Weekly presence v.2

In an effort to be more present in my life and utilize this space for documentation and sharing, this is a weekly series to display happenings and special moments in my life.

While I don't enjoy the early mornings, I really love the break I have in my day to indulge in the simple things.  I absolutely loved Yes Please!  The color pages and additional pictures made it fun to read.  I thought it was relatable, funny, and real.  It was a quick read for me, and I would definitely recommend it.  And these Caveman Cookies?  They are amazing!  Simple, natural ingredients and individually packaged.  I like to keep them at work for a little sweet treat after lunch or for a snack, so I don't resort to candy.

One of my favorite things to do lately is text D adorable pictures of kittens.  But the cutest kitten will always be my first love.  This is Bailey as a kitten.  At almost nine years old now, he can be ornery and annoying.  But damn if that face still doesn't make me smile from ear to ear.  Pets truly bring so much joy to your life.

This is a scene from my last long run, 12 miles, before my half marathon this weekend!  I ran all my long runs this training session on the greenway near my house and it's been splendid.  I have loved exploring new areas and running past the Raleigh skyline.  My runs have been fast and strong.  I've worked extra hard to stay balanced.  I'm hoping that my snow/ice day snacking didn't get my body too out of whack.  I'm ready to rock this race!  Ps. Peanut Butter GU is the best flavor!

We had some snow/ice here in Raleigh, and it practically shuts everything down.  My county public schools have been completely closed for four days now!  I was lucky enough to have two days off and extend my long weekend!  I'm trying to forget the fact that two-hour delays feel torturous and much harder than my normal schedule (I basically lose my mid-day break, have a ton of kids, and still have to come in earlier than all the other teachers) and enjoy the beauty that was Wednesday's snow.  There are no pictures or videos that could describe the huge flakes consistently falling to the ground.  The moment felt so special, even when there was no one to share it with, that I never wanted it to end.  That and the fact that we won't have to make up snow days with Saturday school :)

Favorite ways to sweat.

While I haven't been completely successful with my yoga challenge this month, I have been working hard during my current training cycle (my next half marathon is this Sunday!) to stay balanced with my fitness in order to avoid injury.

My work schedule allows me the perfect window of opportunity to hit the gym in the morning, and I have found that going straight to the gym is my best motivation to sweat.  Over the past few months, I have developed a standard of go-to workouts that are my favorite ways to sweat at the gym or elsewhere.

RUNNING

I still consider running my first love and absolute favorite way to sweat.  It doesn't hurt that it feels like one of the most efficient ways to burn calories.  I have yet to find a good running route near my job so week day runs often occur on the treadmill.  I make it a priority for one of my treadmill runs to be a hill or interval work out.  This helps to beat the boredom and burn some extra calories!  Pop Sugar has a collection of HIIT (high intensity interval training) treadmill workouts for any type of runner or walker.  While distance running will always be my happiest sweating place with the challenge and will to push myself further and complete the distance, it's nice add a little variety to my routine.

NIKE TRAINING CLUB APP

Over the course of winter training, I have been strict about adding in lots of ab work and strength.  The Nike Training Club app is my favorite place to find workouts I can use at the gym.  Before my runs, I always start with a "Get Focused" 15 minute ab workout.  I love the app because it incorporates your own music while walking you through your workout.  The work outs aren't videos (which don't tend to stream well at my gym), but you can view video or step-by-step directions for each move.  There is a ton of variety within the app.  I've only recently started using the "Advanced" work outs (you have the choice between Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced), and those workouts are hard!  I'm literally dripping sweat throughout the entire workout.  I use this app any time I travel, so I have can work outs on the go.

HOT YOGA

I still have a love-hate relationship with hot yoga.  With my asthma, I was nervous to try this form of yoga since warmer temperatures tend to make my breathing worse.  Since a lot of the condition is psychosomatic, I found that I appreciate the challenge of hot yoga.  My asthma isn't severe (I don't have asthma attacks), so I don't believe I'm risking my health.  Personally, it feels like the perfect balance between my mind and body.  The only thing I'm ever concentrating on is my breathing, the sweating, the postures, and how much longer until I've accomplished this work out.  This is a work out that pushing all my boundaries and certainly keeps me sweating. The biggest downside?  The cost.

Now that my training is coming to an end, I'm looking forward to finding some new ways to sweat.  What are your favorite ways to work out in or out of the gym?

Balance + Peace :: Incorporating yoga into my daily life.

I don't consider my daily life to be overwhelming or hectic.  I work normal hours, Monday through Friday, and don't have many social outings.  The most stressful parts of my day can be my students or co-workers.  That being said, I am an overly anxious person.  My brain tends to work in overdrive, considering all possible options and outcomes of any given situation, large or small.  This is the reason the idea of putting our house on the market and buying again is extremely stressful for me.  I get the feeling 2015 is going to be quite the stressful year for me.

Over the past six months, I have made an increased effort to bring yoga into my daily life.  I've practiced yoga for almost four years now, but that participation may vary between 1-3 classes per week.  My goal for the month of February is to practice yoga every single day and build my practice into week day mornings before work.

TIME FOR PEACE

When I started consistently practicing yoga, it was my time to relax and be at peace.  I still prefer a gentle, restorative, or yin yoga practice to any other type.  These classes allow me to stretch my weary, run-exhausted muscles and truly focus on my breathing.  My stresses and anxieties slip away, and I can {mostly} enjoy an entire hour of bliss.  I don't always have the time, energy, or ability to fit in an entire hour of practice into my daily routine.  For that reason, I always make some time for peace and relaxation even if it's with an extended savasana at the end of a practice.  Ultimately yoga makes me more at peace with myself and the world around me, and I want that awareness to become a part of my daily life.

THE CHALLENGE

I am in awe of the strength and health of many of my yogi muses.  This is the strength I want to build within myself.  I am trying to amp up my practice by challenging myself more.  With my goal of participating in an obstacle race, I know that upper body strength is crucial.  Yoga can be the perfect balance between challenging yourself and letting everything go.  I can always tell a difference in my running when I've been consistently utilizing yoga to strengthen and stretch my muscles.

YOGA AT HOME

If you practice at a studio, the cost of yoga can become increasingly expensive.  Many of the studios I've found in Raleigh average around the $100/month range.  My YMCA membership is around $35, and I certainly can not afford both.  I've been lucky enough to find a class here and there at the Y with which I've fallen in love.  While there is little comparison to actually attending classes at a yoga studio, I've found a few resources that have made my at-home practice a bit more enjoyable.

-I discovered Yoga by Candace last month when I started her 31 day strength challenge.  She has a YouTube channel with a ton of great yoga classes.  I like the options (such as a quick 15 minute pre-run warm up or even a 60 minute flow) and her style.
-Doyogawithme.com is another great, free resource with a ton of options depending on what you're looking for.  There are a lot of different teachers there, so you may want to play around to find one you really like.
-The Yoga Studio app is amazing!  Again the variety is splendid, and they even have an entire section with runner-specific classes.  You can download a class and utilize it anywhere.  I appreciate that I can easily choose a class based on the amount of time I have.

I have found that I prefer websites with lots of choices in comparison to a DVD because I get bored participating in the same practice over and over.  I'm still trying to find a space in my home where I can truly detach like I can in a class outside the home.

Do you practice yoga?  At home or somewhere else?
How often do you practice? 

Health + Happiness.

Every now and then, I'll find myself looking back at old pictures.  In the process of ridding our house of excess junk, I've come across many of these photos and journals from what feels like a former life, the shell of who I once was.  In all honesty, I don't like to look back at these mementos.  They make me cringe to think of that girl.

[2008]

That girl was insecure and mostly unhappy.  She was always searching: for love, acceptance, security, happiness.  Photos from high school seem to be more torturous.  When I reminisce on times of supposed happiness from those years, such as proms, graduation, parties, I shudder to think of the person I was.  I can still recall the desperate thoughts of trying to fit in, wanting to be "chosen" by this boy or that one, wondering if I looked as good as the others.  College did nothing but to drive me further into my insecurities instead of helping me discover who I truly am.  Old journal entries mulled over old friends being "taken away" by new boyfriends.  My insecurities caused me to push people away, and to this day I still regret friendships lost.  Nonetheless, I'm incredibly lucky that D was able to see past my insecurities; instead he saw my potential.  

[2010]

It took me until the age of 25 to discover my own happiness.  I feel that I owe this transformation to D, for sticking by and believing in me, and to running.  It was not until I started training for my first half marathon that I started to believe in myself.  Over the past four years, I have developed a true love for sweating and running.  I've discovered one of the keys to my happiness.  Being strong, healthy, and confident makes me feel like the best version of myself.  

[2014]

This is not to say that meeting a goal weight or losing x amount of pounds is the key to happiness.  For me, it is actually the opposite.  I rarely weigh myself and don't believe in counting calories.  My happiness and confidence comes from continually staying active, from setting health goals for myself and achieving them, and from nourishing my body in the best way.  When I challenge myself physically, I have no reason to feel insecure.  I feel strong and disciplined.  So what if I don't have six-pack abs?  I can probably hold a plank longer than many women my age.  When I feel my best, this carries over into the other parts of my life.  What they say is true...it starts with loving yourself.

While I'm trying to work on a balance between spending time on me and prioritizing other aspects of my life, I still have some health goals I've been thinking about for this year.

+Be the healthiest and strongest I have ever been in my life 

+Run a marathon (or at least be training for one)

+Become more disciplined with eating on an 80/20 balance and nourish my body with fuel for health

+Incorporate yoga as a daily routine

+Compete in an obstacle race (I'm considering the Spartan Race in Charlotte, NC)

+Continue to balance running, strength, and yoga 

Oddly enough, many of my goals were the same as Megan's.  I thought she spoke so eloquently on being healthy and strong for 2015 (and had pictures that were a hell of a lot cooler than mine).

What are some of the keys to your happiness?

I'd love to hear your health + happiness goals for the year!

Weekly presence v.1

In an effort to be more present in my life and utilize this space for documentation and sharing, this is a weekly series to display happenings and special moments in my life.

I have been having the best long runs recently.  I'm currently training for the Mercedes Half Marathon in Birmingham.  It will be my friend Kate's first half, and I'm running it with her.  I have a greenway a mile from my house, and it is my favorite place to run.  The greenway has actually been an anchor for me in the internal battle of whether or not to sell our house.  I suspect I won't be so lucky to have amazing access to a secluded and peaceful greenway in our next home.  As for the runs, I've been fast and feeling strong.  I've been especially grateful for this body of mine that carries me miles and allows me to participate in this activity that fulfills me in so many ways.

The battle for minimalism continues.  This weekend I'm taking on the guest bedroom, and I'm scared to think of how many hours I may spend distributing items into trash and donate bags.  I have a million mixed feelings on selling our home and buying another; my anxiety flares even as I simply type this.  Nonetheless, I am interested to discover whice path 2015 will take us.

I'm becoming more content with my odd work schedule.  I love spending post-gym mornings at Sola Coffee Cafe.  If I ever started my own coffee shop, Sola would be my muse.  They have amazing drinks (yay for almond milk!), yummy treats, and delectable breakfast and lunch options.  Sola supports local businesses and has the best decorations.  If they weren't located in North Raleigh, I would love to live within walking distance so I could visit on the weekends.  

Since my life isn't always interesting, here's a few links that inspired me this week:

I adore this post from Megan about being healthy and strong in 2015.  I'll likely revisit this topic, but her goals mirror mine almost to a tee.

I took the strengths test that Erika talked about, and I discovered so much about myself!  I still need to brainstorm some ideas for how to utilize my strengths.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who would prefer to have cleaning on the very bottom of my to-do list.  Mary Catherine summed up my clean home conundrum perfectly!

Minimalista.

To bring a bit of clarity to my 2015 word, I should mention a few areas of my life in which I am aiming to improve.  The short list: being content with having less, health, and finances.  Let's start with the idea of having less.  Alex wrote a great post about comparison in this day with the internet, specifically social media, being such a prevalent aspect of our lives.  Admittedly, I desperately struggle with comparison syndrome. To begin working through my condition, I significantly parred down the number of blogs I followed; I unsubscribed from a ton of email lists.  Nonetheless, I still battle with the comparison trap daily.  A beautiful Instagram of my favorite home has me searching the internet for a specific, out of my price range, blanket that will certainly "complete" my living room.  That 40% sale JCrew just tweeted about?  Well, I obviously have to find a piece for my spring capsule wardrobe (which won't begin for another two months).  I have much to be desired when it comes to rehabilitating this comparison problem.  Nothing a little discipline can't fix.

Minimalism seems to be a hot topic.  My Pinterest feed has been bombarded with articles about minimal lifestyles, capsule wardrobes, and DIYs.  Last October, I decided to remedy a bit of my spending habits by trying my hand at a capsule wardrobe.  I learned a lot of lessons, and one was that I enjoyed not wasting as much time shopping and searching through my closet on a daily basis.  As winter rolled around and I planned for my second capsule, I did not do such a great job.  I practically ended up buying an entire new wardrobe thus making anything I saved in the previous months null.  I'm going to save the spending conversation for another day, so my point is that living with less clothing made me feel happier and more like me (due to my refined and true style discoveries).  If having less in my closet impacts my life in this way, what would be the impact of narrowing the clutter in other aspects of my life and home?

D and I are in the process of prepping our house to put on the market to sell.  This has created the perfect opportunity to organize and de-clutter our home.  We are stage one hoarders, so this process takes an immense amount of time and energy.  After completing three rooms, we have already learned so much.

It's ok to keep special items with memories attached.  I have so many things that have sentimental value.  I constantly think that I would love for these things to still be around if I have kids/when I die.  It is ok to keep these items but just store them!  We have an attic for a reason.  We got a lot of large boxes and plastic bins, then threw everything in them.  It was that easy.

I don't need that extra notepad from Target because it's cute.  It is becoming more important to me that most things I own have a purpose.  I can buy more notepads if I ever run out (which may never happen at the rate I've stocked up in the dollar section).  Just as I learned via my capsule wardrobe experimenting, a sale does not mean I have to buy.  Now does that candle on clearance have a purpose?  Yes!  With four pets and two litter boxes, candles are a necessity in our household.  Everyone has different needs, but I am attempting to buy more purposefully to reduce my clutter.

Less really is more.  Our living room has large built-in bookshelves which I adore.  I love having books and displaying them.  Over the course of the nine years D and I have been together, we've accumulated quite a few books and gotten rid of little to none.  After donating maybe 30% of the books and taking down almost all of the vases and random decor, our bookshelves look amazing!  We have said numerous times how this decluttering process actually makes us want to stay in our house longer.  It makes me appreciate the beauty of the house I fell in love with four years ago.

What steps do you take to live minimally and purposefully?

The word.

I have desperately wanted to take time to resurrect this space with the entrance of 2015.  Something, or lack thereof, has been holding me back.  It's not a lack of time; I have plenty of extra that I choose to fill with reading and exercising and sometimes Candy Crush.  There is much in my life that I could bore you with: painting our bedroom, getting a house ready to sell, running another half marathon, yoga challenges, and so forth.  Nonetheless, there is still something holding me back.  I believe I'm missing a little inspiration.

The welcoming of a new year always ignites a spark within me.  It is cliche, but I find no fault in embracing a fresh start.  This time around I didn't think too hard about resolutions.  I'm pretty content with my health and exercise routines.  There wasn't really one single thing I was drawn toward fixing or changing.  I have been thinking about my overarching theme of this year for half of 2014.  I'm turning 30.  For me, it simply feels like a milestone, but a big one.  It will mark the decade of so many new decisions and changes.  For this reason, I want to make 2015/the year of 30 awesome.  Instead of a single resolution, I'm choosing a word.  

After much thought (and a little extra time as it is now the second week in January), I think discipline is exactly what I want to focus on this year.  While I'm so happy with most things in my life, I definitely have a few areas I want to refine and improve.  It takes discipline and dedication to truly make a change.  If I want to keep this space alive, I need discipline and direction.  With that, I say bring it 2015!