Bikram Yoga

Oh, you know I hafta blog about this!

So I'm kind of one of those people where if something sounds remotely miserable, I'll write it off in one second and never think to do it.

That's how I felt about Bikram Yoga. They keep the room at like 105 degrees, and it's yoga. Two things that let's face it, I'm not exactly pro at. Usually when I do yoga, it's in my bedroom by myself with the door closed so no one can see how woefully inflexible I am. And 105 degrees. This girl don't sweat in public, k??

So Mark, Dwight's best buddy from high school was visiting this week and decides he wants to try it again and have Dwight and I tag along. Dwight calls me up to tell me, and I'm pretty sure my response was, "eueurgh" or something like that. But with a little convincing I was talked into it. I didn't want to be a lame-o pants and stay home. Besides, I've been on this kick where the more stuff I try, the more cool I feel. Don't ask, I don't get it either.

So Mark is saying how we will sweat more than we ever have in our lives put together, so bring a change of clothes and a towel... and I'm thinking, "this is going to be such a blast" in my sarcastic, somewhat teenager-ish attitude.

We get there, and the instructor guy is sitting out there with a towel around his waist, still not sure at this point whether he had something on under that or not. And tats up the wazoo, he seems friendly enough though. I go put my stuff in the locker room where there are one too many naked ladies in there. There was only one, but that's still one too many. And then we head into the yoga room.

It was like a wave of sweaty air filled my lungs. As I laid down and started thinking about how hot it was, I sort of started to panic. I was already feeling like I couldn't breathe and this was going to be the worst hour and a half of my life. Not to mention, I had worn a cami and a t-shirt, me being the only little modest Mormon girl in there. And all the ladies were in these things, I think they must have been sports bras but they were so small, they were more like spo brs. Too small to deserve a full name. So I stick out like a sore thumb in my fully clothed, lerpy body. And we also had the honors of being singled out as the new people. We all love to be the new guy, don't we?

So our instructor comes in, thankfully wearing some shorts (see the a fore mentioned towel). And he is pretty much drill sergeant intense. I thought he'd be all peaceful and try to help us connect with nature and junk. Nope, he was raring to go and get us on our Bikram journey. By the way, he said our goal for the first time was just to stay in the room. Can't tell you how reassuring that was. That's like saying, "okay, you're in a room full of snakes, for the first time, just try to stay in." I'm thinking it's literally going to feel like hell on earth and I'm going to run out screaming and barfing.

We get started. He told us all to breathe from our noses the whole time, and that helped me feel much better like maybe I wasn't suffocating quite as bad as I thought.

He's being pretty nice and understanding of our newness. I'm thinking, "hey! I'm not sweating much!" About 5 seconds later, I see small beads of sweat coming out of every pore, and 20 seconds later, I see sweat drip from my body. I would have screamed, but you aren't supposed to talk in there unless spoken to. It was like swimming in a pool designed to fit only the contours of my body. Cool, I know. Are you grossed out? Hey, at least it wasn't you this was happening to, and I was slightly horrified. So we get through about half. There was a point when I got slightly light-headed and just stood there kind of swaying. But I recovered pretty fast and kept going. But the end, I thought how much better this whole experience was than I thought it was going to be. And I was even thinking it was something I should get into. See, so this is why you don't judge something until you try it. Because now, as I am writing this, I feel quite great.

We headed to Buffalo Wild Wings after the class and I polished off twelve and felt like I had just eaten a small snack. I looked down and all the chicken bones and wondered why my stomach felt so light and empty still. But I'm not complaining, those wings were like the best wings of my life. Thank you, Bikram Yoga for making me appreciate wings even more than I already did.

So, moral of the story, this girl gives Bikram Yoga a thumbs up! I thought it would be more like Bikram Noga. But it was a grand experience, thanks Mark for talking me out of being a lame-o pants.

Pretty much how good we were by the end. Not.

Peace and Blessings!

Today was better

Gosh you guys. Sometimes when I really get to thinking about things, I stumble onto stuff that actually changes my thinking patterns quite a bit.

I struggle with regret. Most of the time it's over little things. I should have said this, I should have been there....but lately it's been over a lot of pretty major things. I've been worried and upset about the recent past a lot and wishing, "if only I could go back and do it differently, I would."

How unproductive! And what a waste of right now.

President Monson gave a talk. It's called Finding Joy in the Journey. You can read it here. I've read it before, but not quite with the mindset I've been in lately. There are a million great quotes in it, but one that struck me the most was this---> "Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."


Holy cow, that really hit me hard. 


So much of the time I find myself wishing that something was different than it is and it takes enjoyment away from my experiences. I need to stop doing this. I am happy, don't get me wrong. But I am done trying to control my life in the way that I think it needs to be. I'm ready to accept that things that happened in the past were difficult, I made wrong choices, I had some sorrows. But Today is new. Today I can cherish the moments with my family, my siblings, my best friends. Everything will happen in time. Today is what I have to enjoy. 


One of the things Pres. Monson points out is that we don't use the time we are given to show others how much we love them. I won't let that happen. I will make sure that those close to me know I love them. And I will make sure that those I am not close to know that my friendship is offered to them. 


You guys, it is so important to love who and what you have. Please don't be like me and let the past tarnish the present. Have faith that Heavenly Father knows you, loves you, and has a plan for you.


A lot of things happened today that I did not expect. Both good and kinda not as good. But I also realized that I have the choice in how I react and what attitude I have.  


So today was better. And tomorrow can be even better. And when something unexpected happens, it can still be better.

Peace and Blessings :)

For Cody

So there's this guy I met a while ago. He's pretty sarcastic and such. He has a spray-on tan with a v-neck tan line. He plays frisbee, but only on Mondays because apparently Wednesday frisbee isn't his thing. He can be pretty dang annoying when he is on the opposing team. 

Anyway, he told me I should probably dedicate a blog post to him. So Cody, this one goes out to you.

If you were a cartoon character, I think you would probably be this guy --->

not the principle, the other guy
I can almost hear you saying, "Look! It's the leaning tower of Cheese-a!" I imagine you as the laid back best friend always looking for the bright side and never worrying too much about the little things.

If you were an LOTR character, you'd for sure be this guy --->

I definitely could see you being more smart and serious than Pippin, but still looking for a good time.

If you were a famous chick flick character, I could see you being this guy--->

Kinda sarcastic, not exactly a push-over, but still the romantic type

If you were an animal, I think you'd be this animal--->

Sort of high energy, very resourceful, and cute.

So I hope this blog post doesn't offend you, Cody. I wrote it only thinking of you. An entire post on my blog, dedicated specifically to you.

P.s., just kidding about the spray-on tan part and the annoying part :)

Peace and blessings, Cody ;)

Confession

I'd like to take this moment to share something that is very personal to me. It's something I've struggled with off and on since I was about 10. It's something that doesn't get discussed very much out in the world and I think it's because it is such a sensitive topic.

I am a clean freak.

I've struggled with this, like I said, off and on for about 13 years now. It's been a very real stress to me. Because of the sensitive nature of cfd (clean freak disorder), I don't know of many support groups out there that really address this issue. Sometimes I feel like nobody really understands me. How excited I get when the carpet of our house looks like freshly mowed grass. How intoxicating the smell of pinesol wafting from the bathroom is. It is when the house is in a state of order and cleanliness that I feel my mind is free to create, to explore, and to actually relax for a change.

Because of my cfd, I sometimes don't get along with certain members of my family. Cfd is the main source of contention between me and any of my siblings.

So why the confession now, you might ask. Well I have officially decided to somehow control this trait or disorder or whatever it is so that my siblings might actually enjoy my presence in our household a little more often.

I cleaned Gabe's room last summer. This was about half way through,
it was worse before this picture.

After. It was like a haven, even for a clean freak.

No, I don't think it is possible for me not to be a clean freak. I mentally can't handle messiness. But I will not hold it against others if they don't have cfd. I will be open and understanding of others' creative space, i.e., their bedrooms. I will not nag and carry on if the kitchen floor gets a few cracker crumbs on it. I will be patient and kind. I will face the fact that some people have mpd (messy person disorder) and that we are all different and there is no one right way for everyone to operate.

I hope that you guys can all be understanding and not look at me differently than you did before. Unless you looked at me negatively. Then I hope you do look at me differently now. That would be nice.

Okay, I feel like after every sarcastic post I write, I have to throw in a disclaimer at the end. yes, I am a clean freak. No, I don't feel it's a disorder. Yes, it does cause the occasional fight with one of my siblings, no, I don't take it as seriously as making a huge confession about a serious problem.

Peace and blessings!!

I do stuff

I got my craft on a little bit ago and attempted a project I found on stumbleupon. Haven't been on that site yet? DON"T DO IT!!  Tractor beam. BZJZJZJZJZ. Sucked me right in. Movie quote, see if you can guess it.

Anywho, I enjoyed this project because hey, what do you know! It actually looks as cute as it did in pictures! And my mom likes it I'm pretty sure and I was able to make a few for other gifts AND I made one for me too:) For my future house/apartment/shanty/cardboard box or whatever it may be.

So as a lot of you know, I'm attempting half marathon training. And I got new shoes. And huge blisters. So this is how I tackled the little buggers. Behold, my anti-blister kit!! Check out the middle socks, they even have aloe in them. Yeah, you have to say aloe like, "Aloooe." all classy. So I went for another run, this time prepared, 4 miles, next to no blister pain. BOOSH!!! Take that, blisters! And now no one can call me "Sister Blister". yeah, I really got called that. Not one of my better nick names, not one of my worst either.

Peace and blessings!!

our friends are not who we think they are

According to the lovely wikipedia, only about 1/9 of an iceberg is visible above water. Thus the expression, "this is only the tip of the iceberg." It means that what you see is definitely not all you're going to get. That there could be much more to the issue or problem at hand.

I've decided people, and especially my friends are icebergs. This may seem like a lame analogy, but hear me out. Or read me out I guess, haha.

If you think about it, you spend maybe about 1/10 to 1/15 of your life with your friends. I mean, this could vary widely based on how social you are, how much free time you have... but to use my life as an example, I probably spend about 1/10 of my life with friends. And I spend maybe half of that time with close friends. And maybe about 1/3 of that time in one on one situations where we may be completely open and honest with each other.

If you are similar to me in this situation, than you might agree with what I am going to say. Our friends go so much deeper than the 10% we get to see. When we all put on that laughing, smiling persona, what is really going on inside? Are most of us just temporarily forgetting the things in our lives that trouble us or make us sad?  Did that beautiful girl over there struggle with a severe eating disorder in high school? Is that jokester guy fighting back self esteem issues and putting himself down when he looks in the mirror every day? Is that single mom, who loves her kids more than anything in the world, crying herself to sleep at night when she feels like she can't do this alone?

One of my absolute favorite hymns is "Lord, I Would Follow Thee." And there is one line in particular that I love. "In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see." What are we not seeing every day? How much of the bigger picture are we missing when we stand around in parking lots laughing and joking with our friends?

I'm not calling you all to repentance or saying we all need to be better friends or anything like that. But I've been thinking a lot about how important it is to try to think about what the person next to me may be feeling. What is going on in their life? What struggles do they have right now? Because we ALL have them. That 90% of time we don't see our friends, they are all living life just as much as we are.

There is waaaaaaaaay more to every person than meets the eye. Good, bad, happy, sad. One more quote that goes through my head quite often is from the movie The Help. Aibileen is narrating the end of the movie and she says, "No one ever asked me what it felt like to be me." I'm going to work on that. I won't pry into everyone's business, but I will try to keep in mind that I don't even know a chapter of their full story.

Peace and Blessings!!

Me? Run? 13 miles?!?

Yes, it's actually a thing I am trying, major emphasis on trying, to do. But now it's great because I actually have a cause!!! Foster kids and adoptive kids! So now I'm super motivated, and to top it all off, it's in Greenville, CA. One of the prettiest areas I know of. Doing this half marathon is about as good of an opportunity as I'll ever have.

Alrighty, I'm super bad at explaining things, so let me slow down and rewind a bit. I am running a half marathon in August in Greenville, CA. It is a charity event to help raise money for Mountain Circle Family Services. Check them out here---> http://www.mountaincircle.org/

As part of doing this race, runners are asked, not required, to help raise money and set up a donation page. I have done so, you can check it out here---> https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ssommers/mountaincircle

This is not some funky deal, I promise. It's totally legitimate. I've donated some myself. My goal is to reach $500. Right now we are at $125. Not bad seeing how I only set it up like last Thursday. But I definitely want to reach my goal and help donate to these foster children and parents!! Kids have a really, REALLY special place in my heart. I often say life would be so much easier if I could just be around kids all the time, which I kind of am being a piano teacher. And these foster kids, they need so much love and help, I can't imagine the stress and fear that being a foster child must cause at times. So please, if you have a few bucks to spare, donate to my page up there. I would love it. this is not to benefit me at all. It's just a really good cause and a great reason to run this half marathon. So thank you for even looking at my page!!

Peace and blessings!!