.....and in my best Andrea Boccelli singing voice that I can muster this afternoon.  

Blog City wrote the other day to inform all users that it will be officially ending service in January 2012.
I will probably not continue premium service when it is up for renewal this December, so that means any video
or picture content will go away for a year before the entire blog slips away forever. So check out the archives,
go digging for a few moments or two, go WAY back. There's a gem or two amongst the everyday mundane. I've been doing that a lot lately.

I suppose it's time, I mean I barely even devote any energy to this blog anymore. It is truly time to put it to bed.
But rest assured if you still want to keep up with me I will be blogging at my Vino and Vinyasa website from now on,
here and there, and with no real guarantees of any regularity of course. And speaking of Vino and Vinyasa, Sunsest magazine
will be profiling us in the October 2010 issue as one of the "Top Ten Winery Adventures" for November. Look for issues on the
newstand later this month. Yes indeed..we've made it to the big time.

So with this, I step into this next phase of my life with an open heart and eyes wide and full with adventure. ~Namaste

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your
beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused." ~African Saying

Substitute "Yoga" for "those that love you" and that's where I am at these days. Or at least that is where I am striving to be. Yoga keeps us so grounded, so honest. Peels us open from the inside out at times. Pure. And good.

I'm afraid my blogging has gone the way of the dinosaur lately. But in case you were wondering, life is good albeit fairly busy.

• Kipper the yorkie is all fine again, well minus a few teeth.
• Our Vino & Vinyasa event @ Stoller Vineyards was an amazing success, in fact it happened on the last really good weather day I can even remember. May 15th the sun came out all day. Since then? Not so much.
• Seriously. It's like "Junetober" here in the Pacific Northwest.
• My garden has failed TWICE now, have had to rip out cucumbers and squash due to too MUCH rain. I'm on my 3rd try.
• We've been camping twice already this season and are heading to the Redwoods next weekend for another trip.
• I've cut my summer hours back at the gym and am enjoying teaching and working less.
• I've got two small group trains 3x a week that really help supplement my income now, so that I *can* work less. 
• Mr. Yogagirl has signed up for the Portland Marathon in October. It's on 10-10-10 and it's the 39th anniversary of the race. Approrpriate since he's 39 and wants to do this before he turns 40 in 2011.
• Some dudes at the gym are rumored to show up for Zumba tonight in pink leotards and leg warmers.
• Must run now to catch this on film and post to the gym's facebook!

and by "rough" I mean EXPENSIVE! My poor little 6 year old Kipper dog got a toothache this weekend. He was his typical happy self on Saturday but by Sunday I noticed it was hurting him to chew on his daily rawhide and he was swallowing his kibble down whole. This morning he wouldn't even allow me to touch the right side of his face so I quickly canceled all of my morning appointments at the gym and rushed him into the vet clinic.

Turns out he has extra molars way back in his mouth, almost like humans have wisdom teeth although these teeth have shallow roots and usually fall out or need to be pulled out. But I'm jumping ahead of myself. His mouth was so painful he wouldn't allow the vet to open it or even touch the side of his face either so we opted to put him under so she could really see what was going on. In fact that little extra molar tooth was infected and had a large cavernous hole behind it, which actually was so large it went all the way behind his eye. He has what is called a "retrobulbar abscess" and usually they are pretty easily treated with antibiotics. The vet pulled the extra tooth, and the next one to it which was involved as well, and says now that the pressure is released he'll hopefully feel much better very soon. I opted to have them clean his teeth while he was under too. He'll have to eat soft food for a week or so and he'll have daily antibiotics and pain medicine but he should start feeling better quickly. Although, I can't say the same for my Visa card. He is my little baby. I actually don't place a $$ amount on his health care at this point.

I'm so excited to bring the Vino&Vinyasa experience to Stoller vineyards in May! Matthew and I discovered them last spring, while out wine tasting with the folks from Van Duzer. A few months later, we dropped back by while up in the area and again the wines were so incredible we joined their club. The property is ideal, with views to die for, a tire swing, frisbee golf, and onsite cottages for overnight rental! A former turkey production farm, it was converted into a grape vineyard.....hence the turkey pic on their label. They are currently pouring my favorite "go-to" Pinot Noir. The 2007 vintage is just soooo indicitive of what an Oregon Pinot should be. Mellow, balanced, yet substantial. Just like our retreats!

Last fall at the yoga retreat I met Anna, an amazing singer with a passion for the spirit world. Apparently the spring retreat before that, she and her mother attended and brought singing "in the round" to the end of classes. Her mother Connie is an amazing musician, singer and songwriter but was not present at the fall retreat. She was back this time around. Singing in the round is fun, yet sometimes challenging when there are 3 or 4 parts being sung all at the same time. Somehow it always comes together though, and in such a magical way.

Her songs are from the heart, and speak to the bounty of human kindness in this world. Many of them are stories, some are acapella. They are all wonderful. On Saturday one of the girls led us all in a Nia dance session and one of the songs we danced to was Connie's. So while I'm dancing around I hear Connie behind me, chime in with her own song that's playing. I think that was certainly a first. Being in the same space as a singer, while they sing to their own recorded music. It was awesome.

She's got an album on Itunes. I highly recommend you check it out. CONNIE COHEN ON Itunes

I returned from Orcas Island on Sunday afternoon. Spent a wonderful 4 days at Sybil's Spring yoga retreat at Doe Bay Resort there. It's always an amazing experience (this my 3rd time), surrounded by supportive, like minded and amazing women. And Sybil for some reason, always centers a theme around something I'm desperately needing. This time? Honoring our "true" self. Letting go of the negative, focusing on the positive. No in fact, embracing the negative with the same ferver that we embrace the positive, because truly if you can do that it takes all of that negativity and just diffuses it immediately. Hard to do yes, but if I can in just the smallest way I think it's a good start. Honesty. Kindness. Truth. I feel like I've run my soul through a huge car wash. And it feels good.

and probably eats it too.

Today in a Personal Training consultation:

• A woman: "You see, I've gained so much weight and I don't want my fat to TURN to muscle".
• Yogagirl: Eyes blinking. Unable to speak. Doesn't EVEN know where to begin with this one.

Wow. If ONLY *I* could turn my fat to muscle........ If only.

*edited just now because I totally said it the wrong way around the first time.... hahah. how's that for a monday.

 

My batteries need recharging as of late. I'm feeling pulled in most if not all directions again. I suppose it's the nature of what I do for a living..... helping other people with their health and fitness goals all of the time. Since starting the Personal Trainer thing, I've kind of let mine slide to the back burner, because truly after working monster 9 or 10 hour split shifts 4 days in a row, the last thing I want to do is go back to the gym and get my own workout in. Winter finally arrived here in the pacific northwest *after* the first day of spring, so getting outside to walk, run or bike has been nearly impossible. I still yearn for a kayak. Maybe this year.

 It will be good to get away next Wednesday for 5 days and focus inward a bit.

Last year at the Van Duzer summer release dinner, we got to chatting with the owner of the vineyard. Having become pretty comfortable with Oregon wines, we got to talking about how we really have NO clue when it comes to wine from France, Italy, and even Spain. Off the cuff, he threw out an idea to have a small wine club group join him and his wife on a trip to France. Then the night got long, we talked to about a million other people, drank copious amounts of wine and now almost a year has past since we've even talked about it amongst ourselves..let alone reconnected with the vineyard owner. Until Sunday.

I noticed he was on Facebook (had just become a "fan" of his own vineyard) so I shot him an inbox and and said "hi" and told him we're still dreaming about that wine trip to France. Minutes later he wrote me back saying he hopes to see us at this year's summer release dinner and to make sure and come prepared to talk about our 'perfect idea' of a wine trip to France. Oooh! Burgandy, Bordeaux, the Champagne region. Ancient salt caves, blending our own wine, the Loire valley. Castles. It just goes on and on doesn't it?  I delight in the thought of the VIP access we could have traveling with an American vineyard owner.

Anybody out there been to France? Wine regions specifically? Share *your* ideas!