Day Trip to San Antonio

We decided to make a quick jaunt on down to San Antonio! Got my NPS stamp at the Missions, right next to the one I got when I was little. Went to the Alamo, sorely disappointed, but the Buckhorn Texas Ranger Museum wasn't too shabby! Although slightly creepy with the animal heads and chairs....With a final stop of the San Antonio Riverwalk before lunch at La Gloria on the outskirts of town!

Everything IS bigger in TX, including my appetite! (Pt 1)

Tim and I went on a mini vacation to Austin, Texas in mid December! We saw the State Capital, ate Gourdough's AMAZING drop dead awesome donuts, did some Corepower Yoga, did some shopping, visited the very first Whole Foods (not just visited, but probably went literally 9 times in the few days we were there), wanted to buy this super awesome cowboy boots, ate Torchy's Tacos, went and checked out University of Texas' campus,  AND we took a Food Tour. In case you didn't notice, it was quite food themed.....

We did the Austin Eats Food Tour and it was fabulous. So much deliciousness!

Sausage gravy biscuit - Farmers Market
Chocolate Cocoa beans - Farmers Market
Breakfast taco - Taco Deli
Kitchen sink burger - Huts Hamburgers
Chicken eggs hollandaise / Moscow mule- Haddingtons
Golden Egg Cinnamon scone- Fancy & Staple
Chocolate covered bacon / strawberry infused gin / coffee / chicago dog / chili dog- Frank
Mini cupcakes / cookie - Delish

Best of the Best: Christmas 2012

 

 

Places Slept 2012.

Continuing tradition since 2008 (2009, 2010, 2011). Travel is such a huge part of our life, that this post is one of my favorite's all year. And this year is definitely not slacking.


Cedar Falls, IA
3/8-Chicago, IL
3/9-3/16-Buena Vista, FL
4/13-Bloomington, MN
5/10-over the Atlantic
5/11-13- Cairo, Egypt
5/14-15-onboard Nile Cruise @Luxor, Egypt
5/16-onboard Nile Cruise @ Kom Obo, Egypt
5/17-onboard Nile Cruise @ Aswan, Egypt
5/18-5/19- Cairo, Egypt
5/20- Amman, Jordan
5/21-5/22- Wadi Musa, Jordan
5/23- Flying from the Middle East to Europe
6/13- Lincoln, NE
6/14-5/16- Snowmass Village, CO
6/17- Denver, CO
7/6-7/20 -West Des Moines, IA
8/1-West Des Moines
8/2-8/4- Somerville, MA
8/5- Brookline, MA
8/6- Cambridge, MA
8/24- Chicago, IL
10/12-10/13- Coralville, IA
10/31 -West Des Moines, IA
12/12-West Des Moines, IA
12/13-16-Austin, TX
12/17-West Des Moines, IA

Yoga Teaching Adventures Begin!!!

So I guess it's been long enough that I'm safe in posting about my new gig. I've finally put my 200 hour training to public use!

I really couldn't have asked for it to happen any better than it did. I wasn't really feeling in tune with the ONLY yoga studio in town, so imagine my happiness when I saw a new studio opening in September, and not only that, but HOT yoga, my true love! Oh yes.

I started going, almost obsessively. The studio is just gorgeous, clean, bright, beautiful. The owner is this total light of smiling joy and happy. Plus she knows her stuff (you know how annoyed I get at instructors that think an abs class with downward facing dog intermittently is "yoga"). She's completely knowledgable and uses it, love it. And people know it, I've seen zero advertising and she's turning people away at the door at max capacity, FOR A SUNDAY NIGHT CLASS. Yeah, that's what's up.

I was trying to play it cool, get well integrated before I brought up teaching, and before I knew it, October rolls around and she brings it up herself! I didn't even have to have the awkward ask for a job moment! It's just her teaching, with another instructor taking 2 or 3 classes a week (out of 20some). So the arms were wide open for another instructor!

I started the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, probably ideal, I figured since the holiday would give me a smaller class. WRONG. 17, first class ever. Including the owner, who of course was awesome, but it's still that much more intense.

I thought I would have a heart attack that morning at the gym beforehand. Literal panic attack. But I got to my car between the gym and the studio to find Tim had left me a good luck present. not that I could even look at it without wanting to throw up. I could barely breathe. Let alone keep my mouth wet enough to practice AND talk through a 105 class for an hour. It was brutal, I kept tripping over leg versus arm versus right versus left. But I made it through and got plenty of compliments at the end.

It's been a month of teaching Mondays and Wednesdays, including a Saturday fill in. It's taking longer than I thought to get acclimated. Getting rid of dry mouth talking in that heat is hard, impossible when you factor any nerves. I still trip on right versus left a lot. And your arm has three parts. Placing your knee at your hand is very different than your elbow in plank....

But I haven't had any haters! Only compliments. A lot of them are regulars, so that's awesome, but I have at least 1-2 new people in each class, meaning new to yoga, not just new to me. So that's a struggle to teach a class that is good for someone of my level (or to be honest, probably better than me) but yet good for someone who literally can't get from there hands and knees to standing in under a solid 60 seconds.

My first was for sure my biggest. Gone all the way down to 6. But I feel more comfortable every time. It's not even a public speaking thing. It's trying to remember the sequence I created, hoping its hard enough and takes up the full class. I'm getting better at adding stuff on the fly dependent on how I think it's going, but it still needs work. I have heard that my classes are more challenging though, so that's good in my mind. The more practice I get before the New Years Resolution crowd, the better.

I gotta say though, a perk of teaching, you get to call your own shots. We were starting a balance series last week, and I was like, geeze my neck hurts, I want to stretch it out. *lightbulb* "Ok, before we go into our balancing sequence, we're going to come to mountain and do neck rolls." That's right, because I CAN!

Because I am the yoga instructor. :-)

       

DPP Catch Up!

I swear this week lasted a month and an hour all at the same time. I needed the weekend to catch up on everything, and it was even busier than the week! So forgive me, I must do what I hate, three December Photo Project Posts in a row.

Friday:
Last Gauntlet of the session. Only to receive my brand new wraps AFTER class. I want to go punch things NOOOWWWW.

Saturday:
Got called in to teach class with Corinne not feeling well. An hour to prep. Happens. Certainly got my adrenaline going right out of bed! Only to straight to work at UNI, then a coffee and sushi date with the boys.

Sunday:
Brunch with the boys again. And an afternoon of prepping yoga practices for the next few classes. Yoga after blueberry pancakes induces lots of groans and collapsing in sleepitude onto the floor.

Holiday Sweater Babies!

Back to November!

So for Thanksgiving this year, it was decided against everyone's tradition to not cook the meal at anyone's house, and to go to a convention center to eat. We will push past that and not discuss that part anymore. But afterwards, we went over to my grandparents' house for dessert. That was a happy enough occassion for some photo ops. And when Tim buys a $2 hat at Target, saves it for three months only to wear it for a holiday, you know its going to be entertaining. 

DPP 1: December's Menu.

Chef Olivia is cooking up a spicy December!

  

Today starts the December Photo Project! 25 days of pictures! Love it. 

Happy November!

Pandora Pocahantas is ready to feast upon this November!

Birthday Weekend!

Two weekends ago was my birthday!!! It was a pretty crazy weekend just in general. And I feel like I've been going non stop since. Ill bulletpoint it!

Friday night was spent running all over town between Blaines and Walmart gather supplies, and then proceeding to design and create our Color Run t-shirts of glory.

Saturday:
Tim and I drove down to Des Moines for the Color Run.
Ate a glorious Whole Foods breakfast.
Found the perfect parking spot downtown.
Perfect parking does not equal perfect weather.
Windy, cold (40s), with no sun. Not ideal for running in a specially designed thin tshirt.
Finally got to visit the Lululemon Showroom, disappointing, only three racks of miscellaneous clothes.
Brief walk to Runners Village, freezing.
Saw Ryleah, a former video board kid. Loved it.
Sat in the car making the rough decision.
Cold, had a 2hour wait, still having neck pain.
Decided TOTALLY randomly to drive up to Minneapolis to go birthday shopping!
Got to Minneapolis, straight to the Athleta store.
Shopping efficiency, 90 minutes.
Slightly double the limit spent. Oops.
Thank God Minnesota doesn't have sales tax.
But I did get more than workout clothes! I got some work clothes and holiday options too!
Tim made for a great shopping buddy. He holds AND advises. Without complaint (as long as he has his smartphone).
There MIGHT be a cupcake store between the car and Athleta….but we saved them for after dinner!
Big dinner conundrum of where to go.
Best decision all day, The Anchor.
An amazing dive, packed super early on Saturday.
Best fish and chips since Australia (that's saying something)
Second Whole Foods run for stocking up.
Headed home via the parents house for a quick hello.

Sunday:

Red Velvet & Cake Batter...mmm

Slept way too late. (Yesterday was jam packed!)
Princess delivery service took me to Hot Yoga
First time back after medical issues and injuries.
Been way too long.
Hyvee run for birthday breakfast and a caramel apple.
Nixed breakfast for birthday lunch with the family.
Knee pads, fro yo, and a workout rounded out the hang out afternoon.
Mini fashion show for family at birthday dinner!

Got a new NLXF shirt, massage gift card, a halloween plate and halloween socks!
Grandma and Grandpa came over for the awesome meal of rouladden, cucumber/tomato/mozzarella salad, and spaghetti corn.
Sweet potato cupcakes from Scratch for dessert!
Evening concluded with mom's travel questions from a box!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!!!