Christmas 2017

Christmas truly was magical this year. We started out Christmas Eve with an amazing musical program at our church. The spirit filled us as we listened to songs like Mary’s Lullaby, and Peace on Earth performed by the choir. After church, we gathered at my parents’ house for an early dinner. We decided to ditch our traditional prime rib and instead ordered tamales, made some salsa and rice, and called the night a Mexican Fiesta! It was more casual than past years, which seemed to make it better. We spent the evening on my parents’ tennis court watching Santa Claus in our inflatable chairs.

 

Soon Christmas Eve turned into Christmas morning, I was woken up at 5 am by Dylan’s huge smile right in my face. He wanted to open gifts already. I was tired from the night before, so I talked him into sleeping in a bit longer. We ended up both falling asleep until 8 which gave us some much needed rest. Then the gift opening began! It was fun to finally be able to open those gifts we had stashed around our home in the weeks prior. We had a great Christmas of giving. We spent the evening again back at my parents playing with the new toys and games.

 

And just like that Christmas day was over. It seems so funny that there is such a build up to Christmas and then the day after, everything has to go back to normal. Dylan and I were back at work. The radio stations stopped playing Christmas music. The store ads even started their End of the Year clearance sales. I haven’t been to the grocery store yet, but I suspect that I will no longer hear the Salvation Army bell.  My brother-in-law even spotted Valentine’s Day candy already! For being the holiday with the biggest commercial build up, Christmas sure has a quick ending. Hopefully though, among all the commercial aspects of Christmas, we can take the spirit of Christmas with us into the New Year.

Luckily for Dylan and me though, the Christmas season gets to continue a little bit longer. At the end of this week, we are travelling up to Utah to visit Dylan’s family. Since all of his family now lives out of state, we cherish this yearly holiday trip. Last year we went for Thanksgiving and had a great time. We even got snowed in and our flight got cancelled. It was truly a winter’s dream. This year I assume it will be even colder, so I plan on bundling up! Beyond just the cold, we are just excited to see the family. Dylan’s family is amazing, and I have truly been blessed with great in-laws. I can’t wait for this next reunion and adventure.

YTT: First Semester Complete

First semester of Yoga Teacher Training is complete! Monday was the last night my beginner asana (or poses) class met. There wasn’t a final associated to the class, and we were surprised with a guest teacher. She had actually graduated a year ago from the same teacher training program.  I enjoyed hearing a different voice and getting new guidance and perspective on familiar movements.

Since I am taking the YTT certification classes through a community college, the anatomy class I was enrolled in was just a typical anatomy class and not focused specifically on yoga or alignment. I had taken anatomy as a high school junior and it was fun to see how much I remembered; although I wish I could remember more. This time round, I found it incredibly difficult to understand chemical reactions in the bodies. I would get completely lost as we discussed molecules, ions, filtration, and what diffuses where. I do not remember those concepts being so difficult in high school, but maybe we didn’t focus on them as much or maybe it’s my old mind. Either way, I had to put all that I could and could not remember to the test yesterday.  I am supposed to hear on Friday how I did.

Dylan and I actually got to take anatomy together since he needed the class for his minor in nutrition. We were able to remind each other of due dates and work together to prepare for the final. Discussing the final after the test ended, I think we both did pretty well. Test results will be out on Friday.

My Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) is definitely a bit different than most YTT programs. First as mentioned before, the whole program is done at Scottsdale Community College. It is the only college in Arizona to offer a Yoga Alliance certified yoga program. The training also follows a typical college schedule, so there are summer and winter breaks. The program is designed to take about 3 semesters to complete.

 I had always wanted to become a yoga teacher. I did not necessarily want to teach full time or maybe at all, but I knew I could further my knowledge and yoga experience with YTT. When one of the studios I had practiced at sent me an email about their upcoming YTT program, I began to research. Of course I already knew about the many concentrated 30 day programs in amazing destinations like Costa Rica, Thailand or India. There are also local programs that run for a few months and have class a few nights week and then all day Saturday and Sunday classes. With my schedule and current job, programs like these were just not doable. I figured my desire to complete an YTT would just have to wait until I had the time.

Luckily, I was later drawn back to the Yoga Alliance website and found a list of local YTT programs. Scottsdale Community College appeared and I quickly went to the website to learn more about the program. After meeting with the director, I enrolled in classes. Since SCC is a college, I can actually pick classes that work with my schedule. The teachers at SCC are all Iyengar yoga certified, and they have developed a great yoga community with the college. Iyengar is a form of Hatha yoga that focuses on safety and alignment. Students are verbally guided into the traditional movements and poses by a teacher. I had not practiced Iyengar yoga prior to starting YTT, but it has been great to learn as part of my 300 hour certificate.  

Next semester I will be taking a few more classes, but for now Dylan and I have 5 weeks of pure bliss to enjoy the holidays and family. Of course, I will have to keep up on my yoga practice and maybe learn more Sanskrit, but that is more fun than work.

'Tis the Season

It’s December! In just a couple of weeks, the whole year will be over. I already know that the time will fly; work and school are speeding up, family events are all marked on the calendar, and the desire to give but also to just snuggle on the couch and do nothing is setting in. I almost have all my holiday shopping done, which is such a relief. I really lived it up online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday trying to get everything bought at a deal.

All year, I have been using the Ebates and Ibotta apps. Both apps give you cash back for shopping through them. Ibotta I use mainly for grocery shopping. They have certain items that, if bought, will give $0.25-$2.00 back. After I do my grocery shopping, I take of picture of my receipt. The cash back goes to the Ibotta account and can be transferred onto giftcards or to Paypal.  Earlier this year, I used my Ibotta money towards a new Fitbit, and I just I just used another cash back card to get part of Dylan’s Christmas gift. Ibotta also occasionally has websites that give cashback as well (instead of just grocery stores). For example, on Black Friday, there was 7% cash back available for Groupon purchases and 20% cashback on Joann’s purchases.

Ebates is another great app that I use constantly. This one is almost only for online shopping and is not grocery based like Ibotta. There are hundreds of websites that give cash back through Ebates. Instead of taking a picture of a receipt, I open the Ebates app, then chose the online store I want to shop. Ebates then connects me to that store’s website. When I make a purchase, Ebates calculates the cashback and every three months sends me a check in the mail. Ebates had huge cash back deals for Black Friday including 10% back at Lululemon and 3% at Best Buy. Etsy was even on Ebates, but I cannot remember what the cash back amount was. Ebates will also link any public discount codes or coupons that are available. I always check the app before I buy anything, online or in store.

I think all the savings and planning have made this holiday more enjoyable so far. I normally stress about getting the right gifts and just the overall craziness of the season, but this year I think I have been smarter about it. I started making notes about gift ideas near the start of 2017, so I have had plenty of options of what to buy. I also kept track of prices and availability to know right when to buy. I even stalked Priceline to no end to get Dylan and I’s tickets to Utah. The hard work has paid off. Who doesn’t enjoy a discount?

Now it’s just time to enjoy. I am ready for the Christmas music, the yummy smells, and the quality time. Today is the first day of December and I think I will spend the evening cuddled on the couch watching the Grinch. I may also pick up some of those yummy smelling cinnamon pine cones that have been tempting me since November. ‘Tis the Season.