I’m big on goal setting these days, so I’m going to write out some goals I would like to accomplish.

In the next 13 days I want to…

Hit 500 subcribers on my healthy living blog. I’m 10 away.  So, if you feel like going over there and subscribing (by rss or e-mail) that would be cool!  I know a weight loss blog isn’t everyone’s thing.  Not everyone cares to read about things related to weight loss and fitness, but if you do, thanks.

Finish uploading videos for Green Mountain at Fox Run’s youtube page. This is part of the work I’ve been doing up here in Vermont.  I’m pretty happy with what I’ve managed to do, considering I have basically zero video experience.  It has bee a nice learning experience that will be over in 13 days.  (Hurray!)  If you would like to check out what I’ve been doing, go watch the first video of an intro to beginner’s kickboxing.

Figure out my living arrangements in Memphis. I keep putting this off because frankly I don’t want to find a place to live.   But it needs to happen because I am coming back in just 13 days.  Maybe if I just keep repeating the time frame to myself it will sink in so I finally decide to make things happen.  Anyone want to house me?  Please?

(I’m not even going to mention that fact that I need to find some sort of temporary work while I’m home.  It’s almost too much to worry about since I’ll only be there about a month before I set off to travel to New Zealand.)

Besides a bit of shopping, packing, and giving away cards and presents to the people I grew close to here, those are the main things I need to take care of or want to do in the next 13 days.  I also want to have some fun, because I’m loving Vermont and the people here.  And there is a birthday to celebrate.  Hurray!

Stick Season in Ludlow, Vermont

The leaves are gone, but it’s still quite beautiful here.

Four months ago if you had asked me where I would be living right now, Vermont would not have been an option.  I might have said Memphis, or even Portland or Nashville.  But never the tiny village of Ludlow, VT.

So what happened?

A long series of events, really, that all start with the blog I write.  If you weren’t aware, I also write a weight loss blog called A Merry Life.  I’ve been writing it for almost two years (it started out as a photography blog) and have a nice group of readers involved.  I write about trying to live a healthy life, about dealing with my body image issues, and I even occasionally take my clothes off for a good cause.  It’s been an evolution in personal development more than anything, but has also created some amazing opportunities for me.

Those opportunities have all come from the people I’ve met who read my blog.  One such person is the fabulous, Marsha Hudnall, who helps run the health spa for women Green Mountain at Fox Run.  She read my blog and we communicated on Twitter for a while before I attended BlogHer09 in Chicago in July.  There were tons of people I wanted to meet at BlogHer and she was one of them.  We met briefly, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, after a lunch I attended.  We chatted in person about what we did, what was happening, how we enjoyed the conference.  I briefly mentioned that I had just quit my job to travel and was trying to figure out my future plans while on the trip.

I didn’t think much of the meeting since it was so brief, but afterward I recieved an e-mail proposal asking me if I wanted to accept a staff participant position at Green Mountain where I could utilize my skills in all things internet while also participating in the program which would be great for me on a personal level.  I would be blogging for them and doing other great tasks I enjoyed so it sounded like a win for everyone.  Without much thought I accepted the 3 month gig and moved myself up to Vermont.

Two of my three months in Vermont have already passed and the experience has been amazing.   If I get a chance to snowboard while I’m up here there won’t be any comparison: best experience ever.  (It probably will be anyway, I just really want to go snowboarding up here.)

So thanks to my blog I was offered this interesting and unique opportunity.  I’m lucky that I chose to be open to these kinds of experiences and it came at the right time for me.  I’m glad that I’ve found ways to use the skills that I have in a way that helps other people indirectly.  I’m not sure where I will be after this, or what my future looks like, but I’m excited that right now I’m working for a place that is amazing and helps women change their lives.

And okay, even though the population is next to nothing, I’m pretty excited to be living in the gorgeous Green Mountains of Vermont for a while.

On an outing:

Right in front of Green Mountain:

Vermont is GORGEOUS, right?

It is so easy to be here in a beautiful land. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to be here. I’m having the best time of my life for so many reasons lately. Not only am I in a pretty place, but I am here with wonderful people.

As if I wasn’t lucky enough to be having awesomefun times in Vermont, another area of my life is going really, really well.

So many things are going well for me these days. All I can say is that I am a very, very lucky girl.