Welcome!

It's taken me quite a long time to create this blog.  I love to write, but my ideas have been all over the board and I didn't have a name for the space I wanted.  Finally I hit on Freedom to the Fullest: Fitness, Family, and Faith.  (And yes, there will be an Oxford comma.  Deal.)  It's a long title, but I didn't want to limit myself to only fitness posts.  Fitness is a relatively new addition to my life, and although it's becoming more important to me, I have other topics to discuss too.  I feel like the inclusion of family and faith will allow me to document way more of this life journey I'm taking!

Why FITNESS?
I hated to exercise for most of my life.  I was blessed with a fast metabolism in my younger years and never worked a day toward health or fitness goals.  As I approached the big 4-0 I realized that wasn't going to work for me anymore, unfortunately.  After various yo-yo diets, crazy schemes, and stuff that just didn't work for me, I found Beachbody.  This past year I've lost almost 30 pounds and I've actually begun to like some forms of exercise.  It's truly a miracle, and I feel like if I can do it, anybody can.  I'll be honest about all my hesitations and plateaus, and I'll also shout it from the rooftops without apology when it's a good day.  This stuff is scary and doesn't come easy to me.  If you feel the same way, I know I can help you!!  It's amazing to be forty years old and feel better and stronger than I've ever felt in my whole life.  Truly.

Why FAMILY?
I'll be celebrating my 20th anniversary next summer (yes, we were but small children at our wedding), and our marriage is really stronger and better than it's ever been before.  We've had our ups and downs and it hasn't always been easy, but I'm beginning to think I can give marriage tips without feeling like a fraud.  We're not newlyweds anymore and we've been through infertility, miscarriage, postpartum, unemployment, insecurities, birthday parties, milestones, holidays.... I want to show our real family and our struggles as well as our successes.  Marriage can be hard work, but it's so rewarding.  Our kids are 8 and 12, and will appear here sometimes.  They're to the point where all social media must be cleared.  The girl doesn't so much care.  The boy hates pictures and any mention that he exists.

Why FAITH?
Well, because I can't do life without it.  God is important to me.  I don't always talk about Him, and my relationship is feeling more private to me these days than it has in other seasons.  I want to reserve the right to discuss it when I want to though, and I also want to work on other things that make me feel closer to being the woman He designed me to be, even if I don't mention Him directly.  I'm not even sure if that makes sense, but I think we all have things we do that make us feel closer to the force that we connect with.  I hear a lot of people talk about the Universe, and for that to work in my life, I have to take it one step further and embrace the God who I believe created the Universe.  I used to think that reading nonfiction was dumb, that it was more stupid school, and I focused every minute of my reading time on fiction novels.  I still like to do that a lot, but now I also focus on personal development- reading things that make me learn, make me stronger, and help me grow.  Faith.


I don't know how consistent I will be with this blog, but I'm not going to apologize for the timing.  I will write when it's on my heart, and I'll be silent when I need to be.  I'll post a link to each new post on my Freedom to the Fullest Facebook page, so if you follow me there you can keep up here as well.  I'm excited about my life, for the first time in awhile, and I love the idea that just maybe reading what I'm going through could help somebody else.  Nobody wants to feel alone in the world.  I did that for a long time, just because I could not open up and tell people how I felt.