And just like that...it's 2024

Well hello friends. Today, it is January 1, 2024. I started this blog when I was 25 and had just started my first full-time job. Now, I'm 40 and have two kids and own a house, so things have changed a bit around here.

I used to fill out this end of year survey thing just about every year, and yesterday my colleague posted his on Facebook which inspired me to do the same. I've been meaning to start writing here again for a while because a) I miss writing and b) it helps me remember things and c) why not. We obviously have some catching up to do, but this seems like a good place to start - so without further ado, the 2023 annual recap!

Photo Credit: Megan Norman

1. What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?

Stayed at an all-inclusive resort! Ben's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and to celebrate they took all three of their sons and families to Mexico for a week. As one does. Honestly, it was kind of amazing. Alex and Owen spent all day in the pool or in the Kids Club (which let me tell you is a freaking godsend - having somewhere you can drop off your kiddos and read by the pool for a couple of hours? Sold.), and discovered the magic of "rainbow cheerios" aka Fruit Loops. They keep asking if they can go back, so we're considering saving up for a return trip for our 15th anniversary in 2026.

And we finally, FINALLY got professional family photos done. I've been procrastinating this for 2-3 years and finally made it happen thanks to the incredible Megan Norman.

 

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't make resolutions but I do try to set intentions - last year, my goal was to find ways to focus in and go deeper on the things that are truly important to me instead of spreading myself so thin (and as a result, to be a little more selfish in my decision-making and not worry so much about being a burden to others). I would say yes, I did keep it for the most part, and I'm still trying to figure out what my intention is for 2024. 

 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, Ben's younger brother and his wife, so we now have a very adorable baby niece!

 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

I actually can't think of anyone close to me who passed in 2023. So, thankful for that.

 

5. What countries did you visit?

Mexico and....L.A.? Which is sort of like visiting another country? 

 

6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023?

I'm actually not sure! I wanted better balance in my life, and I achieved that. I think I could use...more of that? And I have plans to get there, although I'm now revising them slightly due to circumstances outside of my control but, that's life.

7. What date from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

February 16. It was my 40th birthday, but was also memorable for other reasons, please stay tuned for question 31.

 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

This is a tough one - honestly, surviving February with even a shred of my sanity intact felt like a huge accomplishment. I also went for my first sunrise lake run in a very, very long time. I used to run Bde Maka Ska at least once a week at sunrise, but the last time I made it over there for a run I think I was pregnant with Alex. Probably summer of 2017. Getting back there felt like meeting an old friend again.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I can't really think of a "biggest failure" to be honest. 

 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

So much illness. Like just....so much. Alex, Owen and I all got hit with a truly awful GI bug in the winter, I think both kids had at least one ear infection (Alex had two back to back in the late winter/early spring) and we all got strep in July. Except for Ben, who somehow managed to escape both strep AND poop-fest 2023. Congrats to you.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Probably the playhouse in our backyard. We splurged on one from Rainbow and I can just tell it will last forever.

Also Christmas lights - I bought 3 lit garlands for the living room and some rainbow cafe string lights for the family room and have zero regrets.

And while not technically a "thing," I did a weekend yoga retreat in March for the first time since before kiddos and wow was that ever needed. 

 

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Ben, the boys. Watching Alex and Owen continue to grow up into these amazing little people full of imagination, compassion, love of learning, and becoming the best little travelers and is just incredible.

Additionally, a huge shoutout to Harper, who saved my life at work in January and February when we were short staffed. Thank you SO MUCH.

 

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Stealing this one from BCF - Johnny Depp (technically this was more in 2022 but continued to appall me in 2023)

 

14. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage and property taxes lol.

 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Planning our 2024 travels, decorating for Christmas annnd...???

 

16. What song will always remind you of 2023?

Probably this one I'm so sorry.

 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Less anxiety-riddled for sure.

 

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Writing, hence this thing. Asking for help when I needed it.

 

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Worrying about letting people down.

 

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At home with Ben, Alex and Owen! Usually we stay overnight at my parents on Christmas Eve, but they're doing some home renovations only two of the four bedrooms are accessible right now. Since we wouldn't be able to stay overnight, Ben and I decided to host Christmas Even dinner so that we could get the boys to bed at a reasonable hour and still stay up and enjoy a drink and some family time with my parents and sister. We sang at the 5:00 church service, then came home and had dinner (most of which had been prepped earlier in the day). Alex has also taken to arranging all of our flameless candles in the dining room during dinnertime and turning off/blocking out all other lights. It's quite a mood. He calls it "dark dinner," so we had dark dinner on Christmas Eve. We woke up in our own home on Christmas morning for the first time ever, the boys were up at 6:15 and ready to open presents, and my folks stopped by around lunchtime. Later in the afternoon we went to Ben's parents for dinner and games. This was a really great holiday, to be honest. 

 

22. Did you fall in love in 2023?

I re-fell in love with running!

 

23. How many one night stands?

I've been married for 12 years, we do have one nightstand in our bedroom...does that answer your question...?

 

24. What was your favourite TV program?

Succession 

 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No, hate is such a strong word. I don't know if there's anyone I know personally that I would say I truly hate. Definitely people I have been severely let down by, but not this year.

 

26. What was the best book you read?

Beloved by Toni Morrison. It's been on my to-read list for YEARS and I regret not picking it up sooner, it is an absolute masterpiece.

Honorable fiction mentions to Convenience Store Woman, When Women Were Dragons, The Light Pirate, and the entire Earthsea series which I re-read and was reminded why I love Ursula LeGuin so much.

Honorable nonfiction mentions to It Goes So Fast by Mary Louise Kelley, How The Light Gets In by Pat Schneider, and Underground by Haruki Murakami.

 

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

On Thursdays I usually pop into Yellowbird to grab a coffee on my way into the office after I drop Alex and Owen off at school. One morning, they were playing this song and I immediately ran to the Googlebox to figure out who the artist was. I listened to the rest of the album in the car and while I was cooking dinner and it quickly became one of my favorites of the year. I'm such a sucker for acoustic roots vibes for rainy days and sad people.

 

28. What did you want and get?

I wanted to find a better balance between work and family, and made some intentional changes in my life/schedule that have made a huge difference. 

Also, as a shoutout to my incredible husband - he saw me drooling over this ceramic box at a little shop in Los Feliz when we were visiting Julianna, and last week it appeared under the Christmas tree <3

 

29. What did you want and not get?

Snow for Christmas, still figuring out how to control the weather.

 

30. What was your favourite film of this year?

I had five, and only one of them actually came out this year sorry:
TÁR - This and Everything Everywhere were my top films of the year. 
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spiderman Across the Spiderverse - Alex's first movie theater experience!
Your Name - a 2016 Japanese film that looks like a lighthearted rom-com but...there is a twist. And that's all I will say, I think you should go into this film knowing as little as possible about what happens in it. Even if you're not an anime person, give it a shot I do not think you'll be disappointed.
Banshees of Inisherin - I was not prepared for where this went lol. Colin Farrell's performance is incredible.

 

31. What did you do on your birthday?

I spent my 40th birthday very, very sick on the couch with an awful GI bug, surviving on crackers and yogurt while working from home trying to stay on top of doing two jobs. It was not a great day, in the midst of a week that I can only describe as "hell week" but it was the start of a turning point that really helped me re-evaluate my boundaries and priorities when it comes to work and family.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I don't know? There were a lot of challenges, particularly in the winter and spring but I don't think any of them were necessarily avoidable. 

 

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?

I always skip this question sorry. I don't have a fashion concept, I just wear things I like.

 

34. What kept you sane?

Setting better boundaries for myself. Giving myself permission to pause when needed. In September when Alex started Kindergarten, I decided to shift my schedule to work 7-3 on Monday and Tuesday when I work from home, so that I can pick the boys up at 3 and spend some time with them in the afternoon. Life changing.

 

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Fancy...? No one really.

 

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Because I have a little boy who loves wearing sparkly dresses, anything to do with supporting GLBTQ rights and the absolutely nonsensical outrage against drag queens. And as always, gun control in this stupid country.

 

37. Who did you miss?

All of my friends and family who live out of town.

 

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Back at you BCF, and also a number of parent friends at STM.

 

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023.

Sometimes it is really and truly impossible to do everything. But boy, what a blessing have a fulfilling with an organization I admire, and a family I love beyond measure with two kiddos who I can't get enough of - even though it means that those two things sometimes come into heart-wrenching conflict. The tradeoffs feel impossible because I love my job, and for that I am very lucky.

 

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

 

Not a song lyric, but a quote from Rilke:
"...have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to live the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way to the answer."

And actually - I know this lyric is so cliched but it's the one that came to mind for me, for 2023:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Two More Minutes

Dear Alex,

Your papa and I have had numerous conversations about how he does not love encores at concerts. He thinks it's pretty silly that we have to go through the motions of the band going offstage, continuing to clap and cheer and yell "ONE MORE SONG," when the audience and the band both know that there will in fact be one more song, or maybe even two.

Why do both the audience and the band pretend that it's over, that if we don't keep cheering until our throats are hoarse, clapping until our hands are sore, that we there won't be another song?

I don't know when or if you'll read this, and if you do, I don't know if you'll remember, but you and I have a *very* specific bedtime routine. We, along with your papa and for the last few months, your little brother, say goodnight to the house and to everything in your room.

Goodnight blocks.
Goodnight bunnies.
Goodnight Hogwarts. (this is the map of Hogwarts and surrounding area that hangs over your dresser).
Goodnight stars.
Goodnight crib.
Goodnight tent and stuffed animal friends.
Goodnight mirror family! (we wave to our reflections)
Goodnight chair.
Goodnight dragons: ice dragon, blue dragon, taco dragon, and black dragon.
Goodnight to the brass elephant

Then we sing "You Are My Sunshine" and you turn off the overhead light.
Every single night.

Then, we read two books in the rocking chair. Sometimes they are good bedtime books (I Took the Moon For a Walk, The Goodnight Train, Dream Animals, Goodnight Moon), and sometimes they are not (Trucks Go, Santa Bruce (in April for some reason), The Cat in the Hat) but you always get to pick the two books.

Then I turn on the Classical MPR Lullaby Stream and we rock together in the chair for five minutes. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we just enjoy the silence. Lately you've been asking to see pictures of Mama and Papa, so I've been digging a few good ones out of the archives - our first date, our wedding, our honeymoon, and nights out with friends who you now know as honorary aunties and uncles.

And then, every night, I carry you to your crib, and then I lay down on the floor for five minutes, using a teddy bear as a pillow, curled up under your fleece Harry Potter blanket. We sometimes talk some more - about your new ukulele, about the phases of the moon, about trucks you saw that day, about how much we love our family. One of my personal favorites:

Alex: I love you THIS MUCH.
Me: Aw, thanks buddy. I love you THIS MUCH!!!
Alex: And I love papa THIS MUCH.
Me: I love papa THIS MUCH too!
Alex: And I love baby Owen THIS MUCH!!
Me: I love baby Owen THIS MUCH too!!
Alex: No, *I* love baby Owen.

Anyway, after three minutes or five minutes or however long I've been lying on the floor, I get up and say "OK, buddy, I have to go."

"No mama, don't go out the door. Two more minutes."

"OK," I say. "I can stay for two more minutes."

We both know there will always be two more minutes. But for some reason, it wouldn't be the same if I just added an extra two minutes. I always have to start to stand up, and you always have to ask the question. And then I lay back down, grateful for what feels like some extra time with you.

One more song. Two more minutes. They feel like a bonus, even when we know they were already promised. Even though I promised you all of my love, all of my minutes, from the moment you were born. They're already yours - you don't really have to ask. But it fills up my heart when you do.

Alexander Edward MacKenzie

I realize it's been more than three years since I posted in this space. Work, yoga, running and other obligations just took over and I lost the motivation (and time) to keep writing here. Recently though, I've been reading back through old posts and realizing how great it is to be able to read back through recaps of our wedding, honeymoon, my graduation from business school, and even just the everyday memories from a few years ago.

On November 30, 2017 our son Alexander was born. We are both so smitten and head over heels in love with this little pumpkin, and going back over old blog entries made me want to start writing again, so that I can preserve these memories and come back to them over and over. This is really more for me than for anyone else - but if you're here, awesome! Hope you like babies, dogs, cats and yoga ;)

Ben and I found out we were pregnant on April 5, 2017 when we were on vacation in Florida with my parents & my sister (I'll tell that whole story later - it was a fun 5 days of trying to hide the fact that I wasn't drinking...). My pregnancy was generally pretty easy - minimal morning sickness, I continued to practice yoga the entire time and was running until a few weeks into my 3rd trimester (and continued going for long-ish walks after). No swollen ankles and almost no back/hip/joint pain. I know some of that is a total crapshoot, but I also give credit to yoga.

WARNING: DESCRIPTIONS OF BODILY FUNCTIONS FOLLOW. NOTHING TOO GROSS BUT IF THE WORDS 'MUCOUS PLUG' OR 'AMNIOTIC FLUID' MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE YOU MAY WANT TO GLOSS OVER SOME OF THIS.

Going into week 39 I was still feeling pretty good and staying active, just waiting for baby to arrive. I had wrapped up most of my work projects on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so by Monday (the 27th) I was feeling pretty prepared for maternity leave and was able to be there on mostly a consultative basis, and was planning to start working from home on Wednesday the 29th. Starting that Monday, things started to feel different. Baby had dropped at least a week ago, but on Monday the 27th I really started to feel like he was pushing down - almost like I had an anvil strapped to my stomach pulling towards the earth. That night I began having mild contractions that were pretty regular. I started timing them around 11pm and trying to sleep but they were fairly uncomfortable. At about midnight I got up to use the bathroom and discovered that I had *definitely* lost my mucous plug. I won't get into the graphic detail, but for some reason I was thinking it wouldn't be obvious when I lost my plug...it definitely was. I texted my doula with the update (yes at 12:30am...) since she'd said this would be one of the major signs we were getting close. She said it sounded like early labor, but that he could be on his way any time between a day and a week from now.

I went back into the office on Tuesday for the last of what I considered to be critically important project handoffs, thinking we were still several days away from baby time. I also handed out my holiday gifts for my team, knowing that I wouldn't be around for Christmas. Leaving the office that day just felt weird...I had been planning for weeks to work from home from Wednesday onward, but it just felt strange saying this would be my last day in the office for three months. As I was leaving I thought, maybe I'll come in on Friday just because this feels too final. On my way out the door, my boss asked if I could write up a a few things from home the next day, knowing that being remote and thus would be much less likely than he would to be constantly interrupted (our workplace is super collaborative, which is great but can also sometimes mean that it's hard to focus and get things like writing or large reports done). I said of course, talk to you tomorrow, and headed home.

The next morning (Wednesday the 29th), I rolled out of bed, made coffee and for some reason decided to start working at 6:30am. This is one of many pieces of evidence that the body is smart and often knows what's going on before we do. I knocked off three deliverables for a project I was working on, and the write-ups for my boss. He and I are both early risers, but when he saw me firing off emails before 7am he wrote me back to ask if I was OK. "Yep! Totally fine, I'm just paranoid that this baby is coming any second and trying to knock a few things off this morning."

Haha.

At about 8am I shut down my laptop and Ben and I drove the clinic for my 39 week appointment with my OB. I'd been having mild contractions again, on and off throughout the night. They had sort of calmed down as we got ready to leave, but were still coming occasionally. When we got to my appointment, I told the nurse and my doctor that I'd lost my plug and was having mild contractions - all totally normal for 39 weeks btw. I was about 2 cm dialated at my checkup, and even my OB said baby was *very* low but thought it would be at least another week before anything happened. I was skeptical...I didn't exactly thing he was coming that day, but I definitely didn't think it would be another week. On our way home, Ben and I stopped at Target to buy M&M's (because why not) and talked about where we should go for one last date night.

When we got home I logged back into my computer and started catching up on email and Ben left for work. Further evidence that the universe was looking out for us that day: on his way out the door, Ben stopped and said "Oh - by the way! Nicole (his principal) insisted that I give you the office number at school. Reception in my classroom is not great, so if anything happens and you can't reach me on my cell you can call the office number." So he gave me the number and I entered it into my phone.

About 30 minutes later (around 10:30) I decided to start getting lunch ready. I put a pot of rice on the stove, went over to the freezer and bent down to grab something - and as I stood up I felt a gush. Not a huge one, like stereotypical water breaking, but definitely different than anything else that had been going on for the past few days. My first thought was that I was leaking amniotic fluid (aka my waters had broken but not dramatically). I knew this wouldn't be great, because I was Strep B positive and they would want me on antibiotics as soon as my membranes ruptured to avoid infecting baby. My second thought was, did I pee myself? I called my clinic immediately, and when I described what was going on they agreed it might be amniotic fluid and that I should head into the Mother Baby Center to get it checked out. Thinking that it was nothing and that I'd probably be back in a couple of hours, I moved some meetings to later in the day, grabbed my purse and a book and called a Lyft.

Oh but hey, remember that pot of rice I put on the stove? Yeah, it was still cooking. In my panicked rush to get out of the house I had completely forgotten about it. Freaking out, I called my mom who happened to be volunteering about 3 minutes from hour house and has a key. Crisis of burning our home down averted!

When I got to the Mother Baby Center they checked me in and a nurse took me to one of the triage rooms where I put on a gown and sat down on the exam table. The nurse took one look at me and said "...Yeah. I'll do the test but I can pretty much tell you right now that's amniotic fluid. You're sitting in a puddle basically."

"So, I'm not going home today am I?"

"Nope!"

I tried calling Ben's cell but, as I mentioned earlier, he sometimes doesn't get service in his classroom and my call didn't go through. So about one hour after he gave me the office line for his school, I ended up calling it. Poor guy had literally just gotten to school and was about to start his first class of the day when the office manager came in to say "hey, your wife's on the phone, you should probably take this"... Sorry babe! :) Because I really thought I was coming home, I hadn't even grabbed the hospital bag or made arrangements for the pets. Ben stopped by home to get the bag and my mom offered to take the dog and feed the cat. Another crisis averted!

I won't go into too much detail about the labor/delivery process but all told I was in labor for about 16 hours from the time I arrived at the Mother Baby Center until Alexander was born, at about 4:18 AM on November 30th. Aside from the fact that I'd planned on laboring at home for several hours before going in to the hospital (which was shot to hell when my water broke), the delivery went pretty much according to plan! The only thing that really threw me for a loop was back labor, which was pretty awful and almost made me abandon my plan to go drug free. My doula and I thought he might be posterior (when the baby's spine is against your spine) which is often the cause of back labor. We did a ton of Spinning Babies exercises to try to get him to turn, none of which alleviated my back pain at all... so we finally came to the conclusion that this might just be how things were going to go. If you haven't experienced back labor, you really don't want to. Basically by the time I got to late active labor and transition, I felt like my back was going to break in half during every contraction, and following each contraction my low back spasmed with pain to the point where I almost dreaded the end of the contraction more than the contraction itself. Plus the back pain was continuous so there really was no break from the pain between contractions. Honestly I'm not sure how I got through it, except for the constant encouragement from Ben, the nurses, my doula, and the OB on call.

When we got to the pushing stage, I found that the best position to relieve pressure on my back and let gravity help was on my knees with the back of the bed elevated to almost 90 degrees, draping my upper body over the back of the bed. We were all nervous that the OB wouldn't let me deliver in this position and that she would make me continue pushing on my back. Luckily, she was totally on board and even made a diving catch to grab Alex as he came out! Just looking at him during those first few hours was the most amazing thing I'd ever experienced - realizing that this little being was the same one who had been living and growing inside me for the past 9 months just blew my mind. When we first locked eyes, my heart melted. I never, ever want to forget that moment.

The next couple of days were a whirlwind of activity, trying to figure out how to breastfeed, visits from friends and family and deliveries of delicious food. Thank you to everyone who came to see us and brought us meals during those first few days - we are so grateful!

For now, we are just hanging out at home, snuggling Alexander, drinking a lot of tea, watching some great shows on Netflix and gearing up for the holidays. Hope you're all having an amazing holiday season! Back soon with more :)

(^^ I started this post a few weeks ago - I thought about editing it but decided to leave it as-is and just post it now! Given how long it take me to get this post up, I'm obviously not doing so hot at writing more often o_O)

"Yoga is like music...

...The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life." RIP BKS Iyengar (1918-2014)

Your contributions to the practice of yoga are truly beyond measure. Light on Yoga is the one book I open every day without fail, and I will continue to reference your unnatural arm length in pretty much all of my classes. Thank you for your greatness, for your knowledge, for inspiring me and so many others. Thank you thank you for everything.

Om sri gurubhyo namaha.

"I learn by going where I have to go" ~ Theodore Roethke

"Ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use." - Carlos Castaneda

Before you read this I just think you should know - everything I wrote here I basically said out loud in front of everyone in my teacher training last month and I almost completely lost it in front of like 20 people. I am NOT a public crier. I am not an emotionally demonstrative person about stuff like this. Excitement? Yes. Geeking out over something awesome that I love? Yes. Tearing up during a public discussion? Um, no. I was like "oh I'll just share my reasons for wanting to teach" and then suddenly I started choking up and was like WHAT IS HAPPENING I CAN'T CONTROL MY BODY THIS IS NOT ME AT ALL. I will never secretly and internally make fun of public criers again because apparently now I am one. So that happened. 

On the morning of our second-to-last day in LA last month, Noah gave us a short assignment in which we were asked to write about why we felt called to teach. For those of you who know me, you know that I was a teacher for several years - during and right after college I was the music director for a Musical Theater camp in Minneapolis and to this day it was the most rewarding thing I've ever done. I loved it to the point where I felt guilty depositing my paycheck, because I couldn't believe someone would pay me money to have so much fun. Unfortunately, the paycheck I deposited was not large enough to cover all my costs, so I was working part time at a shoe store while also trying to figure out how to make my life more stable.

But, for a lot of reasons we don't need to get into here, I started to feel embarrassed whenever my answer to the classic cocktail party/ high school reunion/ running into my parents friends at the grocery store question "So, what are you doing these days?" was "oh you know...I'm still figuring things out." So I decided to get my shit together and enter the muggle world - I left my awesome job and went back to school for my MBA and somehow ended up in corporate healthcare.

Now, don't get me wrong I think it was the right decision for me at the time. When I interviewed for internships during the winter of my first MBA year, I realized that I just could not get all that jazzed up about consumer packaged goods (which is what I actually thought I wanted to do) and the only interviews where I felt passionate and genuine were those that centered around making people's lives better. 

I interned at a large healthcare company that summer, and accepted an offer to work there full-time after graduation. I wouldn't say I knew immediately that it was the wrong choice, but I definitely had this overwhelming shock of "what am I doing here, how did this happen...?"

At first things were basically fine, but over time it became increasingly clear that this just was not the right place for me to be. It certainly didn't help that we started going through what felt like endless rounds of layoffs and re-orgs during which some mentors and close friends of mine were let go. I tried everything - positive re-framing, changing my attitude, putting in 110% effort, staying positive - but every week my anxiety level just increased. I started having panic attacks in the morning and there were times I totally broke down on my way out the door, or I would turn to Ben while packing my lunch and say "I can't do this anymore."

I'm not trying to be dramatic...I'm really just tryingt to make a point about how you know when something is not the right fit. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a very positive person and that I tried so, so hard to make this work. I have nothing against anyone that I worked with. I got along very well with my boss and she was incredibly supportive of my professional development. My team and my colleagues were all smart, wonderful people and I learned a TON from my time there. But, I was straight up miserable.

Anyway, it was around this time that I started subbing for my friend Laura's class more regularly. I was still kind of on the fence about whether or not I wanted to be a teacher, but I was happy to step in and take over classes while she was out. It didn't take long for me to remember how much I love teaching, and how rewarding it is to receive positive feedback from your students or watch them have an 'a-ha' moment. That was when I decided I need to to do my teacher training sooner rather than later, and signed up for Noah's program in LA. 

Practicing some General Sequence action on my porch

I am having trouble figuring out how to put this into words, but when you've spent literally years in the wrong environment trying to squeeze your round self into a square peg, convincing yourself that you are the problem, it's kind of an otherworldly experience to feel like something just fits. It was like the first hit of air after holding my breath underwater for ages.

Morning hike in LA with YTT friends

Again, that sounded super dramatic. But basically, YTT reminded me what it felt like to be on the right path - and simultaneously, I knew that the path I was currently on with my career was the wrong one. It's not that the path itself is inherently bad - for some people it's a great choice and it's the right thing for them, but I knew that it wasn't right for me. Could I have been successful there in the long term? Sure, maybe. Would I have ever been happy? Definitely not.


Literally the week I returned from teacher training and my little revelation in LA, I was called in to interview for a position I had applied for right before I left town. I'd been looking for a while, but had only applied to a select few positions and had actually turned something down that didn't feel quite right. This position, however, was one that I was so excited about I wouldn't even tell my parents what it was for fear of jinxing it. Not even kidding.

And now it's my job. I'm back in the arts, which is where I always wanted to be. I'm learning how to teach yoga, which I am also extremely passionate about. I just feel very, very fortunate right now.

random shadow because, why not

In Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that "it is better to engage in one’s own occupation [dharma], even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation [dharma] and perform it perfectly.” (Bg. 18.47). No matter how good it looks on paper, even if you're successful at it, it is never a good idea to travel down a path that is not your own. Unfortunately, it is so easy to convince ourselves to stay on the wrong path - to feel like if we just try harder, or do something differently or change something about ourselves, that we can make it work. But if it's not right for you, it will never work, and sometimes it takes a hit of oxygen to remind us where we have to go.

So I guess all I'm saying is...if you're miserable, if something doesn't feel right to you, don't put that on yourself. Don't be afraid to walk away from something even if it sounds great at cocktail parties. And find a path with a heart.

Don't think about it, just do it

Last Monday at 12:35am PST I boarded a red-eye from LAX to MSP. At 6am CST I landed in Minneapolis, Ben drove me home and I showered, changed and I went into the office and Ben left for a three-day work retreat. Tuesday I had an after-work event, Wednesday I ended up at the doggie urgent care with Sidney until midnight (long story, he is fine), Thursday I worked at an event until 10pm and Friday I had a friend over. I went to Shannon's class on Saturday, and to the advanced practice on Sunday where we did a ton of arm balances and backbends at least 7 urdhva dhaunurasanas (I stopped counting at 5, but I know we did more after that). On Monday I went to Ali's class where we did...more backbends including five urdhvas at the end, with variations. Normally five urdhva dhaunurasanas is not a problem, but last night I was so wiped out that I finally reached that point where the tiredness pushes through some magical barrier to a land where exhaustion no longer matters. I call this point "don't think about it, just do it."

"Don't think about it, just do it" is kind of how I've gotten through the last week and a half, so I am REALLY excited for this weekend so I can put my feet up, marathon some netflix and get caught up on my YTT homework.

ANYWAY.
There is something I've been meaning to say here but haven't gotten the chance - this was probably pretty apparent to anyone who follows me on Instagram or Twitter but I should mention that I left my job about a month ago. I have a LOT more to say on that subject but that's another blog entry for another time. It was tough to leave, but I know deep down it was the right choice.

Since I did make a mention going into the office and working late hours last week, I obviously have a new job and it is AMAZING. Also more to say on that subject, also another entry for another time.

As a friend of mine said to me a few weeks ago, 2014 is apparently my year for shaking it up. Yoga teacher training, new job, all of it. I could not be more excited about where I am right now. So there's my update, hope you are having a great week and I know I say this every time but I REALLY REALLY am going to try to write more. I have so many backlogged entries about YTT and yoga philosophy it's not even funny. So hopefully I'll get around to finishing and posting some of them soon ;) But in the meantime - photos, because everyone likes those.

Early morning run at the lake

Art shopping with new coworkers at Adam Turman's garage sale

MN pride tank - courtesy of Adam Turman Garage Sale

Old yoga studio is now a coffee shop - it's very weird 

Visiting my sis in Chicago

Date night with Benjamin at the MN Orchestra

Book of the Week: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

"If a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel, you don't think 'oh, I love this picture because it's universal.' 'I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.' That's not the reason anyone loves a piece of art. It's a secret whisper from an alleyway. Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes, you. An individual heart-shock. Your dream, Welty's dream, Vermeer's dream. You see one painting, I see another, the art book puts it at another remove still, the lady buying the greeting card at the museum gift shop sees something else entire, and that's not even to mention the people separated from us by time -- four hundred years before us, four hundred years after we're gone  -- it'll never strike anybody the same way and the great majority of people it'll never strike in any deep way at all but -- a really great painting is fluid enough to work its way into the mind and heart through all kinds of different angles, in ways that are unique and very particular. Yours, yours. I was painted for you."