Why am I here?

Hello world. I am a very busy mother of two. My husband and I own a family business, I coach my daughters' softball team, I volunteer in their classrooms and I have a photography addiction (took my hobby pro last year).

I began running seven or eight years ago when I was going through a divorce and my mom was dying. It was my therapy then. As my life recovered and I had daughter number two, the running fell to the back burner and then off the stove all together. Gradually all "me" time was lost. About a year ago I realized how much I really needed that back. Most of my days are packed full from the moment I get up until the moment I go to bed, but I realized that I was getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night. I figured I could do with a little less, so I started getting up an hour earlier and getting out for a run. It was so energizing and it got me back on track with everything health related.

Last September I participated in a 28 day cleanse program by eliminating sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, caffeine and alcohol from my diet. I felt so incredible and learned so much. My husband and I decided this would be a good program for us to do three times a year - September, January and May. I stuck with the program here and there for the rest of the year (until Christmas when I ate every goodie I could get my hands on). I got back into the swing of things with another round of the cleanse in January. This time was very different. Instead of counting down the days until I could eat a big burger or something, I counted the number of new recipes I could find. I got into such an easy routine of meal planning, shopping and cooking. Yesterday was the last of the 28 day cleanse and honestly, I have no intention of changing my habits now. This is working beautifully. I feel great and I am loving the food that I am cooking. Also beginning in January, I joined a fitness boot camp to change up the routine of all running all the time. I have seen huge results in how my body looks and feels. I've worked out muscle groups I didn't even know I had! All of these results in only one month.

So why a blog now? Because so many people have noticed the changes in me and have asked how they can get it too. So I want to share. I'll share recipes and workouts. Let you know what is motivating me and what is bringing me down. All of this in hopes that you too can learn to eat healthy, live healthy and be happy...in real life - you know, with work, kids, hobbies...the whole works.