This is my yoga mat. I started my day on it today, with some great music playing in the background. Now, remember, I’m a Pilates Instructor, not a yoga instructor, so I kind of make yoga up as I go along. In fact, my yoga practice is very similar to my Pilates practice before I got certified- I read a lot of books, try to learn as much as I can, and then put it into practice.

I will check my body bug in a bit to see exactly how much work I did, but I know that this (at least right now) can’t replace my normal morning cardio. I’ll have to get to the gym at another point today or get outside and go for a walk on my lunch break. But it could definitely become my strength regimen. I’m shaking.

—Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, I did do some Pilates too- but I wouldn’t call what I did Yogalates or Piloga- I did yoga, then I did Pilates. I didn’t try to mix the two. Too much thinking before the coffee.

Mmmm…coffee…that’s where I’m headed. Have a great day!

In order to accomplish my yearly goals, I have to break them down into steps. Here is what I will accomplish this month:

Here are the goals I set last week, all compiled and SMART.

5 Stars — Refreshing Read!

The Sweet By and By
is the story of a woman being forced to deal with her past before moving on to her future. Jade Freedom Fitzgerald is finally getting ready for the life she dreamed of- a marriage to a man who made her feel safe and loved, feelings she didn’t experience from her high achieving judge father or galavanting hippie mother. She and fiance Max made an agreement “The past is the past.” Unfortunately, the past doesn’t always remain in the past.

The Sweet By and By
is incredibly well written with engaging characters that you find yourself rooting for and identifying with, with a story that weaves past and present together seamlessly. It’s one of those books that makes you feel good when you read it. There are no huge surprises in the story, at the same time it isn’t utterly predicable. The spiritual theme is naturally incorporated into the story line without feeling forced or contrived.

I dream. A lot. Very detailed. And often, I remember most of the details. Sometimes my dreams are good, sometimes I have nightmares. Two nights ago I dreamed that fake police officers who were doing a drug deal in Kroger were trying to kill my daughter and I so we couldn’t implicate them. They were stopped by campus security at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, where they had tailed us to from Nashville.

This morning, in the 9 minutes between my snoozes, I had a dream about the people in my dreams. I dreamed I was on a subway, or some sort of silver train, and there were all of these people that I knew or that I had interacted with recently and they were all just sitting, staring at me, waiting for me to “cast” them in my dream. There were real people, and people who were a blend of people. Some faces I could see, some I just sensed who they were.

My husband doesn’t remember his dreams. Do you remember yours?

On Sundays, I like to cook breakfast for my family. Usually it’s pancakes, but this morning I was feeling the waffles. So, with just over an hour before we needed to leave for church, I whipped some up. The problem with whipping up breakfast with so little time is that everyone needs to eat as the waffles come off the griddle, leaving the cook to eat alone. Never fear though, I had a great book to read! (And yes, that is peanut butter on my waffles. I like peanut butter on waffles, pancakes and french toast. You can thank my dad for introducing me.)

When we got home from Kentucky yesterday, there was a deer in our front yard. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it because the camera on my iPhone took too long to open, but here is a picture of the deer that was in our back yard earlier in the fall. The one that was in our front yard yesterday was a fawn- looked like he had just lost his spots and was very frightened. I felt sorry for him, but he seemed to make it back to the woods just fine.