Saturday, June 4, 2011

21 Yoga Challenge

I am reading through my blogs and came across a new challenge on Megan's blog, The Oatmeal Diaries. It's super easy, you just do yoga every single day for 21 days. Sometimes, I can get bogged down trying to make my practice be an intense, hour and a half class every single day. Brian, from Greenville Yoga, says that we should even practice one pose per day. it doesn't have to be anything major.

So, starting en la manana, (can anyone tell me how to make the little squiggly on a Mac), I will begin. Yay!!





Friday, June 3, 2011

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!!

So I wrote my other post before realizing that it's FLASHBACK FRIDAY!!

So without much further ado:

Today we're going to focus on my friend, Jane's, birth year: 1986


Movie from 1986:



Top Gun (in honor of my new Ray Ban Aviators)

Even as a child, I LOVED Tom Cruise. He was so awesome in this movie and I remember wanting to be a pilot. The scene where they're singing in the bar is so awesome and how can anyone forget a cast that includes Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan and Val Kilmer? 


TV Show from 1986:



What better way to honor Oprah's last show than to mention her in Flashback Friday. Amazingly enough, 1986 was the year that the Oprah Winfrey Show began!!! I think her shows were more like Maury in the beginning. But oh how I love Oprah!



Music from 1986:


Kenny Loggins is amazing... and this was one of his best hits.. Thank you Top Gun...



Fashion Trend, 1986:

BANANA CLIPS


Nothing says "let's rock out in the t-bird"  more than a banana clip. Mix your fav color with jorts and a braided belt and you're ready to hit a Florida gators tailgate party... 





I Bless the Rains Down in Africa

If any of my 12 followers have been reading my blog, you know that I've been talking about going to Africa. This is how it all started:



1) I was in a history class and we were talking about Africa. My teacher had been there and she described a trip she took. I can't remember where she went or really even any of her stories, BUT, I remember thinking, I'd love to go to Africa. That sounds really interesting

2) I went to visit my husband's family in Michigan and his cousin had been to South Africa to help with medical needs. I looked through her pics and I remember thinking again, gosh, I would really love to go to Africa. How fun would it be to work with all of these kids.

3) I met a couple (Brian & Jeanne, both of whom I've mentioned in this blog) who have done mission work in Kenya. I looked through their pictures and listened to their stories... the desire grew stronger every time I heard something about it.

4) Brian & Jeanne had 3 of the people they worked with from Kenya come visit. Talking to them was AMAZING and I felt like crying at the table. I knew right then and there that i WOULD be going to Africa at some point. Even more significant, I wanted to go to Kenya.



5) Then i got a bunch of little signals (I felt like they were signals from God) telling me that I WOULD be going to Africa. I met a lady in our running group who was from Kenya, one of my friends was telling her life story and she mentioned going to Kenya, I was walking through the market in Charleston, and I stopped at this lady's booth who sold jewelry. It turns out that her jewelry was made from materials in... guess where... Kenya

I couldn't BELIEVE it. And every single time I thought about it, talked about it with someone, I wanted to cry. I just felt such a compelling force in my chest that I knew that's what I was supposed to do. And so now the time is here. I've decided that now is the time and I am beginning to do research organizations. It turns out, there are tons and tons of organizations that go everywhere in the world. Here are a couple of things I've seen in my research:

Global Volunteer Network
There are a couple of trips that I can take, one to Kenya to work with orphans of HIV/AIDS mothers, tutor, etc. There are also a couple of trips to Rwanda which is another place I hold dear to my heart. I could actually teach business practices to women which sounds VERY interesting as I actually have some skill in that area. I would live in a homestay and while the duration can be as long as I want, it'll probably be two weeks because that's all my work will allow.







Kenya Voluntary and Community Development Project
I could actually do football coaching here!! How fun... I can also help build gardens for communities and work with orphans. All are in Kenya (hence the name) and would be a variety of living arrangements. Some are in volunteer centers, some in homes, etc. This is also the one where you can help council women on the weekends which would be VERY attractive to me.






I've got so many other organizations to review so this will take a while. I think the cost of the trip will probably be about $2500 so I may also use my Full in Savannah to help raise money for the trip. I'm still deciding. Either way, I'm excited I finally have a plan and am starting to implement it. How life changing will this be? Every time I see a movie or a documentary about Africa, I remember that we know NOTHING about poverty here in the US. There are many third world countries out there that want something more and have NO access to getting it. And that's why I want to go. Do I think that my one 2 week visit is going to make a huge difference? no... Do I think that should stop me from doing it? no... Will it be worth it if I can even show one child a little bit of love from somewhere else in the world?? yes.... and that's why I want to do it.


Have you ever volunteered abroad? 
What was it like? 
Do you have any recommendations on organizations? 

Thursday, June 2, 2011

the Daily Mile

I don't know if any of you have seen this website but I love it!!!




It's a great way to track your daily workouts, whatever they may be. It's also a great way to connect to people who are involved in fitness. 

So the reason I am writing this blog post is because:

1) If you do NOT know about daily mile, definitely explore it, use it
2) If you DO know about daily mile, awesome
3) whichever category you fit into, please ask me to be your friend so I can keep track of your workouts!!




Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Yoga Pose Wednesday

Welcome to the third edition of yoga pose wednesday. It's also national running day!! How exciting!! So... if you're planning on doing any of the Rock'n'Roll races (minus vegas) make sure to register today for a discount!

On to yoga, today, I'm going to talk about another common pose, well, it's actually a pose used in a flow style class so this week, I'll focus on one of the poses, next week, the next and then put them together in the series. This was also Lululemon's pose on Instagram this week:



Chaturanga Dandasana or Four Limbed Staff Pose and that is a literal translation. Chatur: four, Anga: limbed, Danda: Staff

The benefits of this pose are that it increase both inner and outer strength, balance and stability. This pose is used in a Vinyasa Style class and when a teacher says flow through, they mean this:

1. Start in Plank Pose or High Push up:


Shoulders are down and back, you should feel them pushing together... hips are lifted, core is tight, and heels are pushing back towards the wall. The fronts of the lower legs are engaged as well as the quadriceps. 

2. Lower to Chaturanga Dandasana



modified for beginners 

to add difficulty


3. you will then flow through to upper facing dog and downward facing dog... I will discuss up dog later 

sources:
www.wikipedia.com
www.wikiyoga.com
www.yogajournal.com

*I am not a certified yoga teacher (yet) so this is just information I've gather from class. I do not pretend to know everything about these poses so please attend a class with a knowledgeable teacher to learn more about it

Thanks!!



Monday, May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day!!!

This weekend has been great and FILLED with lots of activities. I've had an active weekend so I have lots to talk about.

Friday: Yoga and dinner with Lori & Val

I ran to yoga with the intentions of running after, but the gals talked me into some dinner and I'm glad I did that instead.

Saturday: I ran to Go Run (2.9 miles) and then lead the group which was a fast group, so my total was 5.6.

After, mom & I hit the local farmers market, which Katie discusses here. They had lots of fun stuff and my fav soap people were there. My husband and I ate breakfast in Travelers Rest with Lori, Holly, Val and some others. Lastly, we went to a pool party at my friend, Amy's house. She had a Hot Air Ballon theme pool party and she'll talk about it on her blog. Lastly, we went to dinner and saw the movie,

THE HANGOVER 2

It was very good and I definitely recommend seeing it!!

Sunday: 25 mile bike ride to Furman and back

not cute... 

We went shopping and had a birthday dinner at my in law's (yes, I'm still celebrating my bday). 

Monday was a track workout and then downtown to see the National Cycling Championship. George Hincapie was there. this is the first time I've been, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was lucky enough to catch them twice and that was exciting. 






Then I saw the hand cyclists... I think that's what it's called... it was crazy!! I would be very nervous about doing something like this...






the start line

After the race, we got some delish food from Chicora Alley.



I ended the weekend with some pool time and now i'm pooped!!

How was your Memorial Day?
Have you ever seen a major cycling champ?