It’s amazing how much I love kickboxing.  Just amazing.

I can walk into a class with a million stresses and frustrations.  Today I did.  I walked into class frustated and upset and looking for a release.  I knew I needed kickboxing for more than just the cardio boost.  I needed kickboxing for an emotional release.  And I got it.

I’d be surprised if I didn’t scare other participants while I was in there.  I’ve got a mean hook and my cross is super strong.  Every punch I threw had power behind it and I imagined myself hitting the things I wish I could get rid of in my life.  I punched, kicked, shuffled and did high knees and even jumping jacks!! I let every bit of frustration and aggression out of me through those moves.  I beat myself up basically, making sure my body would feel it after I was done.  I pushed myself to the peak of what my body can do and let it do its thing.  It was freaking awesome.

A litte note about jumping jacks.… I can’t even remember the last time I did jumping jacks.  Maybe in 9th grade gym class because I was forced too?  I hate them and have avoided them for years because of it and because they are a bit rough on my knees (I’ve got sucktastic knees).  But today when the option was offered in class I took it.  I decided that if I could punch and kick hard I wasn’t going to be scared of doing jumping jacks.  So I did them.  And I did some more.  And I realized they aren’t that bad anymore.  They might still be bad for my knees but I can do them.  And I will keep doing them.

Ah,  I feel so good and sooo much better after kickboxing.  There is nothing else of worth I can even off you today.  All I can say is kickboxing rocks.  If you have never tried it – you should.  It might be just what you need.  It sure was what I needed.

Update: I went to a half hour cardio interval class and I did more jumping jacks!  For a whole minute!  I’ve officially done more jumpin jacks today than… ever?  or a really, really, long time.

Today has been a craaaaazy day!  I ended up doing something completely different from what I had planned so my schedule got thrown off and I’m trying not to stress about it.  I might be temporarily down, but it is only a small bump.

It is such a warm and beautiful day here that I am trying to forget those things and enjoy the warmth and sunshine.  I’ve been thinking a lot about all the new things in my life and how grateful I am for the chances I’ve been given.  Here are a few things that have been on my mind…

LOVE STORY

So, I mentioned a last week that I was dating Kepa.  Well, today he has an awesome post up that is basically our love story from his point of view.  Which is awesome because he has a much better memory than I do and I always love stories from the boy’s perspective.  So go read that if you want some warm-fuzzy-makes-you-wanna-say-awww material for your evening.  I <3 it.  I <3 him.

BODY PARTS

Anyone that knows me really well knows that I get obsessed with body parts … especially when they are new to me.  I’m currently obsessed with my collarbones, hip bones, and calves.  See, when you are obese you don’t have these body parts.  You just don’t.  They are buried deep within the body underneath layers of fat.  These are body parts that you aren’t aware of until those layers of fat melt away and they emerge.  Now I can feel them pushing to get out and be known.  Now I can run my hand across them and I know they exist.  I can look in the mirror and see the faint definition that let’s me know they are in fact part of my body.  It’s an amazing thing to see.  It is almost as if I am emerging from underneath the fat.  I’m finally breaking free and coming up to the surface while I’ve been here at Green Mountain.

Do any of you do this too?  Are the new areas of your body that emerge as you become healthier as amazing to you as they are to me?

Because I’m pretty much in awe over here of all my newness.  Second chances are amazing things.  There is always another chance if you choose it.

This past weekend was hella fun and full of delicious and slightly unhealthy (at times) food.

FITNESS TRACKING

Okay, just to get the boring stuff out of the way before I get to my weekend recap… here is my fitness log for the week.  I changed up how I count some classes because I realized there is a lot of talking from the instructor where I’m not moving and I don’t want to count that.  So here is this past week (backwards even):

Friday 11/6:

• 45 minutes low impact aerobics
• 1 hour zumbaaaaaa!!

Thursday 11/5:

• 30 minutes lower body conditioning
• 1 hour cardio drills/water kickboxing
  

Wednesday 11/4:

• 90 minute walking (4 miles, with hills…difficult)
• 45 minutes water aerobics/drills
• 15 minutes progressive yoga

Tuesday 11/3:

• 30 minutes lower body conditioning
• 1 hour kickboxing class (killa!)
• 30 minutes Zumba (yeah, bump it up!)
• candlelight yoga (not counting toward exercise total)

Monday 11/2:

• 30 minute walk at moderate pace (Buttermilk Falls)
• 30 minutes recumbent bike with intervals
• 30 minutes upper body weights (on my own)

Sunday 11/1:

• 20 minutes walking – 1 mile

FOOD TRACKING

I’ve been trying to track my food… I even started a tumblr to track the pics of it… but I’ve been very forgetful about photographing things since I stopped before.  Especially in restaurants I just forget to do it.  Maybe I need to start hanging out with food bloggers again.  They are always camera ready.  *snap* *snap*

Anyway, I’ve overconsumed a lot of calories over the weekend but it was all worth it.  It was a fun weekend hanging with the girls and going out a bit.  A bit more like my real life. 

More food, more fun, more real, and even some firsts too!

SATURDAY REUNIONS

Saturday I spent the day with my friend Meredith (remember her?  she is the crazy ironwoman/marathon runner) who I studied abroad in Austria with.  She brought her adorable puppy so we could play and we went to Manchester Center, VT, where I bought a cute heart necklace and we had pepperoni and green pepper pizza.  After that we went down south to Bennington, VT for my first visit.  Cute little Vermont city with the Energizer factory where she works.  It was nice to get a tour and update on her life again.  I always love reunions!  Here is Meredith and Kelly….

Clearly Kelly had a good time!

SUNDAY SHOPPING

Sunday I went with the fitness girls Mallory and Michelle to Manchester, New Hampshire for some retail therapy.  It was my first time in Manchester!  We hit up the mall where I bought some cute socks and a plaid shirt dress::

Then we ate at Applebee’s where I ate chips and dip and a chicken fajita roll up with fries.  Mmmm greasy good food?  Then we went to Target which was the real reason we were in New Hampshire – Vermont does not have a Target.  That officially takes away a few cool points from the state.  Just saying.  I bought a necklace, gloves, and Christmas cards!  I have a lot to send out so I figured I should start now. Ho, ho, ho.

My necklaces I bought this weekend (heart in Vermont wood store, other at Target):

Then for dinner tonight Mallory made enchiladas and with my Tabasco added they were heavenly.  I’ve decided I should never cook again because their are just way better cooks in the world.  I should leave it to them and just assume my role as perpetual dishwasher.  It’s okay.

My weekend was AMAZING!!!

Anyone else have an awesome weekend?

Oh, btw, I’m going to try and start posting at night again.  Maybe not this late at night, but still sometimes in the afternoon/evening timeframe.  I really can’t decide when I should post on my blog.  I know it’s my blog and I can post whenever I want… but I don’t know.  When is a good time to post?  When do you like to read blogs?  When do you post on yours?

Last night I went out and had a glass of white wine, a shot (slippery nipple), 2 vodka and redbulls, some bread with garlic, and a delicious serving of chicken alfredo of which I ate most.  Mmmm.  Fun times.  Gotta have a little fun and indulgence now and again, no?

Anyway, today is the last edition of Ask Mary Anything for this go around!  YAY!  It really did take me a week to answer all the questions.  So thanks to everyone who asked me something.  I’ve enjoyed answering them and sharing things that YOU want to know.

TB–Milwaukee asked:

Do you joke about your weight, ever put yourself down?

I do joke about my weight or body parts, but it’s usually not in a way that is overly negative, or negative at all really.  I have enough people in my life to put me down that I’ve learned I don’t need to do it myself.  In high school I used to joke about my weight all the time.  It was like a preventative measure. I knew that if I made the first move and made a joke or two about my weight it wouldn’t hurt as much if someone else did it because I “allowed” them to after I had done it.  Crazy thought process, but that’s how it went.  Now if I make jokes about my weight, which is rare, its honestly just to get a laugh or to make myself laugh and would never be as insulting as anything I used to say.

100in12 asked:

What are your pet peeves? (like the really silly totally irrational ones)

Ack!  I’ve got a lot, actually, but when put on the spot I can’t think of any.  Oh, wait, one really irrational one – I hate it when people clips their fingernails or toenails.  Seriously.  I know, I do it too, but I freaking can’t stand when someone does this around me.  Bah!  We will just leave it at that one for now.

Miz asked:

Whats the one think about you that you think would surprise us readers the most?

Hmmm.  Surprising?  Well, I’m a good girl, so one thing that surprises people when I tell them is that I was suspended in high school for vandalism.   Oops.

South Beach Steve asked:

What is the single greatest moment of your journey to healthiness thus far?

I honestly haven’t had a single moment where it’s been “the greatest moment” of the journey.  As it is in fact a journey there have been highs and lows and there will still be more.  I’ve had a lot of great moments, like the first time I ran two miles (for me it was amazing), or the time I bumped up in an aerobics class and it still felt easy, or the time where I went snowboarding for a whole day and didn’t feel winded at all or this whole Green Mountain experience. I’ve been at various weights and various levels of athleticism over the last five years, but it’s been a great journey.  No matter where I was during that time I have always been healthier than I was before I started and that fact is the greatest part of my journey.  I’ve haven’t and never will go back.

Thank you for reading and thanks for asking the questions!  I enjoyed it!

That’s it for me. I’m off to spend the weekend with friends and shopping.

Hope the weekend is amazing for everyone!!  What are YOUR plans?  Anyone actually CHRISTMAS SHOPPING yet?

Since I’ve got less than a month left at Green Mountain at Fox Run, I’ve been thinking a lot about what is next.  It turns out you guys are curious about the next step too. So here are a few questions about life after I leave.

First, chocolateprn asked me:

What are your plans for when this is finished?

Ah, great question!  Since I’ve realized how useless it is for me to plan the future, I’ve stopped trying.  I only plan a few months ahead now and even then leave lots of room for possibilities.  When I leave Vermont I will be headed back to Memphis.  I will be staying with one of my best friends, but I haven’t decided which one yet.  I will be hanging around and spending time with my friends and family through the holidays.  Hopefully I can pick up some work while I am home.  Then in January, January 13th to be exact, I’m leaving for New Zealand to visit Kepa.  I will be there through Feb 17th at which time I will once again return to Memphis.  After that the only thing I know for sure is that I will be attending fitbloggin’ 10 in March.  Everything else is up in the air.

And Jody asked:

How do you envision yourself in the future.. do you have a pic in your mind? If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?

When I think about my future I don’t imagine specific things.  Like I said, I don’t plan for the future in a way that is based in reality, because I know so many things can happen and change plans.  I will sometimes think about certain events I hope will happen like getting married or buying a house or whatever, but generally I just think about the kind of person I want to be.  I don’t know what my career will be or where I will be living, but I picture myself as still being silly and acting young, staying active and always trying new things, being a good person who is caring and others can come to for help.  That kind of thing.  When I picture the future I just picture who I want to be and try to work every day to be more like that person.

As far as if I could do anything I wanted… can I just write and travel and do fun things?  I’ve accepted the fact that I need to somehow figure out a way to be a professional writer, but I’m not quite sure how that will come about.  I’m okay with doing other things since I’ve got a lot of interests, but I enjoy thinking and writing above anything else.  So if I have a choice that is what I would want to do.

And Corporate Gifts (really? really?) asked me about size:

What size you are targeted?

I assume you mean what size do I want to be physically.  To be honest I’m not sure.  Right now I’m a 16 bottom and M/L top.  Lowest I’ve ever been is a 14 and M.  So I’m close to that now and I have no idea how small I would want to be.  I guess my plan is to just feel it out and see what size my body ends up at as it gets healthier and continues to tone up with all the activity I’m doing.  I’m thinking I’ll probably be comfortable around a 10 or 12, but who knows really.  Another thing I can’t plan.

That’s it for today.  It definitely snowed here today and I’ve been a little lazier because of it.  Normally I write in the morning but I waited until after lunch.  None of the snow stuck but it made me even more excited for the mountain to open soon.  I can’t wait!

So as you can see, I’m not a big planner.  Are you?  Do you plan ahead?  Do you make 5, 10, 20 year life plans?  Or do you go with the flow like me?

Make sure you check out my blog post on A Weight Lifted, which is Green Mountain at Fox Run’s blog. I conducted a little “mindful eating experiment” where I didn’t eat mindfully at all.  The results were somewhat surprising to me although I should have expected it.  So go read how I learned that mindful eating is important.

And now, for the question and answer time!  Just one question today.

That question is from Joanna who asked:

Tell us, what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned since arriving at Green Mountain?

Hard question.  I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been at Green Mountain.  Some of the things I’ve learned have been because of the program, some from other people, and some from myself, like the mindful eating lesson I wrote about today on A Weight Lifted.

If I have to choose something, I would say the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I need to tune in.  I need to tune in to what my body is saying, what is happening in my life, what I’m thinking and feeling.  A lot of the reasons why I struggle with weight is because of the bad coping mechanisms I developed to deal with stress and bad emotional situations.  I eat to avoid what I’m feeling or what is happening.  I eat to make myself disconnect.  I eat to make sure I don’t feel anything bad.  I eat because food is good and comforting and makes me forget about other things.  So the biggest lesson I’ve learned was that I need to stop doing it.

I already sort of knew that.  It’s easy to know things in your head and much, much harder to put them into practice.  But my whole experience here has been about learning how to tune in to the things and situations where I previously shut down and turned to food.  I’m not perfect at it yet, but I’ve definitely made progress. I’ve learned ways to deal and destress and cope in better ways.  And I KNOW that I need to listen to my body.  It’s a much better indicator of what I need than my mind sometimes.

So my biggest lesson has been to listen to myself…. To listen to what my body is saying and what it feels and needs and why it feels that way….  To listen to the thoughts in my own mind and don’t discard them if they are rough…

To tune in to my life instead of disconnecting.

Lesson learned.

In Austria (2007)

Okay, today’s questions are just random ones I couldn’t otherwise categorize, so enjoy!

Shannon asked:

It seems like you traveled and moved a few times. Where are all the places you have you been and lived?  Do you speak different languages?

I’ve traveled a lot.  True story.  I’ve traveled a lot in the states so I don’t think I’ll even bother telling you where I’ve been because the list would be ridiculous and only exclude a few states.  (But I have been to Puerto Rico, hehe.)  Internationally I’ve traveled throughout Austria, Italy and Honduras, and to Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, France, England, Belgium, and Mexico.  I’m hoping next year to get to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.  Woohoo!  Because of these travels I speak a little bit of Spanish and even less German.

As far as places I’ve lived, most of my life has been spent in various places in Tennesee: Franklin, Tn; Grantham, NH; Millington, TN; Memphis, TN; Jackson, TN; Salzburg, Austria; Cordova, TN and Ludlow, VT.

What is the coolest thing you have learned from blogging?
What is the coolest freebie you ever got from blogging?

Coolest thing I’ve learned from blogging is that there are people out there who are going through the same thing I am.  It’s strange, but when you don’t have anyone near you going through similar things you feel very lonely and odd.  You feel like you are the only one in the world with certain problems and you feel bad about yourself because you have those problems.  Thanks to blogging and just the general power of the internet I’ve realized that isn’t true and there is a whole lot of people out there who have similar issues and and doing similar things.  It’s nice to have the support.

Coolest freebie?  I don’t know.  I’ve gotten a lot of cool things from blogging but nothing really free pops to mind.  I mean, I did get a freaking awesome gig at Green Mountain and a boyfriend via my blog, so I can’t even compare freebies to that.  Although I’ve gotten some cool food products to try out before – yum, yum, yum.

And a cool question from Jen(@bwjen):

You seem to be such a southern girl….where and how did you get into snowboarding? I am kinda klutzy so I have never even gone skiing! The closest I get to the slopes are on the tubes! lol! Give me the snowboard experience!

I am a Southern girl, despite my barely noticeable accent.  And while we do have mountains on the other side of my state I have never been on them.  My first year in college my college church group went on a ski trip to North Carolina and I decided to snowboard.  It was a terrible experience.  I didn’t learn how to stop myself until the third day so I spent a lot of time falling, trying to pick myself up, and feeling miserable.  Finally I got a lesson from an awesome dude who was teaching another girl on her first day and once I learned how to stop and lean back into the mountain it all fell into place.  The last half day of my first trip was pretty cool even though I was tired.

My Snowboard Buddy Josh and I in Colorado

I went on a couple more trips with my church group, twice to Colorado where I’ve boarded at Keystone, Breckenridge, and Vail.  When I went to Austria it only snowed twice and the second time we went to some resort in the Austrian Alps.   I’ve mastered carving but I’m not good at jumps because they make me nervous.  However, I’ve done a few and I’ve also done a few rails with one ending badly with me and a painful tailbone.  Generally I just stick to carving down the mountain enjoying the experience.  I try to go at least once a year for a couple days… this year hopefully I will be snowboarding at the mountain I’ve been staring at for the last two months.

Snowboarding is one of my favorite things in the world.  I really, really enjoy it.

And finally, JackSh*t asked me:

How many miniature Three Muskateer bars could you fit in your mouth at one time?

12.

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!  And to satisfy my own curiousity:

Do you ski/snowboard?  If not, which would you want to do?

Okay, today I’m talking about food. Why? Because you guys asked me lots of questions about it. And I love food. Food is good. It nourishes your body AND it tastes good. WIN!!

So, Lillian asked me:

What foods are in your cart every single time you go to the grocery store?

It’s been a while since I’ve been grocery shopping but I’ll give you the list from what I remember.  I always buy: bread, milk (1% or skim), orange juice, chicken breasts, tuna, fresh veggies (whatever is in season plus bell peppers), black beans, sweet potatoes (I’m obsessed), gum.  I seriously buy this stuff every time.  I always have other stuff I get, but those are my staples.

Then BodyByPizza asked me:

If you were a food item, what would you be and why?

Hehe, I would be pizza!  Why?  Because I would be DELICIOUS and everyone would love me.  And I could be so many different varieties of the same thing!  Yummmy!

Sian from GirlGetStrong asked me:

What are your fav low cal snacks?

Would love to know what you eat in a day…

My favorite snacks are:  fresh fruit with a tablespoon of peanut butter, 5-6 triscuits and cheese, sugar free Jello pudding (the kind that has dark light dark in one container).  Those are all pretty low calorie.

What I eat in a current day… well for the first month at Green Mountain I documented everything I ate by photo.  If you are interested just check some of the posts from the beginning.  I normally eat 1800 – 2200 calories, which has been working out well for me losing weight and is something I can sustain at home.  For breakfast I normally have raisin bran with toast and either an egg or peanut butter, or scrambled eggs with toast and jelly.  Those are similar to what I eat at home.  Here for lunch we have wraps often which is what I eat at home, with salad and fruit.  I’m usually a sandwich/wrap person for lunch.  Nothing fancy and not a huge meal.  At Green Mountain I eat an afternoon snack usually of fruit and a little protein like nut butter or cheese. And dinner is always a basic protein like chicken, turkey, or fish with a grain and veggies.  Same for at home… I cook a lot of chicken and fish for myself.  Here I have some sort of dessert every night even if it’s just pudding or fruit crisp, but at home I usually only have it a couple times a week.  And also I eat a snack of triscuits and cheese every night here. Yummy!

So there ya have it!  That’s what I eat!

And finally, Josie asked:

Did you ever struggle with emotional eating? Do you still? If so, what is your strategy for not doing it?

Good question!  I have a pretty long history with emotional eating much of which comes from family issues that caused me to eat.  I still struggle with it, even here in a pretty controlled environment where I’m trying to work on the issues.  I feel like I am making some progress in being able to handle my emotions better and react in better ways but I know that this isn’t an issue that can be “cured” or entirely fixed in 3 months when I’ve been doing it almost 20 years.  So my strategy is basically to eat mindfully and more importantly be mindful of my thoughts and feelings.  If I can catch the stress or negative emotions first and sort them out before I turn to food I consider that a win.  But I know that probably won’t always happen, so I’m okay with knowing I will eventually use to food to cope and that is okay and even healthy as long as I’m not doing it all the time.

So…. there ya go!!!  The food/eating edition of Ask Mary Anything!  Woohoo!!  Now I’m hungry… is it time for a snack?  No?  Darn.  Well then… just leave me a comment tell me:

If you were a food item, what would you be and why?

This post contains a ton of stuff, all about how I’m doing on my weight loss journey. Hopefully it will help you better understand me and my progress. First things first – my video check in with my progress over the last two weeks.  It’s a good one!

And how I did on my fitness goals for the week:

• Climb the hill 10 + times.  (Halfway.  Will try to finish tomorrow.)
• Make it to every strength training class.  (YES!)
• Get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night.  (YES!  Barely.   7 counts tho!)

What I actually did this week for exercise:

Friday 10/30:

• 1 hour total body strength class
• 20 minutes walking (1 mile)

Thursday 10/29:

• 1 hour lower body conditioning
• 30 minutes walking (hill intervals)
• 30 minutes water cardio drills/kickboxing

Wednesday 10/28:

• 30 minute elliptical interval
• 1 hour upper body weights
• 1 hour bicycling

Tuesday 10/27:

• 1 hour lower body conditioning (bumped up to ankle weights!)
• 1 hour kickboxing class

Monday 10/26:

• 1 hour upper body resistance class
• 1 hour low impact aerobics
• 15 minutes walking

Sunday 10/25:

• 40 minutes walking (2 miles)

Total time exercised:  10:45!!

Did a great job with the exercise.  Had planned to workout this morning but unfortunately had to miss classes.  Still beat last week by 40 minutes.  Hehe.  Go me!

And now, I’m going to answer a couple related questions from readers for the new Ask Mary Anything series.  Woot!

Chocolateprn asked me:

1) Did you expect to see a bigger loss during this experience?
2) What sort of loses do the other participants see?

Personally I am really excited about the progress I’ve made while I’ve been here.  I suppose coming into it I had a lot of goals, but really has no idea what to expect from a weight loss retreat.  I’ve lost 13 pounds in two months.  That’s 1.6 pounds per week which is awesome.   Originally I wanted to lose 30 pounds while I was here but readjusted my goal to 20 pounds, since I’ve also been gaining quite a bit of muscle with all the strength training.  If I lose another 7 pounds the last month I am here I will hit that goal.   But more important than weight is measurements in inches.  I’ve lost a ton of inches and completely changed my body.

As far as what progress other participants see here I think the average is similar.  Healthy weight loss is around 1 – 2 pounds per week so that is what the program aims to make happen.  I know everyone I’ve talked to as they left has been very happy with their personal progress.

And just to put all this weight/measurement stuff into perspective, let me answer the question Kate asked:

How tall are you?

I am 5′2″.  I agree with you about how frustrating it is to read so much about weight loss and never know how tall someone is.  It makes a huge difference.  I’m on the shorter end (you seem super tall to me!) of the spectrum.  So, to sum it all up, right now I’m 5′2″, 228 pounds, and wear a 16/18 pants and large (or sometimes medium) shirts.

Alrighty!  That’s a ton of stuff.  Sorry!  I hope it helps put my experience into perspective, know all my measurements and what I’m doing for exercise!

Have a great weekend!  Happy Halloween!

In my opinion Friday is a day of happiness.  Sure you have to work for part of the day (and today I even have to work into the night!), but it still seems to have so much promise that you can’t help but feel happy.  It’s the last day of work, it’s the beginning of the weekend, it’s a great day.

So today I’m going to start answering questions in my Ask Mary Anything series.  I asked you what you wanted to know and you guys gave me some great questions.  I will try to answer them all within a week of posts.  It’s going to be a fun week next week!  Make sure you check back to see if I answered your questions.

Here we go…

Kenz from All The Weigh asked:

I know you’re away from home which is extremely difficult sometimes. What makes you happy while you’re there? What makes you happy at home?

Being away from home is difficult sometimes since I miss my family, my friends, my dog, etc.  But I enjoy new experiences and traveling and meeting new and interesting people.  I’m away from home more often than not so I’ve gotten used to the experience.  But there are a lot of things that make me happy (or “merry” hehe) in both situations.

AWAY HAPPY LIST

• blog comments and emails from my mom
• the beauty of Vermont (fall foliage was GORGEOUS)
• seeing women change their lives and find themselves
• being excited for short trips
• good workouts and exercise classes
• seeing myself progress and become stronger
• yummy food prepared by awesome chefs

AT HOME HAPPY LIST

• spending time with my mom
• going out with friends for fun nights
• hanging out with my best friend
• going to movies
• playing with our dog Tyson
• spending time with my crazy brothers
• driving myself around or taking drives

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY WHEREVER I AM

• making people laugh/laughing
• writing/blogging
• living the way I want
• taking and editing photographs
• watching stand up/comedy shows or movies
• hot showers or bubble baths
• reading a good book
• pretty flowers like those!
• snowboarding (oh, winter!!)
• blog/facebook/twitter comments
• being healthy and active

And since I’m on the subject of happiness, I’ll answer another question that ties in.

Shannon of The Fab Fatties asked (well she asked even more questions):

1) If there was 1 person in the whole world (dead or alive) you could meet who would it be and why?
2) Are you dating the hottie that gave you the flowers?

The hottie who sent me flowers happens to be Kepa, or FLG as you might know him.  (He writes a pretty badass blog himself, so if you’ve never seen it check it out.)  And yes I am dating him.

So to answer the first question, the one person in the whole world I would want to meet would be Kepa.  That would be  nice since we happen to be dating but I haven’t officially met him in person yet.  Oops.  Thankfully we are going to be meeting in January after the holidays have passed and I can make my way to New Zealand.  Pretty exciting!

Alright, those are the things that make me happy.  Now hit me up and let me know…

What makes you happy?