Transitions

Transitions abound. We have settled in Seattle and now it's time for me to stop using the 'we just moved here' excuse and get started with the things I have neglected over the last few months with all the chaos. It's time.

Some of those things are:

Yoga- I did it for the first time today (after a few weeks of "I really need to start that up again") and boooooooooy...did I feel the several month lapse. I am not flexible to begin with- yoga just helps me look less UN-flexible - and today my muscles were screaming for me to stop, well, USING them. Sorry muscles. It's time.

Art- I have an Etsy shop that has been a long time coming where sell hand painted children's clothes. No stencils or templates, just me n' my paintbrush. Today I went to pick up some new items to paint and post. It's time.

Juicing- This is a new one. I have read and reread Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet and there are several posts on here from when I was doing the 21 Day Adventure Cleanse. I have long been downing green smoothies, but never had a juicer to try that mode of green veggie consumption. Soon after we moved I scored a really affordable used juicer off a local list-serve I'm on. Really high quality, really expensive juicer, barely used, for waaaaaaaay less than I could ever buy it new (I probably couldn't buy it new). It was such an awesome score. That was several months ago and I kept putting off actually trying it out (it required that I READ DIRECTIONS. Very difficult. ) But finally yesterday I tried it and it was everything I thought it would be. I went out right away and got more good greens to stuff down the shoot and used it again today. It was great.

Mmmm tasty. 

Let's drink to transitions.

That Weird Blog No One Ever Talks About

Every family has one.

I once had another blog. Oh, a fun, clever blog, that I enjoyed writing until:

I got too tired of trying to be clever.

Thus, Eco-ing Myself was born, where cleverness happens by accident (...maybe?...) every once in awhile, but it isn't expected.

I hope.

Anyhow, that blog still exists and although I don't post on it anymore, I DO still find some of the posts entertaining, so during this "Post Everyday Bootcamp Why Am I Doing This? Experiment" of this the first month of 2012- I will be reposting some of my favorites from my old blog. As not to overwhelm myself with posting EVERY. DAY. when I have not posted everyday...er...ever.
To start off, I will repost those posts having to do with the only other time I tried to post everyday, which was NABLOPOMO of 2007. (Remember NABLOPOMO? It still exists in conjunction with BlogHer.)

Well, let me tell you, NABLOPOMO 2007 was a failure for this particular blogger.

But the related posts were amusing.

Enjoy!

(Tomorrow).

Beginnings...

I was going to title this post "Beginnings...and Endings", but as I am trying to be positive, I want to frame my language in as positive a way as possible. Endings aren't always negative, but in the way the title would be intended, it would be negative, so...we shall go with just..."Beginnings".

2012: The Year of the Question Mark

I thought last year was the year of the question mark, but 2011 turned out to be Year of Practicing for the Year of the Question Mark. The Pre-Question Mark Question Mark, if you will.

I am so sporatic at posting that I don't know if I mentioned last year that my husband was applying for jobs that would most likely take us out of my beloved state. Last year however, he knew he had another year at his current job if things didn't pan out, so he only applied for the jobs he liked the most, leaving those that weren't that exciting to him. He got two (very impressive if I do say so myself) interviews, and was in the top two choices for both but ended up not being the first pick for either. That was ok. His job where we are is temporary, but he had another year to try again.

So this fall, the job hunt began anew, but this time more seriously.  Because I am a total dork, I made a spreadsheet- and my spreadsheet tells me that he applied for 49 positions, in 29 cities, 17 states, and 3 countries (other than the US). He has gotten 12 interviews so far- which is awesome- and a few more might trickle in this month. These interviews are all over the place- pacific northwest, south, northeast, midwest, west, and the UK. So much for narrowing down my possibilities to a general area.

Since there are no jobs where we currently reside, we will be moving to an unknown location in the summer/fall of 2012- and because I have lived here, have my friends here, and family here, it is easy for me to think that some things are "ending". However, I refuse to succumb to negative word choices. Nothing is ending, old things may be changing, new things are beginning. And that is an exciting thought.

ADVENTURE.

Side Note-

Dear Readers That Live In The Interview Cities: Be warned- I may pretend that we are friends if I am forced to move somewhere I know no one. :)

A Week in the Practice of a Budget Yogi- Monday*

This post is the first of a short series of posts that documents a week in the life of my Year of Yoga. I call myself a Budget Yogi because I mostly do DVD's at home. DVD's are fine for the most part; I really enjoy the collection I have. Would I like to practice more in a real live studio? Sure, but but it really depends on my bank account on any given day, as well as child care, so mostly it ends up being just me, my cluttered living room, a two year old, a dog or two, a cat, and an onscreen Rodney Yee. Rock on!

Today I came home at lunch to do my yoga for the day. I only work 5 minutes or so away from my house, so sometimes this is a nice option- especially if I know the evening is going to be busy. It's also a nice break from everything to come home to an empty house and to light a candle and mellow out for a half hour in the middle of the day.

The DVD selection for today's practice was Yoga for Stamina- a nice 20 minute flow that includes my favorite Tree Pose. :) My mood for today's practice was half way between 'Totally Distracted Lets Just Do This So I Can Check It Off the List' and 'Totally Blissed Out'. My mind wasn't completely on task, but I wasn't completely unfocused either.

What I have found during this year is that I'm not going to be Totally Blissed Out everyday. Some days it will just be a check off the list- but that's ok. I'm there, I made the effort to pull the mat out and practice, and my body will get the benefit. When I'm conscious of a mindset like that, I try to focus more and be present, but sometimes it just doesn't stick. On days like those, I concentrate on the fact that I made good choices in getting on the mat, even if I wasn't totally present. What matters on those days is that I showed up.

I think life is often like that, no?


*This post is also cross posted on my other blog Yoga for Kaylee

Wordless Wednesday: Meaning What it Means