11 Things

I've put off doing this "11 Things" survey because my very first post was 25 Things About Me. I wasn't sure how many more random facts about me I could come up with, but when I saw that it came with 11 questions for me to answer, I decided that surely I could come up with 11 things that y'all don't yet know about me. Just so y'all don't get bored of my A-Z surveys too quickly! I wasn't technically tagged in the survey, so I just took the questions from someone else's survey and made them my own.

1. I won a superlative in high school - a free batch of No-Bake Energy Bites - prepared to your liking - goes to the person who correctly guesses which one!

2. I have never parallel parked, and I live in a city that almost requires you to know how to parallel park. I wish I could say that is because I've managed to get lucky and avoid all instances of parallel parking, but the truth is, I don't know how. I will drive around and park extremely far away to avoid the embarrassment of attempting to parallel park.

3. This one will probably be a surprise to my parents as well, but in fourth grade, I was sent to the principal's office. It was a scarring moment for my friends and me, that's for sure.

4. To add to my delinquent record, I served two detentions in middle school. Two. I'm fairly sure both of them were for violating the dress code. And not in the way you might think. My skirt wasn't too short or anything like that - my shirt was untucked.

5. I played Katie Couric in my fifth grade play.

Don't you see the resemblance?

6. In seventh grade, I made it into the Memorial Middle School record books for serving a perfect volleyball game.

7. I can wiggle my ears.

8. I've lived in the same house since I was three years old.

9. I learned how to play golf right-handed because I was too scared to tell the instructor that I was left-handed. Hey, I was five!

10. I cut my hair for locks of love the summer before my junior year of high school. I took my school picture with my hair long, just in case I didn't like my new hair - 11 and 1/2 inches shorter.

It went from this

To this

11. When I was eight years old, my mom and I watched a documentary on children who were being treated for cancer at St. Jude's Children's Hospital. I remember feeling so touched by the positive attitudes of those incredible children, and for years we donated money each month to cancer research. I would love the opportunity to one day visit those kids and tell them just how much of an inspiration they are.

Questions I’m supposed to answer:

1. What is your favorite food of all time?

Of all time, hmm. That's a tough question. I think for right now I would have to go with tacos of some kind - corn tortillas filled with chicken, fish, or beef, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, and salsa. Y-U-M.

I was probably supposed to answer that question with frozen yogurt, which is easily my favorite dessert of all time, but a girl needs a little bit of protein and vegetables in her life.

2. How did you discover the healthy living blog community?

I was scrolling through one of my friends Twitter followees (is that a word?) - for reasons unbeknownst to me - during my freshman year of college. I came across Julie of Peanut Butter Fingers and never looked back. I think I have read almost all of her blog posts. I had toyed with the idea of starting a blog because I have always loved writing, and this just furthered my interest. 

3. What inspired you to start your own blog?

I had wanted to start a blog before I discovered Julie's blog, which lead me to discovering other healthy living blogs. I didn't want to just blog about my life, and I realized that my passion for fitness would be a good starting point. Though my blog has more or less turned into a story of my life, I still get to share healthy (and not so healthy) recipes and some dynamite exercises with my faithful readers.

4. Sweet or savory?

Savory

5. Cooking or baking? Or neither?

Baking. I love cooking but playing with chocolate is so much more fun!

Homemade Reese's cups 

Puppy chow cookies

Cake batter cookies

6. Describe your “perfect day”.

I think I have many different "perfect days," depending on my mood, and the weather, but I'll try to answer this question as close to the truth as possible.

• a 6ish mile run around a lake or along the bayou
• a delicious smoothie for breakfast + an apple with peanut butter
• walking my dog (that I will have in the future)
• reading and relaxing in my ENO
• lunch at Ruggles Green in CityCentre
• followed by some shopping
• hiking (as close to hiking as one can get in Houston) and spending as much time outdoors as possible
• baking a new recipe
• dinner at Hungry's and dessert at Berripop with friends
• snuggling on the couch with a good book or movie

7. How would you describe your personality?

enthusiastic, encouraging, ambitious, driven

8. What is your favorite store?

Anthropologie

(Source)

9. Would you rather get new workout clothes or everyday clothes?

Workout clothes, for sure. And I mean, my workout clothes are my everyday clothes. Oops.

10. Treadmill or outdoors?

I go back and forth on this one. Lately, it's outdoors. I love feeling like I'm actually going somewhere, losing myself and turning down a new street when I feel like it. But I love the treadmill for its ability to allow me to do some pretty hardcore interval workouts.

11. Tell me a funny story.

When I was in, I think 2nd grade, three of my friends and I took to scouring the playground at recess for pieces of glass and "burying" it underneath a tree. We called it "The Glass Mystery," as though collecting all of the glass on the playground was going to get us closer to who was responsible for putting it there. I'm sad to admit that we wasted a whole semester of recess on this little project, even going so far as to looking for glass in our neighborhood to add to our collection because, you know, all random pieces of glass came from the same person. You're welcome.

I'm supposed to tag 11 people and have them answer 11 questions, but instead, I'll just ask y'all to respond to a few questions if you so choose.

• Ice cream or frozen yogurt?
• Running or biking?
• What is your favorite recipe?

P.S. I am currently watching my 25,000 fellow Houston Marathon runners and though I am so bummed that I am not out there right now, I am cheering for these runners as they brave these crazy weather conditions!