Introduction- Allison

As a child my mother read Little House on the Prairie to me. I re-read that book so many times thinking how wonderful it would be to live like that. Not so much the outhouses and winters with wind whipping through the house while you rolled straw to burn in the fire. More along the lines of baking bread, growing your own food, being overjoyed with a rag doll, a button string, or a single orange. That did not exist to me and it was a novelty. People did not really do these things anymore. We go to the grocery store and own every new gadget imaginable. Right? When Amy sent me the invitation for this blog I accepted and then later on was re-thinking it. I kept wondering to myself what is simple living? I have never labeled what we do that way.

About 4 years ago I started down the path to simple living without really knowing I was heading there. Honestly, it started with doula training and the amazing group of women I met there. Several of them showed me that people do actually live this way and it is possible in the hustle and bustle of our hectic lives to slow down. From there it just progressed on, if birth can be that simple and straightforward then why not the rest of life.

Currently, I live in the city with my husband and our four kids. We rent our home but that has not stopped us from doing what we can to live simply. We have chickens and a garden. I love to can and freeze food for the rest of the year. We recycle everything we can and are trying to limit what does come into the house. We have a worm bin and composters for all of our kitchen scraps that the chickens don't eat. Baking bread is a daily part of our life. We also try to buy used when we can. I love to sew and create things for my family rather than buy them. I try to add things one at a time so my husband does not get too freaked out by all the change. I'm going for small baby steps, as it is a never ending journey.

Our dream is to one day buy a piece of land that we can call our own. We would love more chickens (we currently have 13) and maybe a cow or goat. I want more garden space and possibly room to raise animals for meat. I enjoy thinking about this dream but also living in the now and doing everything I can with where we are at.



You can see more of our family here at Our Journey Through Life and more about me at Lally.