holly homemaker and half-marathons

So it appears that a freak of nature has occurred in my household. The former Chick-fil-a, Chicken Express, Eagle Brand Milk eating girl has been replaced by Holly Homemaker. And that would be me. I truly have no idea who I am. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would have given up sweet tea and Chicken Express, and started baking – I would have laughed out loud and then seriously told you to hold your tongue! Who knew the ole’ broad was down in there…I sure didn’t!!!

As you can see, my last post was August 20 – since that time, I have covered quite a bit of ground:

• I was strenuously training for a half-marathon (which I completed my goal during my 30^th year – granted it was a day before I turned 31 – but who’s counting?) – with my dad, sister and cousins.

• Was diagnosed with food allergies for the first time in my life (explains the crankiness, sickness and lack of energy for about 4 months) – my roomies say I am a MUCH nicer person with good food in and bad food out!

• Turned into THAT girl at a restaurant (meaning I pretty much have the chef hand-make all my food) – high maintenance, party of one!

• Learned the ups and downs with gluten-free and sugar-free baking (let’s just say it’s truly possible to overdo it on Stevia and in turn cook the enamel right off a pan)…the roommates have both benefited and been traumatized from this baking stint. Any time I say, “Here, try this!” – they get a bit nervous.

• Was overly excited to not only receive baking utensils for my birthday, but an Anthropologie apron to boot! When I received my first crock pot at 25 – I moped for days – apparently times have changed.

• Took a vacation to California where I shopped till I dropped, enjoyed the beach with friends and family and found Babycakes - a sugar-free/gluten-free bakery.
  
  

• Celebrated my 31st birthday with some of my amazing friends and family - I am blessed!

• Took a road-trip to Orlando to sing at my amazing cousin’s wedding and sang with one of the most refreshing group of people I’ve been around in a LONG time! (Follow Bellarive on facebook!)

• Celebrated and cooked with my mom a first-time-ever gluten-free, sugar-free Thanksgiving and Christmas and made my very first gluten-free/sugar-free apple pies.

• Pulled a muscle from running my half-marathon, which in turn made me take a break from running…boo hiss! Who knew the Psoas was such an important muscle?!

• Dated a bit – a girl’s gotta eat, right?!? ; )

• And finally, have settled back into work and training for another half-marathon in March.

Shew…I’m exhausted…how about you?!?

I’m hoping to continue my blog – but make it more interactive and a little broader. There will always be stories about me – because who’s kidding who – there’s always a story when I’m involved – but some days might be about a new recipe I tried (I’m working on a cookbook with my mom), some days might be about an amazing fashion find (did I mention I started picking out my own clothes at 18 months old?) and then some days might just be about the funny incident that occurred in regular everyday life.

Hope you enjoy and follow along – would love for you to spread the word and help me on this new journey…and as always...love your feedback!

Happy New Year friends – here’s to an incredibly exciting and GOOD life-changing 2011!!!