October 3, 1978

Happy 32nd Birthday to Tim! 
Click HERE to find out what happened the year you were born.
And the number one song on your birthday...

Down Dog

An excerpt from a journal entry I did for yoga training, written June 6th:  This was written in a moment when I was having a hard time focusing on what was important and not being so hard on myself...yes, believe it or not, I am hard on myself!

"...To add to the distraction there is a 7 month old in my house named Tille.  She is 6 pounds of fluff and has strategically timed her play time right when I go in yoga poses such as wheel or plank.  She starts by licking my legs, and then moves on to more vulnerable areas like my feet and face.  At first, I was annoyed.  I mean, here I am trying to quiet my mind and she's tickling me and bringing soggy toys to play fetch!  Today, it occurred that I should focus on the moment and not the distraction.  In that moment I was being loved by my pet.  Are there really any more pure forms of love than that?  She doesn't care about my thighs or how many calories I'm trying to burn today.  She only cares that her human is on the floor where she can kiss and play. In that moment she chooses to be content and so should I.  I'm sad that I didn't embrace her distractions earlier on.  Little moments of love like this make extending my yoga practice a little longer worth it."

Vacations, Visitors, and the Pursuit of Consciousness

Oh my goodness!  It has taken me quite a while to get back to this blogging thing!  I'll admit, I became a little preoccupied in March with other things and checked out of the blogging business for a while.  After that, LIFE happened and that's just about all the excuses I have for this post! 

I guess starting where I left off is the best place to begin catching everyone up...

APRIL-Hillary begins her yoga certification.  What an exciting experience this has been already!  The program I am participating in is a one-weekend-a-month kind of thing where I learn what yoga is really about, how I can apply it to my life and how I can help those around me (who are interested) as well. This really couldn't have fallen into my lap at a better time.  The month of April was already proving to be less than desirable, and the months that followed gave me many opportunities to practice "living in the moment" AND "breathing deeply." So far, I have relearned human anatomy and Ayurveda (the science of nutrition); have discovered I am a "Pita-Kapha"; and found a new level of patience. I've always enjoyed yoga and now I get to potentially DO something with this passion and learn much more about the art and science of a centuries old approach to life.

MAY-The school year ended and hope for a backyard fence began.

JUNE-Matt, Michelle, Tim, and I wend on a cruise to the Western Caribbean.  We traveled to Grand Cayman Island, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize.  What a wonderful trip and such a blessing to experience! It was great to travel with Matt and Michelle (we miss them so much now that we are back in the south.)  Check out some of the highlights:

When we returned from the cruise, we were met with the unfortunate news that Tim's father would need some surgery that propelled us into a long summer of going back and forth between Spartanburg, Greenville, and Traveler's Rest.  The good news here is that through all of it, Dan is doing much better and is currently on the mend. 
JULY-Grandfather Mountain Highland Games really started off the month for us.  We camped a few nights and got a taste of tartans, bagpipes and the infamous Marshmellow War.  Somehow...(we must have been distracted...)there were no pictures captured of this weekend!  Will post from next year's event!  Shortly after this weekend, our dear friend from Colorado, Jenny, came to visit for a week!  I was so excited to have her here!  I had been very homesick for Colorado and she was the perfect antidote!  While here, we gave her a taste of southern cuisine, southern drawl, and southern heat...and then we took her to Charleston!



Our door is always open to our dear friend Jenny!  Just as she was leaving, Michelle and Carson made a quick visit before my mother and I headed back to the beach with them, but this time it was to Edisto Island:





What a great time!  Even through the power outage, my mother and I enjoyed and were appreciative of such a great chance to hang out with Michelle and her family!

AUGUST-This month was full of preparations...going back to school; Dan coming home from the hospital; Michelle and Carson making yet another return, but this time to help out with the family.  What a fast and busy month this was! 

SEPTEMBER-And here it is mid-September.  My 30th and Tim's 32nd are quickly approaching. We have just returned from yet another vacation to New Hampshire for Mary and Andy's wedding and I've learned through Ayuveda that if I truly want to honor my dosha, I need to give up TOMATOES!  Not sure if that last one will ever happen.  What will happen are more posts from me...starting with pictures from the New Hampshire trip.  I've just got to get them loaded on the computer! To all out there reading this who are close, we value your presence in our lives.  It has certainly been full with you in it!  For those of you reading this who are far away, we feel the void and cherish the moments we get.  Jai Bhagwan and Love to you all!

Invitation Only...

Well, we had to go private with the blog.  We started getting some odd comments from annonymous posters.  In general, this won't effect most of you, but in case there is difficulty in viewing, let me know and I'll try to correct the problem!  Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Snow Time Fun

When we first bought our place, we were informed by the neighbors behind us that our backyard and been the site of many an adventure for the neighborhood kids.  Last winter (March, I believe) the Upstate was hit with a hefty snow and our back yard's slope was a perfect location for sledding.  Well, winter hit Friday night and by Saturday morning, the Upstate was covered in snow that was covered in ice.  Without missing a beat, the kids behind us pulled out their sleds are were sliding into our backyard before we had finished our morning cup of coffee.  It took about 10 minutes more before Tim, and eventually I, joined them.  Here are a few pics of the winter fun followed by a picture of three "kids" worn out from the excitement:

The Bounty of Blogging

Sometimes, a lazy Sunday morning really pays off and you can experience the goodness of God in a way unlike the experiences had in church. It was quite cold and rainy this morning (as many locals know) and Tim and I had a difficult time getting motivated for the 11:00 am service. Instead, we turned on "The Barefoot Contessa" (a first for Mr. Brock) and enjoyed watching her create roasted fingerling potatoes with dill. Tim enjoyed this episode so much that it inspired tonight's meal. We had the Fresh Market on the docket for the day, so we checked for fingerling potatoes and didn't have any luck. We did find small red potatoes and decided these would suffice. Deciding on a protein to compliment took only a few seconds. We remembered the delicious flank steak recipe found on one of our favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes.  Being the brussel sprout lovers that we are, we decided this would finish the meal off nicely.  Andy and Mary had recommended a new way of making brussel sprouts where the sprouts are roasted with garlic.  When we returned home, I found a blog that highly recommended a wonderful roasted brussel sprout recipe.  Minus the balsamic vinegar, these were delightful!  To replicate the Contessa's potatoes, I searched Google and found yet another blog with raving reviews of Ina's dish.  The culmination of all of this blogging looked like this:

Obviously, the fact that I am taking time in the fleeting hours of my weekend to blog about this meal, we thoroughly enjoyed it.  If there were any doubts, the proof is on the plate:

Though we did skip out on church this morning, we were reminded of the wonderful ways in which our God takes care of his people and spoils them in ways they do not realize.  Thankfully, blogs make these experiences more easily accessible!  If you don't blog or pay attention to them, you may be missing out!  Everyone have a blessed week and remember to be thankful you are in a position to take advantage of the bounty of God's grace.

What's Happening at 516

Our newest addition, Tillie, has proven to be quite the fiesty one!  She has quickly put Rocky in his place, let us all know how loud her bark can be, and discovered that she does NOT like Children's Benedryl! She has also gone to the groomer once and the vet twice.  She's been quite the busy 12 week old!  Here a few photos of the dogs doing their thing...