21 Day Yoga Challenge

Elisa and I have COMMITTED! Working alongside Elisa has, over the last year and a half, really sparked my interest in yoga. Like, daily yoga. It's gotten to the point that Rachel Brathen [aka @yoga_girl] & Laura Sykora [@laurasykora] are now regular, daily Instagram stops for me.

 

Here's something Rachel Brathen has posed for the yogis of the world: The 21 Day Yoga Challenge.

For me, this is perfect. I'm not even close to being a seasoned yogi, and getting into anything consistently is always a little bit of a challenge if you have any sort of a life outside of whatever that thing is. It's all about adjustment, time management and how badly you want to commit to something.

 

So........ for the next 21 days, starting today.. THIS:

21 days starts now!

Here's the blurb from Rachel's Facebook to kick off the next 21 days:

Day 1 - Do Yoga

The Yoga Girl Challenge starts tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited! The response so far has been absolutely incredible; hundreds and hundreds of posts and we haven't even started yet. I'm so happy so many of you are ded...icated to improving your lives and your wellbeing. So am I! Here are the details for Day 1: Do Yoga.

The theme for the first day of the challenge is simple - I want you to get on your yoga mat. There is no pose you have to fit your body into, no special stretch to accomplish and you don't need to post a certain picture showing off your moves. We are not here to advance our yoga poses; we are here to advance our hearts. Step on your mat at the time of day that suits you best and move exactly the way your body wants to move. Go to your local studio and take a class, try a yoga DVD, an online class, learn from a book or just move intuitively with your body. The choice is yours! This is one of the themes that I would recommend you sticking with for the full course of the challenge: practicing yoga every day. Yoga. Every. Damn. Day. I invented the #yogaeverydamnday hashtag long ago as a way to inspire people to practice daily - use that inspiration and practice yoga for these 21 days ahead! It does not need to be 2 full hours of sweating every day of the week; some days a few rounds of sun salutes are enough, other days just gentle stretching. Listen to your body. But make sure to get on your mat! Establish this. We begin tomorrow. Share a picture of something related to your yoga practice, tag @yoga_girl and #yogagirlchallenge and this challenge will officially be kicked off! See you tomorrow, darlings #yogagirlchallenge

So there ya have it! The whole easing into this is perfect for me today, since I'm still battling whatever sinus issue this is; my head feels like a bowling ball. I powered through it though...

l: elisa, r: cori

all together now! :)

This came after a run to Whole Foods Market for lunch:

#icanteven ... hahah :)

Success. Now it's off to volleyball. See you tomorrow!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, DAD!!

Here's what my timehop gave me today:

Awh!
Last year on this day, we were all gathered back home at the Drenn Lodge [pictured above, aka my parents' house] to celebrate my dad's birthday. Today's Tuesday, so there wasn't much of a chance of getting there during the week, but that's where we're headed this weekend, and I can't wait.

Happy birthday, Dad. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: You're the BEST.
Thank you for being the man of our household growing up, and defining for me what I deserve out of the man in my life. Thanks for sticking by me when I screwed up, and most of all for being the core male figure in my daughter's life. You were the first man to hold her when she was born and the first man in her family that she saw.. and nothing will ever change that. You are her Pappy, and we are both beyond lucky to have you.

See you this weekend!

xo | cmd

All Things Monday

What. A. DAY.

This has been a pure blend of surprise, celebration and mourning. It's all here, on one day.

First things first, today is my cousin Maricor's 30th birthday!

happy birthday!!!!

It's a rare blessing I think, to have someone so closely aligned with you, who isn't technically a biological relative [I'm adopted, remember?]. With splitting hairs aside, this woman is still my best friend, an inspiring soul, a wonderful mother to her beautiful girls and much, much more. Our daughters are 1 week apart, and although we don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like, we never miss a beat. Happy birthday, Maricor!! LOVE YOU!!

On the tails of morning birthday salutes, I found this in the mail:

yay, continued staffing education!

^ Yep. Another year's worth of being certified as an EUCP. Thanks, Express (:  

 

And then THIS: 

finally!! yiiieeee

^ About a week or so back, I gave in and finally ordered some waxed polyester cord; it's the same material [I think] used to make the famous Pura Vida bracelets. I have several of their bracelets, but decided that it's high time I start making some of my own, inspired by their design, but customized exactly how I want them. I started today, and have to say they didn't turn out bad. Marianne is the lucky guinea pig who gets the first set:

fun!

Oh... the possibilities.

Now for the sad - and I mean truly sad part of today:
By now it's been on every headline out there, but today the world lost Robin Williams.

I realized today that we don't always recognize the fact that personalities who as adults themselves defined large parts of our childhood, continue to age just as we do. I won't say I was a prolific follower of all things Robin Williams, but he was absolutely an iconic figure in my mind.

I mean c'mon.. he was the GENIE!
He was Adrian Cronauer!
He was Patch Adams!
He made Flubber!
He was Rainbow Rudolph!
HE WAS MRS. DOUBTFIRE!!

That list is obviously so long that it warrants more accolade than I could give on my own. Outside of his acting career, Robin was a philanthropist with a huge heart; Shriner's and the USO found much of his dedicated time, and the man contributed to the advancement of humanity in ways we didn't always recognize.

And he left this world today, after battling severe depression, ultimately leading to his suicide.

"genie, you're free."
 - the academy of motion picture arts & sciences

And okokokokokay.... to clarify, NO, I'm not propogating the idea that suicide equates freedom.

NO NO NO NO NO. The more I examined that statement, given by The Academy, the more I could justify why many people were offended by it - yes, in its immediate simplicity, it does leave room to suggest that by committing suicide, RW was "liberated."

NO NO NO NO NO. What I'm hopefully assuming the Academy meant to convey was the same sense of remorse so many other people feel at his passing: the long and excruciating struggle is over. It did NOT end the way it should have, at all, but it is over.

I have seen what happens to families ripped apart by suicide. I do NOT believe that the act of taking your own life delivers freedom to ANYONE. My heart hurts to think that, regardless of his celebrity status, RW has family and friends who are intimately destroyed by losing him.

Here's a solemn call-to-action for all of you out there.. from me to you: If you, or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts.......... talk. TALK to someone. It's only too late if you choose to ignore it. I joined the AFSP in 2009 after losing my friend Jena to suicide and watched her family and the rest of us blindly picking up the pieces.

Rest in peace, Robin. The world lost a remarkable soul today.

xo | cmd

[The Baja's] Maiden Voyage!

The moment of truth was upon us! [Will she sink or will she purr?]

Before the day got started, Rob and I set out on our separate tasks to prepare for the day: He readied the boat and I headed out to grocery shop for the cooler. Our timing was perfect; Jessica & her friend Andrew arrived right on time and we were on the road by 11.

Eastfork, we have to admit, is not necessarily a place of any sort of splendor. It is however, very convenient for us, and the perfect place for Rob and his new toy to really get to know each other. Norris Lake & Cumberland are on the list and we'll get to those as soon as we can plan the weekend out.

We were so excited to get going that I skipped taking any pictures right away. You know it's intense when my camera isn't out ;). We held our breath as Rob throttled out for the first time and we were off into the day. We cruised around for a bit to feel out the ride [which was pretty. daggone. awesome] before settling into a cove for a bit of swim time.

It wasn't long before Brittany and Wayne joined the party; the rest of the day passed by without a care in the world, and I'm pretty sure we were a bunch of happy little campers by the time it was over :)

happy people, happy day!

There's nothing better in this world than enjoying life in the moment, whatever that moment may be. Today we did just that.. in the company of some awesome friends and a day that was at our disposal.

We. Are. SPENT.
Rob's burnt, too.. and it's time for us to call this one another awesome day for the books.

G'Nite (:

xo | cmd  

Hello, BAJA!!

It's HERE!

I have to say it was a little funny this morning to see Rob awake well before me.... that is, at 4:00 AM. Today was the day slated to head north [like, way north] to pick up the boat that Rob hadn't yet seen in person, but had technically already purchased, according to the banks.

that's no lie.

I was a bit nervous for him, yes. Buying something big like that without the opportunity to first see it in person, but I took cues from him and stayed positive about the experience until a reason should confront us not to stay that way.

It was a 4-hour ride up north, just a short time past Cambridge & Zanesville to Bowerston, where we met with an awesome couple about to hand over their boat to us.

We stayed much longer than we expected; the couple turned out to be a really interesting, funny pair of people and our conversations extended far past the details of the boat sale. We've agreed to stay in touch, and if they should ever find themselves heading to Cumberland, they'll look us up.

MOST importantly here though: WE HAVE THE [NEW!] BOAT!

i couldn't get back far enough to get both truck+boat in the pic :p

My boyfriend was a jargled, excited little mess all the way home, rightfully so. I may have had my reservations about this whole arrangement, but I have to hand it to him: he did an excellent job on this. His ability to hunt on Craigslist is truly unrivaled. Good job, babe!

This lovely behemeth is now parked in our driveway, safe and sound for a sleepover before its maiden voyage tomorrow [yes, tomorrow]. Rob and I decided to celebrate with a date night out to Rusty Bucket & a movie.

We accomplished two things tonight:

1. Rob's first trip to Rusty Bucket was a success.
2. We saw the new TMNT! Hahaha... okay, we saw HALF of the new TMNT; it would be our luck that about halfway through the movie, an entire BLOCK of Oakley's power would crash, leaving a theater full of movie-goers with raincheck tickets for a future show. I'm not complaining; we'll definitely be back to see it!

date night with this guy ♥

I guess in the scope of things, a power outage at a movie theater is nothin'. It's been an awesome day.

Time for some rest; tomorrow's a lake day!

xo | cmd

Yogis In Training

Don't be surprised:

yogi moments

Post-work = Dinner @ Main Street & a cameo appearance by none other than Chad :)

main squeeeeeze ♥

Tomorrow = ROAD TRIP to Northern Ohio to pick up the NEW BOAT Rob bought! He has been nearly beside himself over this boat, and I am pretty excited that he gets to go and get it tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

xo | cmd

Dear Universe....

To say this is how I felt this morning wouldn't be much of a lie.. at all:

Yeah.. it was one of those mornings. My mind wanted nothing to do with being productive, a handful of my employees clearly wanted nothing to do with going to work and after that sad excuse for a workout yesterday, my body wanted very little to do with... me. Wah, wah, wah.

Fortunately, lunch proved to be a complete turn of events, and left me without adequate words.

I decided to stop by Chipotle for lunch. Upon entering, there was a man & woman sitting outside on the sidewalk, asking passersby for spare change, saying they'd been evicted. I typically don't give money, but offered to get them some food on my way out. I doubled my order at the counter, still very skeptical about whether or not I was catering to an honest couple or being "conned." I asked the cashier to bag them separately, paid and stopped to get two forks and napkins before leaving. I walked out, handed the bag of food to them, got in my care and started bawling [like, UGLY crying, folks]. I was forced to ask myself,

WHO AM I .. to EVER judge a struggle at face value?!

That's NOT my job. WHO CARES if they did or didn't lie to me?! Call me a fool, call me whatever you want.. but this is the reality of what can happen when we all just slow down for a second and think. I don't want praise or a back-pat for this; I gave up what, 30 extra seconds and $6 - is that really that noteworthy? No. It isn't.

[no other words needed]

^This, by the way, is what I saw when I put the bags down at the fountain drink/silverware stand [& ultimately propelled me into a sputtering mess once I did get into my car. The left was theirs, and the right was mine. I was a [BIT] overwhelmed by irony today, but I wouldn't change a thing. I wonder if they read theirs. Who knows. But... Dear Universe: Message Received.

The string of fortune for me didn't end there; 4:30 rolled around and I was out the door to pick up Sydni! Her dad and I agreed that on the weeks that she is with him, she'll still be here with us every Thursday now.

And that makes me happy :D.

So this was my otherwise-uneventful-night:

my everything ♥

... And honestly, I wouldn't have had it any other way. ♥

xo | cmd