Giving...

Every year around this time the same thing happens to me... I realize that the phrase, "Its better to give then receive", is SO true! How is it that year after year I forget how much fun it is to buy gifts for the people you love.

Earlier this week it dawned on me how close it was to Christmas... AND that I had not done a lick of shopping yet! After a one minute panic attack, I realized that the shopping was the easy part, it was the figuring out what to get each person that is the hardest! But luckily I stumbled upon a new site that helped me find the cutest gifts for all the special people on my list (well at least the ladies)- www.etsy.com. I am sure most of you have heard of this crafty site, but this was my first time to really take the plunge and make some great purchases. It was so fun finding unique things that I felt would fit each person's taste and for the most part everything was very affordable! The site is set up to make the online purchasing and shipping very easy and I even got some personal notes of thanks from the vendors themselves. I am a little nervous about everything getting shipped to me in time for my trip back to Texas, but I have been monitoring my purchases status on the site and some were already shipped out the same day I bought them.

I love the feeling of excitement when you really like what you have picked out for someone and can't wait to give it to them... let's just hope they like it as much as I do!

Happy Holiday Shopping to All-
S

Breathe...

I have never been a huge yoga enthusiast, but a couple months ago I decided to give yoga a second shot and was surprised to find that I not only enjoyed it, but was super sore the next day. Since then I have been making an effort to include a once a weekly yoga class into my regular exercise line up. Besides discovering how truely inflexible I am, I have realized how bad I am at breathing.

Breathing doesn't seem like something that should be hard, or even something that you should have to think about (I mean hello that is why we have a medulla oblongata). But I ask you this... when was the last time you breathed? I mean REALLY breathed- deep and long, in and out, eyes closed and letting the breathing take over and relax you. I bet for most of us it has been awhile. Now that I have been exposed to the hyper focused and controlled breathing that yoga tends to emphasize I realize that most days... I am not breathing.

Yes, I am alive and getting the air my body needs to function, but so frequently I am running around way to preoccupied with the daily stresses and tasks that I never take the couple of minutes every so often to relax and take a deep couple of slow and therapeutic breaths that can be SO rewarding.

So I am challenging you, along with myself, to slow down and remember every once in awhile to just breathe.

S

The Holidays: Love-Hate Relationship

I do love this time of year. However, as I have gotten older I have noticed an interesting predicament. Every year people get all excited for the Holidays... time to be with friends & family, time to celebrate, time for cheery holiday music, and most importantly time off work. But I ask you this question... why is it that by mid-December most people are hanging on by a very thin thread?

Is it the money pressure of all the gift giving? Or is it the busy schedule of parties and traveling? Maybe it is ALL that time with family? Or even worse... dread of the Holiday pounds creeping on?

Whatever combination of Holiday related factors it is that turns us into scrooges... I am putting an end to it this year.

Call me a Pollyanna (thanks for the inspiration Hales!) but I have so much to be grateful for in my life that I don't want to spend one minute of this magical time of year in a grump. The second I feel any stress or negativity coming on I am going to fight it off by thinking of all the wonderful things that far out weigh whatever blip in the radar may be bringing me down.

Just some food for thought. And writing it down makes it more of a commitment to myself- so there you have it.

S

P.S.- more frequent posts to come as I have once again decide to re-commit myself to the pleasures of blogging :)