???

"You can not give to the world what you do not have."

What a simple, yet profound statement. I'm curious, what does this mean to you?

yoga

Guess what?!

My sweet friend Dana has just informed me that she will be completing her 500 hour teacher training under Rolf Gates in Virginia Beach starting NOW! This makes me feel excited, proud and inspired.

Congratulations, Dana-Dee! And best of luck to you on this fantastic new journey!

xoxo-

T

gross

I'm sorry, I can't have a facebook friend with this on their wall: "Sarah Palin for president!" Where's that 'delete' button?

untitled

Today was refreshing. I had a couple errands to run this morning, but I got home around 1 and laid on the couch and read an entire book (Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler) and then I watched Up In The Air. It was a really great movie! I also did a load of laundry. Story of my life...

Ina came over last night and we made spaghetti and crostini for dinner and watched an episode of Desperate Housewives. It was nice! It's fun to have friends you can be low-key with.

Melissa will be here on Friday, and Keith's mom will be here the following Thursday. I am looking forward to having guests!

Off to bed!

xoxo

-T

misc

Drinking coffee and eating a bagel with peanut butter. That is what I am doing right this very second. Also listening to a yoga mix I made. Groove Armada+AIR. Good stuff!

I taught this morning. Had a great class, and great participants as always. One of my regulars was back from her three week vacation to Africa and Europe, so it was nice to have her back and hear her stories. I love this class so much! It is way too early for my liking, but I have been teaching it for almost a year now and it has been so delightful to connect with this group of people. They make getting up at 5 am twice a week bearable.

Keith and I are going to do some more cleaning today! We have a junk closet, I am ashamed to say. But after today that will change! I have really been enjoying cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing this apartment. We are considering moving soon (to another Portland apartment) and having things neat and organized will make the move go much smoother. I am hoping we can find a two bedroom apartment that is within our budget, but I won't be holding my breath. We may choose to sacrifice the second bedroom for location. I do love living downtown! Southeast is nice, but I just feel really connected to the area we live in now.

I can not wait to go back to Virginia! There are so many people I have been missing and can not wait to see, but I have to say that I am most looking forward to seeing Ellie and Stormy. Ellie, because I still haven't met her yet, and Stormy for obvious reasons. We are trying to come up with a way we can get together (just the two of us) and honor/remember our Cindy. So far the only thing we have come up with is to buy a cake and eat it in the Ukrop's cafe! One year for Cindy's birthday, Stormy and I threw her a mini party in Ukrops. We let her pick out a cake (she paid for it because we didn't have any money) and then we sat in the cafe, sang her the birthday song and then we ate it! She said it was perfect and that she wouldn't have changed a thing. She was always so appreciative of the smallest things! You could give her a canvas bag for Christmas and she would think it was the greatest thing ever. I miss her so much.

I think I will go start the cleaning now. Yay for clean!

xoxo-

T

cleaning

ORGANIZE. That's the word of the day! I feel like it has taken me a really long time to get fully adjusted to my life here in Portland. I was always one to have a straight and neat apartment and be on top of things that needed to be stayed on top of. But moving 3,000 miles away from everything you know can be a challenge! I thought my journey was over when I crossed the Oregon state line, but in truth it was just beginning. I just got an Oregon license a couple weeks ago, I just got my paperwork in the mail a few weeks ago to register my car (which expired in August) here, and I am finally getting around to making this house a home. I redecorated the bathroom with all matching decor, and today I de-cluttered Keith's closet. What a job! We have some great closet space in this apartment, but I hadn't been using it to my advantage before now. I still have one more closet to go before I feel good about the organization of all my closets!

Something about Cindy's passing lit a fire inside of me to get my living space together. In the days following her death, I really felt like I had to be doing something to keep myself occupied. I didn't feel like being in public or around others, so cleaning seemed like a good option. And then it just snowballed from there. I feel her with me every day. I still don't think I have fully come to terms with her death, but I can definitely say that I am doing better. When I think of her, I find myself smiling rather than crying. And I think that is a good thing.

I had coffee at Stumptown with Julia this morning. It's always such a delight to have coffee dates with her! It's something I wish we did more often. I think we'll aim for once every 3-4 weeks. Hopefully we can stick to that!

We are going to have lots of house guests in the next couple of months! First will be Melissa (a lovely yogini from Texas whom I met in Hood River at the MBF Conference), then Keith's mom, then Adam, and then hopefully Sarah. Adam and Sarah will overlap by a day (possibly two). After that, I will be preparing for my twelve day stay in Richmond!

I only sat down to take a quick break from cleaning, so I think I am done now. I have been up since 5 this morning (teaching yoga, having coffee and cleaning) and I am quickly losing steam! Gotta keep up that energy for 7:30 vinyasa!

xoxo-

T