holiday crazy

whew. slacker blogger here to be thankful that the beast, the hubby, and i survived another holiday tour of homes. we visited four cities in three days. i am home and tired! our agenda went like this:

wednesday: we left bright and early from asheville and met my mom at a gas station in columbia, sc (about a 2 hour drive) sent the beast home with her and continued on to charleston, sc (another 2 hours) to have lunch with the hubby's grandmother. post lunch, we drove to beaufort, sc (1.5 hours) to have dinner and spend the evening with a good friend and his mom.

thursday: had brunch with the hubby's father in beaufort, sc (we can never stay with them as i have a severe cat allergy and they have four...yes, four felines). post brunch, drove to hilton head, sc (1 hour) went to hotel (mom-in-law has a cat, too) and crashed for a much needed nap. woke up, dressed up and went to oh-so-fun christmas eve gathering at the hubby's mother's house. big blended family! about 20 of us with yummy dinner, wine, and white elephant exchange!

friday: woke up a bit grumpy due to excessive wine consumption. (note to self: wine in excess of 1 glass = grumpy morning....be mindful when celebrating). went to mom-in-laws for stockings and gifts. left around 11am to drive back to columbia, sc to attend christmas day at my aunt's house with my family. met mom & dad (with the beast in tow) for big holiday dinner and crazy gift exchange. super fun. got in car around 7pm to head back to nc. the beast crawled into the front seat and into my lap around 8pm. (he missed us i think! my 70 lbs. lap dog!) arrived home around 10pm.

saturday agenda:

• find home for oh-so thoughtful gifts & unpack
• look into new car purchase (yes, it will happen soon. my brother needs my car!)
• yoga & exercise
• 2010 exciting blog plans (to be announced soon)
• 10 goals for 2010
• more snuggles with my pup
• continue to read the new barbara kingsolver book. am loving it. book review to come.

hope you and yours had a marvelous holiday. cheers to recovering!

more snow and some love talk

many many thanks to cristina @ when is there time to sleep? for my first ever blogger recognition/award. i heart it so and am excited that she loved my planner pad post on becoming the best scheduling goddess possible and all the pursuits accompanying living the mindful life (or at least giving it my best!!) cristina is a momma goddess doing at all and i so enjoy her blog! she always makes me laugh!

as a newbie in the world of all things blog - i am still working on meeting new and inspiring folks. i am supposed to give this award to five people and if in the future i find someone new, i may pass is along to them cause right now i've got 2 people i'd like to give this to:

emma @ the joy of yoga: this gal is great! i love her yoga sequencing posts and am so honored to be a guest blogger on her site. she has many a great post sharing the passion that is yoga and inspiring the practice itself!

shannon @ milk and cuddles: super cute name and super cute site with awesome musings on being a stay at home mom. i love getting the insight into that life!

with this award, i have to share 10 things that i LOVE.

well, here they are:

1. coffee & blogs in the morning! don't always get to have mornings like that, but when i do i am always grateful.
2. pilot colored pens. purple and pink being the favs.
3. the planner pad. ok, i know i am a little over the top with getting organized, but it really helps my life stay mindful and my brain focused and ready for anything!
4. YOGA. can't live without it. brings me peace and mindfulness and a stretchy good feeling body.
5. quite moments with space and lots of deep breathes.
6. on the flip side of that - i LOVE music. so grateful for all the music i love and the countless bands i've seen live. i love the soundtrack to my life.
7. being my own boss. need i say more?!?!
8. MODERN DANCE and the women i move with. check us out here. the process of choreography and creating and, of course, performing.
9. my fabulous, snuggly, warm creature who i lovingly call in the blog world: the beast. see his love here.
10. my hubby. he's the best. what can i say?

on to the SNOW.....we were out of power for about 36 hours. thank goodness for our gas stove. it kept our bellies full and thank goodness for the beast to curl around my feet in the night and keep them toasty. nc is just not uber prepared for this much of the white stuff!

my hubby and brother-in-law just a few minutes before frosty fell over.

that's a lot of snow for a southern gal.

the snow ball fight in action.

hope you are warm and toasty. cheers!

snow: day one

it has taken this southern gal a few years to adjust to living in the mountains. we've been here for 6 years now and today is the most snow i have ever seen! i'm guessing as of the moment there's about nine inches out there and it's still coming! according to weather.com, it's going to keep snowing through monday. makes me a little nervous cause we cancelled our dance rehearsal today and i don't want to miss it on sunday. BUT, this gal - no matter what - does not drive in the snow. i know people who grow up doing it and who are used to it think it's no big deal, but the hubby and i were in a wreck in the snow our first year here and i just don't risk it anymore. it's homeward bound for me when it snows! today is also the beast's 3rd birthday and family members have asked what he got for his birthday and my response has been SNOW!!! he loves it and has been super energized all day long!!!

here's our street.

the beast celebrating birthday 3 by burying himself in the snow! so cute!

beautiful mother nature.

still energized and happy.

just before dusk measurement. wow.

we'll see what tomorrow brings after snowfalls all evening. currently we are still with power and hoping to stay that way!

happy white christmas!

mindful goal musings

i am totally on my way to making the top 10 resolutions list and on the way got an email forwarded to me with some life goals for 2010. i took this list and revved it up a bit and added some comments and thoughts on mindful living in 2010. it's from this list that i will begin to derive the 10 for 10 list.

Health:

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.(most days - truly i fancy a nice royal dinner every once in a while!)
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in factories. (already do and will continue to do so - it's always a good reminder)
• Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
• Make space and time for quiet.
• Play more games.
• Read more books than you did in 2009. (this one i really love - i thought i did great in 2009, so here's to 2010. you can find some of my favorite reads from previous years here)
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. (yes! yes! yes!)
• Sleep for 7 hours each day
• Take a 10-30 minute walk every day ---- and while you walk smile! (this one would fall into my spend time giving the beast the best life ever everyday!)

Personality:

• Do not compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. (meet people where they are on their journey and they will meet you where you are on yours!)
• Do not have negative thoughts or worry about things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. (one negative thought i am always working on is my body image and a goal of mine in 2010 is not to ask my hubby "do i look fat?" because i know i am beautiful inside and out and am embracing that! getting rid of negative thought only makes more room for the positive!)
• Don't overdo; keep your limits. (and stick to them. that is the goal of the decade for me. honor my time and commit only to what is nourishing and reasonable. always make time for family.)
• Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does. laugh as often as you can!
• Don't waste your precious energy on gossip. check out my thoughts on the gossip train here.
• Dream more while you are awake. (journal and get those dreams out so they can become a reality.)
• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
• Forget issues of the past.
• Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness. (learn from the past and move toward the future)
• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
• Don't hate others. LOVE LOVE LOVE
• Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
• No one is in charge of your happiness except you. (a simple, but amazing thing to realize. the hubby always says "you are in charge of you" and it is so true. embrace your needs!)
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• Smile and laugh more.
• You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. (such a great lesson. check out my post on mindful arguing.)

Community:

• Call your family often. (i am thankful to talk to my mom and brother just about everyday!)
• Each day give something good to others. (even if it's just a smile or holding the door - there is always something to give.)
• Forgive everyone for everything.
• Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6. (i am so grateful that i get to do both of these things. i am blessed with a client who is my "asheville grandfather." he's 85 and i adore his company!)
• Try to make at least three people smile each day.
• What other people think of you is none of your business!!! check out my post all about this! i am energized by it this year!
• Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch!

Life:

• Do the right thing.
• Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
• However good or bad a situation is - it will change.
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
• The best is yet to come.
• When you awake alive in the morning, be thankful for it.
• Your inner most is always happy. So - be happy!

i must say i love all of the life suggestions! there's always a way to look up and find that the glass is totally half full! yeah for these thoughts!

keep truckin along

another monday down and only one more until christmas week! hard to believe how time flies! i had 7 client sessions today and they all went really well. i love that everyone is in the holiday spirit!

went to my favorite yoga class tonight at lighten up yoga where i will be teaching 2 classes per week beginning in the new year. (tuesday at 4pm and wednesdays at 5:30pm) woo-hoo. i am stoked because i have been asked to take over a class that the director now teaches because i have gotten such good feedback from the students there. that's really moving in the right direction!

just had a simple dinner of un-chicken noodle soup and a spaten beer (brings back memories of my time if germany!)

am baking banana bread right now - doesn't baking just put you in the holiday mood?!?! this recipe is simple and vegan and fabulous. one hour til it's done.

i know, i know.....the new year's resolution is surely to snap more photos of all this. have a wonderful evening.

weekend away & holiday accomplishments

just returned from a fun 2 days in atlanta of shopping and seeing the fabulous friends we have there. oh yeah - and eating! it was a whirlwind and this lady didn't take any photos. boo. as mindfully as i try to live my life - i am having such a hard time mindfully snapping pics for the blog! and it's really two-fold: not only for the blog, but for my memory and establishing memories of my married life. taking more photos is certainly going to go on my resolutions list.

i do totally feel like i have made progress on the christmas shopping! woo-hoo! the hubby and i made lists and got a lot of things accomplished this weekend. and we were having fun together - who can beat that?!!? the best thing about going out of town for us is that it's like an extended date for a few days. so nice.

speaking of resolutions: my project for today is to make a brainstorm list of all the things i would like to do in 2010. there will be many. then, i am going to bring the list down to the top 10 and make sure they are 10 that i can really accomplish.

holiday yoga party this afternoon with the studio i am starting to teach at in the new year! happy sunday.

whoa - time is cranking away!

so surprised yesterday when i flipped the page in my calendar to realize that christmas is - what?!?!? - two weeks away! how did that happen! and my beloved blogging has been suffering because this week has been wild. why is it that the holidays seems so much busier than any other time of year? i mean, i have a few gifts to get, but not that many really - it shouldn't be this hard. the hubby and i are taking an overnight trip to atlanta and vow to get it done then. i know we will accomplish! plus, i love last minute road trips! total fun! promise to take photos and be mindful of my blogging friends out there. i will totally be better about my posting in the coming week!

having a glass of wine right now and chilling out. so glad it's the weekend. (yes, my last day of the week is thursday and i am ever so grateful for a 3 day weekend - with dance rehearsals of course)

how do you manage your holiday time? how do you set priorities in the holiday season?

i am trying not to wish time away, but am so excited to use my planner pad and keep life organized! woo-hoo! anyone else have one of these calendars? soon, i will be posting my 10 goals for 2010. be thinking about yours, too! i would love for you to post them here when i post mine and get some new ideas on what to accomplish in the coming year!