Year in Review Part 3

Ah, the summer! My favorite time of year.

Our summer was marked by much freedom, friends visiting, camping trips, The Hood the Coast Relay Race, another trip to NC, floating, drinking wine, my awesome birthday, and all around general warmth and goodness. Like I said, my favorite time of year!

Year in Review Part 2

April, May, and June are also hard months in Eugene especially if you're from NC where springs begins promptly in April or sometimes even as early as March. On the contrary, you're lucky if spring begins in Eugene by June 1.
Lucky for us, we had lots of trips planned for these tricky months: London in April, NC in June, and once things did finally warm up here in late June we were prepared to fully enjoy Oregon in all it's sunny, summertime glory. If I've never said this before Oregon in the summer is something that cannot be rivaled.
Big decisions were also being made during spring. I decided to attend Bikram yoga teacher training in the fall. After much rumination and deliberation, I just said to myself "do it!" And I did. I applied, got in, and then proceeded to enjoy the rest of my summer.

2013 Year in Review

It's December 28, and I figured I better get crackin' at thinking about the new year. 2014 is just around the corner and I need to be ready. I have resolutions to resolve, old acquaintances to forget (or not forget) and 2013 reflections to reflect.

Part 1: January- March

Today, I'll start by looking back at early 2013. January through March were cold, grey months in Eugene. Honestly, I don't remember much eventful from those months aside from struggling through a PhD program with scorn, drinking beer, running, and eating soup. We did manage to get out and about for a few little trips and I may have seen sunlight a few times.



A few highlights included:

Cross country skiing for the first time
Running the LA marathon
Trips to the Oregon coast
And Jason's birthday.

Regardless, these months served me well by providing much to think on. Great things were underway for 2013, though it was off to a slow start.

Saddest day ever...

Gloomy, gray, foggy, day after Christmas.

Guess I'll just sit here at the green light...

In the Woods

A little hike to get the dogs out
Snow's gone
Clouds are out
Green is in

Me and Boss (or Boss and I)

Here's my official graduation photo from Teacher Training. 

Feels good to have accomplished this! I strangely miss it.

My photo turned out pretty good considering that 315 of these were snapped.
There are some with some pretty funny faces.

I Love My Name

When I was little, I always wanted to be a Stephanie or a Jennifer. I couldn't understand why I couldn't just have a "normal" name. Now, I love my name. Just look at it!

Snow Day

It's not quite the same as when you're a school teacher, but it's still pretty fun.

Up at 6:30 am to teach the early bird class and my awesome hubby drove me there and took class.






Our street


A little snow walk


Cool truck


Winter wonderland!!

I'm doing it!

After being back from teacher training for only a couple of days, I taught my very first Bikram yoga class last Wednesday. For the most part, I think it went quite well. To quote some of our teachers from teacher training, I was "shitting in my pants". In case you don't know, that's a euphemism for being extremely nervous! There's a lot to think about: remembering the dialogue, looking at people, seeming confident, the heat, the humidity, timing, and inspiring people. But I got through it and the second and third classes were way better. It feels like I'm just going to keep getting better and better! So, now I am officially a Bikram Yoga teacher and I have the teacher cubby (pictured above) to prove it.

Week 9 and Graduation

As wonderful as the entire Teacher Training experience is, by week 9 I was definitely ready to go. The early mornings, late nights, hot temperatures, hundreds of people, and the sheer act of living in a hotel for 9 weeks all begin get to you.

Here is the perfect example:

On Thursday of Week 9, we were allowed to take pictures before and during class. I was very tired.

Who me? Oh, you know. Just sitting on the floor at the Radisson.

A Tired Kat

So much hustle and bustle before class

The hot room

Yoga buddy! We practiced next to each other most days.

My dialogue group. Group 1!

Bikram or "Boss", as they call him, signing my book.

After our last class on Friday night, they collected our mats for donation to an animal shelter.

All 315 of us on our last day of class

First alcoholic drink in 9 weeks!

Cheers! We graduated!

All decked out in our graduation clothes

I can't believe we did it.

I'm really going to miss my roomie.

Goodbye Room 524

Our last official weekend in LA

Tomorrow we start week 9. Next Saturday we will graduate. So, this weekend it was very important to do some "lasts" for this awesome city.

Sunset at Manhattan Beach



The Hollywood Sign hike at Griffith Park









And brunch lunch with my sister at a cafe frequented by celebrities. Too bad we didn't see any.




And now I am so tired I feel like I got a lobotomy.
But very happy nonetheless.

Week 7 and 8 Recap

Kat and I taught an entire class to each other at the park:



Halloween:


We didn't have costumes, so we randomly assembled whatever this is:


A happy Vegan at Veggie Grill (a 100% vegan restaurant):


A nice moment at the Self Realization Fellowship meditation gardens:


Some of Gandhi's ashes are stored here:


A baby cheeseburger that I ate:


Anniversary present from Jason: November 8 was our 5 year wedding anniversary! Can you believe it?


I can't wait to get back in those arms:

So many things

My 8th week has just come to a close and I just don't know what to say. So many things. For starters, how am I to return to normal society? How am I to interact with normal people who know nothing of the insanity of teacher training? Who will understand my Bikram jokes? How will I know what time to sign-in for my life?

People will ask "how was teacher training?"

What will I say? How to put it into words? Much less, how to put it into words that someone who hasn't been here will understand?

"That's a make-up!" Or The day I got to practice at Headquarters for free

Here we are (the hooligans from week 6 who had to do a make up class at Headquarters on Saturday):




Even though it was my 12th class in 6 days, the make up class was quite nice. It felt good to practice in a real studio with less people. I could actually see myself in the mirror. And, I got to visit the elusive Bikram Yoga International Headquarters.
Bikram's wall of fame:

Week 6... Or the "bad week"

At teacher training it's common knowledge that everyone has a "bad week". For some people it's the first week because they're getting used to everything. For some people it's week 4 or 5 because it's the half way point. For some it's the last week because they're at the end. For me, it was week 6. Now, before I explain why, let me just say: it wasn't that bad. I didn't have a mental breakdown. No throwing up, or freaking out, or major injury. I'm very thankful for that.
Honestly, I'm just tired. I caught a cold early in the week, which had me coughing and snotting like an elementary school student. We had several late nights which meant little sleep, leaving my body fatigued from fighting the cold. And to top it all off I have to do a make up class on my day off this weekend because I forgot to sign in to one of our lectures this week.

Don't you just want to play a very sad song for me on a very tiny violin?

With all that said, things are still going really well overall. I feel like coming to teacher training was SO the right decision and at SO the right time. I can think back to the past few years and point out little milestones that led me here. Amazing.


Hollywood. Eh, not very impressed. Mostly just gross big city. Could be a city anywhere:



Malibu is much more my style:


I love my roomie:


Pretty beach:


Yoga pics on the beach:





Love the beach here:


A little care package from Chloe:


My group for posture clinic (where we practice our dialogue and poses):



The make up list:


I ate this and it was delicious: