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.

Know that America belongs to you, to all of you.

I know what makes me happy. I pick the clothes that make me happy - sometimes people like them, sometimes they don't. I try to listen to my own internal guide.

The realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know.

Fortunately, we have help from the media. I have to say this: I'm very grateful for the support and kindness that we've gotten. People have respected their privacy and in that way, I think, you know, no matter what people may feel about my husband's policies or what have you, they care about children and that's been good to see.

Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it's still an illness, and there should be no distinction.

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.