Happy Thanksgiving!

Even just a week ago, we weren't sure exactly what we were doing on Thanksgiving, but it turned out so much more wonderful then I could have even imagined. I've talked before about how this holiday is all about loved ones and food. The food we can provide ourselves, but we are so far away from family now, the loved ones part can be a little harder. We are lucky that Trav's parents have joined us a few times, and that we have made such amazing friends out here, that we can share these holidays with. This year we spent the day with one of my fellow teachers, and a dear friend, Addison, and his family.

We had such fun, that I forgot to take any pictures, other then of the ugly (but delicious!) pumpkin pie we contributed.

Everything was delicious, the company so fun, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I have conflicted feelings about Thanksgiving anymore, but we had a really beautiful one, and I hope you did as well!

Wordless Wednesday {Spook}

Giving Back with Yoga

I've been wanting to do more to give back to my community, but frankly was a little stumped on how. Travis and I both donate to some really amazing organizations, but I wanted to donate time and my talents to help as well. When I hit up Wanderlust this past summer, I attended a talk by the amazing Nicole Cardoza, founder of Yoga Foster. She pointed out that you didn't have to always aim for the biggest, most world changing actions, but that you just needed to get started!

Not only was that a good reminder about volunteering/giving back in general, but I fell in love with the mission of her organization in particular: helping give teachers the resources and training to bring yoga to schools, and giving kids more tools to manage and understand their emotions. 

Addison - a friend and fellow teacher, as well as a phenomenal musician - was game to join me in supporting this organization, and so two Friday's ago we came together for an amazing donation based yoga class hosted by our home studio. I taught 30 minutest of hatha, followed by 30 minutes of restorative, while Addison provided beautiful live music; donating our time and talents to raise money and collect mats for this worthwhile cause.

The class itself was so wonderful - the energy was amazing, we had a great turnout, and I can't explain how good it all felt. We collected 25 mats and almost $300 by the end of class, and we're still collecting through the end of the month.

This whole experience has wet my palate, and I cannot wait to use yoga to give back even more in the year ahead.

TSO {2019 Concert #15 - Sort of!}

I would definitely not call Tran-Siberian Orchestra your typical concert, but it is a damn amazing show! Last Saturday the 3 of us headed downtown, and checked out took in(!) TSO for the 2nd time (Trav and I) and the 1st time (Gwen).

Gwen got a little bored during the first, Christmas story part of the show, but was all in for the more rock/light show second part. 

I'm still 100% a "respect the turkey" girl, but I'm definitely feeling the holiday spirit now.

Wordless Wednesday {4th Grade}

37 Is When It All Falls Apart

So apparently 37 is when your body starts to fall apart? I'm kidding, of course (sort of), but I've been very frustrated with my body lately. First it was the shoulder issue, that finally seems resolved, but kept me away from regular exercise for a while; then recently I had a little in office medical procedure (no big deal, promise, but) that left me very sore for a number of days afterward, and again, unable to work out. Add in a sick child and still recovering Daisy at the same time, and it just felt very overwhelming, and much like my body was betraying me.

I feel a little uncomfortable in my body right now. It feels like I've lost so much ground, like I'm weaker, softer, and my body just isn't doing what I want it to, what it is capable of. I know that this is just a blip in the long run, and that I can get back to where I want to be, but its harder and harder each time, and more frustrating. In my most frustrated moments, I had the thought that, "Oh, this is when it all falls apart..." and, "Is this just the rest of my life now?!" I know, silly.

After all that, I am newly committed to my health this holiday season. I'm trying to get my eating into shape, am taking my vitamins again, and plan to restart my lifting ASAP (in a healthy way!). Wish me luck on being done falling apart!

It Must Run in the Family

Gwen and I did a thing the other day...

She had asked a while ago if she could put a colored streak in her hair, and I was more then open to the idea. We played with colored hair caulk first, to figure out the color and placement she wanted... and then we just decided to go for it! 

She was really happy with the way it turned out, and we both love the way it looks. Seems crazy hair must run in the family.

Wordless Wednesday {Puppy Sitting Kisses}

Food For The Soul

Yoga asanas are sometimes called a moving meditation, but yoga also teaches us that anything can be meditative if we are able to be purely present in the moment. Cooking has always been a form of meditation for me. It clears my mind in a way second only to my asana practice.

A few weekend ago I created some homemade Italian Wedding inspired soup, and cooked up a German pancake for the first time.

They were delicious and fed my soul as much as my body. Where do you find meditative presence in your life?

Sweet Beast and Another Surgery

A week ago sweet Daisy went in to have a lump removed from her back paw. It was causing her pain, and we were worried it would grow more, so it was the right decision to have it removed. That said, she's 11 years old now, and watching her struggle with the disorientation and lethargy while the anesthesia was wearing off was heartbreaking.

She did rock the hell out of her purple bootie though! (Then a pink bootie with the bandage change this past Monday, and we'll see what new color they put on come next Monday!)

A week out and she is doing so well. The hardest part is getting her to chill and not get to walk on it as much. She continuously amazes me with how easygoing she is about everything! One more week to go until the stitches are removed, and I can't wait to see my sweet girl all healed up. ❤

Semi-Wordless Wednesday {Daisy - The Birthday Girl}

Beautiful, sweet, and loving, I cannot imagine life without our Sweetest Beast.

Daisy is just the best dog!

Happy Birthday Daisy Mae! We love you.

Halloween Fun

We had a multi-part, semi-canceled Halloween celebration this year. An awesome dinner with friends, was part one!

Then it was Girl Scouts Halloween... which was supposed to follow Trunk-Or-Treat at Gwen's school, but unfortunately it was way too cold out for that.

Then there was trick-or-treating in a nearby neighborhood on actual Halloween, which resulting in a lot of yummy candy for all of us.

It was a fun season (despite our lack of decorations). Happy Halloween All! Blessed Samhain. And on to November.

Whoops

Life has been rather full and busy lately, some big things, but mostly so many little things. Gwen is doing Girl Scouts and Battle of the Books this year which takes up just enough time each week. I'm subbing plenty, and Colorado winter Autumn has kept us on our toes lately (nothing like needing to be dropping Gwen off for a snow delay 5 minutes before you're supposed to start teaching a class!). You may, or may completely not have, noticed I didn't get a post up for Monday. I certainly meant to, but that just didn't happen. Oh well, certainly no one cared as much as I did!

I've been dealing with a shoulder issue for weeks, that turned out to be bursitis. Thankfully I'm almost done with a course of anti-inflammatory meds, and a whole lot of resting that seems to have helped it finally clear up. It was frustrating, painful, and frankly really annoying to deal with. I was trying to take it as easy as possible, which mean skipping a whole lot of demoing when I was teaching, and skipping all of my own regular classes which I would normally take. That was the hardest part. A good portion of my grounding, and I think all of my sanity, comes from those classes. The rest of my body was noticeably more achy and still, but I just felt so much less put together. I'm more then ready to start carefully and slowly reintroducing those classes.

Today is the first of November, and I can't wrap my head around that. Halloween decorations never really happened (though Halloween did, more on that later), and at this rate I don't think anything will go up until Christmas decor after Thanksgiving (3.5 weeks away... 😳). Gwen and I did get in for our flu shots (yay herd immunity!), so I had two sore shoulders for a bit there; we got in some lovely framily and friend dinners, and got to finally watch Hocus Pocus, so it was still a good Halloween season. Here's to more fun ahead... and finding the time to bring you guys along!