much He means to me.
So here are two simple questions:
If God were to walk into your office, School, business or social gathering, would He feel welcome? Would He belong? If not, why not? Do the people who know you, know you are a Christ follower? Do they know you have a personal relationship with Him? If not, why not?
Only you can answer those questions. I promise there's no test. But, I want to encourage you. If your answers are no, but you do consider yourself a strong Christian, please ask God to give you the courage to show others your love for Him. Ask Him for holy boldness to show others how important He is in your life.
Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8
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If this is an area of struggle and you'd like a little help and encouragement, please comment or email. We're all in this together, let's work it through together. In His embrace, Toni
Toni Ryan is a wife, mom, a Christian, and business woman with a heart to write and speak about the love of God. Insurance agent by day, speaker and writer by night, Toni has a deep connection to her faith and shares her writing online at In His Embrace (www.inhisembrace.com)
Faith
by Christie Browning I battle indecision. I used to be so bad with making choices that I couldn't even choose the restaurant to eat at when it came to picking a spot for dinner. I've improved over the last several years, but there's still times that choices paralyze my heart and mind. Don't get me wrong... if the choice is to jump off a building or go spend some time with my family, the decision is clear. When there's a clear good-bad option, I can choose. But what about those good-equally good choices such as, going to hear your favorite local artist at a coffee shop or spending time at home with a good book. Or how about this one -- cleaning the house or working on your business. Both need your attention. Both would be productive. How do you pick? Or... What about choosing between two different houses to buy? Vacation plans? Which debt to tackle first? Hire that potential employee? Take that business leap? When there are no clear winners and the outcomes are uncertain, choices can be overwhelming. Believe me... I am right there with ya! Today I spent time reading in the Bible the continuing saga of Joshua and the Israelite nation. But before I cracked the cover, I took time to read a little devotional book that assigns a small reading for each day of the year. The scripture was from 2 Chronicles 20:20 -"Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."
Ok... hang with me here... In Joshua 9, I read about neighboring cities 18
threatened by what they had heard God was doing for the Israelites. In previous chapters, God had allowed Joshua to take over cities and those inhabitants were killed. These neighboring cities heard this news and were worried that Joshua would come for them next. So a few crafty fellows devised a plan to portray themselves as weary travelers who were seeking refuge in the Israelite's care and protection. When they asked Joshua to make a covenant with them that they would not be killed, Joshua agrees. But... he and his men did not ask the Lord for guidance on this decision. So shortly afterwards, the sneaky enemies reveal their true identity. But since Joshua swore to not kill them, he had to come up with a plan B. Man, oh man! Can I see myself in the center of this story! Joshua has a choice to make -- be kind, generous and caring to what appears to be weary, humble men. Or cop a cynical, kill-you-where-you-stand attitude to protect his people. Considering the first 9 chapters of this book are mostly about Joshua doing battle, I can understand why he opted for the less aggressive approach. For Joshua, both choices would have seemed right. God wanted fairness, forgiveness and kindness from His people, but He had also commanded Joshua to go to war and do battle. Either option would have seemed A-OK given the past history. But where Joshua trips up is not in the choice, but in not asking God for guidance. Too many times we make decisions out of emotion, past experiences and even optimistic views of the future, but what we really need is to cut through all of that in order to make decisions, make choices, based on the truth and out of wisdom. God gives us that. That's why seeking His guidance is important. We even see that in the verse from 2 Chronicles -- have faith in the Lord and you will be successful! But I know what you're thinking.... "I do ask God for help but He doesn't answer. I get no plan or action or decision." YES!!! I know! I feel that way too! But here's where I think we get it wrong.... It's not so much that God wants to say "Christie, pick green not red." He gave us brains and intuition for a reason. No, I think He wants our hearts... He wants us to come before him saying, "God I truly want what you have for me. I really want to do what is right. I am going to step out on faith and make the best decision I can here, given what I know and what you're showing me."
See God is big enough to course-correct if we choose red when we
were supposed to choose green. It won't tie up His hands. It comes down to the heart, moving in faith and trusting that God is in the middle of your day-to-day life. That happens when you choose to spend time each day with him, cultivating that great relationship. So don't fret about those choices. Good versus equally good doesn't have to be paralyzing. Trusting God does sometimes mean waiting on His hand to write on the wall. But faith also means you trust Him enough to take a step in what you feel is the right direction, knowing He is there too... and will catch you if you fall. Worry, anxiety and stress over choices... that is NOT from God. He is about abundant, joyous living. So make it so, today!
Looking for something different?
How about a speaker that encourages, empower and inspires your audience to become a better version of themselves? What if conferences were interactive, impactful and applicable?
Christie Browning is something different. Engaging and compelling she speaks to women armed with a variety of topics for spiritual growth, personal development, and professional betterment.
Visit www.revisionforwomen.com to learn more!!!
This annual women's summit is hosted by reVision. Monday, May 9th Doors open at 9:30 a.m. - speakers start at 10:00 a.m. Held at the Whitley County Government Center in downtown Columbia City in the lower level
This year's theme is "INSPIRE!"
The day will include: a catered lunch from Urban Station, some shopping time at a variety of vendor tables, some mix and mingle with other women....and AMAZING topics!
You’ll participate in Interactive workshops covering fashion & image tips and how-tos; health & wellness information for every woman; relationship and communication advice; inspiring stories and even a PAINT YOUR OWN CANVAS activity! EARLY BIRD PRICE OF $30 (NCLUDES LUNCH) WHEN YOU PURCHASE YOUR TICKET BEFORE APRIL 1ST AFTER APRIL 1ST - WITH LUNCH $40 / WITHOUT LUNCH (YOU BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH) $30
Get registered and all the event detail at
www.revisionforwomen.com and click “events.”
Offering handmade gifts, homemade items and oneof-a-kind finds crafted locally!
Located downtown on the square in Columbia City Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ applepieboutiquecc Hours:
122 W. Van Buren St.
Weds – Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Columbia City, IN 46725
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
260-229-5577
by Cyndi Turnpaugh People are always asking me how I can afford organic food as a single mom with 5 mouths to feed, 3 of which are teens. This is how I learned to view my food budget differently and began to realize the cost of organic food: I had just picked up a bag of organic carrots in the produce section when I saw a neighbor coming toward me with her grandson in her shopping cart. She surveyed my carrots and began to tell me she couldn’t afford organic food. As she walked off I noticed the Doritos, Oreos, and 6-pack of Coke in her cart. On my way to the front of the store I passed the Oreos and took notice of the price. At that moment my journey into realizing the hidden value of organic food began. 23
Before that day I would buy the same “cheap,” “frankenfood” thinking I was saving money. But when I took into account the nutrition I could be giving to my family, their satisfaction after eating a healthy meal, reducing the in between-meal snacking, and the overall cost per pound, I had a big realization. Today while I was in the local grocery store I took note of some prices. Here is what I found: · A 3lb bag of organic potatoes is $1.99lb. A 15.5 oz bag of Doritos chips cost $4.49. While one teen can scarf down a bag of chips in a matter of minutes, a 3lb bag of potatoes will make 1 meal or 2 side dishes at my house. · Oreos will set me back $3.99lb — 1 cent less than a dozen eggs from a real, local farm. Iwould love to eat the bag of Oreos, but the dozen eggs are nutrient dense and make a great breakfast. Add some veggies for an omelet and you’ve got breakfast for 2 days! · A generic brand of almond “milk” comes to $2.59 for a 1/2 gallon or a whopping $5.18 a gallon!! Fresh, raw, local, organic milk can be had for $6.00 a gallon. Many people who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk.http://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-benefits-of-raw-milk/states:
“TheWeston A. Price Foundation conducted an informal survey of over 700 families, and determined that more than 80 percent of those diagnosed with lactose intolerance no longer suffer from symptoms after switching to raw milk.” He also gives some great details on what damage pasteurized, homogenized milk can do to your health. · And saving the worst for last — a six pack of 16.9oz bottles (or 101.4 oz) of diet coke comes to $3.99.You can get the best water free by going to http://www.findaspring.com/ and type in your city to find the nearest fresh water, no fluoride, chlorine or radioactive contaminants that are in tap water, according tohttp:// www.activistpost.com/2013/04/7-tap-water-toxins.html. Bottled water, according to http:// www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11193/7-reasons-to-never-drink-bottled-water-again.html is “glorified tap water at 10,000 times the cost.” When push comes to shove, opt for Reverse Osmosis water. · You can stop at Wendy’s for a Baconator at about the same cost as a whole pound of grass-fed, grass-finished, local organic meat — around $5. Oh by the way, the organic carrots were on sale for $.99lb which is pretty common where I shop! The local farmers market is almost always a deal!
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Cheryl Almager Independent Consultant (Mobile) 574-312-5284 cherannalma@yahoo.com touchstonecrystal.com/cher
260-248-1216
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260-248-1216 an Indiana certified woman-owned business established in 2005
No order too large or small!! We provide screen printing services you will fondly remember and use multiple times in the future. Have access to in-house graphic design, screen printing, digitizing, embroidery, and full color signs and banners. Call or email us today if you want to advertise for your organization or event in the simplest, most fashionable way possible!
**Embroidery**
**Spirit Wear** **Corporate Wear** **Uniforms** “Like� us on Facebook!
joann@runningaroundscreenprinting.com www.runningaroundscreenprinting.com