month-end check in!

This will be my first post since my resolution post, so I think we can see what resolution in particular I've been slacking on.  However, I've actually made some good progress in some other areas and it's been about a month, so to check in...

• Practice yoga more regularly: I've been practicing about 3 times a week! Yesterday I went a funk/soul hot vinyasa class followed by an hour and fifteen minute long yin class with massage, and all I wanted to do afterward was melt into my mat forever.  I've been making good progress with my tripod headstand & bird of paradise, and starting to work on bound headstand, so I'm feeling pretty good about this one!

•  Incorporate more strength training as well: Also doing well with this one! Making it to barbell strength class 1-2 times a week (missed a class for work last week & for a Red Wings game the night before...one more worth it than the other), and at least one barre class as well. Cutting back on cardio has actually had a good result - I've lost 7 lbs since New Years & hopefully gained some muscle, too.

Pre-barbell this morning, rocking my new hopped & bothered tank ;)

• Read 50 books: I'm on my 3rd book of the year, so I'm about on schedule - but lately I've been on a big movie watching kick (which started off with "well I think I'll watched just the first bit of this and then go to bed" and then I watched the entirety of The Imitation Game because it was positively incredible).  Gotta get back to evening reading!

• Get more done: Loving my new planner - iPhones are great, but there's something that holds me more accountable once I've put the effort in to penciling in a workout or a date, or just "get groceries tonight".  

• Write more: Weeeeell, they can't all be positive, right?  Still working on this one...

•  Run at least 6 races: The NHL All Star game is in Columbus this year (this weekend, to be exact), and despite how close that is to me, I wasn't very concerned until I saw this morning that there had been a 5k complete with NHL All Star medals!  I did, however, basically commit to the Moonlight Bootlegger 5K, so that'll be one down!

• Brew one batch a month: I started off January with a nice Belgian Quad - my biggest grain bill ever (20 lbs!), and some added currant/raisin puree just for a little bit of extra flavor.  I think I'm getting better at getting my ABV up, because I had a blow out during fermentation....high hopes for this one!  (Plus my buddy gave it the badass name, "Jean-Quad Van DAMN," so...)

Off Sides Brew Co. Glamour Shot featuring some bomb ass hop pants.

And of course, the post-brew dinner of citrus macadamia cod, lemon romano asparagus, & rosemary garlic butte roasted beets/carrots.

• Go camping for the first time ever: Plans are in the works - hoping to finalize the details during my Colorado trip that's only TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!

Overall I'd say it's not a bad start...but it's only been three weeks & there's a whole lot of 2015 left.  My mother's a CPA, so she's extra busy this time of year, and has hired me to cook a couple meals a week for her and my dad, so expect lots (more) food photos soon...

hello 2015!!

Good morning & welcome to 2015!!

The 1st of the year is always the perfect time to revisit what you've accomplished the year before.  I've never been a big resolution person, but I always try to set some new goals to keep me going through the new year - which, in the long run, are pretty similar things, but "goals" sounds so much more positive than "resolutions"! 

• Practice yoga more regularly - at least twice a week classes at Lifetime & hopefully some practice on my own as well.  I want to be able to do a legit handstand by 2016!  And besides that, I really like the mindfulness the practice brings to my life, and how it really forces me to focus on every sensation my body is experiencing at any exact moment. 

• Incorporate more strength training as well - again, barbell & barre at least once a week each.  I really want to focus on increasing my strength this year - numbers on the bars going up instead of numbers on the scale going down!  I'd also really like to keep trying NEW methods of strength training & hopefully find something new that really resonates with me.

• Read 50 books - I set this as my challenge for 2014 and I barely made it halfway - which is sad, considering I used to probably read upwards of 100 in a year!  I spent December doing a whole lot of reading while all the TV shows I watch were on holiday hiatus, and it felt awesome. Spending the last bit of the evening winding down with a book in bed has done wonders for my mental health.

• Procrastinate less - or maybe better worded, just get more done. I've actually already started this the past couple months, but I want to make better use of my time & spend more of it doing things that make my life better, even when all I really want to do is come home and collapse on my couch.  I have a lot of home and life improvements I want to get rolling on this year & I can't afford to put them off!  So many times I put off doing something that will only take me 5-10 minutes, and I want to stop doing that and just push through it, regardless of how bombed out I feel after a day of work and a workout.  I ordered myself a gorgeous (and hella pricey) Erin Condren planner, and I'm looking forward to using it to get not only more organized, but more priority & goal-oriented.

• Write more - whether it's blog posts or fiction, I've gotten SO far away from writing since graduating college, and I miss it! I want to set a goal to blog at least twice a week & hopefully go from there.

• Run at least 6 races - I got away from 5ks last year after running about a million the year before, & it's another thing I'd like to get back into. Along with this I want to try and run more period, hopefully starting with this morning.

• Brew one batch a month & keep branching out trying new things, but also try to brew some old recipes over again and gain some consistency.  I also want to seriously look into some sort of apprenticeship or volunteering at a brewery to start to learn the business on a larger scale.

• Go camping for the first time ever!!  Luckily my Colorado beer buddy has already promised to take me - just have to figure out the whens and where.

I already have so much to look forward to in the coming year - a trip to Colorado in late February, the Toast of Hockeytown with my best friend, a planned trip out to Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto in October with my OTHER best friend...about to get this party started!

Now I'm about to ring in this January 1st with a quick run to try out my new headphones, a barre class with my favorite instructor, and then a home cooked meal of cauliflower chorizo curry soup & pork loin stuffed with spinach, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes & mushrooms. Yes, please!