Guess what?! Today is the one year anniversary of the launch of barreeatrepeat.com!! Last year, I resolved to have things up and running by the beginning of July, which was probably a bit overambitious (story of my life), so although I did post my very first entry on the first, I didn’t actually tell anyone about the blog until the 13th so that I could have more than just the one page up for viewing. Plus I was NERVOUS. This whole thing has been a big experiment in being more vulnerable. Writing the blog has provided me with an opportunity to share some personal confessions and has provided an open invitation for criticism and critique of my writing, my recipes, my beliefs and opinions. And perhaps worse than outright disapproval or judgment, was the idea of being met with utter silence. Thankfully, as is often the case when we pursue a passion, my fears and apprehensions about the hypothetical were far worse than reality and I can't describe how much it has meant to me each and every time that someone has referenced something I shared in a later conversation - telling me how they could relate or how it was good to know that someone else was feeing the same way or facing similar struggles. I have loved the opportunity to communicate more frequently and deeply with my community near and far and the chance to connect with others I have never actually met in real life. Every time someone tells me that they tried one of my recipes, used one of the workouts, read a book I recommended, or are honing a new habit, I feel surge of happiness. It's required a lot of effort and has been stressful at times, but working on this blog has been such as source of joy for me over the past year and was one of the most major outcomes of my Happiness Project. I can't believe all I've learned throughout the past year about the writing process,