Kelly Trepp, Author

I read a book recently that reminded me if we are always waiting for the next good thing -- a "better" house, a "better" job, a "better" location, a "better" spouse, the next vacation, your child's next developmental milestone -- you are never fully in the moment and, therefore, you never fully appreciate what you have. We live in a society that teaches us that bigger is better, surplus is superior to enough, wants are more important than our needs, and the next step will make us happier than where we are. But what happens when you reach that next step? Is all that glitters gold? Does chasing happiness bring us joy? Or does reaching that next step leave us in search of the next best thing? The next hit? The next high? What would life look like, then, if we put our focus on where we are? If we chose joy in any and all circumstances? I'm not saying that we should not have goals to improve ourselves or that we do not deserve to be happy. W...

With the new year right around the corner, you are undoubtedly about to face a flurry of New Year's resolutions plastered across your social media feeds. You may even be scribbling your own goals and resolutions in your daily journal, or sharing them with a loved one for accountability. Goals are great. I think we should all set goals and regularly reassess them and measure our progress... but when it comes to setting that New Year's resolution, I have a challenge for you. As the hours turn to minutes, and the seconds tick by on the countdown to our new year and new selves, I want you to ask yourself what it is that you want from 2019. Do you want to be the perfect mom (does that even exist)? The perfect spouse? The perfect disciple? Do you want a perfect body? Maybe you want to find the perfect job or the perfect house or the perfect [enter object here] that will finally make you happy. I have chased the perfect body. I have chased the perfect wife. I am constantly...

As a way of commemorating the birth of my first son, I shared my birth story publicly on this blog on his first birthday. Birth is something that is not often talked about in polite conversation, and as a newly expecting mother 4 years ago, I had very few friends with kids to talk to (or at least that I felt comfortable talking to about labor and childbirth). I would like to keep that tradition going on the first birthday of my second son so that any expecting mother who comes across this blog will know that not all births are created equal.  But it is the unexpected things you can't plan for that make childbirth amazing.  Here is my story... If each pregnancy is a fruit, my first was an apple and my second was an orange. My first pregnancy was sweet and enticing. Everything was easy. I went day to day blissfully aware of this miracle of life growing inside of me, but I was able to carry on with my regular activities. I was in the gym four or five times a wee...

I believe that prayer is a powerful gift and tool. It is how we are in relationship with God. We have a direct line to the creator of the universe and an advocate on our behalf that sits at the right hand of the Father. We go to God in prayer to say thank you when things are good and to ask for healing when friends and family are sick, but do we go to him with our everyday hopes, struggles, or anxieties? There was an incident earlier today that troubled me for the better part of the day. I was sitting at the local coffee shop with a friend while Silas played nearby. A woman walked in with two little girls, one of Silas' age and the other about half his age. She came and set her stuff down at a chair at the table where we sat. Her older daughter immediately reached for a toy stethoscope Silas had been playing with. He grabbed onto it and said, "noooo" with a whimper and made eyes at me. I said something along the lines of, "I'm sorry, Silas was playing with that...

Judah and I managed to make it out to ladies bible study yesterday where we briefly discussed the idea of what heaven may be like. We ultimately decided that heaven will appear differently to each of us. While I know that Heaven is an unfathomable place, I find myself daydreaming (with a sleeping baby on my chest) about what Heaven will be like. The bible tells us there will be no pain, tears or heartache. Jesus is preparing "rooms" for us there where he will greet us and dwell with us. The streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels. We will spend our days worshipping the glory of God. I like to think that Heaven is at the foot of a mountain. I'll greet, and in some instances meet loved ones for the first time, in a field where a river flows. The air is crisp and smells like new babies . There is no age in heaven -- we will all be recognizable and we will know one another fully, without the hindrance of sin, the wa...

Let me hold you one last time. You were my first. You have forever changed me. You made my heart grow. You will always carry a piece of my heart. But my heart is about to grow again  and soon there will be two where one once stood. Every laugh. Every hug. Every kiss. I cherish these memories we have made, the stories we read and the secrets we share. Nobody will ever come between us or replace you. Our bond will never be broken but new bonds will be formed; Me to your brother and you to him, also. I know your heart will grow, too. You will lead your brother, your confidant, your friend. You will teach him. You will guide him. You will always be there for him and he will be there for you. He will love you. He will look up to you. You will be his hero in so many ways because you were the first. Our family of three will become a family of four. Remember that your father and I will always love you. You were our first.

I recently witnessed an instance of bullying carry out on Facebook... between adults. That's right! A good old fashioned hurtful anonymous message and a battle of the wits that rivaled my high school experiences unfolded before my very eyes at the ripe old age of 30. Should we be surprised that bullying still happens among adults? Probably not. Why not? Why am I not shocked and outraged? Because bullying still exists in our schools today and within the highest levels of government and bullying is a learned behavior. Where do today's youth learn this behavior? You guessed it! From us. They learn this behavior from us. So what are we to do about the issue of bullying? As I watched this event unfold, I read the comments of people calling for revenge, justice, police reports, and -- my favorite -- toe pokes! What is a toe poke, anyway? All of these adults were outraged that a strong, beautiful woman was being bullied for her successful weight-loss journey. Rightly so. But ...

A lot has happened in the three years since I regularly kept up with my blog. A lot. My love for fitness, nutrition and CrossFit lead me down the path to training and sharing that love with others. After about a year of training, I decided I wanted even more out of life. My husband and I happily added a new member to our family one year ago today. I had a healthy, relatively uneventful pregnancy (and continued to workout and eat healthy through the entirety of it) and my labor was everything I wanted it to be. As others around me struggle to obtain their own pregnancy and labor ideals, I realize just how blessed we were and how rare it is that everything should go according to plan, although I was completely unaware of it at the time. Looking back over the last year, I have come to the conclusion that there are certain aspects of parenthood that people do not talk about in polite conversation. Labor being the primary culprit. To commemorate the birth of our son, I want to shar...

This is going to be a quick post, but I'm going to write it from atop my soap box. **ahem** Can everybody hear me down there? Okay, good... Despite the fact that I've been living the Paleo lifestyle for just under a year now, I still get all the questions of why, and the accusations of being on a diet. First of all, I'm proud of my hard work and find it insulting to be told I am on a diet. Child please!  Second, why wouldn't I live a lifestyle that makes me feel great, perform better, and improve my blood work? I suppose better than answering their questions, I could pose the same question to them: Why do you eat the way you do? Why do you eat processed foods high in sodium and preservatives? Why do you eat genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Why do you drink liquid filled with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and calories? Why do you poison your body on a regular basis and inch closer towards modern, degenerative diseases which have been linked to your di...

Okay folks, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for... ...it's recipe time! Over the weekend I was experimenting with some new flavors. I have been trying to eat less red meat and more chicken and seafood to keep my triglycerides under control (I've determined red meat, egg yolks, and stress are the culprit of my higher-than-I-would-like triglycerides). But when you're accustomed to eating bacon every day, chicken is boring. There. I said it. Live chickens would be much more fun, but I still haven't gotten hubby on board with letting me have a chicken coop in the backyard. Not sure how the neighbors or the HOA would feel about that either... but I digress... I promise it tastes better than it looks. Sweet Potato Linguine Topped with Grilled Chicken Smothered in Sage and Mushroom Sauce (A working title) Serves 4, or 2 with leftovers for lunch Ingredients: 1 large Sweet Potato (or 2 medium), cleaned and peeled 4 tbsp organic Butter...

Today was a magical day. I woke up to find the weather predictor live background of my phone snowing. I thought for sure I was still dreaming. But no. Snow was falling when I began my trek to work this morning. I wish I would have snagged a picture of it, because now it looks like this: Blehhhh. A rainy Monday afternoon meant no outdoor activities for the Running Club. Four coaches and 20 some odd kids took over the school gymnasium for stretching, push-ups, crunches, and burpees! By choice, mind you. One of the young boys led the warm-up. I knew then he was a child after my own heart. My future baby. After the warm-up exercises, we moved onto some core exercises to include high knees and planks. The kids did NOT. Like. Planks. There was so much moaning and groaning I thought I was in a pregnancy ward. After our abs were burning, we decided to attack the thighs. The kids lined up on the wall for wall sits. Yup. These little nine to eleven-year-old children do wall sits....

Holy cow! It's been nearly two months since I've made a blog post. That really shouldn't be allowed. February, being the short month that it was, flew by. Then March came in like a lion. Here are the highlights: Began attending Academic Lectures for the Instructor Training Program ( more on that here ) Registered for the CrossFit Games Open. Celebrated Valentine's Day with Bacon-Covered Roses from my hubby Began the Whole Life Challenge Which required a purchase from US Wellness Meats Entertained a weekend with the in-laws and managed to stay WLC compliant Dominated the CrossFit Games Open WOD 13.1 with a new PR Experimented with new recipes... How to poach the perfect egg Started volunteering at a local elementary school's running club Signed up to mentor an at-risk youth at a local high school Dominated the CrossFit Games Open WOD 13.2 As of this posting, I'm currently sitting at 2240th place in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Not ...

A Fish Fry is a meal which typically consists of a battered or breaded fish, french fries, coleslaw, hush puppies and dessert. Seeing as how I haven't tried any paleo hush puppy recipes yet (although now I'm determined to find one), my Sunday Fish Fry consisted of only the fish and fries with a side of sugar snap peas! Aw, snap! The Fried Fish recipe is fairly similar to my fried chicken recipe , but with a few tweaks. Fried Fish Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 pound cold water, wild caught fish (In this instance, I used Flounder) 1.5 cups of Blanched Almond Flour 2 tbsp Ground Lemon Pepper 2 tsp Paprika 2 tsp Parsley Flakes 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp Iodized Sea Salt 1 Egg Coconut Oil for frying Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl. Melt coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Dip the fish fillet in the egg, coating the fish. Lay the fish in...

A lot more goes into maintaining a healthy lifestyle than working out regularly and eating your fruits and veggies, although that certainly helps. Heart disease is the number one killer of women. The Mayo Clinic presents five reasonably practical and predictable measures to prevent heart disease: Don't smoke or use tobacco. ( check ) Exercise for 30 minutes on most days of the week. ( check ) Eat a heart-healthy diet. ( check ) Maintain a healthy weight. ( check ) Get regular health screenings. ( check ) I prefer to take a more holistic approach to the issue. More progressive resources recommend reducing or managing stress to prevent heart disease. Gaiam lists managing stress levels as one of the top ten ways to prevent heart disease for both men and women, recommending meditation, breathing exercises and yoga as methods to achieve less stress. Here's a few of my favorite ways to reduce stress: First and foremost, identify your sources of stress and eliminate ...

Very rarely do I ever leave the gym NOT smiling, laughing, teasing, looking forward to returning the next day, skipping holding hands and singing while birds fly out of my butt ... Unfortunately, today was one of those days... You know, that day that you leave feeling like you didn't give it everything you've got? Where you feel like if you tried just a bit harder you might have achieved the goal you were aiming for? No? Haven't ever felt that way? Good for you, you over achiever. Pat yourself on the back and sleep easy tonight knowing you have mastered the universe. For the rest of us average Josephines, these things happen. I'm pretty sure even Disney princesses have bad days... or they would, if they were real. The important thing that I've learned is not to beat yourself up over it. Throw a Tinkerbell-tantrum, get it out of your system, and get back to work. As a flawed people, we aren't judged by our failures, but by how we react to them. ...