Thanksgiving Thankfulness

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVE!

My Thanksgiving holiday has officially begun, and Bo's will begin in just a couple of hours!  I am really looking forward to watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow morning, enjoying the company of friends and one another while eating delicious and healthy food, and creating our first memories of Thanksgiving as a married couple.  It is going to be an amazing holiday!

Although I plan to share my Thanksgiving dessert recipe with you later this week (pumpkin + chocolate + pecan = delicious!):

...today's post doesn't have a new recipe...

...it doesn't have any yoga instruction...

...and it doesn't share a new ABC adventure. 

Today's post is all about practicing conscious and purposeful thankfulness.

Since I am 27 years old, I figured it would only make sense to list 27 things for which I am thankful.  Some are serious, some are funny, but I am truly thankful for each one.

Thanksgiving Thankfulness Exercise, 2011:

• I am thankful for my yoga practice.

• I am thankful for no car payments.
• I am thankful for my fellow Navy wives...which become more like family with each passing day.
• I am thankful that, for the first time in eight years, I can say "I'll be home for Christmas."

• I am thankful that I am a full-time yoga teacher = stress free career!
• I am thankful (for now) for my pixie haircut: fast and easy!

• I am thankful for a healthy, strong body...even though sometimes it still frustrates me.
• I am thankful for my dedicated yoga students because they inspire me every day.
• I am thankful for captivating books.





• I am thankful for my husband.  There aren't enough words...

• I am thankful for my stocked pantry (no vegan chef could live without one!).
• I am thankful for my food processor (no hummus or peanut butter would come to be without it!).

• I am thankful for our furniture (when we got married, we had a 46" TV, and nothing else!).
• I am thankful for jeans that fit.
• I am thankful for shoes and yoga pants that always fit (hahaha!).
• I am thankful for my relationship with my grandparents, deceased and alive.

• I am thankful for Satchidinanda Ashram-Yogaville.

• I am thankful that my husband has finally agreed to get a puppy this spring!
• I am thankful for holistic medicine.
• I am thankful for football traditions.

• I am thankful for unexpected packages.
• I am thankful that we will always live near the ocean.
• I am thankful for seasonal produce.

• I am thankful for soft sheets.

• I am thankful for dozens of crayon and marker colors.

• I am thankful for pashminas.
• I am thankful for friendships that continue to survive long-distances apart.
• BONUS: I am thankful for my family!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Time: A post about our Thanksgiving Day celebrations!

Question of the Day:

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday?

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Growing Out My Hair

Announcement: I have decided to grow out my hair!

Actually, I decided to start growing out my hair about a month ago, but I am just coming public with my decision.

Don't get my wrong, I have really loved my pixie cut! 

It has been:

• fast;
• easy to style; and
• most importantly, fun!

But, there are several aspects of having longer hair that I miss. 


I love you Dad!


For example, I want to be able to:

• pull my hair back into a ponytail;
• have variety in my hairstyles (i.e. curly, straight, up, down, etc.); and
• feel my hair on my neck, shoulders, and possibly even back.

Truly, having short hair has been liberating.  It has helped me to feel comfortable with my face and big cheeks (which I have always been self-conscious about), and it has reminded me that beauty comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and lengths.

But for me at least, there is something inherently feminine and beautiful about slightly longer hair.  I am not talking Rapunzel here (although I did love Disney's Tangled...hehehe), just something shoulder-length or longer!  But then again, who knows...I may grow it really long...

Just kidding :)  I don't think Bo would like getting tangled up in my hair (pun intended)!

In the end, it all depends on the health and thickness of my hair.  Due to my problems with ED in the past, and as a result of my more recent issues with Grave's Disease, my hair has been thin and fragile.  As a result, I have never been able to grow it much longer than my shoulders.  But, with ED a distant menace of the past, and my Grave's Disease on the decline, it might turn out to be the perfect time to grow my hair out really long!  After all, there was a time that it reached my buttocks...so I know it can be done (not that I plan on going to those lengths this time around)! 

For now, I am hoping for something along these lengths by spring 2012:

Then, perhaps by next fall/winter I can be back to something like this:

And from there, I will just see how it goes.  Ideally, I think it would be awesome to reach something like this:

...but we will just have to see if that is possible in terms of thickness and strength.  My dad as always loved long hair on women.  I am not exactly sure what about long hair he loves (Its femininity? Beauty? Disctinction from men?) , but regardless, I am sure he is excited to hear about my "growing out" plans!

Next time - perhaps a yoga post is in order?!

Question of the Day:

Do you feel like your hairstyle reflects your personality?  How has your hairstyle changed over the years to reflect your ever-changing self?

Blessings,
Ally and Bo