It's time to get honest.

You know what they say: Honesty is the best policy.

No, I haven't lied to you guys.  I've just chosen to leave out some of the details about me, my life, and why I started this blog.  You may have noticed that the About Me page on this blog is rather short and not descriptive at all.  I'm sorry.

You see, it wasn't exactly that I didn't want you to know, it was more like I wasn't quite comfortable sharing.  But now, as the one year anniversary of Mix it Up looms on the horizon, I think it's important to tell you who I (really) am.

The truth is, this blog is actually a partnership between me, a teenager, and my mom, a supporting parent.  I'm the one who takes the pictures, writes the posts, and dreams up the recipes, and my mom takes care of supplying ingredients, helping with some of the more advanced cooking, and anything that involves spending or accepting money.  It's real fun.

As for the reason for starting this blog, well it's a bit of a long story.  But you all deserve to know, so here it is:

I didn't used to care what I ate.  If it tasted good, I ate it (actually, that hasn't changed all that much).  Simple as that.  Sometimes my afternoon snack consisted of 4 bowls of goldfish, and sometime it was fresh blueberries.  Like I said, I didn't much care.  Then, and this is the somewhat clichéd part, I had health class in school.

There I learned about nutrition.  About My Plate, a balanced diet, and most importantly, the fact that eating healthy is important.  Not only is it good for you, it makes you feel good too.  That was all new information to me.

Soon, I decided that I wanted to change my eating style for that better.  My plan was to start paying attention to what went into my body.  I started liking vegetables (a trip to California was a big part of that), avoiding fast food, and just plain eating good.  But the problem was, I missed dessert.  I was cutting out everything that as much as looked like a sweet, and that left me with a feeling that I was missing something.

That was when I discovered some healthy eating blogs that helped to change my eating style yet again... this time for even better.  Those blogs included healthy dessert recipes that looked and sounded delicious, but also had ingredient lists that were pretty great nutrition wise.  To say I was excited was an understatement.  Not only did the blogs inspire me to bake healthy desserts, they also inspired me to start my very own blog to help other people know that it's possible to eat dessert and still be healthy.  And thus, Mix it Up was born.

Over time this blog has grown in ways I could have never imagined, and I am so proud.  My photography and recipe creating skills have grown immensely as well as my perspective on healthy eating.  There is now never a time when I feel like I'm cheating myself, even if that means that some nights require a handful of chocolate chips to feel satisfied.

So join me as, along with the help of my family, I discover what it really means to be healthy and happy.  I'm glad to have you along for the ride!

Edit:  I've updated my About Me page, too.  Check it out here, or click on the tab that says About Me and The Blog.