Simplify

Photo via Lululemon. This is one of their talented ambassadors, Meghan.

Hey yogis! How was your weekend? I hope you are back at work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. I am!


I had a lovely weekend with a nice mix of productivity and relaxation. I've got some other creative projects in the works besides the blog, so I decided to a take a couple days off to put some energy toward those. Plus there is nothing like a Sunday at home doing some cooking for the week and having a little candlelit dinner with friends. (I made quiche! Mmmm.) 


The Hubs and I also had a little adventure at the local laundromat, plus a delicious sushi lunch across the street at Evanston's Seafood Ranch. We highly recommend it! You can buy fresh sushi and soups, or shop in their little two-aisle Asian grocery. They carry green tea icecream (my fave!), any sauce you can imagine for Asian cuisine, plus sashimi-grade fish for making your own sushi. I'll be back very soon to try that.


Anyway, I hope you had fun and maybe took a little time for yourself this weekend, too. It can be so worth it to have a break -- whether it's from work, or just your computer screen at home. Sometimes a few days off from the Hot Room can do wonders for your practice, too.


Sometime's it's just better to simplify. Do a little less. You may find yourself appreciating that task you chose to take out of your busy schedule, even yoga.


I know I am excited to get back to my mat tonight!


I'm also stoked to spend this week immersed in all of the Yogi Sponsorship 2011 applications. Thanks to all of you who have sent in your apps. We have some very strong candidates!


To those of you who have the app but haven't returned it yet, please do so soon. The deadline is coming up. I'm happy to give you a bit of extra time if you need it, but be sure to communicate before the deadline rather than later.


The choice will be tough. I can't wait to post the news! Stay tuned.

Photo via Lululemon. This is one of their talented ambassadors, Meghan.

The Little Ones

Photo by Anna Rummey of Rummey Bears.

Photo by Tyler Branch.

Today's post is the latest in the Beyond Childhood series, which features conversation about living love, putting your family first, and how to enjoy marriage and parenthood.

Photo (and all photos below) from the Little Sapling Toys shop.

Today I bring you Little Sapling Toys, a lovely Etsy site with all natural and safe infant and toddler toys. 


Shop owners Nick and Kimber would like to offer 10% off any order to all Alive in the Fire readers. Use the coupon code ALIVE10 when checking out (valid until February 14th).


More about the shop:
We all have a hand in design, production, business, or packaging in some way. During those necessary breaks we play hide and seek, eat, bike or jog. On Sundays we go to church, eat and play games together.

Toys: We brought life to the classic wooden teether by offering the widest selection of shapes available. We have designed and produced a solid selection of organic developmental toys and blocks. Our newest endeavor is the land of personalization with Blue, our laser engraver.

Our Philosophy: Here at LST, we are committed to quality toys and a healthy earth. We plant a tree for every toy sold, use FSC Certified hardwoods, recycled content packaging and participate in our local green power program.

Each toy is handmade in our workshop (which is in transition right now between Boise, Utah and Minnesota). We design our toys to help young children develop creativity, pattern recognition and fine motor skills. However, the most important toy any child can have is his or her caregiver. For this reason, our educational toys are most effective with interactive play.

Read more on Little Sapling Toys and keep up with their sales and giveaways on their Facebook page or their main site.


Get shoppin' for your little ones!

Check out this adorable stacking toy. And what a cute picture!

Little Sapling Toys makes a ton of cute teethers, like this guitar.

Or an airplane, if your little guy loves things that go.

Marriage on the Mind

Noah + Courtney Love Story//Same Day Premiere from AQUA VIVUS on Vimeo.

So yesterday I posted about this lovely ranch wedding, and then today I went back to the post on Sloan Photography and realized there was this amazing video to watch!

The interview is fantastic. Noah and Courtney tell their adorable and sometimes whimsical love story for about the first eight minutes, and then the rest is footage from their wedding day. I was totally moved, and couldn't stop smiling as I watched them together. He reminds me of Ryan Gosling and she has a natural beauty and effortlessness that is captivating. And you can tell from the video that they are made for each other.

It's great to see real couples who have a strong sense of why they are meant to be together, and how fully they want to spend their lives together. I love their thoughts on trust, caring for each other, and growing old together :)

I've also been reading Simple Marriage lately, a blog on ways to survive the ups and downs of marriage, how to keep things happy and healthy, and just fun ideas for dates with your spouse, or ways to get a break from the humdrum of everyday life.

I especially love their post on planned spontaneity, which you will totally appreciate if you are married! Sounds silly, but sometimes we have to schedule time with our spouse (and it rewards us greatly!).

There's also some great reading on setting reasonable goals together as a couple, what to do if things aren't great and you're just coexisting, and how to give a genuine apology.

Have you considered your relationships lately? Maybe you're doing your yoga and you've set personal health goals for the year, but haven't had the courage to look at where you are in relationship to others.

What can you give?

What can you let go of?

What haven't you addressed because it's hard, or holding you back?

Go ahead: decide to be together and to love each other better than you have been. You deserve it, and your partner does too. Sometimes change isn't easy, and sometimes love hurts. But with time and patience, we can change the way we relate to each other and treat each other.

You are in control of your relationships. Decide to love.

Be together; love each other. Photo via Yoganomics, an awesome online yoga community.