Wait, its December?!?!

Does anybody else feel like they blinked and it was December?!?! I feel like I was on my Alaskan cruise just the other day at that was back in August – geez!!

Thanksgiving weekend was a success, between the Poconos with Phil’s family Wed/Thurs to my sister’s surprise baby shower Fri/Sat I had my hands full, but everything went really well. I’m sure some of you are thinking “I don’t remember you mentioning a baby shower” and you’re right! Since my sister is one of my biggest blog supporters, it was mums the word, haha! and boy was she surprised!!

Equally surprised this weekend was me by the amount of snow we got in the Poconos, 8-10 inches. Phil and I decided to make the trek to the mountains late Tuesday night because we heard the snow was going to be bad and boy am I glad we did. 

I’ve been keeping up with my Yoga Medicine 200hr TT as much as possible but I feel like its very hard to motivate at times – between physical practice, practice teaching, class observations, online lectures, the book report, anatomy project & generally reviewing the material, there is just so much I could be doing each day that its hard to know where to start. This week I plan to finish my anatomy project, pick & start my book for the report, teach one class & observe one class (in addition to doing 5-6 hours of physical practice)…wish me luck!

‘Til next time, keep smiling! 🙂

Advertisement

Keep it flowing

Happy Monday Friends!

So last week was a blogging bust for this girl but I’m gonna keep it flowing this week! I have been progressing through my teacher training, perhaps a little slower than I’d like, but making strides none the less!

A lot of my home practice and the sequencing I’ve been working on is focused on the basics and it feels quite grounding. I was beginning to get concerned I would lose my ‘harder poses’ with all this focus on smaller, more thoughtful movements but it seems the opposite is  true – the more I strengthen my base, the easier it is to fly. So much of what I see on social media with regard to yoga makes the practice seem unapproachable to your ‘average joe’ which as far as I am concerns defeats the overarching purpose of yoga – connection.

Over the next few weeks, that is my focus – connection. On and off the mat I plan to stay focused on the connections, rather than the individual pieces. I am looking forward to bringing that theme to my classes and seeing how I can make it a part of my teaching…I’ve only taught one class so far but I’m planning a Thanksgiving yoga class for Phil’s family and I’m very excited!!

The Holiday should be fun! We’re spending Thanksgiving with Phil’s family and I’m so excited they’re all sorts of embracing me ‘uniqueness’ this year – morning yoga, tofurkey and all!

‘Til next time, keep smiling!

Ode’ to leftovers: Thanksgiving weekend round up!

Happy Tuesday!

Its back to reality after a long weekend of family togetherness and food comas! Like most folks, I spent my holiday weekend cooking, driving to various family gatherings, drinking, and eating…ALOT!

While I am a big slacker and didn’t take enough pictures, I made tofurky, mushroom gravy, roasted veggie lasagna and two unsuccessful batches of apple cider caramels (I think my candy thermometer is broken) for the various weekend affairs!

As is fairly typical, there are a ton of leftovers! Normally this weeks lunches and dinners would look something like this……but I am trying to go gluten, dairy and soy free this month! Phil is happily hoarding all the leftovers at his office and in his words: “it may look like dog food but it tastes awesome!”

If you missed it, I said I am going gluten, dairy and soy free for the next couple weeks to see how my body reacts. I figured this few week gap between eating fests would be as good a time as any to try getting back to a simpler way of eating.

Thus far my days have looked something like this:

• ‘chocolate’ pudding with quinoa for breakfast (made with black beans, avocado, applesauce, egg whites, cocoa powder, honey and almond meal).
• water with chia seeds / decaf green tea with lemon
• apple with peanut butter and flax for lunch
• grapefruit and carrot sticks for snack
• water with lemon / herbal tea
• veggie stir fry with quinoa for dinner (coconut oil, sweet onions, garlic, zucchini and squash)
• herbal tea before bed

I know I will need to get more creative if I am going to make it 3 weeks and not feel like I am depriving myself (suggestions are welcome). I am looking forward to experimenting as well as seeing what its like for those with food sensitivities!

I hope everyone enjoys their leftovers this week!

Stay tuned for more on my ‘free December’…this should be interesting!

Holiday Surprises

Happy Hump Day WordPress World!

My blogging efforts were thwarted Mon/Tues by some unexpected absences at work…SURPRISE!! Guess who learned how do work the shipping software?!?!?!?…..THIS GIRL!! That’s right, I didn’t want the brides expecting to have their wedding photos before the holiday to be disappointed, so I spent most of my work days Mon/Tues processing, packing and shipping wedding photos; which meant my nights after coaching were spent catching up on MY work….oh well!

AnYhOw….I will be spending the afternoon between the office and coaching (we are closing at 2p YIPEEE!) shopping for a hostess gift and Thanksgiving groceries! I’m making a tofurkey with mushroom gravy for tomorrow’s festivities and a roasted veggie lasagna to bring to the mountains over the weekend!

If the kick off to the holiday season has reminded me of anything, its that surprises pop up around every corner, especially now! Prepare for your plans to be thrown off base and try to take it in stride!

Instead of fretting over little things getting in the way of your holiday todo’s, try to stay in the holiday spirit…life’s really worth celebrating, not stressing!

Foodie Friday!

WOOOHOOO!!! Happy Friday! I am in a celebrating kind of mood!

Even though Thanksgiving isn’t for about a week, today marks the unofficial start of the Holiday season…really, Halloween did but that’s besides the point! Out of town family begins traveling home this weekend, friends & family gather for ‘early thanksgiving’ this weekend and the Christmas Village set-up at Love Park in Philadelphia kicks into high gear this weekend…SoOoOo exciting! I can’t say I shop much at Christmas Villiage but I love wandering through and taking in all the holiday merriment – it’s a real mood booster and an unbeatable way to get into the holiday spirit…

…as are these heavenly honey wheat cinnamon rolls!!!

These tasty treats were what rounded out mountain weekend as well as supplied the lovely ladies in my office with a baked bite to begin the work day! I can’t say this was entirely my original creation because I used this awesome honey wheat dough recipe I found on HealthyHomemakers but the gooey center and luscious icing are all me!

While the dough may not have any sugar in it, the center and icing are definitely not short on sugar…or butter for that matter, but the recipe yields about 6 8in cake rounds with 8-10 rolls a tin, so one or two dozen wont kill you! 😉

Pick a rainy Sunday, slow Saturday or try to bake these sweet treats – I am sure your family, friends and coworkers wont mind sharing in the fruits of your labor! Did I mention these would be awesome at ANY holiday party or as a special gift  for neighbors and loved ones?!?! Just throwing it out there!

Enjoy!