curves for days

Hello and welcome to the blog! If you're an old subscriber of my original blog, thank you for sticking with my years of hiatus. If you're new, thanks for joining me now!

You can find a quick about me under the "Your Truly" tab. But I'd like to try to introduce myself a bit now and explain the blog's purpose and where the title came from.

First things first, my name is Elise! I'm twenty-two years old and I currently reside in Albany, NY. I recently graduated in December 2014 from the University at Albany with a B.A. in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Psychology. I work two local part-time jobs while I wait patiently for graduate school in the Fall. I don't have a lot of time left though - I'm moving at the end of this month to Harlem, eeeeek! Something you'll come to learn about me is that I hate change and I get attached to places easily, so moving is going to be a huge change of scene for me. I'm excited because I feel as though God's placed it on my heart to leave, but the stubborn me is kicking and screaming about it at the same time. I'll be starting an MSW degree in Community Organizing, Development, and Planning at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. I'm pumped to get back into academia. Most importantly, I am a loyal follower of Christ so if that offends you, this may not be the place for you! I love the Lord and He encourages me to (a) love in the capacity that I do, (b) serve wit the energy that I do, and (c) pursue a healthier life style! On that note, I have been a vegan for eight years and a fitness coach for several months! I love working out and learning to not only cook but eat healthier options. I coach several young women and I adore every second of it.

The purpose of this blog, at its core, is to help me have an outlet again, I used to blog religiously and fell off the bandwagon. But as I embark on a new chapter of my life, I feel it's important to document that and share my joys, frustrations, setbacks, and triumphs tangibly. Additionally, this blog is more centered around my fitness journey. While I love my accountability groups that I run, sometimes seeing my goals in one place and watching my progress is a real motivator for me. I want this blog to be not only showing my life and what I'm learning, but to serve as my personal accountability to stay active, stay progressing, and to continue to improve my health. I hope that this will motivate anyone else who reads as well. Too often I can fall into a negative mentality of wanting to be "skinny" instead of strong and healthy, so I want this blog to embrace what I truly believe in and remind myself (and others) to love my body and treat it well. I decided on "Curves for Days" because it has two meanings for me.

First, it's a running joke that I have "curves for days." I was blessed with large hips and a smaller waist, so I'm typically considered a curvier girl. I don't mind that now and I've come to embrace it and figure out what works for me, but growing up... not so much. I hated being curvier and equated it to being "fat," "unworthy," "gross," and "never good enough." It's been a long journey with that, quite the bumpy one, and one that I am still on. So while it's seen as a good thing now, it's taken me a life time so far to understand my body. Second, I feel as though God throws me a lot of curveballs and sends me on winding roads to teach me lessons that otherwise I am being too controlling to learn. I call these winds "curves," just like I call the obstacles "curveballs." I am forever being worked on and forever being pruned and educated by the Lord, so - curves for days. And days and days and days, ha.

So there you have it, post number one. I hope to see you soon! I'm in the process of updating pages and media outlets so feel free to check back in. Definitely follow the Facebook icon to the right underneath my little "about me" blurb to get my blog page! "Like" that and you'll be updated when I post :)