About Mountain Mama Adventures

I’m a mother of three children and several dogs who started parenthood in West Virginia and am currently in North Carolina. In this blog, I share my journey of balancing motherhood and my own life and some things about travel. Sometimes, this blog is a stream-of-consciousness, spill out your heart thing.

I’m messy and have a hard time being consistent. The blog reflects that — sometimes more than I’d like.

I hope by sharing my story, I can help others avoid some of the pitfalls I have and just give people some food for thought. Chocolate-covered-doughnut-type food for thought. Mmmmm, doughnuts.

The Mountain Kids and I visit Pennsylvania a week before my first race as a mom. The race was held April 28, 2012.

My fitness journey started shortly after the death of my grandfather. I was overweight and overtired. As the mother of two young kids and a toddler, I also worked full-time during the evening.

During a visit to the doctor, he stated the obvious, I was overweight and suggested a program.

But the program wasn’t something I could afford. So I tried running and set my sights on a local race in April.

And I continued running and was hit-or-miss in the healthy eating front. Since that race in 2012, I have completed several races, some big (2015 Marine Corps Marathon) and some small (you know where everyone who enters wins an age group award). I run on trails and the roads.

In 2015, the push to do more than just exist became a pull. After years of saying, “If we could …” we just did. We moved and a few months later, I left a stressful job that I had for almost nine year. It was driving me to a place I didn’t want to go. Somewhere dark and scary. It was life-threatening.

If I’m honest, COVID hit me like a ton of bricks and I feel into the pitfall of trying to do all the things at work — because I needed a paycheck — over trying to take care of my health and family.

Now that my kids are grown, they are wise in ways I didn’t know possible and showed me how that path messed us up.

So, again, I switched jobs — finally, or so I though, getting out of one industry. I moved to the public sector but felt the pull to still help out with my old job.

As to my background, I’m a writer and noticer. I am also a graduate of culinary school.

I lived in Appalachia, and now the rural East Coast, by choice. The regions are among the poorest in the nation. If I can move toward a healthier lifestyle, you can to.