bagpiper on the beach

One of my favorite parts of our recent beach trip happened on the night that we chose to go out for our family pics on the beach. In the middle of taking pictures, we heard bagpipes being played and looked down the beach and saw this man. A Bagpiper on the beach!

He played several beautiful songs. It was so random and beautiful. Then he played a song we recognized, "Amazing Grace".

We walked down the beach so that we could get a closer view and hear the music. I couldn't help by snap this cute pic of Dylan and Chris as they were listening to the Bagpiper play on the beach.

(Yes, Dylan is 12 years old and is almost as tall as his Daddy now!)

We had a wonderful week at the beach, but this was probably my favorite "moment" of them all.

wordless wednesday--driver

namaste

I went to my first Yoga class last month, and I think it is fair to say: I am hooked!

This is a big deal for me, because I have never, ever loved any kind of organized (or unorganized for that matter) sort of exercise. Ever! I have always been a sporadic athlete. I would have a month here and there where I would be consistent with running, and then I would stop. Because it felt like a chore, and the Good Lord knows I have enough chores to do. I didn't want one more thing.

Now, I actually look forward to Yoga, I look forward to my Thursday nights, and I love being there. So, this is a BIG deal!  Here I am on my way to my first class. I had all the right gear, had found an awesome Groupon for a nearby place, and I was just hoping that I would like it...

poor quality pic from my phone :)

I decided to try Yoga because last month was a very stressful month in particular for me at work. It has always been stressful, but several events made last month's stress level shoot off the charts. I have known for months that I needed an outlet for stress relief. I looked at our weekly schedules and tried to figure out a day and time that would work. Now, I go to Yoga on Thursday nights and most Saturday mornings.

The instructor asked me what my goals were at my first class. My goals simply were:

1. Stress relief
2. Strength and toning
3. Learn how to breathe (all the way down) and
4. Better posture

I am still learning all the poses, but I just love Yoga. You can modify throughout if the poses are too difficult. The instructors have this subtle, soothing way of directing you and transitioning between positions. I love heated Yoga the most. Chris would never say this out loud, but I KNOW he is shocked that I have finally found some form of exercise that I love and I have stuck with it for OVER a month! That's a record, people! I love how each class ends each time with us saying.....Namaste!

Namaste: I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light and of Peace, When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One. ~ Namaste Yoga

weekend fun and sun

I hope you all are loving summer as much as we are! We are in the midst of a heatwave here in Ohio, like much of the country. While we were gone to the beach in SC, we saw that Ohio was having 100+ degrees temps! We couldn't believe it! The night before we came home, a major storm came through central Ohio and half of our neighborhood was without power FOR 8 DAYS!

We didn't know what to expect when we were driving home! Would we be one of the lucky ones with power? Would we have trees that were down? We were literally holding our breath when we pulled into the driveway late last Saturday night, and were so happy to see we had power. Our yard was a WRECK and there was fallen tree limb that landed literally 2 feet from my car. We felt so blessed to be one of the houses with power.

The heat wave continues, and even with power and A/C it has been a challenge to stay cool! This weekend was full of sun and fun. We started Saturday morning with a trip to our little, local farmer's market. It is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. I love to go down there and just meander around, taste test this and that, and people watch!

We picked up some locally grown cucumbers and zucchini and homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam that was soooo delicious. We bought some coffee and cocoa infused honey for Chris' morning oatmeal, and we got a "breakfast sammy" from a food truck that sells only organic, free-range eggs and sausage sandwiches. They were so good! The food truck was called....

The CLUCKWAGON (from Google images)

The CLUCKWAGON! We grabbed our sammies and sat in a nearby park and listened to a local bluegrass band play music on the benches beside us. It was a fun morning, and by the time we left we were HOT, HOT, HOT!

Chris decided that a trip to a nearby lake was in order. We had never been there, but heard that Alum Creek Lake had a huge beach. So, we decided to try it out. Who knew that there was this much water this close to Columbus?!

There were sailboats and jet skis zooming by in the distance, and there were a whole lotta people just trying to stay cool. We had a good time! I still prefer the Atlantic Ocean (of course), but this little trip only took 20 minutes and it was a nice alternative when you are in the Midwest and about 12 hours from the closest ocean.

By the time we got home, we were a little sunburned and a whole lotta tired...but we were still smiling, because we are just lovin' summer!

Hope you all had a fun weekend too!

let freedom ring!

We just got home from a week long trip to the beach with one of our favorite families! We had a great time, but the week went by way too fast! Time spent with old friends....

We enjoyed some fun in the sun, walking around Barefoot Landing, watching fireworks, and eating good food. We also laughed.....alot! We broke a few rules along the way....

and had a great time doing it! More pics to come!

Happy 4th of July from our family to your's!