Why I began on this journey

Most journeys began because of something. Whether it be a medical problem, wanting something better for your family, helping the environment or all of the above. My journey toward a natural lifestyle started because of a problem I have with vertigo and now includes wanting to help the environment and my family live a healthier and happier life. The vertigo started when I was 25 just after my first child was born, never had it before and woke up one morning with it. After many ER visits and Dr visits I learned how to manage it with treatments at home, but it kept reoccurring every 3 or 4 months and would last for days. I began trying different things at home, changing the way I ate less fast food, exercise more.. none seemed to help. About 8 years ago I tried going more organic in the foods I ate and threw the cleaners in the house away and started making my own. This included soap (I make my own lye soap, then re batch it for different area's of the house, hand, laundry and dish soap. Out household cleaners now consist of soap, baking soda, lemon juice, mule team borax, arm and hammer super washing soda, vinegar and salt. I also can a lot of our food, dehydrate it or freeze it (no chemical or preservatives) and I use no perfumes.
I am not sure what helped (I changed so many things at the same time) but my vertigo problem has diminished to every 2 to 3 years (so far).
I also helped my other problem at the same time, my tongue would blister and swell when I ate sometimes, this just started in the summer of 2001. The Dr could not pin point what food/foods were causing it. The food I would purchase at the grocery store may or may not cause a problem because I could buy lets say cantaloupe one week and I would not have a problem, the next week same store same product would blister my tongue so he said I may just have to live with it. With the life style change this has went away (as long as I eat what we grow or purchase from another farmer that does not use chemicals). The Dr thinks now it may be some chemical (pesticide toxins) in the food, but there is no way to pin point what chemical/chemicals, ( pesticides) since the produce does not come with labels on what was used when growing them, also too many different types of chemicals or could also be a combination of chemicals etc... Long story short the life style changes I have made do take a little time at first but after a while it didn't bother me, its just in my routine and with me the benefits far outweigh the extra time spent! This is also better for my family and after a little time has passed, they do not even notice any difference. The plus is we get lots of fresh air and exercise with tending the gardens, animals and the land along with the money saved by doing things yourself! So its another win win situation!
I will post later some of my tips on the cleaning supplies I have made, I am by no means an expert on this subject, I just know what has worked for us and what has not. This journey we started is blossoming from day to day, I am constantly learning and adding to my list, the only regret I have is I did not start earlier in life! Whatever your reason for starting this journey (or a similar one) most of us end up in a similar place and hopefully, healthier, happier and better and than we were before! :)