Welcome!

Hi!  My name is J.  I am a wife, mother, coach, and runner.  This blog will be about my life...even the boring stuff.  You've been warned.

Two years ago, I weighed 178 pounds.  I had just found out I was expecting my third and final (knock on wood) child.  When I had the older two children, who will be referred to as "the bigs" from here on out, I was tiny.  I left the hospital after having number two in a pair of size 5 jeans and remember feeling "HUGE".  Well, then my metabolism came to a crashing halt.  That paired with the combination of cheesefries and greasy bacon (I love bacon!) very rapidly turned that 5 into a 16.  So baby #3 made me realize it was time to make some serious changes in my life.

I started running.  Well, actually I started sprinting and heaving.  That's what happens when you think you can just go right into something like you're Superwoman.  I highly recommend a couch to 5K program for anyone interested in starting running.  Anyway, once I got the hang of it, I fell in love!  My morning runs are my saving grace.  I start my day thinking about all of the things I want to do for the day, scrutinizing over the things that have bothered me, and sometimes just singing along very loudly through my sleeping neighborhood with Adele and the Pistol Annies.  It's a wonderful feeling.  In the afternoons, I like to run with the bigs and listen to them talk about their days.  They also complain about how hot it is, how the bugs keep flying in their mouths, and how they need more water, but I tend to ignore all of that.  You'll never hear me say that I'm the World's Greatest Mom!

I also coach youth cheerleading.  My daughter is not on either of my teams, but she is the reason I started it.  She wanted to cheer at a young age, but because of her disabilities, no one would take her.  Thus started my cheer coach career (which is really just volunteer work, but it sounds illustrious, right).  In the 6 teams I have had, she has been on two.  She liked the uniforms and pom poms, but she mentioned something about the coach being a crazy lunatic.

My husband is wonderful!  He has been right in my corner as I decided to take up running and change our diets.  When I said no more real bacon, he cried for a while (we both did), but he has really enjoyed the many recipes I have found and created.  He even became inspired to start working on his own figure and has done so great!

The bigs are the two greatest kids you could ever meet!  They have gone running with me, raved over all of the healthy desserts, quietly choked down the less than stellar recipes, and kept me on my toes on days when I just didn't "feel like it".  And baby no#3...yeah, he's a new walker who thinks the world is his playground, so he makes sure I NEVER sit down.  He's also the reason I went into the home based business I did.  Although, I will not mention more about that (well unless it pertains to my day) because I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing a product.

The three of them are the reason I do everything in life.  Every decision I have made these last 12 years has been over careful consideration of them, their feelings, the impact it would have on them, etc.  If you're a parent, you get it.  If you're not, well I hope you still find this all entertaining!