Blissful Blogger

My beautiful little sister recently decided to tag my blog for the Blissful Blogger award. What a sweet sissy I have to give me an award when I'm not even good about posting regularly ;-).

The rules of this award are to share 7 facts about yourself and then tag 7 other bloggers. However, since I'm kind of a -- what's the word-- lame blogger, I don't have 7 people to tag, so I will simply tag the fabulous blogs that I am familiar with.

7 Facts about Bailey:

1. I am absolutely, head-over-heals in love with my husband, Ryan. We have been married for a little over two years, and I feel so blessed to have him in my life. He is the perfect combination of fun and serious. He is tall (very, very tall) and handsome. He is sweet but he also knows when to tell me how it is. He's pretty much the greatest :-).

In Seattle at Pike Place Market

2. I am a big family girl. Sometimes I still feel like a little kid because of how much I love and miss my parents. I still talk to my mom every day, and I sit on my dad's lap when I'm in Colorado visiting.

I'm also super blessed to have an incredible relationship with my younger sister, Jordan. She is my best friend and always will be, no matter the distance between us.

Jord and me, Summer 2011

The whole family, January 2011

3. I have discovered that I am a Colorado person through and through. I used to think that I was a warm-weather, beach-loving girl, but now that I live in Florida, I have discovered all of the things that I took for granted about Colorado. You did good on the ocean, God, but I think the mountains win!

4. I'm a major foodie. Like my sister, I savor one meal while simultaneously planning my next one. And since I have somewhat low blood sugar, I get very shaky and grumpy when I don't have enough food in my body. So I pretty much always have snacks :-).

5. I love, love, love coffee! The bummer part: My body responds very badly to caffeine. Oh well. Tall decaf nonfat lattes all the way!

6. I am in the process of creating my own company. I studied Professional and Technical Writing at the University of South Florida, and I would like to launch my own freelance writing business. If all goes well with the paperwork, I'll announce the name of my company soon!

7. I haven't really shared this one with anybody but Ryan lately, so you're a lucky group ;-). While I am thrilled about the fact that a couple of my friends are starting to have babies, and I can't wait for my sisters-in-law to have little ones, I am fairly terrified about having my own kids still. I'm hoping that this changes in the next couple of years, because I know that I want kids eventually. I just still get massive butterflies any time I think about bringing a child into this crazy world. Can anyone relate?

That's just a few fun facts about me. I could share plenty more with all of the amazing blessings that God has put in my life, but that'll do for now. So here are the wonderful blogs that I'm tagging to receive this award:

Through Clouded Glass

Living life and loving it

Life Together

Smiling Adventures

Have a great rest of the week!

Getting Motivated

Before I say anything else in this post, I just have to brag a little bit about my amazing husband. Last Friday was his birthday, and the poor guy didn't get to celebrate the way he deserved. He had to work late, so a special birthday dinner wasn't an option. Then most of the weekend was spent doing projects around our house. But he never acted disappointed about any of it. I love that about him. He is so easy-going and selfless. If things don't go the way he originally hoped, he makes the best of the situation and helps me to do the same. How did I get so lucky?!

Now for the "getting motivated" part of my post. With the extremely hot, extremely muggy weather that's been plaguing Florida, I have felt so lethargic and lazy. To make things worse, I have been craving nothing but pure junk food. Not wanting to work out and dreaming of fatty foods don't create the best combination for trying to stay healthy and fit.

While part of me wants to make excuses and say that I'll get back into a healthier routine once the climate cools, I know that I need to just get motivated NOW.

Part of my desire to stay healthy is coming from a pretty big goal that I have for the semi-near future. As some of you may know, my sister and my mom ran the Sarasota First Watch Half Marathon last spring. Well... my sister has recruited me to join her in the race for this year. I've never run more than 6 or maybe 7 miles before, so it will definitely be a challenge. But as long as I get motivated, I'll be ready to face it.

My sister and mom after the race. They did awesome!

It will be a while before I officially start training for the race, but in the meantime, I'll post some of my other goals. Having them in writing might make me stick to them more :-).

1. Exercise 5 days out of each week

2. Drink more water!

3. Practice better self-control with junk food, but allow myself a treat every once in a while

4. Vary my workouts to avoid boredom

5. Eat healthy snacks throughout the day to avoid binging on chips when I get home :-)

6. Keep a good perspective - treat my body as a temple and a gift from God, not as an obsession

If anyone has tips on getting motivated and staying healthy, please share! I'll be back soon with my own progress report :-).