Yoga

This yoga video from Yoga Journal is such a good core workout. I love it! :)

I Can See!

I've known for a while that my vision when driving at night is not the greatest. Especially if it's raining. I went to the eye doc and he gave me a prescription for eyeglasses needed only for nighttime and distance. I had no idea how bad my vision was until I put these on! My up-close vision is fine, but wow was I missing out on the far away stuff! So those street signs still have words and numbers at night, eh? And no more stopping at shadows in the road thinking it's an animal!

I'm pretty excited to have my new glasses. I got the frames for a really good deal! If I wear them a lot I may end up getting a pair that I like a little more, but for now these will do.

A Matter of Height

At 5'11" I am sometimes a little apprehensive about wearing any heel over about an inch in height, even though I LOVE wearing heels. I love the way it feels to walk in heels - an instant notch up in confidence and sass.

Lately I've been really into these mid-calf boots and ankle boots. I've been eyeing them for sometime now, but apparently it seems that for the most part the boot manufacturers think if you're wearing boots that surely you're 5'3" and yearning to be eye-level with the NBA stars. Not true for me. So my option is to be taller than the NBA stars (well, ok, not quite) or to wear flats, which seem so...... flat.

Exhibit A: I fell IN LOVE with this pair of booties the other day while shoe-shopping with my mom. I felt the heel may be too tall though (it's 3 3/4", though it looked taller to me). I had my mother stand next to me in the mirror while I stood with one sock-foot and one in the heel. I'm already taller than her and when I stood on the heel my head disappeared above the mirror on the wall. Despite the amazing price, I left the shoes for someone else to adore.

I keep thinking about these booties though, and all the boots I've been looking at:



Final conclusion: I don't care if they make me Gigantor, I have to have them! I guess when you're nearly 6' and already towering over everyone, what's a few extra inches?

Time to go shoppin'! :D

Yoga Moves of The Day

A friend of mine shared this yoga video with me yesterday. These are a few nice moves to add to the ol' yoga routine. I'm feeling it now (the next day), so it must be doing something for my derriere! :)



Oh yeah, except the "splits" part. HA! Yeah right. Real people can't do that. Lol...

Temple Grandin

The hubby and I watched the most wonderful movie over the weekend: Temple Grandin. It's the life story of a lady who is autistic and through her autism she feels she can better understand animals, or at least the way they perceive things. She uses this understanding to help redesign the equipment used in the beef cattle trade to make it more humane and more efficient.

It is an absolutely wonderful movie. Claire Danes plays the role of Temple Grandin and is truly phenominal. Catherine O'Hara is also in it, and some other faces that may be familiar. If you get a chance, it's such a good movie!



Temple Grandin has also written several books on autism and on animals. I've read her book Animals In Translation and it's really good. I'd like to check out more of her work.

Brrrrrr......

Today is cold. Freezing. Colder than freezing. Today is 0 degrees with the wind chill. 0. As in ZERO warmth to be found. I am sticking close to my little space heater today as I stare at my photos of warmer places of times past....




Ooooo. I can feel the warmth of the space heater tropical breeze, as I sit here sipping my burnt coffee pina colada. I bury my boots toes in the snow sand, and look up at the grey blue skies.

.... I'll keep working on it.

Well, this is kinda cute!

I'd really like to make some more time for crafty creatives, like this:


Instructions can be found HERE.

Work, my two college courses, a certification exam I'm studying for, and the need to get off my derriere from time to time are a slight hindrance to craft-time. But I know someone I'd like to make this for. I think she'd really like it! :)

Oooohh... and this:

...and this too:

Both found HERE.

I think I'll be having some fun with these!

2011 Personal Goals

I don't believe in new year's resolutions. If you want to make a change in your life, what's wrong with starting today? I feel that rather than waiting for next Monday or the first of next month for a "fresh starting point", it is more empowering to say "right now". "I am going to make this improvement in my life right now. This moment. It is that important to me that it cannot wait, and I will improve my life from this moment forward.

That being said, I don't have a list of changes to make in 2011 starting January 1st. However, that does not mean that I don't have changes to make. I will acknowledge these needed changes as they arise, and will make improvements in my life and myself as the necessary changes become evident to me.

So here goes:
2011 Personal Goal #1: Focus on the positive.
(#1 only in sequence, not necessarily in importance)

And there is a lot of positive in my life to focus on. I am a newlywed (4 months and going strong!). I have an amazing, comunicative, attentive, affectionate, loving and supportive husband. I have a wonderful family (both blood and in-laws) that I am fortunate to have in my life. I am lucky enough to have a job that I have had for over 8 years (since I was 18), despite the economic lull that cost so many their jobs. I have the opportunity to attend college to futher my education, improve myself, and follow my dreams; and I do well in my classes.

I can tend to sometimes see all of my downfalls. I see all the places I'm falling short, yet I go blind to the accomplishments I make and the things I do well, as though somehow I am only as good as my "worst mistake".

From this moment forward, I intend to let my shortcommings go. I will seek to improve my faults, but not focus on them. I read this in an article the other day, and it really stuck with me:
"It’s like getting a flat tire—you fix it and move on,
you don’t poke holes in the rest of your tires."
The article was in regard to weight loss and blogging, but can carry over for just about anything. If you mess up, don't beat yourself up about it. Fix it and move on. This year, starting now, my goal is to fix my flats and keep on rollin' down the road because if I focus too much on my tires, I'll be missing all the beautiful scenerey.

My Lazy Meadow Kitty.

Life Lessons from Big Cats

2011.

New year. New name. New 'do. New me.