Mirror Monday

It's Mirror Monday!  Sorry I went off grid a bit last week.  My first priority has been training for a Thanksgiving day run with my sister.  I also came down with a random bug part way through the week, and my body was rebelling a little bit.  I was fine for the weekend, though, and I am happy to be back at everything.

So what do I see in the mirror today?  Oh do I see a lot...

1.  Excitement.  I am so excited for this week.  Today is my last day of work for a week.  I get 2 whole days to prepare for Thanksgiving, and I don't think I've ever had that much time.  It will have me going into Thanksgiving stress free.  Thanksgiving itself has me excited because it's my second favorite holiday.  I get to see my family and be with them, and nothing beats Thanksgiving morning smells and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  And of course, there are the few days I have off after Thanksgiving, where I kick off Christmas...  But I won't get into that now because I'm trying really hard to stick to Thanksgiving and not get into Christmas until it's time.

2.  I see the start of my healthy lifestyle.  This past weekend rocked my efforts a bit, and this week will certainly continue to do so, but I have to remember that everything is okay in moderation, as long as at least 2 meals a day are decent!  Running and strength training has helped with that as well.

3.  THANKFULNESS.  I have not felt this thankful in a while.  Not for a lack of things to be thankful for, but because I'm usually pretty stressed this time of year.  I have the most amazing fiancé in the world by my side on a day by day basis.  I work in the most incredible field with students and fellow teachers alike that inspire me every day.  I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on my back.  I have great friends who love me, and most of all, my family who always has my back with their undying support.  I could not be a luckier girl with a greater life.  We all have our daily gripes, but if you really sit down and look at the big picture- it's a beautiful life we live.  I'm hoping to keep this feeling, and continue to pull it up as the holiday season progresses!  

What are you most thankful for?

Prayer for Paris

I am writing today from a heavy place.  

Last night, I turned on the tv and watched the faces of Parisians as they dealt with a truly vicious tragedy.  Paris was the target of a horrendous terrorist attack.  Even now as I type this, tears are welling up in my eyes.

I will refrain from talking about the details, partly because that is not what I want this blog to be about, and partly because I do not think I can handle it.  Just know that the details are something we would all rather not think about.

I am shocked.  To me, it is reminiscent of 9/11 on our home turf.  All I could think of was that this is what the rest of the world must have felt like on September 11, 2001 for the US.  It is painful, whether you are from France, USA, or any other country in the world.

Obama said it best in his statement when he called it an attack on all of humanity.  Killing innocent people just to instill fear and panic, and to push a personal agenda is one of the worst things you can do.  These terrorists are literally stripping themselves of their humanity and thoughtlessly ending lives.  It takes a true psychopath to be able to do that.  

My biggest concern is that in light of this disaster, there have been people immediately using this attack to back their own agendas.  Whether it is to wage a World War on ISIS, or to say things like "I told you so" when it comes to Syria.  WHY?!?!?!  Over 100 people just died.  Thousands are not safe, and who knows how many supporters of the terrorist group are still in France?  The lack of humanity in the world is astounding.  Have some heart.  Think of the victims.  Just because you are not there does not mean that this will not affect you.  We very well could be next.  I have the news on now, and ISIS is claiming responsibility, and there's rumor of them saying it is just the beginning.  Open your hearts.

As this unfolded last night, I cried.  My heart just broke.  But how LUCKY I am.  As I cried my Fiancé wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.  One of my best friends was texting with me about the details.  I have a roof over my head, food on my table, and a loving family.  Perhaps I cannot understand these attacks because of the fact that I am so blessed.  I cannot understand that kind of hatred.  I cannot understand that kind of violence.

The thing that we need to remember now is to LOVE.  We have been in France's position, and we know what it feels like. Our hearts need to open to the universe and we need to practice kindness.  When something like this happens, ripples go out in the universe.  Cracks begin to form in the bubble that we think we have.  This could all be gone in a second, so why waste life trying to point blame or feel hate?  

Do not fear these attackers.  That is what they want.  Feel bad for them.  Pity them.  They do not feel love, and that is such a sad thing.  They cannot comprehend what we know as a normal life.  It is pitiful and pathetic that they decide to use their own hate and sadness to fuel such a terrible cause.  

I also hope that everyone knows about Beirut where there were 2 suicide bombings just a day before Paris.  Our world needs a band aide right now.  And that bandaide is love.  

The Red Cup Debate

So maybe I'm a little late to the game here when it comes to the topic, but seriously with the Starbucks red cups?

Apparently there's all this hoopla over the new red cups that Starbucks put out for the holidays.  I haven't read a great deal on it, mostly because it annoys the heck out of me.  I have a read a few headlines, though.  Here's my opinion on it.

First of all, yes it's a little early for them to be coming out with the red cups, but it's no different than the mall putting up their giant Christmas tree for all to see this week, or the Christmas decorations that were put out before Halloween was even celebrated.

Second, what is with everyone getting SO SENSITIVE this year?  Yes, there are things that tick people off, and yes some of it is valid, and yes there is totally a right to free speech.  HOWEVER, I feel like in the past couple of years, a few people get overly sensitive about a topic, and suddenly the media is sensationalizing it all.  In this case- THEY ARE CUPS PEOPLE.

Thirdly, there's this crusade about the aspect of Starbucks being against Christmas, because they took off everything that would be Christmasy.  I have conflicting views a bit on this.  I think it was initially a smart business decision- everyone is getting so upitty over EVERYTHING these days, particularly the fight of "include all holidays" vs. "christmas".  A simple red cup gives a nod to Christmas, but doesn't hit anyone over the head with the proverbial Christmas frying pan.  Then again, as far as I know, the majority of the US is Christian, or at least celebrates Christmas in a seasonal giving sense.  So why not just stick with Christmas?  I love Christmas.  I don't get offended when someone wishes me Merry Christmas.  I also wouldn't be offended if someone wished me a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, or Solstice.  They are wishing me something HAPPY.  It would cost Starbucks a fortune to try to make everyone happy.  It doesn't make sense to make cups for everyone's holidays, and it doesn't make sense to have to ask each individual who comes into a Starbucks which cup they would like for their holiday.  As someone who has worked in the service industry, that would set things back a significant amount when it comes to long lines.  So Starbucks went with the majority.  I would love the people who are on this crusade to try and run Starbucks for a day.  I would LOVE to see how quickly they run it into the ground.

At the end of the day, it's a matter of perspective.  Is a red seasonal cup going to make or break the entire projectory of your life at the end of the day?  No?  Then let's find something that's a little more worthwhile to talk about.  Find a better cause to get behind.

Are you upset about the red cups?

Tip Tuesday!

Today's Tip Tuesday- feet!

My biggest thing when I'm looking at dancer's (besides posture/alignment) is feet.  I love beautiful feet.  Pointed toes are a thing of beauty.  A dancer must have strength and flexibility in their feet in order to be able to use them correctly.

In order to achieve gorgeous lines in your feet, my first and biggest suggestion is take ballet.  It's where you will learn how to use your feet.  There is so much in ballet that requires you to use every part of the foot- from the ankle to the tips of your toes- that it will be hard to forget about them.

Exercises with therabands also help a great deal in the strengthening of the ankle.  There are some great ones on YouTube, and on many dance sites.

Do you take ballet?  Have your feet gotten stronger?

Balanced Inspiration

Hello friends!  It's Mirror Monday again!

Today when I look in the mirror, I see a little spark.  I don't want to say it's motivation, because I'm not determined to do amazing things this week. There's a part of me that is accepting that I can't do it all this week.  I have to remember that I don't necessarily need to do every single thing on my to do list.  If I don't get it done, life will go on.  But there is some inspiration.

There's also a part of me, though, that really wants to be accomplished this week, even if it is at my own pace. Parent Watch Week is next week, which means that this week is all about making sure my kids are ready for it.  I need to stay focused on my goals in my comp classes, too.   I just returned from a 2 mile run (inspired by my sister to do a Thanksgiving Day run in the morning since she couldn't find any races), and I have so much healthy food in my fridge that it's crazy.  

Part of this inspiration is coming from the fact that I've felt lazy lately.  My laziness is prompting bad habits, and I don't want to feel bad anymore.  It's amazing how when I eat better and exercise, I look better and I feel better.  When I'm lazy, I feel like I just look terrible.  I look tired, I feel tired, and there's no motivation to do anything.  If I keep myself on a good track for at least a week, I can get into better habits.  This blog is very much so like that.  The more of a habit I make writing in here, the more likely I am to keep up with it.  I almost even made it a full week of writing last week- I just missed yesterday.  I'm blaming Fiance for that one- I told him to remind me, and he never did...  

I'm kidding.  It's 100% my fault for not remembering.

On that note, I have much more to get done, and I think it's about time I started to get my next goal of the day done!  

How have you been feeling lately?  Lazy?  Motivated?  Comment below!

Song Lyric Saturday!

This is the first time I've managed to remember to do a song lyric Saturday!

The song I'm doing today is very upbeat and fun.  I love this song because it describes my life- I feel better when I'm dancing!  The song is "Better When I'm Dancing" by Meghan Trainor.  It's on the soundtrack for the new Peanuts movie!


"Better When I'm Dancing"

Don't think about it
Just move your body
Listen to the music
Sing, oh, ey, oh
Just move those left feet
Go ahead, get crazy
Anyone can do it
Sing, oh, ey, oh

Show the world you've got that fire
Feel the rhythm getting louder
Show the room what you can do
Prove to them you got the moves
I don't know about you,

I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
And we can do this together
I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

When you finally let go
And you slay that solo
Cause you listen to the music
Sing, oh, ey, oh
'Cause you're confident, babe
And you make your hips sway
We knew that you could do it
Sing, oh, ey, oh

Show the world you've got that fire
Feel the rhythm getting louder
Show the room what you can do
Prove to them you got the moves
I don't know about you,

But I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah
And we can do this together
I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

I feel better when I'm dancing
I'm better when I'm dancing, aye, oh ey oh

Feel better when I'm dancing, yeah yeah
Better when I'm dancing, yeah yeah,
Don't you know
We can do this together
Bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

(you got the moves, babe)

I feel better when I'm dancing
I'm better when I'm dancing
Feel better when I'm, yeah, yeah

Stuffed Acorn Squash

It's another Foodie Friday!

Well, only the 2nd that I've written, but hey, the second starts the ball rolling!

It's been another week of unexciting food adventures.  I cooked some homemade mac and cheese and chicken on Sunday, and I made so much that Fiance and I were eating the leftovers until Wednesday evening.  Last night we went out to one of our comfort spots for dinner.  So I think I might talk about something I made towards the beginning of last week.

My stuffed acorn squash!

Originally, it started out as a completely different dinner.  I was feeling lazy in the midst of having a busy schedule, so one night I just decided to cut up some chicken breasts, throw them in a crockpot with some apple cider, a dash of apple cider vinegar (it brings out the sweetness in the apple cider), and some spices, and just let it cook.  Let me tell you- it came out so delicious.  We ate it with kale and rice, I think?

But then I had been looking at recipes that included acorn squash.  Most of them involved stuffing them with sausage, but I thought- "hey, I have all this chicken.  Why not stuff the squash with that instead?"  So I cut up some celery, red onion, apple, and chopped some pecans.  I added some sweetened dried cranberries, and sauteed them up with the chicken.  I had already preheated my oven, cut my squash in half and scooped out the seeds.  The squash was in the oven baking.

After 20 mins, I removed the squash, and with some brown rice that I had made earlier, and the chicken mix, I stuffed the squash.  I drizzled with a little olive oil (though I bet butter would've been tastier.  Making that note for next time), and let it bake in the oven for 15 mins.

All I had to do after that was put it on the plate.  I sadly do not have pictures because I was so excited to eat it that the thought didn't cross my mind before I dug in.  Fiance had looked at me digging in and had asked "Do you want to take a picture of mine?"  I promptly told him it was too good and I was too hungry to take the time!  Oops!

This recipe was so easy, and I don't really use measurements anymore when I cook, unless I am following a very complicated and/or specific recipe.  It's become easier for me to do this as I've gotten older.  Years of cooking on my own, and in more recent years- cooking for me and Fiance- have made my general cooking senses become pretty accurate.  Not to mention, I come from a long line of good cooks!

What's been your latest cooking adventure?

Throwback Thursday

It's my first Throwback Thursday!  Finally I have remembered!

So this one is a pretty special picture.

Summer at Dance Olympus.  Crazy Dance Kids!

As you can see, there are a lot of people in this, and we're all young with a lot of make up on...  That's because this was a picture from a dance competition/convention that we all attended.  What's most special about this picture is that it's a combination of levels.  My sister is to my left, and to my right was a fellow dancer who was a year or two older than I am.  There are so many different faces that everyone is having, but the overall feel is happiness, and that's what dance has brought to my life since I started.  

This was also a special year, because I believe this is from the summer that our dance "Manhunt" won top score, my sister and I got top score junior duo, I nailed the audition class and received a scholarship for the next year at the convention, and I made their coveted "VIP", which was the title for the honor of assisting teachers across the country.  I never did go on the VIP tour, but the honor alone was incredible.  I remember for the audition class going into the hotel gym with my teacher and practicing my turns for the combination we had to do.  I also remember the massive bruises I gave myself on my knees for dropping to the floor.  

I attended Dance Olympus for about 4 or 5 summers, and I have some truly amazing memories from it.  It was a time to bond with my dance peers, get some extra dance time in, and often times it was the only vacation we had.  It's also where the joke "THE OTHER SIDE" was started, which will pretty much mean nothing to most people who read this...  But I will always have those memories.  

And I still love every single one of these people in this picture, even if I don't talk to most of them anymore  <3

First Comes Thanksgiving...

It's November!  October/Halloween is over, and that means moving on to the next holiday...

NO!  NO!  I DID NOT MEAN CHRISTMAS!  

This has been bugging me for years now.  It seems as though as soon as the Halloween candy goes on sale, Santa's little elves start decorating the department stores...

I'm not a grinch.  I'm all for Christmas.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE Christmas.  I am a self-proclaimed Christmas elf, and anyone who knows me knows that I go all out.  I insist on having a tree every year (even if it's a little Charlie Brown-ish), I decorate the apartment, I dress up, I attend as many holiday events as possible, and if I'm listening to music- it's of the Christmas variety.  However, none of this begins until THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING.

Ok, so maybe I listen to Christmas music a little earlier, and maybe I start planning a little earlier as well, but when it comes to the actual celebration, Thanksgiving comes first.

I grew up in a house where Thanksgiving was important.  It came with its own unique set of traditions.  There is nothing- NOTHING- more special than waking up on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of the turkey that my mother has woken up at 5am for just to put in the oven.  My dad is always up by the time I'm up, and he's got the paper out with his morning coffee.  No matter what the temperature, there's always a fire in the fireplace.  The dogs are always running around (if they hadn't been the ones to pounce on me and wake me up).  My sister is usually the last to get up, and by 9am, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is on tv. Even in the 4 years I was in marching band, and had to get up extra early to go to the Thanksgiving football games to perform (memories of frozen fingers on the field, and crying from the cold...yeesh!), we always had a recording of the parade so we could watch it.  

Thanksgiving is important to me, and I know it's important to other people.  It reminds us of simplicity and thankfulness.  There were people who came over from England with all the supplies they could, not fully knowing where they were going, not knowing how long it would take to get there, not knowing if they would even survive the trip (many didn't).  Those same people endured so much with NO TECHNOLOGY (as I type on a computer), only being able to rely on each other and their faith in God.  How many people do you know who are that brave?  How many of you can say that you've been through something like that?  

Life was simple.  The pilgrims used what little resources they had to live.  Thanksgiving should not be looked over by a holiday that has turned into a season of glitz and commercialism and gluttony.  Thanksgiving is the balance.  It is there to remind us of what we have, before we start giving for the sake of giving, and receiving.  

So before you start posting on Facebook about how you can't wait for Christmas, remember that there are those of us who want to remember Thanksgiving, and celebrate the humble beginnings of this nation, and what sacrifice people made to give us what we have now.  Enjoy the fall foliage.  Read a little about the history of Thanksgiving.  Do a good deed in the name of Thanksgiving instead of Christmas.  And for goodness sake, be thankful for the present.  

Tip Tuesday

Tip Tuesday!

Today's Dance Tip- Core strength.  Get some.

Everything a dancer does is directly related to their core.  All those muscles in around the center of their body helps to support everything else.  The stronger the core, the more stable and controlled a dancer is.

Planks are the best choice for a strong center.  Not only does it work the abdominals, but it also works the muscles in the back and shoulders.  Pilates and yoga can work as a supplemental outlet to build core strength as well.

I love to give my students difficult core workouts.  If they tell that they're sore the next day, it makes me happy knowing that I made them work!

And that's your tip for the day!

Mirror Monday

Another Mirror Monday!

It seems as though after Tuesday, I forget that this blog exists, or I become too busy.  This weekend may have been a bit of an exception with Halloween being on Saturday, and since that was a big hullabaloo, Fiance and I spent yesterday sitting on the couch catching up on shows and eating bad food.  I lost track of things a bit.

Ok, so here goes..  Mirror Monday.  Today I see fogginess.  I always feel a little lost after a big holiday.  While some don't consider Halloween anything major, I love it, and I live in Salem, MA.  If you don't at least go downtown for a little bit, you're missing out!  This Halloween was no exception.  So after the big holiday, I'm feeling a little lost.  The excitement is over, and now it's back to business.

I have a million things to do.  The apartment is a mess, work is busy, and there's all that wedding planning that I put aside.  I'm thinking ahead to Thanksgiving (that being said, just wait for Wild Card Wednesday!), and it just feels like there's so much going on socially.  I'm motivated to get done everything that I need to, but I feel like there's so much to do that I get distracted by all that needs to be done, rather than making goals and plans.  All of the things that I need to do become this static, this white noise, this FOG that seems to swirl around my head in a haze.  I feel like today I'm trying to push that fog away with my bare hands, instead of taking a nice big gust of wind to it and getting it out of here.  I know I have tomorrow off to get a million things done, and I usually do accomplish a great deal on Tuesdays, but it would be nice to get a jump start on today.

Here's hoping that maybe with some water and moving around I'll be able to clear some of the fog!