I'm just a girl.

You may want to brew a fresh pot of coffee or tea; this particular post may take a while. As they would say in Spamalot, there comes a time in every blog when the blogger makes their mission statement known. Of course, in Spamalot, they’d sing it and it’d be much funnier and, ah well, you get my point.

I first started reading blogs (and quickly became hooked) back in late 2005 after finding myself in the midst of a personal crisis. After righting myself (it took a couple days) I did what I always do in a crisis: research.

Since my particular crisis was related to fertility, I quickly began research on three topics: infertility and IVF, adoption and what I like to call holistic whole self health care (think organic produce, prevention, balance and for reclaiming your power as a woman, no one beats a midwife).

The funny part was, as I began the long and arduous task of learning all I could about three topics I previously knew nothing about, I soon realized most links on these topics led to blogs. Much to my own shock, I quickly became enthralled with the sheer honesty of the posts. I have quite the list of favorites, not all of which have been installed to the left, yet. Quickly, I developed this wonderful circle of friends: women struggling with infertility (the if blogs I read are all written in first person by women), wives and husbands waiting for their international adoption dossiers to be matched to their precious baby(ies) (these blogs are largely written by the moms-to-be, but the feelings and experiences of the dads-to-be are related, too), and learning from midwives, nurses and a doc or two how to make myself as healthy and strong as possible, inside and out – and to embrace the power of a woman’s body.

I am not at all ashamed to say I’ve wept big, fat tears of joy and sorrow through countless posts and I no longer travel without a laptop – staying connected matters. I feel I’ve met incredible women, none of whom has ever portrayed herself as ‘an expert’ or ‘better than someone else’. Ordinary people who aren’t afraid to be real and share their stories; educating others in the process. I learned a huge amount (and still continue to learn) from these honest posts and associated links; that knowledge is priceless.

So we come to the tipping point of why I began this blog. I owe a debt and have been feeling like my time has come to start to repay, by paying forward. So I offer up my honest observations and share my own knowledge. Anyone who knows me in ‘real life’ would likely be shocked at this blog, I’m exceptionally private and don’t blab my business. But I don’t feel this is blabbing it’s sharing what I know with those who seek to listen.

So, you’re asking what I’m sharing, I imagine, and that’s a fair point. I’m sharing the parts of myself that struggle with being overweight and redefining my sense of self. I’m sharing the part of myself that is a corporate success (got anything you'd like to market?), the part of myself that is a new wife wondering how to be good in this new role, when so many of my reference points (Mom, Grandma) never had to work 60 hours a week and travel across the globe. I’m sharing the part of me who is learning not to give a shit what the bathroom scale says – and learning to care about how much weight I can squat or dead lift.

It’s a true challenge to strive to be the best incarnation of you, and the roadmaps are few and far between. I’m going to chart a map and narrate the tale and I welcome you to join.