My youngest daughter does not like thunderstorms.  At all.  In fact, she is quite fearful of them.  When she sees gray or cloudy skies, she worries there's a storm coming.  To the point that she doesn't like to leave for school if it looks like it might storm.  She's emphatic that she loves a rainy day.  But, thunderstorms?  No way.

If you ask her what scares her about storms, she'll tell you it's the tornados.  She swears it's not the thunderstorm that's the problem.  It's the…

My youngest daughter does not like thunderstorms.  At all.  In fact, she is quite fearful of them.  When she sees gray or cloudy skies, she worries there's a storm coming.  To the point that she doesn't like to leave for school if it looks like it might storm.  She's emphatic that she loves a rainy day.  But, thunderstorms?  No way.

If you ask her what scares her about storms, she'll tell you it's the tornados.  She swears it's not the thunderstorm that's the problem.  It's the…

If you’ve been paying attention to On My Own Nerves, you know I’ve just completed a 5-day juice fast.  I got the idea after watching Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead  on Amazon Instant Video.  (I’m confident that the movie has resulted in higher juicer sales for all the kitchen places that sell juicers.  I even saw a stack of the movies next to a bunch of juicers in a kitchen store.)  After watching the…

What does day 2 of a juice fast feel like?  Like a hangover.  Except not as good as a hangover 'cause you didn't exactly have a great time the night before.  

Woke up with a headache which was sucky.  I'm not a headache person.  It was definitely not the way I wanted to start my day.  I figured a walk with the dog and some fresh air would clear up my pseudo hangover.  It didn't.

When I got back extreme nausea set in.  I kept telling myself,  "This is the…

I did it!  For one day I drank only freshly juiced veggies and fruit.  I'm now on day 2.  I've eaten a wide variety of stuff...you could say colorful.  Here's a few things I've learned in 24 hours.

Morning isn't so bad.  Got up and drank two cups of hot lemon water.  I'd prefer coffee but the water isn't bad.  I've got this.

First juice of the day: Carrot, Orange, Beet.  Not horrible.  Beets taste like dirt though.  I even washed and peeled most of it.  Apparently…

I am about to embark on a health adventure that I can scarcely believe.  If you would have told me two weeks ago that I would do this, I would have been convinced you'd been smoking some wacky weed or had lost your eva lovin' mind.  

But alas, this is all true and about to happen to me.  I'm going on a 5 day juice fast.  Yes I just said juice and fast.  In the same sentence.  I have never fasted in my life.  Never.  I mean, that's nuts right?  Who conciously makes the decision to…

Anyone that knows me, knows that I tend to get excited (read: obsessed) about lots of stuff (cameras, house decorating, reading, and so on).  I'm happy to say I'm obsessed for the first time in my life with healthy food.  I can't get enought information via book, video, or internet (or you guys!) about juicing, organic stuff, and all-things-healthy.  

Let me say, that until now, all this kind of stuff ANNOYED me.  I considered it silly chatter that was of little interest…

First let me say that this is not becoming a food or health blog.  I'm just sharing my journey trying to make some improvements in my eating and overall health.  So if you're getting all excited that "this blog is talking about food and stuff all the time", don't worry.  I have other things to say.  

But first I have to tell you what I did yesterday.  With Christie.  She's along for the ride of healthy living.  Let me back up for a sec.  Monday night we watched Healthy for…

After posting my food is poisoning me I got a lot of great comments on my blog and on Facebook.  You all know a lot about this bad food stuff!  I feel like I've been unconsciously (or consciously) ignoring the rumblings about where our food comes from and why I should pay attention.  I know I've heard eat organic, stop eating processed food, etc, etc, etc.  I…

On Monday I wrote a blog post called A Fork Stuck in the Road, which you can read HERE.  The gist of the post was to lament about my difficulty with eating the right things.  I know what to eat and all that jazz.  I just don’t do it. 

In a weird way, I feel like the food I’ve been eating has been passively poisoning me.  I know the word…

On Sunday, we packed a picnic lunch, the kids, and the dog and headed out for a hike in Susquehanna State Park.  Almost everyone had a great time.  (12 year olds generally don't enjoy hiking for 2 hours.  In case you were wondering.)  There were so many pretty things to see.  The bluebells were out so there were miles of bluish purple flowers.  So amazing! Here's some shots from our afternoon.

Perfect picnic…

Every Sunday I have the same conversation with myself.  Like EVERY Sunday.  It goes something like this:  

TOMORROW is the beginning of your new healthy life.  It’s Monday and it will mark the start of eating right and exercising regularly.  No more fast food.  No more Tastykakes.  No more skipping your run.  Today will be the last day of dining out and making bad food choices.  Tomorrow your body and brain will only want delicious fruits and vegetables…

A few weeks or a month ago, I decided I needed a blender with capabilities beyond what my awesome immersion blender can do.  To be perfectly honest, I wanted to get healthier by making green smoothies.   The ticket to my extreme healthiness was a standard blender.  (Spinach and kale are too big and crazy to be chased around by the immersion blender.)

So I began my usual research, when I want to buy a new kitchen appliance.  I turned to Facebook of…

Suddenly it got HOT in Maryland.  Not warm.  HOT.  This sudden heat required a rethinking of the wardrobe, at least for the next couple of warm days.  (AC had to go on too…we tried not to but the dog required it.)

Yesterday I went to the mall for a couple of things.  Because it was hot, most people had put on their weather-appropriate clothes.  Ahem.  Some people dressed as if they were on beach.  Or in outer space.   Or like they were trying to sell…

So you're probably all like,  "You call yourself a blogger.  Why don't you blog already?"  I know I know.  I'm cranking out a couple posts a week.  Can't quite seem to get the daily thing down.  My latest excuse is I'M LEARNING SPANISH.  Like again, if you count 3 years of Spanish in high school.  I am all over the Rosetta Stone, talking to my computer, relearning the basics.  

Here's the funny part.  I took Latin in high school for a couple of years.…

A while back, Jenna auditioned for an American Girl Doll Fashion Show that benefited the Cool Kids Campaign.  You can read about it HERE.  The Cool Kids campaign is an awesome organization that raises money for kids that are a part of the University of Maryland Hospital system.  The fashion raises money for these kids through ticket sales and donations that are collected by…

It's Friday people and that means the weekend is here!!  Enjoy the funniest, dorkiest, silliest pins on Pinterest this week.

 It's Grammar Owl!

 Hoff on a horse!  Does this look photo shopped to you? I sooo want it to be real.…

I have had a lot of jobs, the majority of which occurred between the ages of 15 and 28.   Jobs I’ve had included a flower shop, gas station/convenience store (actually really fun), manager in college game room, Pizza Hut waitress (that really sucked), toy store worker (NOT fun), 7-11 worker (where I can proudly say they begged me to be manager…I said no), numerous social work positions, and a wedding planner.  I’d say I had a well-rounded career for sure.

I had…

My level of frustration with my photography skills (or lack thereof) has reached an all time high.  Just when I think I sort of know what I'm doing, I completely screw up important photos.  Here's what happened this past weekend.

Claire danced in her dance troop's production of the Wizard of Oz all weekend.  Me, being a planner, decided that it would be great to take pictures at dress rehearsal so I wouldn't have to take pictures at the actual show.  You know,…