- Castle Valley to Williams, AZ (by way of the Grand Canyon)
- Williams to Joshua Tree, CA (by way of Lake Havasu)
- JT to Cabazon (To see the dinosaurs from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, duh!)
- Cabazon to LA!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
On the Road Again
My route to LA:
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Words of Wisdom
Before I left Salt Lake, Niki took the time to read me this week's CW Horoscope. I love when stellar advice comes to you in the form of your best friend reading it from the local independent paper...
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)“Disappointments should be cremated, not embalmed,” said the aphorist Henry S. Haskins. That’s good advice for you right now, Libra. It’s an auspicious moment for you to set fire to your defeats, letdowns, and discouragements -- and let them burn into tiny piles of ashes. I mean all of them, stretching back for years, not simply the recent ones. There’s no need to treat them like precious treasures you have an obligation to lug with you into the future. The time is right for you to deepen your mastery of the art of liberation.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)“Disappointments should be cremated, not embalmed,” said the aphorist Henry S. Haskins. That’s good advice for you right now, Libra. It’s an auspicious moment for you to set fire to your defeats, letdowns, and discouragements -- and let them burn into tiny piles of ashes. I mean all of them, stretching back for years, not simply the recent ones. There’s no need to treat them like precious treasures you have an obligation to lug with you into the future. The time is right for you to deepen your mastery of the art of liberation.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Seven Days
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains a Sting song.
In just seven days, I will be at the Radisson LAX practicing my first of many, many, many Bikram classes with 450+ other people. I have been following the BYTT Fall 2012 Facebook group very closely and am taking comfort in the fact that we are all equally freaked out, equally relatively oblivious to what we are getting ourselves into, and equally ready to help each other through it. There are many very encouraging posts from instructors, posture clinic teachers, and people who have been through the training. Some of my favorite quotes so far:
"You will all soon join the ranks of other TT grads who smile knowingly at the following phrases..."You have NO idea", "He was my best friend", "I hate lazy people", "Check, check, 1-2-3-4", "Hi, Guys!", "♪ ♫ I'm so lonely...♫ ♪", "Let's start the movie", "Is my English clear, yes or no?", plus so many more."
"Its just 90 minutes of breathing interrupted 26 times."
"Think bigger picture. And learn your dialogue."
"We must train from the inside out. Using our strengths to attack and nullify any weaknesses. It’s not about denying a weakness may exist but about denying its right to persist." ~Vince McConnell
Let the soul journey begin!
Of course, I had to include a song to go with this post.. even if it is Sting. If you can think of a better, more appropriate song with a "seven day" theme, let me know.
In just seven days, I will be at the Radisson LAX practicing my first of many, many, many Bikram classes with 450+ other people. I have been following the BYTT Fall 2012 Facebook group very closely and am taking comfort in the fact that we are all equally freaked out, equally relatively oblivious to what we are getting ourselves into, and equally ready to help each other through it. There are many very encouraging posts from instructors, posture clinic teachers, and people who have been through the training. Some of my favorite quotes so far:
"You will all soon join the ranks of other TT grads who smile knowingly at the following phrases..."You have NO idea", "He was my best friend", "I hate lazy people", "Check, check, 1-2-3-4", "Hi, Guys!", "♪ ♫ I'm so lonely...♫ ♪", "Let's start the movie", "Is my English clear, yes or no?", plus so many more."
"Its just 90 minutes of breathing interrupted 26 times."
"Think bigger picture. And learn your dialogue."
"We must train from the inside out. Using our strengths to attack and nullify any weaknesses. It’s not about denying a weakness may exist but about denying its right to persist." ~Vince McConnell
Let the soul journey begin!
Of course, I had to include a song to go with this post.. even if it is Sting. If you can think of a better, more appropriate song with a "seven day" theme, let me know.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Life Milestones
Noteworthy Achievement deserving of blog post: I currently have two major movie star crushes who are both younger than me. I will not cry, I will accept this with grace, as I have a feeling I had better get used to this happening. I also have two crushes who are much, much older than me, so I've got that going for me.
My current crushes in no particular order:
One:
Two:
Three:
Of course, there is the original crush, one which never went and never will go away:
While I am at it, my Paul Newman crush grew three times last week when watching this piece from CBS Sunday Morning. I dare you to watch this without a hanky. As if I needed another reason to fall in love all over again, ladies and gentlemen I give you Paul Newman... be still my beating heart.
My current crushes in no particular order:
One:
Two:
Of course, there is the original crush, one which never went and never will go away:
While I am at it, my Paul Newman crush grew three times last week when watching this piece from CBS Sunday Morning. I dare you to watch this without a hanky. As if I needed another reason to fall in love all over again, ladies and gentlemen I give you Paul Newman... be still my beating heart.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
In My Soul
It has been a while since my last blog post, and even my most recent ones have not given too much insight in to what is happening in my world. Today, that changes. ;)
It has nearly been 9 months since I moved to Castle Valley, and in just a few short days, I will be leaving for what could be the last time. Before I go in to my feelings about leaving, let me give some background info to catch us up.
In April, Patrick and I called off the wedding. There are several reasons for this, none of which I will go into here. Suffice to say it was the right thing to do. Once this was done, not unlike the rest of my time here in CV, I was forced to take an even closer look at myself and start making alternate plans. My view lead me to finally stop talking about doing the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, and actually do it. Since my first Bikram class, I have been compelled to take my practice to the next level, and to take this soul journey. Now here I am two years later, just days away from my departure, and my heart is full.
Packing to leave the place which I now call home is bitter-sweet. This town has broken me down, built me up, crushed my soul, and awakened my spirit. Without it, I would never have been able to make the breakthroughs, discoveries, decisions or changes I am making now. On this "State Holiday" aka Mormon Independence Day, I want to celebrate South Eastern Utah, especially Moab, Castle Valley, Green River, Bluff, and all the sweet spots in between.
I woke up this morning with Rod Stewart's words in my mind. I couldn't have said it better myself. This one goes out to you babe...
It has nearly been 9 months since I moved to Castle Valley, and in just a few short days, I will be leaving for what could be the last time. Before I go in to my feelings about leaving, let me give some background info to catch us up.
In April, Patrick and I called off the wedding. There are several reasons for this, none of which I will go into here. Suffice to say it was the right thing to do. Once this was done, not unlike the rest of my time here in CV, I was forced to take an even closer look at myself and start making alternate plans. My view lead me to finally stop talking about doing the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, and actually do it. Since my first Bikram class, I have been compelled to take my practice to the next level, and to take this soul journey. Now here I am two years later, just days away from my departure, and my heart is full.
Packing to leave the place which I now call home is bitter-sweet. This town has broken me down, built me up, crushed my soul, and awakened my spirit. Without it, I would never have been able to make the breakthroughs, discoveries, decisions or changes I am making now. On this "State Holiday" aka Mormon Independence Day, I want to celebrate South Eastern Utah, especially Moab, Castle Valley, Green River, Bluff, and all the sweet spots in between.
I woke up this morning with Rod Stewart's words in my mind. I couldn't have said it better myself. This one goes out to you babe...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Lavender Lemon Scones --&-&-@
It's 5:30pm on a sunny summer Sunday, and I have spent most of the day in the kitchen. Normally, this would mean that I was cleaning, washing dishes, organizing, etc. but today I was baking! Last week I picked up some beautiful lavender from the Day Star Academy Farm that is next door to us. Just look at that juicy, crystal-y lavender!
Since they are Seventh Day Adventists - which means they are vegan, and grow organic produce only, I figured their lavender must be safe to eat, so I decided to try and bake something I have sorely been missing since moving to Castle Valley: Scones!
After letting the lavender dry out for a couple of days, and seeing as how today it was going to be 78 degrees and not 100 degrees, I figured it would be a good day to crank up the oven to 400 and get my bake on. I have never attempted baking scones before, as is the case for most of the recipes I have tried since moving out here. Necessity is the mother of all awesome baked goods, as they say. These were easy as pie, and oh-so delicious! Here's how it's done:
Zest from 2 lemons
2 Tbsp lavender
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter - cold and sliced
2 large eggs - separate the yolk from one egg
1 cup buttermilk or heavy cream
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Add lemon zest, lavender and sugar into your food processor. (I use a 2-cup Cuisinart. If you do not have a small food processor, grind your lavender in a coffee grinder or mash it with a mortar and pestle first to start releasing the oils.) Blend until mixed well.
In a medium sized bowl, or in your full-size food processor, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar mixture. Add butter slices and combine (either with the pulse function, or using a pie crust mixer as shown) until the mixture resembles corn meal.
Whisk your egg whites, egg yolk, and cream (reserving egg white from the 2nd egg for your egg wash later) and add to the sugar/flour mixture. Pulse/chop to combine.
Divide your dough in to two balls. Lightly flour a clean surface and shape one of the dough balls into a circle 1 inch thick. Using a pizza slicer, cut out triangle shapes for your scones.
Place the scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with the reserved egg white, sprinkle with your granulated sugar, and pop in the oven for about 14 minutes - or until they are a light golden brown. Serve with your favorite tea, coffee, or other delicious beverage. Enjoy!
Since they are Seventh Day Adventists - which means they are vegan, and grow organic produce only, I figured their lavender must be safe to eat, so I decided to try and bake something I have sorely been missing since moving to Castle Valley: Scones!
After letting the lavender dry out for a couple of days, and seeing as how today it was going to be 78 degrees and not 100 degrees, I figured it would be a good day to crank up the oven to 400 and get my bake on. I have never attempted baking scones before, as is the case for most of the recipes I have tried since moving out here. Necessity is the mother of all awesome baked goods, as they say. These were easy as pie, and oh-so delicious! Here's how it's done:
Lavender Lemon Scones (non-vegan, non-low fat ;)
If you are lucky enough to have a full-size food processor, you can use it to mix the entire recipe.
2 Tbsp lavender
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter - cold and sliced
2 large eggs - separate the yolk from one egg
1 cup buttermilk or heavy cream
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Add lemon zest, lavender and sugar into your food processor. (I use a 2-cup Cuisinart. If you do not have a small food processor, grind your lavender in a coffee grinder or mash it with a mortar and pestle first to start releasing the oils.) Blend until mixed well.
In a medium sized bowl, or in your full-size food processor, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar mixture. Add butter slices and combine (either with the pulse function, or using a pie crust mixer as shown) until the mixture resembles corn meal.
Whisk your egg whites, egg yolk, and cream (reserving egg white from the 2nd egg for your egg wash later) and add to the sugar/flour mixture. Pulse/chop to combine.
Divide your dough in to two balls. Lightly flour a clean surface and shape one of the dough balls into a circle 1 inch thick. Using a pizza slicer, cut out triangle shapes for your scones.
Place the scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with the reserved egg white, sprinkle with your granulated sugar, and pop in the oven for about 14 minutes - or until they are a light golden brown. Serve with your favorite tea, coffee, or other delicious beverage. Enjoy!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fast Fresh Tomato Salsa
I picked up 5 lbs of "over ripe" heirloom tomatoes from the Daystar Academy the other day and tossed 'em in a blender to make this yummy salsa! It was SO easy that I wanted to save my recipe and share with you!
Fast Fresh Tomato Salsa (makes about 3 quarts)
Chop up about half of the tomatoes, and put the rest in the blender along with the chiles. Combine remaining ingredients with blended and chopped tomatoes and enjoy!
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