Keeping It Fresh

self portraits....always more embarrassing to share...
chakras



well, here's some of the drawings i've done recently....its been awhile, and i'm feeling pretty rusty. there's just not as much motivation since i was in art classes in college. i miss it. i would love to take an art class again...
so the burning question of when are we leaving has come back up recently. luke is quite ancy these days. i wasn't really sure where i wanted to go or what i wanted to do still, but i think i just need to open up and trust. i mean really, i can do whatever it is i want to do wherever i go, and its up to me to create it all. so instead of being afraid and doubting that i can do things, i need to just do it already. i've admitted to myself that i am afraid of my life being like it was before if i go back to san diego. but the truth is, i don't have to repeat the past. i can start a new fresh life! things are always changing anyways, including myself, and if i felt like something was missing there before, it was only within myself. so it only seems right that i go back there and give it another shot, see how it goes and then go from there.
i'm on day 2 of a spur of the moment juice fast. it was just time. seasons are changing, i'm changing, and i'm ready to shed the last layers of things that don't serve me anymore. i love cleansing! i always get this feeling of being reborn. i am waking up again. so get ready people, i'm coming! who has a couch for me?!
and i mean really, there aren't but so many more animals to take pictures of here...although i do want to go to the wolf reservation before we leave.
also, i want to share some of the fabulous juices i've made to give you some ideas if you have a juicer. if not, get one. seriously.
Refresh
watermelon
strawberries
cucumber
fresh mint

Tropical Sunshine
pineapple
starfruit
strawberries
kiwi
ginger
mint

Sweet Potato Pie
yams
carrots
ginger
apple
cinnamon

I Don'tKnow What Its Called Its Just Yummy....
beet
celery
pear
cilantro
spinach
apple
broccoli

Happy Hollow

these are some pictures from a park nearby called Happy Hollow. it really does make me a little happier! its kind of weird here how you can be in corn field country, then suddenly you stumble upon little green places like this. of course, it does run behind houses in a neighborhood, and it does smell like a sewer, but there are some fun little trails in the woods and pretty trees. sometimes I just need a little happy hollow to get back in touch with nature and out of the house.
ok, maybe its definitely getting slightly dull if i find things like this exciting and blog worthy....
yesterday i at least got to go somewhere new for my job! i took a road trip with my boss and some co workers to Champaign, Illinois to work another store. it was fun just to go somewhere new, spend the night in a hotel with the girls, and enjoy some free and delicious mexican food. we were working a back to college event for University of Illinois. I was handing out coupons for college t shirts and stuff, so i got to wear a free U of I shirt, which was pretty funny considering i'd never been to Illinois, knew nothing about this school, and couldn't remember what it was called. i kept saying IU, which I later found out is Indiana University.....oops....but hey i got a free shirt out of it i guess! this weekend we are going to Notre Dame, and we actually have time to do some sight seeing they said and maybe do some dancin! i'm happy just seeing new places, even if they aren't that exciting, getting paid and fed, and bonding with other females. so it all works out. go U of I! and I U! and go corn! wooo!
actually, i really hope somewhere out there, corn is the mascot and someone is dressed in a giant corn cob outfit.....

Animals are Totally Hip, Didn't You Know?

who's a little monkey face....
why do i look so good on these giant frog sculptures?

and caterpillars too!



luke aint scared of no gators
the extinct in the wild New Guinea singing dogs
otter!
i would like to go to colorado galapagos tortoise! GO!
the living one looks pretty similar....he didn't move either
emu!
wallabies!
kukabura!
oh yes, more butterflies


don't i look natural on a farm? (the answer is no, i don't really do farm work)
but luke looks pretty right on tractors!
milkin the fake cow...i got hay on my yoga pants :(
i find this a strange way to lay....but whatever
right after this the goat started eating my shirt
well arent they just the darndest fluffiest chickens you ever saw!
and a gibbon. this isn't your grandparents farm yall

today we checked out Columbian park, a few miles from our house. apparently its all the rage. we drove past a bunch of times and didn't see anything good, but turns out they've got a free zoo and water park! (now why didn't we go to the water park when it was hot out...?) we like free things. i'd never seen a kukabura before, quite different than i imagined! also, the New Guinea singing dogs, extinct in the wild, only living in captive now, had beautiful voices! it was similar to wolves howling, but more musical. i got to ride upon more animal sculptures, a new hobby of mine i've developed since being in indiana. and of course, i'm always excited by butterflies. i'm really beginning to appreciate them more. they are just so beautiful and uplifting! i'm really connecting with my inner butterfly. farm animals though, i'm not so sure about. i always thought it sounded cool to travel the world and work on farms in exchange for places to stay, but i have changed my mind. when it comes to work, i like to be a little more comfortable, and well, lazy i guess. i like teaching yoga and wearing comfy clothes and listening to pretty music and helping people connect with their inner selves. atleast i've admitted it now.
i've been reading some other blogs of people i know lately, and they all seem to have a theme, like fashion, art, etc. mine of course was made to document and share my traveling, but now i've been in the same place for awhile, so hopefully things aren't getting less interesting, but how do you think i feel? i actually live here right now! i'm thinking about doing some art posts too, and more butterflies and stuff since i have so many pictures. i guess my new theme for now can be...animals? thats right. i think animals are cool.

Little Tent on the Prairie

more butterflies!
glass sculpture "Blue Planet" $1000
riding a giant pig and frog at the art museum with my friend= priceless
apparently pigs are in style here
Brooks playin the flute
Luke playing the melodica
our little campsite
sunset over the prairie


a strange lumpy green fruit i discovered
me and Brooks' mom


a very candid horse picture
Brooks and i in the "indian settlement"
takin care of business with that indian rake
Clydesdales are huge!


it feels as though a shifting of sorts has taken place. last week i finally started teaching my yoga classes twice a week, and although i only had 3 people in each class, they really loved it and felt good, and i felt really good teaching, so it was a success. I think i've finally made it past the yoga teaching anxiety hump! only took a year....yes, i have been teaching on and off for a year now! but now i don't have that nervous feeling every single class i teach, i just feel good and open to all the possibilities.
i quit Starbucks too. it just wasn't worth it to me, and i want to teach more yoga classes and focus on that while i have the chance and don't have to pay rent. plus my friend Brooks from San Diego and her mom stopped by for a day while traveling from Massachusetts to Oregon, and spending time with her was more important to me! so i just called out and quit, and man does it feel good. that was just not right for me. after less than a week i was so tired and felt like i never wanted to go back ever again! that's a bad sign...so i'm free!
we checked out the Lafayette museum of art, which was pretty small but still fun, and discovered some awesome used book stores with tons of beads and crystals and fun stuff. then we went camping on the prairie, as they call it. it was so nice to spend a night out of the house and under the stars and the orange moon, like a big tangerine slice in the sky. we explored some trails through the tall grass at sunset, saw tons of birds and butterflies, and played with our array of instruments by the fire. it feels so funny when someone you only have seen in a certain place, comes to a place you never expected to be together, like its an out of place situation. its kind of fun. it definitely made me miss everyone even more though to see one of my friends again. it made us want to initiate some new plans and get moving again. we are pondering the idea of getting some seasonal work in Colorado for awhile, before going back to San Diego. Or i would still like to go spend some time in Oregon and northern California too. so, not sure what's in store next quite yet, still working on completing out phase here, and building on my yoga teaching skills while i've got the chance. but we are certainly looking forward again. the desire to expand even more is creeping under my skin once more, urging me to continue to open my eyes to more and more new and wonderful things each day.