Well, 2017 certainly was an exciting one for us! With two moves, each taking us further and further west, we’ve landed ourselves in Sunny Southern California, and we are seriously loving every minute of it!

We began our year in Savannah, Georgia (Hunter Army Airfield), where Teagan was born, where we met amazing friends, explored great foods and enjoyed more of the Southern hospitality we love so much! (Picture below is our last night in Savannah, GA at Tybee Beach).

Then, Pat was promoted to Captain and we moved to Arizona for a 6 month course. In Arizona we lived closer to my sister, my niece and nephews, did a lot of hiking in the desert mountains, and enjoyed plenty of margaritas and guacamole!

In spring of 2017 I began working virtually with Chalene Johnson and creating what we called then, the Diet Beta Test. We tested our unique dietary approach with over 25,000 people, fine tuned it, tested again, perfected it and mastered it in preparation for the 131 Diet.

While Pat was in his course in Arizona, we had to make the decision about what to put at the top of the list for where the Army would move us next. We got the typical “needs of the Army” speech telling us not to get our hopes up too high about anything. However, my husband is pretty much a badass at everything he does, so he always gets what he works for. He was top of his class, so we knew we could go anywhere, do anything.

At the top of our list were places like Germany, Italy, DC, etc. However, it was also strangely odd that on the list of his options was a small, “hole in the wall” option of Orange County, CA Which just so happened to be very close to where Smart Life, Inc.’s headquarters are located.

So, we sent the Army our list, with Orange County in our top 10 choices. If we were going to go there, it would be meant to be. It would mean a very different job for Patrick, something that honestly doesn’t “do much” for his career path in the Army, but would mean I could work in the office for 131. We were open to taking a leap of faith!

Well, obviously, Pat got assigned to the unit in Orange County, and in July we moved again.

Since July, we have had countless family members visit, have explored all over southern California, and had a blast along the way.

As well as being the Lead Dietitian for 131 Diet, I have been promoted to Program Director of the entire program. I have had so much fun in the process of getting this program out to the public, helping thousands more go through the 131 with success, hiring an amazing team to work with, creating videos, and more!

Thanks for reading this quick little update of our year! It has been an exciting one, and I cannot wait to the exciting changes we have coming in 2018!