How to feel

A body and a mind, physical and mental working in unison matching their strides. Feeling comfortable and well balanced. Flying down a mountain with strength in my legs, a resilient body landing softly but pushing with power off of the earth. A heart that can keep up, a mind that stays in focus looking straight ahead. Infinite feelings as well as grounding comfort. Falling back into the earth as my goal is reached exhausted but proud. Happy to have the light on my skin. Strength and agility in each moment. Happiness can stem from living and feeling every moment, every sense heightened and focused. Looking back and embracing prior mistakes and flaws, realizing they brought you to this wonderful moment you are in today. Looking forward to knowing you can be level headed and strong in future situations if you are aware of your past but feel each moment that passes.

The Big Golden Cheese

OK I've been wanting to create an entire post catching up various things including a list of things I've had my eye on however I am quite terrible with time management & my actions have been elsewhere so here is my christmas list... :)


Thing's I've had my eyeball on...


1. 35 lb. Kettlebell Missing key movements from my workouts this duder could help me with.
2. Rock Climbing 10-Visit Pass Winter tends to limit the hiking & trail running I do
3. Canon Lens Hood Protection & lens flare reasons...
4. Simple Crossbody Bag Could use a small cognac crossbody
5. Gold iPhone 6s Hi Dad.
6. ONA Bowery Camera Bag It's difficult to find lovely & functional camera bags, these are perfect.
7. Thick Buffalo & Tartan Scarves these do not necessarily look thick however these patterns are exactly what I'm looking for

What happened in 2015?

I forgot about my blog

What happened in 2014?

Though I haven't been great at updating my blog I've been keeping myself busy. With the new year rolling in I thought I'd go over my 2014 goals and how I achieved them or rather missed them.

go back to school - I took 2 classes in the summer & fall! & I'm signed up for this spring too!
stay consistent with working out - I stopped crossfit but I bought myself a barbell & have been training at home. Jarrett also got me a tractor tire to use!
expand my bone collection - macerated my own deer skull, raccoon in the works, & I received a coyote skull for christmas!
complete a tough mudder-esque event - 6/7 I completed the Spartan Sprint! & I'm back for more, all signed up for the Spartan Beast which most likely will kill me...
learn german - oh yeah that one...
go skydiving - Never happened... but that's money saved. until this year hopefully!
learn to rock climb - never too late...
visit Nashville - nope

50% aint bad! I mean a lot of goals you make for yourself fail or are never attempted especially New Years resolutions, so I think even completing one of your goals is worth a celebration. Setting up small goals like the ones I did can really keep you motivated through the year rather than working towards one seemingly HUGE goal. To each his own of course but this is what I've found works for me.

& even though this was not on my list of goals I did quit smoking (almost)... I no longer smoke cigarettes, instead I use a vaporizer. A nautilus mini tank on an Eleaf iStick to be exact. And though I am still using 3mg of nicotine I feel immensely better since kicking the real stuff. There is a lot of controversy with these vape buggers but I'll back them up with the research I've done if anyone wants to argue with me. At the end of the day I believe 4 ingredients are better than 4,000+ found in cigarettes.

I'm currently working on a list for 2015...

October at Last!

My favorite month has finally begun and within a week it seems I've done more than I have all summer! Nothing feels as good as fall does, the cold mornings turn to bearable afternoons that fall into crisp windy nights. Between the leaves, the fall flavors, and dressing up, there is something for every sense.

I kicked off the month by taking part in the Asbury Park Zombie Walk which, (leave it to NJ) holds the Guiness Record of "Largest gathering of zombies". If I was to return next year I'd remind myself not to have such an elaborate costume as it took away from my experience. But it was still a great time dressing up and having friendly zombie interactions between strangers! And there are conveniently located bars within a block of the boardwalk for when you really can't feel your feet anymore.

The following day I went to my first wine tasting for
my friend Brenna's birthday at Alba's Vineyard

Followed by yet another day off :D so naturally I went pumpkin picking at Norz Hill Farm with my friend Bethany. I also bought my first apple cider donuts of the season which were unfortunately not very good.

I later met Patti so we could photograph around the "waterfalls" in High Bridge, NJ. I had some fun messing with my camera, I'm still working on the configurations after all this time!

And this is just the first week of October, so I'm looking forward to the rest of it!
This weekend I will actually be working but I plan on visiting the haunted house Brighton Asylum and visiting Jarrett's grandmother. (Not that the two have any correlation ha ha ha.)

Trying something new

Big Lebowski knows.

I'd been starting to feel a lot of pressure and negative energy around me from my surroundings. It's due to an abundance of things like the emotional charge of my clients or being in a house that seems to never stop. I felt it was time to take charge and not let things get to me so much. Because what is the point of getting myself worked up over a few dishes in the sink or an overly anxious friend. Of course I am always there and open to people however I don't have to be so empathetic to everyone and everything.

So starting last week on Monday I decided to do yoga. REALLY do yoga. Not the "so called yoga stretches I do while watching tv" I used to do. I set up my mat on my deck and turned on some music and let myself flow. I've found inspiration through multiple instagram accounts & websites. Some days it seems it would be helpful to have guidance but I like the freedom of moving on my own. And jasper definitely enjoys our mornings & sunsets when I let him share a corner of my mat :) (You can see him sitting on the edge in the picture below!)

Day 1


Headstands always stuck out to me so I decided to give them a go after a good session and although I couldn't do the traditional headstand I found this tripod to be a smooth transition! Since there is more surface area on the ground it is much easier to hoist yourself up and it's less pressure on your core (which I have none of!).

Day 3


I was SO happy to be able to do a proper headstand! After spending a lot of time flailing and falling for 3 days I finally did it. And I've been working on it ever since, at first in 15 second intervals & now I'm into a minute. What's interesting is that it wasn't my physical that was holding me back from this pose but rather my fear. My fear of falling, especially on my wooden deck. And after a few tries against a wall I attempted it in space and got it!

Day 7





So one week in and I can say I already see big differences in my energy, flexibility, loss of daily work pains, and an all around good attitude. I'll be keeping my own progress thru my blog so I'm sorry for those who could not care less about this :P If I was constantly posting these on fb or instagram I'd just be annoying but my lack of followers on my blog makes it perfect!




Mr. Yoga has the best collection of yoga poses & explains how to work your way into the pose.

This & That

I saw this on my sister's blog & I liked the idea so thanks Marine!

Watching
The Killing - I recently got into this after Netflix advertised it's final season being released. It encompasses all that I love in a tv series including, murder, mystery, detectives, a good setting (Seattle!), and good character depth. I've been breezing through Netflix in search of a new series to watch and this one won my attention. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.
Besides that Jarrett and I have been spontaneously watching more movies recently which we normally don't do. We caught up on all the bad horror/thriller movies such as...
Sharknado - A+ for absolutely terrible acting, plot line, & script
Grabbers - Bad movie but a funny plot about a monster attacking in Ireland that sucks the blood out of all of its victims unless... they're drunk.
The Bay - A "found footage" movie that I actually enjoyed about something in the waters of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland that is infecting & killing all of it's residents and tourists. I have never enjoyed watching "found footage" type of movies but this one held my interest in the way the plot line grew & that it was relatively realistic in the way people would handle that situation in real life.

Listening
After seeing Jersey Boys in theaters I've been listening to a lot of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons pandora station in my car. Besides that I fell back into Cage the elephant, Rise against, & The Black Keys. I also recently saw Amanda Palmer perform at the Spiegeltent near the hudson river in NY with Patti. Lately I've been searching for some new music so I'm constantly scanning through Songza's mood's or activities options where I stumble upon a few good songs here and there.

Reading
Statistics Book - let's just leave it at that eh?
And I've also been reading and catching up on a lot of news articles via CNN for worldly news, & NPR for everything else.

Blogger Watch
Stella wants to die - simple but chic outfits
Little Black Boots - rocks a seriously cute boho vibe.

Offline
Running - My parents are back in town visiting so I've been running with my dad in the mornings, it's so much easier when you have a buddy to run with! I am hoping to keep it up even after he flies back home.
Yoga, Stretching, Dancing, etc. - If you want to call it dancing, flailing my limbs, leaping, & twirling to Sia's Chandelier like a 5 year old. No shame, I certainly break a sweat after 10 minutes of it.
Photography - And of course I've been hearing a lot of the shutter button on my camera when I'm baking or hiking, I'm still trying to master the configures.

Drinking :P
Whiskey sours! - Weather I'm at Verve where Mack makes a mean whiskey sour, or at home, I tried making my own sour mix & it was so easy & so delicious!





Amanda Palmer with her husband Neil Gaiman