snot face

This is where I've been held up the last few days...

It started Monday and Tuesday with a full feeling in my throat, not quite a sore throat, but on the verge. I drank lots and lots of fluid, went to yoga, and tried to stave off the sickness with positive thoughts.

Wednesday morning came and I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My head was killing me, I had a low grade temperature of 100.5, body aches, and stuffy head.

Beautiful, right?

I somehow managed to drag myself through Target to buy a few essentials and the rest of my days have been spent indoors for the most part.

I've been drinking about 2-3 liters of fluid each day, taking Vitamin C and Echinacea, which may not even be doing a damn thing since I'm already sick, but I figured it wouldn't hurt...

(..also an un-pictured Excedrin. It's the only thing to stop my headaches, fever, and body aches)

 ...drinking this tea, which has a 10-15 minute steep time!

Trying to keep my snotty tissues from piling up around the house...

Each day I've been taking 2-3 hot baths. I think it's becoming a bit OCD for me. I love to just soak in the hottest water possible because it warms my bones and it opens up my sinuses.

I've also been using my neti pot about 3 times per day and I swear that it, along with everything else I have done, has cut my sick time in half...

Late yesterday afternoon, I was feeling stir crazy from being on the couch and the sun was shining on the porch, so I put down a towel and basked in the light.

I feel like the sun is so healing...ah, Vitamin D...

Lots of homemade healing soup has also been ingested...

On a somewhat unrelated note, I wanted to mention that after my hot baths, I've been lathering my whole body in Organic Virgin Coconut oil...

The founder of Kelapo coconut asked if I wanted to try the product through Twitter, and she was kind enough to send me an 8oz jar. I have yet to cook with this brand yet, but it's lovely as a moisturizer.

Here's to health!

Learning my camera

My new Nikon D3000 arrived last night, so this morning I woke up like a kid on Christmas morning, eager to test out my toy.

Of course, the bag and special DVD that I bought is coming in a different package, so I am still waiting on that. As of right now, I've watched a few Youtube videos on DSLR cameras, but it's safe to say I'm pretty clueless. I don't want to rely on the auto setting. I can't wait to be a pro at the manual settings and adjusting everything...

Max has obviously been my subject today...

And then I went and got a much needed hair cut!


Here's a before, sans makeup...

 And after:

And took a walk through the park...

 "What is it that dies? A log of wood dies to become a few planks. The planks die to become a chair. The chair dies to become a piece of firewood, and the firewood dies to become ash. You give different names to the different shapes the wood takes, but the basic substance is there always. If we could always remember this, we would never worry about the loss of anything. We never lose anything; we never gain anything. By such discrimination we put an end to unhappiness."

Sri S. Satchidananda (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda)

Riding the Wave

Right now I am riding on a wave of contentedness and acceptance.

I did not get into graduate school and this made me quite upset. I cried. I cursed the world. I am fucking pissed (yes, enough to curse!) because I want to start school and begin the next chapter in my life. I don't want to wait anymore and "waste time." I HATE when things do not go as planned. How frustrating is that, right??? But, I know that things do not always go as planned. And although in the grand scheme of things I don't necessarily believe in the notion that, "things happen for a reason," I do wonder if the universe has some sort of weird cosmic plan for us all. I am atheist. I do not believe in a higher power that controls us or put us on this earth.

But the universe is crazy and magnificent and there are energies out there. I have no control of these energies or control over my own life, it seems. Everything feels random at times. Yet it all falls into place in unexplainable ways. I am content with unexplainable things, whereas others might need religion or dogma to explain the beauty around them.
I bask in it.

Imagine there's no heaven, my dear Six-Billionth, and at once the sky's the limit

"And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. "

Therefore, I let myself get upset and cry and threw a pity party. And then I let out a big, deep breath, and realized, hey, it isn't the end of the world. This is just the way things are and other opportunities will present themselves. This is your life! This is the way it is supposed to be. You are young, healthy, and have a wonderful boyfriend, a roof over your head, and even a good head on your shoulders.




So, I've moved on...
The past couple of days, I've baked my first (apple) pie...ugly as it was, it tasted delicious...

I laughed with Mirza as we put up the Christmas tree and attempted to take a "family portrait"...

This afternoon I decided I've been seriously lacking in the department of being outdoors and getting my Vitamin D, so I grabbed some magazines, my sad point-and-shoot camera (still waiting on the DSLR to ship!), a towel, and headed to the beach.

I soaked up the sun and read an article titled, "The Sun Always Rises" by Katie Holcombe from the December 2010 issue of Yoga Journal. The last few paragraphs really jumped out at me:

"While life -and-death predicaments like the one my friend experienced are thankfully not the norm, each of us faces our own 'snowstorms' of varying proportions every day. Maybe you don't get the job you wanted or receive the recognition that you feel you deserve. Life may present you with any number of heartbreaks in the form of death, loss, and disappointment. Each of  these instances is an opportunity to see that there can be great freedom and ease in letting go of illusion of control over your circumstances.

With this knowledge, you continue to act in the best way you know how, to the best of your ability. You still hope, dream, or pray for--and pursue--what you want from life. But when things don't go as you had hoped, you trust that there is an order beyond your knowing or understanding. You can move forward with the peace that comes from accepting that the outcome is out of your hands, through surrender to something much bigger. And you discover that even when circumstances are beyond your control, life often works out just fine, and sometimes even better than you could have imagined."

My January will not begin with books and classes regarding my career.  Instead, I will immerse myself in photography and yoga.

Today I signed up for a Beginning Digital Photography course at the Morean Arts Center. It begins January 11th. That same week, my Yoga Teacher Training will begin.

 What could be better than those two combined? I'd like to say, nothing.

the purpose of life for man is growth, just as the purpose of life for trees and plants is growth. trees and plants grow automatically and along fixed lines; man can grow as he will. trees and plants can only develop certain possibilities and characteristics; man can develop any power which is or has been shown by any person anywhere. nothing that is possible in spirit is impossible in flesh and blood. nothing that man can think is impossible. nothing that man can imagine is impossible of realization.

—
wallace wattles

Happy Thanksgiving

I worked a lovely 12 hour shift today for Thanksgiving, but now I'm home and I want to recap what

 I am thankful for...

...having two delicious Thanksgiving meals...one at Mirza's house. His mother worked 11pm-7am and then came home to cook for us.  It was the best meal....ever. Meal #2 was at work.

 (work meal)

....great coworkers who make working the holidays so easy and fun.
...getting paid time and 1/2 for the holidays $$ (bling!)
...my beautiful Max

...my AMAZINGLY talented and handsome Mirza

...the fact that in about a week, I will have this lovely contraption in my hands once it arrives by mail!!!!!!!

muahahahahah SO EXCITED!!

I'm new to DSLR and this is a nice, entry level camera to start my journey. Any tips are welcome!! I am clueless.
(oh, and I totally justified this purchase as, "well, since I'm not going to school in the Spring and I won't be buying books anymore, I was going to spend the money before anyway, sooooooo...)
Also wanted to add that I was between Nikon and the Canon Rebel. I know a lot of people use the Rebel, but I went to the store and felt out both of the cameras. Mirza and I both agreed that the Nikon just "felt" better. It was more solid and real. And since all of my previous point and shoots have been Nikon, I went with it!! I purchased it online for a great deal and am waiting a little longer since I opted for free shipping.

...Five days off now!