back to school!

there are few greater things in life than back to school supply shopping... headed into a new year of school with a cool new backpack and all the fresh supplies you would ever need! in honor of that wonderful feeling i started a new notebook today to log all my yoga classes. i find it helpful to write them down to not only help me remember for class but also to refer back to if i especially loved a class and want to teach it again. and best of luck to all the scholars out there... esp to my friend's kiddos starting kindergarten... where has the time gone! 

namaste! 

hindsight is 20/20 but finding the positive isn't

it's hard to believe the summer is winding down although around here it's really for the best because our little beachside community starts to slow down a bit. the past few weeks have been hectic which seemed to be primarily fueld by technological breakdowns. i hate to say it but i am so reliant on technology and perhaps to attached to a few other material items.

first of all my phone finally beat the dust after a long battle to make my cracked screen last until the new iPhone was announced. looking back i should have just spent the extra $ to have the screen fixed but alas hindsight is 20/20. in the panic of not having a phone and wanting to get the latest and the greatest, i switched over to an old iPhone 3 and in the process deleted all of matt's voicemail. i was devastated. i didn't listen to them often but i liked knowing they were there. when someone isn't around anymore, you struggle to hear their voice and for a moment you freak because you can't hear it in your head anymore. but they are gone and there's nothing listening to a voicemail can do about it. all i can do is move on and realize that listening to his voice really has no bearing on what he meant in my life.

then my car finally bit the dust. i mean it could have kept going but it was having major issues and was starting to get to that dicey stage of should i put more money in to it or just get something new? so i got something new. i got a cute Nissan Rogue to zip me around in all my California adventures. it's a crossover so it's not huge but there's some room for camping supplies and once i put the cross racks on, a place to tie down boards and bikes. jumping from a 1999 to a 2011 was huge and i am so happy bopping around town in my reliable transportation.

so there were these little losses the past two weeks. through it all i tried to remember that these things really don't matter and i am lucky to be in a position to be able to get a new phone or car when i need it. and also lucky to have a past that i want to hold on to. i am also lucky that i have my special someone, Kyle, by my side. he was so understanding and caring when i lost those voicemails. and he wheeled and dealed with the folks at nissan to get me a great bargain. so while there were some setbacks, it really gave me the opportunity to see what a great guy i have in my life now that understands my past and supports me in our future. so while hindsight is 20/20, i was struck by my ability to find the positive in this situation a little quicker this time around.

namaste

Melissa

yogi luv

letting it go today in class... with lots of forward folds to help us do so

yogi luv

teaching a class today on the solar plexus chakra so thought i would share... its all about stoking your inner fire and staying balanced!

the end of a Zumba era

yesterday i taught my last zumba class. well i guess technically i don't know if it will be my last but i decided to give up my weekly zumba class. hopefully i can sub from time to time and still attend events. it wasn't an easy decision and i had thought about it for awhile but i realized given all the different things i was involved in, i wasn't able to fully dedicate my time to teaching zumba. teaching any format requires constant education and a desire to learn new material. lately i have found myself researching new yoga trainings as opposed to zumba and with a busy full time job, there just isn't enough time to dedicate to both. i will miss my students but luckily i still teach yoga at the same spot so hopefully i will see a few of the same faces at my weekly yoga class at San Diego County. i am so grateful to zumba, it literally helped me get through one of the toughest times in my life. i often think back and wonder how the hell i got up there with my goofy zumba smile and taught. i don't know how i juggled it all or why i am now willing to say i have too much going on in my life to teach but then i didn't? i know that i have realized the value of time and savor my R&R much more these days but i think i just needed to teach. it was my release and gave me an hour to focus on bringing joy and movement to others taking my mind away from the craziness that was my real life. so for that i will be forever grateful. in honor of my last set class yesterday here's a look back at some of my favorite zumba moments....

probably one of my first zumba classes taught... in FL for friends

zumba at Navy Pier

Zumba Convention 2012!

Zumbathon for the ABTA

the Zumbathon Instructor Team

friends and family coming together to help raise money... thx again everyone for all your love and support

meet the creator of Zumba with my mom at the LA Conference in 2013 before i headed out for my worldy travels

combining my fitness luvs at the LA Conference 2014... now only an hour and a half away from my home

namaste

ZumbaMel

yogi luv

just another weekend in paradise with photos to prove it

well it was another perfectly SoCal weekend here although there was quite a bit of rain for San Diego! this is a very good thing because we desperately need it and it gives one permission to stay in the house all day. you see it's the opposite around here... in the Midwest you are just hoping for a nice day to get out and enjoy... here they are all that way so if you have chores and laziness to attend to one weekend day, you feel bad. so when the rain rolls in for a couple of hours at most, you take advantage and bunker down. the weekend was spent with good meals including one to celebrate a work accomplishment. as mentioned previously, i got a new camera and i took a class to teach me how to use it that my special someone got me for my bday. the next day i was able to practice my new skills at the van's US open surf competition which also included some bmx biking. the event was up in huntington beach surrounded by miles of miles of sandy shore and included the top surfers from around the world. we got up early to beat the traffic on the 5 and the weather was still dreary in the early dawn but by mid afternoon it was back to sunny SoCal. we headed back south after a few hours in the hot sun and stopped for some lunch in laguna beach. check out some of my shots below...

welcome to huntington beach! 

bmx bowl... had so much fun trying to capture these guys in the air

surfin USA 

in the air... apparently i wasn't the only one trying to catch this shot!

the pier where the surf competition took place... if are wondering where the surfers are... i learned the value of lenses and realized i needed a giant zoom lens after seeing all of the pro photogs there... maybe one day...

namaste

Melissa

yogi luv

not really true here in SD but I get what they're saying ;)