Marginal Success

I ran three times in Florida, which I’m considering a marginal success.  I went slow, and still not far but I got out there and did it.  I am starting to psyche myself out about my knees.  They hurt/ache a lot.  Is this because I’m starting to run again?  Because I am heavier than I was when I last was running (10# more and 5% more body fat!)?  They creak and snap with every step up the stairs.  Not to mention many other times throughout the day.  I have an appt with a local ortho doc but it isn’t until mid-January.  I’m just hoping that all these years and miles haven’t fucked me up forever.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me!  Has anyone else gone through this too?

Since I’ve been back from Florida (three days) I’ve somehow dropped the running from my calendar.  Tomorrow is another day though so I’ll make sure I get out tomorrow.

As for the above-mentioned weight/fat gain, I am starting to get really pissed about that too.  I keep saying I need to get myself back on track but just haven’t been able to.  I desperately want to maintain a healthy lifestyle – now and until the day I die.  I do not like ruts like this at all.  I can feel it taking its toll on my mentally and physically so it is time for a plan.  Here goes…

What I want to accomplish:

1. Lower my RHR (resting heart rate)
2. 45 minutes of cardio 4x/week

How I’m going to do it:

I know with consistency I can do this.  Here are some of my grand plans…join the gym down the street from me, start spinning and swimming in the pool.  Take tennis lessons (after buying some really cute outfits).  Run?  See what the doc says.  Continue with yoga!  Maybe add in a few weights. 

I want to reach these goals by Feb 2011. Is that so much to ask of myself?

**********

Here are some of my pictures from FL (my dad broke his collar bone):

 

Running Fail

I moved my 7 miler from yesterday to today since I had a full day yesterday and wanted to be home.  We got our xmas tree on Saturday night and I really wanted to decorate it before leaving for FL.

Well, I had a small window to make the run happen this morning and it didn’t.  I was up for about 3 hours last night in the middle of the night for no reason and still had to pack this morning to leave by 10 a.m.  So that’s what happened.  I’m trying to be accountable here!

Most of my day today will be spent at airports and in the sky.  I am looking forward to seeing my family this week, including and especially my adorable nieces – Amelia Violet and Eleanor Violet (Millie and Nellie)!  It has been months since I’ve seen them so I know they’ll be different.  I wish I could see them every day.

Amelia with me on our last visit in Michigan – I took her to play pinball for the first time!

Eleanor on our last visit in Michigan – happy as a little clam!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a mini-yoga retreat yesterday at my teacher’s house in the woods.  He has a neat little yoga studio separate from the house that he built himself.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have that.  The meeting was with the other teachers in training and mainly discussion.  We were each given assignments and he lent out books from his big yoga library.  I am kind of excited, my assignment is all about yoga for women (before, during and after your menses and pregnancy!).  I am hoping to turn mine into an all out presentation that I can do for an audience.  I have a few very thick books that I’m going to lug in my carry on, so I have to make sure to read them!

Plan is to run in FL and I have all of my gear with me.  The weather is supposed to be cool by FL standards – mid-60s and sunny, which is perfect for me!  I’m also going to yoga quite a bit there but need to buy a mat as soon as I arrive.

Have a great week!

So Far So Good

 

I’m doing well with following the plan so far:

After observing how SLOW my pace is now and that is doesn’t actually correlate well with the pace/HR chart I had from 2 years ago I decided to repeat this week’s plan for several weeks in a row.  This will give me a little better base to launch from.

I’m also going bananas on the yoga, which is awesome!  I started doing some vinyasa again this week and finding that my wrist may not be ready for so many chaturangas yet. 

Yesterday I went to THREE yoga classes.  Kind of psycho but not really.  The first one was a Yin class (very chill), then 1:15 of vinyasa, then my intermediate Iyengar class later on in the day.  I also ran 4.5 miles.  Wheeeeeee!  I was expecting to be HELLA sore today but luckily I wasn’t.  I did, however, sleep over 10 hours and needed to drag myself out of bed.  I guess my body isn’t so used to the movement!

I’m feeling great this week!  Hope you are too – happy weekend.

eedo

This week’s plan

All I did was change the dates on my schedule from 2008!  Sure, things may be a little different now (not starting in the same shape, not training for a half), but who cares?  I THINK THIS IS GREAT!

 

I just put everything on my calendar.  The above doesn’t include all of the yoga that I am doing.  Seeing as yoga is my new career, it will take precedence over running if necessary.  I’m going to give doing both a shot and see where we are in two weeks.

I have sore legs from yesterday.  And a sore upper body as a result of a twist heavy yoga class last night.  Everything is sore and it feels great.

I leave on Monday for Florida thru Sunday.  I’m going to have to find a yoga studio nearby or be really dedicated with doing my own practice.  Running should not a problem while there though.

I am going to need to dust off the old heart rate monitor, which I haven’t used in a while.  I’m kind of excited!

I made an appt with a knee doctor and am looking forward to hearing what he thinks is going on w/my knees.  They’re really crunchy and don’t move as well as I want them to.  Hopefully he tells me all I need is to do some exercises that will cure everything!  I do not want surgery.  He’s also going to look at my elbow that I cracked falling down the stairs almost a year ago and hopefully my wrist too. 

I’m all fucked up!

This post is so poorly written but I don’t care.  Hopefully you didn’t either!  To make up for it, here is another random picture…

My favorite running buddy!

Biyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Comeback in effect!

I did it!  Not only did the three miles go well, but the FOUR miles went well.  I made a point to go very very slow and not stop unless I had to for traffic. 

I forgot how much I missed by not running:  seeing Mount Hood covered in snow, increasing my heart rate, waving at other runners to name a few.  It really does make me feel like a part of my community by running around my neighborhood. 

I eeked out a pace of about 9:30 which is good enough for me right now.  I think I am going to start back on the program I used two years ago when I really started back into running from basically scratch.  I still have the daily plan that extends for a couple of months while I was training for a half marathon.

I’m checking out a new yoga studio today in Portland:  Sunset Yoga Center.  Hopefully my body stays fresh!  I have started teaching at Rushing Water Yoga in Camas on Wednesdays @ 5:45 – it is a beginning Iyengar style class that is *FREE* through the end of the year!  I picked up another person’s class there on Sunday, so had the opportunity to refine the same sequence.  It is so helpful to teach the same sequence twice and honestly the 2nd time is much better.  If you’re in the area, please come by and check it out!  I still have my other blog dedicated to yoga so check that one out too:  http://emilyolivayoga.blogspot.com/.

(Thank you for the THREE comments I received between these two posts.  That really motivates me and reminds me how great my running friends are.  Love you guys!)

*****

Some photos for you….

Yoga + Beer =

Thanksgiving at our house this year (Josh wearing my grandma’s apron):

Comeback

Oh dear lord, stop me.  I’m about to go out for a run!  And yes, I’m obviously procrastinating because who stops to update a deserted blog before going out for a run.

Me!

I’m procrastinating because I’m scared.  Isn’t that ridiculous?  Some part of me just doesn’t believe that this person has run 3 marathons and is terrified of a little 3 mile jog.  I can see how beginners can hate starting a running program.

So, the goal is this:  just go out and do it.  Run slowly and simply plan to finish the run.  That is all there is to it.  If I go fast (which I know I will) I’ll die and need to stop and feel defeated.

That’s it!

Hope all of you real runners out there are getting along well…

-Emily

Yoga Retreat

I just returned from a week long yoga retreat last night.  It was a teacher training retreat focused on Yin Yoga.  You can check out the description here. 

There is so much to write about the experience and I hope to have a fuller post on it someday (right!), but for now I’ll show you our typical day:

6:30 – wake up
7-7:30 – seated group meditation, typically done in silence
7:30-8 – free time, but I typically did my pranayama
8-9 – breakfast
9:30-12:30 – morning yoga session
12:30-1 – free time
1-2 – lunch
2-3:30 – free time
3:30-6 – afternoon yoga session
6-7 – dinner
7-8:30 – evening yoga session

That is 7.5 hours of yoga, meditation and discussion a day.  That is a lot of yoga-related activities.  I met some wonderful people.  I spent time in a quiet beautiful place tucked into the woods.  I ate good vegetarian meals every night.  I soaked in natural hot springs.  I was more introspective than I’ve been in quite some time.  I came out as the same me, but a more settled me than the start.  I have come a long way in 33 years but especially in the past year and had time to appreciate that.

I am so happy I did this and I would recommend that all of you try something similar at some point in your lives.

Namaste.

Just Breathe - Pranayama

As part of my regular yoga practice, my goal is to do pranayama at least once every day.  Right now I’m targeting 20 minutes for each session, but will build on that once I can prove I can make it a habit.  For now this is an achievable goal.

I’ll get more into pranayama later – the how, the why, the origins and different methods.  For now I’d just like to log what I’ve done.

Today I did a cycle of the following:

• 5 minutes of regular breathing
• 5 minutes of deep ujjayi both in and out
• 5 minutes of viloma 1
• 5 minutes of regular breathing

Ujjayi is “wind in the throat”, where you produce a quiet hissing sound in the back of your throat.  There is a bit more to it but that’s about the gist of it.

Viloma 1 is breaking your inhale into 3 parts with a pause inbetween each.  Exhale is regular uyajii.  During the pauses during the inhale you are to continue expanding your lungs.  This part I find tricky – how do you expand without breathing in more air?  Somehow I think I’m making it work.

I have a feeling after today’s session I may have some soreness in the muscles between my ribs.  This will be a good sign!

Regardless of what the books and philosophy say, I like doing pranayama and I like what it does for me.  I don’t meditate, so this is kind of a quiet meditation session for me.  I shut everything down, get myself in “advanced” savasana and just breathe.  It sounds so simple (and maybe kind of boring) but every day that I do this I feel tremendous the rest of the day.  Am I just happy because I accomplished something off of my checklist?  Or, are there really psychological and physiological benefits? 

Summer 2010

A few months back, I stopped posting here because my focus was less on running and more on other crap that, honestly, no one wants to hear about.  I’m constantly trying to figure out how to better organize myself and be more efficient, but feel like those attempts always manage to fall short.  I started a blog that only I could read – mainly I liked the format of the blog and wanted to use that to keep myself organized.  It is a nice tracking device and to do list that you can organize with pretty links and background images.  I kept up with that for a while but stopped doing that as well.  I can’t believe I still have not come up with a foolproof way to make me organized and sane.  I’m almost 33 for god sakes!

I also started a yoga blog, but intend on using that as a tool for reaching out to students and developing a “business”. 

So, without rambling more (ha!), those are the reasons I haven’t been blogging.  But, I miss it a little and miss you a lot!  So, here I am, for the time being at least. 

I tried looking back on old posts to see where I left off so I could provide some updates:

1. My Bangs:  They’re starting to grow out and I’m happy!  Life with bangs is kind of tough, esp for a girl that likes to spend 0 minutes on primping.  But in other hair news, I recently went a little darker…  Not sure if I love it but it is what it is – a change. 
2. My Mom:  Ugh.  She is doing okay but her chemo started off really tough.  She got very very sick after the first treatment and ended up in the hospital.  They changed the formula and it got better after that.  Instead of a family trip in August, we decided it wasn’t a good idea, I went to visit them at their house. 
3. My Yoga:  Really really great.  On my yoga blog I put together a list of what I’d accomplished over the past few months.  I used it as part of a request for donations for Living Yoga, but I’m so glad I documented it all in one place.  If you want to see that list, please click here.
4. My Running:  Non-existent.  It makes me sad too.  After I healed from the marathon I did a few really fun trail runs in Forest Park w/Josh.  We had a blast, but for some reason stopped doing them.  Then, after a longer break, we decided to run just a few miles in the morning first thing.  We kept up with that for about two weeks and stopped again.  I’m not quite sure why.  Although I was in great shape from yoga, I had lost a lost of cardio fitness, and running was not easy.  It is so humbling to go from marathon-ready to that shape.  Not easy. 
5. My Garden:  So much fun – we built raised beds and I planted a shiteload of tomatoes there.  Because of the colder temps, many of these ended up green but its all good.  I have many lessons learned to incorporate for next year.  I could go on for novels about the garden, but I won’t…
6. Travel:  I spent 4 weeks in Italy, London and Spain.  So much to report on there!  I’m hoping to dedicate an entire post (or many) to this trip.
7. Fun Stuff:  Lots of fun summer activities and now ready for the fall stuff.  We had a garden party/BBQ that I’ll post pics of below.  It was classy for many hours until late-night started and all hell broke loose.  At least no one called the cops.
8. Injuries:  This deserves a post of its own.  I’m scared about the condition of my body.  My knees especially – they’re kind of f’ed.  The crunch around on every step/bend and after all of the walking in Europe, I can tell something ain’t right.  Aside from that, I have ganglion cysts in my wrists and my left wrist has been bad for a while.  I can’t really do downdog for long or anything else that puts weight on it.  Makes me very sad.  I’ve had this for many years but it usually doesn’t matter that much.  However, now with yoga, I NEED my wrists to be okay!  Other, less urgent things are:  bunion – one is starting to bother me; right elbow – I slammed it falling down the stairs 11 months ago and it still hurts.  I suspect there is nerve damage or a little bone fracture, so I need to find out what to do about it.  I’m taking action on all of this by going to a doctor, so will report back after I’ve gone.

That little report was obviously not in order of importance, nor did I cover deets, but it is something.  Something to get me started FGS!  Now, w/o further ado, here are some pics!

 

I treated my mom to a spa day before her surgery in June.

 

After my mom’s surgery (she looks pretty good!), about to head back to Portland.

Yoga night at my house (followed by Champers!) with the girls.

Fun times at the lake.

4th of July @ the lake.

My little peanut/niece Eleanor in Michigan in July

Taking my other niece Amelia put-putting in Michigan in July.

Alisa’s bday lunch at Veritable Quandary with PDX peeps.

Classing it up on the Columbia River

Classing it up at New Old Lompoc in Portland

Being outdoorsy near Mt. Jefferson in July

Coast trip August

 

Backyard BBQ in August

All cleaned up for wedding in September

Amazing camping trip near Bend, OR in September (this deserves a post of its own)

Garden booty in September!

Back to the scene of the crime (Chicago) for our 1st wedding anniversary in late September.

Our perfect little family home at sunset in October…

Meetup with Petra in London in October.

Bullfight in Madrid in October.

Wow – going through my summer pictures again makes me realize how much I did and how I should never take anything for granted.  That was nice.  There is so much more to be said and posted here, but this is about all I can muster for now.

Peace!

Back

I am starting to feel a little “over-sharey” after returning from a big vacation, so you may see some more posts coming soon.  At least I hope so.  I always liked having a place where I could just throw stuff down without feeling like it had to be 100% perfect.  That’s how I tend to get about everything in my life and I can’t stand it!  I swear I get nothing done.

That’s another story, right?

I landed last night after 4 whole weeks away from home, away from everything I know.  I have never vacationed like that before and what an experience.  I saw so many places and things that I’ve only heard about or seen in books and online.  I traveled with friends and met up with friends after a long break or for the first time ever.  I slept in many many beds with many uncomfortable mattresses and pillow and may have incurred permanent back damage.  I ate food that I’ve had before, but like never before – pizza and pasta are an example.  I got to attempt to speak Italian and actually communicate with the little Spanish that I know.

It was wild and I hope to recap more here soon!

Letting Go

A stranger whispered to me the other day, "what happens if you don't try so hard?"  And it is still tumbling around in my head.

I have a new blog! (Emily’s Yoga Blog)

Hi peeps!

While I’ve been busy avoiding running/swimming/biking and any/all discussion on such topics, I have been YOGAING.  New word.  I started a blog for the hell of it.  Sort of a home base for people that are all “who are you?”  And I’m all:

http://emilyolivayoga.blogspot.com/

Check er out, subscribe, bookmark, whatevs! I hope you are all well.  I’m still reading about you on the internets…

LYLAS,
Emily

Lost

Oh people.  Where have I gone?  I wanted my first post back to be epic but I will not make any promises or even attempts at that.  This is going to be just about what I can type out in the 4 minutes I have before I am scheduled to study.  (I’m trying to be more structured with my fun-employment, more on that later.)

I am about to start my 4th month in my new life, away from my job.  I have gotten a lot accomplished, but not nearly as much as I’d hoped.  I couldn’t sleep at all last night and ended up going to bed with the birds chirping and sky lightening.  I think I’m feeling a little anxious with the lack of routine that I have.  I decided to attempt to be more structured, but in a very productive way.  I tend to get bogged down in the details, then overwhelmed, then sometimes give up.  Aside from the benefits of being detail-oriented, this is not such a good trait.  Someone said to me recently – use your faults to your advantage.  I’m still trying to figure out how that can work for me as my faults still seem like my faults.  I’m trying to embrace certain things but I do tend to get frustrated with myself.

There is no other way to say this next thing, so I’m going to just say it.  My mom has cancer.  It still feels really weird to think/say/type that as my family just isn’t the “cancer type”.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  This all started a couple of months ago and a lot of action has taken place since.  Summary:  annual mammogram found something, biopsy was done, cancer was detected, surgery for lumpectomy scheduled, surgery showed cancer had spread to lymph nodes, further biopsy after surgery showed it had only spread to ONE lymph node, “the plan” for treatment was laid out…chemo starts on Thursday, radiation after that.

I have been trying to count my blessings since this arose and I think I’m doing a fairly good job.  I am close with my parents, but they live 1500 miles away.  I’m making a better attempt to communicate via phone and even set up skype/webcam (could be my demise?).  My family emails each other all day every day, but it is not too personal – weather, what we did, etc.  I went back to Michigan for the surgery, am going back for 10 days again in July while my sister is out too, then we’re planning a week rental on Lake Michigan in August. 

The trip home for the surgery was, to put it bluntly, not good.  I was alone, no husband and away from my house, stuff and timezone.  None of us expected the cancer to have spread – we thought they’d scrape it out then do radiation and onto a somewhat normal life again.  I’ll never forget the feeling in the waiting area when the surgeon came out to tell us.  I was with my dad only and felt completely heartbroken and above all SCARED.  Even though my family is close we don’t get too super emotional and this was a time when my guard just came down.  Seeing my dad upset too wrecked me.  The rest of my visit was really really hard for me.  I’m glad I was there for my parents sake but behind closed doors I was a wreck.  Lots of tears and thoughts and feelings that I’ve been avoiding all of my life. 

It wasn’t until a few days after I got home, when the results of the biopsy of the rest of the lymph nodes came back with good news, that I started to feel relief.  I truly had been expecting the worst possible news so was shocked at this.  So happy.

She still needs to go through chemo and I know that will be really rough.  It will be a huge lifestyle change for a while, especially the losing the hair part, but a necessary part of getting better.  The 10 year outlook for her type of cancer, with this treatment, is very very positive. 

Everything is going to be okay, she is going to be okay and I am going to be okay.  This all opened my eyes to the fact that my parents are getting older and aren’t going to be around forever.  This concept of losing people is terrifying to me and I’m slowly trying to face that bit by bit.  My adventures in yoga and in life are helping me along and making me better able to cope with roadblocks like this.  I am growing and that is good.

I’m not a huge risk taker and this isn’t a huge risk, but the situation of the past few weeks prompted me to carpe diem just a little bit and make a tiny, non-permanent change:

BANGS!  Fringe has not graced my forehead since 1989 so I kind of feel like a new woman…and sorta like the old too:

(Someday I’ll post my Boston marathon report.  I’ll also post about my recent less major trials and tribulations including yoga, garden, travel, volunteering, etc.)

I am ALIVE

Hi there.  I am alive and well and wanted to post an update. Honestly, nothing big is happening but I’m staying very busy.  Loving spring and the start of summer.  Here’s a bulleted update of my latest adventures/thoughts:

• Boston Race Report:  Total procrastination.  But now that I’m using Live Writer the writing and editing is a lot easier.  I have a first draft!  All of the pictures are in this draft post and I’m adding the narrative as I go.  It is hard to be inspired to write this report – I want to include everything but the more time that passes I worry that I’m forgetting things…  Oh well, it is what it is, right?
• Health:
  • Continuing weekly goals are eating well, taking vitamins, sleeping well, drinking less.  For the most part is has been a success…
  • Run 35 miles per week – this was my goal distance after I recovered from the marathon.  I have not been achieving it, more like 5-10 miles per week or 1-2 runs per week.  I’ve found that if I’ve run it makes my yoga practice less successful as my legs and entire body is tired.  I really do need to find a way to incorporate running back into my lifestyle so am trying to play around with ways to make this happen.  I.e., instead of running before yoga, do it immediately afterward to give myself optimal recovery time.  Unfortunately this is a catch 22 as right after yoga I’m exhausted and hungry.  Something has to give.
  • Swim 3x/week – I started off really well with this, taking advantage of the 50 meter facility that I have access to.  However, in the last two weeks I have not swum at all.
  • Bike 3x/week – This is a clear fail as I have not biked once!  My intention was to hit up spin class until the weather cleared but I haven’t done that either.  Partially due to the same issue the running presents with yoga.  Is that just an excuse?  Probably a little bit.
  • YOGA!  Yoga has been going great.  I started into it pretty intensely the Thursday after my Monday marathon.  Since then (April 22nd) I have only missed a couple of days on the mat.  I got a monthly membership to Yoga Pearl and been hammering away there almost daily.  I am really getting a lot out of it which I will explain in detail later.
  • Analysis:  I need to work more on incorporating something cardiovascular into my routine. 
• Work:  I do not miss it one bit.
• House:
  • I have a whole list of house projects that I’ve been chipping away at…boring stuff (pricing out blinds, pricing out new garage door, finishing paint touch ups, painting old furniture, organizing my closet).  I’m making progress so I’ll give myself a score of 3 out of 5. 
• Garden:
  • Take/post monthly pics – done for May!  (see below for a couple)
  • Make raised beds – this has been an ongoing process that seems to be taking forever.  Do we use wood or stone as a base?  How much soil do we need?  What is the best value, who delivers it, etc.  It is exhausting and replicates our process when taking on projects like this, including planning trips.  Hence, we never travel.  Bite the bullet people and make it happen!!  I have tomato starts that I did from seed that need to go into the ground soon.  I have other places I can put them but I want my damn raised beds!  HOPING to get this done by next Wednesday.  HOPING.
  • Start lettuce, radishes and carrots in the ground.  I started the radishes then the slugs came and nibbled away at most of them.  I created a moat of slug control around it and some radishes appear to have survived.  They’re still tiny though and I’m watching them daily to see if they’re growing.  Damn slugs!
  • Grow peas – I started these weeks ago outside and they’re already growing tall!  I created teepees from our downed bamboo in the back.  I can’t wait for the blossoms and harvest!  Slugs were an issue here too but the bait/poison I laid down seems to have done the trick.
  • Plant annuals on front walk – I bought a tray of starts from a local high school that has a horticulture program.  Everything was half off and it is neat that the kids started everything.  However, the tray still sits while I wait to find the *perfect* spot for them, then weed out the areas I want to put them.  How come I’m so slow?  I’m trying not to focus too much on the landscape architecture part of it and just have fun with it but it is hard.  So many options!
  • Start up sprinklers – we have a built in system and I’m not sure when we need to start them.  Anyone know?
  • Slug control – the slugs are rampant here and they’re disgusting.  Not to mention they eat everything up. I hate them!  I worked yesterday for an hour around 2 hosta plants that they’ve devoured already.  I snipped off all of the swiss cheese leaves (most of the plant, sadly) and created a bait/poison moat around those too.  I hope they grow back!  There is a lot more work to do on slug control…stay posted
  • Analysis:  In general our garden is thriving.  Our home’s previous owners were avid and the perennials they planted are in full bloom.  We have so many beautiful iris varieties coming up right now it is amazing.  The peonies in front are about to burst out.  I am loving it and can’t wait to keep working on it.  But it is work, and a lot of it.

 

Peas on 5/3/10

Peas on 5/9/10

Slugs!

Slug lunch

NE bed on 5/3/10

NE bed on 5/9/10  (as of May 18th, today, it is even MORE spectacular!  Need to post another pic!

 

• Volunteering/Outreach:
  • Lunch Buddies – this is a program I started three weeks ago.  I basically am paired with an elementary school kid to act as a mentor and meet up with them at their school for lunch weekly.  So far it has been great!  My buddy is a super cool and mature 3rd grade girl.  We even did a field trip last week together!  I jumped on this late in the year, but I’m glad I did it.  I’m hoping we can be matched next year too.
  • Living Yoga – This is a great local program that I’m excited to be involved with.  I started a couple of weeks ago.  My intention was to volunteer teach in one of their programs, but ended up working in the office.  I’m still going to participate in their teacher program – there is a facility near me that they teach at and I’m signed up for the teacher training in July – but in the meantime will help where ever they need me.  Last week they asked me to help with an exciting fundraising campaign for them that is coming up soon.  It is their first year doing it and I’m super excited to help develop it.  I used to work in NFP and am hoping to leverage that for Living Yoga.  We have a luncheon this Thursday to kick it off and I’ll give more details soon!
• Travel:
  • Book Italy tickets – We’re planning to go in September and NEED TO BOOK TIX.  Need.  Must.
  • 3 new hikes in May – So far we’ve done one day hike in May.  I’m planning to go on a one-night camping trip with a friend this weekend if weather permits.  I am so excited and a little terrified!
  • Book trip to Michigan – Waiting on some more information but hoping to have tickets booked by the end of this week to go in June.
• Fun stuff:
  • JT visit
  • Wedding help
  • Cirque du Soleil
  • Oregon Symphony Beethoven Festival
• Yoga:
  • This is honestly the most important part of my life right now and I’m trying to focus all of my efforts here.  This is the first time I’ve been able to deepen my practice this much and I’m having trouble laying out the plan for improvement.  With running, swimming and biking there is usually a clear path or plan that you can easily find and modify for your own needs.  With yoga it is a bit different.  I’m trying to listen to the advice to create my own home practice but this is really hard.  I enjoy going to class but can’t get myself to have a meaningful practice at home.  I am working on it though and keep reading more about how to make this happen.  The yoga itself deserves its own post which I will put up soon.  I want to report on the different studios, classes and teachers I’ve gone to and what my plan is for teacher training.  I have a lot of really good stuff started and can’t wait to see what happens next in this new path for me!

 

That’s about it!  Sorry if this was the most boring post ever.  Hope you’re having a great week!