Good morning and Happy Thursday!
My Wednesday night was relaxing! I attended an evening church service after dinner while Ryan was out at a business dinner with some of his colleagues. We were both home by 8:30 p.m., with plenty of time to hang out together and relax for a bit before getting to bed nice and early.
Workout
This morning’s workout was nothin’ unusual. I began with a 20-minute warm up on the elliptical before completing the following leg workout:
One day lunges will be easy for me. One day. 
Breakfast
Today’s breakfast was a two-egg, cheese and jelly sandwich on toasted whole wheat bread.
It never gets old, I’m tellin’ ya!
Most Loved States
This morning at the gym, a news story about the most loved states in America caught my attention.
Silly polls like this one conducted by Public Policy Polling always seem to interest me. They’re oddly intriguing!
According to the poll, the most-loved states in America include:
- Hawaii
- Colorado
- Tennessee
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Montana
- Alaska
- Oregon
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
I know what you’re thinking… Hawaii!? Number one? You’ve got to be kidding me.
I never saw that one coming. 
I actually was quite surprised by the most commonly disliked states:
- California
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Mississippi
- Utah
These states had more people think “unfavorably” of them than “favorably,” according to the poll, with California taking the lead with a 44 percent “unfavorable” opinion of the state. (Twenty seven percent of respondents reported a “favorable” opinion of California, with the remaining respondents saying they were “unsure” how they felt.)
(Source)
Another part of the survey I found interesting were the findings that reported that women had a higher opinion of the following states than men: New York (27 points higher), Massachusetts (22 points), Delaware and California (16 points each), New Hampshire (15 points), Vermont and Illinois (13 points each) and Connecticut (11 points).
Men, on the other hand, see the following states more favorably than women: North Dakota (17 points higher), South Carolina (15 points), Wyoming (14 points), Montana (13 points) and Iowa and South Dakota (10 points each).
Democrats’ favorite states included: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Colorado and New York, and their least favorite states are Texas, Alabama and Mississippi.
Republicans favored Alaska and Texas, and disliked California, followed distantly by Illinois and Massachusetts.
Not so surprised by those findings.
Question of the Morning
- What is your favorite state? Why?
My favorite state is North Carolina. I absolutely love the mountains and friendly people. I need to make more trips out west because I feel like some western states would be right up my alley!
I’m from Utah so it’s my favorite. Not sure why it’s on the unfavorable list. We have awesome things to do here if you like the outdoors. Maybe I’m biased but I think the people are nice too
Rachelle(Quote)
I was born and raised in North Carolina, and generations of my family have lived here (even fought in the civil war!) so we have a lot of history here. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else! I live in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area) and love how the mountains and the beach are both only a few hours away. Raleigh has been voted one of the best places to live in the pass few years too! And you’ve got to love that southern charm
Okay I’m done plugging my state now 
Jennifer(Quote)
This is so true! I currently live in Hawaii but am from NY and previously (after youth) lived in MA and have a VERY favorable opinion of all THREE!
I’d say though, it is a hard transition from being a NY-er to a Wahine in Hawaii! So different!
Coco(Quote)
i live in hawaii…born and raised. sometimes you just have to get off this rock! lol
i actually really like california!
erica(Quote)
I love North Carolina and I kinda like my home state of Minnesota, mainly because I love all the Lakes!
Hilliary @Happily Ever Healthy(Quote)
Wow about California! I’ve lived here my whole life and every time I travel I get a lot of “Cali” envy! I think it’s probably because of LA and the Southern part of the state though, I hate it there too! There’s a pretty strong division here and I feel like most people forget that California is more than Hollywood and Disneyland. The north has beautiful trails, mountains, and lots of natural beauty.
But anyway, one of my favorites is Oregon, particularly Ashland and the south, topped only by Louisiana. I’d love to live there someday.
Jillian(Quote)
Texas! Because everything’s bigger in Texas! And it has it’s own state flag and use to be an independent republic. Yeehaw!
Mary(Quote)
as a californian (booooo), i have to say i agree with the top 3 loved states. i like’m a lot too, plus a few others
(including my own. what can i say – it’s home.)
heather(Quote)
I agree with Utah on the dislike list! I hate it here! But I’m surprised Washington isn’t on the list of loved states
Kim @ The Family Practice(Quote)
I’m not surprised by Illinois…we have so many issues, did you know madison county in Illinois (where I’m from :() has the highest medical malpractice rate in the country?….bad Illinois!
Olivia(Quote)
I love the jelly combo! I think I discovered it by breakfast foods meshing together on the plate and one day I got a bite of cheesy egg that had some jam on it – so good!
You must tell me though how you do your eggs like that, they look perfect!! I’m terrible at fried eggs!
Sarah K.(Quote)
Egg sandwich the same way (whatever slice cheese is on sale though) or yogurt and granola is my every day breakfast! The egg sandwich has a little of everything!
And I can’t believe Florida wasn’t on the list… with all the people that come here every year! Everyone I have meet since moving to South Florida is from up North! No one is from here!
Sloane(Quote)
Yeah for Hawaii!!! It makes me happy to live there
Brandee(Quote)
I was born and raised in Florida (still live here.) I like North Carolina too…..actually have a 2nd family home there. But one of the prettiest states that I have visited is Maine.
Marlene(Quote)
I live in Tennessee! I LOVE it here! I was surprised to see it so far up on the list of favored states though.
If you love the mountains of North Carolina then you should really venture over our way. The views are pretty incredible.
Nicole W.(Quote)
It’s kinda hard to believe that Alaska is on the top considering they have the highest depression rates, but I guess it is pretty.
Lorin(Quote)
I’ve lived in Washington my entire life, and it’s definitely my favorite. I’ve visited many other states, but the Pacific Northwest is absolutely beautiful…if you can get used to the rain
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of living in Seattle (well, ok, I travel to Europe frequently, so it would be nice to live on the east coast and cut the plane ride in half ;)) But Seattle is so unique and you can’t beat the activities outdoors!
Shelby(Quote)
I was guessing California would be in the top most liked! Oops… I am pretty surprised though that it is in the dislike list. I thought everyone loved it. Hawaii’s definitely fits though
ashley(Quote)
Yay for Virginia! We are for lovers
I love VA because they have it all (mountains, the beach, valleys)!
Katy @ HaveYouHurd(Quote)
I live in Illinois and I love it the probably mean the bottom half of the state live in Chicago-land but they bottom of the state is SO boring. right when i saw best states i knew Hawaii would be number one! Then i thought NY, CA, IL i was totally wrong!
Melanie(Quote)
Not surprised at all to see my home state Mississippi on the most disliked list. I think my favorite state is Florida
Elizabeth(Quote)
I grew up in NC, lived in NY & GA, and now reside in Illinois — and let me tell ya — I’d take NC over it any day
It’s not the prettiest place 9 months of the year, but my sweet man and my sweet doggie Finnegan (vizsla/greyhound mix!) are here, so I’m staying put! And I will say, summers here are gorgeous. My man’s family is in FL so we get down there every couple months or so to break from the winter!
Natalie @ Blossom Studio @ 309(Quote)
Good choice with North Carolina! I live in Charlotte and my family has a mountain house near Boone, NC
I LOVE it up there and possibly want to move their someday. I was just in Orlando this past weekend – my boyfriend’s parents live there and I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I really enjoy Florida when we go, but NC has my heart!
Katie C(Quote)