Yoga

Since I had two questions about yoga, I thought I'd answer them in a post.

I've participated in a yoga class put on by a sister in Relief Society every Thursday for about nine months now. I'd never done yoga at all before and wasn't sure what to expect- other than I was sure I'd feel incredibly foolish and uncoordinated. That's how my one and only aerobics class made me feel, anyway. The teacher of our class happened to be the secretary in Young Women last fall. We had a yoga night for a combined YW activity and I surprised myself by totally loving it. Janet is not a real intense yoga-er and I left that class feeling totally relaxed. I hadn't even realized how stressed out I'd been until we were finished. Several of us commented to her that the class had been fabulous and we felt great. She mentioned that she had taught classes off and on before. One thing lead to another and last October she and her daughter started classes as a weekly RS Activity. They actually hold classes Tuesday evenings and Thursday mornings. Tuesday evenings don't work at all for me, but Thursday mornings were great until school got out. I've missed most classes this summer for one reason or another- usually involving me being in the car, driving someone else somewhere. School starts again on Tuesday, so next Thursday should finally be free. (Yea!)

I've learned a couple of things:
1) I'm usually more stressed out than I thought each week when I go. We start stretching and I suddenly realize how tight everything is. I would probably really benefit from a class a couple of times a week, but for now I'll settle for once a week and have it to look forward to.

2) Yoga, even in a class setting, is very individual. It only took a class or two to realize that the only person who cared how I was doing was me. I don't feel foolish at all- though that one week we almost had to hold class outside would probably have crossed that line for me! Each move I just try to do a little better than the time before, stretch a little more, pay attention to the moves that seem difficult, try to figure out why and what I can do better, and breathe right. I ALWAYS go home feeling great.

3) Most of the time I don't feel uncoordinated at all. There's no rush on anything and you only go as far as your body allows. Each pose is usually held for a little while which gives me the chance to concentrate on getting where I want to be instead of rushing from one move to another- with a body that has very little rhythm and very sporadic coordination.

4) My favorites are stretching poses and relaxation pose at the end. Yoga has, or can have, a lot of strengthening poses and I enjoy them but the stretching is what makes me feel the best. Relaxation pose at the end almost gives me a little nap and we all know I can never get enough of those!

Those are a few of my thoughts. I've never taken a class anywhere else, so I don't have anything to compare to. I've loved my yoga experience, though, and would highly recommend someone at least trying it.

Week-At-A-Glance

I read a post today that said a blogger should aim to post something at least daily, but every two or three days at the minimum. Oops. Not so good about that. If I HAD written everyday this week, you would have gotten to share in the following:

Sunday, Aug. 8- The Relief Society sang "Come, Follow Me" in Sacrament Meeting. Very quiet day after church. Dropped off birthday notes and dehydrated ice cream for Greg to his hike leader to surprise him later in the week. I had absolutely nothing else on the calendar in the afternoon and took a 90 minute nap. Great start to the week.

Monday, Aug. 9- Cleaned all three bathrooms, including the floors, in the same day! We also celebrated Greg's birthday 4 days early.

Tuesday, Aug. 10- Dropped Greg off at church at 6:00 in the am for the 5 day-50 mile hike in the Uinta Mountains. Picked up a friend at the airport who flew into town and needed to borrow Greg's car since there were 0 (read a big fat zero) cars available to rent in the entire state.

Wednesday, Aug. 11- My hairdryer overheated, sparked, and the cord blew out when I was startled and dropped it in the sink. Finally remembered to take Ryan to scouts and he was the first one there! Met a couple of cousins at the park who were in town for quick visits. Soccer practice started.

Thursday, Aug. 12- Missed yoga to take Spencer to the orthodontist. Picked up the car from our friend. Finished grocery shopping. Tried to see a few meteors during the meteor shower but learned later I was looking in the wrong direction.

Friday, Aug. 13- We sang Happy Birthday to Greg on his voice mail. Went to the temple. Got a new 0xygen sensor in Greg's car so the "check engine" light could be turned off. Took Steven as my date to a wedding reception.

Saturday, Aug. 14- Walked a couple of miles, mowed the lawn, and got Spencer and Joseph to soccer practice all by 8:00 this morning. Took my Grandma to the Woffinden Family Reunion and met a bunch of very extended cousins I never knew I had. Greg gets home tonight! Will be wrapping presents tonight for Steven's birthday tomorrow.

So, nothing majorly exciting. Just a normal, crazy week. Makes it easy to keep the post short, which is the other rule bloggers are apparently supposed to observe. It helped me realize I got more done than I thought, though. I've been looking at the weekly "to-do" list I made last Sunday and being frustrated that I didn't get much accomplished. Turns out I got a bunch done, I just didn't realize I'd be doing some of this stuff when I originally made the list. Let's hear it for flexibility and carpets that never seem to get vacuumed!

So, how was your day/week? Anything exciting? Bet you got more done than you thought.

Sunset

We've had monsoons moving through this last week. They've brought a fair amount of rain, cooler temperatures, and beautiful sunsets. The following are the sunset from Wednesday evening as the sun made it out from behind the clouds for a bit and then fully set. We'd had a huge downpour with hail a few minutes before. A beautiful evening. I love rain!

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Technology is wonderful. I am a very infrequent family history addict. In fact, I was up until midnight last night entering some new information. I can't make myself stop sometimes once I get going. Hence, the reason I only let myself work on it infrequently. And, the desire seems to strike at the most inopportune times. I really don't have the time for family history right now. A month ago I was in D.C. Two weeks after I left for girls camp. Now I've been home almost a week and my sister and her family are coming to visit. I am totally excited to see them and should be doing things like cleaning bathrooms (because guests would really appreciate that sort of thing!) and not staying up adding names to New Family Search. How can one resist, though, when the information delivers itself right to one's inbox?

I received an email yesterday from Larry, a person I'd never even heard of, containing the full name of an individual I've been trying to find for several years. Mr. C.N. Woods has eluded more complete identification ever since I learned of him. Besides knowing that his full name was Copland Norcross Woods, Larry also said he had birth, marriage, and death information, child information, and parent and sibling information. What!!! We emailed back and forth several times yesterday. Larry is retired, has done what he can on his family history for the most part, and now spends his time compiling a database of pioneers and residents of the Eureka, CA area. What an ideal existence. He began work on Greg's Nelson line a couple of days ago and found the work that we had done on New Family Search and wanted to let us know he had more. Wow! That means the program is working exactly as it's supposed to. The church set it up so multiple people could work on and share the information that was available. He sent me the information he'd told me about, I sent him some info, and he's supposed to send his database of 53,000 names. Maybe we can finally make some headway on a couple of dead ends.

See why I was up so late? How exciting! Sorry, Beth. I'll do my best to get right on those bathrooms today, but now those names are sitting there waiting for me to finish entering and submitting them for temple work. I'll do my best, but forgive me if the bathrooms aren't quite done when you get here!

Library Success

Here's a little promo for the BYU Library (HBLL), as it pays Greg's salary, and libraries in general. Who'd have thought a library commercial would go viral. You just never know. Have a great day!

Life in high gear

Girls Camp (including a Bishop's night), Teacher's High adventure, Scout over night, Webelos Day camp. That's what 6 of the 7 of us were doing last week.

Naps every two hours. That's what I've been doing today.

I may get back to blogging at some point, but for now I'm going back to bed!

Happy 4th (on the 5th!)

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

~Erma Bombeck

I saw this quote this morning on Safely Gathered In and smiled. This country is all about helping families grow in peace and safety. Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy 234th Birthday, America!
(And many more!)