Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys...Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma's house...and a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn't stay awake for both.

One of the things I've done personally is bring my girlfriends into my health and fitness journeys.

Exercise is really important to me - it's therapeutic. So if I'm ever feeling tense or stressed or like I'm about to have a meltdown, I'll put on my iPod and head to the gym or out on a bike ride along Lake Michigan with the girls.

I mean, hope doesn't get actualized in three and a half years. If that were the case, we'd be out of luck as a country.

I hate diversity workshops. “Real change comes from having enough comfort to be really honest and say something very uncomfortable.

Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts ... good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don't hurt. They're not painful. That's not just with somebody you want to marry, but it's with the friends that you choose. It's with the people you surround yourselves with.

It's hard to change adults, and it's hard to change it from a political position or a perceived political position.