The art of mindfulness

I happened upon this blog tonight, and was reminded of who I was a few years ago. Am I still this person? , i was blessed to bring another perfect and hilarious child into existence. So this is where I'm at in detail... read on with caution. (While I tell myself to divulge with caution. But this is a blog and no one really reads blogs any more anyway right?! right)

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2017/03/20/really-avoid-living-life-quiet-desperation/   For the past several months, I've been beating myself up over my insufferable ingratitude and self loathing for having the audacity to have a single complaint about my wonderfully blessed life. The world is on fire or underwater and im not a refugee or an immigrant and I'm just living a beautiful stay at home wife and mothers life in freaking perfect small town, USA. ((This blog was started because of our love for this area.)) So How can I be suffering from depression? No! It makes no sense and I hate myself...I have contemplated anxiety medication, or therapy, or a gluten free lifestyle and those things only bum me out even more. so far, the thing that has helped me the most has been this article about manliness and since my kid called me a man the other day, I'm owning it.

  three things that are currently sucking my soul: and I'm not going to feel shame for admitting them.

1:Half day school is the death of me. Racing back and forth from the school isn't hard. It's like 10 minutes. But I ST. RU. GG. LE. Hate it. Buckling kids. Dumb. They keep bringing toys and taking off shoes. And socks and books and who gave them sunflower seeds? my car is trashed 25:7 I have a wonderful friend who helps me with carpool and without her I'm sure I would pull my kids out to home school just  because I hate drop off and pick up so much.
2: my house is small. I love it with my whole heart but I can't play music when I have a few minutes. I get a window during Willows  nap time. But she is the lightest sleeper and I have tried white noise machines and fans and nope she can't handle.so, no where to play indoors. After bedtime I've escaped to my disgusting van to sing to myself. I should clean it, but there's no time, it's music time.  I feel like a crazy person. I used to do this when we lived in our townhome too. I took my banjo to the hillside and played till I felt like my own person again. Then came home. It's my medicine. The
3: Social media life comparison. I follow way too many touring musician types who are young and free and I forget that I'm not a 20 something and I AM actually living my age appropriate and awesome dream.

   Three things I am most grateful for and could not dare to imagine my life without:
1:my town and more specifically, my kids school:
The dual immersion Spanish program, early morning orchestra, and robotics programs and the teachers and administrators and so many wonderful people surrounding my kids each day. we are truly blessed. Worth my frantic back and forths each day.
2:Today I started my music lessons back up. And I love it. I have missed them. I work 4 hours a week. And it doesn't feel like work. It kind of feels like a bit of a hassle for my family. They have to hide out downstairs. But I need the time/feelings/money/music And they love me so they can hang out in the basement Thats a total mess now and I will clean it tomorrow. Sigh... but I can teach here in my small house and I can play music hear when I schedule it into my life better. It is possible.
3: social media. I am so glad it exists. I get to share my goings on and be truly excited for others when they share. It's such an amazing thing to be connected and I hope to be more positively engaged in the lives of others and not feel threatened that their experiences are better or more rich than mine. Duh. That's dumb. But sometimes I forget this.

So back to this manly article
The solution to the endless, fruitless striving after that which doesn’t satisfy, Thoreau postulated, is to simplify your wants — to separate conveniences and comforts from necessities, and pare down to the fundamentals. 

Music is a necessity in my life. It's not selfish. It's a must. 
Also go for a walk. 

VEYO POOL: A SOUTHERN UTAH MUST!

 You guys can you believe I have NEVER been to Veyo Pool before!? And I have lived in Southern Utah my whole life! I know! 
After going, I feel it is a real sin to have never gone! I was a deprived child! (jk parents, jk!) 

My husband lived in Enterprise for most his growing up years so, to him, Veyo Pool was a regular occurrence. 
So, this past labor day we headed up to Veyo for some fun in the sun! If you have never been, Veyo pool is a little pool down inside a beautiful canyon in Veyo, Utah! I love the mom and pop feel and the surroundings are absolutely breathtaking! 
The food is yummy Drive-in style food. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and their famous Pronto Pups (aka corn dogs.) So good! 
I would highly recommend going for a swim in Veyo when you are looking for a fun change! There are also many other fun activities surrounding the pool! Taken from their website:

The pool and restaurant hours are from: 
12:00 noon to 8:00 pm. 7 days a week. Crawdad Canyon Climbing hours are from: 9:00 am till 8:00 pm. 7 days a week. In canyon campers may reserve special hours. 
$6.00 per Adult, for the day.
$4.00 per child Age 14 and under.
Other activities include volley ball, horse shoes, picnicing and crawdading in the stream. Enjoy the beautiful surroundings and great activities, what a great vacation idea. 
Call: 1-435-574-2300 for all reservations. E-mail: veyopool@infowest.comLocation: Veyo Pool Resort Rd. in Veyo, Utah About 17 miles north of St.George, Utah.


View Their Website Here.

Zumba

                                 

 I REALLY Love to Zumba!  That is saying a lot to those of you who know me. I wouldn't exactly call myself a dancer, runner, fitness buff, nor svelte. I have curves and rolls and don't actually like the sensation of sweating. 

So how did someone like me gain such a love for ridiculously fun dancing to loud music where buckets of sweat poor off of you? 

I have to give all of the credit to Kerry who taught at the Electric Theater. She was incredible (Sadly, at the beginning of the year she decided to no longer have the class.)  I would go to her class, and feel like I was in a dance club and someone was giving me the right moves. It was a blast. Often I would catch myself grinning, and then I would laugh at myself for being such a happy dork! 

Never in my life had exercise been so much FUN!!!!

So here is my question to you Local Saint Georgians..... Where do you Zumba? I am looking for a new Zumba home and am willing to explore them all until I find my happy place again!

For those who have never tried Zumba...there are options in town.

Check this Site Out

I thought I would add a personal photo of myself! (tee hee)

Keena

How much do you know about Cinco de Mayo?

How much do you know about Cinco de Mayo?

 

• Cinco de Mayo is about more than an excuse to gorge yourself on guacamole
• The Holiday celebrates Mexico's victory over France at the Battle of Puebla
• Cinco de Mayo may be a day devoted to eating tortilla chips, wearing sombreros for you and your amigos, and hitting a Piñata  but there's much more to the holiday!
  
  Before you enjoy your chips and guacamole, educate yourself!
  
  • In case your Spanish is muy rusty. Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for the fifth of May.
  • The holiday celebrates an unexpected victory. The holiday actually celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The Mexican army won the battle despite being smaller and ill-equipped.
  • Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. That occurred 50 years prior to the Battle of Puebla. It is celebrated on September 16.
  • Cinco de Mayo is a bigger deal in the United States. In Mexico, the day is observed with political speeches and battle reenactments. Many of the actual celebration and battle re-enactment take place in Puebla.
  • In fact, the world's largest Cinco celebration takes place in Los Angeles. This year's Festival de Fiesta Broadway is expected to draw 300,000 people. Cities like New York City, Denver and Houston also throw large parties in honor of the day.
  • Chandler, Arizona, even celebrates the day. There are Chihuahua races and even crowning two of the dogs king and queen.
  • Americans consume up to 81 million avocados on Cinco de Mayo, according to the California Avocado Commission. The creamy food is used for guacamole, a popular Mexican dish.
  • There are 367 U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments, according to the United States Census. Tortillas are often referred to as the "bread of Mexico" and an integral part of the Aztecs' diet.
  • 33.6 million U.S. residents come from Mexican heritage, according to the United States Census.
  • (This information came from hlntv)
  
  
  
  
  Celebrations in St George usually take place at the Catholic Church. They typically have Mexican food, raffels, games for children and it's Free!
  
  
  There will be a Celebration Zumba style on May 9th @ 7:30pm. There will be Dancing, Prizes and Fun!!! For more info check out the Rec Center ZUMBA

  

Southern Utah Culinary Festival

After having baby number two I have been cooped up in my house and dying to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. I heard about the Southern Utah Culinary Festival last minute and so we decided to check it out. We pulled out the double stroller and set out to see what yummy food we could try!
Vendors included some of my favorites such as George's and Painted Pony and it was fun to try some new places like One hot Grill and YO2 Frozen Yogurt. Mmmhmm. (Full list of vendors here.)

This Festival was exactly our thing. We spent $15 and sampled many places which filled our belly's right up. I loved it because I got to try a variety of things and the husband loved it because we weren't spending a lot of money!
My two year old enjoyed the bounce houses and the swing sets and of course his slice of Pizza from the Pizza Factory.
It was the perfect weather and atmosphere for a first night out as a family of four. We hope the festival continues to take place each year! What a fun idea!

Coming Home....

Initially it was quite a shock. For the last month I had been telling the people of Cambodia and Thailand that I come from the desert portion of Utah. I would Google pictures of Zion National Park, Snow Canyon, the Grand Canyon to give them an idea of the Beautiful dry climate of my home. As I was sweating profusely (I can't even say that it was a feminine glistening...I was out and out dripping from the high heat and humidity during the hottest time of the year there- think 107 degrees PLUS humidity) I tried to explain that it gets hot in St George- like the 107* we were experiencing, but that the heat of St George is dry- feels more like being in a blow dryer.
That is probably why it was so unexpected upon my return... to come home to a pleasantly cool 70-80 degree high and a very Lush and Green scenery. People...I have lived in St George most of my life, and I don't ever remember St George being so Green!! It has been breathtaking to me.
It got me to thinking that even though I love to travel (It's the gypsy in my bones) I am so happy to call this little Oasis called St George- HOME!

A place to raise a family.

 Last Monday we welcomed our second child into our family.
 We are now the parents of two handsome little boys. Jude
 who is 2 1/2 and now Maxwell. Becoming a mother has lead
 me to think about where I live them and why I love why I love
 it.

 As a teenager girl I often thought of my hometown as a less
 interesting place to live than say a busy big city. I whined
 about lack of good shopping and few music venues. I was
 going to move to a big city someday and I would no longer
 be held back by this small town. I did move away. I moved
 to Salt Lake City and 4 months later I was driving home - car
 packed full - with fear in my eyes. I couldn't handle the big
 city life, I couldn't live so far from my family. I had a small
 town heart whether I wanted to admit it or not.

 Saint George is growing and isn't so small anymore, but
 somehow that small town feel has stayed. I love that about our
 town. I feel safe here. I feel good about raising my babies here.

Why do we choose to live where we do? For me it's family first
and Saint George couldn't be a more charming, beautiful, safe
place to raise a family. I love my Dixie Land!