Archive for December, 2011
Posted by terrepruitt on December 31, 2011
Not all of my posts on my list of Year End Review Of Terre’s 2011 Important Posts are Nia posts, but some of them are, Here are the remaining four of nine that I thought were important enough to re-share. This is the second half of my Year End Review Post. When I wrote it as one post, it just seemed too long so I split it up. Thanks for checking in. As with the first half, I am just going to give a little summary so you can have the main point right here and you don’t have to go to the original post. But if you WANT to go to the original post (and comment even) please do! I am listing these in order of when they were posted.
I think of this post Muscle Weighs More Than Fat as being something we all need to be reminded of. Muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat. The saying that muscle weighs more is one of those things that a lot of us say, but it is not correct. A pound of muscle weighs as much as a pound of fat. A pound of anything cannot weigh more than a pound of something else. A pound of muscle will take up a lot less room than a pound of fat as you will see in the picture on this post if you click over. 😉
If you are interested in a dance class that is pretty, a class that produces a performance then Nia is probably not what you are looking for. Nia Might Not Be Pretty — To Some. Nia is about authentic movement. Nia is about moving the body the way it was designed to be moved. Not everyBODY can move the way it was designed. There might be injuries, defects, tightness, or just plain ol’ non-use involved so it might not be pretty as we learn to move. But it is beautiful. This post reminds you that it is what it is and what it is not is a performance. A Nia class is freedom of movement, something to be enjoyed from the angle of the participant and not someone watching.
I have a post about listening with love, but the title is Let Love Be Your Ears. Ya know sometimes titles need to intrigue a potential reader, I was hoping that is what this title was. But the post is about listening with love. We all have heard and some of us might try to live by the old “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” But LISTENING with love is different. Not that common of a “golden rule”. We are not always taught we need to love ourselves, so we might not listen as if people are talking to us with love and not accusations and criticisms. This might be something we have to practice. Also listening with love can include giving the person talking a lot of “benefit of the doubt”. Trying to see where they might be coming from.
Another post is about dance being exercise. It is a reminder that you can have fun and get exercise at the same time. Nia is just that!
So that is the last four on my list of posts I think really could use repeating. I know I picked a few because I need to work on some of them/it myself. I hope that you enjoyed either the summary or the posts themselves. I thank you very much for taking the time to read this. If you have been reading my blog and you recognize some of these I thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to read. If you take the time to read and comment, I am really grateful and I very much appreciate it.
And, of course, I wish you a very happy and safe New Year’s Eve. I wish you many, many, many opportunities to embrace happiness and experience joy in 2012. Happy New Year.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Misc, Muscles, Nia | Tagged: 2012, 30 minute meals, dance exercise, fat is light, Happy New Year, listen with love, muscle is heavy, New Year's Eve, Nia, Nia balance, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia freedom, Nia is for everybody, Nia Movement, Nia participant, Nia posts, Nia Practice, posts about Nia, ten minute exercise, the body's way, Year End Review | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 29, 2011
Many bloggers are posting end of the year posts. Some posts are the best, some posts are their favorites, everyone has a different take on it. Some are a review of the year, either in posts or pictures. I thought about doing a post about my favorites, but I was afraid they would all be my Nia posts. As I was going through my posts from the last year I came up with an eclectic bunch . . . . just like my post. I can’t say they are my favorites, but I can say they are ones that I want to point out again. I actually found twenty-three posts that I wanted to re-share. TWENTY-THREE! But that is way too many to summarize and share. I narrowed it down to nine. These nine are ones I think are the most important of the ones I’ve posted this past year. I still think nine is a lot so I am going to do this year in review in two parts. I am just going to give a little summary so you can have the main point right here and you don’t have to go to the original post. But if you WANT to go to the original post (and comment even) please do! I am listing these in order of when they were posted.
One of the most important things I have posted about is Balance. The post is called Nia Balance and I was sharing about how balance was challenging because of my injured toe, but the main point of the post is that balance is really important and that our Nia routines are full of opportunities in which we can practice our balance. Since balance is so important you can practice it throughout your day without really changing the way you do things too much. Balance is so important, especially as we age.
It’s Out There is my post about how great Nia is! Ha, ha! Well it is a little bit about Nia, but a lot about the fact that there are many, many, many other movement forms out there. There are so many different forms of movements that there really has to be something for everyone. Nia is for everyBODY as it was created to move the body in the body’s way, but it is not for everyone. There is something out there for everyone! If you look you can find a class for you!
I posted about Feeling Vs. Sensing. Feeling is emotion. Feelings are how you FEEL. Sensing is what your body does. You FEEL happy. Your body senses heat. You FEEL sad. Your body senses cold. Knowing the difference can help you give your body and/or your emotional self, your spirit the workout it needs.
I made up a list of ten exercises that can be done in ten minutes. There is actually a lot of different ways you can do the list of ten exercises, but the idea was to get a full body workout in ten minutes. The hope was that the ten in ten would be an inspiration and a catalyst for actually doing more.
This past week I had company and they were here through the dinner hour. I didn’t know that they would be here that long so I didn’t have anything planned for dinner that would feed all four of us, but I still wanted to feed my husband when they left. So about the time they were talking about leaving I went into the kitchen. I was in the kitchen all of seven minutes. I washed the rice, turned on the rice maker, chopped the end off the asparagus, rinsed them, put them in a pan then put them in the oven, and dumped the marinated chicken in a pan and put it in the oven. I then set the timer for 20 minutes at which time dinner would be ready. I achieved a 30 minutes meal. All because when I froze the chicken I made a sauce for it at the same time. So when I took it out to defrost it was already marinating or doing so as it defrosted. So it really took seven minutes for me to make dinner. My friends didn’t even miss me because I was only gone seven minutes. This post is about Shopping Step to help Dinner Prep. After shopping before you freeze the meat make your marinade right inside the bag. It has really helped me get dinner ready much faster! Love it!
So this is five on my list out of nine post I think really could use repeating. I hope you check back Saturday to see the rest of the list. I thank you very much for taking the time to read this. If all of these or some of these are “repeats” to you, then I really thank you. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you reading and if you are a commenter . . . I appreciate you even more!!! See you back here on Saturday for the rest of the review of my Year End Review!
Posted in Food, Misc, Nia | Tagged: 30 minute meals, dance exercise, fat is light, listen with love, muscle is heavy, Nia, Nia balance, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia freedom, Nia is for everybody, Nia Movement, Nia participant, Nia posts, Nia Practice, posts about Nia, ten minute exercise, the body's way, Year End Review | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 27, 2011
In Nia there are 13 White Belt Principles. The principles provide a foundation, something we can learn, practice, explore, and build on. One Nia White Belt Principle, Principle number 7 has two parts. The second part of the principle is levels of teaching. I wrote about this when I was sharing about each Nia White Belt Principle. The three levels of teaching come up again as the eighth stage in Nia FreeDance. The eighth stage is Nia Class – Levels 1, 2, 3.
The eight stages of FreeDance are:
1-FreeDance
2-Being Seduced by the Music
3-Feelings and Emotions
4-The Creative Source
5-Authentic Movement
6-Witness
7-Choreography
8-Nia Class – Levels 1, 2, 3
In addition to learning, practicing, exploring and building on the 13 White Belt Principles, Nia teachers are taught to use the eight stages of FreeDance to learn our routines and also to expand our Nia Practice and to have fun with Nia. FreeDancing to the music is often a step I skip. So is might go without saying that dancing the first six stages of FreeDance is something I often don’t do when I learn a routine. I am going to work on using this tool, FreeDance and its stages, to learn my routines going forward. I am also going to use this tool when I go back and practice and delve deeper into the routines I already teach.
In regards to Stage 8 – Nia Class – Levels 1, 2, 3, this is something that Nia teachers need to be able to share in a class. As I stated in my post about the second half of the 7th Nia White Belt Principle, everyone’s levels might be different, but the point is that I need to be able to show you different levels. The move itself does not change, it just might be done bigger or covering more floor. If the move is a cha-cha step, then my level 1 is a cha-cha, as well as my level 2, to make it more challenging in level 3 I don’t change it to a jazz square, I just make it bigger. Or I might even show the example of it being more bouncy. There are different ways to change the level and we all have different levels so we have different needs when it comes to changing the level.
Level 1, 2, and 3 does not necessarily mean “planes” as in low, middle, high, it means level of intensity. Now how “intensity” is interpreted DOES depend on the move. As I just mentioned it could mean bigger or more bouncy. It all depends on the move itself, but either way the spirit and the energy remains the same.
I do find that sometimes I don’t have enough time to show all three levels for all of the moves. Sometimes I just stick to level one if it appears that the move is challenging to most students. Then I might briefly demonstrate level two, but go quickly back to level one because I can sense I am going to be leaving most of the class behind. In that case, what happens is if there is a student that is ready for level three they get their on their own. It is fabulous.
I do think that it is really good for me to continue to remind my students that EVERYBODY has a different level 1, which automatically means that their level 2 is different, which dominoes into the level 3 being different. When playing with dancing freely to music it is fun as a student and a dancer to experiment with different levels of intensity of a move. Sometimes the music dictates the intensity as the music itself might change intensity. Sometimes it is just amusing to change it up to challenge the body, brain, and spirit. So, even as a student of Nia or dancer that dances because you love to move you too can also experience different levels of dancing free. This is a brief look into Nia’s FreeDance and Stage 8 Nia Class – Levels 1, 2, 3.
Ready to turn on some music and dance?
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: 13 White Belt Principles, Authentic Movement, dance class, freedance, levels of intensity, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia routine, Nia student, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt Principle #7 | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2011
It is Christmas Eve and while I never really take time off from Nia and being self-employed, I am posting about decorations again. Another post inspired by yet another blog friend. My friend shared her snowmen with us on her blog and I told her I wanted to share ours. I wasn’t sure how, but I took pictures anyway. I was just going to e-mail them to her, but then I thought I should just post them on Facebook. But then I decided that snowmen would be a nice little Christmas Eve post. Some of my favorite decorations that we have are snowmen. We have one set in particular that I always receive compliments on. They were our first set and they are simple and sweet. They always go in the same place every year. Some of our other snowmen migrate around the house. Sometimes I forget where I put what so things are not always the same. But these ones always go in the same spot — basically. They might end up on the left or the right or the center, but they are always on the same shelf.
So funny . . . now that I am actually looking at them while cropping the picture, they aren’t really even snowmen, are they? They were labeled snowmen when I bought them (I think) so I think of them as the family of snowmen. Well, whatever they are they are cute and sparkly!
You might notice that a few of our snowmen are snow angels. I really like that. They are so cute. I actually didn’t put up a set of our hanging snow angels. I didn’t put up a lot this year. When I was decorating I allowed the fact that our tree was dead three days after we bought it to put a damper on my Christmas decorating spirit. I didn’t put as many ornaments on the tree as usual because the more it was touched the more the needles just fell off. I was afraid it wouldn’t last until Christmas. With this being our first Holiday Season without John’s mom, the whole tree thing made me sad. Then since we weren’t going to have anyone over during the Holidays I decided the less I put up, the less I will have to clean around and the less I will have to take down. I do have a goal of “Christmas everywhere you look” so I did that, it is just not as much as usual. But it is just fine. I do “tests” and turn my head this way and that, and YUP! still Christmas wherever I look so it’s grand!
There are snowmen in various spots of the house. I believe last year these (the ones directly to the left, pictured in front of the sleigh) were our latest addition. I do not collect snowmen, nor do I particularly fancy them, there are just some that I see and I like. But I don’t like all snowmen. I like sparkle, glitter, shine, and blue. So I really love that they make so many Chanukah decorations because the color scheme for that seems to be blue! So yay, more blue!
Do you decorate for Christmas? Or for the Holidays that you and your family celebrate?
I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and peace and joy throughout the year!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: angels, Chanukah decorations, Christams Eve, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Facebook, Facebook Friend, Hanukkah, Hanukkah decorations, Happy Holidays, Nia, snow angels, Snowmen, Snowpeople, Twitter | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 22, 2011
I first want to say that Nia in San Jose is on it’s regular schedule even with the surrounding Holidays. Next, I want to say with so much holiday stuff around me it is more fun to post about decorations, cards sent, cards received, gifts given and received, Christmas Trees, ornaments, lights, and the cheer, than about how to exercise “off” those extra calories you might be consuming. It is better to avoid eating too much than to try to work it off. Many websites give you advice on how to avoid over indulging at parties, I posted one myself last year. They are articles of advice on how to keep motivated during the holidays everywhere you turn. As you know I like to post about other things. I love Christmas and all of its decorations and cheer that it brings. I love how people get creative with gifts and decorations. When I first saw this I wanted to post about it. But I often hesitate because I do also want to post about exercises and working out, but this kept popping into my head. I love it that much.
I have a friend I know through blogging. I believe I “met” him on another friend’s blog. I forget exactly how the timeline went but we started following eachother on Twitter and we are friends on Facebook. He is one of those people that seems to be everywhere. I don’t know how he does it, but he comments or “likes” my posts and my photos on several sites. He is one of those people that is very supportive. He is always there to support me in my internet dabblings.
He takes great pictures. I am always amazed at the shots he gets on his morning walks. But the latest photo that had me clapping with glee and I just can’t get out of my head is the photo of his book tree. I keep thinking, “Who would think of that?” Well, the answer is a man that works in a bookstore, but still, I love it. It is so cute and so imaginative. Really why can’t you decorate anything, right. I also kind of think of it as a bit of a joint effort. He, of course, came up with the biggest part, putting it together and stringing it with garland. I just make a tiny suggestion of using paper clips (or a strong wire) to hang the ornaments.
This is one of those things that just makes me happy. Do you have simple things in your life that make you happy and make you smile? This is one of them. Simon is often making me laugh and smile, but I really loved this one and wanted to share. I received permission to post his picture here. You can see it here (click) on one of his blogs.
A note to Simon: Simon, my friend, you are a constant source of smiles and laughter to me. I appreciate how you are always so supportive with your “likes” and comments. I think you are a great photographer and look forward to the pictures of your morning walks and all your pictures. Thank you for this lovely book tree, it makes me giggle when I think about it.
_____________
I hope you all enjoyed his little book tree. I hope that no matter what holiday you celebrate at this time of year you are having a happy and peaceful time. Thanks for being here!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: a book tree, a tree made of books, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Tree, Facebook, Facebook Friend, holiday stuff, Holidays, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, Simon's Book Tree, Twitter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 20, 2011
Last Monday on the way home from my Nia Class I stopped at the store to buy a huge bunch of veggies. I was wondering what I was going to cook them in. I needed a new pan. I think that it is perfect acceptable to give pots and pans as a gift — when one asks for it/them. Last Christmas I asked for a pan. A 14 inch fry type pan. I had a really difficult time finding one. I really wonder why it is so hard to find such a large pan. It is not as difficult to find a 12 inch pan and everyone; every store, every brand, EVERYONE has a 10 inch pan. But a 14 inch pan is really difficult to find. Once they go over 12 inches they start measuring by quart it seems. Last year I had to search and search and search but I finally found one. It was great.
A lot of my pans spin on the glass top. The other ones wobble. When pans don’t lie flat on the glass surface they don’t heat very evenly. My 12 inch pan is a wobbler AND a spinner. And it is not as large as I would like. I wanted a 14 inch pan, and as I said I had finally found one. I was so happy when I found it that I asked for it for Christmas. It was 14 inch, it was non-stick, it was affordable. So that was one of my Christmas presents last year. I used it all the time. It was heavy enough that it didn’t spin on the glass top. It was also flat so it didn’t wobble. I used it all the time. A lot of the pictures on my blog of food are in that pan.
But it was affordable and maybe on this side of cheap because after a year it is rusting. This pan did NOT go in the dishwasher. Things that say they are dishwasher safe don’t always last as long when they go through a washing with the tough detergent that goes into dishwashers. Plus I am not even sure this pan would have fit in the dishwasher. So it never went in the dishwasher. Well, it started rusting anyway, so now I can’t use it.
I was on a quest for a new 14 inch pan. I could get another one same as the one I got last year, but then would I be having to buy a new pan every year? Probably. I could get one to match my really nice set, but they are not cheap. So I debated. Buy it not, buy it. I have always wanted it, but it is difficult for me to spend that much on a pan, but once you do, they really last forever. I decided that I would ask for it as a Christmas present. Not a traditional gift. A lot of money for just one thing, but I figured if you added up all the other stuff it would equal about the same.
So, I am happy to report that I will be getting a 14 inch all-clad for Christmas. Just the thought makes me happy. The other day I wanted to cook a huge pan of veggies. As I was adding more and more vegetables, I kept hoping they would all fit. I kept wishing I had a bigger pan. I kept thinking . . . . why is it so hard to find a 14 inch pan? Doesn’t everyone want to cook AT LEAST 14 inches of veggies? I mean a pan full of veggies with a little bit of rice is a great meal. The larger the pan the more veggies. Oooooo! That is exciting! More veggies.
Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait. I am so like a kid at Christmas. I love getting surprise gifts. I love getting gifts I know are coming. I love getting gifts I will use all the time. And you know I will use that pan all the time. You know it will become a regular feather on my blog.
What about you? Are you one to ask for something practical for a gift? Are you ok with getting a small appliance or cookware for Christmas?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 14 inch pan, AllClad, Christmas gift, Monday Nia class, Nia, Nia class, non-stick, practical gift, small appliances | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 17, 2011
I am so impress I have to share AND comment:
I love the list of 25 clever ideas to make life easier. So amazing. Some of the ideas I have seen before, some of them were new to me. The are all pretty awesome. I love the straw and strawberry idea. Kind of funny using a straw to “pit” a strawberry. Saves you from having to buy a tool for it. Someone try the walnut on the wood and tell me if it REALLY works. And for how long? I mean I am thinking that it is just the oil from the walnut that moisturizes the wood so the scratch is concealed. I bet you could use any oil to do that. Regarding the TV, I guess if you HAVE to get crayon marks off a TV or computer screen you would be desperate enough to try WD-40. Otherwise no way. I can’t imagine putting WD-40 on a monitor.
I do know how to get crayon or wax off the carpet. It might even work for other fabric. Use an iron and a paper bag or any type of rough paper. Put the paper bag over the crayon/wax and then run the hot iron over it. The heat from the iron melts the crayon/wax and the paper absorbs it. If it is a lot of crayon/wax it is not a quick fix, but it works. I had a melted candle spill onto carpet once and I was able to get it all up with this method. But it took me a couple of weeks. I didn’t sit there for long, long periods of time. I would probably do a bag at a time. Eventually it all came up.
I love the apple idea. I can’t wait to try that. Seems like that would work. The old, “put lemon (or citrus) on it” doesn’t work for me because it DOES leave a lemon taste. I don’t care for my apples to taste like lemon. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to pull out a pillow case full of the entire sheet set? I like that idea, but my hubby does do the sheets like shown here and he gets them completely flat. I have mentioned before how I can’t tell the difference between the flat sheet and the fitted sheet.
The bowl does kind of help the volume of the iPhone. But you may know I have a little blue speaker, so I don’t need a bowl. Ingenious use of a wet-wipe container–storing plastic bags in it, but I just use a plastic bag to store my plastic bags and it works pretty good too!
I really want to hear from you to know if some of these things really work. Can you really get sand off your skin by using baby powder? Then how do you get the baby powder off? Sand? Or water? Which you could have just used to get the sand off in the first place, right?
I would imagine that putting a velcro strip on the wall could help store a lot of things besides just soft toys in a child’s room. Ok, I LOVE the wrapping paper idea. It is pretty smart to use the ceiling of a closet to store wrapping paper, but my closet ceilings are REALLY high. I actually have a wrapping paper holder that hangs in my closet.
I have heard of using a nylon over a vacuum cleaner hose to find stuff. GREAT idea! I recently heard of cutting Xs in a shirt box to make a cupcake holder. Another GREAT idea. I love the magnetic strip for storing bobby pins, but I honestly didn’t realize that other people used bobby pins any longer. Shoes in a shower cap. Great idea. I use plastic bags. The ones that the newspaper come in. Or ones that might be around certain product you buy.
Plastic cups in a muffin tin held in place by a magnet as a craft caddy . . . . dare I say it? That is pretty crafty! Love the use of bread bag closure things as power cord labels. That is smart. But my bread comes with wire twists. I have seen the ice cream cone cup cake thing before. Have you ever tried that? I have a friend that told me about popcorn in a regular paper bag in the microwave. However I don’t buy paper bags and I have never wanted to put my food in one that I might have gotten from a store purchase. A tension rod to hold spray bottles is a nice idea, but my cupboards aren’t that tall. Are yours? Mine could have hanging bottles AND stuff on the “floor”.
If I made hard boiled eggs, I would so try making them heart shaped. But I don’t. I also don’t have such fancy muffin tins. But I bet it would work with regular muffins tins. Aloe Vera in ice cube trays. Oh my. Will someone remind me of this when I get a sunburn? This is GREAT. Think of how wonderful that would feel. I hear angels singing. Gutters as planters. Nice idea. And it is brilliant to use egg cartons to hold ornaments. Fantastic!
So that is my take on the list. What about you? Have you tried any of these ideas before? Are you going to? I really want to know about the walnut and how long that lasts.
Posted in Helpful Hints, Misc | Tagged: clever ideas, cupcake holder, Daily Buzz, get wax pout of carpet, hard boiled eggs, how to fold a fitted sheet, iphone, keep apple from browning, pit a strawberry, velcro, WD-40, wrapping paper | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 15, 2011
I have a Nia student who bakes bread all the time. Challah to be exact. YUM! Several times when I’ve gone to her house she answers the door with flour on her. I have another friend who bakes bread and pizza dough and yummy things all the time. She even makes her own little slider buns. So cute. So yummy. I am a bread lover. Bread it awesome. Bread is so versatile. I love bread. It is absolutely silly that I don’t make my own bread. But I was afraid of yeast. I know that sounds ridiculous, especially to you bread makers, but it is the truth. The whole “active” and rising and “proofing” just scared me. What if it wasn’t active? What if it didn’t rise? What is proofing anyway?
I was talking with someone who was telling me someone else wasn’t doing something. We were trying to figure out why. Why wouldn’t this person want to do that? The person talking suggested it was because she was afraid and didn’t want to fail and her comment was, “So what? Fail, but at least you tried and you can do it again. Do it until you don’t fail.” Ah-ha! It was one of those moments. What I was not doing because I was afraid of failure was much less serious than what we were talking about. I am being vague to protect the innocent. 🙂 But believe me, yeast is a lot less serious and traumatic than the other situation. So I realized how silly I was being. It’s bread. It’s yeast. Whoppedee-do, if it doesn’t work. Granted I wouldn’t want to waste all the ingredients that go into it, but it is not THAT big of a thing.
I had even bought the yeast a long time ago (well, not THAT long ago because then again, don’t want it not to be able to be activated). So I decided to start with something I think of as even easier than bread—pizza dough. Now you might know that I think of both sandwiches and pizza as the perfect foods. They are bread/grains, veggies, dairy, and meat —- perfect. Even more perfect because you can eat it with your hands. Anyway . . . . I found an easy pizza dough recipe. After going back and forth, “Do I follow the directions on the yeast package or the directions on the recipe?” I decided to just go with the recipe. Actually, now that I am typing this up, I bought the yeast to make pita bread, but I let it sit until I had the above mentioned conversation at which time I decided to try pizza dough because I felt it was easier.
Anyway . . . my first shot was ok. The flavor was good but it was very “bready”. It was REALLY THICK, so I decided on my next try I would split the dough up and make two crust. But the second one didn’t rise nearly has much. Ya see, the recipe says to let the dough rise for 30 minutes. But a few of the comments said they let it sit longer. So I did that. I let it sit for hours, then I rolled it out to as large as my pan, which seemed pretty thin to me, but during the baking it puffed up. It was like thick crust pizza. So that is why I decided to split it the second time. But the second time the ball of dough seemed smaller, so I used it all and rolled it thin and it still puffed up. Not as puffy as the first time, but thicker than I wanted. I like thick crust, but I was trying to make thin(ner) crust pizza. After I cooked it —- and we ate it, I thought, “Oh the temperature.” Was that it? Did it not rise as much because it was colder the second time? I didn’t think about that until AFTER all was said and done. But it was much colder in the house the second time than the first time. So bready-people/pizza dough makers the temperature that the dough is left to rise in affects it, huh?
Here is a picture of my second pizza. This is two meals. Mine is the bottom portion, a half with spinach and mushrooms, and one with just spinach. The top portion has mushrooms and raw onions for my hubby. He is not a bready person, but he says he like the pizza even though the crust is REALLY thick. I will keep at it. I will experiment and play. Now that I am not so afraid to fail I can play. I am sure that one of these days I will get some bad yeast or I will do something wrong, but that is ok, at least I tried . . . . . and I look forward to all the pizza it will give us!
Posted in Food | Tagged: bread, bread dough, breadmakers, Challah, failure, Nia, Nia students, perfect food, pizza, pizza crust, pizza dough, proofing the yeast, yeast | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 13, 2011
I teach Nia at a studio in San Jose. The studio is in a part of San Jose called Willow Glen. In January (2012) I will have been holding Nia classes there for three years. It is a studio that is owned by two women who teach and perform belly dancing. One woman is named Hala and the other Amanda. The name of the studio is Halanda. See how they did that? Well, every year they have a Holiday Party which is like Christmas Parties at offices once were, a BIG thank you. The teachers come together to display their talent in front of the audience made up of students, other dancers, and neighborhood people. It was an awesome show and a great party.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first year that I have been able to attend. I was very amazed and impressed. I am going to spend from now until the next party telling my students they really want to attend next year. It is a busy time of the year, but it is so great to come and see all the beautiful dance we have going on in the studio.
There was a lot of food. As you can see there were vegetables, fruit, meat, and cheese. There were several types of crackers. Someone brought sandwiches. Someone brought spanakopita! There were trays of cookies. You can see the huge trays of turkey wraps. There was so much food. As one dish was emptied something else would replace it. The table was like the never ending table of food.
As you may know it is difficult to watch something AND take pictures at the same time. So I really rushed through taking pictures. I was using my phone and my camera. I was taking pictures on my phone and posting them to various social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, and Streamzoo. In addition to this being a “thank you” party, it is also a networking party and a way to try to get people interested in taking classes at the studio. So I was trying to watch at the same time I was Facebooking, tweeting, and posting to Streamzoo. All of this in addition to the fact that the subject(s) are shaking, shimmying, bouncing, and jittering caused me to have mostly very blurry shots.
The first dance shot is of Farima and her Students performing a Silk Road Fusion.
Then there is Marie Manila showing us what Hot Hula is. It appeared to be hula dance, with her telling you what muscles you are working. Maybe they repeat some moves more than they would in a typical hula dance.
Then there is a picture of Farima and some more of her students. They are doing a Persian Dance and they are dressed like princesses. I think the costumes are one of my favorite things about belly dancing. They can be very sparkly and shiny. I love that.
Here is a shot of my friend Laura Thompson. She is multi-talented. Here she is dancing under her stage name, Setareh , with a sword. I have known here for years and I have never seen her dance. It was awesome. Her other passion is jewelry making and her talent lies not only in the beautiful pieces she creates, but in the way she can tweak one of her creations to match you perfectly.
Here is Amanda, a co-owner of the studio, doing a Turkish Dance. 
Below is photo of Vy performing an Egyptian Oriental Dance.
Next is Hala, the other co-owner, doing Egyptian Bellydance.
And then a shot of Michelle and her students. Michelle teaches something called No Rules Dance, which I believe is for belly dancer who have belly dancing experience, but want to learn new things and “break” the rules.
I didn’t take pictures of all the performers, plus some that I did take were too blurry to post. Every dance was a delight to see. So much talent at the studio!
I did a two song Nia demo and many people joined me. It was awesome. We had a great time. I was so happy to be able to share Nia with so many people.
Well, I will probably point you to this post as NEXT December nears so that you can be reminded of what a GREAT time the party is and maybe (if you are around) you will attend. It really is a treat to be able to see so many different types of dance and belly dance all in one show. Thanks always to Hala and Amanda for having such a great little place we all can dance!
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Amanda, Belly Dance, Certified PiYo Instructor, Christmas party, CPT, exercise, Facebook, Hala, Halanda Dance Studio, Holiday party, http://www.HelpYouWell.com, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia San Jose, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, No Rules Belly Dance, Performance, Pilates, PiYo/Pilates/Yoga, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Nia Teacher, San Jose Workout, social networks, Streamzoo, Terre Pruitt, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia, workout, www.HelpYouWell.com, www.NiaSanJose.com, www.TerrePruitt.com, Yoga | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 10, 2011
The studio I teach Nia at in the Willow Glen Area of San Jose is having their annual Holiday Party. I have been teaching at the studio for almost three years (three years in January 2012). This is the first time I have been able to make it to the party. I am very excited. They have food, performances, demos, make-up, drumming, dancing, and just plain fun. If you are local and you are able join us. (02.16.12 The even has taken place, see my next post https://terrepruitt.com/2011/12/13/halanda-studio-holiday-party-2011/ for a little summary and pictures.)
I think that people are not comfortable turning their head. While out today I was watching people back out of parking spaces in parking lots and I was amazed. Most of the people I watched did not look back while backing up? What is up with that? You are actually supposed to TURN YOUR HEAD AND LOOK BACK while backing up. I saw so many people glance left then right then front and just start going and KEEP going. I understand sometimes you look left, then right, then front as you start easing out, but then you turn and keep looking back. Nope, not the people I saw. They just zipped out as if people coming around the big huge car parked besides them could see they were backing out and would stop. Crazy. I am surprised I didn’t see a lot of collisions.
Last night we went out to dinner with a group of friends. It is our second annual Christmas dinner. Last year it was at a friend’s house. This year we went to a restaurant. We ordered a few of everything from each section of the menu and we shared it family style. It was all very good. Some of it was very unusual. It is one of those restaurants where the menu changes all the time so you can’t go there expecting to get something you got last time. One of the stand out items for me was Pumpkin Ravioli, Sage-Walnut Pesto, and Pomegranate. The Pomegranate just pushed it over the edge of yummy. The Lasagna of Pork Sausage, Zucchini and Mozzarella was excellent too. One of the weirdest things was Pumpkin Ice Cream, Hazelnuts, Aged Balsamico. I cannot say that I would recommend this. The Balsamico was not sweet enough to tie the flavors together. In fact when it hit the portion of my tongue that registers sour my face did the lemon taste face and my eyes started pouring water. A bit TOO much of a contrast to me. I am not usually a fan of the family style eating but since there were so many things to taste I really enjoyed it last night.
We got a bum tree this year. I picked it. I thought I did GREAT. My husband was shocked when he came home and I told him to be careful. We can’t understand why it is perfectly green and looks great, but it acting as if it is dead and brown. Needles are falling off it at an incredible rate. I am bummed. It will be a very short Christmas tree time this year. The cat will be happy. She is really good with a tree in the house for about 30 days. She will tolerate it. Maybe bat at an ornament once or twice. But on the 31st day. She had been known to give an ornament a whack. To me that is her telling me that she is done. When we have a tree we move her cat tower away from the best window to another window. The other window is not as tall so she can’t see as well on the top. Plus it is just not in the “right” spot. There is a TREE in the right spot. This displacement doesn’t really make her happy. At first she is a little excited to be in a new spot but that wears off quickly. Also the tree is in the best sun spot. And with this tree I am not even opening the curtains to let the sun and heat on it. For as long as we have had her, she will let the tree be until we are over 30 days. Then she tells me in a very catly way that she is done. So this year she will be happy because it will not last 30 days. Sad but true.
I am still working on my 31 Things Project. How about you?
So, do you have anything to share? An event? Perhaps some thoughts? Anything happening with you? What about Christmas; have you decorated? Are you done shopping? Anything?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Thing project, Cats and Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas party, Christmas Tree, dance party, dance performances, dance studio, dangerous drivers, family style restaurant, helpyouwell.com, Holiday dinner. Christmas dinner, Holiday party, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia Willow Glen, Pumpkin Ravioli, San Jose Nia, teach Nia | 6 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 