Goal Setting 101

well i am all settled in my beach pad... again pics to come later. i should have taken the pics when it was all party ready. its not a complete mess but by my neurotic standards, i am not photo ready. still to come! after spending all my free time plotting and pillaging through home goods, antique stores, and ikea, i realized i now had free time back on my hands! well kind of, seems i tend to fill every hour of every hour no matter what is going on in my life.

but generally the days were turning into blobs and with some other new distractions in my life, i needed to get back on track. as the yogic niyamas tell us, we need to do some svadhyaya every once in while to keep it all in check. i felt like i was spending my whole day doing everything but accomplishing nothing. a fellow fitness junkie/coach/blogger, Alison Blaker, often writes about her goal setting and i realized, i hadn't written down a goal in a long time or maybe even ever so off i went scribing my goals and hopefully making myself accountable. i don't have a fancy goal setting process or book (although now i might need one) but i put the pen to the paper and started with my weekly goals. there were a lot. not all of them time consuming but since there were so many, i decided to map out each day and decide when to get each one done. without scheduling goals each day, i knew at the end of the week i would have ended up with a list of unaccomplished tasks. and it's off to a great start! yesterday i was able to check everything off and i am well on my way today. yesterday there was even a car issue that could have easily thrown me off but i stuck to it and got it done. and now here i am blogging which was  also on the list! just thought i would share my success story of goal setting, i have never really tried this but it worked for me this week and just might for you too!

my yoga/zumba/tarot/goal setting notebook 

namaste

Melissa

23 months but whose counting anyways?

sunday marked the 23 month sadiversary of matt's death and coincidentally the one year anniversary of my world tour. last february 9th i boarded a plane from ohio to san diego to start anew and enjoy some worldly travels along the way. i once again can't believe how much has changed in one year. sometimes i wonder, will i ever stop saying that? when will things be status quo. probably never because as we all know, the only thing constant in life is change.

but i can't complain things out here have been pretty consistently amazing. at times i want to hold my breath waiting for something to go terribly wrong. at times i feel bad for being so happy when matt isn't here. i know, i know, i shouldn't but that's just how it is and i need to feel that way sometimes. i have been so happy in my new place and decorating has become my part time job. i am now on a first name basis with the workers at home goods, ikea, and the local antique shop. i am hosting a housewarming party this weekend so things should pretty much be finished by then with a little room to grow. will post pics once complete! i tried to change things up more this time around by keeping some of the things from my place in chicago but putting a new twist on them. of course there have some been some new additions as well. it always feels so good to change it up!

it has been busy though since the last two weekends i have been out of town. two weekends ago i headed to the desert to stay at Aqua Caliente, a hot springs campsite in the middle of the Anzo Borrego desert. i stayed for one night and it felt so good to get away from the hustle and bustle of life with no cell reception! i even got to close out the weekend with a morning yoga class for my fellow hikers!

last weekend i headed to LA for the 2014 Zumba Conference. if you remember, i also attended this last year after i came to San Diego. my mom attended with my last year and i missed her a lot but this year i had an amazing roomie that i met at my first Zumba Convention. she is someone who truly inspires me that at any age you can enjoy life and get out there and move! of course, a Zumba convention/conference is always motivating and energizing. i left feeling great and ready to get back to teaching, it's certainly been missing in my life. last week i also got back to teaching my corporate class. it was so great to see my students and we had a great first class full of things i learned at the conference.

so all in all things are going pretty well and here's to hoping the other shoe doesn't drop anytime soon. but i am confident if it does, i will find someway to manage and enjoy. next month marks the 2 year sadiversary of matt's death. i am toying with how i want to spend this day but i am sure i will find something suitable to commemorate, for now i am keeping it open to do whatever the hell i want.

tree pose in the desert... ain't no other trees around! 

me and my roomie, Gail 

the zumba convention welcomes yogis too 

"go confidently in the direction of your dreams. live the life you've imagined."

~henry david thoreau 

just another day in the life

happy hump day! namaste!

melissa