The Life Of A Teenage Girl In An Organic Home

The Life Of A Teenage Girl In An Organic Home

Many people have asked me, "What's it like to be raised organically?"  

Well, to begin, my family wasn't always organic.  My mom used to fix meals just like anybody else, using the same products, etc.  Though, she always been extremely thrifty and money smart about food.  My mom only went shopping once a month to Wal-Mart and she only bought what was necessary.  Any "snack foods," Mom would usually skip over.  The only snack foods we would eat (and this still applies even today) are pretzels, Oreos or Chips Ahoy, Fudge Rounds or Swiss Roll Cakes, and tortilla chips.  Mom's belief has always been if you want something sweet, fix it yourself.  So, if I'm craving something sweet and we're out of the snack foods, I have to bake a batch of cookies.  Personally, I think Mom made that policy so she doesn't have to bake herself.  

Around the time I was in middle school, Mom read this book called The Maker's Diet, and she really got into it.  Like really into it.  I didn't like it one bit.  What kid would like it?  She was talking about spelt flour, spinach noodles, and the new word...organic.  What kid would even know what those things were?  So, then the food began to change in the house.  White bread became grain bread.  Creamy peanut butter was replaced by almond butter.  Organic milk.  Almond milk.  Soy milk.  Yogurt.  Olive oil.  Spelt everything.  More greens.  Sometimes no meat at meals.

WHAT?!  

That's exactly what I thought for several years. 

WHAT?!

Then, my sister got into it.  She became a vegan, but we like to call her a flexitarian.  She'll eat meat if it's local, and it was raised organically.  

It was nonsense. 

Hours and hours, I've heard so many conversations and lectures about eating healthy, living longer, etc.  

But then one day, I thought.

One day, I'll be having kids.  I'll have to make a decision.  

Do I want my kids to eat healthy?  To be smart?  To not be a part of the 33% of people who are obese?  Yes, I'll raise my kids organically.  I want the best for my kids just like my mom wants the best for me.  

So when people do ask that question, I answer them simply.

"It's different, but I wouldn't change it for the world."

<3

Nicholas Sparks and Twilight Ruin Teenage Fantasies

 Nicholas Sparks and Twilight Ruin Teenage Fantasies 

When you're watching anything that's been based on Nicholas Sparks' books or the Twilight movies, have you ever sat back and wondered, is that what real love is like?  Do they  really obsess over each other like that?  Do they really think about each other all the time?  In real life, the answer is no.  Real love is not like that.  Unfortunately, for other teenagers, they don't have parents like mine to teach what real love is.  What they see on tv is what they get.  Teenagers that walk around in my school dream about having an Edward to carry them away into the sunset, and even worse, sometimes they dream of having vampire boyfriends.  So, is Twilight really healthy for the brains of teenagers?  It teaches that obsessed love is okay, vampires are gentle loving creatures, and that love is more important than her own family.  

     Though, I will give credit  to Meyer who added some morals that I'm sure she learned from Brigham Young University.  She writes that Edward and Bella wait to have sex until they marry which is an important moral aspect.  She also writes that Bella could have Renesmee aborted or something in that aspect, but Bella refuses.  

     Nicholas Sparks, on the other hand, is not as great as he seems, in my opinion.  His writing developement is weak, but his story lines are fantastic.  If only you can mix William Faulkner and Nicholas Sparks, you could have a fabulous book.  Nicholas Sparks, though, teaches that no matter, love conquers all.  And he is right, but not in the lighting that he shows.  Loves means to care for that person no matter what the flaw is.  The girls in my school break up with boys for no apparent reason and say that he has a funny quirk they don't like.   Sometimes that is something to look into, but normally, it's the personality that should shine the brightest.  When he wrote Walk To Remember, he did such a good job showing that Jamie and Landon shared an actual love.  He loved her despite her disease.  He stayed by her side.  That could happen.  When The Notebook came out, I was extremely disappointed.  When you fall in love at the age of 17 or 18 and you had a summer fling, in real life, you would forget about that person or move on and find someone great.  Noah didn't move on though.  He stayed on that same girl and, in a way, that's a bit strange.  Allie did move on, but after one visit, she was in love all over again.  Honestly, it doesn't work like fireworks.  Maybe for some people, it works, but normally it doesn't.  I know I'm a stinking pessimist about writings, but I believe if you're going to write a romance novel, write the truth.  

    So maybe the next time you walk in the hallways watching the couples making out, stop and pause.  It's high school.  It could work, it couldn't work.  Just remember that love should be true and honest, not roses and sparkly vampires.