Hey Everyone!

 This is my first blog post ever, so I'm pretty excited about how this is going to turn out. I'm sure that just starting out things will seem jumbled, unprofessional, and altogether irritating at times. However, as I progress I hope that all you military wives out there will continue coming back to this blog to find advice, support, and encouragement in your daily lives.
 Yes, this is targeted towards military wives, but that doesn't mean that military husbands, or anyone short on time looking to live a healthy lifestyle will be shoo'd away. You are all welcome here, but I figured I'd write from a position with which I am familiar.
 Ok, maybe not VERY familiar. My husband just started tech school on Monday. He is going to be an F-16 crew chief which is pretty much his dream job. Favorite aircraft, and he's been doing mechanical work since he entered the world. lol. So I may not have years of experience as a military wife, but us newbies might have some good ideas, too. You are all welcome to comment, lend your own advice and tips, and even give some words of correction and constructive criticism if you feel it is necessary.
 I AM familiar with being short on time since I have a nearly full time job, two wonderful children, a house to clean, meals to cook, workouts to complete, school to teach (I am beginning home school with my oldest daughter), trips to plan, budgets to work out, church functions, and still find some time to just get away and breathe a little.
 So I hope that the advice, real life examples, and videos that I post here will help you all feel encouraged and lend a hand to finding those few minutes a day to take care of yourselves.
 Starting out, I will mostly be documenting my journey to be as healthy as possible. My ultimate goal is to have a doctorate in naturopathy, but for now I'm doing baby steps to get there. I will be starting my education as a personal trainer next month, so to prepare for that I have lost 20 pounds since May 11th 2010, I am currently on a cleanse regimen, and hopefully when I am finished with the certification process I will look the part.
 I started at 175lbs after giving birth to my second daughter on June 18, 2009. On my 5'8" frame that was well over the healthy range. Growing up in a family where health and weight have always been pretty big issues and having multiple family members with diabetes, I decided enough was enough. I didn't know exactly where to start, so weight loss was slow and discouraging. We didn't have medical insurance, so I had to find my own ways to getting my weight down and making sure I was healthy. I wanted to live a long, happy life with my children without worrying about medications, shots, or medical boosts just to stay alive. A naturally healthy life just gleamed with the promise of being absolutely freeing. Imagine being able to go on a week long camping trip down the beach and not having to bring along insulin, or blood pressure pills. Imagine being able to wake up and go for a swim in the surf without taking a handful of medication, first. I've never had to rely on prescriptions before, but seeing the health of my extended family, that possibility was probably only a few decades down the road. I don't want to be a feeble grandma. I want to be outrunning my grandchildren when I'm seventy. Yes, it is possible to be old AND strong, but in order to reach that level of health I knew I could not put off being healthy any longer. If you are older and you are reading this, IT IS NOT TOO LATE. It is NEVER to late to take charge of your own health. I have read countless testimonials of people who have been cured of diseases that conventional doctors said they would have to live with for the rest of their lives. One of my favorite stories is that of Jordan Rubin. You can find a lot of information about him and he is a wonderfully humble and knowledgeable expert in his field.
 It is a personal belief of mine that we should STRIVE to be independently healthy. Now, I am not so naive or narrow minded that I think doctors, hospitals, and medications are absolutely unnecessary and people just use them as a crutch. I know people who think this way and it really ticks me off. Some people just don't have an option. However, many of us have bought into the medical brainwashing and hold false beliefs as true simply because we haven't been told the truth and we haven't been given an option. I believe that most doctors teach on a standpoint from which they were trained, so I do not blame them for the wrong advice they give, or the harmful medications they prescribe. They are simply doing what they have been taught and believe is right for you. The simple truth is that doctors save lives and I am very grateful for their presence in this world.
 But what if most of those lives didn't NEED saving? What if YOU could be responsible for your own health without the side effects of drugs or the misery of living with heart disease, diabetes, thyroid dysfuntion, and other weight-related health complications? A lot of freeing yourself from those supposedly "incurable" diseases lies in how much initiative YOU are willing take for your own health. If you like having to take pills and rely on someone else for your daily breath, this blog is probably not for you.
 But if you're willing to get up, push yourself for a few minutes each day, and open your mind to an alternative healthy lifestyle, stick around and you'll probably read about some things that will shock you, things with which you may already be familiar, and the motivation and support to start overhauling your lifestyle and celebrating the fullness of life in your healthy body.