Whole Ass It

Hello hello all! It’s odd for me to be writing on any day but Monday – but I had things to do. Like getting over a NASTY cold and putting my Christmas decorations away. Yes I realize it’s damn near February, but I had things to do. Other things. Like going to Hawaii and not sticking around for post-holiday sales where I could get more Christmas decorations for 80 percent off, and a bag or box to keep my tree in. Other things. My bad.

But now I’m BACK! And if you haven’t gotten sick of me yet, well – you just might over the next month. Why you ask? Well. Since you asked – I shall tell. (I know you’re curious anyway.) So – here goes. Beginning on Monday (February 3^rd) I will be blogging DAILY. Because I will have two things that start on that day. The first is a 20/30 Yoga Challenge – 20 yoga practices in 30 days. I don’t win anything, but it’s a new challenge for me. And just think how calm and zen-ed out I’ll be after 20 yoga classes. My plan is to try out as many DIFFERENT classes as possible during that time. I mean – I get it for free anyway so why WOULDN’T I try out new classes? I want and need to build and better my practice as is, so more Power 1.5 and Power 2’s, more Sculpt (Embrace the Suck!), some relaxing Restore, and even some Barre classes. So if any of you would care to join me in this journey, please do! It’s always more fun to challenge yourself like this with friends by your side.

And the other thing that starts Monday… may just kill me. Or maybe it won’t – because whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… right Kelly Clarkson? (Have I said this before? I feel like I have. Whatevs. Sorry I’m not sorry.) I’ve got a partner in crime or two or three who will be going on this journey with me as well… and this one is the Whole30 Challenge. Again – I don’t win anything, except for probably better health. So what’s the “Whole30?” Well here’s a link for you to check it out - http://whole30.com/ - and it’s pretty scary. Very similar to a Paleo diet, Whole30 takes you back to the Stone Age by not allowing any dairy products, alcohol, grains, or sugars. So pretty much – everything I eat on a daily basis. The part that seems to be the most DIFFICULT part of this – no alcohol. I mean I’m sure I can do it, but sometimes you just want a glass (bottle) of wine after a long day. Or maybe a couple beers while watching football. Maybe it’s a good thing we are starting this AFTER the Super Bowl so I don’t break my streak after ONE DAY. So basically – lots of protein, veggies, some fruit, and some “good” fats. We’re not allowed to weigh or measure at any time during this 30 day trip – which is fine by me, the scale is the devil’s little sister – and no calorie counting during that time. I’ve got MyFitnessPal on my phone so I’ll have to not log anything at that time. It feels a little like I’ll be entering a detox program, which I guess it kind of is. But I have my sponsor’s number – so if I feel like eating cottage cheese and chugging a beer, I’ll just give my sponsor a call and we can go for a run or take a trip to the yoga studio instead. (I use the term “sponsor” very lightly – as I am not in AA or any type of Anonymous organization… but it kind of feels that way.) It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be REALLY hard. But I’m going to do it. I haven’t done anything “hard” for a long time. Like since D2D4. And that was in June. I need to kick my own ass for a while.

Have I ever mentioned that my book club kicks ASS? Well it totally does. And you should all be jealous if you’re not in it. But if you do want to be in it, let me know and I’ll add you in J The more the merrier! I’ve met some awesome girls and deepened friendships with friends I’ve already got. This is probably one of the best things I’ve done. It’s so fun to read a book, talk about it, talk about everything ELSE, and eat good food with awesome people. So last night we met for a couple things – first off: to talk about I Am Malala. If you haven’t read this – DO IT. It may make you feel stupid (because this 16 year old girl knows way more than you knew at 16, currently know, and probably will EVER know) and also teach you so much about the culture in Pakistan, Muslim culture, and the fact that the Taliban is an extremist version of Muslim religion. I’ll be honest – I didn’t really know there was a difference. I associated Muslim with Taliban and just ASSUMED that the people of Pakistan were all a part of the Taliban. Not. Even. CLOSE. It will open your eyes to the fact that ONE VOICE can change so much. This girl is so brave – I mean, she left Jon Stewart speechless because he was in so much awe by what she’s done. I was pretty much the same. It just amazes me. The second reason we met last night – was for a dress drive. One of our newbie book club members sent me the link for GirlUp (http://www.girlup.org) and then more information about the Viva Dress Drive. Why wouldn’t you incorporate the strength of Malala with the giving of dresses to girls who can’t afford their own, into one awesome meeting? If anyone has any other dresses (for girls aged 13-22) that you’d like to donate, let me know. I’ll be sending them in within the next couple weeks. It’s such a great idea – because what girl doesn’t want to get dressed up and feel beautiful?

With all these things I’m trying lately, I thought it only fitting to quote some Hemingway today.

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

Seriously though. Just live your life. Live it to the fullest. Don’t half ass it – what a waste. Whole ass your life. It’s the only way to truly LIVE.

Running in circles, coming up tails,

S

Just - Do YOU.

I so apologize for not writing last week, but I was trying to recoop from my Hawaiian vacation! It was amazing. I loved everything about it. I want to go back – NOW especially as I look out the window and see the snow falling. Can’t it just be spring yet? I mean don’t get me wrong – the snow looks pretty, but when people can’t drive in it, that’s where I get annoyed. (I feel like I’ve already written this before… is it déjà vu or is this just being an Iowan?) It’s also really fun when the door opens here and the snow blows in at me. Maybe I should have called in sick…

But anyway – back to Hawaii. I kept notes during our trip to remember what I should write in my blog when I got back. Somehow it got deleted, but I remember the important parts. What I kept noticing, was that every day I used all five senses to capture the vividness of Maui. It was amazing. The sights, the sounds, the smells. The way I heard the ocean every single morning. The sand under my toes. One morning we watched the sunrise, and followed it up by watching the sunset. It was glorious. The food and drinks were delicious – and I tried something new every day. I ate poi, kalua pig, scallops, banana and sweet potato chips, Kona beer, Maui coffee, and so many other things I can’t remember. I went zip lining and it was the coolest thing ever. I went to a luau and watched dances native to Hawaii, Samoa and New Zealand. I rode a bike (for the first time in probably 10 years) down the side of a mountain. I watched the sunrise from ABOVE the clouds at 10,000 feet. I went whale watching. I got a sunburn. I meditated and did a yoga practice by the beach. I spent most of the day at Pearl Harbor. I ate so much fresh fruit and fish. I made the decision that I WILL go back. Everything about that place was beautiful. Even the homeless people living on the beach. I mean – if you’re going to be homeless, Hawaii is DEFINITELY the place to do it. (Not that it’s a choice – I’m just saying.)

I know I’d said I was going to work on my bucket list for 2014… but that didn’t quite happen. We didn’t have much free time so I spent a lot of my free time reading. I started two books while I was there and LOVE them both, I just need to finish them up. So I don’t have my list for you… maybe next time. I mean I still did lots of new things while I was there, so I think holding off on my to-do list for the rest of the year is okay, right? It’s my blog – I do what I want J

So now the snow is REALLY coming down – I’ve gotten texts from people saying that you can hardly see while you’re driving and that it’s as bad as last week. Which is PERFECT because hopefully by the time I head home at 10:30 it will have calmed down. It took me close to 45 minutes to get home during last week’s snow storm and I left work at 4… by that time it had only been snowing for about 30 minutes. We have a guy who works remotely from Georgia working in Des Moines this week. He’s never seen snow. Poor guy. We thought he may miss it – hopefully he went home before all these shenanigans started. Yikes!

Let’s see… exciting things that happened since I got back from paradise… hmm. I did laundry for three weeks’ worth of clothes yesterday – that was exciting. Five loads of laundry later… I’m finally done. I ate at my favorite sushi place when I got back – and it was still delicious. After that I watched Lone Survivor and cried. That movie is AMAZING and everyone should watch it. I can’t even imagine going through all of that. I really did have a pretty lazy week – which was nice. Friday night was spent with a new recipe – Spicy Mango BBQ Chicken and Quinoa (noms) and some more movies. Prisoners and The Butler – both so good. Definitely need to watch The Butler again – if you haven’t watched it yet, DO IT. It’s winning so many awards and it really is a good reminder of how far we’ve come. Saturday I did my time at PLY with some cleaning and Hawaii storytelling, then a quick shift at the mall. I had breakfast for dinner and then IMMEDIATELY took a nap. Maybe I was a little sleepy? I thought about going out for a brief moment, but after I got some old man comfy pants on, I thought eh betta not. ANOTHER awesome lazy night with a bottle of wine and Thank You for Sharing (Mark Ruffalo movie – watch that too) and then of course some episodes of Cops. Makes me feel good about myself. Oh wait – I forgot about the most RIDICULOUS show I’ve watched in a long time. Party Down South. Everyone – please watch this, at least once. It’s literally the southern version of Jersey Shore. It makes you want to punch someone – or yourself – but you can’t turn it off. Throw a little Honey Boo Boo in there and you’ve got yourself a night. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.

Yesterday started out with a yummy breakfast – biscuits and gravy over hashbrowns, with two eggs over easy. Noms. I could eat that DAILY. Except then I needed a nap when I was done. I headed home to start on some laundry and cleaning, and at 4 I got my yoga on. Much needed. And since it was damn near 50 degrees yesterday, I thought I’d go for a quick lap at Gray’s Lake. Probably should have done that lap BEFORE yoga, because by the time I was done it was pretty chilly. I think I got myself sick too – running outside with sweaty clothes in January probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Although – it’s also not the worst idea I’ve had either. It felt good to get a good run done – even if it was chilly. But I got to watch the sunset, so there’s that right? It’s the little things.

After watching The Butler this weekend, it was nice to be reminded of how far we’ve come. And today is now different. With it being Martin Luther King Jr Day, I’ve seen a lot of Facebook statuses, quotes, and other MLK quotes. I thought I’d join in and write one that I really life of his.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

There’s a thought for you. Do what’s right, always. There will never be a BETTER time to do what’s right, other than right now. Live in the now. Don’t think about what you COULD have done, WOULD have done, or SHOULD have done. Don’t think about what you WILL do, say or want. Live in the NOW. And whatever you do now, well then – that’s right. And it’s right for you.

Peace and love – and stay warm loves,

S

Be Amazing

Happy 2014 friends and family and loves! Hopefully you celebrated the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 in style. I know I sure did. After an early dinner at Zombie Burger with Buffalo Bacon, Loaded Fries, half a Raygun burger, and double flights of craft beers we headed to a little southside dive for a couple beers and to watch some bowl games. After leaving the bar (at 9:30) we stopped by HyVee to grab some champagne to celebrate the new year and watch the pre-ball dropping festivities. I’m not even mad about how the night ended up. I got a midnight kiss and went to bed. Lame? Probably a little. Awesome? Absolutely. I slept in and was lazy all day and it was awesome. I woke up to snow on the ground which was beautiful – and such a pain to drive through since NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE IN THE SNOW. I mean it’s one thing if you have a license plate from Texas or Arizona and you’ve literally NEVER seen snow, but come on. If you’re from Iowa and you’ve lived here forever, you should remember how to drive in the snow. End rant.

So I went through my officially, official list that I made last year and realized I didn’t quite finish MOST of the things on it. Some of them I didn’t get a chance to do because they just didn’t come up – like Norwegian holiday baking traditions and buying a car (hopefully Little Red will make it through the winter!) I may not have done everything – or most things – on my list, but I still felt like I had a GREAT year. So let’s check out the (lack of) damage to this list:

1.       Get my spin certification (finally) – maybe in 2014… I did get back into going to classes though!

2.       Carve a pumpkin – I tried to buy one ON Halloween… turns out they were sold out. Fail.

3.       Build a snowman – with all this new snow I can do it soon!

4.       Go ice skating – I need to either go to a Bucs game and skate after that, OR head downtown to Brenton!

5.       Read 40 books in a year (start there and read more if I can) – I read roughly 20. Book club helped J

6.       Do a wine tasting – or five – I went to Wine Fest… does that count?

7.       Start a new tradition

8.       Learn to play tennis – all right tennis friends… make this happen come summertime!

9.       Learn to golf – samesies to my golf buddies, and my dad.

10.    Skydive – I’ll be ziplining next week in Hawaii… that’s pretty damn close to awesomeness.

11.    Send out birthday and Christmas cards – I sent out some… but not enough.

12.    Send out handwritten “thank you” cards – again – next year. I can do it.

13.    Become a yoga enthusiast

14.    Shop local

15.    Take a cooking class – I watched a lot of Chopped… does that count? J

16.    Learn to bake. Period. Cookies, cakes, pies, etc.

17.    Cook a Thanksgiving meal – turkey and all – I baked a casserole for Friendsgiving… maybe next year I can host!

18.    Attend a book banning rally/meeting and voice my opinion – I read a lot of book banning articles… no rallies

19.    Do the splits – after a couple more months of yoga I’ll get there

20.    Find my favorites – food, song, artist, restaurant – I definitely found a lot of awesome things… no favorites yet

21.    Attend an art exhibit

22.    Go camping and hiking – definitely hiking in Hawaii!

23.    Learn how to sew – I’ve got plans for sewing… maybe I need to get the sewing machine in my possession first

24.    Get a tattoo – I’ve got an idea… or a couple of them…

25.    Road trip to see friends

26.    Write fan mail

27.    Learn how to grill more than hotdogs – I can’t have a grill at my apartment… but I ate steak… samesies?

28.    Reconnect with old friends

29.    See Chelsea Handler – I watched many an episode and follow her on social media sites. Nothing in person.

30.    Assist in the adoption process at the ARL – nope. I’ll be starting back at that soon!

31.    Complete DIY projects

32.    Daily random acts of kindness

33.    Smile, laugh and learn something new everyday

34.    Become a cook

35.    Go to the State Fair – how did I NOT go to the fair?!?! Big fail. I’ll have family in town for the 2014 fair. No excuses.

36.    Participate in Norwegian baking traditions during the holidays – these didn’t happen this year as far as I knew

37.    Volunteer

38.    Make my bed every day – I started out so strong. But a messy bed is so comfy

39.    Do 12 races – yeah I did one. But it was the Dam to Dam sooooo that counts like 5 races right?

40.    Buy a car – stay alive Little Red!

41.    Enjoy a spa day – I got a massage after the D2D… but no full on spa day.

42.    Get organized (in all aspects of life) – meh. Organization is so overrated. Woops.

43.    Buy myself something sparkly – I bought glitter things… does that count?

44.    Read and watch the classics (list to come)

45.    Host a dinner party or two – do book clubs and OITNB/Daria date night meals count? If so – I owned this.

46.    Attend showers, weddings, parties for my friends

47.    Keep a plant alive – I didn’t purchase one… but I did get flowers that I kept alive as long as I could!

48.    Be spontaneous

49.    Go to shows and sporting events – locally famous or a little more famous

50.    Go to the Fleur Cinema by myself – with wine, cheesecake, and an Indie film – I’ll make it happen this year. Great movies coming out!

So as you can see, I didn’t quite finish all 50 – but I had a lot of fun. I ate lots of really good food, saw some hilarious movies, read some great books, spent time with amazing friends, and I was happy. 2013 started off a little so-so, and ended in a pretty kick ass way. I’m so excited for 2014 to be here and to dominate every year prior.

Next week I’ll be in Hawaii – and I’m SO excited to see the beautiful views, eat the amazing food, and check Maui off my bucket list. If I love it as much as I’m sure I will, I’ll have to put it back on my bucket list to go back. While I’m gone, I’ll be coming up with my NEW list for 2014.  And I’m super excited. Leading up to my trip to paradise, I came across this on Pinterest. I don’t think it could be any more perfect for a) a vacation, and b) a brand new year.

Life is pretty amazing. Take a minute each day and remind yourself how amazing life really can be. Have an amazing start to 2014 and the rest of the year. Make some lists yourself. See how well you can stack up against yourself. Make some goals, and reach them. If you don’t – it’s not the end of the world. But if you worked hard and enjoyed yourself, isn’t that still pretty amazing?

My number one goal for 2014: be amazing. At whatever I do. Don’t just go through life, pay attention to the little things. Do amazing things, meet amazing people, eat amazing food, just BE amazing.

Be amazing.

S