HI! My name is Christine Harkey, and I’m a 23 year-old fitness enthusiast living in Springfield, Missouri. I’m an aspiring foodie and lover of all things food related.  I spend my days working for a local  company in their Marketing Department. Gotta pay them bills!

My evenings and weekends are almost always spent at my secondary job where I’m a Jazzercise Instructor. I became a certified instructor in June 2012 and have been teaching 5 days a week ever since at Springfield East Jazzercise. My fitness journey has been quite a fun one! My life has made a complete 180 degree turn since I started taking and teaching Jazzercise, but more on that later. (It’s not a quick story, so I will spare you the pain of a long post and break it up into a series!)

Don’t worry though if you’re not into the dance fitness scene. I also love to incorporate different types of fitness into my weekly schedule. I frequent my gym for different cardio workouts and strength training during my days away from Jazzercise. I have also come to really enjoy running and walking with my dog, Mac. He is my fitness motivation on my laziest of days! You’ll probably see his little face around the blog a lot.

Mac, my Shih Tzu Mix

I rescued Mac when he was 6 months old in March of 2012. He is a Shih Tzu/Yorkie mix and is always the highlight of my day. He’s a healthy little guy, but anything over a 1.5 mile run leaves him in the dust. Tiny dog + tiny legs = disaster for a long run! Needless to say, you won’t catch him with me at any 5K’s in the near future.

He is one spoiled little doggie. But I’m sure if any of you out there are dog lovers and owners, you’ll understand! 🙂

Nicholas, my architect

Meet Nick, my boyfriend of 2 years.

Cute, isn’t he? Well I love him. 🙂

We met at Drury University here in Springfield in the Fall of 2008 when we both started as freshman. Funny enough, Nick had a thing for my best girl friend all through college! It wasn’t until after I had graduated that we started dating. He recently graduated in May 2013 with his Masters of Architecture and is currently working for a local architecture firm. He is also working towards getting licensed (the process takes several years). License or no license, he is still my handsome architect and makes me very happy!

In our spare time together, we love eating out to try new restaurants around town (Mexican food is our favorite!), visiting his family in St. Louis, and playing with Mac. Nick is also always a good sport and taste-tests all of my healthy creations.

So that’s my little life in a nutshell! It’s sometimes crazy. Sometimes more monotonous. But these two fellas, along with my family, make each day fun and worthwhile!