a sort-of simple sunday.

drinking my morning brew (coffee lol) and talking to you ....

It's so nice to find the right moment to come back here and chat a little bit. It's really been too long, but we all need bloggie breaks. I'd like to say I have a goal of posting once a week, but I'm just not sure I can hold to that right now. It's a busy time ... I'm nearing the end of my Montessori training, and possibly the beginning (well, next year) of yoga teacher training. The latter means I have lots more things to accomplish before my exams in June, and preparing a classroom for the fall. I'm excited about it, inspired, but also have been feeling overwhelmed with everything that all involves. My plan is to "keep it simple" buy not bogging myself down in too many commitments outside the home. I have this dual-personality that likes both to immerse myself in the community around me AND be a homebody. But right now I need to turn the focus inward ... hence I have been inviting people to me! Just tonight I've planned a vegetarian/vegan potluck supper for anyone interested. Just a few hours of conversation and good food before bed.

I'm feeling pretty positive about the year ahead. I don't have expectations for it, just want to flow with the moment as much as possible rather than be carried away by the tide. I'm settled (finally) into a great apartment. I would like to slowly begin setting up a sewing room. Going to keep my eyes open for a great table ... paint some door panels (turquoise! inspired by all those great craft rooms out there i see in this color) ... and, of course, actually PLAY with the sewing machine. Any sewers out there have advice on how to begin actually making things? Do I just look up simple patterns and go from there? About all I know is how to thread the bobbin and play with the different types of stitches ....

I need to keep myself away from blue screens as much as possible. I find that it drains my vital energies and keeps me away from more constructive, meditative pursuits such as reading and knitting. I don't like having free cable because TV is so easy to suck you in. ... and I'm on Facebook a bit too much. So this is a work in progress.

Last night i made some delicious vegan jelly coconut bars from the kripalu cookbook. it was good to bake again. i was having some sadness about lots of things yesterday, the product i think of an overactive mind and too many days of rain. there was some pretty thunderstorming last night, though, and a cozy night on my screened-in porch ... imagine, a rare 60 degree day in January! I also had a bad headache, so I did my legs up the wall pose (chased by one advil), which virtually eliminated it.

I'd like to eliminate dairy completely from my diet. It will make me feel cleaner through and through ... i don't necessarily need this "vegan" label ... it's a difficult standard to hold oneself to ... i just want to eat as cleanly and as close to the earth as possible. It's cheese I'm talking about, of course. I haven't had eggs in a long time (i know this isn't dairy) either, and I'm really not missing them ....

Thanks for reading through my random thoughts and musings. I promise to get better about pictures .... my blog will probably be much simpler in coming months than the picturefest it has been, but i'm hoping it will also be richer, full of life's good busy-ness and creativity. maybe I'll spotlight one thing each week that I've been up to. .. a glimpse, a snapshot, if you will.

oh, the money thing. i've switched my mindset over about 90 percent. I AM A SAVER NOW. this is a new mantra i tell myself frequently. one look at my student loan statement and one BIG thought about my future ... kids, homeschooling, etc.... and I realize how very important it is to plant the seeds for frugal living now. I walk through my spacious apartment and realize how very much more I can give away, how very much more I just *don't need.* I think about the earthquake victims in Haiti and it puts my life in a much different perspective than the "race" we all sometimes find ourselves caught up in. It makes me want to learn how to mend those holes in my socks, without just tossing them and buying new ones at Target. It makes me want to learn how to knit my own socks. To turn that pair of jeans with the hole in a bad place into a denim skirt.

so, back to the money ... well, i now have an online ING account that I've set up to automatically receive a certain (fairly large) amount on my payday each month. ALL of my babysitting money is going into it, too. ALL of my tax refund (less money for a sewing machine table...) is going into it.

I'm having thoughts about working for Educators without Borders. It's comprised of Montessori teachers who bring Dr. Montessori's methods to places that don't have "classrooms" per se. Some days, I think I'd like nothing more than to live with vitually no possessions and provide for the poorest of the poor children of the world. How very fulfilling ... challenging ... growth-inducing ... that would be. It's just something I toss around in my mind.

So is mama-hood. I feel it on the horizon. It excites me. It inspires me in those money goals. oh, also speaking of, I'm taking Rhonda's (and Dave Ramsey's apparently) advice on snowball-effect paying down my credit card debt. I have a small Mason jar on my dresser that all my spare dollar bills and change goes into for my lowest balance card, plus the minimum payment. Most of my debt is from recent traveling and some Christmas spending/donations. When I pay this debt off I want to remain debt-free ....

... When I have enough in my savings account, I want to earmark some of it for an emergency fund. I have never done this. I like the feeling of security I get just thinking about it.

I am blessed to have: healthy parents and grandparents, five amazing best friends, a creative fire that i can share with others when i craft things, a beautiful home, gorgeous sweaters from the goodwill (i can't stand buying new because when i think about where/how they're made, and the effect that that production has on people/children....), a job i love, an amazing yoga practice, healthy, organic, plant-based food, three sweet cats. That's just some of what makes me so fortunate.

Today my plans include: a short walk, cooking for my potluck tonight, calling my best friend, and a few necessary errands.

I hope you've been having a beautiful weekend. My only plans for the coming week: doing as much yoga as possible, playing with the sewing machine, knitting, writing a letter to my friend in Afghanistan, doing laundry, attending a friend's housewarming party, oh, and mayyyyybe a day hike depending on weather (which is supposed to turn cold again, boo) .....

sending you peace,

karen