laughter

because it just feels great!! i can do it by myself or amongst the company of others...and it's FREE! and if that's not reason enough, HERE are 10 more reasons why laughing is good for you!

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

meetup.com

I've recently joined Meetup.com here in Wilmington and think it's fabulous because it provides a great opportunity to meet new people and network. I've just RSVP'd yes to my first meeting with Wilmington Health Nuts. It's a BYOHealthy Recipe Night. We're going to meet at the beach and discuss our recipes and living a healthy lifestyle. I'm looking forward to it!!

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers? ~Author Unknown

fresh veggies

I went to the Riverfront Farmer's Market this past Saturday in Downtown Wilmington. It was my first time to venture into downtown all by myself...and I'm glad I finally did it!! I can't believe I waited this long! The vegetables and fruits available were so beautiful....and BIG! I was in farmer's market heaven!!

I have found what a difference it makes to use FRESH vegetables in my cooking. One has to use hardly any seasoning because the vibrancy of the taste of nature's gifts provide an exquisite taste all on their own!! Thank you to the farmers that grew the veggies, for selling them at the farmer's market so that I could buy them...and thank you to the earth for providing such amazing and scrumptious veggies!!

Dinner -

veggies seasoned with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper, and basil.... YUM!!

garden grown tomatoes

i bought a tomato plant a few months ago, hoping my green thumb was enough to yield a few tomatoes for me to eat. i carefully tended to my plant and was completely excited when little baby tomatoes started to show up. let me tell you, the tomatoes from my plant have been the BEST tasting ones I've had all summer long!! a beautiful, delectable taste explosion of the gift of nature!! yum!!

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale

chats with my brother

i brought lila over to my brother's house tonight so she could run around in the backyard and play with texas, my brother's labrador. my brother and i sat on the back deck chatting about this and that and things in our life. i love that we're in the same city again that we have the opportunity to do that. it's such a treasure to be able to share my life with others.

A brother is a friend given by Nature. ~Jean Baptiste Legouve

lila

my dalmation/pointer mix...

she has the sweetest disposition. well, except, when she's having one of her, what i like to call, "sugar rushes." i adopted lila about a year and a half ago. she'll be 3 years old this month... on the 14th. i remember tossing and turning over whether i was ready for another doggie and i'm certainly glad i made the choice to adopt her. i love how she wakes me up in the mornings...how she sticks her wet nose in my face. mind you, she doesn't actually poke me with her nose. she sits there with her nose a centimeter away from mine and just stares at me until i open my eyes. it's so darn cute that i can't even be mad at her!!

she's a joy in my life and i am thankful to be able to be a part of her's!!

oh and just as a note: her name is pronounced lee-lah. people usually want to make the "i" long. it's a sanskirt term that i learned during my yogic studies. it means "the play of life." a perfect fit for her! :)

back...again...

after a very long break from this daily posting i'm back, and just as the cheer that i tried out to in high school (um...i didn't make the squad...in case you're wondering...) says, "here to stay!"

as i started reading over this blog last night i realized what a positive influence it made on my life to be appreciative of the things i have. it is definitely time to bring this practice back into my life.

p.s. i made the drill team (dance squad). :) i guess i was more suited to dancing as opposed to cheering. makes sense.

beauty in nature....life

© Jennifer Chua Photography, 2008

larabars

oh, yum! i tried one for the 1st time today and they are delish!!!! the chocolate coconut bar grabbed my attention and it definitely did NOT disappoint. haha! i just realized i'm talking about food again. well, i do have an ongoing love affair with food. what can i say? :)

so, yeah, larabar. they are completely natural. this particular bar's ingredients are: dates, almonds, walnuts, unsweetened cocoa, and unsweetened coconut. that's it!!! no added sugar or preservatives. all natural, baby, and delicious!!! they're a little pricey but for a treat now and then... i'm all over it!

pamela's pancakes!!!

oh yum!!! i have never been much of a pancake person, but this pancake mix is the BEST i've ever had. i wasn't too sure about it when i first tried it. it's a wheat-free, gluten-free mix... let me tell you, when i took that first bite i was in pancake heaven!!! yu-ummy! it's been love ever since. haha! my wonderful friend, cindy, introduced me to them a few months ago. i ate some this morning with fresh blueberries mixed in. it was a GREAT way to start the day! :)

pamela's pancakes... run out and get some... like right now!!!

tears

...sometimes we have to allow for the release of our tears in order to move through that which holds us back. we may not know the reason for our tears but we trust that in that moment there is a sense of freedom that is gained within our soul... observe without attachment and simply allow...

hair extensions

...hot pink hair extensions!!

really?! c'mon, why not?! it's a fun way to change things up. i went for a haircut yesterday at tangerine salon (nacogdoches, tx). by the way, it was my first time to go. my appointment was with brad pollard. if you live in nac and are looking for a stylist. give brad a call... he's fabulous!!! so, i asked brad to set me up with a hot pink hair extension. whee! fun! i love it!! maybe i'll go with the teal next time.

life is not to be taken too seriously. better learn to get out there and have fun while you're here!!

musical outlets for creativity

My wonderful friend, Lee, is going with me today to buy my new guitar. Yay! We went shopping on Friday. Amazingly enough, I did NOT walk out of Encore with a new guitar. That might have actually been a first for me as I am very much an impulse buyer. I weighed my options over the weekend, deciding which guitar would best suit me for now. I'm meeting Lee on my lunchbreak at Encore to piddle around some more with the guitars and grab my new treasure!! Yay!!

It is such a joy to be able to be creative through music once again. I grew up playing the organ and was in band during my junior high and high school years. I played the French Horn for 7 years. A beautiful instrument; however, not one that is easily travelled with. ;-)

So, GUITARS. Today I am thankful for guitars!!! And I am most especially thankful to Lee for his guidance in helping me to pick one out 'cause I sure don't know a thing about buying a guitar.

Picture to follow......

Book Study Groups

Holy Buckets, Batman! It's been a seriously long time since I've posted anything on here... a couple more months and it would've been an entire year. Oops!

Okay, thankfulness for today.....

A good friend and fellow yoga instructor, Kim, and I have begun reading and discussing the Yoga Sutras. Since it's just the two of us can we still call ourselves a study group? Maybe a study pair? Hmm... I love that we meet weekly to discuss the Sutras. If there was one book that I kept returning to during my yoga training... it was the Sutras. So, to find myself in a place of discussing them with a friend and fellow instructor is quite special. I find these days that idle chit chat bores me. Perhaps that makes me sound quite pretentious. I hope not. What I simply mean is that I long for discourse with others that challenges me to think... to find my way... so that I am not simply memorizing the words of others and taking that as absolute fact. Truly, I didn't learn to think for myself until just a few years ago!

So, I write this post in thankfulness to Patanjali for the Sutras and to Kim for being my fellow study partner as we continue on our yogic journey... trying our best to be better yoga teachers and to be better individuals.

1.4 vrtti sarupyam itaratra

At other times the mind fluctuates and the seer identifies with this. The seer is then elsewhere.