Month: October 2012

Celebrating Fall

Adam and I took a trip to The Morton Arboretum this week to look at the trees and enjoy the pretty fall colors. The weather was nice. It had rained earlier, so the ground was damp, but I was mostly comfortable. I think we went right at the peak. I also collected two buckeyes. And hugged my favorite sugar maple tree.

I took lots and lots of photos. I couldn’t get over how pretty everything was. We drove through this woodsy part that was gold. Just tall trees with golden leaves, golden leaves floating to the ground, golden leaves scattered all over the ground. It was bright and happy and amazing.

Click here to see pictures from this year and last, including that forest of gold. 🙂

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What I’ve Been Up To

Gourds

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Thanks to the folks who entered my giveaway. The winners have been contacted and all is well.

So how goes it? I’m aware that it’s been a while (ten days, exactly) since I’ve posted a “what’s up” kinda post, but I had good reasons.

1. I was temping in an office for a few days, and then I was working a lot from home.

2. I FINALLY got some macarons. I’d been craving them for months.

I Finally Have Macarons!!!

3. I discovered that I love Luna bars. Certain varieties of them are soooo good. I know, I have a problem. I love BARS. Those Trader Joe’s “A Blueberry Walked Into a Bar” cereal bars. Quaker granola bars and Dipps. Cocoa Puffs Treats. They’re so easy to eat. Easy to carry around with me. But at least Luna bars are 70% organic and have lots of vitamins and nutrients, so I don’t have to feel *as* guilty for loving them so much.

4. Saturday, I got the pleasure of studying with master teacher Seane Corn (and she is 10000x amazing) and I attended a master teacher roundtable with her as well.

5. Sunday night, I went to the 2012 Kellogg’s Tour of Olympic Champions show with my silver VIP ticket. I attended the Chalk Talk (pre-show Q&A) and had 4th row seats for the actual show. I also got a souvenir gold medal. I bought a program, a pin, and a leotard but I don’t know if I am brave enough to post it here. Although if you do some digging, you’ll be able to find it…

In the meantime, take a look some girls who definitely look amazing in leotards. You might recognize a few of them….

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

2012 Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Champions

[more]

But there was one HUGE thing that pretty much consumed me. You see, I had my video review today. The video review is an important milestone in my yoga teacher training journey, and boy was I stressed out about it. Those of you who follow my personal facebook or my tumblr got to see firsthand my freakout sessions about it. The prep for it took a lot of time. Practicing, writing sequences, editing sequences, running the sequence out loud to myself in the shower, running it through my mind in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn’t sleep and my bladder was constantly needing to be emptied and the cat was wailing outside the door. Yea, good times.

Because I wanted to do a good job. For numerous reasons. And so I got to the studio about 30 minutes before class started to help set up mats and props. People started arriving about 5-10 minutes before class. Those last ten minutes FLEW by. And then it was time for me to start. I taught the 30 minute opening sequence while Daren (my teacher) sat in the back taking notes on his laptop and Graham (one of my YTT classmates and Daren’s personal assistant) recorded us. There were three of us, 30 minutes each.

When I got to the front of the room, there were times when I just forgot myself. I forgot I was teaching. I just got in the zone. I stumbled over some words. Said some silly things. Used the word “just” wayyyy too much. But overall? HE SAID I WAS AWESOME. He said I exceeded his expectations. He gave me so many compliments, and the constructive feedback was very gentle. He has a really amazing way of delivering feedback that does not make you want to beat yourself up for messing up a cue or forgetting to do small things. I had on my Team USA leo under my shorts and Moksha tee-shirt, but only a few people knew it was there. I felt like it was a good luck charm. He told me that he thinks that teaching yoga is my dharma. (I plan to write a post on dharma sometime….)

At any rate, I PASSED MY VIDEO REVIEW, and now I get to teach eight karma/community classes to actual, paying customers. *gulp*

So… that’s what I’ve been up to these days. Now the the video review is done, I can let out a huge breath I’ve been holding, get a decent night’s sleep, and tackle my next to do list. Also, we’re going to Morton’s Arboretum this week. I’m super excited for that! Trees seem to be peaking so this will be awesome. Can’t wait to take lots of photos!

Til next time….

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GIVEAWAY: Casper’s Scare School Season 1 DVD set

CHECK THE CLOSET AND LOOK UNDER YOUR DESK!
CASPER’S SCARE SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION THIS HALLOWEEN SEASON!

Like most kids, Casper loves hanging out with friends — but his friends are real monsters! And at Scare School, where they have been “molding monstrous minds for 10,000 years,” that’s a good thing. In fact, the scarier the better! Whether howling at the moon, or taking off their arms to literally ‘lend a hand,’ these are definitely not your average students and Casper is no ordinary ghost. He’s a unique spirit who’d rather make friends than frighten, and he just doesn’t understand why humans (a.k.a. “fleshies”) and creatures can’t get along, especially since his best friend IS a “fleshie”! Casper’s determination to be a friendly ghost makes his education at Scare School a challenge, but with his big heart and the support of his friends, Casper is sure to succeed no matter what obstacles head his way.

With the start of a brand new school year, Casper’s adventures at Scare School have gotten a whole lot crazier, a whole lot creepier and even more “fleshie”-frightening than ever before! So get ready because Season 2 of Casper’s Scare School is filled with enchanted ghost ships, possessed jack-in-the-boxes, mischievous superheroes, herds of Bog Monsters, boys that turn into ghosts and werewolves that want to be boys…and that’s just the beginning!

Want to win a copy of Season 1 of Casper’s Scare School? You’re in luck. I have two copies to give away. What are you waiting for? Giveaway ends October 15, so enter now! 😀

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Now That It’s Getting Colder….

Fall

Now that it’s getting colder (when I left this morning, it was a terrifying 42F), it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming holidays. I mean, it’s only 26 days until Halloween, and I haven’t been to a big box store in a while, but I’d imagine that the Christmas decorations have already snuck onto the shelves, competing with the Halloween costumes and candy.

I’ve already gotten a gift for my mom, and it arrived safely a few days ago. I’ve only begun thinking of ideas of what to get for Adam and Aidan and other people.

I don’t care for the cold, but I don’t mind this lead up to the holidays so much. The cold weather is accented by the pretty oranges, reds, and golds of autumn, then the festive greens, reds, and silvers of the holiday season. There’s Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts and Christmas music to listen to. Lots of opportunity for photos, and even I can admit that evergreen boughs with red bows sprinkled with snow is gorgeous.

But once the holidays are over, it’s just nothing but dirty, grey, slushy snow. Slick, slippery ice. Cutting winds. Bitterly cold temperatures and the depression that comes with it. As far as I’m concerned, once Christmas is over, the snow can go away and the temps can start being in the 70s and above. If the seasons went this way: Spring-Summer-Fall-Spring-Summer-Fall, I’d be happy. The ONLY good things about winter, in my opinion, are Christmas, Aidan’s birthday, and our February trips to Disney World. Summer really does go too fast for me.

But I still have several months until January, and I still have lots to look forward to in the meantime, so YAY. 🙂

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