Mantel

I added some new decor to the Mantel. Our living room is a daily work in progress but got these cute things from Pier 1 - THANK YOU ADRIEN

Fun Fact Friday

FUN FACT FRIDAY

Today is Fun Fact Friday where we discover new information about Africa! Since, that's what I'm doing right now, raising money for a trip to Africa. I thought today might be a good day to discuss how I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go to Africa and volunteer. 

Here is a timeline of events that took place - all little things that I felt like were signals. 

2001 - While taking a Non Western Civilization class at Greenville Tech, my teacher discussed a recent trip she took to Africa. I don't know why, but the subject really interested me. I listened very closely as she described the things she did there and I thought, I DEFINITELY want to go to Africa one day. 

2004 - I took a Race, Ethnicity and Class sociology class at Clemson. We studied the genocide in Rwanda. We read a book about the devastation in that country and all of the things leading up to it. Out of everything that we studied in that class, the holocaust, the aborigines in Australia, etc, Rwanda intrigued me the most. I FELT a connection with that story, that history. 

2007 - My husband & I take a trip to visit his family in Detroit. His cousin, with whom we stayed, had recently taken a trip to South Africa where she volunteered and helped bring medical aid to children in South Africa. I was again fascinated by the pictures. The little kids were so cute and the people looked so interesting. I felt that connection again and just wondered what it would be like to see that continent, to do something to make a difference. 

The timeline gets a little muddled here because I can't remember when exactly the rest of this took place but between 2008-2011 - 

*I met the Boughners who had not only done mission work in Kenya, they were also in the midst of adopting a baby from Ethiopia. 

*The Boughners had one of the leaders from Kenya come visit and I had dinner with them. We talked about Kenya and what it's like to live there. I KNEW I would be going to Africa one day after that visit. 

*A friend was giving a speech about herself and she was talking about this strong desire she had to go to Africa. 

*A guy I worked with at Abercrombie raised money and went on a year long mission trip in Kenya

*In my running group that I lead, there was a lady who was from Kenya. 

*I watched the movie, Blood Diamond and it made me cry for days

I'm not one who talks a lot about spiritual things and God in my blog, but to me, since I stopped drinking in 2000, God has been giving me signs. The message has gotten louder and louder until I finally realized that this trip is something I must do. I really thought Kenya was the place I was going to see, but after reviewing the trips, the Rwanda trip was the one calling to me. Ever since I made the decision to take the trip, the emotion that overtakes me when I talk about the trip is overwhelming. I'm excited, I'm scared, there are many things that I'm feeling as the trip approaches. But one thing is clear, I feel this is a trip that I must take because I feel called to do it. 

Sometimes, when I think about what I'll be doing, I think, how is this even going to touch the things that need to be done over there? I am basically going to be helping an orphanage run for 2 weeks with a bunch of other people. Is that really going to mean anything at the end of the day. But I read this, this morning and it really hit home - 

Daily Om

February 10, 2012
Taking It All In
Gemini Daily Horoscope

You may feel particularly philosophical today. Perhaps you are thinking about ways to make a positive contribution to your community or the world a better place. If you are driven to do charitable works, you may find yourself questioning how much of an impact your efforts will have. Consider looking at the big picture before you choose the best way to put your time and resources to use in helping those in need. You may discover that in broadening your perspective, you will begin to see that life’s small challenges are less important than doing all you can to improve the world. The contribution you make today, regardless of its size, will likely touch many lives and help others.

Focusing on the big picture can help you focus on the plight of humanity and making the world a better place. When your thoughts are focused only on the minute details of life, it can be difficult to see how your actions affect your community and the planet. Keeping the bigger picture in mind allows you to see how all people and all actions are interconnected and influence each other. You’ll be more apt to want to make a positive contribution to the world because the result of your work will be clear to you. When you concentrate on the big picture today, you won’t lose sight of your ability to change the world. 

So.... there is my answer. I love when God just blatantly sends me messages, don't  you? 

My Own Yoga class

As part of our Yoga Teacher Training, we have to take 8 classes in between each Yoga training. Because of my grandfather's 80th birthday and a baby shower the week before, I have missed some of my weekend yoga classes. So I honestly have about 3 classes to make up in 2 days. Whoops! But our home practice does count, so I thought this morning might be a great time to give it a shot. No yoga download, no sheets, just a wing and a prayer.

I started out with Sun Salutation A - which is like, the most difficult sun sal to start with - silly on my part. Half way through, I was like - eh - why in the world did I choose this one, but I got in a good work out.

                                           image source - yoga is for everyone

It's a lot of Vinyasas - 

I added a few things - 

                                                              image source - yoga journal

with a twist

                                          image source - active

Side angle pose

                                                   image source - yoga journal

Trikonasana

                                                                   image source - yoga journal

Then I did a few balance poses

Dancer's pose

                                                                                image source - yoga journal

Tree pose

                                                                    image source - yoga journal

Some ab work - and then of course, 

Svasana

                                                                    image source - yoga journal

I've got a lot to learn about sequencing. The thing I love about Yoganize is that the classes there do not follow your typical sun sal flow blah blah class, which is what I did today. Sometimes, Karen incorporate Chi Gong, Pilates, etc. It takes time, so this is at least a start. It was good!! 

Tomorrow morning, I do think I'm going to do a yoga download class because the more guidance I can get, the more exposure I'll have to different sequencing. 

What do you think?? 

Love being part of this blog hop, Little Daisy May

Today I'm loving a lot of things - but to narrow it down - 

1. Cooking!!! 

Last night I made Salmon, which is one of my favs, sweet potatoes and asparagus. It's always hard to juggle trying to cook different things on different temperatures for different times, but I think I made it work - 

Pre cook - I put the salmon and the asparagus on the same tray to make room for it all 

the finished product - 

Yum!! My 3 fav things ever - 

2. My Bling

RnR races always have the coolest medals, and if you run multiple races in a year, you get a medal for how many you did. I got mine in the mail yesterday for 3 races last year!

3. As always, Pinterest - some non decor, non food, non clothing finds this week 

how cute is this??? 

one of my fav yoga poses

good study guide

and of course, I can't go without showing my fav fabrics/style/decor pins

I want to cover the chair in my living room with this fabric

i love everything about this outfit

inspiration for my foyer

4. New blogs I've found

Craftaholics Anonymous

Funky Junk Interiors

The Small Things Blog

another pinterest find!

Better After

Have a great wednesday!

Yoga what?

I have been loving all of the yoga pics I've been find on Pinterest. Here are some of my favs -

downdog

this looks fun

so pretty

But every once in a while, I'll see something like this -

um...

This is a no no. You do NOT turn your head in plow pose. Ever. no matter how advanced you think you are. DON'T. TURN. YOUR. HEAD. You can get seriously injured doing this. 

whoops

Your knee is the one place you avoid in Tree Pose. Foot on knee - no. NO foot on knee. Anywhere but the knee please. 

another example

yeah - no

This isn't really incorrect form but doesn't really remind me of Yoga even though that's what it was entitled. Yeah, there's a little thing called Brahmacharya that seems to be a little counter intuitive to this pose. 

Just some observations from a new teacher point of view. I may learn something different in a year that changes my mind about any of these so who knows. That's what's kind of neat about life and yoga, my perspective always seems to be changing. 

La Musica

I have now been writing my blog for over a year - I did forget to celebrate my blog birthday - but I realized recently that I've never really posted much about music. I LOVE music and LOVE all kinds of music, so I'm surprised I've never done anything - except the yoga playlist the other day but that's a tad bit different. So I thought I'd mention my Pandora stations and my fav music right now.

I listen to Pandora at work all day long and I like a variety of music in pretty much every genre. I'm really into country right now, but love it all.

Today's Best Country - Carrie Underwood, The Dixie Chicks, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, etc.

My favorite right now is Darius Rucker. I'm going to see him in concert in June and I'm very excited -

Sheryl Crow Radio - This station plays a lot of sheryl crow haha. But also plays Allison Kraus and Dixie Chicks, etc. The Dixie Chicks are my favorite - they are a good combination of country, pop and blue grass. I also love harmonizing :)

Pearl Jam Radio - This is 90's music - duh

LMFAO Radio - self explanatory - lots of fun, workout music 

Boston Radio - lots of fun hair bands like Journey, Boston, Chicago - awesome stuff

Whitney Houston Radio - Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, En Vogue - fun 90's women singers

Outkast/Ludacris - I love southern rap, the dungeon crew, Goodie Mob, etc. 

Tori Amos - I love Tori Amos - I've seen her twice in concert - she was big for me in high school 

Pink Floyd Radio - Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc

Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands EVA!!

Sara Bareilles - LOVE HERRRRRR

So obviously, I have some random music tastes but that's okay! 

what's your fav music? 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a blast!! I did so many different things and we finally finished the fire place!

Fitness - 


Friday night - I did 30 second repeats in front of our house
Saturday - I didn't do anything, at least pertaining to working out
Sunday - I ran 7 miles with mom around my house and I went to yoga


Fun -

I had a couple of friends over for dinner saturday night and it was so fun! I am just so happy to have a nice house that is big enough to have people over! We ate at the dinner table and talked until almost 12:30. One thing that was exciting - they are getting closer to getting their baby from Ethiopia.

It was even his birthday on saturday!! You can follow along on their blog, Running For Noah. 

Finish - 

I wanted to keep the f theme going, obs...

We finished our mantel!! Yay!! 

Before

After

I really need to stop taking pics with my phone. Obviously, it is not very good. I will try and take some good pics later. 

How was your weekend?