ODE TO MY DOODLEBUG

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear..........
~ee cummings

YOGA TIME

"Move your body in any way one hour a day. Sweat five times a week. Eat mindfully. Treat your body like it is the love of your life. The body is a gift, and the best way to express gratitude for a gift is to use it!"

~Mandy Ingber

To get up into boat BOW! (thx mambbasphere), grab (around the ankles/not so much the top of the foot, i say) the legs.
1. get the heels away from the butt
2. get the thighs off the mat
the chest should lift.
but you want to think of shoulders away from ears, long lower back, and keep the knees from splaying wide open.
SOURCE: fuckyeahyoga

Pose Series #10

Parivrtta Trikonasana :: Revolved Triangle
Feet grounding and spaced.
One foot forward, one foot back.
Heels pressing.
Toes light.
Legs fully engaged.
Hips squared to front.
Pelvis floor engaged (mula bandha).
Navel pulled in and up (uddiyana bandha).
Torso lengthened, strong, and twisting.
Arms extended and reaching.
Bottom hand pressing and grounding on outside of front foot.
Top fingers reaching skyward.
Top of head reaching out.
Neck lengthening.
Gaze (dristhi) upwards.
B R E A T H E (ujjayi breath).
smile.
SOURCE: EatPrayMove

I HATE ASPARAGUS AND PRAYING FOR YOUR ENEMIES

I don't know what it is about asparagus. The smell? The look? The taste? All of the above I suppose. I just hate it and I am a total veggie hugger and tree lover.....no wait that is tree hugger and veggie lover. I love veggies. Choppin broccoli-he! So many summer recipes have aspararagus or as I like to call it ASS-paragus.......hee-hee. So from the depths of my gag reflex here is an asparagus recipe. BECUASE just because you hate something doesn't mean that other people do.

Fresh Risotto Recipe (courtesy of Wine Trail Traveler):

¼ t ground white pepper
3 c water
2 c chicken broth
3 T butter or margarine, divided
1 lb fresh asparagus spears, diagonally sliced into 1-inch pieces
½ c chopped onion
1 c uncooked U.S. arborio or medium grain rice
1/3 c dry white wine
½ c heavy cream
¼ c grated Parmesan cheese
½ t salt

Directions
Heat water and broth in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat; add asparagus and cook until tender crisp. Remove asparagus; set aside. In same saucepan, cook onion in remaining 1 tablespoon butter until soft. Add rice and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine; stir until absorbed. Increase heat to medium-high; stir in 1 cup water-broth mixture. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until liquid is absorbed. Continue stirring and adding remaining water-broth mixture 1 cup at a time, allowing each cup to be absorbed before adding another. Cook until rice is tender and mixture has a creamy consistency, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in asparagus, cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until mixture is creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

*One adjustment we make is to juice one lemon, and combine that with a lesser amount of the wine. For example, I juice the lemon into the 1/3 measuring cup. It usually fills it about half way, and then I fill it the rest of the way with wine.
I add sautéed shrimp to this recipe, as well. I simply sautee about a dozen shrimp in butter and sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and lemon juice (to taste). Let it cool a bit, and then cut it up into pieces. Add the shrimp to the risotto with the asparagus.

I recommend Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon blanc with this dish. It looks very fancy, but other than being very time consuming (it requires near continuous stirring), it's actually quite easy to make.

SOURCE: Mutterings and Musings

As I sit here completely dumbfounded by the events of this past weekend again I am reassured the choices I made to change my life were the right thing to do. My life has been drama free since I chose a new path. A path of freedom. A path out from under another persons control. My life has a sense of happiness and feelings of freedom I haven't felt for years. Yet narcisstic people who require control and aren't quite ready to give it up with a person will do anything and I mean anything to try to keep their control. And now I am faced with a different situation that doesn't involve someone trying to directly control me, but someone controling my child in an attempt to still control me. Let me tell you....I am a laid back, chill, go with the flow, patient, kind person BUT I am a mother bear. And you mess with my kids.......you are done.

Hell has no fury like a woman whose children have been hurt by another!!!!!

I recently spoke with a person who has been through this kind of thing. A person who came out of it on the other side....stronger, wiser, and kids in tact. This person told me when she was going through this her grandmother gave her some wise words. She told her to "pray for that person" WAIT WHAT?!?! Yes she said, "pray for that persons happiness"  Praying for another persons happiness so they will stop thinking their happiness with be by bringing despair onto others. Just pray for them to be happy. Let me tell you after what I have seen and heard over this past weekend this is going to be a hard one. I have a burning fire inside me now like I have never had in my entire life. I will do anything to protect my children.

BUT I will pray. I will pray for this person to have happiness. I will pray like a son of a gun. I will pray for them every chance I get. BUT my silence and my sitting back and being laid back in this situation......is over!

"So run you cur. And.......the law is coming. ..........I'm coming! And Hell's coming with me you hear! Hell's coming with me!"

~Tombstone, Wyatt Earp

LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION

Just sit quietly with your eyes closed.

In this variation of the Loving Kindness Meditation, we extend wishes of safety, health, happiness and ease.

You can think of the phrases
may I be safe

may I be healthy

may I be happy

may I live with ease

 a blessing, or a sincere wish, or even as a heartfelt prayer.

SOURCE: Loving Kindness Meditation

OMG OMG OMG

This is a girl on PMS dream food!!! Hee-Hee

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips

1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos

1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix

1/4 cup hot fudge topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a layer of Oreos. Mix together brownie mix, adding an optional 1/4 cup of hot fudge topping to the mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes.

To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, just half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients. Enjoy!

SOURCE: Kevin & Amanda

YOGA TIME

"If you use life as a stepping stone for a higher possibility, you are in yoga. If you use life to entangle and torture yourself, that is karma"

~Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

I so want to be able to do this pose. So close I just can't quite get my palms touching.

WHAT IS SUMMER TO ME?

YOGA TIME

STYLE-SPIRATION