Here I go again. Starting another new blog that I hope people will read. I feel like I have some important things to say though, so I'll give it a shot.

There are a million blogs about healthy living, clean eating and cutting back on processed foods. Especially from women with children who are trying to make sure they're raising their kids as healthy as possible. So while this type of blog might be a dime a dozen, we still have a long way to go regarding the huge issues we face today. Diabetes, obesity, heart-disease and cancer to name a few. Plus the other big issues like GMO's and getting access to fresh local organic food. Additionally, don't even get me started on the current state of things regarding our access to healthy, sustainable meat and dairy.

I'm a stay-at-home mom for now. I had a job at one point, but it was nothing I was super interested in. So when my first daughter was born it was a pretty easy transition to not working, and thankfully financially it sort of work out. Now it's been nearly 8 years and I have changed such a great deal in that time. For several years my main interest has shifted over to nutrition, health and physical fitness. Not that I've always walked the walk, but I could certainly talk the talk.

I ended this past summer though, mom to 3 girls ranging in age from 7 down to 2, twenty pounds overweight and very unhappy with the way I was eating. Unhappy with the way we were eating as a family. Too much takeout, way too much sugar and too little moving. Not that I wasn't still conscious of how I was feeding the girls. They don't drink soda and very little juice and other heavily processed snack foods and cookies etc. However, there were still too many trips to McDonalds and too many boxes of crackers and things.

Personally, I was heavily drinking too much soda and stopping for coffee way too much. At home, we ate pretty healthy. However, on the go hitting the drive-thru was not only super common but actually expected. Running late? Hit the drive-thru. Oh, you're hungry? Hit the drive-thru. I'm almost ashamed to write that.

So there I was in late August, turning 34 and pretty unhappy with the way I was feeling (tired, sluggish, wishing I felt more confident with my body, etc) and facing a trip to Jamaica with my husband at the end of October. Maybe that was jump I needed. The jump to go from living the way I *knew* was bad for me and horrible for my husband and children to the way I *knew* was the right way for us.

So fast forward to the present. It's now January, 5 months later. We've had a very big Fall and Winter. We went to Jamaica, I lost 15 pounds, and the Holiday season has come and gone. We also said good bye to my wonderful mother-in-law. I'll miss her everyday. Her passing from cancer has fueled my fire and made it that much more important to eat as whole and clean as possible.

So having said all that, my goal with this blog is to share my story. How we took a step back, evaluated our habits and changed them slowly. Also my personal journey, which has been bigger than anyone could ever know. I'll try to include recipes (though my photograph skills are seriously lacking), tips, stories from current events that involve nutrition and just try to answer questions. How to do this on a budget, how to deal with picky eaters (mine are as picky as they come and it's a daily struggle with them), how to fit in exercise when you're on the go constantly. I'll try to get some feedback from working moms and dads also, because really I think that is where some of the biggest challenges parents face and I'm in awe of every working mom and dad I know. I'm so lucky that not only do I get to be at home with girls, but that because I want to be at home with them, we have been able to do that. I'm also lucky because my husband works from home and while it can sometimes be overwhelming, on the whole it's been awesome. It probably won't last forever, but for now it's working for us. Having said this, I know that we are in a much different position from the average dual-working parent household or single-working parent household. So we'll try to cover things from all angles.

So I hope that I find some readers and that you enjoy the things you read here and more importantly that I can share my interest in a positive way that will help make good changes. Come back soon!