Hello, all!

My first inclination was to skip the (somewhat awkward) introductions and head straight into a post. But, once I started typing, I felt like I needed to share my story before my posts would make any sense.

My name is Lindsey, and I am a jack-of-all-trades of sorts. I run a small baking business, am a recent graduate of SMU law school, a mom to my beautiful baby boy (Parker, AKA Little Bear), and a wife to my sweet hubby (Ryan). I love food - not just eating it, but reading about it, talking about it, cooking it, eating it, dreaming about it... I also am really passionate about eating and living as naturally as possible. I truly believe that what you put on and in your body play a huge role in your overall health. My first step (over 2 years ago) in my journey of naturalness was giving up artificial sweeteners. This was no small task! I still to this day cannot look at or smell a Diet Coke without nicotine-withdrawal-like symptoms. And, you'd really be surprised at the hidden sources of artificial sweeteners in products - Propel, almost all gum, baby medicines (which is a whole other post in itself), and even lip glosses. Yuck! After I had mostly mastered the fake sugar hurdle, I found out I was pregnant. All of a sudden everything I ate was such a bigger deal than it had ever been before. I felt like what I put in my body was laying the groundwork for this little baby I was growing. It was an overnight overhaul in my diet. I instantly cut out nearly everything that wasn't "natural." I know defining "natural" is a very objective process, but hopefully this blog will help chronicle the term as I use it in my life.
Parker was born in October of 2010, and the lifestyle changes that I had made when I was pregnant no longer seemed like the "other" way of living. It had become "the" way of living for me. I really hope to teach Parker (and his future siblings) the importance of appreciating what God gave us and how to use nature to our advantage. I don't want our family to be considered weird by other kids and their parents, so I try to keep everything in perspective. When we go to grandma's or to a friend's house, I don't panic if they give my little buddy something that normally wouldn't be in our diets. I don't ever want to make others feel like I'm condemning how and what they eat, and I absolutely never want to make Parker an outsider because of our lifestyle choices. I have already accepted that there will be many kids' birthday parties, school festivals, sleepovers, etc., that will bring "no-no" foods in to our diets, but hopefully I can teach Parker the importance of eating unrefined so that he can make good choices for himself.
My hope is that this blog can serve as a resource to share my discoveries, victories, slip-ups, and other experiences with people at all stages of eating "for real!"