Nicole and I are project buddies, except so far we haven’t really done anything too…what’s the word…sophisticated (That was for you, Joby). Mostly, we are reliving our childhoods or trying to recreate the crafts we somehow missed out on during our first trip through elementary art class. We’ve dyed easter eggs, carved pumpkins, and planned cheery outfits together. We are simply suckers for colour. She is the one that helped me figure out that I needed to keep things in their proper rainbow order and she’s right–my coffee cups have never been happier.
On this particular Saturday, we created tiki umbrella wreaths. I found this project on Family Chic’s website. Check out her larger version!
Step 1: Buy Tiki Umbrellas (Raid the Dollar Store for every last package. Then, promptly ignore Target clerks that say they don’t carry any.) Buy plain wicker wreaths. We used the small ones because we were convinced we wouldn’t have enough umbrellas. I think a large wreath would give you a bit more surface area to work with but the small ones are sweet too.
Step 2: Poke the umbrellas through the wicker wreaths, overlapping slightly to get dimension. Mind your fingers. Tiki umbrellas are sharp! Is this really a kid’s project?
Step 3: Cut off the excess sticks. Tie a ribbon around the completed project, and voila summer wreath!
This last weekend, my dream finally came true. No, not the one where I sing on Broadway. This was even better! …well, close. I had my very own colourful bike parade. A few friends obliged me in my little aspiration and joined me for the fun. Jim is especially the unsung hero in these photos. He rode ahead on his motorcycle and took pictures along the route, including the final beautiful shots on the Stone Arch Bridge. Collective happy sigh.
If you would like to participate in this soon to be annual colourful parade to destinations unknown, please let me know! I would have told more people about it this year, but I was so self-conscious I almost cancelled it altogether. What will the neighbors think? I actually think I reverted to fifth grade when I didn’t know how to curl my bangs without getting that nasty crease right through the middle! Then, the day of colour arrived, and it was everything I had hoped for. I was sad you weren’t there for the fun! So please mark your calendars for July 28, 2012 for more colourful abandon!
My friend Cryssy had one of the most fun, whimsical, entertaining weddings I have ever attended. They couldn’t have picked a more beautiful location in Montana. Shane and Cryssy certainly know how to throw a party! They celebrated their nuptials Montana style in a barn with the mountains as a back drop. Cryssy did not skimp in the details of this wedding. She had face painting, caricature drawings, a magician, flame throwers, a ring master announcing all of the activities, hayrides with Clydesdale horses and a cowboy to boot! Here are a few pictures taken by Seth. You can see we had a great time and truly felt honored to be part of their great day. Cryssy and Shane I wish you a life time of fun and happiness. If your wedding is an indicator of your relationship, which I know it is, you have many years of adventure and COLOUR ahead of you! I love you both!
If you are curious of any of their vendors, here is a list below.
Yoga is a life long practice. In order to continue to advance in your practice, understand negativity and self-depricating thoughts will only limit you. It is not something where you can say you have finally arrived or you have now mastered completely. Everyone continues to learn and grow no matter where they are in their practice. These are five things I have already learned in my short stint of practicing yoga.
1. Be Kind to Yourself: Leave competitiveness off your mat. There will always be someone stronger, tanner, bendier, and who looks better than you in their yoga pants.
2. Acceptance: Accept where you are in your practice. You will continue to get stronger mentally and physically all you have to do is show up.
3. Embrace Discomfort: Not all of yoga is a euphoric, ice cream eating experience. You will experience exhaustion and discomfort, but it is in those moments of feeling like you can’t go deeper or you want to quit that you realize how strong you are and how much our bodies are capable of doing.
4. Breathe: Breath is the most important part of yoga. Breathing is more important than the pose. If you can learn to control your breath in really challenging poses, you will be able to control your breathing when those out of control moments in life come up unexpectedly.
5. Welcome the Sweat: You will sweat more than you have ever in your whole life, especially if you are doing some sort of hot yoga. Give up the idea of looking cute in your yoga clothes. Everyone by the end of class, looks like a hot mess. Also, if you think you can get another use out of your yoga towel, don’t risk it. As soon as the room heats up, everyone will be wondering where the smell is coming from. A clean towel is essential.
If anyone is needing some inspiration, here is a video from Kathryn Budig
I am being sappy. I am aware. But really, has that ever stopped me?
I went to the Children’s Museum in Saint Paul earlier this summer and snapped this photo. I keep coming back to it, and finally I realized why. It reminds me of how much I am indebted to the Deaf Community and the gift of American Sign Language (ASL). Almost every good thing that I’m experiencing professionally and even personally has been a direct result of the impact that both have had in my life. Whether or not I am an interpreter for the remainder of my days is inconsequential, I am forever grateful that I get to be a part of this amazing community of people. Group Hug!
I owe it to my nephew and niece that I devoured the Harry Potter series as a thirty year old. I can hardly believe that when the first book came out I was already in college. At the time, I dismissed the books outright. I was scared of magic and the dark side of the stories. I was wrong on both counts. The stories include many universal truths that children and adults can personally relate to. The characters have found their way into my heart-even Snape!
In fact, I still think about the characters on occasion, and yes, I even wonder about their emotional health considering all that they have lost. After finishing the last book and now the last movie, I feel a bit like I lost a group of friends. So finding a link on TED to JK Rowling’s commencement address for Harvard was a bit like a reunion for me. Her talk is completely inspiring and well worth your 21 minutes. Unfortunately, it is not captioned, but I did find the transcript!
I was chatting with my co-workers Jules and Maria today at work about a conference they were able to attend. Maria and Jules shared that there was a deaf finnish rapper at the conference. Maria was able to go to the forum to see him perform, and she said he was amazing. Watch for yourself. Signmark is the first deaf person to actually get a record deal with a music company. Watch his vlogs to find out about his journey, and don’t worry for the signing impaired people there are captions available.
Melissa and I had the opportunity to go to Arizona for a work conference. Of course, the two of us had to do something adventurous! We decided we would go mountain biking for the first time. Now we didn’t really pay attention to the fact that it was over 100 degrees in Arizona, nor did we think about the possibility of us getting injured or dying on this little adventure. I have run one full marathon and Melissa has done several, so we thought how hard could this really be?
Cute Helmets?
CHECK
Mountain Bike?
CHECK
Water?
CHECK
From the photos below you can see how positive we look about our decision.
Melissa is thinking this bike is so cute, can’t we just ride this mountain biking? Anyway, we realized we had everything figured out except where we would take our newly rented mountain bikes.
The conversation went like this.
Nancy and Melissa: So….we rented these bikes where do you suggest we go?
Worker: Oh there is this great trail called the Mormon Loop and National Trail. You should totally do it.
Nancy and Melissa: You think we can do it?
Worker: Ya, you will be fine!
HA! That guy was a liar!!!
In that moment we were feeling positive and ready for our adventure! We got a map and made our way to the trail head. I’m sure it was obvious that the two of us had no idea what we were doing. Maybe it was the two of us pulled over on the trail looking at the map very confused that gave us away, but luckily we met this guy. I can’t remember his name right now, but he pulled over and had the sense to ask us if we knew what we were doing. In most cases I would be really offended, but my gut told me he was looking out for us.
Now introducing a good samaritan: a software guy I think….
As you can see Melissa is feeling extremely grateful to this guy for warning us about the Mormon Loop and National Trail.
This is our conversation:
Software guy: Hey, have the two of you been mountain biking before?
Nancy and Mel: A little bit offended but terrified on the inside. Instead of being offended the two of us honestly say nope!
Software guy: Where were you thinking of biking?
Nancy and Mel: Oh, you know the Mormon Loop and National Trail. Trying to sound like we knew what we were talking about.
Software guy: You will die if you go on that trail. I am not kidding.
Nancy and Mel: Serious?
Software guy: People fly from all over the world to bike that trail because it is so technical.
Nancy and Mel: Instantly getting mad at bike worker guy for sending us to the wolves!!! What was he thinking!! What an idiot!
Software guy: I can take you on the bunny hills. (Which again I would be normally insulted but commonsense was starting to sink in.)
Nancy and Mel: Very appreciative and take him up on his offer.
Now I know many of you are thinking Nancy and Mel why are you trusting this software guy? He could be a killer!!!!! Well I guess that would have been good to think about at the time, but honestly that just only now occurred to me. hmmm….
That would be me and Melissa on our bunny hill experience. I have to tell you the little bunny hills were terrifying! As you can see we’re pretty much biking in a rock garden. I’m pretty sure Melissa and I screamed down every hill. Could you imagine what Mormon Loop and National Trail were like???
Wait! You don’t have to imagine! I have a video of a guy biking Mormon Loop and National Trail. Just watching it makes me so thankful we ran into our software samaritan!
Description: National trail can be ascended or decended. Both require expert skills and fitness. You cannot and will not find a climb this technical, challenging and fun in AZ. It will kick your ass and you’ll love every turn of the peddle. You can ride this trail 365 but, beware of mid afternoon temps in the summer, “There are birds that will pick your bones clean.”
I am always stunned and caught off guard when people make comments like racism is gone, we have a black president. People also like to make sweeping generalizations about gender as well. Women are doctors, lawyers, police officers, etc., there isn’t sexism anymore . Women get diluted when they are very young with “talk” about how girls and boys are equal, but the reality hits hard when they find themselves educated and in their professional career and are making less than a man in that same position despite equal qualifications.
My dad always treated me and my sister like he would a son. He played basketball with us, he told us we could do anything we wanted, but unfortunately if there are systems in place that actively or passively discriminate against women, all the wishful, positive thinking isn’t going to breakdown the barrier of oppression.
Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are co-authors of Half the Sky, and the two of them wrote this book to bring awareness about the oppression of women all over the globe. Their book confirms over and over again that education is the most effective tool for women to control their fate and destiny. I would advocate not only women obtaining education, but also educating the public about the gender disparities that still go on today despite the many advances that have taken place.
The below video is a girl challenging the lyrics in Beyonce’s song run the world (girls). Do Girlz really run the world? What is the reality of being female in the 21st century?
Jim, Melissa, Seth and I went to the the festival of nations. We ate food from all over the world, saw art, and dance. There were 90 different ethnic groups represented in the festival. The best part was getting our fake passport stamped and having our name written in that particular language. By the end of the night, we had our names written in several different languages.
