where have I been?

Good morning!  Today I'm not sitting in a cube, I am sitting at home looking out onto my backyard in a very peaceful environment.  I am so sorry I didn't blog about this last week, but it was a very busy week for me.  My last day sitting in a cube was on Friday.  The picture above is me standing in front of my old building wearing lululemon for my new job!  I am going to be working for lululemon and I'm so excited.  I love yoga and am ecstatic about working in the yoga industry.  As I type I am starting my goal training process.  I've used lululemon's goaltender for a couple of years and love it.  It helped me reach my goal of running a half marathon last fall.  One of my goals that I am writing down is to be a yoga teacher, it's been a dream of mine for a really long time.  What are your goals?  Did you know that only 5% of people actually make goals, and only 1% write them down.  Isn't that crazy?  I learned that while listening to a Brian Tracey CD.  Last year at this time I made a goal to work at a company which shared the same interests as me, and to follow my heart.  I am so excited to start working at lululemon and no longer in a cube:)

~Follow your heart

little about me

I often get emails where I receive multiple questions asking to delete the senders answers and fill in my own then forward the email to 10 people.  I thought I would do something like this as a blog post, but you don't have to send it to 10 people.  I would love to hear your answers as well, please leave a comment and share with me some of your favorites.  Or if you don't feel like leaving a comment you can always email me, click on the email button on the upper left hand side of my blog.  I love receiving your emails and comments!

3 things you may not know about me:
I grew up in Iowa
I ran at the Iowa high school state track meet two years in a row
I love to act, it really only happens at home, Casey calls it my comedy act
Bonus - I used to write music reviews for a short time when I lived in Colorado, I love how music is trans-formative it brings me so much joy.


3 places I would love to visit:
Nepal

New Zealand

Lake Como, Italy 

For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE to travel, how could I only pick three.  Here are my bonus picks

Boracay, Philippines

   

Iceland

 

3 favorite movies:

Steel Magnolias

The Family Stone

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

3 goals that I have:

Become a yoga instructor

Climb Kilimanjaro

Learn how to grow a garden and compost

3 places I've lived:

Maryville, Missouri

 

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Denver, Colorado

3 favorite Yoga poses:

Eagle

Flip the dog also known as wild thing

Wheel

3 favorite foods:

Avocados

Strawberries

Olives

3 things that make me happy:

Love

Music

Peace

3 projects I want to participate in:

The Africa Yoga Project

Power to the Peaceful

Slow Food Education

3 favorite songs:

Kings Of Leon - Manhattan reminds me of last summer in Greece

Allman Brothers- Jessica this song reminds me of a road trip in college, moving out to Colorado and driving through the mountains.  I love when a song can bring back so many memories

Big Head Todd - Bittersweet reminds me of Colorado summer nights at Red Rocks

I want to leave you with one more song today, this is Jaden and she is adorable, I've been enjoying her beautiful music all day

~Enjoy

right on right now

My intuition lately has been right on.  Have you ever had those moments where you know where to go, or when something is going to happen?  It's been great because I feel like I'm back on my path.  I've really felt in touch with love, life and nature.  Our weekend was great, we enjoyed each other's company, relaxed by the pool, enjoyed good friends, and got in touch with the creatures in our backyard.  The picture above I took yesterday afternoon.  This little butterfly hung around our backyard for awhile.  I went outside to enjoy the heat and the butterfly flew closer, so I stepped closer.  I felt as though we were having a conversation, I kept telling her how beautiful she is.  Her wings were an amazing color, as the sun would shine on them I noticed a blue iridescence about them which wasn't captured in the image.  I've notice how amazing life can be while I explore the present moment.   As we welcome the first day of summer in, may we remember the light from the sun which brings love into our hearts. 

~Enjoy the first day of summer

friday favorites

                          good luck horseshoes taken at Serenbe in Georgia

It's Friday!  It's a great day here - the weather is a little humid and sunny! This weekend I am taking a 2.5 hour yoga class for summer solstice. What are you up to this weekend?

Below are my Friday favorites, enjoy!

I didn't realize that the Colorado River was in trouble until I saw this video {tiny warning there is a bit of nudity in the video but it's for a good cause.}  I am looking forward to finding out how I can help and volunteer to help save the Colorado River.

I started reading this book by Thich Nhat Hanh and learned about Plum Village which I am making a goal to visit someday.

Have you heard of The Laundress?  I hadn't before, but found her blog through Daily Candy.

Also found Daily Candy how to videos featuring Sophie Dahl

Thinks it would be fun and maybe a tiny bit claustrophobic to work here

My friend Cathy introduced me to the Away We Go soundtrack on Grooveshark which I've been listening to all week

I've now added Chapman's Peak to my list of places to go after I saw this photo

~Enjoy your weekend and remember to explore

summer time

It's definitely summer time here in Georgia.  The summer days are hot and humid, but the nights are relaxing and beautiful.  Saturday night Casey and I waited until the sun set and then relaxed in our rocking chairs on the back deck and watched the best light show we've ever seen.  There had to of been thousands of fireflies dancing around our backyard.  I grew up watching fireflies in Iowa and always enjoyed their beautiful light shows.  When I moved to Colorado I realized there was something missing...fireflies.  There were no fireflies at the high altitude of 5,280ft.   Casey and I love it when these lighted creatures take over our backyard on summer nights.  I turned to him and said, "This is one of my favorite nights since we've lived in this house."   As we were enjoying the light show, we whispered out our favorite summer time memories together, these are a few: 

Our first dating anniversary in Keystone, CO on the 4th of July

Our Wedding on July 14th

We sat on the beach everyday on our honeymoon signing, singing and singing

4th of July in Hilton Head we sat on the beach, took walks under moonlight, and rode bikes on the beach.






















Arriving at our hotel in Imerovigli, Santorini as the sunset over our veranda

Enjoying our first breakfast on the veranda in Imerovigli, Santorini

 














There are many more, but those are just a few of our favorites.  What are yours?

~Enjoy the moment

friday favorites

I found an old favorite picture from 2005 in Leadville, CO  

I hope you have had a great week, and have a fun weekend planned.  Here are my Friday favorites hope you enjoy!

• Union 18 makes handmade rugs made by recycled carpet
• I've enjoyed shopping around Remodelista
• Love the Namaste Coverup at Lululemon
• Would love to wear this from etsy
• Looking forward to visiting the Farm Kitchen this summer when we travel to Washington
• Would like to read the book Farm City - the education of an urban farmer
• Just found this cute site Farmhouse Wares
 

~Enjoy your weekend!

om shanti shanti shanti

This week's intention is Om.  Om is the universal sound which all other sounds are formed.  It's the connection we have to the universal consciousness that symbolizes reality.  If you listen carefully you can hear Om in every sound around you.  The air conditioner, car driving by, computer.  It's the sound that connects us all. As Om is my intention for this week I'm working on remembering how connected we all are, and by being present in the moment digging deep down to take time to listen to the present moment.

Shanti means peace -  it's usually chanted three times as "om shanti shanti shanti" meaning peace in mind, speech and body.  Seems pretty simple right, but the big lesson of peace is how we bring peace into our lives.  There are many ways, maybe it's exercise, writing, painting, having tea with a friend, listening to the ocean, walking on the beach, hiking through the woods, playing with your child.  One of the ways I bring peace into my life is through Yoga.  Every week one element I practice is bringing peace into my life.  Every drive home from yoga I am peaceful, smiling, wide eyed and giddy.  I've brought peace into my heart, mind and soul.  I've learned through the past couple of months that I can take this same lesson of peace from yoga and bring it into other spaces.  I feel that if we all can be peaceful and bring peace into our lives, our energy will be peaceful.  Energy can travel to others without words, it can be contagious both positive and negative.  If we can exude peace and positive energy to others around us they will hopefully pick up on the energy.  I love this quote from the Dali Lama - "My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness"  If we were all kind, could kindness be contagious?  Like the Liberty Mutual commercial?

~ Sending much peace to you ~ Om shanti shanti shanti

my dear friend

                                        Me and Nancy at The Huckleberry in Louisville, CO

My dear friend has started a blog and I'm so excited about it.  I met her when I was a recruiter and she was a hiring manager at a company I was recruiting for.  We spoke over the phone many times a week and we instantly had a strong connection through voice. Every time we spoke I felt as I was speaking to an old friend.  We met in person one day when I delivered checks to the company that she worked with, after meeting in person we both felt even more connected.  At one point in my career I started working for the same company, the more and more we got to know each other our relationship grew from a working relationship into a friendship.  We would meet for coffee or chai at Dushanbe Teahouse in Boulder.  We had small girls days at our homes.  Casey and I would drive to their home in Nederland for dinner.  Our husbands started to get to know each other. We started growing very close and we both had a sense that we knew each other before, in a past lifetime.  Maybe we were soul family.  When Casey and I got married, Nancy and her husband were there.  She surprised me at the reception with the most beautiful Portuguese wedding poem.  We were getting ready to move two weeks after the wedding and I knew it was time to say goodbye, Nancy let me hide in her office and we cried for about an hour one day.  We knew we would be in the same state again, but until then we cried, hugged and laughed.  She gave me a cute travel scrapbook for our long drive to Georgia.  Since I've lived in Georgia, she has been there for me every step of the way.  We've kept in touch over email, phone, facebook, skype and now through our blogs!  I've mentioned Nancy in my posts before,  she is a true friend with a generous heart and gentle soul.  She makes me smile from head to toe every time we speak.  She nurtures from a deep place which I connect to from my soul.  She is a mountain mama with a lust for life, who I respect and look up to.

I am so happy to introduce Nancy.. and her blog Gypsy Being

cardinals and coffee

Our weekend was busy, relaxing and fun.  Sunday morning we enjoyed coffee on the deck and was serenaded by birds.  Yes we were bird watching :)

~Enjoy simplicity

friday favorites

Blue Door, Parikia Greece

My top ten friday favorites:  

1. Flavorpill sponsoring the world's largest yoga event in Central Park - also giving away a free trip
2. Wild and Precious and her awesome blog hopping abilities
3. Preserve Products eco-friendly products for your home
4. Eden Organics yummy recipes like this one or this one
5. Learned about the Kind Life by Alicia Silverston from Boho Girl today
6. I would like to read this
7. Would love to travel with these vintage suitcases, wearing this dress with cowboy boots, on this train 
8. Enjoying this song by Lissie 
9. Love every CD from Putumayo - like this sample from the South Africa CD
10. Check out this local growers map by Whole Foods

~Enjoy your weekend

sitting listening enjoying

Today is one of those days where I woke up in an extremely good mood.  Maybe because I exhausted myself in hot power yoga last night and I slept really well. Who knows, I'm just happy to be in a good mood.  As I work on some projects today I am listening to some great tunes which I want to share with you! What are you up to today?

Sara Bareilles - Sittin on the Dock of the Bay
Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man
Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan 
Pete Lawrie - Paperthin
Molly Samson - Someone Else's Skirt
Coralie Clement - C'est la Vie
Blue Foundation - Eyes On Fire
Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good can Work
Norah Jones - Young Blood

~Enjoy a good mood day!

relaxing weekend

A three day weekend can settle the soul, why can't all weekends be three days?  We had a great time visiting friends in Charlotte, NC.  Friday we arrived stayed up late catching up on Cathy's front porch while a thunderstorm surrounded us.  Saturday we woke up and headed to a yoga class at Freedom Park.  Yoga outside is amazing, while moving through the poses I would hear birds chirp, kids laugh, geese flapping their wings, the breeze would blow the tree branches from side to side, which often sounded like the ocean.  It was a beautiful way to practice yoga. Saturday was a girls day.  I met one of Cathy's friends, Meredith, who is an amazing sweet soul.  We did a bit of shopping, ate lunch at a cute restaurant called Zada Jane's and drove around the beautiful neighborhoods of Charlotte.  Saturday night we celebrated Greek night.  Casey and I went to Greece with Cathy, her husband and son last summer, since then we like to have Greek night.  Cathy made an amazing Greek dinner, we sat around and reminisced about Greece.  Sunday Cathy and I enjoyed another yoga class at her local studio called Yoga Flex.  The class was awesome, the teacher truly connected and the company amazing.  I haven't done yoga with a close friend in a long time, Cathy and I ended up giggling at how loud the geese were on Saturday and after class on Sunday, we were able to talk about our experience in class and how we both connected with wise words the teacher read and spoke about.  In the meantime as we were enjoying our weekend, our husbands were connecting, laughing, talking, and bonding.  While Casey and I were driving home on Sunday we talked about how nice it is to have a couple that we both connect so well with.  The four of us all get along well and enjoy each others company.  We laugh so much during our visits and when we head back home we leave happier and more relaxed.  As we drove home, we decided to stop in Clemson, SC and see the university.  It's a cute small town, with a beautiful campus and football stadium filled with traditions.  It was very quiet as most of the students had left for the summer.  I am glad we stopped, we had driven by the exit many times and finally decided to stop and see.  It was a very relaxing weekend, here are some photos we took.  Did you have a good weekend?

chocolate cookies