And then I turned 30...

Here's where I stand with my 30 goals to accomplish by the time I turned 30. I fell short on a couple, but I think I did really great overall. The thing I didn't get to will just become life goals - who needs a timeline anyway, right?

1.    Clean out and reorganize the garage (5/26-5/27/2013)

2.    Redo the master bedroom & bath (Repainted 11/9-11/10/13), Bathroom scheduled to be done before yoga baby arrives in December. 

3.    Run a 1/2 marathon (registered 3/27/13, run on 9/8/13)

4.    Get paid to teach yoga (completed 2/21/13) 

5.    Meditate (at least once if I can't make it a regular thing) (Began 3/11/13)

6.    Buy a new car (completed 12/29/12)

7.    Try (at least) one new recipe every month (October 2012, November 2012 , December 2012, January 2013, February 2013, March 2013, April 2013, May 2013, June 2013, July 2013, August 2013, September 2013, October 2013, November 2013, December 2013, January 2014, February 2014, March 2014, April 2014, May 2014, June 2014, July 2014) You can probably see I ended up missing a few months, but I like this goal in general. I've loved trying new things in the kitchen at least once a month. Even when I'm busy, I can usually get in at least one new recipe. :)

Solo Staycation

I planned it for months. As the weather warmed up through February and March, and I got out of my car every morning in Malibu, I longed for beach house lunches and late afternoons on the sand.

This was the first year in a long time that I didn't have something planned for the foreseeable future. No parent sponsored trip across the Atlantic, no long weekend in Portland with my sister, no talk of Hawaii in September. 

Tax season loomed and I struggled through the burn out of longer work days, teaching more yoga classes, fitting in my own exercise schedule, and not blowing off everyone I love. Thinking about the day to day sent me searching for my zen place - slow methodical breathing and a little mantra repetition. 

So, I planned some time off. 

A week, if you want to get all picky about it. The week after Easter... because it was the week after April 15th.

Recap Summer 2013

I don't know if you caught it, but I totally didn't do a Spring recap. Spring kind of melted into winter and summer and wasn't really it's own thing. I've decided to include some March and April in here for that reason. Just a little bit.

Above: I ran my second 10K. It was harder than the first.

I also did some fun arm balance stuff while I was at work.

A friend and I took the dogs out to Malibu and hike/walked. Then we went to the Country Mart and got them whipped cream.

When Inspiration Was Easy

When I first joined the Be Happy Link Up back in October(?) of last year, my life was so different from how it is now. Not in big ways, but definitely in all the small subtle ways. Day-to-day now is so different from day-to-day then.

Specifically when it comes to getting inspired and being thankful and present. Last October I had just started my yoga teacher training. I was getting biweekly reminders to be present and mindful, dispassionate and emit love.

Now that I am a teacher myself, not only are my days filled to the brim, but I need to be the reminder - for myself and for others. I need to look back at all the things I've learned, and remember to stop sometimes and appreciate the beauty around me. To remind my students not to compare themselves to anyone around them, not to be attached to the outcome, and to love, always.

Accomplished

Friday was a big day in the life of us because these things happened:

• I hung out with my grandparents and talked about arc welding with my grandpa. He has fancier tools than I used in college. I should add that to the random facts about me. I know how to weld. 

• I coordinated getting our house cleaned once a month. (Heck yes!)

• Our taxes were filed. Done. 

• Bought myself a new pair of shoes. These, if you must know. 

• I talked to a landscaper about getting the giant scary tree on our property trimmed. We've only been talking about doing that for about two years...

• We went out and bought a popover pan. Half of item #30. 

AND...

• It was T's last day at his job of 3 and a half years. He'll now be doing almost the same thing, but at a bigger company with more opportunity for growth. We are both SO EXCITED, and I am SO PROUD of my hubby. For those of you following along, we celebrated him putting in his notice with dark chocolate sweet potato bread pudding

The weekend continued on an uber productive trajectory, including buying a few new plants and doing a mini reorg on the patio. :)

Garden Inspiration

My MIL has a lot of free time. She was a stay-at-home mom and now that her boys are all grown up and out of the house, she dedicates her time to keeping her home immaculately clean, keeping up to date on pretty much everything, and gardening.

My husband and I went down to San Diego this weekend to keep her company while her husband was out of town. I was so impressed by her garden. She has everything.
2 different kinds of zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, strawberries, limes...

Tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini flower, actual zucchini, and basil

So I got a little jealous. I have a lime tree, blueberry bush, blackberry vines, beets, carrots...and none of them are look as awesome as the plants at my mother-in-law's. I have ONE beet, which I am afraid to pull because I don't think its ready. I have tons of carrots, but they are not big enough get. You can pull them, but you just get tiny 1" long skinny baby carrots. No blueberries. No blackberries, but the vines are growing all over the place. No limes, but at least the tree doesn't look like its dying anymore. I am managing to keep the basil alive, which I hear is pretty difficult, and rosemary is easy peasy, so hooray for me! I can make herbs thrive!

So, since my plants are starting to do pretty well, finally, I decided to take a little inspiration from my MIL and get some new additions for our patio garden.

I forget the name of the plant on the far left, but it sometimes has cool pink flowers on it. In the back is our lime tree, which is finally starting to do well, and up front are the new guys...   

Black beauty zucchini. I was also a little tempted to get a kind of yellow squash, but decided against it. 

And yellow pear heirloom tomatoes. :)

I LOVE zucchini. It's easily one of my favorite veggies, but tomatoes I am not usually a fan of. I do, however, like yellow tomatoes. I think I've just had good experiences with them. My perception has not been tainted by old, soft, or overly juicy yellow tomatoes. They've always been really fleshy, firm and light in flavor. So I've got my fingers crossed that when these start to bear fruit, I will enjoy eating them. :)

So hopefully my garden continues to do well and flourish under my care. The method for my madness is generally just madness, so I should be able to keep it going ;)

SPROUTS!

Quick note about my garden...

A few weeks ago, we bought a cute planter and I decided to fill it with root vegetables, specifically carrots and beets. 

A few days ago I went outside to check on them and discovered that they are sprouting!

How cool is that?! I'm so excited!

Hello, Patio!

We finished the patio today! Tim actually did most of the work. He did an amazing job. Hooray!

Our bistro set from Costco, new lime tree, and raspberry plant.

I'm going to make some nice cushions for the chairs one of these days

Timmy bought me that rose bush (purple pot) just about two years ago. The daisies in the front are new, along with a small succulent hiding behind the Aloe Snail, and the planter box.We also moved Timmy's herb pot outside and planted fresh basil. 

Close up on the planter box, where I just planted beets and carrots, and Timmy's basil plants. Those are blueberries on the far left, then heather, and in the terra cotta pot on the top, we have rosemary.