It keeps changin' fast.

He was born in the summer of his 27th year

Coming home to a place he's never been before

I thought about this John Denver lyric tonight (I'm admittedly a big JD fan) and how it relates to my life.  This is the summer of my 27th year and in some ways I do feel like I'm coming home to a place I've never been before.  Not in the physical sense, but in the sense that my life is changing in so many ways right now and I'm not quite sure where it will end up taking me.  Although I'm feeling optimistic that the "places" I am going in life are going to be great.  I am excited to uncover/create/find out more about this "new me" - hence the name of the blog: the new Michele.

Who am I? What are all these changes?

I am a newly-single mother of a nearly-2 year old boy, Vincent.  <Insert all the cliches that loving parents say about their children here because they all apply.>  He is absolutely my world.  And very very adorable.  Of course parenthood is a never-ending barrage of changes in itself, but the biggest change is my new single parent status.  I hope not to be a single parent for too many years, but I am relegated to that roll for the time being at least.  Fortunately I have a wonderful support network of family (I live with my incredibly supportive and wonderful parents) and friends (near and far) so I know I will never be lonely and hopefully I won't be too overwhelmed most of the time.

I am a student/teacher-in-training.  I'm currently halfway through a Master of Arts in Teaching program for Elementary Education.  In 10 months I should be graduating and hopefully getting my first teaching job.  The thought of this is both exhilarating and incredibly daunting.  

I am also in the midst of my 3rd (I think) serious weight-loss attempt.  I am planning on this being my last attempt at losing a very large amount of weight.  Like many people I have been overweight my entire life.  Shortly after high school graduation I lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 pounds and over the following years regained all of it and more.  On December 10, 2008 I began using Sparkpeople and successfully lost 120 lbs in 10 months - from about 304 lbs to 184 lbs.  In October of 2009 I became pregnant with Vincent and regained about 60 of those pounds back and then added a few more pounds post-partum as well.  On December 8, 2011 I joined the YMCA and their weight loss support group/class and since then I have lost about 62 lbs through exercise and healthy eating.  I hope to lose about 60 more.

So what is this blog about?

I'm not exactly sure.  Anything and everything, I suppose.  One of my main topics will of course be my weight loss and my journey to a healthier lifestyle, but I don't want to limit it to just a weight-loss blog.  So my plan for the time being is just to chronicle/share about my life and the journeys that I am on and let the blog go in whichever direction(s) it may.