August in Review and Hot Yoga Jonesing

Do you ever have a month where you reach the end and think, "What the F did I do these past 30 or so days?!?" That was my August. It flew right past and flipped me the bird.

It was hot. It was short. And we moved the week before school began. I've been having to listen to endless complaints from The Hubs that he "never got a vacation before school began." I can't really say that I fully sympathize since I work more than he does, but hey, whatever :) I'll give him credit, though, because we'd been working on "The Move" since August 6th, and it pretty much lasted all month. It's still technically going on, what with the boxes we still have left to unpack.

But everything we did this month was totally worth it! And now we are transitioning into fall--into the days of leaves turning colors (hopefully not straight to brown), opening the windows in the house to feel cool air, reading out on the screened-in porch, raking leaves and watching Enu barrel into them. These are going to be nice days, for sure.

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Also, if you haven't ever been to Hot Yoga...DO IT!!! I went to my first session last night with my friend, Shannon, and I came out a changed person. No, I swear! I've wanted to try it out every since seeing this inspirational post.

I'd only done yoga to instructional programs on TV. This is completely different and new and wonderful. I. AM. HOOKED.

{photo from here}

It was challenging, but I feel that I did my best with the various poses I'd never performed before. I got into a groove where I would stare at one point on the brick wall in front of me, and most of the times when I would wobble, I would think, "You're not going to fall." And you know what? It worked.

The heat makes you more flexible, and I feel sore today as a result, but it was totally worth it. The sweat was pouring out of me, and I loved it.

One of the best parts, though, was laying in the Savasana (corpse position rest) at the end of the class, when we were allowed to sweat out, relax, and process what we had just done. I imagined myself floating on the lake that we visit every summer for lake trip. The waters were still and calm, and I felt so peaceful. Mind-blowing.

I felt so at peace after class while driving home. And today at work has been different, too.

Most definitely will be returning...and soon!

My dears, have a lovely Labor Day weekend, and stay safe!

Jes

Raw's What I Needed

In the midst of digging our way out of a mountain of boxes, I thought I would bring you some pre-move and post-move eats!

Lately, I've been digging on the raw food lifestyle. After eating mostly fast food during the moving days, I felt like C.R.A.P. so this raw week has really been the cure. Before the move, here's what I was munching on:

{romaine salad with sprouted quinoa, raw buckwheat groats, apple,

tomato, cucumber, green onion, and sesame seeds}

{breakfast then and now: soaked raw buckwheat groats (really good, try them!!), shredded/dried/unsweet, coconut, flax seeds, and a dollop of almond butter}

Now is a fabulous time to eat mostly-raw with the hot weather and the seasonal produce. I've been munching on organic cantaloupe and frozen organic grapes (except for the other day when I didn't cut up my cantaloupe in time for work, and I had to bring a carrot as my snack. yes, a carrot).

Here's what I've had for dinner in the last few days (MOSTLY-raw, not 100%):

Sunday--Romaine salad with black beans (not raw), sprouted quinoa, raw buckwheat groats, green onion, carrot, avocado, and a nooch-dressing

Monday--Couscous (not raw) tabbouleh with tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onion

Tuesday--Romaine lettuce tacos: soaked quinoa with spicy seasoning, black beans (not raw), green onion, fresh corn, and avocado inside a romaine "taco shell"

Wednesday--Massaged kale-avocado salad with carrots, green onion, sprouted green lentils and a raw hummus (soooo good!)

Like I said, not totally raw, which is cool with me. I'm trying new things and picking up some rad books on raw food. So far, I'm enjoying myself.

Now if I can only find the memory card to the camera.

Have you tried high-raw vegan before? Are you eating raw now?

Jes

We're Moving!!

Well, not too far from our current house. We are leaving the 'burbs and moving back into Wichita to be closer to work/school/friends.

On a tip from one of our good friends, we checked out a cute house in Riverside (the neighborhood, not the city) down the street. Actually, we drove by at 3:00am while leaving a party and said a collective, "Eh." to what we saw. But it was 3:00am, and that would make anything prospective seem icky. For example:

"It's 3:00am, and I should wash my face before bed, but eh."

"It's 3:00am, and I should probably change out of these clothes that smell like an ashtray, but eh."

"It's 3:00am, and I should maybe take some ibuprofen to head off the certain hangover, but eh."

That's pretty much how we felt about the Riverside house until I found it listed on craigslist.com and decided that we should go for it. You know that little saying about not judging a book by its cover? Yeah. Lesson learned:

{this looks much different at 3:00am}

{The Hubs}

{those French doors go to the screened-in patio}

{clowning around in the creepy dining room mirror}

{dining room pre-move and kitchen}

{basement, aka the hubs' art room}

{most of these were boxes of books...}

You guys...it's such a cute house! And it has a PANTRY! You can imagine my glee as my husband and I figured out that this house has a pantry. I've always wanted one of those.

And there is a screened-in back porch, and a garage, and gorgeous ceiling fans, and built-in shelving, and walk-in closets, and a bitchin' fridge, and a privacy-fenced backyard, and a huge front yard, and it was built in the 1930s, and it has cute fireplaces, and a BASEMENT, and a cupboard under the stairs (like in Harry Potter, yeah!)...and...and...and...

And for only $50 more a month than we are currently paying for rent.

So this week, our life is in boxes, waiting to be moved over. I have some food-stuff to post tomorrow or later, though we will probably be without le Internets for several days. How will we manage?!?

Have a wonderful week!

Jes