I am a wife, mom of two, instructional designer, daughter, sister, friend, family chef, marathoner (!!!), lover of books, food, wine, maragaritas, television… and did I mention wine?
(In case you were confused — I’m the one on the left!)
So here are the real details…
I’m a 33-year old who did not have an athletic bone in my body growing up – despite living amongst a family of athletes. I’m the oldest kid and I think my parents were so sad (and now I think they are so shocked)! I was gawky and awkward. My crazy legs always got in the way.
I was born and raised in Peabody, MA before moving to Orlando, FL. After high school, I high-tailed it to Tallahassee where I received both my BA (in Psychology) and my MS (in Instructional Systems) from Florida State University (Go Noles!). I did everything you do wrong in college. I gained the Freshman 15 (really more like the Sophomore 30 – and I wasn’t skinny to begin with!), I ate my weight in pizza (and Pokey Sticks), I drank too much beer, and I worked at a restaurant that served greasy fried food. Sure I exercised, but not nearly enough. I’m not going to lie though — my college years were awesome! I also met my wonderful hubby in college. We did our best to encourage an unhealthy lifestyle!
In 2002 I married my college sweetheart. I was the skinniest I had ever been, but probably not due to the healthiest diet (I definitely limited all types of carbs). In 2004 we moved BACK to Orlando where we built our home from the ground up. Between 2004 and 2006 I started to focus on two things – my health and starting a family. It was during this time that I discovered my love for exercise – but stuck to working out at the gym. I also was challenged with unexplained infertility. To this day, I still have NO understanding of what was going on with my body — but thankfully I was blessed with our miracle baby boy in July 2006 and our beautiful daughter in March 2009. I do believe that making that switch from fad diets and unhealthy eating/drinking to healthy living greatly impacted my fertility. I also don’t think I appreciate the strength and power of my body until I had my first baby. It’s amazing how powerful a woman’s body is — WE CAN SUSTAIN LIFE!
The running came into play in 2010, but should have arrived a lot sooner. I was having a hard time getting back into an exercise routine after my daughter was born. She was a poor sleeper (thankfully, that has changed!) and I have an incredible soft spot for her. I was typically an earlier riser – getting to the gym by 5:30 — but that WASN’T happening when I was waking up 2-3 times a night. I just didn’t have the motivation. So when my friend Paula (from Eat, Watch, Run) announced she was running the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon — I announced, “Challenge… Accepted!”, even though she didn’t ask. Luckily, she likes me (or she’s really good at pretending!), we ran our first race together, and my running addiction was born. I have since run 3 5Ks, 1 10K, 1 15K, 7 half marathons and 1 FULL marathon.
When I started this “hobby” NOBODY told me that running races was like a crack-cocaine addiction. Mama needs to run!
The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to live your life for YOU. To indulge when appropriate. To enjoy the simple things and enjoy friends and family. Living life in moderation and appreciating everything offered. That’s what THIS blog is about. Hope you follow along!
~Michelle
Hi! Came over here after your comment on my post from last night. Love your blog! I can’t help but be drawn to all the purple
Hope your hip gets better soon!!
Thanks for stopping by!! I definitely love the color purple
My hips feel ok, but I know their uneveness adds to my already slow pace. Ha ha. I’m pretty sure my left leg is longer!
Hi there! Stumbled across your blog and thought I’d say hello. Like you, I started running in 2010. And I totally agree with you that running races is like a crack addiction. LOL. My hubby still can’t fathom why I pay money to run.
Love your blog, looking forward to reading more.
Loving that Twitter helped me find your blog! Its inspirational to see how well you balance running, a beautiful family and healthy lifestyle all @ once! Keep it up and i’ll be following along
-Cara
I love Twitter for that reason! I’ve found so many great blogs recently (including yours). Thank you for your kind words! I don’t know about balance — but that’s half the fun
Hi there, It is always nice to find other local runners. I saw you just self-hosted your blog. Can you give me any tidbits? eatlivebewell at gmail dot com. Thanks
Carolyn @Eat Well. Live Well. Be Well. recently posted..Raw Desserts & Coconut Oil
Yes! I love local runners (and bloggers too). There’s seems to be a good mix in central Florida
I’d love to share my self-hosting experience. It will probably be even easier for you because you don’t have a (paid for) domain already! I’ll try to get some stuff together for you.
Oh, and it’s pretty cool that you are an instructional designer. I am a Training Manager at a software company so I work closely with IDs on my team
Ahhh! Just found your blog, and I LOVE how vibrant you are and the way you write! I am ALSO running the Savannah RNR marathon this coming November, and I am *so* excited!!!! I just ran my first about a month ago, and I am totally hooked!
Yay! I’m glad you found me. I’m SO excited, but also really nervous about the marathon. I’ll have to stalk your blog to see how things went for you!! Yay for Savannah – I’m so happy that so many fun people are running it.
I love Peabody, MA and live on the other side of the state. So nice to find a blogger who understands not being athletically inclined at an early age but loving it now.
Cynthia (It All Changes) recently posted..Becoming Lynn
Yay! Someone who knows about Peabody
I saw your live near the Berkshires – what a beautiful area!!
Sometimes I wish I could back in time and tell my teenage/young adult self to suck it up! It really takes motivation and consistency to be athletic. You don’t have to always be the winner or be #1 – you just have to try!
Great blog… Glad I found you.
Thanks!
Hi – I ran the Wine & Dine and the St. Pete half too! I’ll be running my first full this October – The Marine Corps. Keep up the good work!
PS – Running races is a CRAZY addiction! But it’s a good kind of crazy!
Good luck with your marathon training! It’s intense, right?
Races are DEFINITELY an addiction, but at least it’s healthy!!
Michelle,
Love your blog. Wine & Dine was my first half as well. Glad you “accepted” the challenge and love running so much. It really is addicting, isn’t it?
Carly
I just found your blog from a PB Fingers post about moving your blog from Blogger (my home, bleh) to WordPress. (seriously contemplating, but totally scared) I’m an O-Town blogger too, who was also at the Wine and Dine last year (no I’m not being creepy, I swear). I’m enjoying catching up on reading over here and will definitely be back!!
Yay! So glad you found me
I especially love connecting with local bloggers. You should definitely make the switch to WordPress, but I promise I’ll still stop by your blog and say hi even though you’re on Blogger 
Wine and Dine got me HOOKED on running!
That’s awesome you’re doing the Savannah full!! It will be my second half. I’m so glad I found your blog, especially because you’re local to me! I love that you blog about balancing family and a healthy life. I am nervous about when I get to that point in my life if I’ll be able to manage it all, or if things will just get in the way.
Oh, and I love the way you write. You do a great job capturing your readers – thank you!!
Happy training!
Yay for running the Savannah half — and you are so sweet!!
Since you’re local – are you interested in meeting up with the Central Florida Lady Bloggers? Let me know and I will make sure to include you in the invite
We try to meet monthly.
Amen sister! I am a 34 year old mom of two and have loved checking out your blog! BTW – I am from MA originally too. I live in Providence, RI now, but grew up on the Cape.
I popped over from Tina’s Faith Fitness Fun and just had to give an amen to this:
“When I started this “hobby” NOBODY told me that running races was like a crack-cocaine addiction.”
And I have gotten my sister addicted as well!!! LOL
Good luck in Savanah!! I hope one day I can run a marathon as well
Thank you — and thanks for stopping in to say hi!!
Just came across your blog. LOVE IT! I am going to explore more but I had to leave a quick comment to say: GO NOLES!! And that I agree with the crack-cocaine part. I just started training for two big races (at Disney) and I am already addicted! My boyfriend is too.
Happy running!
Yay! Glad you found me
And definitely go Noles!!