Monday, July 21, 2014

California Calling Utah, Yoga Time?


Doing yoga with Tessa is one of my favourite things to do and ways of practicing. Unfortunately, she's in Utah and I'm in California.This makes for some creative planning. Such as never knowing if she's referring to her time or my time, and half the time we are playing catch up with texts.Because of this and a few other factors actually doing yoga together is kind of out of the question, or so we thought.

I can't remember whose brilliant idea this was, but I will volunteer to take credit for it.Over the Phone Yoga sessions. That's right, we found a way, and it's actually super simple and pretty fun.





We planned out the poses we were going to go through (and by this I mean we found a photo set on Pinterest), picked a time, lit some candles, turned off our lights and let yoga time begin. Since Tessa has never led a yoga flow before, I took this round. I'm sure that it would have helped if I had really planned out the session before, but Tess assures me that even flying by the seat of her pants this session was pretty good.

There had been a few times when I paused the flow to figure out how to transition from one flow to the next, this all could have been avoided with actual planning. But, the first session is always the one with the most problems.Other problems included not being able to hear each other's breathes, so knowing when each person was actually transitioning was a total guess.

Phone Yoga was a very big hit, big enough that we decided that we must do PY at least once a week, neither of us had actually been making time to practice. Now that we have a new system in place, we are starting to question why we ever got out of practice.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Knitting in the Snow





There have been many changes for me the past 3 months. The biggest change in these past 3 months, which really put all the other changes in motion, was that I moved to Utah. Yes, my non-skiing, southern Californian, warm weather loving self, moved to Utah.  It has been one of the biggest adjustments that I have ever been through. On January 3rd I moved to a state where I knew a whopping total of 3 people.  It has been a very scary journey.  I knew that I had to do something to meet people and keep myself sane. I saw they were taking sign-ups for a knitting group at a local church down the road. So, I bravely signed my name and waited until the next Friday with great anxiety. I have never been one to shy away from meeting new people but, it was just a mixture of so many new things at once.  So, when Friday rolled around I went armed with my rolling case of knitting supplies and a diet coke. Because, if all else fails you might as well be caffeinated.  

That Friday night, I met some of the best women I have ever met in my entire life. We are all different ages and from different walks of life. But we had two things in common, a love for God and a passion for knitting. This meeting was at the conclusion of my second week being in Utah and it truly put me at ease. It let me know there was a place for me and that I wasn’t alone. Knitting was my key to some amazing relationships in Utah. Knitting with this group of ladies made me feel so at home for the first time since I moved to Utah. It was finally something familiar in my new world of white every place you look and this magical freezing stuff that falls from the sky (apparently they call these things snow).  While at first these classes were a comfy safe haven, they turned into more. We started a project a couple weeks later that was a big undertaking. I have been knitting for years but I never made anything really all that big or complex. I stick to easy patterns that I know I can do and won’t challenge me all that much.  So, when it was brought up that our next project was going to be a shawl I almost didn’t want to go anymore. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it and that I would mess up. I became so worried that I didn’t even want to try. 

This safe haven was turning into a challenge. I made it impossible in my head. It was a serious struggle for me and it was made out to be this huge thing. It was pretty ridiculous. But then, I ran into one of the ladies from my group and they told me how happy they were that I joined the group. She really encouraged me and so the night we started the shawl I went in ready for battle. Not only was I going to be making something new, I was going to be working in the round which I have never done before and I was also going to be using stich markers which I had only used once before. I started my shawl about 8 times. Every time, I wasn't sure if I did it right, so I ripped it out. Then one of the ladies saw me and said “Honey you are never going to get anywhere like this, if you make a mistake no one is going to care”, this was exactly what I needed to hear. Since then, I have not ripped out any stitches and am diligently working on the shawl. It has taken me a longer time because I have to take breaks quite frequently because I started to get over whelmed and start to doubt my ability’s. But, I am doing it and I can’t wait until it is finished because it will be true triumph.  

My Utah adventure is proving to be everything I didn’t imagine and everything that I need. It has truly been a learning experience that only life can teach you and I can’t wait to see what else is in store. I will keep you updated with my shawl progress!

Xoxo Tessa

Thursday, March 6, 2014

One Coffee House to Another

My "Coffee Shop chilling" has reached a whole new level, my local Starbucks used to receive  the majority of my attention, meandering for a time or two at a small coffee joint in my town, but it never got me hooked. The place, while lovely, was just too small and, in my opinion, wasn't really focused as a coffee house. I don't really want to accidentally take up the majority of the tables.

Due to complete random happenstance, about two months ago I wandered into a coffee house in a town about 15 minutes from my own. Within a week, I was volunteering there and spending as much time as I could there. The atmosphere alone got me hooked pretty quickly, not to mention the coffee. Never had I wanted to buy drink after drink, if only I could actually afford it. The atmosphere only slightly changes on friday nights, making it less of a chill hang out, and more of a cool lounge. Live music is invited in and welcomed by new comes and regular customers alike.

I couldn't have found a better place to randomly walk into, everything had just fallen into place. I had never expected to actually be behind the counter at such a great establishment. Everyone I have worked with or been served by couldn't have been better, I wish I could make the drive everyday to get my coffee there. But, alas, by gas buying habit cannot support the drive. So, until it can, I'll just look over the photo's I've taken, and the conversations and jokes that have gone on. All the while, inviting as many people as I know the come out. If you ever want me to support something, make sure I really love it and you couldn't ask for a better advertiser. Nearly everyone I have talked to int eh past two months has heard about, and has been invited to the coffee house, wether for a friday night or just a regular business day.




xoxo
Lauryn
(All photos are from my instagram)