Last week in photos...

In preparation for the conference I'll be attending this week, last week was super busy.  So, when I had a chance I snapped a few photos.  Here they are... (most of them are of phil since he's cute and always up for a  pic!)

Last Monday was Phil's 6th bday....this was taken right before we went to doggie daycare at the petspot for a day of fun. 

Lounging on my laundry piles...

More laziness on his part while I was super busy...

This little guy was hanging by the apt entrance...the yearly invasion has begun

Spent some weekend time with Jonah and Phil in Lex....Phil spent most of the time looking out the window (he loves it)

This week I'm off to Chicago for a conference!

Just for fun...

Last night I decided that the rest of the Easter candy needed to go, but really that only meant like two peeps.  If there was more candy I was going to toss it, but as it turns out it's been consumed, mostly by me.  Thank goodness we don't get Easter baskets for each other in my family so I can limit the amount of delish easter candy that crosses the threshold.


So to dispose of these two slightly stale peeps I decided they needed to face off in a joust.  I was giggling in the kitchen by myself, it was so fun...

The contenders...

the bunny on the right is the clear winner!

I couldn't get a pick through the microwave, but that was by far the most fun part since they got huge.  RIP peeps, until next year.  

Some scenes from this weekend...

I wanted to share a few pics from our venture to Keeneland this weekend.  This was our first visit of the  Spring season, and we had a  lot of fun.  We bet on several of the races, and of course I could only pick those in the bottom half of the races.  Well, except the first race where I called the winner, but we didn't bet on it.  Oh, and the winner's odds were by far the worst of that field.  

At one point during our revelry the entire grandstand area when quiet.  During a race ran on the grass turf on the most infield part of the track, a horse fell over the railing and the jockey fell off.  Luckily, the horse and jockey were both fine, but it was a very shocking moment during our day of fun.  

By far my favorite part of the day is when the horses are escorted around in the grassy yard area for a gentle warm-up.  I think I could stare at them all day.  There's a grace in how a strong horse moves.  I'm now super excited to head back at the end of this week!

Being boys....

This silly horse had his tongue out....no, he didn't win.

Yoga on the Mat...

The first stop on my journey through the hip tranquil chick book is a lesson focused on Yoga on the Mat. The first two chapters focus on explaining benefits, styles, and short sequences of yoga.  Busy women can incorporate yoga into their lives to reconnect with themselves and their surroundings.  A short section expands of the specific aspects that you gain from yoga and can apply directly to your life, such as standing tall with poise like in mountain pose.  I think my favorite part of this book so far is the light manner in which it's written, which makes it like talking to a girlfriend.

My yoga practice has been sporadic since high school and I've been making an effort the past few years to make it more consistent.  The largest challenge is slowing my mind, but when I regularly attend classes or make time for yoga I can tell a huge difference both physically and mentally.  Although I don't following Hinduism, the religion which first developed yoga, I still feel a spiritual clarity while practicing yoga.  This spiritual clarity does depend on the type of yoga being practiced and type of class, but yoga provides an outlet that combines a body and mind exercise.

I'm hoping one day to master a handstand and forearmstand.  :)

Our First Anniversary

Our wedding cake

 Today is our first wedding anniversary.  We celebrated this weekend by spending a dog-free overnight stay downtown and went to one of my fave restaurants, nada.

We never celebrated anniversaries while we were dating, so this was a new thing for us.  I have to say that Jonah totally excelled at anniversaries, not really a shock since he's good at everything.  He got me a wonderful silver locket on a long chain.  I've been looking for a specific kind of locket for ages now, and he found one that was perfect!  I got him an oregon ducks framed picture, and a list of promises I want to keep during our marriage tucked into easter eggs.  (I know I was a bit cheesey, but I'm pretty sure it's acceptable on a day like this.)

One year later...

We partook in the traditional eating of the year old top tier of the wedding cake.  I've included photos of the original small wedding cake (we mostly had fun cupcakes, but we didn't freeze those to keep).  Amazingly, the cake was delicious although it was definitely not as pretty as one year ago.  It taste nearly as good as it originally did!

Here's to our first anniversary and many, many more to come.

Hip Tranquil Chick

I love books, but like many people I fall into the pitfall of buying and collecting books and not getting to read all of them.  So, to remedy this I'm going to read through a few of my long anticipated books and document my thoughts here on the blog.  Maybe this will spark your interest and you can add an exciting piece of literature to your life.

To start, I'm going to read Hip Tranquil Chick by Kimberly Wilson.  It's a non-fiction lifestyle book aided at helping you live a mindful life both on and off the yoga mat.  Kimberly Wilson has a podcast and blog which first sparked my interested since both are girly, sparkly, and savvy.  As a yoga studio owner (she's also a designer, teacher activists, and entrepreneur), she brings yogic concepts into everyday life.  Check her and her podcast out, it's always interesting.  

I'm planning on reading a few chapters of Hip Tranquil Chick a week and share them here with a brief summary and musings on the lessons learned from the chapters.