When we got married a few months ago, I wanted to make sure that we established a healthy lifestyle within the first few months of being together because I knew that the habits we started would be hard to break. I think that we're living a pretty sustainable lifestyle so far, but when we move to the Northwest, we'll have a similar opportunity to start good habits. Here are a few things that I'd like to establish within the first two months once we move up there:

• Get involved with a church - We go to a church here on occasion, but I'd like to find a church home where we can not only attend regularly but also get involved in other ways to grow spiritually, help others, and meet people.


• Eat healthily - It can be hard to eat healthily here in Texas, where fried food, barbecue brisket, Tex-Mex, and hamburgers are so common. We should be able to eat healthier in the Northwest without much effort and I'm looking forward to that.


• Regular physical activity - There are a lot of outdoor activities available in the Northwest and I plan to enjoy them. I don't expect to become a serious hiker, but I'd like to hike, rollerblade, and find other ways to get exercise and enjoy the outdoors on a regular basis.


• Read - I like to read but haven't done it much lately. Citizens of Portland and Seattle read a lot and I'm looking forward to starting a habit of reading, partially to help me fit in but more because I'd like to read more often.


• Make friends and hang out with them - We don't know anyone in the Northwest, but I don't want things to stay that way once we move there. We don't make friends quickly by nature, but moving out of state should get us outside of our comfort zone and force us to be more outgoing so that we can get to know people and have people to spend time with. I'm not sure how exactly we'll accomplish this, but it's pretty important that we do.