About | A Fuller Existence

Hey, hey — Alisha here

First things first, if we’re going to be Internet friends, you need to know how to pronounce my name correctly. It’s pronounced uh-LISH-uh. There is no “leash” in the middle of my name. LISH. It rhymes with dish, fish, and wish. Super simple, right?

Okay, now that we have that cleared up, let’s move on.

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Cheesin' in up at the Biltmore

Me and the hubs in London

Me, in a nutshell

Clearly you’re a bit curious about who I am, so I thought I’d start with some random facts. Plus, who doesn’t love a good Top 10 list?

I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, but I didn’t start reading the books until the 5th movie was already released. Don’t fret though…I always read the books first.
I’m a self-professed budget and finance nerd, but that hasn’t always been the case. In six years I worked my butt off to wipe out $120,000 worth of debt.
I love to travel but I really, really don’t like flying. The first bout of turbulence hits and I start wondering if I should make a last minute phone call to my loved ones. Seriously. It’s not fun.
I’m married to a handsome guy that I went to high school with, but interestingly enough, we didn’t reconnect until 8 years after the fact, via the book of faces. Thanks Mark Zuckerburg!
I like to think of myself as pretty crafty. But more than that, I’m really good at gathering supplies, starting a project and then putting it aside for months (or even years) at a time.
I’m crunchy granola, so I seek out products with clean ingredients and I use things like an infrared sauna and dry brushing to help detox my body. You’ll find me wearing blue light blockers after the sun goes down too.
I try to maintain a paleo diet following the 80-20 rule, but sometimes it’s more like 70-30. Remember this when you see pictures of donuts and beer on my Instagram. It’s all about balance, people.
I’ve been a Special Education teacher for the past 13 years. The large majority of that has been in elementary school, but I recently switched to high school English.
I frequently quote Tommy Boy and Home Alone (but only 1 & 2 though). When I do this, people either laugh or think I’m a complete weirdo. Hey — you can’t win ’em all.
My dream is to someday own a motorhome and travel around the US with my husband and our baby dog, Peanut.

What to expect

“So what’s the deal with the blog then” you may be asking.

To be honest, I’ve felt called to start a blog for quite some time now. Originally I thought that I should write about being a special ed teacher, but when you get down to it, teaching is my profession, but it’s not what sets my soul on fire. I want to feel like I’m living every day to its fullest potential, not merely work, eat, sleep, repeat. Traveling, adventuring, reading, and loving the crap out of my friends, family, and tiny dog. These are the things that set my soul on fire.

A Fuller Existence is my humble little part of the interweb where I’ll share stories of how I afford to travel this great big world in search of good beer and great food all while holding down a full-time job and owning a house. I hope you join along for this adventure and thanks so much for stopping by! Adios!

Peanut, the cutest dog ever