Meet the bloggers: Andrea

Hello and welcome! My name is Andrea and I want to talk a little bit about who I am and how I got here!

I am a wife to my wonderful husband, Matt, who is active duty in the Air National Guard. I met Matt about 14 years ago through mutual friends when we were in college. We drifted apart for a long time and reconnected in 2016 when he slid into my DMs ;). We rescued two dogs in 2017 (Dak and Zeke), and then a third (Tendies) in 2018. They were our first babies. We got engaged and married in the same year, had the MOST romantic fall wedding - and two weeks later we also moved to a new state where we spent almost 2 years while Matt was fulfilling his post. We had our daughter in the fall of 2022 and moved back to New England in the summer of 2023.

I work part time for the family business and am home with my daughter the rest of the time. I call myself a "most of the time home Mom". Being able to be home with her is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given.

My wellness journey as an adult started in 2020 when I very sporadically decided to do Andy Frisella's 75HARD Challenge. I began on March 2, 2020 and made it about a week before everything shut down for COVID so I had all the time in the world to keep going. I completed the challenge and loved the result. I felt good, looked good, was clear headed, so confident... the list is endless. I wanted to continue the momentum so I made fitness a part of my life. I set new goals every few months, Matt and I started to exercise together which really helped us to bond: we love hiking in Vermont, and we started to take walks every night after dinner.

I started to cook at home more, and learn about how to optimize nutrition for my fitness goals. I learned to prioritize rest, sleep and hydration. By the end of that year, I was unrecognizable in many ways. When I got pregnant with my daughter, I tried to maintain my fitness levels and I owe my labor experience and recovery to that. During the early postpartum days, I clawed my way back into shape while navigating being a new mom far away from any family and friends. Matt and I are still trying out new ideas, new ways of eating, new exercise routines and we love having fitness as a priority in our family.

At this stage of my motherhood, I am prioritizing home cooked meals, time outside, some form of exercise daily, and quality time as a family. My version of wellness is just that: mine! Yours can, and almost certainly will be, different.

I dabble in baking bread (not that great at it though), and would love to have a huge garden someday. Maybe we will even be homesteaders, who knows!

Some little things that fill my cup: watching the sunrise out my front window with a hot cup of coffee, a walk with my husband and my daughter in the sunshine on a cool, crisp day, the first bite of a piece of toast from a loaf that I baked, and a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will find something in this blog that will inspire you.