Hey Guys! So ya, it's pretty much been almost the entire year since i have posted last and i feel freekin horrible about that. When i was blogging i was really excited and truly believed in everything i was blogging about. Then this thing called life kind of got in the way. Within the last couple of weeks or so i have started to take life by the horns and have been making some huge changes for the better and part of that includes this blog.
I'll be returning with a vengeance and with a somewhat new format (layout and content wise). I will be starting over with my ACIM posts as i have strayed from that as well. Instead of trying to do one a day i will do a lesson and not move on until i feel i have fully completed that lesson to the best of my ability. I will also be doing more recipes as i have been actually cooking meals more and become super huge into juicing. (I'm doing a mini juice cleanse right now as we speak). I will be posting on healthy lifestyle topics and general be that mind, body or spirituality reality.
Things are changing and they are changing for the better.
The name for this blog is also changing to better reflect all of the other changes that are happening within in. All of these changes will be happening on a rolling basis (no set date yet) but i honestly feel you are going to love them and you will enjoy this blog better then you did before when i first started out.
So for those of you have the stuck by, awesome! I truly do appreciate it.
I know its been close to a month since my last post so i wanted to come and explain where i have been. (Or at least attempt to). In addition to my college workload picking up other keyholders have left my job (or taken a leave of absence, no one is telling me what is going on) which means i involuntarily have to work even more hours on top of my full time college workload. More recently my grandfather passed away. Now, we weren't particularly close, but what angered me and my mom is his girlfriend called my aunt this week and said "your dad died a week ago and has been cremated." Seriously who the f#ck pulls that kind of s#it? So with all of this extra workload and stress on me, by the time i get home i just want to pass the f#ck out.
I have been somewhat keeping up with my ACIM lessons but i don't do them daily anymore. I've gotten up to the 60's and they are now requiring even more time. I do not want to cheat myself out of what the lessons are trying to tell me so some lessons take a few days and there are some days where i dont even work on a lesson because so much else has come up. I do have a bunch of lessons that i have done that i will post a few at a time over the next week or so so as not to overwhelm you or have to much clutter in one post.
Once this whole mess at work clears up i hope to be back on here more regularly and get back in to the swing of things. In the mean time im currently working on my meditation and yoga practice to get me through this period of time.
So im trying to get better at this time management thing as part of my upcoming detox. Not only will it help with me posting more regularly but also it should help me get to bed earlier. (Which means more sleep and less reliance on coffee... yay!) I'm sure i will let you guys know how that goes...lol.
Speaking of time management, i finally got around to starting and completing my vision board yesterday!
As Claudia said yesterday, "there's a lot of yoga on there." Which makes sense to me since that's ultimately what i want to do in life (and why im saving up for teaching training next year). I also have pictures of meditating (which i want to make a habit), positive affirmations, and just plain overall relaxing. My new year intentions i made at the start of the year have been working out awesome so im hoping this vision board helps me as well.
Not to much to expand on since these next few days will just be reviews. Which i actually like that ACIM does that. I mean, after a few weeks you might not really remember what you did in the past lessons so its nice to have a little refresher every so often.
Well, im off to check on yet another batch of oven dried tomatoes (i think i've almost reached kale chip addiction proportions with these) and try to get some reading done in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Against the Stream. I hope everyone enjoyed Pancake Day (my made from scratch vegan pancakes were just short of amazing).
This is going to be short and sweet cause well, im tired. Since im giving up caffeine for the detox im doing with Claudia i figured i could use all the sleep i can get. Besides all that i had a pretty productive day. Ran to the organic market so i could get more tomatoes to make oven dried tomatoes and i started and finished my vision board! (Will post later this week for you guys to see).
But on to the lesson notes...
(Was very tired by the time i got to this lesson,
hence the lack of actually written notes).
(Next few days are review days. When im not so tired
i'll actually expand on my notes. I'm doing my lessons
but sometime i just dont know how to translate them
Good afternoon everyone! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Presidents Day (for those of you that live in the US). I was lucky enough to not be scheduled for work today, and because of the holiday i have no classes so i actually have the full day off! And with having a full day off i was able to wake up and enjoy a delicious green juice (cucumber, green squash, apple, carrots, coconut water) as well as make a yummy meatless monday lunch!
It's a "salad" of sorts with quinoa, baked chickpeas (that i baked last night) and oven dried tomatoes (that i also baked... for four hours last night). Once in my bowl i also sprinkled a tablespoon of coarsely ground flax seed that i picked up from Whole Foods last night. Lets just say it was VERY tasty (in addition to being all sorts of good for me nutritionally wise).
"So Victoria, whats with the switch from the processed fake meats that you love so much to this organic whole food goodness" you might be asking?
Later this week, me and my (to steal a line from Gabby Bernstein) Spiritual Running Buddy Claudia are doing a 7 day detox (using the system from Arbonne since her roomie is a rep) so i figured i would get a little bit of a head start on eating cleaner and cutting out my caffeine. (You don't know how hard that is for someone that works at a coffee shop). Sure it's kind of making my grocery bill go up more so then normal but hey, my health it worth it right? (Plus while at Whole Foods i picked up lots of veggies for my juicer... wicked excited about that part especially).
So who knows where this cleaner eating (at least for a week) will take me. But i bet i can get some great meatless monday posts out of it!
Raise your hand if this was one of your favorite PBS shows growing up in the 80's & 90's. (I can't be the only one. 3-2-1 Contact was also the shiznit). The main reason why i posted this video was because, thank you to my state tax refunds coming in, i was able to acquire these books over the last three days. (Amazon prime is a very, very, evil thing sometimes).
The book in the top left is actually on YogaDistricts reading list for teacher training. Since my goal is to start my teacher training next year i figured i would start acquiring and reading the books now. The three books around it are all by Noah Levine. I kind of equate him along the lines of the male Gabby Bernstein for for buddhist meditation. If i could become a mix of those two people one day that will be awesome! And of course on the right is my third different copy of A Course In Miracles.
Why three different copies?
The first copy i got was the edition put out by the Foundation For Inner Peace since thats what it seamed (at the time to me) everyone was reading. Then at my first DC area HerFuture meetup i saw one of the girls with a smaller travel version she got in the bargain section at Barnes & Noble. So i picked that up so i could do my lessons, if needed on the metro. As for the third copy... The more i do my lessons the more ideas my ~ing leads me to in regards to the Course and sharing it with others. Well, in order to do implement some of these ideas i needed a copy of the public domain version of ACIM so as to avoid legal problems. Lucky for us it is a) available on the web and b) if you want a hard copy the A Course In Miracles Society prints the public domain version. These ideas i have floating around in my head are still a ways off but i get all excited just thinking about them.
And of course my lessons for the past two days...
When i started this lesson the first thing i thought about was my baby blanket i had sitting beside me on my bed. God may be the strength in which i am learning to trust now, but my baby blanket is what got me through a lot of things when i was younger. So i of course kind of cuddled myself in it during the lesson.
In case you can't tell by all the bubbles and arrows, i really enjoyed todays lesson. Then again i've noticed, if any part of the lessons now deal with my lightbulb moment i had earlier this week i get all sorts of excited. Also, i finally have a new song to be stuck in my head during the lessons (lol).
In case you don't know, this is Saosin's "You're Not Alone" and this i think is very applicable to many aspects of A Course In Miracles. Plus, i met the entire band at Warped Tour during the summer of 2009 behind the stage they performed on. All of the guys were awesome and the lead singer was kind enough to take a pic with me and give me a guitar pick.
Tomorrows Shout Out Saturday post may be a little late or it may not happen at all. The HerFuture DC gals are getting together again, this time to drink wine and discus anything and everything related to A Course In Miracles and beyond. Hope you all have an enjoyable weekend!!!
Awww. I want to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support these past two days after i posted my "Quantum Shifting In A Major Way" post. I got so many supportive comments here on my blog, on twitter and even via text message from my IRL fellow Spirit Junkie Claudia. Knowing that you guys (and the Universe) have my back means more to me then i could really describe here in a blog post. Since that post i attended an awesome yoga class (will be going to the same one every week, totally connect and click with the instructor) and started ordering books that Yoga District requires for their teacher training. (I want to start accumulating them over the next couple of months so i have that little bit of an edge when i do my actual teacher training).
I of course have also been keeping up with my course lessons (in addition to ordering the Original Edition of ACIM, which will bring my copies of the course up to three).
Shhh... don't tell anyone. But i did this lesson after class. Right before that class i met up with Claudia for a few drinks. Maybe thats why i was surprised with myself with how free flowing i was with todays exercise. (Not that i advocate drinking to get through your lessons. But to each their own).
Also in another awesome note. This Saturday the DC area HerFuture girls are having another meetup! So DC and beyond, prepare for lots of amazing, fun loving vibes going out into the universe!
Ok, so i know i said in my tweet that i wasn't going to do lesson notes today because i wanted to blog about the quantum shift i had, but then i did my exercise for lesson 44 and it intertwined with my shift in a major way! So, lucky you for you guys, you get kind of a 2 for one post today!
Not gonna lie. Not to much to say here (other then what is already in my notes) because i want to get to the next part of todays post. Todays lesson was kind of like the earlier ones (this thought about ____ does not exist... etc) so im like "ok, im getting the hang of this," but then the second part came up and i was totally lost. So like with lesson 41i just kind of repeated the days lessons to myself while looking around myself and with my eyes closed.
And now to the amazingness that was this afternoon...
So i created this jar sometime before Christmas to put all of my change in:
My thought was, all, and i mean ALL of my change would be put into this jar and that one day i would get this overwhelming sense on what it would be far. Hence the "For a Dream Not Yet Realized" bit because it was going to be for a dream that at that time i did not realize. Two weeks ago my friend Claudia was over and i showed her my jar and she suggested that maybe i should use it for black diamond Be Well With Ariel iLoveMe ring that we were both saving for. I thought that that could be the "dream" but i just didn't have "that" feeling (if you understand what i mean).
Well today, i had THAT feeling.
I was talking to my boyfriend on skype on how much i disliked my current job but it pays for the bills while im in school. I also said how i really want to get my 200 hour yoga teacher certification before i graduate next May but that i didn't have the money. After we hung up it was like a freekin light bulb went off in my head and then exploded because of all the energy that was feeding into it.
I immediately went to the Yoga District teacher training page to see how much they charged for their 200 hour certification. Because they are a very community based, no frills studio their training runs roughly $2,000 (which is a lot cheaper then a lot of other places i've seen). I mean, i love my first studio i ever went to, Tranquil Space, but with their training (they break it down into level 1 teacher training and level 2) it would cost over $3,500. So my mind immediately thought, "train at Yoga District, and take supplement workshops at Tranquil Space" (because they do have some awesome workshops).
While looking over the teacher training application one of the questions was:
"what do you hope to gain from the teacher training program at Yoga District, and what would you after being certified as a RYT-200?"
Then another lightbulb went off in my head.
I took my first yoga class during my second tour to Iraq. (Oh ya, did i ever mention i was in the Marine Corps for 6 years?) When i came back to the states i found Tranquil Space and started taking yoga classes there. Everyone at the studio was extremely welcoming (to include their Director Kimberly Wilson. I absolutely adore her) and taking yoga right after i got back from my deployment really helped me deal with a lot of things from that second deployment.
Then it got me thinking, what if i became a certified yoga instructor? I know a lot of military members, especially the guys, would be resistant to yoga. But, given my military background, i would be the perfect person to relate to! Plus i understand some of the issues they might be dealing with post deployment, and knowing how much yoga helped me i would want to give some of that help back!
So in case none of that rambling made sense this is pretty much what my quantum shift amounted to (and the dream i didnt realize that finally became realized):
~Get 200 hr yoga certification through Yoga District ~Take workshops as needed through Tranquil Space ~When ready, get certified through WarriorsAtEase so that i am better prepared to work with members of the military and their families. ~Kripalu also offers an awesome Trauma Sensitive certification that i am interested in.
So all of that change in that dream jar will be going toward bullet point one! And after my trip to California this summer, the money i was putting aside every paycheck for that will then be saved for me taking my 200 hour training classes winter or spring of 2013.
I can not even begin to explain or describe the feelings i was feeling when all of this just kind of came to me. It was like i finally found my true purpose. Yes, im in school for mortuary science and have no plans to abandon that. When i graduate college i will most likely work i a medical examiners office or a funeral home, but that wouldn't be my passion. My passion would be working with members of the military community in helping them find the peace and at easeness that yoga brought to me.
It didn't just stop there. In between classes i worked on my lesson 44 exercise and all of this came up.
I don't even know where to begin other then there is no way that this was a coincidence. During the exercise i seriously felt like the area where the 4th chakra would be located was just radiating this insane amount of energy. Because i had never felt anything that intense ever i decided to do a little researching on the 4th chakra and was like "holy cr@p, this is exactly how i am feeling right now and what i am going through (referring to my revelation earlier today). It was just freekin nuts!
And thats it really (lol). This afternoon was just crazy intense in so many ways. Its just nuts how just one little innocent conversation with my boyfriend was all it took to turn this light switch on. I dare anyone to try and flip it off because it aint happening. I realized my dream, and im going after it big time!
Ok here they are! For those of you that visit my blog somewhat regularly and are disappointed when you don't see my daily lesson notes i apologize. (I know i sound like a broken record). But hey, at least they do get up here eventually... that has to count for something right?
Haha, as you could tell i had a little bit of difficulty with this one. At least it was a lesson 8, make me want to throw my book across the room kind of difficulty, i just couldn't think of how i am blessed as a "son of god." But that could be because i (right now) am having difficulty with the religious terminology that is becoming more prevalent in the lessons now. (Was not much of a church person growing up even though my parents forced me to go).
So Friday (when i did lesson 41) me and my roomie watched the movie "Girl Interrupted" and it inspired the note i made up above. Lesson 41 tells us that depression, anxiety, etc is inevitable because of our separation from god (the universe, or whatever you chose to use to help you get through the lessons). So were the girls in the movie "nutz" because of their separation or was there something else at play? Also for people now a days that develop/have mental illnesses. We have scientific explanations for why they happen so does this "separation" have any part in the illness? Kind of confused but its also something id like to research further when/if i can come up with the time.
I was actually having a mini 6teen (one of my favorite cartoons) marathon on netflix when i felt compelled to do todays lesson. So i paused my Wii to sit and do todays exercise.
"Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today slowly, with your eyes wide open, looking about you. Then close your eyes and repeat the idea again, even slower then before. After this, try to think of nothing except thoughts that occur to you in relation to the idea for the day."
My problem was when i was doing this, nothing actually came to mind at first. So i followed the suggestion the book gave:
"... spend the practice period alternating between slow repetitions of the idea with eyes open, then with eyes closed..."
So thats what i did. And what happened to come to my mind?
Yup! This song again. More so just the refrain and right before the refrain when she is saying "I'm alive." Is there a meaning behind this? I'm sure there is something and its another one of those things i want to contemplate during meditation hopefully tomorrow (if i get home at a decent time).
Also, since i kind of skipped my regular "Shout Out Saturday" because of my lack of ACIM posting...
ShineSister is hosting a call February 23 with Gabby Bernstein! (Click here for more detailed info). For those of you that can't afford her group coaching (like me) the $27 (ish... the price is given in canadian dollars but paypall will convert it for you) for the hour long call is a steal! Plus, if you sign up for the call you get:
1 hour live call with Gabby with 15 minute interactive Q&A session
The recording of the call and notes to refer back to
The full Medidating Album (Brand New Meditation Album from Gabby!)
30 Minute Follow up coaching with Christa!
In my opinion a total worth while investment (and no im not getting any kind of perks for "plugging" this. I just want to share this opportunity with everyone). I was worried because the call falls during the one day a week i have work and class (all other work/class days fall independently of each other) but the call happens the hour before class. (Thank you universe!) So can't wait for this event!
So sorry that it seems i've deviated from my normal blogging pattern that i started out with. But now with school in full swing and work and kickball, i sometimes wonder if i even have time to breath (which obviously i do). But even if im not blogging every day i'm still doing my lessons that i eventually will get up to share with you.
This lesson kind of felt like the lessons in the beginning only that they seem a little more personable since it is dealing with your (my) holiness. Doing the bottom exercise kind of made me think of Oprah except instead of giving my audience members a new car i'm giving the people i interact with some of my awesome manifest inducing holiness.
Ignore the two random marks on the top. Not sure how i got those there. The white outs on the bottom though were very intentional. To protect the privacy of my friends and others i whited out their names or info that could be linked back to them (though you would have to do a lot of internet sleuthing if you really wanted to connect everything together). I don't think that detracts you guys though from seeing where i was going with lesson 38 though. Because their are no limits to our holiness (trying to get more comfortable with that word... im sure it will come in time) other then the artificial limits we place on it ourselves, there is nothing it cant do. We just have to be willing to ask our ~ing for guidance along the way.
When this lesson talks about our unloving thoughts keeping us in hell, i (personally) dont think that it is talking about hell as being in a physical space. I think its just referencing hell as being in a place not of love and away from god/the universe/the person upstairs (still feel a little funny typing that but im slowly getting better and ok with it). My mind takes it as heaven = love and hell = fear (or something to that effect). So its not that my unloving thoughts keep me in hell, they just keep me in fear and away from love.
I hope everyone's week is going well. If you find yourself like i was on tuesday and your ego is making you have an anxiety induced breakdown, just take a step outside in the cold crisp air, take a few deep breaths, and then tell it to f#ck off...
These have become my second addiction right behind baked garbanzo beans. While garbanzo beans are cheaper then kale it takes about 45 minutes to make a batch of baked garbanzo beans where as kale chips can be made in 15-17 (im not including prep time). Either way they are very delicious. Plus they are an awesome source of fiber and protein. (And they are an easy to travel snack).
2 tablespoons olive oil (I found this to be to much. 1 tablespoon is good enough. I also like using coconut oil from time to time).
1 tablespoon ground cumin (I didn't have any... but im sure its good).
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash crushed red pepper (Didn't have any of this either)
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Directions
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Whisk the oil, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, sea salt, black pepper, and red pepper together in a small bowl; add the chickpeas and toss to coat. Spread into a single layer on a baking sheet.
Roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned and slightly crispy, about 45 minutes.
They're not quite as crunchy as i would like but they are still extremely tasty.
Also, i keep seeing recipes online for quinoa cakes. Don't know if i will be able to get to them by next week but sometime this month i want to make them. (Does anyone have any experience making quinoa cakes and have an awesome recipe for them?)
Also, major thanks to my fellow Spirt Junkie Claudia for the picture. Last week i told her how i was making baked garbanzo beans and then she decided she want to make them as well!
And in case its not still stuck in your head like it is in mine, here you go...
I'm seriously thinking about making it my ACIM theme song as its been popping up in my head during every lesson the past week or so. But you didn't come here to read about me complaining about songs getting stuck in my head... (or did you?)
I don't know what but i just felt really good while doing this exercise today. Maybe its a combo of hanging with my fellow Spirit Junkie multiple times this weekend (and yes, we did huddle and sent the Giants loving thoughts during the Super Bowl), the fact that i was given a thing for a free shampoo - blow-dry - and style by a stylist at the Red Door Spa by the Starbucks i work at, or that i had an awesome skype date with my deployed boyfriend yesterday. I don't know, but i just kind of got the warm and fuzzys during this lesson so im not going to complain.
So in a sense, im rad, your rad, lets hug.
^--- Stolen from a hat i stole from my younger sister years ago...
Good Evening everyone! Hope you all are having an awesome weekend. I just spent the better part of my evening hanging with a fellow HerFuture Spirit Junkie. We ate tasty deli sandwiches, baked chick peas, drank almost an entire bottle of wine, watched daria, and she further backed up my bf's explanation of a chicago hot dog. (Haha, long story). So all in all today is good.
But all that set aside i do have work in the a.m. and am wicked tired. It's been a few days since i've put up my lesson notes (so sorry by the way) so even though there wont be much "talk" to go with these lessons today i at least wanted to get them up for those of you that are also studying the course. Maybe after hmwk tomorrow i will come back and update with a few more explanations about each particular day.
Don't mind all the squiggles here on lesson 34. My pen did not want to work plus i was doing my lesson notes while taking the train out to visit a very good college buddy of mine. (It was so nice to get out of the city and realize that green grass does in fact exist).
What was kind of awesome about todays lesson is while in the back of my head (home to the ego) i was like "ya, about that..." it caused absolutely no distress to me at all. I think it was because i was in such a chillaxed mood from hanging out with my fellow Spirit Junkie that things just kind of flowed. (Power of positive thinking eh?)
But goodnight everyone and i hope the rest of your weekend goes well. I will be back to my normal blogging schedule tomorrow (not that i really have a normal blogging schedule) after i do my hmwk and studying. (And no, i will not be watching the Super Bowl cause its not really my thing).
Good afternoon everyone! I literally just walked in the door, put the kale i bought in the fridge and opened up my laptop so that i could get my 1st of 2 posts for today up. So who am i giving a shout out to this weekend?
My first shout out goes to the wonderful and oh so inspiring Gabrielle Bernstein. On February 8th she is having her launch for her MediDating meditation album. You can attend the launch in person if you live in NY or you can attend it online. (Click the link for more info).
You can thank my boyfriend for the next shout out, because it is going to the youtube series My Drunk Kitchen. It is freekin hysterical! I've heard of them before but never watched any of their videos till he sent me the link for their Raw Vegan Cheesecake video (he said it made him think of me... awww).
And last but not least, my final shout out of the weekend goes to the A Course In Miracles study group on HerFuture. Every wednesday from 8:30-9:30pm there is a free conference call style study group. We're currently going through the manual for teachers so if you are an ACIM student i would highly recommend joining us for the calls!
So sorry for not having a post last night. I did my lesson in-between classes while camped out at Au Bon Pain but by the time i got home i just wanted to eat dinner and then pass out (which is what i did). So i get back from my late evening classes tonight and try to take pictures of my lesson notes from yesterday and today and my camera on my phone doesn't work.
Nice try ego, but im not going to freak out over this...
So What does this mean? Well it means there won't be a blog post tonight. There won't be a blog post tomorrow night because im staying over at a friends house. (Haha, don't worry. I've already packed my travel version of ACIM in my overnight bag). So that means saturday you are going to get two posts! One in the early afternoon (after i get home) for my "Saturday Shout Out" and then one later in the evening with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's ACIM lesson notes. So be prepared for lots of my crazy squiggly arrows on Saturday because you will have 4 days of awesome lesson notes to sift through.
Sorry for no post yesterday! But i had a really s#itty evening in class so all i wanted to do was veg and watch tv with the roomie. (Good thing i did my lesson 30 earlier in the day or who knows if i would have done it. Who am i kidding, i would have made myself do it no matter what kind of mood i was in). Today is much better though as i had a much needed skype chat with the bf (who is deployed) and made plans for a saturday evening in (that we've planned so far at least) with a fellow HerFuture member. (Apparently the Universe realized i needed more girl friends... lol).
But on to the lessons...
i STILL have the flyleaf song stuck in my head and i have a feeling it is not going anywhere anytime soon...
And yay for getting my first months worth of lessons completed. (By completed i mean working through them. I still have a lot of lessons to go and a lot to learn from the lessons i've worked through).
I especially like todays lesson because i feel the subject is something i work with on an everyday basis when i do my morning meditation before work. (I'm not gonna lie "and not a single f#ck was given that day" has been one of my favorite intentions as of late).
It is also a great reminder to be mindful of when my ego tries to convince me that i am a victim in whatever situation that i am in (be it at work, school, in general life, etc). Especially now that work has become the ego's new stomping grounds.
I will give virtual brownie points to anyone that can tell me (without googling... no cheating here) what song inspired this blog post title. Don't know? I'll show you guys the video at the end of the blog (and no scrolling down either to cheat).
Now i know i was having a little bit of difficulty with lesson 27 and the "above all else i want to see" because i kept thinking "What? Why do i want to see above all else?" But lesson 28 seemed a lot simpler and easier to understand for me. Maybe because my ~ing was on big time from just coming back from the HerFuture DC area PowerPosse meetup.
It was seriously awesome. It officially started around 2pm i think on Saturday. I didn't get to Teasim (their chai is the best... a lot of us had it) till 2:30 and even then we were still there for a good two hours chit chatting about HerFuture, Gabby, A Course In Miracles, and a lot of other random stuff. (Including brainstorming a DC ACIM in person study group... yay). Also what was really funny was i think half of us brought our copies of ACIM with us. Which actually inspired our next little venture after Teaism.
Kelly had a smaller version of ACIM then most of us that she said she got at Barnes and Noble in their bargain books section. Well hell, im not a fan of lugging around the big blue book all the time so i suggested we walk the few blocks to B&N after. (Plus some of the girls wanted to get the copy of Experience Life with Gabby on the cover). Sure enough this particular B&N (this was not the one Kelly got hers from) had a nice little stack of the smaller ACIM's (since they're not the FFIP versions they dont have the supplemental info which is not nesc needed) and i think 3 or 4 of us got em. (Plus the B&N version was only around $13... freekin awesome!)
After our little B&N trip most of us parted ways (loved all the hugs... lots of hugs were given). Me and Claudia (If you're on HerFuture totally look her up) decided to go to the local Bed Bath and Beyond to find the infamous DC Metro Map shower curtain! (They still have them by the way. When i move out of DC i so have to get one for my new place). We then bonded over our mutual love for coffee before we decided to part ways.
Oh wait a minute? I'm supposed to be talking about my lessons aren't I? Whoops...
Lesson 28 was kind of a continuation/add-on of lesson 27. And if you read the little purple blurb it pretty much sums up my thoughts about this lesson in a nutshell. "Once i got over the above all else this and yesterdays lessons started to sit with me better."
Some people (i kind of include myself in this category) may have some issues with some of the religious wordage used in ACIM. If "God" doesn't sit will with you, substitute "the universe" for it. (Another reason why i was drawn to Gabby's books, was her alternative ways at looking at ACIM and making it more user friendly). Or as we said at the meetup a lot this past saturday "fake it till you make it." The whole point is to realize (or attempt to realize) that since we are all connected whatever higher power you ascribe to is also IN everything. (And don't ask why the lesson reminded me of the movie "The Craft," it just did).
Just a little reminder... no ACIM lessons tomorrow on my blog. Tuesday will be another double lesson post because Monday's are Meatless Mondays here over at Caffeinated Cupcake and i will try to tempt you with yummy meatless goodness.
And for those of you still wondering about the song... here you go. (The song also applies heavily to Lesson 29 i believe... which is why i used part of it as the blog post title).
So im changing up the format of my Saturday posts. For the first two weeks that i did it (since i took last week off because my mom came to visit) i focused on one specific person and told you guys why i think they're awesome and why you should know them. Then i got to thinking, in addition to people there are online sites, and books, and forums, and companies and products, etc that i have come across that i think are fantastic. They should be able to get a shout out too! So now instead of saturdays being "people you should know" they will now be "shout out saturdays" where i will give you guys a heads up on people/places/products i think are awesome.
This weekends post features some people i may have already introduced to you but that i want to help out in their endeavors and others who i have not featured but have been doing awesome things.
You still have three days from today to buy a raffle ticket to help Katie Hoffman launch iAmKatieHoffman.com! Tickets are $5 a piece with a portion of each ticket going to FeedingAmerica (and the winner getting an awesome iPod touch). If you donate $25 you get 5 tickets and a custom made inspiration card and if you donate $100 you get 20 tickets and a free 1 hour life coaching session!
One of my favorite people on twitter, PureGlow16 is in the Hot Raw Chef Valentines Day contest and could use her vote. In her 5 minute video she teaches you how to make a wicked simple fudge recipe that i can not wait to try out. (And her newest post on her blog has a ton of mouth watering recipes).
(I hope its ok i borrowed your photo, if
not i will take it down asap!)
I actually came across Jenny Sansouci of HealthyCrush via a twitter suggestion when i was asking about juice recipes (i am still madly in love with my roomies juicer). When i came across her site she had just finished a juicing fast and had so many amazing recipes that it was the perfect resource for me. She is also a health coach that just released a short e-book called "The Burning Questions."
In it she answers some of the most frequently asked questions she gets as a health coach and a listing (including links) of some of her favorite healthy resources. Best of all, it is only $4. Much cheaper then a healthy coaching session (which i would love to do with her some day when i have the funds).
And in case you were wondering, no i am not getting a commission by talking about this and no i was not given a copy of this e-book. I bought it myself because i think she has an awesome site with great information and i really wanted to read it.
Later on today (as in saturday the 28th) Goddess Leonie of GoddessGuidebook.com is having a free tele-seminare on how to make your 2012 divine. It starts at 5pm EST so hopefully some of you will see this post before then. I got the email a few days ago about the call info so for those of you that are interested here you go!
Well, i hope you all have an enjoyable weekend! I actually need to get ready for the Washington DC area HerFuture meetup! (Am so excited to meet so many amazing women that are on a similar path that i am on).
I really need to carve out a blogging schedule to avoid these late night postings. (The later i post the more tired i am which means the shorter the post). I know, i could always do two lessons tomorrow but on saturdays i like to do my shout out posts. If i tripled up on Sunday then that could be to long of a post then i would even want to read (plus i have work and kickball on sunday so that is already eating up a lot of time). Either way, when i do come up with a blogging schedule i will be sure to let all of you know so you know what days to check in here for the posts that you like.
Just reading the theme of the lesson started to make me feel uneasy. I know that when it talks about "seeing" its not referring to what we do with our eyes (or what we perceive that we do with our eyes... depending on how far along in these lessons you are). It just all of a sudden seems (to me) that the lessons all of a sudden got "heavier" and i am having a really hard problem digesting them. I wish i had more time during my days to sit in meditation and ponder but with being a full time college student, working 30+ hours a week, on top of everything else i don't. (Which is again another good reason to come up with some kind of schedule).
While the post title has more to do with lesson 25 (though it deals with both lessons) it's also been my personal mantra as of late and is kind of what lead me to start working through ACIM.
(And if you have 8 minutes to spare this is a youtube video i did explaining why).
I know it is obvious from these notes and my pasts notes that i am not quite ready to "let it all go" just yet, but if you knew me last year holy cow have i been making strides.
Now, i like playing with markers, and crayons and paints as much as the next creative person, but there was actually a reason why i brought out the markers today...
Today's lesson was a two parter... First we were to come up with we were concerned about (obviously my notes are just a sample of my exercises... if i wrote down everything my journal might be as big as ACIM... lol). Then we were to write down all the outcomes we were concerned would happen. Seeing as this could get messy (and it kind of did... sorry for the tiny handwriting this time around) i decided to color coordinate both parts so you could more easily see what went with what.
(And while i totally didn't put the connection together until i started typing this) You'll notice one of the things i was concerned about was this whole concept of letting go. Letting go in regards to what ACIM is trying to teach me to be able to do, and letting go of aspects of my life that are no longer serving me and making me happy. Sometimes i wonder if im doing the right thing about letting go of these aspects of my life. For those things/people i do decide to give up, especially those that have been with me for a period of time, it almost feels like im losing a part of myself. (Nevermind that i may be losing a part of myself, but its a part of myself that i never needed or no longer need). Needed or not, letting go of any part of yourself is a little bit (or a lot) scary.
When i do have these second guessing moments (and i actually had one earlier today) of things i know i shouldn't be second guessing, i just have to realize that it is my ego talking. It is my ego trying to keep me in its grips of fear and keeping me away from love. And when i realize this sometimes i just need to tell my ego to f#ck off ;)
Some of you may or may not have seen the tweet i sent out late last night but lesson 23 literally made me cry. I mean crying as in i actually had tears rolling down my face... that kind of crying. Before i go further into it let me show you my notes so that you can possibly see why.
The notes will probably make more sense if you look at lesson 23 in your book (or google it, its out there). I was totally loving the part about escaping the world i see by giving up attack thoughts (hell, thats why i started meditating and it has made work 100% better) but then i came across line 4 in paragraph 3...
"Is not fantasy a better word for such a process and hallucinations a more appropriate term for the result?"
I think i just right away took offense to the term hallucination and just kind of lost it for a little bit. Before i could even finish the lesson i had to do this to kind of help calm my nerves...
I brought down some of my favorite stuffed animals (who also happen to be the main characters in my NaNoWriMo novel, but that is a post for another day) from my desk shelf and put them on my bed. Part of it was just getting them off my shelf and holding them made me feel better, and the other part was knowing they were right by my pillow and i could cuddle them if i needed/wanted to. Yes, i know im 28 but stuffed animals have in one way or another always been part of my heeling process.
But back to the lesson... once i got over my lil break down over the term "hallucination" i was able to get through the rest of the lesson fine. I mean who doesn't want to leave for somewhere better? And if all we have to do is give up attack thoughts to get there then im on board!
And then after tonights State of the Union (for those of you living in the US) i did my notes for lesson 24...
I can happily say that there were no minor freak outs or any crying during this lesson. Though i will say this lesson did require a bit more time and thought (i always go over the time they give me, but it just kind of happens). Also the reasons for the numbers was to actually help out those of you that are seeing my notes on my blog or over at HerFuture or MiracleShare. Since there was more then one blank to fill out i numbered everything so you could put the corresponding word/phrase where it needed to go. Yes i know i have four for all of them but there are only three blanks. The lesson said to cover as many outcomes as that occur to me so i did. (More came later to me but i only had so much space to work with).
I will have to say the one where i talk about "myself" really started to stir up a lot of shit (though not nesc bad shit) in me. While i would like to say that i am recovered (though really can you every be recovered... is it more like a lifelong recovery process) from my eating disorder i still sometimes have those thoughts that are like "if my weight gets to so many pounds im gonna have to do something about it." And while i have been able to give away most of my eating disorder related books (fiction and biographical novels) for some reason i cant seem to give up my copy of Wasted or THIN (my recovery related books are obviously keepers). Its like they have sentimental value to me (and i made a ton of notes in the margins of Wasted) and if i gave them up i would be giving up a part of me. Just another part of me that i really have to work on.
But now i am sleepy so i therefor can not come up with a neat and tidy way to wrap up this blog post other then leave you with a youtube video of one of the songs that i love to fall asleep to...
Story of the Year - "Anthem of Our Dying Day.
Ya, i know i fall asleep to not so typical "sleepy time"
music but that is just kind of how i am. I also love
to close my eyes and listen to this song during the day. The
So apparently, along with it being meatless monday it's national pie day. I'm sorry, but i refuse to celebrate pie day till March 14th. If you don't get it i would highly recommend googling pie day march 14... then you'll get it. Today's tasty goodness i just literally finished eating and it was yum...
So this past weekend my mom was in town and she took me grocery shopping. Our store had Morning Star products on sale (which i dont eat to often because of the price) so my mom told me to grab a few boxes. I saw these corn-dogs and was like "oh my gosh i have to get these." (And yes, i know i feature a lot of processed stuff. But hey, it's a step in the right direction). I usually like to cook things in the oven but i was cooking my "fries" so i just zapped my corn-dog in microwave for 1.5 minutes, drizzled it with honey mustard and dug in. I am personally a fan but if you're not into the fake meats then this obv wouldn't be for you.
Now my french fries on the other hand...
Technically they're baked sweet potato wedges but thats just all semantics right? I can't remember what website i got the recipe off of (i wish i did so i could credit them) but i will try my best to give you guys my recipe (i modified it a bit).
Pre-heat the oven to 415 degrees F.
Peel and cut up (however you like it) one sweet potato and throw all the pieces in a bowl
Throw in around a tbs of whatever oil you have on hand (i've used vegetable, olive and coconut oil. All turn out well but coconut is my favorite) and sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste (or whatever spices you feel like throwing in).
Lay them out evenly on a baking sheet and throw it in the oven for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven and depending on how crispy you want them).
Every 9-10 minutes turn the pieces over so that they can evenly cook through.
And voila! Tasty baked sweet potato wedges!
Now i usually like making a green juice for mid day when im home to power me through my evening classes but sometimes you just want some comfort food that is similar to what you used to eat as a kid.
Sorry for my absence yesterday but i was enjoying spending some time with my mom. We did brunch, hung out and she got me lots of tasty goodness from the grocery store and from my favorite little organic market. But now that i am here lets move on to the lessons now shall we?
i like how with lesson 21 it was "i am determined..." Meaning, us wanting to see this life/world/everything differently is something that we are adamantly working on. We are not expected to know or to see things differently yet, we just have to be willingly working on it.
Hehe, and as for my little side notes on the bottom. I keep hearing and reading in various places that it takes 21 days to make something a habit. And since lesson 21 was 21 days in a row of me doing these lessons i wanted to celebrate a little in my notes. As for the "Clean" comment... I keep coming across the program (twitter, groups/people i know through her future) and it keeps kind of calling to me (if that makes any sense). The more that i read about the more i want to do it. (The program in the book, not the program that comes with the kit they sell on their site). And this time around (unlike in the past when i had major issues with food) i actually want to do it for all the right reasons (and i love how while they give you recipes and what not its not very portion sized controlling... i need that little bit of release). I think im going to order the book when i order my last textbook tomorrow...
Lesson 22 made me happy and kind of sad all at the same time. It made me really happy because it gives me that glimmer of hope that the life that im living now is not it. That the world im "seeing" is just a projection of my attack minded thoughts. Now, actually truly believing this is a completely different story and i am far from it. But i like the fact that it can at least (for now) make me feel hopeful.
The reasons it makes me sad? It's what i have bubbled in the middle (and is italics in my book). I know the course is trying to teach me that to truly be happy i need to understand that all of this around me isn't real. As much as i think my life sucks at times not all of it is bad and its hard to fathom that that the good things aren't real (or that they are somehow a form of vengeance).
And as for the title of this blog post? Well i've had Rise Against's "Swing Life Away" stuck in my head for a very long time and its just been popping into my head a lot recently. I know they are a very political band (part of the reason why i love them) but if you want to stretch it or interpret it differently you can kind of make it ACIM related. (Maybe if i have some free time this week i'll dissect the song and point out what parts i think are applicable to what parts of the course).
You can either find me attacking my growing to-read list, tending to my vegetable garden, or dreaming up the best snacks to make in my dehydrater. My head is always in the clouds and my mind never shuts off.
and 
. I hope everyone enjoyed Pancake Day (my made from scratch vegan pancakes were just short of amazing).
