The Patty Melt

How is it Monday again? Last week was a continuous tornado of windy (but exciting) events that picked me up and dropped me at the beginning of another week. I caught up with my beautiful, best-friend from high-school, GOT MY DRIVER’S LICENSE (!!!!), watched my sister graduate from college, and practiced copious amounts of yoga.

Even though my massage school doesn’t begin until June 4, these coming weeks are going to be moments packaged into blinks.

Ummm….for example??

I’M LEAVING FOR NYC IN FIVE  SHORT HOURS!!!!!

How am I powering up for my first day?

Kombucha mixed with apple cider vinegar and this pretty plate:

Two delish D’anjou pears, 1/2 of an overly browned banana, and a lil’ sprinkle of cinnamon.

After breakfast, I’m planning to hit my mat and move through sun salutations…

In my practice, I try to move through every posture with intention….
however, that is in an ideal world… 

My brain imitates a child’s nervous system racked with overflowing amounts of espresso.

Last week, I was thankfully provided with a new opportunity to practice with a beautiful teacher. Her class was alignment based and charged my motions with centered concentration. She offered a unique mental image that refuses to leave my mind:

“As you push into your mat, imagine a cockroach has crawled under your hand. Pin it down with the inside, upper corner of your palm…”

That image of the cockroach has been forever burned into my focus, but has provided me the essential benefit of proper hand placement. Often I lock my elbows when I move through chaturanga and through exerting concentration on where the pressure should be correctly pushed through, I have better maintained integrity through my hands, forearms, and elbows.

Our bodies are beautiful. By adjusting such a small nuance of my practice, I change my entire flow…

Today, my mantra is openness. 

I am open to new experiences…
I am open to new opportunities of abundance…
I am open and READY to receive miracles…
I am open to all that NYC is going to gift me with this week… 

I FINALLY passed my driving test! WOOO….. I’m officially a licensed Ohio driver again! Last week, I passed the road test with a perfect score, but I miserably failed the maneuverability portion. Let’s just say that I’m quite an expert at correctly using my mirrors now…

With my reinstated freedom, I ventured to the beautiful organic grocery store and restaurant~

The Mustard Seed Market and Cafe

 
It was ridiculously fun to ogle over the gleaming produce and casually stroll up and down all of the aisles. I’m such a boring vegan…what did I buy? Kombucha tea, fruit, veggies, salsa, and cumin. I try to adhere to a raw diet of strictly fruits and veggies (as much as possible~ I do love salsa and spices), but sometimes I get wild and steam broccoli or bake a sweet potato. ha.

While living in Korea, I mainly created my own vegetable and salad concoctions at home. There were some places where I could find a decent salad bar (this place actually had a great one~ Garobee), but they were often quite crowded (no complaints…just stating from experience). Who likes to feel overwhelmed and hurried when he/she is trying to create the perfect salad? Not this girl.
OOOoooOOoo… and on top of restocking my kombucha stash, I bought a few of these to try…

This was my beautiful, fresh dinner…

Then, on my way home… I couldn’t help the temptation. I tore into my bag of collard greens…

(please excuse the poor photo quality…  I was in my car)

And finally… my nightcap

 
Yes, this is a Golden Delicious Apple. I haven’t had one of these lil’ beauties in THREE YEARS! Apples in Korea are delicious, but there are no golden guys to be found anywhere.  I am blessed with SUCH abundance!! I indulged my taste buds with its almost buttery-like sweetness.

I promise I do other things besides eating .

After I arrived home from my driving test, I relaxed for a little while, tried to make plans for the evening with my busy family (fail), cleaned, read, practiced my sun salutations (primarily my chaturanga transition into  urdhva mukha svanasana), and then ventured off to organic food land.

What is on my plate for tomorrow (hahaha…no pun intended^^)??

Fixing my mother’s new hubby breakfast (she is a flight attendant, so I promised her I would take good care of him while she was gone), yogayogayoga, and then seeing my best-friend from HIGH SCHOOL! Where we are going has a collection of stellar salads… stay tuned for more pics!

I LOVE BEING HOME.

A delicious, well-deserved lunch after an INTENSE yoga practice! YUM.  All raw~asparagus, cabbage, romaine lettuce leaves, red onion, and a GIGANTIC Portobello mushroom. YUM.

Being home has been living moments of fresh air through every inhale (Note: This statement is to be taken literally and figuratively… The city is taking baby steps to work on air quality, but when millions of people are packed into a toaster-sized area… air pollution problems are inevitable. At least it is getting better!! breathe

Indefinitely, pieces of Seoul have been woven into the deepest threads of my heart, but (and this will be certainly mentioned repeatedly…) I’M SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!

Abundance blesses me repeatedly, every day!

Little Valley City, Ohio still carries its country charm amidst the sprouting of new homes and businesses. I’ve relished in the scent of cut grass and wildflowers.

I had forgotten the space at my mother’s house:
Each night, I slip into soft quilts with every edge tucked into their respective corners. They are layered over a melt-into, memory-foam mattress that has stolen any remnant of insomnia.

Every day is truly a MIRACLE! If I continued to type away all of the unbelievable gifts that have been so freely given to me, certainly my ramblings would lose anyone’s attention span. 

What vegantastic delights have I been munching on?? It’s true. Most people would find my diet boring due to consistency; however, I see the shining light in eating simple, fresh, and raw foods. I’m constantly asked, “What was the first thing you ate upon being back in America?” I think the first thing was an apple.

My breakfast has looked like this almost every morning:

D’anjou pears, Ruby Red grapefruit, and a little sprinkle of blueberries and rasberries…

More grapefruit, extra ripe Bartlett pears, and more blueberries!

AND… my fabulous mother was able to finally stock our fridge with KOMBUCHA!!!!!!! I haven’t had one these little elixirs of joy and wellness in YEARS. This morning upon rising, I drank about 30 oz. of oxygenated water. Then after about an hour,  I mixed four ounces of kombucha, two tbsp. of Bragg’s Apple Cider vinegar, about a tbsp. of lemon juice,  and eight ounces of oxygenated water.

My apologies for the poor photo quality…

What is on my busy agenda today?? A hard, beneficial workout  and yoga practice, chased with a healing dose of self-reiki (more on that later..) and chakra meditation. I have to prepare for another session of maneuverability practice for my driver’s test on Wednesday morning… 

I have countless blessings today and even more miracles about to unfold in the coming weeks:

*FIRST NYC TRIP
*MOVING TO AUSTIN, TX
*STARTING MASSAGE THERAPY SCHOOL
*FINISHING MY REIKI CERTIFICATION

Life is too good… 

Well.. I made it back to America. Yay and woo (more on that later…).

And it’s about time that I updated this blog.

I am continuously overflowing with exciting, inspiring, motivating ideas; however, do/can I bring these little seeds to blossom? Rarely.

What’s up with/happened to my lil’, adventurous, 90 day challenge? It teeter-tottered between being a fabulous idea with A+ results, while simultaneously stimulating a neglected blog.

Fitness wise? I’m in the best shape of my life! I had been practicing yoga for quite some time, yet the addition of pilates into my daily yoga practice has been a welcomed transformation. Not only has it been beneficial to my core muscles, but following along to the supa-hot Cassey Ho of blogilates is pure fun.

Nutrition? Amazing. Eating clean keeps the body lean.

Water? Definitely my digestion has been helped with guzzling AT LEAST 16 oz. of water EVERY MORNING, upon rising. Thank you again, blogilates: water challenge.

My skin? Ugh. My skin is doing better, but I still have yet to ditch the awful picking habit. I’ve been slathering my face in coconut oil, and the elasticity, radiance, and overall appearance has been nicely noticed (thanks, Gram).

My blog? Hmmm… obviously it needs some work. Let me take that back… I need some work…

Diet Coke, Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper, Diet A&W, Diet Sprite.

Death wishes formerly known as my drug of choice…

I used to be addicted to diet pop (or.. soda if you aren’t from the Midwest). I would consistently drink it throughout the day, allowing myself the ignorance of not fully digesting how detrimental it was to my mind and body.

This morning in my Pinterest travels, I came across this blog posting about soft drinks:

WHAT HAPPENS TO A PERSON’S BODY WHEN THEY DRINK A COKE

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

While this article specifically discusses the ill effects of regular soft drinks, it was an excellent reminder of why I continue to make the choice not to consume pop.

For more frightening information regarding diet pop, read this:

http://www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm

Not to end a blog post with bad taste..here is an incomparable alternative:

(again, thank you Pinterest…)

In 50 days, I will be on a plane headed back to America.

 Cleveland, OH:

My home town,
where most of my family still lives,
and where a few good friends still call their stomping ground.

In 104 days, I will be in a car  driving to Austin, TX.

Currently I live in Seoul, South Korea where I’ve been teaching English to preschooler/kindergarten/elementary aged children. While my 3 YEAR Asian experience has been incredible and life-changing, I am READY TO COME HOME!

Upon moving to Austin, I will shortly begin massage therapy school. Through studying yoga, I’ve developed a fascination with the human body and its ability to heal itself. I believe that by becoming a massage therapist, I will be given the knowledge and tools to help people in their personal healing process.

How am I connected to Austin?

I’m not. At all.

I initially toyed with becoming a Texan because my sister was possibly moving there. Since I’ve been without her for YEARS, I just wanted to be living somewhat close to her. In researching programs, I found that Austin has a fabulous school which is cost-effective and an intensive 4 month program (as opposed to 7-13 month part-time programs that a majority of schools have).

The program will start on June 4 and will be from 9:30a.m.-5:30p.m. M-F. I plan on finding a part-time job, so between studying and working I’m predicting that I’ll be a little MIA…

Every morning I scour Craigslist.com with more determination than I spend on my dishes, and I’ve been studying a plethora of Austinian blogs. Through my intense city scrubbing, I’ve come across this little gem, and it has been deemed as my first Austin restaurant experience

A vegan, raw-food restaurant? Yes, please.

Green smoothies, huge kale salads, and locally produced Kombucha? AHHHH. I’m drooling.

I’ll let you know how drool-worthy it is in June

First of all…

HAPPY V-DAY to everyone (note: there is quite a time difference… I need to adjust the posting time on this blog, but it is definitely Tuesday morning in Korea)!! Surely Valentine’s Day is a mooshy-smooshy Hallmark holiday, but why not take a day to simply celebrate love? There is enough hate, discrimination, and judgment floating around in our world, that if everyone just took this one day and practiced loving others… I wonder how much of a ripple effect it could have.

It doesn’t exactly have to be romantic love either… I began Valentine’s Day yesterday by celebrating with my co-workers, and I plan to enjoy today by focusing on how I love my students (as opposed to feeling frustrated at times). Today doesn’t have to be depressing because you are without a Valentine.

Focus on the abundance of love that you already have in your life.

Next…

Blogging is time-consuming, and where I’m falling flat on my face in my challenge. Like I wrote before, practicing pilates, eatin’ clean, guzzling water, and leaving my skin alone have been quite easy to maintain (beyond the random urge to  purge my face of impurities).

Last weekend, I did begin an extensive post about a nutrition topic; however, in researching health benefits, etc. I started to drown in information overload. Ayurveda and Chinese medicine absolutely FASCINATE me. Therefore, as I began to explore the effects of a food combination on the body… I couldn’t stop opening drawers of new facts. That post will make its appearance soon (I hope).

One thing that I did accomplish this weekend was clearing out more clutter!

I sold this beautiful, blue bike.

On APRIL 11, I AM FLYING HOME!!!

(Have I mentioned before that I am an English teacher living in Seoul? I probably should fill out the “About Me” portion of this blog sometime soon..)

After checking out the cost of flying a bicycle (even if I boxed it up and took it as checked luggage), I discovered that it is too pricey. Also, I haven’t exactly ridden it…at all. Maybe 4-5 times…*terrible*. The guy who bought it (thank you Craigslist.com) is an avid cyclist, and he will give it the attention it deserves. It was a little bittersweet in our parting, as the transaction was another confirmation of my life in Korea ending, but more so, it was releasing.

I am ready to go home.

Today?

My mantra is: Love yourself.

Have a beautiful day.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I felt the need to share my lil’ heart’s desire…
I have found my soul mat (e):

Out of all the mats that I have ever had, my current Manduka mat has taken special care of me and my body. For the past three years, its diligently been dedicated to practicing with me; however, now it is time to retire it.

Aside from being stellar on comfort, the company is amazing…

We support fair labor practices and toxic-free emission facilities.
Wherever possible, we use natural, recyclable, sustainable and/or biodegradable materials,
and constantly search for new green technologies.

Since my birthday is in May, I feel that this is a perfect present to give myself  :)