Trying to Live the American Dream

 Why do women have such wild hormones and endocrine system needs!? My cycles have been getting progressively worse and it is no fun. I started reading WomanCode by Alisa Vitti, Founder and CEO of FLO Living. I am only on page like 60 and it is soo soo good. I wish I would have done more research on what I was eating and how I was treating my body prior to 2020 and I wish I would have read this book like 20 years ago but today is a new day and I will start to take care of myself in a different way moving forward. I am fortunate to have this knowledge to be able to educate my children.  Anyways - just an emotional hot mess over here and things probably wont get better for a while....here's to hoping I don't end up in jail or fired :) ~Trying to Live the American Dream

 It has been four years since I last posted. I have wanted to start blogging again about just random stuff in life but having two toddlers is exhausting. Trying to do the whole "take time for myself" and it really doesn't work out - I just want to sleep....or just have a night of sleep without interruption.  Adam and I had an awesome four day getaway in June. We flew into Las Vegas, rented a motorcycle, drove to the coast of California and back to Las Vegas. IT WAS AWESOME! We are already planning to do it again in 2027 when we will both turn 40!  I have been somewhat journaling in my journals but not consistently and thought why not just start to blog again. Nobody reads it but it is a quicker way for me to journal then writing....since now I can type a heck of a lot faster and hey, maybe I will click with someone. My grammar is awful and I just type as I think so this will be a mess but whatevski. I have completely fallen off the healthy eating band wagon and need to ge...

October 27, 2019 - woke up in a hotel in Marquette, MI after a fun evening celebrating the marriage of two friends and watching my (at the time) two month old niece, went to the bathroom and knew exactly what was happening. I was supposed to go in for my first 10 week doctor appointment in two weeks. We had already told friends, family and the girls were super excited!  After five to six years of trying on and off, why was it so hard to get pregnant after having zero issues with the first two? Why now was I having a miscarriage when I already was struggling to just get pregnant? Why me? These were the questions running through my head for weeks. Well, I know now. God works in mysterious ways and this major speed bump in life really grounded me and changed me for the good.  After struggling for about a month and mentally recovering, my awesome friend, Tracy, said some things that just clicked. I was telling her how shocked I was when the doctor told me that there are just as ma...

I have been getting a good handful of people asking me how I lost the weight and am keeping it off. I did a post in April about my transformation which essentially started after my miscarriage in 2019. I thought that on this post I would emphasize a little more on all that I have learned. April of 2020 when Tracy and I started our podcast (Dirt Road Health and Hustle), I made a goal on my 33rd birthday that I would lose 33lbs by my 34th birthday in April 2021. I changed up my eating habits, got a blood test to test key vitamins in my system. I was deficient in some so I started taking some supplements and was feeling great through the fall of 2020. I lost 10lbs from April to December 2020. I started not feeling great and having GI issues, inflammation and a rash on my face in December. I decided to start seeing a chiropractor in January because I knew they would just help my physical well-being which in turn helps the internal well-being. I was feeling great physically after some consi...

September 2020 -- get the news that school is going virtual  October 2020-January 11, 2021 -- school is continuing virtual I was scared. I was scared that my girls, who strive in the in person environment were falling way behind. After being on their tablets for 6+ hours a day, I could not bring myself to make them do more at night when we were home. I let them play, run around, and get out their cooped up energy. I know they were not getting the education they deserve. They needed the in person. I don't think that they made any real significant gains in their reading through virtual learning. Thankfully, they have amazing teachers who did continually push them. Because Ali was turning 10 we had her IEP re-evaluation. She had made gains since the beginning of the year but I know that if she would have been in person, she would have been further. I am very proud of how stinkin hard she worked through the virtual learning. January 11, 2021 and they are back in person. March 2021 we h...

October 2019: Miscarriage November 2019: Let myself go - emotional wreck - internally hard on myself December 2019: Same as November January 2020: Decide to take a class my friend Tracy is teaching, on becoming a healthier person and more aware of the hidden "crap" in our food February 2020: Still taking the class and Tracy and I spontaneously talk about starting a podcast. March 2020: We make that spontaneous decision real with our launch of Dirt Road Health and Hustle ( A podcast on how to navigate life mindfully, not perfectly while having a shit ton of fun along the way!  We talk all things whole body health and well being along with sharing our story of how,  when all you have is a dirt road, you put your boots on and walk it confidently every day.) This is really where it all began. Tracy started her health journey three years ago and I have been living in a naive state thinking everything I eat is okay for me (knowing the general stuff like junk food and sugar are doin...