I'm No Martha....

I'm just a self proclaimed writer with a selective diet. I'm not an expert, not a nutritionist, and by no means am I anything like Martha Stewart. But I am passionate about wellness through nutrition. It's intriguing to me, I think about it all the time, I have a list of nutritional topics and recipes that I want to write about.

However, I wasn't always this way. I got through college on M&M's and Dr. Pepper... shhhh, don't tell my kids.  In college, my passion was helping people, I majored in Sociology, I volunteered A LOT, it was who I was.

Shortly after college (very shortly), I got married and we immediately began our family. One right after the next, we had 3 children in the first 4.5 years of our marriage. It was a whirlwind of diapers, breast pumps and well checks. At one point I actually caught myself napping at a stoplight....on the way to a well check, of course.


Somewhere in the process of starting my life, I lost who I was. I no longer knew me. I no longer knew what I wanted, what my goals were. I couldn't even think farther ahead than nap time. Aside from sheer exhaustion, I was consumed by motherhood. At the time, this wasn't necessarily a problem for me. I was completely fulfilled by my role as a mommy. Even in the throws of Toddlerdom, when one celiac diagnosis followed the next, and food allergies found their way into our lives, I was still blissfully happy to be a mommy, and only a mommy. It still hadn't occurred to me that the further loss of myself in my 'special needs' children was an impending issue.

It was the worst of the worst that gave me a wake up call. A proverbial slap in the face came when my best friend, my 39 yr. old sister, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  Her prognosis was 6 months to 2 years. We are currently at 2 years and she is in her final stages of cancer. It has been a roller coaster of highs and lows as we try to cherish every moment while fighting for the opportunity to cherish a few more moments.

During the ongoing grieving process, I stumbled head on into an identity crisis. I won't bore you with the details of my mourning....I'm sure there is an abundance of books about grief.  But, because I believe that blessings come from strife, and strength from adversity, I can tell you that the grief gave me passion.

It was through said identity crisis that I discovered who I am, what I want out of life and what my goals are. It is this passion that breathes life into the monotony of parenthood and work, which would otherwise consume us.  Passion provides the difference between living, and surviving.

Food Prude provides an outlet for my passion, a channel for the breath of life. I encourage you to find your passion, know your purpose, and live.

I also want to thank my friend Holly Homer, and her passion, business2blogger.com, for providing me the opportunity to turn my purpose into my profession.  Without paid sponsors and avid readers, I could not afford to pursue this blog, and share my passion with you.