thankful thursday

my thursday gratitude list includes:

- getting to send the entire weekend here at the lovely olmsted manor in pa (sans cell service and internet) for a yoga retreat as part of my additional training

- feeling quite refreshed this morning after my lovely massage yesterday. i didn't realize how much i needed it until i was on the table. yes, us massage therapists get knots too :)

- for a new yoga teaching opportunity that i have embarked on. i'm teaching employees of a local bank (the majority of which have never done yoga before) - we are having so much fun!

- for patricia harman attending the bliss book club meeting last sunday and getting to ask her all sorts of questions about her book "the blue cotton gown." which, i can't recommend highly enough!

- for new and old readers alike, thank you for reading my blog. if you are a new reader or an old reader who's never commented please consider leaving a comment this time so i can check out your blog.


have a spooktacular weekend everyone & happy halloween!! hugs!!

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traveling that same stretch of road

last week as i drove down the same stretch of road that i've traveled hundreds, probably thousands of times before i felt nostalgia wash over me. i went back to the place where i grew up. where my parents still happily live.

i thought about all of the things both good and not so great that has happened to me and that i dealt with growing up. driving down certain stretches of this road my heart pinged with pain from the thought of a fight with a former lover or i giggled to myself in remember something silly that my best friend and i did.

i come from a very, very small town. in fact, it really isn't a town at all. there is only one little country grocery store that also sells gas. a couple of stop signs but no stop lights. there aren't many people. and as the saying goes, if you don't know what you're doing at least your neighbors do. :) yes, it was a small town indeed.

when traveling with my parents as a child, i used to be ashamed of telling people where i was from because i thought people would look down on us "west virginia hillbillies." but once i got older and started traveling more on my own i realized that it wasn't so bad. there were places and people just like us everywhere.

now i am proud to call west virginia my home. we may not be a rich state and our politics may be a little skewed but really, who's isn't?? i have not always called west virginia home. i have lived elsewhere before and will probably live elsewhere again. but i will always call west virginia my home.

since i unfortunately didn't get a photo of my own: image credit

morgantown photo op

overlooking sabraton from richwood ave

if you are wondering about this post, i have decided to consolidate my morgantown musings blog into this one. if you weren't a regular reader of my morgantown musings blog then you can expect to occasionally see some lovely pics from motown. :)

photo credit moi

monday moment of zen

"every significant relationship in your life has your fingerprints all over it - the fingerprints of your character. and those impressions on another person's life are true indications of what your character is really like."
~ steve farrar

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monday moment of zen

"if i have no appetite - it is because i am already full. if i have no desire to go anywhere - it is because i have already arrived."
~ max strom

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monday moment of zen

the secret of getting ahead is getting started. the secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
~ mark twain

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monday moment of zen

"life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
~ anais nin

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view from my dining table

remember the other day i posted this on facebook:

"loves sitting here at my dining room table sipping some hot tea on this cold, rainy afternoon looking out my patio door at the fog around the river. have i mentioned that i ♥ this little house?!"

well, the view is so delightful that i have to share

here are more views from the foggy deck

even rawkus was enjoying the view