Catching up

I know, I know, I've been a bad blogger the past couple weeks! So here's a recap of what has been going on recently.

My parents came over to Seattle (from Spokane) for Thanksgiving weekend which was nice. My mom and I went to a Thanksgiving morning yoga class and it was packed:132 people lined up mat-to-mat. Incredible energy! Other than that, we went to a UW basketball game and to the Apple Cup (football game) - both of which the Huskies won! Oh and we saw the Muppet movie which was hilarious - loved it.

In December, I've had lots of holiday parties between work, friends, family and Marc's school group. All fun stuff, but sadly it's interfered with being able to go skiing. I haven't been up a single day yet this season...which is probably why I haven't blogged at all because I haven't felt like I've done anything interesting worth talking about. This is my first year (ever that I can remember) without having a season's pass. I've officially turned into a weekend warrior, boo! I swore up and down that would never happen, but I think I finally came to grips with it. The only redeeming thing about not having a pass is that now I'll be able to go to more mountains - when I have a pass, I always feel like I'm wasting money to go somewhere else when I could be skiing for free. I have friends that ski at different mountains, so now I can go wherever because it will cost money either way. Plus, I have friends in Tahoe, Salt Lake & Colorado that I want to visit!

On the yoga front, I'm really excited about setting up a regular teaching schedule. In January, I'm going to teach yoga every-other Wednesday for Yogis at UW. It will be fun to build a relationship with the students and watch them progress over time, since that's something I miss when I teach one-off classes. Speaking of which, I taught a holiday themed yoga class at Urban Yoga Spa this past Sunday afternoon focused on giving and gratitude. I volunteered to teach for free and asked everyone to bring food items to donate to the food bank! We had a small group - 14 of us - which wasn't surprising because of all the holiday parties happening over the weekend. It was perfect though because having a small class provided an opportunity to give individual attention which is always a bonus. I incorporated the idea of gratitude into some of the more difficult poses we did- a reminder that it's easy to feel grateful when things are going our way and when we are feeling good...but how can we continue to cultivate gratitude when life is challenging? 

I used all holiday music and a few people asked what some of the songs were, so here is the full playlist.
Winter Song - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson (love this one)
The Heartache Can Wait - Brandi Carlile
Silver Bells - Alice Smith
All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
Carol of the Bells - The Bird & The Bee
Jingle Bells - Diana Krall
Sleigh Ride - KT Tunstall
Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson (best version ever)
Peace is Here (acoustic version) - Jars of Clay
Very Merry Christmas - Dave Barnes
Mistletoe - Justin Bieber (I know...insert joke here)
Let it Snow - A Fine Frenzy
Winter Wonderland - Kate Havnevik
White Christmas - Katy Perry (yep, more teen pop stars...)
The Christmas Song - Catherine Feeny
Mistletoe - Colbie Caillat
I'll be Home for Christmas - Holly Conlan
Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas - Hem
There is a Star That Shines Tonight - Sheryl Crow
Silent Night - Priscilla Ahn (my favorite if you're only going to check out one)