About Me

Welcome to my blog! I am a 24 year old teacher who is trying to find a healthy balance between school, work, health, fitness, life, and fun!  After months of reading healthy living blogs, I have become inspired to start my own as a place for me to keep track of the daily things going on in my life and to store the memories.

Lifestyle:
I have recently discovered a passion for cooking.  Even though I cannot create a recipe if my life depended on it, I love following recipes and making minor adjustments to suit my tastes.  I have developed this interest when I began to eat a plant-based diet.  I also eat gluten free due to stomach issues.

It was actually in January 2011 when I discovered I didn't do good with dairy.  Then, in July 2011 I discovered that I was gluten intolerant.  I had been having awful stomach pains and figured why not cut out anything containing gluten for 2 weeks and see if that was the culprit.  After that test, I had no more stomach pains, my stomach wasn't making gurgling sounds, and I no longer felt bloated.  Since then I have not purposefully eaten anything containing gluten and still feel so much better.

In August 2011 I had another dietary change, I became vegetarian.  I was never a big meat eater and my mom had been vegetarian for almost a year as well and whenever she cooked I enjoyed it so much more than anything with meat.  She also exposed me to information about factory farms and other benefits of eating vegetarian which definitely influenced me to become vegetarian.

In February 2012, I began to transition into a vegan diet.  I had become even more knowledgeable about the way animals were being treated at factory farms and did not want to support these factories in any way.  This was actually an easy transition for me since I already did not eat dairy (due to the lactose intolerance) and never liked regular milk (I had been drinking almond milk for the last year) and really the only thing I had to give up was my love for Greek yogurt (the only thing I still miss), but I have discovered Almond Yogurt and that has held up as a good substitute though it still isn't the same.

I absolutely love my lifestyle.  Ever since giving up gluten and/or eating a plant based diet I have felt so much more energized.  I rarely ever get sick, not even a headache, I'm rarely sleepy in the middle of the day (depending on what's been going on that specific day) and I no longer have awful stomach pains or digestion issues.  I feel so much more healthier in general!  It is important to mention I rarely eat processed foods.  I try to eat a well-balanced diet of wholesome foods most days, though I do believe it is important to treat myself once in awhile :)


Exercise:
I love working out!  I love the way it makes my body feel.  I have always been active.  As a child I took ballet and tap dancing, I took swimming lessons and did gymnastics, and tried soccer (though this was a sport I hated).  In middle school, I discovered my love for softball and played right up until college and even during my first 2 years as an undergrad on an intramural team for fun.

Today, I may not play softball anymore, but I am still very active.  I enjoy walking my dogs and I workout through Jazzercise.  I love it because it is fun and there are fun dance moves plus it involves strength training.  I have been going for 10 years and still love it, though I used to go because I loved the cardio part the most, and now I love the strength training part so much more.  In fact, about January 2011, I even began joining the once a week specialty personal touch classes where the instructor trains small groups focusing on certain muscle groups.  Then in October I decided to take personal training classes once a week (in addition to the small group personal training classes I was taking) so that I could build more muscle and I absolutely love it! I'm hoping to personal train individually more times a week when I have time.


School and Career:
I'm going to keep this section short and simple.  In 2010 I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education.  I took off a year before going back to school to earn my Masters Degree in Special Education.  I am completing this program part time, so that I can earn money working, and plan on graduating in the Spring of 2014! I cannot wait!  Even though I love school, I am definitely ready to be done with how busy I am balancing school and work together; thank goodness I am only doing this part time.  So as I finish up earning my Masters Degree I have been busy working as a substitute teacher at day-to-day positions and long term positions.  This has worked out really well because I am getting familiar in the school system, but do not have to be too stressed out with all the busy work of being a teacher as I complete grad school.  However, I recently accepted a job as a 3rd grade support teacher!  I'm super excited to begin this position even though I know I will be a little bit more busy; however, I still won't be as busy if it was a full teacher position which is okay with me right now as I finish school.


Fun:
Even though I am super busy with school and work, I still make time for plenty of fun!  And that's what this blog is all about - finding balance. After all, you only live once!