Friday Introduction //

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I recently realized that I’ve been blogging for close to 10 years. That’s a long time, friends. Like, a ridiculously long time. So it’s likely that most of you have no idea who I am or what exactly brought me to where I am now.

• I never wanted to be a mom. It’s true. My ‘grand plan’ for life did not include having children. Being a mom was simply something I did not want (and I’m not afraid to speak honestly about it). It seems bizarre now, but Chad and I had talked about kids and both had decided they weren’t for us. We were grown adults, living our lives, and, totally content. But life had other plans. One Vegas trip and one Birth Control Pill statistic later, and I’m a walking cliché. Because I seriously feel like being a mom is the job I was meant to have. It’s most definitely the path I’m supposed to be on. So freaking weird, dude.

• I’m a (kind of) SAHM to Ari (age 4) and Remy Bea (age 13 months). Meaning, I take my kiddos with me to my part-time job. I’m a gymnastics coach and also work in childcare, and my kids are with me at my job and at home, so 24/7. Which is… interesting, to say the least.

• I’m a sucker for comfort foods. One of my favorite foods of all time is biscuits and gravy. Of course, my husband thinks it’s disgusting. But I grew up in a house with a Southern father. Okra, grits, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and biscuits and gravy? Those are my jam. But I honestly don’t remember the last time I actually had any of these foods. Turns out they’re hard to come by in Ohio.

• We travelled a lot before becoming parents. Which is amazing. We went on a cruise, road trips up the Eastern Seaboard, and a notorious trip to Vegas (where, it turns out, not everything that happens there stays there).

• My husband, Chad, and I eloped in Portland, Maine when I was 13 weeks pregnant with our son, Ari. I had a wedding dress, we hired a photographer, and we stayed in the only 5 star hotel in Maine. After our vows we dined at the Lobster Shack at Two Lights — so that’s the kind of couple that we are. Laid back. The real deal. No fancy shmancy nada around these parts.

• I have Emetophobia, which is a phobia of vomit. No, I’m not just grossed out by it; I have a legitimate phobia of it.

• I received my BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Syracuse University. I had every intention of going to graduate school for Biological Anthropology (think Jane Goodall), but was offered three different full-time positions at my job during the housing market crash. Soooo life won.

• I’m obsessed with NPR and the old music in my iTunes. I’m a lame old lady and it’s all I listen to. But I still think it’s pretty rad.

• My birthday is on October 5th, which just so happens to be the most common date of birth in the United States. Basically, I know what my parents were doing on New Years Eve, 1983.

• I’m obsessed with cilantro. Load that crap on everything, ya’ll.

• I despise Summer. Give me Spring and Fall all year long and I’m happy. But keep that crazy heat away from me. #ByeFelicia

• I’ve been practicing yoga for the last 10 years, but fell out of practice when I was pregnant with Remy Bea. (Hyperemesis doesn’t make a person want to get out of bed, let alone exercise). But yoga and running really are my passion.

• I can’t cook and don’t cook. A couple of times a week I buy a rotisserie chicken and make rice in the Instant Pot and call it dinner. Taaaaa daaaaaaa!

• But I can bake, dude. Like, I’m the daughter of a baker and can make cookies, cake, and other desserts from scratch like no big thang. Just don’t ask me to cook. Please.

• I despise when people say “No offense” and “Obviously”. Because people say “no offense” and think that it gives them free-reign to be turds. And nothing in this world is “obvious.” So STAHP.

• Labor, delivery, and birth are my passion. Albeit, a passion I never knew I would ever have in a million bazillion years. But I love labor, delivery, and birth so much that I have a goal of someday becoming a birth doula and Bradley Method instructor.

• I’m not afraid to do things alone. Movies, dinners, and random events? Sign me up. I can fly solo anywhere. It’s a skill that I’ve realized makes people really uncomfortable, either because they can’t imagine going to dinner alone or because they wonder why you’d want to.

• I hate salt unless it’s on potatoes or corn. Seriously those are the only two things I put salt on. It drives my husband bonkers.

I realize this list is totally random, but that’s my life — totally, completely, and utterly random, like 99% of the time. Thanks for following along on our journey! Now tell me something completely random about you!