This is the third new post I have started writing this morning. My thoughts are all over the place. I get a few sentences written and decide I don't like where the thoughts are flowing, so I start over. Let's see if this one sticks.

Today I am teaching a yoga class. It is my first time teaching on a Wednesday. I know I promised more posts on my teaching, and I haven't felt the urge to post...

Maybe it's because at the beginning things were going great. People came to my first 2 weeks of class. Then I had to be out of town for work. Then I was out of town for Wanderlust. Those 2 weeks matter. 2 whole weeks I missed teaching my class. People noticed. Time really does make a difference. I get it.

I was slotted to teach Friday at 6:30pm and Saturday at 9am. I'm a new teacher, so I need to take what is available, so I have come to terms with that Friday after work is a bad time to teach yoga in a place where yoga is new. It's summer and people want to be out enjoying the beautiful weather and planning for vacations and parties. I get it.

I have a cute couple who have been coming to my Saturday class. They did not come the last 2, but again I get it. It was 4th of July week. People were busy. People have lives.

I looked at these opportunities to see where I could improve. I used the time and the space to practice my own flow. I ran through my planned teachings in a space that was all mine. A quite space with the doors open and the breeze flowing in.

I then decided to look at my options. I was driving 40 minutes each way to teach a class that wasn't happening. Although I did enjoy the time to myself, that wasn't what I wanted to be doing all summer. I had a talk with the owner and she agreed Friday's were not the best nights to offer a class.

Tonight I start teaching Wednesdays and Saturdays. I am looking forward to a fresh start on a fresh night, where I hope more people will have interest to come in and flow with me. I enjoy this practice so much, and nothing makes me happier than sharing it with others.

I am excited to see where this new night will bring me. New people to meet. New people to teach. New opportunities. I am also excited I now get to go teach a class on Friday night where I earned my teacher training certification. Go back home. It's a great feeling.

Namaste.

I don't know if you have noticed, but there has been a different vibe around here lately. I am working on being a high vibe person. I want to translate positive vibrations into the universe in effort to keep drama and negativity to a minimum in my life. This of course sounds easier said than done, but I'm sure going to try.

Last week I mentioned I was going to meditate more, write more in my journal, and other things related to my own well-being. I am happy to report, over the weekend I did write, meditate, and smudged my house with sage to get rid of all negative energy.

I slept better this weekend and I felt like things around me were more pleasant. I did some yoga in a nice quiet space and it always amazes me how much better I feel after an intentional yoga session with my own thoughts. My body feels better and my mind slows down.

I've been struggling lately to really understand what path I should be on right now and what I am supposed to be doing. I know deep down what I want to be doing, but I have many things blocking my success right now and the self care items I am practicing for July (and everyday after) are going to help me get back on track.

This blog will be a little more related to all of this fun stuff for a while. Very inspirational with some fun stories and stitch fix posts here and there. I feel at home writing about the spiritual side of life and connecting deeply with yourself and others.

I hope you will join me on this adventure into the unknown, but a path that feels very natural to me.

Namaste.

Hello again sweet loves on the internet. As promised I am writing to tell you about the fear and uncomfortable place I was in yesterday that made me feel accomplished and like a winner! If you want to see my emotional post yesterday about taking the road to self discovery please check it out here.. (The Truth Is)

Truth is, I live for the moments where I can share my discomfort with you all. Why you ask? To show that discomfort can be beautiful.

These photos are courtesy of Julie who was my guide and teacher on the lake yesterday. I am so grateful she caught these beautiful photos of  me embracing my fears!


I am terrified of water. You won't ever catch me swimming in a lake or the ocean. I am one of those people who enjoy the beach and bodies of water for the view. I will put my feet in, but I never go in past my knees.


Yesterday morning I went out at 7am and did paddle board yoga. I will tell you the first hour I was out there I couldn't get off my knees. I was terrified of falling in. Let me tell you, when fear is present, it doesn't matter how much balance you have on land. The water is a completely different ballgame.

By the end of the class I was able to stand up. I still took it very slow and anytime I moved I was swearing bullets. I went from paddling on my knees to standing up and paddling back to shore on my feet as you can see in the first photo.

Another post that is coming, probably next week is I just spend 4 days in Vermont at Wanderlust Festival and did all kinds of new yoga there. I feel like I have covered a wide variety of yoga in a week. From aerial yoga to paddle board yoga. I think I am on my way to want to know it all along with crossing fears off my list.

Thank you all for your patience with me. The generosity will always be returned.

Namaste friends.

The truth is, I'm scared. I sit in front of this computer day in and day out wondering what I should say. What story am I going to tell today? Am I sorry? Am I tired? Am I okay? Am I not good enough for this? Some days I really don't know.

What I do know is I am lost. I am not sure who I am right now. Some say this is normal. Some don't understand what that looks like.

Mentally, I feel the best I have felt in a long time, but I'm tired. Physically, I am exhausted. I have been on this journey to really find my purpose and who I really am since last year. It really kicked into gear when I decided to take on yoga teacher training in January.

I have read book after book talking about self care, self awareness, and self help. All of the same topics come up in each book. They all say the same things over and over again.

You must let it go. You must not let anyone else guide you to do something that does not feel comfortable to you. This does not mean the journey itself will not be uncomfortable, but it must be your uncomfortable.

The truth is, this morning I did something that made me utterly uncomfortable, but now I sit here writing that I did it. What is that something? Well you will have to come back tomorrow and see. Link to that post right here..  Overcoming Fears one element at a time

Today my Truth is, is that I can feel uncomfortable and also accomplished at the same time.

Namaste.

Oh hey.. I didn't see you there... I mean I haven't showed up lately so I wasn't expecting you to either. But here you are. I thank you.

I didn't plan to take a few days weeks off. I got super pulled into a few other projects and here we are. But no shame. Those projects are inspiring my writing. They are giving me stories to share here on my beloved blog.

I woke up this morning and got a sign that I needed to write today. Something about today needed to happen on this blog. I am putting all my faith in that the Universe knows what it's doing.

I had an assignment today and I showed up. For that I'm very fortunate to feel like I've finally tapped into a clearer mind and letting so much of the mind chatter go.

 Hearing things more clearly now. Things are finally starting to happen in the direction I was aiming for.

I need to share with you all my very first, brand new yoga class. It happened. I survived and I'm geared up for my next one this week.

Friday. Come back Friday.

Xo.

I struggled with what I wanted to write today. I had a real struggle day yesterday and it really got me down. We all have those moments, I know. I just haven't had one in a hot minute. I am proud of that immensely as I feel like last year I had a year pass on the struggle bus.

I read an article randomly before I went to bed last night that talked about ways to start your day on a better note. One of the things it listed was writing every morning in a journal. Just let your mind wander for 3 whole pages. Write anything that came to mind just to get it out.

At first I thought that sounded a little obsessive. 3 pages? I can barely write one full page let alone 3. I went to bed kind of late and sort of obsessed over whether I would even get up early enough to write before getting to work. I didn't even have anything prepared for this blog today.

As you can see I am posting this at a pretty reasonable time, so the moral of this story is, I manifested enough energy in myself last night to get up an hour and a half early to enjoy the morning. I sat at my kitchen table with the sliding door open listening to the birds chirp while the sun blared in through the windows. I had a cup of coffee, a journal, and a pretty pink sharpie pen and got to work.

I wrote til my little heart was content. Everything I have been holding in this week that lead me to my struggle bus ride yesterday poured out on the pages until there were three whole pages full of hot pink writing. Man did that feel good.

I then sat and reflected on what I had accomplished before I sat down to write this. It was a really great feeling and a great way to start the end of my work week. I am grateful for the little struggles that remind me that life is what you make of it. You have a new start every day to make it right again.

I am going to end my last Friday in April on a positive note.  Can you believe it? When Monday comes again we will be in May. I hope you all have an amazing weekend and remember not to let the little things get you down.

Yoga has kind of become my life. I started training to be a yoga teacher in January and I graduate in 3 weeks! I don't even know how that's possible. It's gone so fast!

If you would of asked me a year ago if I wanted to be a yoga teacher, I would of laughed at you. Now look at me. It has completely changed my outlook on life and what it means to be healthy in my own body.

Today I want to to talk about body image and all the reasons women specifically avoid going to yoga classes. This is important to me, because once, this was me. I would avoid going to a class because I didn't feel like I fit the "type" that did yoga.

It sounds silly, but there can be a misconception on who should be doing yoga. In todays world, body image is thrown down our throats. We are too thin. We are too fat. We don't have thigh gap. We have muscular legs. It seems no matter how you look, something isn't quite right.

As women we are always feeling pressured to look a certain way. This brings lots of self doubt and often makes us feel bad about something we may not even have control over. We detach ourselves from doing things we love or have interest in because we don't feel like we are good enough.

Not the best photo, but you get the point! - More professional photos coming soon!

Our bones are not all the same length or even shape. If you are trying to get into a pose and you are experiencing bone on bone action, that is no joke. You can't force a bone to go somewhere it wasn't meant to go. I know plenty of "skinny" women who can't touch their toes. They were not build to do this. And you know what? It's perfectly fine!

Yoga is not about getting into that perfect shape, it's about doing what your body needs. Reap the benefits of the pose, and quit looking around to see how everyone else looks. I stopped doing this, and now I can get lost in my own practice. My body feels amazing and that is all that matters to me.

Once I got into this mind set, it made me realize that I am doing what my body needs. Not what someone else's body needs. In one of the last classes I went to, I looked up in a challenging pose. What I noticed floored me. Everyone in the room was struggling. It wasn't just me.

Yoga is hard sometimes for everyone. No practice is ever the same. We all have good days and we all  have bad days. I know there will be students in my classes that will be more advanced than me. I am okay with that. It is not a competition. We can all learn from one another.

So as I close this thought, I want you all to know, if yoga calls to you, just go for it. Your body will thank you. I also want to let you all in on a little secret. I am building a business plan to offer yoga to women who are afraid to take that leap. Build a safe space for them to come and be themselves and to still love their body, no matter what your "shape" is.

I feel like my purpose is to help other beautiful ladies love themselves as much as I have learned to love myself through this journey.

Share with me your experiences with yoga, and what if anything keeps you from going to a class. I would love to hear your stories! Remember, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

I got four compliments this week on how blue my eyes look. My eyes have always been my favorite feature. It made me smile to know the sparkle was back. People were noticing I am coming back to myself again. It's a great feeling.



I am excited about my makeup again. I like to play with my makeup and make my eyes pop. I am also noticing I am taking an interest in fashion. I have always liked looking at fashion, but was always scared to try new things.

I recently signed up for Stitch Fix. You may have caught my first fix. I was dealing with a lot when my second fix came in March. I absolutely loved everything that came in but never had a chance to post it. I got a pair of teal skinny jeans, something I would have never bought myself, and I have to say, I am in love.

I am expanding my horizons. I am working on getting healthy. Things are going good. I am looking forward to my next fix which should be here next weekend. I can't wait to share it with you all. I asked for some specific pieces, as I have a wedding coming up next month.

I am not quite sure where this post is going, but I wanted to ramble on about my interests coming back. I am happy again to try new things. It's a wonderful feeling.

What is making you happy these days?

I had a lot of discussion about my health this weekend with my yogi friends in training. I had mentioned I feel like I have been sick through out this whole entire training and yet somehow I am still standing, ready for the next thing.

One of the things that everyone agreed on, is this journey moves things. This journey opens up things in your body, bit by bit. My body is cleansing itself of all the stuff I have held in for all of these years. All of the pain. All of the secrets. All of the disappointment. Anything negative.

It all got there through pain and stress. It all has to come out the same way. There is one thing I have noticed through all of this. I have felt stronger than ever. My body may be going through some hard stuff,  but I am able to see things differently. My day to day life feels clearer.

My relationships have changed. I am able to interact with people differently. I can speak my mind in a way that isn't negative, but is also showing people I am not a doormat. I am able to remind people that everyone has their own views on life and things they do, but that doesn't mean their way is the right way, just as my way may not be their way.

So many great things have come out of this journey. Friendships. Confidence. Strength. I am sad that it will be coming to an end in a month. I am also very grateful to have had this opportunity and experience. It really has made me a better person. It is making me the best me I can be.

It is opening doors for me left and right. Not just opportunities, but also knowledge. I am going to take this with me into new adventures. I am going to use it to teach and educate. I am going to use it to learn. So many great things.

Have you done anything in your life that changed it for the better? Tell me about it! <3

I am not one to do many recaps of my weekend. I certainly don't do one every week. I do however want to get back into doing reviews and such on all sorts of things, not just my weekend. I also thought this past weekend needed to be reviewed because many people wanted to know what it was like to have a kidney stone. So here we go..

If I had to rate this weekend between a 10 and I want my money back, I would definitely want my money back pronto. To bad there isn't refunds on life right?

I went to CrossFit for the first time last Wednesday. I wanted to be a bad ass and show the world I could do it. It was free trial night and I dragged along a friend and we had at it. After my first "warm up" I felt crappy. I had a raspy voice and I couldn't stop coughing.

I trucked along until we got to the burpees. I hate a burpee on a regular day, but this was something else. I was in pain. Things did not feel good at all. This was beyond the pain of what a burpee brings to the table. I had to discontinue them. I finished up my workout with just rowing, which was fine.

Thursday I was pretty sore as expected. I made it through my work day pretty uneventful. I felt like I was starting to feel worse as the end of my day neared, but I figured it was just my body being tired from the intensity I put it through.

I laid down to watch Big Little Lies on HBO streaming, and had the sudden urge to pee. There's no other way to say that statement, so I'm sorry if that's TMI. I had drank A LOT of water during the day because of my 5 day challenge. I could not go at all. It was odd. As I wrapped up I got the worst pain shooting up my left side. It was between a cramp and a sharp pain.

I immediately went to lay back down. The pain got worse. I called my husband and practically yelled on the phone that he needed to get home ASAP. He was like a minute from the house, thankfully. We got in the car and headed to urgent care, because it was closer than the ER to our house.

I felt like all anyone wanted to do was ask me a million questions. I was in so much pain at this point I was very agitated. Everything became an annoyance. I didn't want to answer anymore questions about where I lived or when my last period was. I just wanted some damn relief.

I was to the point where no position was comfortable. Pain was intense and I honestly just wanted to be put out of my misery. I had been in the exam room for almost an hour with no examination. I finally walked out of the room and said, "this pain is so bad, can someone just please put me out of my misery?"

Like magic a doctor appeared.

I was finally given some pain medication and a CT scan was ordered. The medication was not doing anything. It did not touch the pain. The doctor ordered a shot to be given. At first that didn't work either. By the time the CT scan was ready I had some relief. I was so grateful. I went through my test and felt like it was all over.

As soon as I got back to the room, the pain was back. Seriously?!

I continued to be asked to give urine samples and drink more water. It was frustrating. I just wanted to know what was going on with me and if I was going to make it alive out of this exam room.

Finally, the results were in. I was being blocked by a 2mm kidney stone. It was trying to pass. The doctor felt I needed to pass this one on my own, so she gave me all of the warning signs of needing medical attention, along with prescriptions for more medicine and a strainer. I was finally going home.

We stopped at McDonalds because I was hungry, tired, and needed something bad. I don't often like cheeseburgers, but when I'm distressed apparently a McDonalds double cheeseburger is where it's at. I was in heaven eating my burger and fries. I took my pain meds and tried to sleep. Nope.

I was just too wound up and uncomfortable at this point. I ended up sleeping a few hours on the couch. Had my good moments and bad moments through the weekend, and here I am today wondering if this stone will ever pass.

I am feeling much better today. But I think I still have a stone. I'm wondering if it will get more painful as it makes it's official exit or if the worst is past me.

In the meantime I am going to try to work today, see what happens. I am hoping this will just be a distant memory and I won't ever have to deal with something like this again.

I appreciate all of the love and support I have received through this rough time. I hope none of you ever have to go through this.

Happy Monday Ya'll!

I am going to start posting this challenge on Sunday's so the goal is set and ready to go for Monday mornings. For those of you new to the 5 Day Goal Challenge, it is a small goal set to help you reach your larger goals. Reading my intro post will give you a better idea of what I believe the purpose is for smaller goals.

For last week I challenged myself to drink 80 ounces of water a day. I can honestly say I don't know why I challenged myself this much water, as I did not meet that goal each day until Thursday and Friday. I did however up my water intake quite a bit, so I call that a win.

Part of me wonders if by upping my water intake set things in motion to my kidney stone episode. On Thursday at about 6pm I was laying down watching TV when I got this sudden urinary track infection feeling, that sudden urge. You know what I mean. So off to the bathroom I went. I suddenly had the most awful cramp and pain in my left side.

I immediately went to lay down in bed. It just got worse. I called my husband and told him he needed to get home immediately. I needed medical attention. By 9:30pm I was diagnosed with a kidney stone that was travelling through my system. I had a partial blockage which was what brought on the pain so quickly.

I have really upped my water intake through the weekend to help flush that baby out. As of now it still has not come out, but I am hopeful that will be soon.

So for this coming week, my goal is going to be pretty chill. I had originally planned to get to the gym 5 days this week, but that isn't happening until I am all better from this fun experience I've been going through.

I am thinking this week I am going to write letters to all my friends. One letter a day. I have been wanting to get back into writing actual meaningful letters to all my friends whom I don't see on a regular basis. This might be the perfect week to get that done. Not a lot of effort required to do that.

What goals are you setting in motion this week? Will you join me in taking this 5 day challenge?

They say immersing yourself into the practices and teachings of yoga can be life changing. They say it can be an emotional rollercoaster, where every loop you twirl can be different. They say you will be lonely. They say you will feel liberated.

What they say, is all true. It is really hard to explain this journey out loud. It is so challenging, yet so rewarding. You have moments where you feel amazing and strong and like you can rule the world. You also have moments that make you feel uncomfortable both physically and mentally.

I just finished my third weekend training and I had a really great Saturday training. I felt strong and moved through my practice very fluidly. Sunday I came in and my energy was all out of wack. I felt very off, but not 100% sure how to explain that feeling. My practice wasn't focused. I didn't feel great.

By the time savasana (relaxation pose) came I was exhausted. I laid still and for the first time in my training I felt connected to my inner voice. I heard what needed to be done to move forward in a situation that has been dragging me down for way to long. It was very uncomfortable for me to accept this.

It is times like this that remind me why I am doing this. Why I want to surrender myself to my intention. I want that release. I want to let go of all of the pain, both physical and mental that I have carried with me for so many years. I want to fully know myself and be confident in teaching others who want the same.

My journey is only just beginning, yet I already feel so different. Yesterday I took a yoga class at my studio where I'm training and my teacher asked if I wanted to teach some of his class. I said yes. This isn't something I would of done just 2 months ago. I felt the answer in myself to do this. I felt confident and comfortable leading the class and it made me feel strong.

I cannot explain how great it was to share my teachings with others. I am confident this is what I want to do. It was like the universe knew I needed an answer. Now I know.  I am so grateful for this opportunity.

What practices have led you on a journey to your own self? Do you practice yoga or something else? I'd love to hear about your journey!

Recently I decided to trace my ancestry. It is a lot of work and gets frustrating at times, but it is so rewarding when you find connections that were your ancestors. I found it appropriate to write about this today, on St. Patrick's Day, as I have traced most of my ancestors back to Ireland.

My Irish eyes were shining! Picture from many many years ago!

I am doing this search mostly on my own. I no longer have grandparents to ask these questions to. My parents have been a little helpful. One of my uncles is in connection with an aunt of his who would have some of the info I am looking for. I am planning to call her this weekend.

It is exciting to see the old documents with my ancestors names on them. So far all of the people I have found settled in Brooklyn, New York when they come over from Ireland. My mother told me her grandfather was an orphan, so I would probably have a hard time finding him. I do believe I found him and his siblings.

It seems his parents immigrated here in the early 1900's and his mother passed away somewhere between 1905 and 1910. I was able to find her on a census for 1905, but by 1910 her husband was marked as a widow. I have not found any proper paperwork, but my own suspicion has me wondering if the father abandoned his children after his wife passed, leaving them in an orphanage.

So much to still learn, but so exciting none the less! I am proud of my heritage and what my family worked for to make us who we are today. Everyone I found had hard labor jobs and provided for a lot of children. I today still follow in those footsteps. I have worked 2 and 3 jobs to provide when needed. Hard work is in my blood, and I can see that clearly now from my ancestors.

Today I remember those people who have passed on. I am celebrating by cooking some Irish food and sharing stories with my family. I am teaching my husband some tradition and I can't wait to share this with my children one day!

Have you traced back your ancestry? What did you find? Let's chat about it!

It's Friday! Heck yeah! I have had an interesting week, and thought this would be a good time to get back to posting 5 things every Friday. I always loved reading those posts, so here I am jumping back into it!

1. Weirdest thing I did this week: Guys, I showered with my orange. Say what?! So last week I came across this article about people who are taking their oranges into the shower with them and peeling and eating it. There is a whole Reddit thread on this, no lie. People say it's life changing. I gotta say, I was intrigued.

Now that I am working from home, I get to do things like shower in the middle of the day. I needed a pick me up, so I hopped in with my citrus.

 It was strange, but strangely liberating. I got to enjoy a juicy pieces of fruit, while inhaling the sweet citrus scent. It definitely woke me up and brought me back to focus. The fruit itself was kind of warm, as I normally take hot showers. Somehow this didn't bother me.


So I can say I gave it an honest try and can mark it off my list of weird things to try. I can't say I'd do it regularly, but I didn't hate it.

2. Coffee meetings: Me and my group from my yoga teaching class have a project we need to complete before we can graduate. We met up at a local coffee shop for a cup o' joe and some good conversation. It was great. I haven't been out much, and the coffee was much needed.



3. Lot's of great yoga: Now that I have gotten rid of the plague, I am feeling much better and yoga is on my radar. I took 2 really great classes this week that really brought me back to center. I feel much lighter and my focus and mind feels much clearer.

Also you got to see a lot of my feet in this post. I don't find that coincidental as I have been working with grounding and coming back to center this week. Grounding comes from the feet. When you go into a place of anxiety or feel out of control, focus on your feet. It brings you back.

Also my foot tattoo means "dream". Whenever I an looking down, I remember my goals and that I need to stay grounded. It's a great reminder.



















4. Hot baths: I can't remember the last time I took a bath in my own home. I cleaned the living crap out of my tub over the weekend. I think its now cleaner than it was when we moved in. I have now taken 2 relaxing Epsom salt baths. They were both just what I needed. Just me, a good book, and some detoxing.

Also I have a band aid on my toe because I broke it on a chair this week. Yay me! No downward dog or lunges for me this week.



5. Over active thoughts: I have had some pretty amazing ideas come to mind this week. I have pages and pages of ideas for this blog, for my yoga journey, for my career, and my personal wellbeing.

It's like I have woken up out of a fog and all the good stuff is coming full speed ahead. I am a little upset that I am having trouble sleeping due to all these exciting thought, but we can sleep when we're dead right?

Rick doesn't agree. Lol.



How was your week?

Linking up with: High 5 for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, and Five on Friday

The day has come. A day many people are fearing. Today a new president takes the White House. It will be a day full of tears, struggles, joys, frustration, and unfortunately there will be some violence.

We will see people out of character who either cannot accept the change or will go against anyone who does not want the change. There can be bad on both sides of this.

I know many beautiful ladies headed to Washington DC this weekend for the Women's March. I wish I could be there with you, making history. I will be home locally supporting you. But my fear is, this event will bring the worst out of people. I am praying for a safe peaceful protest where everyone makes it home safe.

I am a realist. I have watched as the world has reacted to what it to come. I have seen peace and I have seen war. I have seen families torn apart by their differences. Sadly this isn't a president thing, this is a people thing.

I am writing this post this morning to urge everyone to find some peace today. Respect your neighbor, even if you do not have the same views. Allow there to be conversation that is listened to rather than responded to. Learning to let people speak before responding is a beautiful thing. We may learn something.

I personally know people who voted both ways. I have friends who are realing about today and others who are celebrating. I see it in my Facebook feeds. I see some kindness and some negativity. So today I want to remind you all one thing...

YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE TO BE THE BETTER PERSON. 

You may not agree with what is happening, but you need to be apart of the solution, not the problem.

Let's all radiate together and create love and joy and march forward.

Hi there! It's Friday and that means I want to do something fun here on the blog. Maybe it's more fun for me than you, but fun none the less. Today I decided it would be a good idea to re-introduce myself (I did one last year too, and it has more info if you're interested..). 2016 was pretty hit or miss for me and I know I have some newer readers who have no idea what I am all about. You might even learn something new if you've been around awhile..


So.. My name is Trish and I have been blogging for almost 3 years. I started this blog as a product review site and after taking the plunge I realized I wanted to write more than just reviews. I wanted to talk about life, and things, and stuff. So I moved my domain over to blogger and got myself a fancy design (or 5) and here I am.

In the past I have focused on a variety of things, and never really found a niche. If I wanted to talk about fitness, I talked about fitness. If I wanted to talk about my crazy life, I vented here. In 2017 I want to be more focused and talk about things that matter to me and things that I know lots about. I feel like that is how you become the expert. You talk about the things you know best.

More about me..

I got married in September and live in a town home with my hubby, step-children, and 2 rescue cats Rick and Grace. I have always been a cat person, and have an allergy to dogs. My house is constantly full of some form of chaos, but that's life right?


Starting tomorrow, I am starting my 200 hour yoga teacher training (200 YTT). I will be immersed in yoga every week until May. I decided this is a good year to really find myself. To release all of the stresses and upsets that I have been holding onto. I will be incorporating this into my weekly blogging.

I will be starting a new career at the end of the month, which will allow me to work from home. I will be talking a little more about that when it gets closer.

I love photography, journaling, reading, music, and finding new ways to earn free stuff. I have been told I am lucky.. I've won trips to The Grammy's and an adventure trip to Montana. I often win giveaways and free night stays at hotels and random beauty products. I don't completely consider it luck, but lots of work.

Grammy's

 One of my greatest passions is mental health. I want to find a way to get everyone who needs help, the help they need. I want people to be able to talk openly about mental health without feeling judged. I had plans to write a mini series on this last year, but it never happened. I am working on making that happen this year. Link up and all.

If you asked me one thing I would want to do for the rest of my life, I would tell you travel. I think the most fascinating thing we can ever learn is the cultures of the world we live in. If we could just all understand each other and share the beauty of life, we could have a beautiful world full of love.


I could probably go on and on, but I am going to stop there. I want you to understand who I am without getting bored. I am hoping to bring a lot of who I am to the blog this year. I am done following in others footsteps as it doesn't always suit me. I may find something interesting in the blog world and do something similar, but I no longer want to "keep up with the jones' "per say.

Time to find my voice and my place here in the blog world. I can't wait to see you all along the way. Take a poke around the blog. There are some good ones throughout the past 3 years, I promise!

Christmas week has officially snuck up on us. Are you done with your shopping? I'd like to answer that question with a big fat yes, however I am not done yet. Seems to be a trend for me every year.

I know I had said I am on a blogging break, and I really have been, but I wanted to take a moment to write a few things as we lead into the crazy weeks that are "the" holidays.

I am planning to write a 2016 wrap post, and that will come next week, but this week I wanted to take a moment to just reflect on what this blog has been to me this year. Kind of a reminicing blogging progress report.

Looking back at the archives, I feel like I started this year off strong and with a positive note, and gradually through the year I went down hill. I found myself complaining here more often then I would have liked, and that bothers me. It bothers me because 1. I don't like to read about someone complaining over and over again on their blogs and 2. I could have done something to fix those issues. I could of kept them to myself.

I felt like I came here to get justification for my struggles. Like I owed you all an explaination on why I was absent, or always complaining about something. Part of that happened because I felt like I was obligated to write here 3 times a week. No ands, ifs, or buts about it.

After numerous blogging breaks and some crappy posts, I am finally to a point where I won't blog just for the sake of blogging. I noticed as the year started to end, my blogs made more sense to me. They had reason. They weren't posted just to get something posted.

I have learned a real lesson this year. No matter how crappy I am feeling in real life, I can't let that reflect on the blog over and over again like a broken record. I have learned that if I am having some trouble keeping things straight here, I will write about it once, let everyone know where I'm at, and move on.

I think that makes the most sense.

Overall I think I did okay this year. I was consistant, but not in the way I had anticipated. Next year I would like to blog with more passion and purpose. I want there to be reason to have you all back. Not have you all leave thinking, "Dear Lord, this girl complains to much!".

I really hope you all will join me in 2017 for a bit of a shift in content here. I will speak more about that in my wrap up post next week.

In the meantime, have a wonderful and safe holiday week! I hope it is filled with friends, family, spirits, and good food.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Happy Thursday!

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I am planning a break this month into January to prep for my yoga teaching certification as well as time to do things that I love in hopes to bring the stress level down a bit. I am deep into entering every single 12 Days of Christmas giveaways. I swear almost every company on Facebook is hosting something.

Fingers crossed that I win something this year!

I just wanted to give a little glimpse into what's been going on in my world lately.

I am just over a month into treatment for GERD. For those of you not familiar with it, it stands for Gastoesophageal Reflux Disease. I have had suspect for over a year that I had acid reflux issues. It really came into play around the end of October where I had extreme heartburn all the time. Nothing I did made it better.

I went on meds that made no difference at first. I saw a new doctor and we have a plan in order. I am starting to feel better, but let me tell you.. acid reflux and heartburn are no joke. If you have even the slightest feeling you may have it, please get seen. It can cause a lot of damage if not treated.

I am still on the fence on if I want to tell my story here as to why I have been under extreme stress for the second part of the year. I have been working on a post for a long time, and I just never feel ready. I also know I in no way have any obligation to talk about my struggles here, but I feel some days like I owe an explanation of my vague complaining and why I am always stressed out.

I am hoping that taking this break and starting with the yoga next month will really help me heal. Maybe then I will have the strength to write about everything that has happened.

I can be honest about one thing, and that is, this blog became very uncomfortable to me at one point last year. Sometimes when we put ourselves out there, we have bad days. We write things that bother others. These things happen all the time, and it has happened to me. I have never quite recovered from that one incident.

I am working on moving past how that incident made me feel. I am working on making this space comfortable again. I am also reminding myself that not every person will love what I write, but I know in my heart that I write from the heart and truth within myself. I accept that not everyone will love me and my writing, but I can't control that, and that's okay.

So tell me. Whatcha been up to?

Soooo I totally dropped the ball on posting yesterday. I really had every intention of starting the week off on the right foot, yet here we are.

I have some really exciting news to share as well as an announcement about this blog.

As we all know, life happens. It has some unexpected twists and adventures that it likes to take us on. I have had a whirlwind of twists this year, and I am ready to slow down the whirlwind and do something for me.

I took a risk and decided to apply for my 200 hour yoga teaching certification. I am happy to announce I was accepted into the program I wanted last week and will officially start training in January. I plan to graduate in May with no real idea on what I will do with it yet. For now I am super excited, and ready to finally do something that is soley for me.

Now as far as this blog goes.. I have decided to take a small hiatus for the rest of December and possibly into January. I have to see how things go with the training. I want to use this month to to my advantage and get lots of reading and relaxing in. Lord knows my body is going to need it once training starts.

I am not planning to completely quit blogging, but I also don't know what my life will look like between January and May. I have thought about sharing my journey and hoping it is found useful to someone out there. I also have some posts already planned out that I will be sharing throughout the rest of this month and into January.

I didn't want to go completely rogue, and also didn't want anyone thinking I stopped reading their blogs. I am still reading as much as I can. I am not commenting much, and I am sorry for that. I am going to try to set one day aside to read and comment. I enjoy keeping up with a lot of you.

2016 has been one of the craziest years to date for me. I sometimes wonder how I survived it in one piece. This is why I know the yoga path is the path for me. I'm ready to heal and reconnect with myself.

I hope you will all stay with me and check in from time to time. This isn't goodbye, but until I see you again.

Happy December. May it treat you well as we transition into 2017

<3

Just a few thoughts today...

I had a nice Thanksgiving and enjoyed 4 days off filled with family, cat snuggles, and yoga. I am very grateful for all of it. Family is always comforting, Hugging my kitties makes me happy, and yoga was a great way for me to get my head cleared.

Today is Cyber Monday. There are a lot of great deals out there if you are one for shopping online. I personally love to look for travel deals. A little tip I like to share is, follow people on twitter. So many great deals go live on there!

The Holiday Tea Swap sign ups close today at 11:59pm EST. If you are interested in joining in, please get signed up as soon as possible. I will have all swap buddies e-mailed by Wednesday. I really hope you will join us.

I have a few announcements coming up in the next few days. Stay tuned.

May your transition back into a work week be smooth and your week be full of love.