My first "real" yoga experience was with my husband actually. It was part of his off-season training. His instructor, Kelly, was AMAZING - she actually has her own studio down in Sarasota, Fl called Body Heat. Meet Kelly....
When I got back to Atlanta I started taking classes again at my local studio - Atlanta Hot Yoga. I've become addicted to the 102 degree work out. (Although, I swear the other day it was much hotter than that.) The heat really helps you to get further into your "practice" (stretch).
My yoga instructor told me I really needed to focus more on what I wanted to get out of it.... well duh... I want to be able to do this...
and.. like the girl next to me the other night this...
and mainly this...
I saw a girl that worked at lululemon do that one..... and I wanted to punch her!
I was jealous.
I feel like I can't really get into it (mind, body and soul wise) until I feel comfortable and cocky confident like some of my class mates. Maybe I'll take some pictures of what I've been working on. :-)
My husband recently said that he ordered a Dr. Pepper just because he missed me so much. (I haven't seen him in almost 5 maybe 6 weeks) Well, I guess I miss him too, because tonight after running I made his favorite dinner. We love home made chicken fried rice almost as much as the kind you get at an asian restaurant except its so much healthier. So, I will share....
So start with cooking chicken - I cook mine in about a tablespoon of butter. I think it stays more moist when cooked in butter as opposed to olive oil, but it's your choice.
In the meantime start cooking white or brown rice following the directions on the package - I definately don't know any other way to cook rice, but would love some hints, because my rice is ALWAYS mushy even when I leave out 1/3 cup of the water.....what gives?
Get your other items ready - An egg, cooked peas and carrots, s/p, and soy sauce.
Like my new set up??
When the chicken is finished cooking (which in this picture mine is not...) cut it up to as small or large as you want it.
Do NOT clean the pan, instead crack an egg in it and start frying the egg, then add the rice and veggies.
(The egg doesn't need to be fully cooked before adding the rice/veggies. Cooking the egg while mixing it with the other ingredients is what fries the rice.)
Add the chicken, soy sauce and s/p to taste and WALA!
Bamskis!! - our favorite healthy chicken and rice.
After going to the doctor the same time every year for 4 years in a row, I was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis. Basically, I have sinus infection year round. This year I was tested to see just what I was allergic to. My doctor scratched me with 70 different allergens and left the room. He said when he came back if anything looked like a bug bite then I was allergic.....well long story short....
I'm allergic to everything!!! And the top three are things I live with/near everyday!
#3 - The Dog - As cute as he is, I wake up every morning with him snuggling right next to me accompanied by a huge headache on whatever side of the pillow my face is on.
#2 Dust mite - Change your sheets much? I have to change mine at least once a week- which I realize I should probably do anyways. The pillows and mattress are also covered in allergen protectors to keep these guys away. What do I do in a hotel or families house?? Take a Benedryl. ;-)
#1 Bayberry - Don't worry I didn't know what it was either, but an hour after I was pricked with it at the doctors office it spread all the way up my shoulder. This is what keeps me in bed some days and its everywhere! Bayberry is a ornamental shrub often used in landscaping. In fact 5 feet from my front door ....
The bad news - medicine doesn't help and I often get nosebleeds from the pressure.
The good news - you can be treated for your allergies holistically!
Next week I am starting immunotherapy - a treatment which will put doses of these allergens and several others that I'm allergic to into my body via a shot. The goal is that hopefully after a couple of years I will be immune to these allergies and no longer suffer sinus headaches every February through November.
In other news I just got back from the hottest HOT yoga class and I'm a little tired! Sweet dreams Monday!
Ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia I was inspired to cook my way through a cookbook. Cliche - I know. The problem is I have no desire to cook most of the selections in the cookbooks I own - except maybe my Barefoot Contessa books. For fear that I might not finish one of her books, I kept searching. I knew I wanted to cook through a cookbook that made sense to me, appealed to my taste buds, and was a cook who's recipes I have already tried.
I think I'm ready to begin....enter the Dr. Pepper Pork Butt...
I've never made a pork butt. To be honest - I'm not the biggest fan of pork, but I love pulled pork! I saw this recipe on Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman" website. I was intrigued.
Everyone knows I love Dr. Pepper, but I wasn't sure I would love a chunk of meat being cooked in it all day. (Those are chipotle peppers on top - YUM) Since I'm not the type of cook who can make up recipes on the whim I love finding original recipes with ingredients I love.
It smelled so good as it cooked and then I shredded it. She's not kidding either when she says you'll be shredding and shredding till your hands fall off.
Then the meat goes back in the "sauce" and cooks some more.
The result: I LOVED IT! I actually had the wives club over to share it with me since the guys were on a road trip. It was so much fun!
Don't tell my hubby, but I may or may not have found a copy of her book on sale and treated myself to a little present. I have never read through a cook book, but I promise I loved every page of this book! She is such a cool woman! Here's to a new adventure - and maybe I'll blog about it too. Happy Friday!
Well friends I have completed a long journey! I basically went in a big circle across 7 states (give or take a few) and ended up back in my home in Atlanta. Just to see how crazy my trip was....see this map I created of my travels.
Now darken that line in a little more to show that I went back and forth from Memphis to Atlanta twice and you'll see that in the past month I drove more than 2,544 miles in three weeks. That pretty much whooped my butt for the whole month.
However, I did accomplish a few things.
Got to see the hubbs rehab in Florida while working on my farmers tan...
Moved all of our wedding gifts from Florida to our house in Atlanta.
Caught our first house spider......and hopefully the last.
Took Ms. Stella back to Memphis to be with her mom and dad.
Then found out my husband would not be coming back as planned. So I packed up most of our Memphis stuff and came back to Atlanta again....
Don't worry Perchie - I wouldn't have left you!
Yes, that's a Kroger grocery cart...don't judge me. Its a long walk from the parking garage to the 4th floor of the building across the street. Us baseball wives do what we have to .... I shared it don't worry.
What's that you ask? Oh just a random bird who's life I saved. (Brushing my shoulders off.) He was left to die by so many, but not this great Samaritan. I drove him 15 miles across town to a vet who told me he was not only a baby, but that he would be just fine. He had a broken leg and he was hungry. Good luck little birdie!
2 days after I came back to Atlanta I found out the my hubbs was on his way back to Memphis. Awesome. Because he was going on the road right away I did not drive 300 miles back to see him. Instead Hershey and I started unpacking...and we don't have much progress to report.
I can, however, report that my husband is healthy and playing his heart out. I couldn't be more proud of him! After such a long year full of surgery and rehab, this night made it all worth while. I always tell Shane to "hit me a homer" when I talk to him before the game. This night he hit me two and one was the best kind! A WALK OFF GRAND SLAM!
While the team was on the road, Shane had to go to the field and hit off "Iron Mike" (the pitching machine.) I tagged a long a couple days to help feed balls and pick them up when he was done.
This is "Iron Mike"
If you look at the blurred thing towards the bottom that's the ball coming full speed at my face camera lens. Thankfully the bigger blurriness in the picture is the net.
Blurry little fastball....net. I might be a baseball players wife, but I still have trouble following the ball.
Here is a sequence I magically caught of a good hit.
Let me know if you were able to follow the ball! You might have to click the pictures...
I really enjoyed "take your wife to work day." Thought you might like it too!
I said I would get back to the sofa issue so here we go....
I love all things Pottery Barn! Have I said that yet? I can't tell you how much, it's a sick obsession. So, their couches were, of course, the ONLY couches I would consider. (Spoiler Alert - we did not choose a PB couch - GASP!) These were the choices...
I did a lot of research on these two couches. I even saw the Charleston at the PB outlet in Memphis. It was not a good deal! See what I mean here. The PB Basic was compared in a lot of reviews to the Ikea version of the same exact couch. I had no idea there was a knock off so I had to see it if it was too good to be true. Sure enough....same couch!
I read a slew of mixed advice on these couches. Some say white couches are terrible and look dingy in months... Some say these slipcovered couches are easy breasy bc you can just wash out the wine stains and puke stains and dog pee... Some said these couches are so hard to put back together after washing the covers... While others thought they were well worth the money. The opinions that I really worried about were people saying that the couches frames were sagging in the middle after only a couple years. And that is the last thing I want - a saggy couch. Enough things will be saggy eventually in life, might as well not be my couch.
So today my husband and I decided to check out a local store in Memphis called Sensational Sofas. We were so impressed by the knowledge the two friendly ladies shared with us about couches and design and really all sorts of life lessons. We were probably there well over an hour talking about the quality of couches today, what would work in our new house, what style we liked. I had so much fun. We also fell in LOVE with one of their newest styles and I think we will proably order before we leave town for the season. I CANNOT wait to see them in person. I took pictures of the couch material (big pillow) the accent chair (top fabric) and 2 of the sofa pillows (bottom fabric.) The sofa pillows were a tough choice to make. Feel free to give input!
