Gateway Tree Lighting - November 17, 2012

In my efforts to actually get out of the house and do things together as a family, I planned for us to go to the Gateway Tree Lighting. Also, we live so close to downtown, it would be a shame not to take advantage of all the cool (and often free) activities there are. Lastly, the weather had been pretty mild and I wanted to make the holidays feel special for Lucy since she was old enough to actually enjoy them.

We went early enough so that we would have time to eat out. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen, I'm sure because I had a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert or something. The food was just okay - we got Avocado Club Rolls for an appetizer and Roasted Artichoke & Spinach Thin Crust Pizza. I'm turning into a bit of a food snob and don't care to eat at chain restaurants so much anymore because there are so many better locally owned places. I was sad that I got talked into getting the pumpkin cheesecake for dessert since it was a seasonal item but it just wasn't that good. Oh well - Lucy seemed to enjoy it (or at least the whipped cream part).

























We stopped by the toy store Blickenstaff's to browse for a bit because Brandon wasn't interested in seeing Kurt Bestor perform (and Lucy probably wasn't either). There were supposed to be free cookies and hot chocolate being handed out at the event but they ran out of hot chocolate so I had to appease myself (and Lucy) with just a cookie.

The actual tree lighting was all coordinated with music and a light show and it was pretty fun. I took video of it but I can't find it (and I'm not sure how to upload it).

Overall, I think our family date night was a success. I feel so fortunate that we live just 10 minutes away from the Gateway. Maybe we could have had better food but the temperature wasn't too cold and it helped us get into the spirit of the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving Library Crafts - November 14, 2012

Lucy and I finally got around to going to our own local library for their craft hour. We've gone to a couple of story times and I don't know why it took me so long to make it to the FREE crafts! Maybe because it is on Wednesday at 4:30 pm and that is usually when I am trying to throw dinner together. But I think because I was taking more time away from Lucy so I could get my yoga certification, I put more effort into making the time we did have together more meaningful and fun for her (mommy guilt?). But also, since she is getting older, she is actually able to do the crafts now. We had already done a Saturday craft a different library for Dia de Los Muertos and now we made if for the Thanksgiving craft.

Because it was Thanksgiving, the craft was a little bit fancier. They actually had TWO crafts. And I was pretty surprised (& impressed) with the advancement of Lucy's fine motor skills (what mother isn't, though?). Maybe it is the preschool or maybe it is genetic but she has an awful lot of focus for a three year old and does a pretty fine job with her coloring and staying in the lines. Even her cutting is getting better and better (although I think I helped her with this particular cutting). And though I try very hard not be biased or compare Lucy to other children, the librarian was the one that actually pointed out how much focus Lucy has and how she pays so much attention to details compared to her own three year old (don't you love it when other people compliment your kids?!).

Lucy choose all the colors by herself. I think we might have a Type A personality (like her mom) in how particular she is with her choices and having everything be just so. She took such a long time to color everything but I guess that is a good thing if you want things to be done well.

This little leaf wreath was the second craft but since Lucy took so much time coloring her turkey mask, we just ended up bringing the materials home with us and doing it here. There were actually real leaves collected that we could have used but they were so brittle and falling apart so I was glad that we brought home the artificial leaves which were much easier to work with.

She loves her wreath so much that it is still hanging on the interior knob of our front door. I was totally thinking that I should make another version for Christmas and/or Valentine's Day but I just haven't gotten around to it. That is why I love these free crafts at the library - everything is already there and prepped for you - you just have to show up. Hope we can do more of these in the future!

Yoga Teaching Training

One of the things that has been taking up a substantial amount of time in my life the last quarter of 2012 (and my excuse for not blogging very consistently) has been a Yoga Teacher Training Class that I have been taking through University of Utah.

Why in the world would a pregnant lady choose to get certified in yoga teaching while she is sick in her first trimester and getting bigger and bigger in her second trimester? Cause it was free!! You all know I can't pass up a good deal. Also, because this opportunity would expire in a year (September of 2013) and I figured it would be easier to coordinate daycare for just one child instead of a toddler and a newborn while I was nursing next year.

How was this opportunity free, you might ask? Well, back in 2005 when I graduated from college, I had a hard time finding a job so I joined the AmeriCorps program where I performed a year of national service (kind of like the PeaceCorps but you work locally) and got paid a measly living stipend but also got an education award that could be used to pay off student loans or go towards future education expenses. Since I didn't have many student loans, I figured I might use it for future schooling some day. The education award did have an expiration date though - seven years.

My AmeriCorps experience did help me land my first job but after I got pregnant with Lucy after a couple years of work and started staying at home when she was born, I knew that I would not be pursuing a masters degree anytime soon. But I didn't want to see all that government money that was set aside just for me to go to waste. So once we were settled in our new home and Lucy was going to preschool and we had good daycare just down the street, I finally enrolled myself. I enrolled through the continuing education program so I wasn't taking the class for credit and didn't have to deal with applying to the school and paying the higher tuition costs. It was academic non-credit but the class was attended by both matriculated and non-matriculated students. The tuition was around $1700 and my books and parking pass probably brought the total expense to close to $2000 but I was completely reimbursed by AmeriCorps (besides the daycare expense - I couldn't count that).

I think I would have preferred to have been taken this class when I wasn't pregnant but the timing at any other time would have been too difficult. When I was first looking into the class, I was also pleasantly surprised that my yoga instructor, Denise Druce, from 24 Hour Fitness (the gym where I work out) was also the instructor at the U. And although I was limited towards the end of my class in what I could do, I was still able to do at least practice and learn about some of the more advanced poses and had some valuable insight on the prenatal section of the class. Some of the poses that I made significant improvement on were my crow and headstand. And once I am done having this baby and can start working out more seriously, I'm really excited to add side crow and crazy eight and really any arm-balancing pose to my practice.

Side Crow or Parsva Bakasana (source)
* I was actually able to do this pose on one side for a few seconds before my tummy got so big.

Crazy Eight or Astavakrasana (source)

The other really cool thing about my class was learning the sanskrit names of the poses as well as studying the chakras, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and the Bhagavad-Gita.

Here is a class picture from our prenatal class. Two of us are really pregnant and the rest had to stuff their shirts to pretend to be pregnant.

And this was our last class - we had a sanskrit name of a pose on our backs that our classmates had to cue us to get into without actually saying the name of the pose. Mine was Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-legged King Pigeon Pose).

So I am now officially certified through Yoga Alliance with my 200 hour to teach yoga. But with this baby coming, I won't even consider teaching until well after the birth. Here's hoping I don't forget everything I learned!

First Snow of Winter

It seems like we have just been overwhelmed with snow these past couple of weeks here in Salt Lake and I'm getting a little sick of it but there is something so magical about the first snow of the season and these pictures were actually taken back in the beginning of November when we still had leaves on the trees!

I have never taken Lucy sledding for real but I've definitely done my fair share of pulling her around the front yard in giant circles. It's a pretty good workout but I've got a great excuse of being pregnant so I don't have to wear myself out too much.

Instead, I try to put her to work actually shoveling so she can help me. It's never too early to start training, right?

Movember at Melty Way (November 3, 2012)

Back in the summer of 2012, I wrote a post about our friend who opened his own grilled cheese restaurant, Melty Way. To support and raise awareness for Movember (held the month of November to raise awareness and fund for men's health initiatives, particularly prostate and testicular cancer), the owner asked Brandon to help him create a special event featuring local artists drawing on his restaurant wall as entertainment while the profits from that day's sales would be donated to Movember. So Brandon got together a bunch of his artist friends, bought A LOT of Sharpies, and went to work for five hours, adorning the spacious wall of Melty Way with many mustachioed characters (men grow out their mustaches in November for men's cancer awareness much like pink ribbons are associated with breast cancer awareness).

I had never even heard of Movember but thought that it was really cool that Rob (owner of Melty Way) wanted to find a way to give back in such a unique way and that Brandon could be involved and so instrumental in its organization. Despite not being able to find a babysitter, I made the drive out to watch Brandon do his thing with Lucy. She fell asleep on the way to the restaurant so I mostly sat down with her in my arms and watched for a little bit. I wish that she could have seen what was going on but luckily, I was able to get a few pictures.

The event was highlighted on Melty Way's website HERE.

Brandon's brother, Damian, was also involved and put his talents to use not only doing some drawing but recording and editing a time lapse video for the event.

I've yet to see the final product in person but I'm sure we'll be back there for some yummy grilled cheese sometime soon.