Hello! Y’all, I am so happy you’re here – welcome to my little slice of the internet!
You can find me all over the place online (Instagram is kinda my fave), but this blog is where it all started – a decade-long journey that’s changed my life in so many ways I never even imagined!
I’ve been blogging and sharing my life and recipes here since June of 2009. What started off as a food and fitness diary gradually evolved into sharing recipes I made and loved, which then turned into a creative passion revolving around the magic of food. After the birth of each of my two boys I started to realize that my goals for this online space are more to encourage women in the everyday than to only share recipes. While I’ve always aspired to write a book (I’ve got a few ideas in the pipeline), it was never to write a COOKbook and so I’ve allowed the transition from food to lifestyle to occur over time.
I have a history of eating disorders and body dismorphia, a fight I choose to win on a daily basis. That being said I don’t subscribe to a particular way of eating, although I’ve found my body feels the best (and I feel the most alert, attentive, energetic and happy) when I eat a diet that is free of refined sugar, most grains, and packed with veggies and lean protein. Some may call this Paleo, but I love cheese too much to go that far! I also have enjoyed practicing intermittent fasting, and it became easier to do when I learned how beneficial it is for hormone and gut health! Turns out my motivation isn’t to earn 6-pack abs anymore as much as it is just being healthy and happy!
Speaking of 6-pack abs (that I don’t have…see my cheese comment above), I love to workout. Like, I really really love it! For me it’s so much about feeling strong and confident, and I think my family would tell you that I’m a much better person when I get a chance to be active every day. There’s some truth to the mental health aspect of exercise, and all I know is I don’t want to see what I’m like without it!
About a year and a half after my younger son was born I really started to see that my creativity with blogging only about food was starting to wane. I love it and the relationships that have grown from this space, but wanted to give myself the freedom to share more of my life outside of food. Around the same time I started to become more aware of Beautycounter, a company on mission to get safer skincare into the hands of everyone. After doing months of research I finally jumped in and said YES to a business opportunity that has changed the course of my life and blog forever. You can read all of my posts having to do with Beautycounter by clicking here, and if you’d like to know more about joining my team as a consultant I would be honored if you checked out these FAQs!
In my spare time I just love to spend time with my family – whether it’s traveling or just laying on the couch with the TV on. I’m not picky, as long as I get to be with them! We love entertaining, leading, playing, learning, and just doing life together, and I’m so thankful for this amazing life I get to live with my guys!
10 things you may not know about me:
- My eyeliner is tattooed on, and YES I would highly recommend it. It’s been 15 years and it’s still going strong!
- I’m 5’10” and have been since I was 14 years old. Everyone else caught up to me later!
- I played volleyball and golf competitively, and haven’t played either one in years. I dream about the days when I’ll be able to go golfing with my boys.
- I’m from Texas and pretty dang proud of it. No matter where in the world I live, Texas will always be home.
- I’m an Enneagram 3, also known as the Achiever, and an INFJ on the Myers-Briggs test. Sometimes I know what that means, and sometimes I don’t – but there you have it!
- I only like red wine (except Merlot) and dark beer (porters and stouts please!), black coffee and water (still or sparkling – I love ‘em both).
- I have curly hair but don’t have a hard time straightening it. That being said it’s impossible for me to grow it out unless I’m pregnant…which is not enough of a reason for me to have long hair!
- I sell makeup and skincare, but used to run a blog called Faces of Beauty that encouraged women to embrace how they look sans makeup. I still believe wholeheartedly in that mission, and love that Beautycounter still gives me a way to encourage this confidence in so many different ways.
- Sometimes I wish I wanted to be a homesteader. But I really value my time in front of the TV and therefore wouldn’t be able to trade that for the actual work it would take to homestead. It’s all about self-realization.
- Speaking of TV I am O B S E S S E D with the show Friends and can quote every episode ever. Funny because I wasn’t allowed to watch it when it first came out, but after college I don’t think I’ve gone more than a day or two without an episode!
