A New Chapter

I apologize for not Blogging for the last few... months!  I have an action plan to get back up on the blogging horse!  A LOT has happened in the last five months.  My Husband was offered a job back in the Rockford, IL area- closer to family, friends and my home town!  We jumped at the job offer/promotion and have not looked back since...  It was a whirl wind of quick planning and a great lesson in letting go.  I have moved many times before in my years on this beautiful planet but none have been so...  traumatic.  I will explain!

You see, when my husband and I moved to Fort Wayne, IN we built up an adult life for ourselves.  I learned to be independent from my family and was jolted to have to make new friends (which was no problem in college but out in the 'real world' is somewhat of a task as everyone has their own lives, jobs, families, and hobbies).  We started out in Fort Wayne on our own, and when we left we said good bye to MANY fantastic, authentic, truly great friends, co-workers and what I came to call my Fort Wayne Family.  When I say that we built up an adult life for ourselves, I really speak more for myself as I am not sure that my husband shares my feelings.  Since graduating from college I feel like I have mostly just been living an off-shoot of college life, until we made the move.  I had to let go of my old hang outs, my long time friends, the familiar roads, family and job.  In Fort Wayne we blazed our own trail, we earned the scars that living away from everything familiar blemishes your life with... fear, uncertainty, apprehension and longing to be back home...  We now bear the marks of confidence, independence and an uncanny ability to come together as a micro-family (my husband and I) and just depend upon each other.  Living in Fort Wayne was such an experience for the both of us, we grew in so many ways and bonded on so many levels that I can't help but look back with pride and admiration.

When my husband sat down and talked to me about putting his resume in for this new position back in Rockford I fully supported him.  We both wanted to get back to Illinois to be closer to our friends and family- especially the grandparents who are not getting any younger.  When my husband was offered the job and we made the decision we knew there was no looking back.  The life we built, the relationships, the friendships and the work we had done would be another closed chapter in both of our lives that we will always look back at and smile on.

What is interesting is that I am a firm believer in the idea that 'everything happens for a reason', when we lived in Fort Wayne during the end of the second year we decided that we might end up staying in Fort Wayne.  We started looking for a house to buy and we found many beautiful houses, we put in offers, waited, countered offers, but for some reason or another all the deals fell through.  The last house we put an offer in on fell through less then one week before the close date and broke our hearts;we gave up.

Alas, when my husband came out to Rockford to start his new job ahead of me and started looking for houses he found one that he fell in love with.  I came out on a weekend as I was still working back in Fort Wayne saw the house and I too fell in love!  We put in an offer, it was accepted and we closed within the month!  Can you believe that!?  After searching for a home in Fort Wayne and numerous offers the first house we put an offer in on we get in Rockford!  Like I said... Everything happens for a reason.  Apparently it was not in the stars for us to reside in Fort Wayne permanently.

The movers came to Fort Wayne on June 21, 2012 and delivered to our new house in Rockford on June 25, 2012. The new chapter begins!  Well, it has been going on since then.  So much has changed in my life in the blink of an eye.  It still seems surreal that I am now living in a beautiful house in Rockford, IL just an hour away from my Mom & Stepdad (when it used to be 4 hours to visit them) in addition to being so much closer to many other family members!  I plan to write more on the new house and the new member of our family in the near future but until then here is a sneak peak at our new house and our new puppy!

The Piccirilli Chateau

Meet Bodhi

Do*It*Yourself-Passport Covers

For those of you that are world travelers or even if you know a world traveler, there is a passport involved.  Before traveling to Scandinavia two winters ago as a first time traveler to an oversees destination (Mexico excluded as I was underage and with a parent and we also only needed Birth Certificates back in the day) I scoured websites for travel tips.  I read all about protecting yourself while on land and also in the airports.  One interesting thing I read is that people 'target' Americans in the Airport...  Well, how do they know I'm American!?  Provided I don't open my mouth to speak, I am not emblazoned with American 'type' clothing and donning ear buds 100% of the time how would they know!?  Um...  My Passport!  Duh!  It says right on the front of it "I'm Proud to be an American!" not really but pretty damn close!  So I got excited about picking out a passport cover, I immediately went on Etsy and started 'shopping'  I needed two, one for myself and one for my husband...  As I was looking it dawned on me... I can MAKE this myself!  And so I did!  The first time around was honestly just eye-balling it as was the second, third, fourth, ect...  And they all turned out beautifully!  In the words of my father "we are not making gold watches here folks!"  So here is my rough walk-through  on how to make your very own passport cover!

Start by selecting your preferred fabric- for mine and my husband's I selected a dark paisley that was actually a pair of my favorite pants while I was in college- My hips grew and god knows they will never fit again! So I got a two-for I was able to up cycle!

For this project you will need:

Materials:

• 2- 13"x8" scraps of fabric (one for the outside and one for the lining inside), you can use any fabric type you want, we used cotton quilters fabric for the tutorial below...
• thread
• 1-2- 13"x8" single sided interfacing

Tools:

• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Rotary cutting tool, ruler, and board (you don't need this but it's strongly recommended)

Once you pick your fabric *Iron it* and cut the pieces that are about 13"x8"- this will make your finished dimensions approximately 5.25"x5.75".  

Take your passport (or if you are making this as a gift or don't have one on had cut out a piece of cardboard as a 'fill in') and lay it on top of the wrong side of the fabric you have chosen for the outside of the cover.

Take a pen or pencil and mark about 1/8" from the top and bottom of the passport while it's centered on the fabric.

Cut the interfacing down to fit just within the two marks you just made and iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric as seen below:

If your interfacing is thinner you can double it up for more rigidity and durability.

Next iron the flaps that are exposed down as you see below:

And Iron the very ends under- this should be about 1/8":

Sew over the ends you just ironed- this will prevent snagging when you need to pull the passport in and out of the cover.

 It should look like the photo below once it's sewn:

Next take the lining fabric you have chosen (light brown in this example) and lay your passport down for sizing, cut the lining fabric about 1/2" longer then the opened width of the passport and the same length as the cover fabric with an additional 1/2" for the inseam.  The photo below demonstrates the size-up:

 Once the lining fabric is cut to the right size you can fold over the ends (right and left sides when holding horizontal with a 1/8" inseam, this will also prevent snagging when pulling the passport in and out of the cover.

Lay the lining on the right side (outside) of the cover fabric right in the middle, and sew just along the top and bottom with a 1/4" seam.

Inside out the fabric and line up the passport in the middle of the lining, fold over the edges and sew very carefully right along the top and bottom of the right and left flaps:

Take a deep breath, you are done!

Here are the finished products:

View from the inside

View from the outside opened flat

 Here are my two originals I made for my husband and myself (and later my sister-in-law) out of my paisley pants :)

*A special thank you to my dear friend Jessica for allowing me to photograph her while she followed my instructions in making her own cover (and for dealing with my mistakes as I didn't write it down the first time.  It had also been over a year since I made them last!).

If you have any questions or feedback for me on this please don't hesitate to leave me a post!  Happy Sewing my Lovelies!

~Namaste~

Checking in (and out in some ways)

So, it's February 14- I am a month and a half into this year and still going strong with the Vegan lifestyle that I fully adapted after Christmas 2011 (with a few accidental exceptions- like buying rice parmesan cheese to find that it had Caseinate in it- which is a milk derived ingredient).  Honestly going into the lifestyle change I thought it was going to be a HUGE challenge but it turned out to be an excellent choice and easier then I ever thought.  It really helps that my husband and I are going at it together and support each other.  At first I had some cravings- much less then I actually anticipated. The only cravings I can remember were for a herb whole wheat cream cheese Bagel from the Dash-In and Mac n' Cheese.  I found some great Vegan Mac n' Cheese recipes but have yet to find a good tasting cream cheese replacement- they all taste... woody to me, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!  No don't get me wrong- we don't eat a lot of meat and cheese substitutes, we stick to a lot of whole foods, whole grains and fresh, organic as much as possible but the occasional comfort food is nice every once and a while.  The Vegan lifestyle (I don't want to call it a diet because it's not some fad thing I am doing to loose weight before a wedding or some temporary crap like that) has given me many gifts...  In addition to loosing about 12 pounds (with the dietary changes and exercise combined) and regular bowel movements but much clearer skin...  I have been struggling with acne since I turned about 27- two years.  I was on a regimen of two prescription medication lotions one in the AM and one in the PM that dried my face out, burned when I sweat and gave me headaches.  I also was washing my face with Clinique Foaming Face wash acne formula, toner, Clinique face gel twice a day on top of the lotions.  Now I was my face once to twice a day depending on the oil build up at the end of the day with a Mud soap from Dead Sea Warehouse that I LOVE, love, love!  Sine making those changes- I still moisturize after washing with the Clinique gel but plan to find something more natural once I run out- my acne is few and far between!  I feel like I have normal acne breakouts here and there and my pores... they are the smallest they have been since I started paying attention to that crap!  Even my husband has made comments!  I could not be happier!  Those are the major changes that I have observed since going Vegan...  We have talked about it and we will not go back, we are Vegan for the long haul!

Tiff and Russ' Vegan Vitamin Checklist-

A GOOD multivitamin- LifeForce is our current choice
Vitamin D
Vitamin B complex- includes B12
Calcium and Magnesium (for Tiff only)

*Russ takes a multitude of cholesterol lowering vitamins like Red Rice Yeast- I will go into more detail on this in a later post if you like*

As for the rest of my New Years Goals...  I am going to be honest- because that is what I do!  I put too much on my plate- which explains why I have not updated this blog every week like I promised... I tried SO hard the first month but between the photography class I am taking, union stuff, work, yoga, house work and everything else I could not keep up...  So after mentally beating myself up for about a week I just let it all go!  Well, not all!  I have been doing well on reading a book a month, this month I am reading The Guru in You by Cameron Alborzian which has some great exercises to practice each week before moving on to the next chapter and Yogic principle- which I like because he makes you stop and check in before moving on which I would do without him calling me out!  I also picked up another book at the library which I have just started reading- because The Guru in You is a chapter a week book I wanted something else to read on the other nights- Wild Feminine by Tami Kent.  I have just started this one so I will let you know my thoughts on it as I go :)  I didn't meet my 80% goal last month for working out so the hubby and I sat down and re-worked my goal for this month- I set it at 75% since I hit about 60% last month... so far I am thinking I am not going to make it :(...  I got a nasty sinus infection for about a week earlier this month so I didn't work out at all... I am also traveling to Chicago this weekend and don't know if I will have too much time for yoga nor can I bring my elliptical with me!  But I am far more active then I was last year and am in the best shape I have even been in- not my thinest but mind you skinny does not = in shape!  I have been saving albeit not as aggressively as I had wanted but being out of work a week this month does not help the pocket book by any means!  Russ and I have been practicing Buddhism and have been doing pretty well.  I am still stuck up on things like my road rage and non-judging but I have come a long way so far and for that I am grateful!

I realized that working all kinds of overtime was nice on my paycheck but not necessarily nice on my mind set or body with everything else I was doing...  I have put that one on the back burner because quality of life is more important then having oodles of money in a savings account.  Another thing that I have fallen short on is teaching yoga- my work schedule changed quite drastically at the end of January so I had to give up teaching my Monday evening class- but I could not be happier that my fellow yoga sister Erin Erb took the class as we went through Yoga Teacher Training together at PranaYoga- but Vani and I are trying to coordinate an AM class starting in March so I will keep you in the loop!  Not all is bad!  In fact I think I am doing pretty damn good!  I guess I set high expectations, but I am also goal oriented!  Just ask my best friends and husband!

I'll send you off with a few shots I took for my photography class (some with my new flash I got from my hubby for my birthday <3)...  oh and feel free to leave your comments, feedback, suggestions or questions!

This was for an assignment called 'Round and Round'
the flash froze two blood oranges and a tennis ball in place as they were rolling across the floor.
 I just LOVE the color contrast!

Silhouette of me doing Vrksasana- Tree Pose

The Blue Lotus Flower that was a Wedding gift from my husband- long shutter speed shot with the camera on the floor

Kitchen Love Sunday

The iPod is on shuffle- it was grocery day and time to figure out what to do with the leftover veggies...

What to do with big bunch of leafy veggies?  I'm talking pounds here ladies and gentleman!  I hate to waste and with all the Food Deserts out there I am not about to throw em to the hens- I don't really have hens but wish I did.  So what do I do?  Start rummaging in my pantry, refrigerator, freezer and beyond!  Here is what I started with:

1 1/2 pounds of fresh spinach
1 bunch of green kale
1 bunch of collard greens

First thing is first- I haven't had lunch yet- there is no better way to put green veggies in their place with minimal nutrient loss-  Juice!  I wash, trimmed, peeled, and de-seeded the following:
  2 Handfuls of Green Grapes
  1 Bunch of Green Kale
  2 Handfuls of Fresh Spinach
  4 Peeled Kiwi*
  2 Green Apples
  1 Peeled Orange
  2 Peeled Bananas*
  1 bunch of Collard Greens
  A healthy squirt of Flax Seed Oil

*Everything was juiced with the exception of the Kiwi and Banana- I pureed these on my juicer :)

Once everything is combined in a large pitcher take a stick blender and go at it for a minute.

Once everything is mixed you will get what my friend Jessica dubbed 'a green Guinness'...  I kind of like the ring of that!

 
Now that I am juiced up I am in the proper mindset to make dinner... hmmm

Eureka~  I found a box of Organic Durum Semolina and I just happen to have picked up Toufutti milk free better ricotta cheese from the co-op.  Lasagna here we go!

I started by boiling the noodles- duh! and chopping up some fresh spinach and basil.

I then mixed the green mixture with 8oz of the ricotta and about 2 oz of milk free creme cheese along with some parsley, oregano, black pepper, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and sea salt.

Once the goodness is combined take the noodles lay them in a dish take about two heaping tablespoons of the goodness and smear it on the noodle along with a sprinkling of the 'mozzarella' cheese.

Roll her on up...

Lay the rolls in a baking dish cover them in red gravy sprinkle some 'cheese' on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 min.  Take out let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Voila!  As you can see I spent pretty much the entire day in the kitchen- aside from my workout and running through my yoga sequence for my first class tomorrow!  I'm beat, bedtime for Bonzo!  

Celebrate Yoga Sunday

Since I am going to be teaching a basics class Mondays starting January 16th I figured I could use you as my guinea pigs.  Since this is my first attempt at this I figured I would let you know what my rough outline will be...  I was thinking about discussing the sequence and choose one pose to really focus on each class.  Also I wanted to touch upon one Yogic principal that way once the student moves on from my class to the all levels they are not lost when the instructor starts getting into more advance sanskrit terms.  I might be taking this too seriously but I really want my students to not only advance physically but mentally and emotionally too.  I want to fulfill my role as a teacher in it's entirety.

So here is the plan for the January 16th class:

Sequence- Sun Salutation Classical variation
Pose focus: Adho Mukha Svanasana otherwise know as Downward Dog and Tadasana or Mountain
Yogic Principal: Aparigraha otherwise known as not grasping

Sequence- Sun Salutation Classical variation
     The sequence I have to be mindful that I keep it simple I don't want to scare people away with some crazy twists and arm balances.  I will of course start with warm ups, then ease into the sun salutation.  Once we move through the sun salutation (pausing on the focus poses) I will take them through some standing poses like warrior I and warrior II, moving on to a balancing pose I think tree would be fine.  From there I'll take them to the floor for some forward folds and eventually ending with bridge and possibly shoulder stand depending on the students.

Pose focus: Adho Mukha Svanasana otherwise know as Downward Dog and Tadasana or Mountain
      I want to start with a focus on downward dog because that pose is frequently revisited and possibly eventually held for extended periods of time (used as a resting pose for the more advanced Yogis).  Also I think that there are many opportunities for students to hurt themselves in this pose if not held properly.  I am going to focus mainly on spreading through the finger to alleviate pressure from the wrists and keeping the sit bones reaching towards the sky with the rips tucked in- this I am still guilty of doing!  With tadasana this pose seems far too simple to focus on but I disagree.  I didn't hold tadasana fully engaged until about a year ago!  One thing that I love about it is when you are totally engaged and you gently roll your weight on your heals just about 2 degrees to the outer edges of your feet- this causes your sacrum to open up and sometimes even will pop your hips- which I think is the cats pajamas!  I think that most people don't get the full benefit of the physical aspect of yoga for a few reasons- they don't breathe properly into the poses, they are not constantly engaged and they don't aim to create length and energy when they are holding the poses.

 

Yogic Principal: Aparigraha otherwise known as not grasping
      As for the principals of yoga, I want to talk about one each class to help my students take their yoga off the mat and into their normal every day lives.  I think aparigaha is appropriate due to the new year starting. I have also been reading some books on Buddhism and this is key...  living the middle way not cloning to the past and not reaching into the future- just live in the here and the now in this moment.  Many people carry so much baggage they don't need to- it does not serve them. I am going to integrate this into the end savasana by walking them through a guided meditation that will help them strip themselves of those thoughts that are not serving them.  Hopefully when the class is finished they will not only feel physically balance but mentally and emotionally.  If I can help people live healitier and happier lives where they are not clinging on to the past or worrying about the future then I think I can call myself a good yoga teacher :)

If you live in Fort Wayne and want to come to my first yoga basics class it will be held at Prana Yoga School of Yoga and Health at 218 Pearl in Fort Wayne, IN the class starts at 5:15pm Monday, January 16. You can register for the class online at Prana Yoga School

Hope to see you there!

~Namaste~

Happy New Year!

Well we all made it though another year!  As I ended last year on a bit of a tough note with our house getting broken into and many of my most valuable possessions stolen including my engagement ring I honestly could not wait for the year to end.   My husband also got word from a routine blood test that he has abnormally high bad cholesterol for someone that is only 30- the Dr wrote it off to bad genes and prescribed him Lipitor- he refused to take it and instead made the decision to go Vegan, quit drinking coffee, consuming processed/fried foods (with very minimal exceptions) and had cut his drinking drastically!  I am very proud of him!  We have both been sticking to a plant-based, whole foods diet for almost one month now!  The real test will come in about 2 months when they re-test his blood, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the diet change works and he won't be forced to be a slave to prescription drugs for the rest of his life!

 Last year I was able to pay my car off and end the year with no credit card debit... as for my savings account, it's pretty slim for the time being.  I also earned my Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour certificate from Prana Yoga in Fort Wayne, IN!  So I guess the whole year was not a total loss!

Moving forward I am holding my head high and trying to keep positive.  I have quite a long list of goals for the year...  you know me and my goals-

Here is a snapshot of those I care to share:

Teach one yoga class a week (minimum)
Attend three yoga classes a week (minimum)
30 minutes on the elliptical a day
Work 4 hours of OT a week (when available)
Read one book a month
No more then one hour of TV a night (this is easy because we don't have cable only Netflix!)
Craft at least two hours a week
Eat 90% or better all Vegan
Pay off one of my school loans by June
Save for a warm vacation- $300/month
Buy second hand when ever possible
Call my Grandparents at least once a week and visit at least once every other month
Blog at least once a week
Enter at least 5 photography contests
Get down to 125 pounds and be able to fit into my cute blue dress for my friend Kate's wedding!
Learn and start to practice Buddhism (this will be a challenge since I have MAD road rage)

I will elaborate more on those later but I just wanted to get them out there for accountability sakes!  So far I have not wavered!  I made a nice little exercise calendar and decided if I hit 80% of my target or better this month I will buy myself a new Manduka Mat!

Remember it takes 21 days to break a habit!  I have been jumping on the elliptical once a day for 30 min each session since the first :)  I have a class set up at Prana Yoga Downtown that I will start teaching on Monday nights at 4:15 with the first class on January 16th.  I am super excited!  I also have been reading Against the Stream by Noah Levine which is a basic guide to Buddhism for the revolutionary which I only aspire to become!   I think I am well on my way to making 2012 a great year!

~Namaste~

Falling off the Wagon

Well friends...  I have done it!  It happened so fast that by the time the damage was done it was too late to turn back.  That warm and fuzzy feeling that materialism brings so fast like a heroin high has worn off.  I had been SO well behaved so willful to save save save.  My savings account was up to $1200 at the end of March and I was holding my head high and my chest out!  I was a recovering debit addict but I fell off the wagon.  It all happened quite quickly actually.

Imagine this:

I was itching to grill with the impending Spring upon us so about two or three weeks ago Russ was grilling up some portabellas on the little janky grill I had from my old apartment that I was living in with my Cousin Tony when Russ and I first met over three years ago.  This little $99 Target special is going on it's fourth season.  Mind you it spent the winters outside not covered or hidden from the wrath of a nasty midwest winter.  The bellas Russ made were delicious but he had grim news "Honey, the grill is about shot, it only has one hot spot left on it".  I was mortified!  How could we survive a summer without a grill?! No corn on the cob cooked my favorite way?  No 'steak' fries, no grilled onions?  noooo!  I broke out in cold sweats (not really though) and we discussed going grill shopping.  We looked far and wide we wanted something mid sized, gas and something not too cheaply built but that would give us a good run for it's money.  We went to Target, Meijer and then Lowes.  We were looking at a few different ones I really liked this one but the price was too high- $600!?!?  A friendly man in Lowes came up and asked us if we needed any help as usual Russ replied no while I started in with the questions.  He told us the infrared he didn't care for it took forever to cook food and even longer to get used to, we automatically ruled that out.  We came upon a stainless beauty the price was a little over what we wanted to spend... ok it was double!  $380...  the man mentioned that it was made locally in Huntington, IN (I think) and that it was really a great deal for the money it appealed to Russ because it had restaurant quality grates and it was large enough to fit a few racks of ribs without too much fuss.  He was moaning about the price and I really wanted to get something that he would like and that would last us more then three seasons.  So I pipped in "I'll cover the difference, you pay the $200 I'll throw down the other $180"  He probed me to make sure that I was ok with that and with that we had the grill cover in hand and headed up to the register to make the purchase.

Now don't get me wrong we LOVE the grill!  We had a little Birthday get together for Russ and had about 8-10 people over we grilled and it worked out GREAT!  And honestly the $180 was at the time only a small drop in the bucket...  those small drops surmount to one full bucket eventually...

My Electra Townie 21

Fast forward to last week Friday.  I have the day off because I work Saturdays so I was running my typical errands you know grocery store, dry cleaners and such.  Well I had to get Russ something for his 30th Birthday.  He gave me a small list of Banjo video and tab that he wanted but I would have to order those online and there is no way I would have them in time.  I knew he was looking at getting a bicycle bag, in the summer he likes to bike to work.  I decided to swing by Summit City Bike store on my way to the grocery store.  I walked in and found the perfect bike bag for him!  While I was there a pretty little 'christmas' green Townie caught my eye... more so the price tag it was marked down $82 to $399.  I was in love and like almost all women and some men it's hard to say no to a 'great' sale!  Needless to say I walked out of Summit City Bike's $623 poorer then when I had walked it.  I am absolutely stoked that I have a beautiful bike that I know I will love to ride and will get YEARS of life out of.  But I feel this pain in my stomach when I transferred the $400 out of savings into my checking account to cover the loss of my everyday funds.

So for those of you keeping track- I am and you KNOW it!  I spent I total of $580 this Spring alone!

So what to do now?  Bring the bike back and tell them I hate it?  pay a restocking fee?  no... learn and move forward...  My plan is to realize that I am going to fall off the wagon here and there life is a long journey with plenty of bumps along the way.  I can weather the bumps and re-amass the savings I just doled out.  My plan is this:  Buy only the necessary items from here forward, stay focused on working overtime as much as possible to try to make up for the loss of that extra money I pulled out of my savings.  I have to work about 14 hours of OT in order to account for that loss just to the bike alone and that does not include the tax money uncle sam clomps on to.  I can also focus on getting up early and riding my bike to work as much as possible that will save me about $25/week in gas expenses so will the bike pay for itself?  Yes- If I make the effort!

One the the Poppies that bloomed right outside our back door!