We learned that we are expecting (surprise!) our second child. Artemus and I had our first date in Asheville…(drum-roll please) to the Western NC Birthing Center for the orientation and tour (hot stuff!). We have decided to birth there with the support of their midwives and nurses. I have made it through the first trimester fatigue and the reality is setting in of all that it means to be welcoming another being. We are interviewing doulas, collecting hand-me-downs, practicing the Kundalini kriyas for strength and discussing names. Isis thinks Cotton Ball is a great name so that is what we are working with.

We are growing some food! Isis and I visited the sawmill to buy some wood for the raised bed garden that we cut with our circular saw - Girl Power! Neighbors helped us put the boards together in place to make our raised beds. We borrowed a neighbor’s truck and picked up organic compost soil mix and successfully unloaded a truckload of dirt into our beds (with another neighbor’s help). Isis and I started lots of seedlings inside and have transitioned some outside and others are hardening off. We are super excited about the strawberries that are already turning red and have already enjoyed fresh picked kale from the garden!

I am more than half-way through the 200 hour yoga teacher training program. It has been wonderful experience with 33 other yogis in the making and leading yoga classes in my living room for friends. Just 4 more weekends, 4 more papers, 5 more classes of assisting*, 10 more hours of unsupervised teaching, 1 quiz, 1 final exam and enlightenment to go!

I am reminded often (thanks to Google Photo memories) that we left NYC just a little over a year ago to start this journey of living a sustainable whole life. I pinched myself when filling the garden beds with soil-so much excitement- I got to drive a pick-up truck (so-not-urban), Isis got to ride in the front seat, we drove through the yard, moved a fence, used our shovels, got dirty and had support from our community - I kept thinking if you had told me a year ago this is how I would be spending my Wednesday I would’ve said “Yaasss”! Writing this update makes me grateful for all the work, risk and fear that I have worked through (and still working through) to get here and manifest this.

More blog posts coming soon - back to the plastics because it is never ending!

*I am assisting (hands-on) Tuesday’s 5:45 pm Yin class with Kimberley Puryear at Asheville Yoga Center. If you are in Asheville come check it out!