Currently; November 2013

Currently, I'm...

Reading...
Umm... this is embarrassing... I haven't been reading much. Recipes count, right?. I've been reading a ton of recipes for gluten free cookies. My grandma was just diagnosed with Celiac's, so I told her I would make her some gluten free cookies for Thanksgiving. I put a call out on facebook requesting favorite GF cookie recipes and got some great responses. So far I've tried two and one is definitely in the lead. I'm excited to try more, which means more recipe reading instead of book reading. 

Watching...
Walking Dead (and Talking Dead). 
We also just marathon-ed the first two seasons of Hell on Wheels. Probably should have waited on doing that since season 3 JUST aired and now we have to wait (we don't even know how long) before it's up on Netflix. 
And I'm still watching all the old episodes of Bones when I have free time. 

Listening to...
Everything I can get my hands on, but I am kind of over a lot of my running songs, so I need a major revamp on my ipod shuffle playlist. I put some Fitz and the Tantrums on there, some Arctic Monkeys, and OF COURSE some Katy Perry. It's better, but I need to keep cycling in new music. 

Struggling with...
Motivation. It's just barely cold enough outside that I don't want to leave my house. I want to snuggle up under a blanket and stay there all day every day. 

Eating...
This weekend hubs made pulled pork shoulder while I made slaw and cornbread and we had a solid Southern meal for College Football Saturday. I also made two mini batches of gluten free cookies (see above)  and we ate all of them. So... technically still gluten free... except for the corn bread. 

Planning...
Ways to spice up our now bland looking walls. I tell ya, when your bedroom walls are bright red, the last thing you think about is how bare they look and how badly they need some wall decor. Now that they're beige, all I see is empty space on the walls! So, I've got some ideas - a nice bed frame, a painting, some photos. I've also got a ton of pictures of the painting process from this weekend, so I'll have a post about that soon! :)

Excited for...
OUR NEW BED IS COMING ON SATURDAY! We just repainted the bedroom this weekend and we specifically scheduled the new bed to be delivered with enough time to paint, SO this week is our last week in the queen. Cray.  

Teaching...
Twice a week - beginner flow and mommy & baby. I'm subbing a lot more and I even booked my first class at Spectrum Club. It'll be on Thanksgiving at 830am, so if you're a Spectrum CP member and want to come hang out and take my class, now is the tiiiime! 

Inspired by...
Freaking elephants, man. My parents just got back from Africa. I was looking through their pictures the other night and was absolutely floored. I could have stared at the elephant pictures forever. 

What are you up to lately?

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 45

Really quick, can we just note that there are only 7 weeks left in 2013?

That's all about that.

Let's talk workouts and things.

Sunday AND Monday I went to Cardio Barre. I haven't gone so often lately and Monday night that told me I still have 15 classes left, so I need to get on using those.
I also went to the gym with my hubby after class on Sunday, but didn't do much. I did some one arm clean and jerks and some walking on the treadmill, but I was tired from my earlier workout, so I wimped out.
And Monday after cardio barre, I taught class, which I ended up doing most of with them.

Tuesday I had a meeting in the afternoon and dinner at my grandparents' later, so I fit a jog in the middle. I needed to get my mileage back up since my next 10K is only a month away! I decided to take on the challenge of bringing Panda along on my run. We went to the park and did 5 laps, which comes out to 3.2 miles. Panda wanted to say hi to everyone, especially the other dogs. I had front clasp harness on her so she was easier to control, but I still had to put all my weight into tugging her away from other dogs - especially since all the small ones want to do it pick a damn fight. Small dogs, man...

Wednesday night I went on a Cardio Barre adventure. It was my first time doing back to back classes - first advanced, then beginner. It was tough, but taking beginner after advanced was almost refreshing - like, oh, look how slow and leisurely I get to move.

Thursday night I taught. I did almost the whole class with them. I also counted the box moving my sister and I did at work that day as exercise.

Friday I took Power Yoga and ran 4 miles. Yoga was a really slow moving class with challenging poses, but I didn't feel like I got a good calorie burn so I decided to hit the gym with  the hubs and get in a run.

And Saturday we started painting the bedroom... so that was my exercise.

Photo Challenge Inspiration 1

Happy Wednesday, y'all! I am so excited to get the ball rolling for this photo challenge!
I don't know if you noticed, but in the first/last post I did to announce my photo challenge, I made a lot of promises. It wasn't until after I posted it that I realized how much work I'd made for myself.

There are 31 days in December. So, now, not only do I have to prep 31 photo prompts for you, my lovely yogis, (which is actually really easy and fun) but I need to inspire you and get you into yoga poses you can do, by offering all the modifications both to make them easier AND harder.

Because sometimes I am going to tell you what pose to do and it'll be up to you to choose the variation, but other times, I am going to give you an attribute that a lot of poses have, and you can choose your favorite pose that has this attribute - like "back bend", "one leg", or "warrior"

So, for this first inspiration post, I am going to offer you a mini breakdown of all the Warriors, what they are, and some key words to help you decide if and when you want to try them out.

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 44

Sunday I was back at the studio teaching Sunday Sunshine Flow in the afternoon. I spent a good part of the day cleaning the house and running laundry. We'd had friends over the night before and a magical fairy did some cleaning before going home - which I am eternally grateful for.

Monday I took a vacay day and basically followed my friend and fitness instructor, Chelsea, around to all her classes. I took Cardio Barre in the morning and then Fit Ballet Body at Equinox in the afternoon. My butt was thoroughly kicked.

Tuesday night I returned to the WHAC for Total Fit Body Workout with the lovely Karen.

Wednesday night I was the lucky recipient of a brutal headache. I rested up and took something for it, but I missed yoga, so I went down to my car to get my fancy mat and did yoga in the living room. It wasn't my best at home practice, but it was something - and it helped me feel better.

Thursday night no one came to yoga because it was 7pm on Halloween. These things happen. So, I went to the gym and ran 3 miles. It felt really good, but I need to start running longer distances again. My next 10K is only a month away now.

Friday I met a friend for wine. No exercising happened after that.

Saturday - I cleaned our room to the point of sparkliness so I could take before pictures for our upcoming bedroom revamp (paint and a new bed), and I cleaned the living room. The kitchen, dining area, and guestroom are still a mess - as is the area outside our bedroom because that's where I put my husband's clothes instead of putting them away.

How was your week?

Yoga Photo Challenge

Alright my beautiful readers, of which I know there are at least a handful and I am so grateful to and for you every day I log on to my blog, I have a question for you.

Kind of.

I post a lot of pictures of yoga and yoga related things on my instagram. (It's private, but all you have to do is request to follow me and you're gold) I know a good amount of you see my pictures, sometimes like them, sometimes just pass by, but don't really post your own yoga pictures - and that's cool. I'm learning that most of you have an appreciation for yoga, but don't really do much of it yourselves or are trying to do more.

One of my core beliefs in yoga is that

yoga is for everyone,

no matter your size, shape or abilities. Yoga should and will conform to you, you do not have to change yourself to be able to do yoga. No legs behind heads, no split doing ability. You don't need to be able to stand on one leg. Heck, you don't even need to be able to stand!

My goal in this is to inspire you. I want you to stop thinking about doing yoga and get up and do it! Your body will thank you!

That's why I've decided to do a photo challenge. Throughout the month of November, I'll be getting ready for it - coming up with my photo prompts, giving you some inspiration posts to refer back to, and a TON of modifications so that you can take yoga to your level.

I'll have the official prompt up and ready for you by the end of the month.

I hope you'll follow along here, as well as Alyssa Gohn Yoga, and post your pictures on instagram, twitter, and facebook!

... and maybe I'll have a special prize for participants at the end... maybe.