Time heals all wounds . . . and sometimes yoga can help

It has been a while, again, since I last wrote anything here. On my road to fitness and healthy living I have, yes, started doing yoga. And fallen absolutely in love with it. I have done some at home yoga videos in the past, back in the dark times of teenager-hood, and always felt a kind of kinship with the stretch and pull of yoga asanas, but never really connected with it. I was a swimmer (I still am, and always will be) and that meant that the pool was my home. I always felt that I was not truly alive unless I was swimming, and while yoga or pilates was a great way to stretch and lengthen, it was never really a lifestyle or fitness routine that I took to. Now, some ten years later, along comes my friend A, who has introduced me to so many things and people, not limited to our shared friend family and alcohol, but also to Erin Motz's 30-Day Yoga Challenge.

Erin Motz calls herself a Bad Yogi because she'll eat the occasional burger and isn't pretentious or focused too much on Sanskrit or instagramming difficult poses. How she describes the Bad Yogi philosophy:

Bad Yogi^TM n. [baad yogee]

1 a renegade yogi who indulges in the occasional burger, has never been to a shakti dance class, and admits to not always knowing their asana from their elbow.
 

usage: you are one bad yogi, and damn, we like you

She's the sweetest and most delightful yoga instructor ever to grace a video and her connection to doyouyoga.com has been what drew me into the practice of yoga. I just really love her take on it, and the way that she leads the classes. I also signed up for myyogapro.com, and I'm totally looking forward to that coming out soon.

I'm on day 6 (just finished my practice for the day!) of the challenge and I can already feel the difference. Besides noticing an ability to stretch more and improved posture, I feel an awareness of my body and my self that I did not have before yoga. It is really well described in this article: 8 Signs That You're Going Through a Transformation. I really feel like a new part of my life is opening up. I find myself making healthier choices. I walked past the giant bag of M&M's at the office all week, and I only had a small handful twice. Maybe 20 candies in all, and in the past I would have polished off so much of that bag it would have been unbelievable. I did have ginger snaps from Trader Joe's that a friend brought me back, but they were pretty healthy, and I could only eat a few at a time because they were super gingery. Delicious though. But I just did not want super unhealthy things. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of days that I ate more than I should, and one day I totally had a caramel Coolatta from Dunkin' Donuts, but I'm only human and I needed caffeine on a long day.

Speaking of caffeine, I think yoga is even helping regulate my sleep and energy levels. There is all sorts of research that I have been reading about that says that yoga helps balance cortisol levels and other things to do with blood pressure and sleep and calmness, and I can say, even in just a week, I can absolutely feel it. I would be interested to take my blood pressure and see if it's down any. I have not lost any weight that I know of, but it is still early days, and I only did a few days of swimming this week. I think maybe three days, so not as much calorie burning.

I'm using my old pink flowered yoga mat from when I was younger, and boy has it seen better days. Our cat decided many years ago that the yoga mat was an excellent scratching post, so it tends to shed little bits of itself every time I unroll and roll it up. It also has been used for a week, and I realized that I have sweated and stood and laid on it, and it's kind of not as clean as I would like it to be. So I looked up how to clean a yoga mat, and found a whole bunch of recipes for yoga mat cleaners. I read Delightfully Tacky on a regular basis, and I love everything she does, so when I noticed that she had a yoga mat cleaner recipe, I knew that was the one that I was going to have to try.  So when I was at the Mart of Wal I purchased two little spray bottles in the travel section (one's pink and one's blue, yay pretty colors!) and some witch hazel. I filled the bottles about 2/3 of the way with distilled water (because we have well water and it can make things smell funny because of its high iron content) and then the rest of the way with the witch hazel. I then put a few drops of tea tree oil in each bottle, and then in one bottle a few drops of lavender oil and in the other bottle I put a few drops of peppermint oil. I'll experiment and see which combo I like the best. They both smell pretty good!

In the Land of Knitting, I have been making progress, although I do not have any pictures of that progress, sadly. I am almost done with the green cotton tank from the Spring edition of Knitscene. It's the Amazonite tank, and I really like the pattern.

My version is a lime green cotton and viscose yarn (Shine sport from Knitpicks a few years ago) and I think I might have made it a little too wide, I'm not a small girl, but I think I might have had a moment of body image issues when I worked out which size to make. Or I was whupped by the gauge goddess, which is always a possibility.

I have also been working on a pair of socks for me, and one for my mother. Her's are black, with some wool and silk I purchased from KnitPicks a month or so back. I like it, and I've made her a pair in this wool before, and she liked them. I put ribbing all the way down this time, to make them a little bit different. Also, they're a little bit bigger, so hopefully they will fit her better. The socks that I am making for myself are sort of a heathery and striped affair. I really like them.

Work is going excellently. The firm hired two new attorneys, which meant an expansion into the office next door, which meant that I was able to move from the main reception area into the office abandoned by one of the attorneys. It's a little closet of an office, but it's my very own until I leave, and I love it. I have a door that I can close when the guys in the main area get too loud, or when I have to make phone calls, and I can spread out a bit. It's just nice. I really do like it at that office, and I am so thankful for AmeriCorps, and the opportunities that the program gives us.

I don't have too much other news, the yoga thing is probably the most exciting thing, lately. It's been a wacky and weird few months, but hopefully (I know, I say this every time), hopefully I will write more often. Or at least sooner than 5 months!

Have a wonderful day, a beautiful weekend, and enjoy life!

3 months isn't a long time . . . really

So yeah, it's been a while since I last blogged, mostly because I got a new job! Yay new job! This is not to say that I did not love working for LifeTouch, because I really did enjoy that job, it's just that this new job is pretty cool too.

I am now working as an AmeriCorps volunteer with a Legal Services program here in upstate New York, and it is fantastic! I did not pass the bar <insert month of depression and angst here> but thankfully that was not a requirement for my employment, so now I'm sort of a cross between a legal secretary, a research assistant, and just a general secretary. I work with one, well starting Monday it will be two, other AmeriCorps volunteers and it's pretty much the best thing ever.

I found out about AmeriCorps as a result of a friend of mine who is working in Vermont helping kids. She is such a lovely person that I thought anything that was cool enough to have Daron doing it must require looking into. Which I did, and for a while there was a question whether I might move to Seattle with the Corps, but that fell through, and thankfully so. I ended up only having a medium sized commute of about an hour down the road. So I'm excited about that.

The beauty of fall in the Northeast

I've still been photographing, although these were taken a while ago. Autumn in my hometown is always beautiful. We may not have the mystique of Vermont, but the Endless Mountains and the foothills of the Adirondacks are just as charming.

darn telephone wires

DIY Frida!

 I was Frida Kahlo for Halloween this year, at a delightful costume party a friend threw. I was copying this picture of Ms. Kahlo:

and I think that I did a pretty good job. I sort of combined some of the elements that she wore, and everyone knew exactly who I was supposed to be, so that worked out.

The Lonely Tree Shawl!

 I finished this beautiful shawl a while ago, and I adore it. I've worn it to several nice dress occasions and received quite a few compliments each time.

I like to think that it was trying to hug the tree

The first time that I wore the shawl was to Corning Glass Museum's 2300 program with the Legal Assistance crowd of young lawyers. Thankfully they've taken me in as one of their own, which is nice, despite my lack of bar passage. But it's still good to hang around with the young attorneys. It's a bit like being back at school, which I enjoy.

The Corning 2300 was so much fun. We attended the night with big band music, which was a lot of fun. Sadly we did no actual dancing, just talking and wandering and some food and beer tasting. Which was fun.

Most recently my mum and I went to Cayuga Lake for Thanksgiving, where we wandered around some of the state parks. I took these pictures:

snowy and icy dock, watch your step!

a tiny lighthouse!

ice! cold!

more tiny lighthouse! with bonus picnic benches!

We had so much fun, and we drove up to the Montezuma Wildlife Preserve and had our Thanksgiving lunch/dinner/picnic. We ate in the car because it was really really cold out. As you can see from the pictures above, there was ice and snow all over the place, and  even though some had melted in the sun the day before, it was still very cold. We had fun though, because we like to have adventures when other people are doing traditional things. Two years ago for Christmas, when we were living in Florida we opened gifts and then we rode our bikes all over Marco Island on Christmas morning. It was one of the happiest Christmases I think I've had in a long time.

Speaking of Christmas, we decorated the Christmas tree today, because now that Thanksgiving is over I can fully immerse everyone around me in Christmas joy and no one can complain because finally, finally, finally, Christmas is the next holiday! At least for me, I know that Hanukkah is currently going on, so if you celebrate Hanukkah, Happy Hanukkah! For me, up next, CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Pretty pretty Christmas Tree!

Santa's in the window

Stockings, and snowmen, and nutcrackers, Oh my!

 

Elf on a Shelf, vintage style!

So Happy slightly belated Thanksgiving everyone, I'll see you soon!

The Hummingbird Wars

I have been studying out on my front porch, prepping for the GRE's, and have noticed something rather unusual. There are three hummingbirds trying to eat at our feeder, but they seem incapable of sharing, and so are engaging in all out war for control. I had no idea that hummingbirds, when they battle, spread out their tiny little tail feathers and making this really loud clicking and humming sound. It's both adorable, because they are so tiny, and also terrifying. I have been trying to get a picture, but they move so fast that it's almost impossible.

I did, however, get a picture of the road where I run:

If you look carefully, you can see the moon!

 I'm trying to take some more pictures, as my new job, although not a "creative photography" job, still is going to involve me taking pictures all day, and I want to feel more comfortable with a camera. I know that these are from my phone, but that's because I can't seem to get my good digital camera to turn on. I've tried new batteries, I tried new high tech batteries, nothing. It was turned on, and then the batteries died with the lens open and extended, and now nothing will turn it on. It's very frustrating.

I found Mr. Weasley's car!

 So for now, just cell phone pictures of things I see, and places I go. The car picture comes from an area of the road where there was this ancient house that had all plants growing in it, which sadly (or fortunately, I suppose, for the people who lived across from it) burned down this spring. The car is hiding in the bushes, and I can't help thinking that the Flying Ford Anglia of Harry Potter fame gave up on England and flew itself to America after the Voldemort was defeated, and found a new home in our woods.

It's that time of year again, time to hay the field!

The farmer down the road has started haying in all of the fields around our house. He seems to be the only one who owns a haying machine and baler. But it's entertaining to watch them go up and down, and end up with the big round bales of hay.

But, where will I sleep?

Last night, I walked into my room to get ready for bed, and found this bundle of adorableness. It was interesting sleeping with both cats on the bed. What you can't necessarily see is that they are about a foot up from the bottom of the bed, and manage to take up almost the whole width of where they are sleeping. Good thing I sleep curled up anyway. Good thing for them, I mean. They were just too cute to remove from my bed.

Well, once they're felted, they'll look like something, right?

Behold, my latest knitting project. French Press Felted Slippers for my mom for Christmas. Hopefully! They're almost done, the last bit that is on the needles is the final bottom of the foot, so hopefully I'll be able to get that done tonight, seam them up sometime soon, and felt them. Not sure if I want to risk doing that in our washing machine, or just go down to the laundro-mat and felt them there. I guess I'll decide that once I've seamed them up. Also, looking at the photo, the color of the yarn is much more teal than blue. This picture, to me, looks like a royal blue, but the yarn is actually a nice teal. It's Patons' Classic Wool Roving, in case anyone wants to know.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I leave you with this: a photo of my cat judging me for waking him up to shove a camera in his face. You're welcome! :-)

You get a hat! You get a hat! You get a Humpback Whale, I mean, You get a hat!

So, I've been busy since I last posted. Mostly studying and such, but I did manage to finish a knitting project that a friend of mine commissioned me to do. She requested a yellow hat that was "slouchy."

Oddly enough, when she asked me to make her a hat, I forgot to ask her what color she wanted the hat to be.  I was at the yarn store trying to pick something and realized that I had no idea what color she wanted, so I texted her. In the meantime, I wanted to get something because I was running late for knit night, so I thought about her, and her style, grabbed some yellow yarn (she has beautiful red hair and wears lots of bright colors, including yellow) and left. While I was at knit night, she texted me back with the yellow and slouchy requirements. I felt pretty awesome, I must say.

So here is me, wearing the hat.

Please ignore my badly framed and styled photo :-\

 The pattern is Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague. So very cute, and it looks better now that I have blocked it (it is not blocked properly in the above picture, sorry!). I used Vickie Howell's Sheepish yarn for this hat. Here's a linky! to my ravelry page about this project.

I also finished The Robin's Egg Blue Hat, which I think is super cute! This one's for me.

Super stylin'

This one was Lamb's Pride Bulky, and linky! to my ravelry. And I was very excited, I found an extra American Eagle Outfitters button from a jacket that I have for the button band. So yay. Free button!

I leave for the bar exam the day after tomorrow. I shall have exciting stories. Not really, nothing exciting ever really happens, unless someone loses it or faints or something. And I really hope that doesn't happen because it is really distracting. And I feel like a horrible person for saying it, but there is literally nothing you can do, because you don't get extra time unless it is something like a fire, or electricity out. And the paramedics and proctors take care of it, but you can't help but feel like there is something you should be doing. How do I know, you ask? Well, let me tell you. When I took the bar in Florida (my first time) a girl about three rows back stood up to go to the bathroom or something, and promptly passed out on the floor. Paramedics had to take her to hospital and it was just very strange all around. I felt bad, but what can you do. Soldier on, I guess.

Anyway, I think I've found the next pattern that I would like to knit: Tucked Buttonband Cardigan from knit.wear.

Super cute!

I have some orange yarn from last fall's Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool that I want to knit before this year's Rhinebeck, and I think that this would make the perfect Rhinebeck sweater.

Also, my mother will think that I am nutso if I go to Rhinebeck again and have not knitted with the yarn that I bought there last year.

That's about all that I can think of, except to ask for good wishes on my trip. Oh, one last thing, I cannot recommend My Fitness Pal enough for tracking food and exercise! I've lost over 10 lbs since I started using it. It keeps me very honest about what I eat and the exercise that I do. Making myself see the calorie count of a Frappuccino or Dunkin' Donuts morning sandwich really makes me think twice about it.

So that's it, I'm pretty sure. I'll see you later sometime, possibly after the bar, maybe before. Have fun!

Post 1 of Many to come

Soooooo, here goes nothing . . . again.

I've tried blogging before and sometimes it works out for a while, and sometimes it does not work out at all.

I have a new goal, though, so maybe this will stick. I am going to begin training for our local triathlon. The one I plan on doing will be next summer. I figure, I want to have a goal, but I am also realistic, and I know that I have a long way to go before I could even dream of doing an entire tri.

So for now, I have started swim training, every morning I swim for an hour with my workout buddy, Leslie. Who is the epitome of awesome for putting up with my only-barely-caffeinated self every morning.

I also cycle several times a week, and once I finish studying for the bar (oh yeah, there's that in there too), then I'm going to start running training as well.

So that's the plan then.

some flowers seen on a recent hike in the woods

About me: I'm 26 years old (almost 27), I currently weigh 258 lbs. and I'm 5'8" tall. So, like I said, good way to go before I'll be ready for a triathlon, but I'm getting there.  Also, I'm keeping track of everything on myfitnesspal.com, where I am rst4091, so feel free to come say hi there!

The hills where I cycle - feel the burn!

I hope that anyone reading enjoys my travails as I work towards my goal!