I survived.

I survived my first snowshoeing adventure.

I know you were all really worried. 'Cause I told you all of course. And you fear for my safety as anyone should.

I live in the most winter sport friendly area of the country, and I haven't so much as gone sledding in all these years. Mostly, I just admire the snow when it's falling and curse it when I had to walk or drive in it.

But now I have seen the error of my ways. Naturally.

But just as an FYI, it is best to keep to the trails. Not doing so and continuing to climb the mountain will leave your non-snow friendly pants (i.e. jeans) very wet. And if the snow underneath your foot gives way, it's best to just go with it, even if it means [gracefully] falling face first into the snow...in front of the whole group. AND if you can't get up, just kind of roll around until you're in a position to do so...again, in front of the whole group. Just FYI.

[Here I am during my survival trip. It was a bit chilly. And I dyed my hair for the occasion.]

In the words of Olivia Newton John...

And Sue Sylvester: "Let's get physical!"

Okay, so not physical that way. Unless you're thinking the eat healthy, exercise, and lose weight physical. Then that's exactly what I mean.

At the start of this year, I was zealous in my efforts to lose weight. My first shopping trip of the new year was filled with ingredients for a ton of healthy meals. I'm talking about sweet potatoes, oranges, apples, whole wheat bread, and beans. I found several sites to give me the motivation and help I needed. I determined that I would exercise (a little) more and eat about 1200 calories a day to help me out.

Well, that went okay for about a week. Minus that night I splurged on onion rings (frozen ones are gross, by the way). And I even went running. Once. And I may have walked most of that. And sat on a playground swing for awhile. But I logged my food faithfully for that week.

And then I lost steam last week. I still made my meals since I had all the ingredients. But I made those onion rings again (which were still gross). And had about 10 glasses of chocolate milk. BUT I only ate one piece of candy!

So, in order to motivate myself, I have told myself this:

If I exercise every day this week, I can watch season 5 of Lost.

Yep. I will allow myself to subscribe to darn Hulu Plus so that I can find out what happens to the Oceanic 6.

Much better than rewarding myself with some fattening fast food. Monday already has a check mark. We'll see how long I last.

Getting into the spirit of things

I’m really picky about my holiday music. For the most part, my holiday music collection consists of CDs my parents own: Harry Connick Jr., Bob Rivers, Natalie Cole, Home Alone Christmas, and some various artist mixes. Oh, and let’s not forget my mother’s favorite: Christmas Portrait from The Carpenters (it doesn’t begin to feel like Christmas until I play the CD through at least once). However, I did recently discover Sarah McLachlan’s Wintersong album and absolutely love it. Seriously.

I don’t know why I’m so picky, but I am. But this post isn’t about least favorites—that would be negative of me and not reflective of the season at all. So that’s why I’m listing my favorites from the holiday season.

Mary’s Top 5 Holiday Songs

5. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

4. Christmas Time is Here

3. Carol of the Bells

2. Merry Christmas Darling

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Honorable Mentions: Happy Xmas (War is Over), Ave Maria, O Holy Night, Cool Yule, What Child is This?, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, and Who Would Imagine a King. (Okay, so maybe I'll not picky--just unusual in my choices.)

Mary’s Top 5 Holiday Movies

**Numbers 4 and 5 were actually tough to come up with. I have my staple movies and I’m lucky if I see them once a year. So I dug deep and searched for some movies I enjoy and that were a part of my childhood. No, they aren’t classics. (It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t on here because I grew up thinking it was the longest movie ever—I’ll have to give it another go.) However, movies you watched as a child always hold a special place in your heart. So don’t judge me and I won’t judge you on your love for those terrible claymation movies they made me watch in school.

5. Home Alone 2 – That’s right. Number 2. Thanks to my grandparents’ annual Christmas (large) box, we were gifted with a Macaulay Culkin classic. I’ve probably seen the first film two or three times, whereas I watched Home Alone 2 faithfully every Christmas. And it includes this great scene.

4. Miracle on 34^th Street (1994) – I’ve never actually seen the 1947 original film. I heard it’s very good. But my family owned this movie, and my sister and I watched it at least twice each December. It’s a great, feel-good movie that asks you one question: “Do you believe?”

3. Meet Me in St. Louis – It’s not technically a Christmas movie since it covers all seasons. However, I consider it so because of the classic scene with Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” This is one of my favorite musicals and why the aforementioned song is my number one Christmas song. When you put the song in context, you realize what it’s really about. It’s sung to a little girl who really doesn’t move away from her childhood home—a situation I know oh so well. It's one of the few songs/scenes pretty much guaranteed to make me cry.

2. A Christmas Story – This should be on everyone’s list. How can you not feel for Ralphie and his plight? (“C+!”) Plus, my nephew is Ralphie. I tried to be like Aunt Clara, but they were sold out…and expensive.

1. A Muppet Christmas Carol – If you’re questioning this choice, go watch it again. Just for Sam the Eagle. “It is the American way!...It is the British way!” Love it. Family staple.

I hope you all get into the spirit of the season, and treasure your favorites as well as the people near and dear to you. After all, "Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas!"

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be

Did you know that nostalgia was once considered an illness? If so, then consider me deathly ill.

The summer of 2009 was quite possibly the best summer of my life. The only other contender is the summer of 2008—but that’s another story...that you may never hear here.

Those four months were a rough period in my life. I was going through a couple different struggles. And I cut ties with two very, very close friends. I was struggling internally with many emotions and frustrations that I didn’t know how to handle and am still feeling the effects of.

However, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I realized that though I was going through these trials, I was so completely blessed. I thought God had stopped blessing me because of my actions and thoughts, but I now understand that He was doing the opposite (as He usually does). He sent me a wonderful support system to help me through that time. The friends I made that summer often distracted me from the things I was dealing with and made it easier to make it through the summer. Though I had severed ties with two friends, I had gained friendships and memories with half a dozen more. It took me over a year to get that—to see that God was blessing me in my time of need with people who I consider the best friends I’ve ever made in college.

I would repeat that summer in a heartbeat in spite of the hardships I went through. Though most of those friends have moved on (and it pains me to see them do so), I keep the memories near and dear to my heart. And they all hold a special place there too.