Meet The Editors

Vanessa Pruitt – Editor-in-Chief

Vanessa Pruitt is the founder of Natural Family Today and also the Pregnancy and Birth Editor. The mother of 3 rambunctious boys, she’s a trained Birth Doula and had her third son at home unassisted.

She is an advocate for midwifery, the rights of childbearing women, breastfeeding, and vaccine awareness. She enjoys whole foods cooking, sewing, writing, and unschooling.

 

Aadel Bussinger – Education Editor

Aadel has been married to her career Army man for 11 years and they have 2 daughters and a freshly made son.

She is currently pursuing a degree in Education with an emphasis in Alternative Methods and Online Education.  She believes that learning should be meaningful, integrative, challenging, and active!  She has been homeschooling alongside her children since 2004 and blogs intermittently about their journey on These Temporary Tents.

Her hobbies and interests include organic gardening, sewing, crocheting, writing, philosophy, and theology.

 

Pamela Kimsey – Gardening Editor

Pammy lives on small rural farm in Southeast Texas. She shares her passion for sustainable and diverse gardening with her family and husband of 30 years. She has a background as a commercial manager and grower for a large wholesale nursery. It was there that she became disenchanted with the high use of dangerous chemicals.

Pammy practices organic growing methods as well as preserving historic heirloom varieties and herbs. She also enjoys canning and preserving the food she grows as well as baking artisan bread. She is a strong advocate for buying local and supporting local farmers markets. She shares all of this with her two grandchildren for the hope of future generations. Pammy loves to share her garden on her blog at http://thymesquaregarden.blogspot.com/

 

Kris Marie Mery – Fertility Editor

Kris Marie Mery has been married for four years and has two children so far. She’s a stay at home mom and has varied interests, pretty much everything from religion to travel to everything parenting, fertility, and childbirth related.

She loves to write and has two blogs, www.mamakalila.wordpress.com andwww.nonhippyhippy.blogspot.com and writes for the San Antonio Examiner as well.

 

Rebecca Graf – Natural Health Editor

Rebecca Graf is a wife and mother of three children. Trained as an accountant, she’s found the joy of writing in the past three years. Starting three years ago, she began to make major life changes that are still in the works. She was forced through health issues to re-evaluate her lifestyle. With a major move to South Dakota from Wisconsin, she’s starting over and looking for better and more natural ways to live.

Here at Natural Family today you will find her writing on how to get healthy the natural way. She’ll discuss the foods we eat, our physical and mental health, and even that all too familiar friend, stress.

To learn more about her writings, check out her website, Formenyanoore, where she updates all her writings and activities.

 

Rita Brhel - Attachment Parenting Editor

Rita Brhel is a stay-at-home mother to three children, 5-year-old and 4-year-old daughters and a newborn son. She’s been married for 10 years to her college sweetheart. They live on a small sheep farm at edge of Fairfield, Nebraska USA.

A journalist pre-children, Rita enjoys writing and editing especially for nonprofits that benefit families. She has been with Attachment Parenting International for the past 5 years and created www.theattachedfamily.com. Rita is especially passionate about natural birthing, breastfeeding, cosleeping, and stay-at-home parenting.

 

Laura Weirich – Breastfeeding Editor

Laura Weirich has been married for four years and has two sons. She’s been breastfeeding for nearly two years and currently tandem nurses her toddler and infant. A big proponent of breastfeeding, she’s been educating her friends and family about the benefits of breastfeeding and helping other women along the way.

When she’s not nursing, she chases a toddler all day, washes cloth diapers, tries to catch a few zs and reads up on the latest research about children. She blogs at http://deltaflute.blogspot.com/

 

Cherri Megasko – Green Living Editor

Cherri grew up on a farm in rural Missouri. Conserving resources and living a sustainable lifestyle were things she was taught very early in life. She currently writes for several online sites covering a variety of subjects, with Green Living being the one closest to her heart.

In addition to educating others on how to reduce their carbon footprint, Cherri strives to do so in her everyday life as well. From composting kitchen waste to transitioning to family cloth, she delights in sharing her experiences with her readers. Cherri also holds a degree in environmental science.