What To Know When You're 25(ish)

This is a really interesting article I ran across yesterday from December 2010; and boy does it hit home.  While I recommend reading the entire thing, especially if you feel like you’re in the same weird in-between that I’m finding myself in, below are a few of my favorite snipes from the article.  And even if you’re not in the weird in-between that I’m in but you’re 25(ish) maybe you should read it anyway.  Or maybe you should read it because you know someone (or maybe eventually know someone), who is 25(ish) and in this place / could someday be in this place.

What To Know When You’re 25(ish)

Job

Now is the time to figure out what kind of work you love to do. What are you good at? What makes you feel alive? What do you dream about? You can go back to school now, switch directions entirely. You can work for almost nothing, or live in another country, or volunteer long hours for something that moves you. There will be a time when finances and schedules make this a little trickier, so do it now. Try it, apply for it, get up and do it.

Don't get stuck

Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. Walk away, try something new. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned about God this year? What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep with me for this leg of the journey? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?” 

And while I’m talking about this weird “in-between” and the process of finding what I want out of my life / what I want to do with it, I realized there are a few passions that I need to make sure are included:

-music

-fitness / yoga

-health / nutrition

-writing / blogging

-creating a company / business

I haven’t figured out exactly how I will incorporate each of these and I’m sure to many of you, you look at this list and see that I have incorporated most (if not all) of them.  But not necessarily the way that I want to.  And problem is, I haven’t figured out how I want to yet.  That’s part of my process, part of journey; I guess part of that thing we call life, huh?

I made this fun graphic (with my own photo)!! :-D

It's the little things

I’ve said this numerous times and I’ll say it again. It’s all about the little things.  

It’s the little things that make our days, put smiles on our faces, cheer us up when we’re feeling down.

It’s the little things that make us appreciate life, make us laugh, and fill us with happiness.

As I mentioned this morning, I had a bit of a rough start to my day but it turned around.  Here are the little things that made my day:

-yoga

-spending time with a good friend (she came with me to yoga + car ride chat time)

-a quick trip to the gym to lift a few weights and do some light cardio

-a trip to the grocery store to stock up on a lot of delicious, healthy foods

-a large juicy and delicious Fuji apple

-having the locks on my door fixed / new keys that actually work

-making a delicious and healthy stir fry dinner in 5 minutes (thank you to TJ’s pre-cut fresh Asian stir fry veggie medley)

-homemade Vegan pumpkin bread

-listening to John Mayer, relaxing on my couch, sitting with my feet up - all while I blog

-delay brew on my coffee pot

It’s the little things people.  It’s all about the little things.

Various stir fry veggies, tempeh, rice on a bed of spinach topped with a few peanuts

I’m not vegan but lately my diet has been mostly vegan.  Since I’m lactose intolerant, my diet generally lingers on the line of vegetarian vs vegan but since I still eat seafood and eggs (usually only when baked into something), I’m clearly not a vegan.  But I realized that since I’ve become obsessed with tempeh, I haven’t really been eating seafood.  And the last few times I did, I wasn’t feeling it and I felt nauseous (probably a sign my body hasn’t had it in awhile).  But since I don’t generally have eggs in my apartment and I had some pumpkin I wanted to use up, I decided a vegan pumpkin bread would be perfect.  And boy was it!  This recipe was my inspiration, though I changed a few things:

• I replaced 1/2 the regular flour with oats
• I didn’t have allspice or cloves so I didn’t include those and instead sprinkled in a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg
• I replaced the maple syrup with agave sweetener 
• I didn’t have chopped walnuts or pepitas and forgot to include almonds so there’s no nuts

Foodie For a Day x2! 

This is delicious! It tastes more like I’m eating cake than bread (that’s probably due to the oil...there’s more than I would have liked) but since there’s pumpkin, oats and whole wheat flour, I don’t feel too bad.  Plus it’s delicious and desert!

Foodie for a Day Wednesday

After a rough start to my morning, thanks to the state of California, I’m feeling clear and excited for the remainder of my day.  It was days like today that I earned my yoga practice before it even came about - including getting locked IN my apartment while trying to leave.  But deep breaths in, exhaling completely, and a screwdriver later and I was on my way to yoga while the locks on my apartment were getting worked on.

And I’m SO excited to share my “foodie” moment for the week - homemade peanut butter!!!

I ended up making this over the weekend when I had some free time and had to wait patiently for Wednesday to come around so I could geek out for all of you.  I know that I could have shared it over the weekend, but then what if I didn’t have anything else to be a foodie over today?  I’d rather “double foodie” you, than deny you of these moments as I initially promised.  ...I’m sure you’re muttering under your breath that you don’t really care, but that’s okay.  I do. :)

This is the easiest recipe ever.  All you need are dry roasted peanuts, salt and vanilla.

Pour your peanuts into the food processor (I used 3 cups), a little salt (my peanuts were lightly salted, so I used very little salt), and about 1 tsp vanilla. 

Blend away.  Keep blending.  Scrape the bowl when needed.  And keep blending for about 7-10 minutes.

Hey guess what?!  It’s peanut butter!

Fill your jars.

Carefully remove the blade and clean that off.

Lick the remaining peanut butter from the bowl with your fingers.

YUM!!! 

Obviously, this was followed by a necessary peanut butter and jelly toast to test it out.  Delicious.  I really want to try this recipe replacing the dry roasted peanuts for the honey roasted peanuts...can you imagine?

A Living Example

I’ve mentioned before how I follow several blogs, including dooce.  And while I’m not here to repost everything that every other blog I read posts (because what kind of blog would that be), I do feel like I’m here to help share information with all of you.  Whether that be about health, life, food, stories, charity, or anything else my heart desires.  But sometimes, there are posts that are so moving and beautiful, they need to be re-posted and shared with more people.  And this is one of them. 

Please take a moment to head over to dooce.com and read “A Living Example” a story about Jackline Odongo, a mentor mother for the mothers2mothers organization who is living with HIV/AIDS.  Her story is truly touching.

Source

Fish Pose

I love learning new poses everyday; it’s super fun and helps add in additional challenges.  The new pose today was fish pose and while not really a difficult pose, it was the first time I’d done it and needed a little guidance into what I was going for.  Once I got adjusted into exactly the right place, the release and opening of the chest and neck felt amazing.

Source

Day 5 - a success!

I apologize to anyone bored with all this yoga talk but since I'm taking part in this 30 Day Yoga Challenge, my mind is focused on all of the yoga - and loving it too! :)

Challenge is Key

I don’t like things to be super easy; I find that boring.  I’ve always been someone who wants to be challenged.  I like taking opportunities that keep my brain engaged and constantly learning.  

Yoga is the same.  Yesterday’s “restorative” flow was good but when tonight’s class came around, I was so excited for the challenge.  (And when I find I'm surrounded by people who are more advanced than I am, I want to work harder to get to their level and be able to do what they're doing.  Like a headstand or handstand or something!) Plus since it was 80+ degrees in Santa Monica today and still warm in the evening, the room was really warm adding to the challenge.  Oh it was so good!  It actually made me decide to change my plan for tomorrow’s class because I decided the Level 1 class may be too easy and I want another challenge.  ...call me crazy but I may even challenge myself with a group exercise class at the gym prior to yoga as well. 

It’s amazes how exercise can keep me focused and centered, despite the fact that I’ve told you and my friends all a thousand times how it’s that way for me.  I need to keep my body moving to get a steady stream of endorphins flowing, allowing me to stay centered.  When I find myself getting crankiest, it’s when I haven’t had a good workout recently (like after a day off or after a “restorative” only flow...)  Yes, today was a cranky day for me.  I’m working on finding the best way for me to deal with challenging people and situations, especially when I haven’t had my proper workouts.  Despite the fact that my body has been moving a lot in yoga, I really miss my cardio and lifting sessions at the gym so I need to work on getting those to fit into my 30 day yoga challenge without overdoing it.  It will be a fine line between “too much” and my current state of feeling like there “isn’t enough” but I’ll get there.

And in the meantime, can we brainstorm ways for me to make more money so I can continue my yoga habit once this month is over? :)

I was doing these tonight!! (No, this isn't me - Source)

Day 3: Rest & Restore

In every sense of the word - restorative.


Don't get me wrong, this was still a good class and I expected it to be slower but my mind had trouble slowing down enough for it.  And just as I was finally getting to the point that I was letting go of everything and loosening up my muscles, the 90 minute class was ending.


...say what?!


Oh well, not every class will be perfect and I still enjoyed myself.  At one point, we were in a side stretch and the instructor came around and I got a light massage of my shoulders and boy were my shoulders tight.  You could feel all the tension I hold in my upper body, neck and shoulders.  She moved my arms around to try and loosen up my shoulders and allow them to relax.  But it made me realize, I think I need to get another massage and get some more of this tension and stress released from my body.


But while we were in Viparita Karani (legs up wall), I was definitely in a zone.  So much so that when we had the options to move from the pose into Savasana, I chose to stay and spend the remainder of my time in this pose.  I may begin doing this at home on occasion when I need a release and to relax.  Mmmm....