Bikram Birthday!

I almost forgot my Bikram Birthday is coming up in a couple of days! Wheeeee!!

For celebration this year I have (unknowingly) made practicing a priority again. And I'm really enjoying myself in the hot room, yay!

I am sending big big THANK YOUs out to the Universe, to all Bikram teachers, my family and friends and my self, the Bikram community, and to Bikram (the man). I am so thankful for having all of you in my life.

~~~~~~

And wouldn't you know it... Bikram Yoga Teacher Training (Fall 2012) is starting in a couple of weeks :-o
I'm rooting for all of you, trainees! Best of luck!

Grandma's cooking: Stuffed Green Pepper with Orzo Noodle Rice and Yogurt

We got tons and tons of green peppers in our CSA this month and really didn't know what to do with them. Then came the bestest idea: try to make stuffed green peppers, just like my grandma makes. My mom and grandma were so lovely, skyped with me for a couple of hours and shared a few of her signature recipes. On Sunday we gave it our best and tried it for the first time:

HOLY MOLY! It turned out soooo good! We all know that normally, even if we use our grandmas' recipes, they never turn out quite as good as grandma's. This one turned out really well though! We were quite proud of ourselves :)

Thank you grandma! <3

Puppy Update!!!!

YAY, I was so pumped to visit the puppies the other day! Are you as excited as I am?!?! Haha, probably not. Anyway, they are 10  months now and pretty big. They still behave like puppies though, so they stumble all over each other:

... and sit on your lap asking to be snuggled:

No problem there! I'll snuggle them all day long :)

They are pretty lively, so it was hard getting a good picture of them... They are still as adorable as they were as puppies though. The characters are still the same. Boy-puppy is clumsy and super-excited about us visiting and playing, and prefers my boyfriend. Girl-puppy (in my lap in the second pic) is super-snuggly and calm and prefers me.

Back on track

After a month of traveling and jet lag (6 hours plus, then 3 hours minus) I am working on getting back on track. My boyfriend and I have a few fun things planned, but none of them are multiple-days kind of plans. We're going to a Tigers game on Sunday, yay! We're hosting a Bavarian breakfast soon, (not healthy, but still) yay! We have a month-long CSA membership, so farm-fresh food to look forward to, yay!

Meanwhile, this is what is helping me feel good and healthy and not-jetlagged in my skin:

• eating raw! I'm not at 100%, but I am getting so much closer by including more and more 100% raw meals (for example Green Smoothies). Blog post to follow...
• getting back to yoga! The hot room is feeling goooood these days! It's challenging to get back to a regular practice in the humid summer months, but I am concentrating on breathing calmly and concentrating on my body only and it's working well :)
• cleaning, unpacking, making our home even more comfy!

I have noticed so many benefits from eating mostly raw already, even after just a few raw days in a row! It really is amazing. Combined with my Bikram yoga practice, the possibilities are endless! I feel like it is the fast-track to great health.

CSA for August

Yesterday we picked up the first of our weekly shares from a local farm. We are so excited! We have planned meals around most of the fresh veggies already.

So CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and we are trying it for the first time this August. I'm already liking it! After getting back from the farm (yes, the same farm where this stuff was grown) we made a little impromptu stir fry.

All ingredients were from our share (except for spices and olive oil). It tasted SO PHENOMENAL! Fresh and fruity and flavorful... so THIS is what real food tastes like ;) Yumm yumm!