Hi all Y’all! My name is Erin and I am a stay at home mom to an amazing, energetic little 2.5 year old. My family lives in Virginia, and I am originally from Alabama. I had an amazing career with the Federal Government and that is how I ended up here! I never thought I would become a stay at home mom, but I couldn’t be happier and don’t regret it a single day! I truly am getting to have it all, with an amazing upbringing, a career I couldn’t believe I was getting paid for, and now staying at home and getting to see my little one grow! How truly blessed I am!
In 2005 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Chron’s runs in my family and I was told during my diagnosis that I was the “lucky one” to have Colitis over Chron’s. At first I didn’t want to let it interfere in my life or my work, so I just pretended nothing was wrong. Traveling for work and eating however I wanted; not sleeping enough; exercising when I felt like it. I had some awful flares that kept me home and in bed for months at a time, and I knew something had to give. That was my first introduction to nutrition. I learned that food made a huge impact on my disease, and how I felt, and how I managed it. It led me to being able to moderately control my flares, only having one every now and then when stress just got out of my control. I never did though look at food or lifestyle as a way to prevent disease, I thought you could only manage it. It wasn’t until a close family member was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and the same week I was told my precious little boy had “weak lungs” that flung me into nutrition for prevention. I think at some point around 430am, I reached the end of google. I did so much reading and research (it comes very naturally to me), that I helped get his blood sugar levels back to normal and his A1C down 4.4 points within his first 3-month blood testing. He got to go off his medication and made him so much happier! It was in those 3 months that I learned more about food, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and how the body processes things than I have learned in my entire life. I also started studying herbology, to try and find a way to help improve my son’s lungs. By the time our next visit rolled around, the allergist said “wow, he’s doing so well and sounds amazing. I don’t think you need to come back for another 6 months to check in”. When originally we were instructed to come every.single.month.(exhausting).
So due to the fact that I know my son is already predisposed to so much, I wanted to keep learning. I know how to research through proper channels(a BS, Masters and PhD ABD has all taught me that!), so I wanted to keep going. However the path I was on just wasn’t feasible. Not knowing what I would do, I took this to my husband for ideas. First was “well go back to school”…I don’t exactly have a lot of free time, and honestly I think I have plenty of degrees. It did make me realize though, that I wanted and needed an organized form of learning for all of this information. Something with an end goal. So I read and looked around and realized that a year long certification program was perfect for me. Soon, I will have a Certification in Holistic Nutrition and Coaching. My herbalism studies don’t exactly come with titles, but I would like to think of myself as a novice herbalist.
I have no real desire to use this as a career. My school requirements for my current course are blog posts, so I figured if I am writing, I should share what I have come up with. My hope is to encourage other moms, dads, anyone around kids, to work on their and their families nutrition and health. No one has to be perfect, its impossible. It is possible though to make small changes, to work towards being better. So this is my hope for anyone that may stumble across this page or reading to get to know me! Happy Healthy reading everyone!