A Quick Overview of Simply Me

My name is Michelle and I have spent the past few years trying to get back to myself.  I feel like at the age of 18 or 19, I kind of went off the rails and forgot what I was truly about.  Not that I was bad, or particularly rebellious, I just wasn't me.  I was funny, and sociable, and fine, there was just something missing - I don't even know if anyone else would have noticed.  After floundering for a couple of years I have been working on getting back to myself.   Now at 25 I feel like I've come a really far way from the old days, and want to keep these good times rolling.

Every day I feel just a tad closer to being the person who I want to be.  Some days it seems like it's taking a lot of effort and heartbreak, and other days it seems so simple.  I think it's part of the process of finding oneself. 

Things I've done to get back to being simply me:

• I left the town I grew up in, all of my wonderful friends and family, and basically my whole comfort zone to go work in northern Alberta.  My goals when I left were to pay off debt (I've found that an unhappy Michelle spends a lot of unavailable money) and to figure myself out.  Being alone there gave me the opportunity to contemplate my life and figure out who I wanted to be.  I found that while still at home, I was tired of being classified a certain way, but didn't know how to break out of that mold or really what I would be left with if I did.  Almost as soon as I had some time to myself, in a place where no one knew me, I figured out what kind of interests I gravitated towards and what kind of lifestyle I was hoping to live.
• I fell in love!  What an eye opener!  Before I could be in a healthy relationship, it was my belief that I needed to love myself.  Knowing that I had found someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with made me really strive to figure out who I was as an individual.  I will forever be thankful for the chance to meet my now fiance, Cody.
• I made my health a priority.  This by far has had the biggest impact on my life to date (probably aside from being born ;)).  I have found that my food choices paired with getting some movement every day has effected every single facet of my life.  This is a huge part of what makes me tick, and it's something that I will never stop learning about.
• I quit my job up north and moved home to face my fears and make health an even bigger priority!  I opened myself up to the love of my friends and family, and now take more time to appreciate the beautiful place I live in and the amazing people I spend time with.

There are more things... big changes, little changes; but these would be the headliners if I had to choose.

My hope for this blog is to document my journey.  Some days I wish I had started it that fateful February of 2011 that I drove off to Fort McMurray.  But I have my thoughts and my memories, and this seems to be as good a place to start as any.

Most of this will be health and fitness related, but since I'm a believer that those two just coincide with life I assume it will just be a huge mix of whatever.

XO - Michelle