Hi, I’m Sarah, and this is my blog.
I’ve been blogging since 2008, and between then and now this blog has undergone small and massive overhauls. From design changes to theme changes to even title changes, I’ve refocused and rebranded this blog several different times.
But no matter the design or the title, this blog has always been about me wanting to share the good, the bad, the ugly, and lots in between.
When I started this blog I had just married my college sweetheart, Dan. Then Dan made a big job change. Then I finished my Masters degree. And then I made a big job change.
A couple months later we started looking for our first home. After one weekend of looking, we found our house, wrote the biggest check yet of our lives and bought that house. Obviously, our next step was to adopt a dog. And not two months after we moved into our house, I found out I was pregnant with our first child, Kate.
It’s kind of a lot of things at once. But that’s just how I roll.
Dan, Kate, Belle, and I live in a 1958 rambler in Northern Virginia about eight miles outside D.C. Dan and I are a rairity around here because we both grew up in Northern Virginia and stayed here. Since transient is one of the best words to describe Northern Virginia (NoVa for all you locals), it’s a small wonder both Dan and I grew up here and came back here.
One of the reasons we ended up back in NoVa are our parents. My parents live 15 minutes east. And Dan’s parents live 15 minutes west. I know. I know. That’s another weird thing about us. I’m one of the few people I know who lives that close to my parents an inlaws. So how do we feel about that? I’d say mostly good. But it can be a double edged sword. We get to give and get support from each other (which comes in handy when Dan and I need a babysitter and have four adults at the ready). And not so good when we’ve all had too much together time.
Yes, they read this blog. And yes, I think they can agree with the above statement. We’re cumbaya like that.
Since I quit my job after Kate was born, I’ve been on a quest to find out what I want to do with myself now that my life doesn’t involved cubicles and printer jam trama dramas. What I’ve discovered is I am no good at cubicle work. Before Kate, I worked for a large local government in the budget office. Try as I might, it just wasn’t for me. As much as I love spreadsheets and analytical work, this type of work never stuck for me. I felt I was always trying to keep up and make sense of complicated and complex financial stuff that made me want to curl into the fetal position on the floor of my cube and cry.
So, when Dan and I decided I’d stay home, I didn’t pine for more office work. I was never that good at a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. But I did want to carve out some space for myself. I realized while motherhood is the most bravest and most rewarding and most important job of my life, motherhood alone can’t fill all my needs. I wanted to feel important outside of the home, too. While I divine such pleasure from changing diapers and washing the floor and doing all my family’s laundry (note: I do not enjoy any of those things; that was sarcasm), I wanted to feel good about myself and who I am and what I do when I’m not being a mother and a wife.
Isn’t it funny how the things we are meant to do were there all along? In January of 2012, I started really thinking about what I loved and what I wanted to do with myself. I’ve always been an exerciser and a group fitness lover. And it hit me, why don’t I teach group fitness? I’ve been a group fitness junkie for years. I loved it. It was that thing I did for fun. Why not get more involved, teach it myself? I took BodyStep training in March, passed my initial training, and in June of 2012, passed with video assessment and earned my certificate.
And then I was hooked.
In September 2012 I took RPM training (in door cycling), passed my initial training, and I’m working towards my certification. I teach about five times a week, and I can’t get enough. Dan says its like I’m in a cult. But a healthy cult where people work out and encourage each other and have lots of fun.
And when I’m not teaching group fitness (Or mothering, or wifing or cleaning up other people’s/dog’s messes), I’m blogging. I love writing this blog. It’s been my longest hobby yet. While I start countless other craft projects and try to get myself to floss twice a day, blogging is the only other thing (besides group fitness) I do daily. Because I love it. I love to share my stories, what I’ve learned, what I love, what I’m struggling with in the hopes that it touches someone else.
Thank you for reading this blog. I love to hear from readers, so please email me with any comments, questions, requests, anything you’d like to say. To learn more about this blog, check out my behind the blog. For questions, read my FAQ page. And I’ve also compiled a list of my favorite posts.
xxoo,
Sarah