Day 352 - Ill Momma-to-be

Well, I made it just over 33 weeks of pregnancy without getting sick, but today that all changed. I have never felt so icky! (seriously, it has been a terrible day)

It started at about 4:30 A.M. this morning and I have done nothing all day.

I've called the doctor twice, just to be safe and everything seems to be safe for the babies so I am just taking it easy!

I am starting to feel better, so hopefully I will be able to get in a good nights sleep tonight and start to feel better soon.

Day 242 - Yoga At Lindsey's

After work tonight I headed over to my friend Lindsey's house for some prenatal yoga.

She has a great living room with a large window backing up to lots of trees & plants - our view was just as good as the yogis in Lindsey's video

Thanks Lindsey! Let's do it again soon :)

After yoga we headed to the movie theater to meet with more girlfriends and to see Eat, Love, Pray - a busy night, but worth it for some much needed girl-time.

Day 204 - Amy's Frozen Meals (Enchilada's)

After being out of town for the last week and back in the office today I knew I wouldn't get a chance to take much of a break (even if I wanted to) so as I do many days - I brought my lunch today. Last week at the grocery store I picked up a new frozen lunch, called Amy's

A few months ago, I learned from Jane Goodall's book, Harvest for Hope about GMO's and noted the Amy's brand as a smart choice, but never thought much more of it and filed that information away . . . until last week when the meals caught my eye and I decided to buy one to try.

After my lunch today, all I can say is Yummy :) These are seriously so good and by far the best frozen meal I have ever had! Sure they have a few more calories than 'SmartOnes' or a 'Healthy Choice' but each bite is worth every calorie. Plus it's organic and GMO-free AND Gluten-free.

If you have never tried these before you should!

(I know I am rattling on a lot about some frozen dinner, but I can't help it, it really was that good)

Cheers to another great discovery.

Day 193 - Prenatal Yoga Deck

I have been practicing yoga for nearly 4 years now, but these last few weeks, I have not been getting to the studio, either because of a late night at work, a head ache or just plain old being too sleepy (these two little babes are taking a lot of my energy!)

So in addition to borrowing a prenatal video from my sister (that I bought her during her pregnancy) I got this prenatal yoga deck of safe & effective postures to practice during pregnancy.

The cards are color coordinated for meditation, breathing, postures, stretching and relaxation

Plus, there are some recommended sequences so rather than just pulling a card at random you can follow a predetermined series.

I have really enjoyed working with these cards and hope to continue to use them through out my pregnancy - I also, really hope to make it back into a class soon!

Day 192 - Swimming

We belong to 24-hour Fitness and although there are several locations in our area, we mainly go to 3 sites, but tonight decided to try a new one.

I heard from a friend over the weekend that this other location had recently refinished their pool area and since we have been swimming more for our work out - tonight we decided to check it out.

Nothing too incredible, but it was a nice, clean pool. If you have another location to check out for your gym, or something else you can change up, like a new location for your favorite restaurant or - give it a try . . . you never know what you could be missing out on :)

Day 96 - A New Place to Yoga - The Yoga Gallery

On March 31, 2010 - the yoga studio I have grown to love was no more.

When Quinn and I first moved to the Kansas City area in August of 2006 (was it really that long ago?) all I asked for, for my birthday that September was to find a yoga studio where I could try yoga at. I had never done yoga before, but had been curious about since I did Pilate's in college. Quinn ended up finding a beginners class at Inspire Yoga which was not too far from our apartment and when he went there in person to check it out he decided it was a good fit for me. I think I started in early October of that year and by the end of the 5-week intro classes I was hooked.

Inspire has meant a lot to me since that intro class. It is the one place since moving to KC that I have gone to nearly every week (even my job and our home have changed). I can remember being on my mat there through some tough moments in life and the wonderful teachers guiding me through the different postures to let go of everything and just be. So this afternoon when I headed to the new studio, the Yoga Gallery that Inspire has combined forces with I was a feeling little anxious . . .

What would the new yoga studio be like? Would the music sound the same? Where do I park? What do I need to do to check in? - Nothing major, but all the tiny unknowns made going to yoga today a bit more interesting.

The class I went to this afternoon was the same Vinyasa flow class I had been going to at Inspire on Tuesday's after work for a while now - with the same wonderful teacher, Mara - but it did feel a little different . . .

During headstand I noticed the cork floor was harder than the floor I was used to and it actually hurt a tiny bit. The room is longer and the mirrors are on the front wall, so we faced them most of the class (at Inspire they were on the side), the music system actually did seem different and there was a slightly odd odor I noticed when I first walked into the studio BUT there were lots of familiar smiling faces in class and I really enjoyed the sequencing Mara did and when we were finished I felt just right again.

I am sure it will still take some getting used to, but I am going to keep an open mind and take this change in my regular routine as just another obstacle in life and make the best of it!

Day 94 - Juice & Neon Nick

HAPPY EASTER!!! What a beautiful day. Rejoice!

Between church, family, Easter egg hunts, kick ball, eating (2 huge meals) and driving back to KC I didn't have a whole lot of opportunities to try something new today, so when Quinn and I had to stop off at the grocery store in between family events I quickly found a new drink to try.

Bossa Nova Acai with Raspberry

I had Quinn snap a quick picture of me enjoying my juice

The juice was yummy and it was in the healthy - organic - green area of the store (although I am not certain it is any of these things . . . ) Regaurdless I like it :)

Other Firsts: Neon Nick

On our way to my aunt & uncles Nick rode with Q & I and I snapped this picture of my baby brother - isn't he awesome! Ha ha :) The neon jacket is his and the sunglasses are Quinn's (his parents had them in a box of old stuff to go through) they are pretty rad!

(not sure if this really counts as a first - but the picture was too funny not too share) Love you Nick - keep rocking your great style!!

Day 88 - A Walk (On the Wild Side)

Tonight Quinn, Charlie and I went on a walk - this is not new at all, infact when I suggested to Quinn that we could walk somewhere new we both were at a loss - we've walked to just about every possible place in our neighborhood for about a 3 mile radius so it seemed like I'd have to think of something else new to do today and Quinn suggested we just take a regular walk and could think of something as we went along.

As we walked a route we have probably been on a hundred times before I noticed the track at a highschool - I had even said before that I wanted to walk it - but for some reason we just never had before so we decided to go check it out . . .

When I saw this sign I had second thoughts, but Quinn convinced me that one lap would be fine so around we went.

And even though I asked Quinn more than once what our plan was if some one came after us (to which he just laughed at me) - it was just fine. And as we were walking off the track another walker came along to get use the track for his own personal workout - so we decided it is fine for public use, just not a football or soccer game and next time we will leave Charlie at home.

(side note - the pictures are off my camera so they are a bit blurry - I really didn't think we would find something new along our walk, so that's all I had with me - it got the job done.)

Day 77 - Organic, When You Can

Tonight I finished the book, Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall

It was an eye-opening book and I highly recommend it. I do not normally list a finished book as a ‘first’ as a matter of fact, I think this is the only first time I have done it and this was not by chance, but with good reason. The message in this book really touched me. It’s actually very ironic, because I was looking for another book at the library and this one caught my eye, so I checked it out – mainly because we had just been talking with my brother-in-law a couple of days earlier about Jane Goodall . . . little did I know just how much I was going to learn.

Q and I buy organic once in a while and we always get free-range eggs, when we want to splurge on milk we buy from a local farm, Shatto (and it is so yummy) basically what I am saying is even before this book we did a few things here and there, but now we will be making a much greater effort.

There are so many topics covered – some we see daily and some that really made me think. One example, that I had never thought of before is that although the price of organic meat is higher than something that is factory-farm raised the price on the factory-farm raised label does not take into account the cost (tax dollars) to treat the diseases that are inevitable in many of these environments.

The book talked in detail about GMO’s – Genetically Modified Organisms and I was applaud. Basically every country BUT the US bans GMO’s but here in the US most corn, canola and soy has been genetically modified so here is a link to the web site True Food Now that provides a shopping guide to avoid GMO’s. Harvest for Hope gives an example that rats who were fed GMO potato’s when compared to rats fed regular potato’s died at double the rate.

There was also a section at the end that discussed Nebraska, which made me feel even more connected to everything I had learned since this is my home-state. I felt pretty special since Nebraska was the only state that had it's own section dedicated to it :)

I know buying only organic, free range, GMO-free foods can add up quickly, and I am not making any promises that I will only buy these types of food from this day forward, but I am glad to be more aware of the issues that exist and will do my-best-effort to support farms & grocery stores that go to the extra effort to provide us with fresh, healthy, REAL food.

(*photo credit: found at http://www.motherearthnews.com/)

One idea to start shopping-smarter is to buy any produce you peel away the outer skin of at the regular store (try to buy local) and thing you just wash organically.

If you read this far – thanks! I also want to add that I am by no means claiming to be an expert on this topic and just wanted to share with you some of the highlights of this interesting book. I am going to get off my soap box now and enjoy the almost-weekend ;)

Day 49 - A New Prayer

It is Lent, a time to remember all that Jesus did for us and continues to do every day. Most importantly we reflect on the Passion of Christ. We may give something up or do something extra (I know I have my list of Lenten promises I am working on) but most importantly it is a time to grow in our faith.

With that, I decided that today I would find a new prayer to guide me through the next 40 days, until Easter. I googled and found some websites and there were, of course, plenty of prayers out there - but nothing that really fit what I was looking for. Rather than simply copying a prayer, I am going to add some brief thoughts that I will use through out Lent (and beyond).

Lately, when I pray I have been trying to keep things simple. For a while now I have been praying to find Peace, Hope and Love (and thanks to my dad) I have recently added Grace to this list. I have a pretty good image in my mind for Peace and Love (I mean, we even know symbols created to represent these things) and Hope is something we do probably every day, but Grace is a bit trickier - when I hear the word Grace, I can't help but wonder - what exactly is Grace? After some quick research, this is what I have come up with

Grace is the kindness of God, no matter what - it is there. Grace is beautiful

Also, I wanted to share a simple verse I saw on another great blog, this is worth passing along:

Love never gives up,

never loses faith,

is always hopeful and

endures through every circumstance

(1 Corinthians 13:7)

And lastly, I though I would end with this prayer, that I stumbled across while searching for a new Lenten prayer. I know it's not specific to Lent, but the message really works for me.

Prayer to know the Way of Peace

Father of Heaven and earth,

hear my prayer and show me the way to peace.

Guide each effort of my life

so that my faults and my sins

may not keep me from the peace You promised.

May the new life of grace You give me

through the Eucharist and prayer

make my love for You grow

and keep me in the joy of Your Kingdom.

Day 32 - A New way to Yoga (Bikram)

Can you believe it is already the second month of 2010? Yipee for my first month of firsts - I am pretty sure this is the first time in my life that I did something new everyday for an entire month, I am off to a great start ;)

This morning I headed to Omaha for some work meetings, which is always a nice trip to take since I get to stay with my parents. Also, a few of the firsts I have been wanting to try are Omaha-related, so I was excited to check another one off the list.

I have been practicing yoga, regularly for over 3 years now. The studio I practice at, Inspire Yoga, is fantastic and offerers a wide variety of classes, but one type of yoga I have been curious about for a while, that is not offered at my regular studio, is Bikram - it is 26 specific poses that are performed in a heated room (around 105F and 40% humidity).

Since my studio in Kansas doesn't offer this I thought it would be great to try it at the other studio I have spent some time at, One Tree Yoga in Omaha - they primarily offer Bikram with a few other varieties mixed into the schedule. After wrapping up my day at the MSI office in Omaha I was off to my first Bikram class and feeling a bit nervous. Although I have been practicing for a while now - there is just something about being in a room with a group of strangers and doing something totally new.

But, once I unrolled my mat and began the class all the anxiety I was feeling washed away. The instructor was excellent and although I had never done the specific Bikram sequence before - I had done each of the poses. I still really enjoy the style of classes I usually go to (vinyasa flow and occasionally hatha), but now I know what this whole Bikram thing is all about.

Day 21 - A New Investment

Today Quinn and I opened our first investment account (other than our regular savings and 401K's). We also selected a couple of investments we are going to buy into. We both have a lot to learn but this will be a fun way to learn more about the stock market.

I think we will be buying this book soon :)


Other Firsts: H1N1 - I don't actually have the H1N1, but I did get the vaccine today.

I also bought a new coat. I have not had a new coat for about 4 or 5 years, so I am very excited. There was an awesome sale online, at one of my favorite shopping sites, Gilt Group, (you have to sign up to receive email notifications, but there are often great deals - normally I just go to the site look, but not today.) It should arrive sometime next week, now I just hope it fits!

Who knows, I may even knit myself some matching accessories :) (probably for next winter)