Something in the air....

Good afternoon everyone! This morning I woke up and went to an overdo pilates class at the gym. I was surprised we had a fill-in teacher, but she did an amazing job. I then went and visited my sister at work and came home to many pleasant surprises:

Would you believe me if I told you i made this rye bread while at pilates? Well, I had some assistance from the Breadman, aka, the bread machine behind the loaf. We've had this machine sitting in the back of our pantry for years and my sister and I decided to buy the ingredients to make homemade bread. Dana has made like 4 loaves, but I tried my hand at it and wala.... the bread gods were in my favor.... This is a light wheat rye:


I bet you WOULD believe I made these beautiful egg babies all by myself, lol:


The plants must've taken steroids last night or something because look what I woke up to this morning!!!!::: Summer Squash, Cucs busting out of the cells!!


My tomatoes also were busting out! Something was in the air last night or the cards are just in my favor this morning with everything doing what it's supposed to.

Maybe the plants are telling me that I have to cultivate my other square foot garden tomorrow....

Yesterday was pretty fun. I made enchiladas with my friend Daryl at her house, came home, did The Shred Level 3 with my sis and her friend, then I did Yogadownload Detox #2, which was a little more advanced but was nice. I also accidentally got hooked on this show on BBC called Mistresses. It's like a classy but secretly whorish version of Sex and the City, UK style.

I've been pretty good with exercising (strength mostly) and watching my meals lately and finally have dropped some weight, which I am happy about! It's only a little, but I feel like this week my balance and mindset was right on par with my healthy goals.

I leave you with this great song by Ryan Adams called My Winding Wheel. Ryan recently married Many Moore (weird) and started a death metal band (weirder), but this song reminds me that at one time he was sane enough to make good music. A good 3:56 seconds well spent:


Tonight, I am staying with my friend Amanda at her Aunt's house on the island and we're going to see our first live show of the Spring/Summer! Ted Hammock, a local singer. Nice.

It's raining here, but I'm glad because then my garden will start to get a move on....

Meditation of the Day

Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.-Rainer Marie Rilke

Work-out Sanctuary

Last night I set-up my new (well new hard drive) computer in my bedroom and for the 1st time it worked! I connected to the internet and started getting excited on the simple fact that I can do yoga and the shred in my bedroom. It was storming out as well, so no bike ride today. My room has a clear space and this morning I took full advantage of this.

I started off with Jillian Michael's Shred Level 2 (Youtubed) which had me sweating a ton, BUT I worked out in my sport bra and shorts, got to yell, take up as much room as I want (no cranky old ladies) and pause if I needed to pee/answer the phone; all things that would not fly at the gym. I liked the Level 2, (in a love/hate abusive relationship kinda way) I have only done Level 3 and they both seemed hard in different ways but I definitely find the transition of cardio to strength to abs a great combo, and makes it go by faster. Then I did a 15 minute abs class on YouTube by some girl from SparkPeople? It was basic but good abs work. I started writing shred on the calendar each day I do it. I'm hoping by Canada (April 25th) I'll have mastered this shred business.

After the shred & abs, I turned the lights off, lit my Jimi Hendrix incense (circa 2001), and I did YogaDownload's Yoga for Runners #1 because I felt tighter today than yesterday from the race. The class was great, except I got a little lost in the middle so I did some teasers, lol. That's another plus to my new yoga sanctuary at home, you can alter moves and not feel like an a hole.

Don't get me wrong, I would've worked out in my room eons ago, but having the instruction is always what keeps my interest and motivates me.

Tonight my sister and I are heading to yoga at the gym and to do some running. I have another job interview Wednesday, and tomorrow who knows? One day I'll revel in these jobless random days I call my life.....Off to make some lunch...

P.S. If you have XM Radio through DirecTV or whatever, I discovered my new favorite station called "Coffee House" on channel 848, acoustic, chill, calm, awesome.

Today in the blog world there's a lot going on --- Angela from Oh She Glows is giving away some chocolate (that's all I need to say), The Hungry Yogini is giving away a month's supply of Fage, Find Your Balance is giving away a Kripalu Vegetarian Cookbook, and Meghann from Inner Workings of A College Graduate is having a blogger bake sale to raise money for her Team in Training efforts. If you have some cravings for deliciousness and also want to help a good cause, head over!

Meditation of the Day
(Happy Birthday Ram Dass)

Be patient. You'll know when it's time for you to wake up and move ahead.- Ram Dass

Wake up call

“Life is one big road with lots of signs.So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate,mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!” ~ Bob Marley

Happy Friday.... Thank you for the comments the other day... It's crazy how a couple of words can help you out so much! I am feeling a lot better now, and I knew it was one of those days where everything comes crashing down at once.

I woke up at 5:50 yesterday morning to a phone call to go sub. My class was an autistic preschool, and it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. I knew about autism roughly through my mom who is a school counselor for kids with behavioral issues, but never have I had to be the authoritative figure to an autistic child. I figured subbing would be a way to make some money and I didn't expect to get much out of it, but after even being in that classroom for 4 hours, my eyes were opened to the challenges these children face each day. When kids are that young, something as simple as building a wall out of building blocks is an accomplishment. It had me wondering what goes through their minds, and how alone they must feel at times... It saddened me, but also made me thankful for programs at schools geared towards autistic children....You learn something new everyday, when you least expect it... I am happy I got to help for a day.

After subbing, I met up with some friends and we got salads & a couple drink at a local pub, then went and saw my old High School's Musical, Bye Bye Birdie! It brought back memories of when I was in the plays (I did the plays for 2 years and cheered competitively for 2). They were so good and worked so hard and it was nice to support my old school. After the play, I was EXHAUSTED and passed out so fast. I set my alarm for 7am pilates, but I gave into my sleep, oooops! I woke up, had some Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran with honey, brown sugar, raspberry jelly & almond butter. I think I added too much water but it was a different and creamy consistency and delish...
My sister found Jillian Michaels' 30 day Shred on Youtube and since it's like the newest trend, lol, I decided I'd give it a try. We did level 3 and I liked the combo of cardio and strength. I didn't modify the moves which I thought I would have to do since I was a newbie but it did cause me to sweat and I think I yelled "noooooo" a couple times. I feel like if I did this each day I'd strengthen my moves. It was hard, but not to a point of never wanting to do it again:-)

The 5k
Soooooooooo......tomorrow is the 5k Race for Life on Long Beach Island with my sister, and I couldn't be more excited. The wind is supposed to be 35 MPH and we'll be running a quarter mile from the beach so I'm definitely bringing an ear headband thingy.

My Goal
Since this is my first race, I am not trying to set any crazy goals or get down on myself if I walk a minute. I initally said I wanted to be under 30 minutes, but I find when I set a cut and dry goal I get too focused on the goal and not the journey. I went from not running AT ALL to being able to run 3 miles (dying slightly) and 1 and 2 individually as well. For me, this is a big hurdle, because I was so scared to run again.... It seemed unattainable and the treadmill reminded me of a big bad monster. The last time I had run in a race was in track freshman year of HIGH SCHOOL. In all honesty, I'm all about the fun factor tomorrow, and enjoying the race instead of anticipating a set time. There is supposively a great after party too, whoohoo. Wish me luck!


I'm off to Target to browse and then possible do some light cardio at the gym. Have a great weekend!!


Meditation of the Day
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. Buddha
My sister and I after backpacking to the top of Garfield Mountain in White Mountains, NH. It was supposed to be the most beautiful view, but we only saw fog. We didn't care...we made it.