Living in 2013

2013 turned out to be a very good year for me personally.

The big event was our wedding back in April.

But there were a few other events and things that happened that stand out as major highlights in the margins of the 2013 chapter of my life.

Around late March, I made a few steps toward taking my weight loss and fitness quest to the next level. I started incorporating DDP Yoga and FocusMaster into my routine. At that point, I was really getting burned out with 40+ minutes of cardio every day and weights every other day, and I had plateaued for at least a month. At that point, I had shed 75 pounds since getting back into it in 2011. Since that point, I’ve just about completely cut out the cardio and weights, and have shed an additional 50 pounds, pushing my total loss to 125 pounds.

Now, I’m at the point where I’m cutting away the FocusMaster (kickboxing), and will focus on maximizing my strength and flexibility through DDP Yoga alone.

Also in 2013, I started teaching cooking classes at Different Drummers Kitchen in Albany. This has been somewhat of a dream of mine ever since I was enthralled by Emeril Lagasse’s live cooking show on Food Network. My first class was centered around eggs, and it went well, but my second class on Italian Comfort Foods was an absolute success, so much so that it’s back on the schedule for February.

We added a little puppy, Penelope, to our family in June. This is the first young dog I’ve had to work on training; it’s been quite a fulfilling process; she brings lots of joy to our lives.

I got locked in a dollar store while buying supplies for the blog anniversary party fun packs.

I found the single greatest Halloween costume for me ever.

That’s all that comes to mind without getting into all of the great food of 2013…