by sunnyslideup | featured guests
We are happy to introduce our guest for today – Jenn’s husband, Brad from s.o.stereo. Check out their awesome music available on iTunes.
“tell me about music.” make english of something so beautifully cerebral yet so perfectly impassioned. explain to me what makes music good.
blessed be the day i were left, tasked, with this burden. write about the music i like? write about the music i write? (s.o.stereo.facebook.com/saveourstereo – done) nonetheless, here i sit, telling you what you already know in an effort to shine light on the most significant and magnificent moments in life we so often let slip by. as is the purpose of sunny slide up.
a friend of mine once told me that the best thing about music was “everyone has their own opinion and to them their opinion is right.”
while i still love that idea, i’ve realized now that music is much more than an opinion. i’ve realized that music is at the foundation of every great memory in my life. for example, O.A.R., Dispatch and Howie Day pretty much sum up my high school experience. Howie Day literally changed my life and his show at the Jeep Festival in 2001 is the moment i knew writing music was the cut i needed to chase. i was re-born at the hands of Coldplay my sophomore year of college and the Killers, Bloc Party and Razorlight wrote the theme songs to my ever-escaping youth. add to that the most beloved song in my life “Oh My Sweet Carolina” by Ryan Adams – the song i sing to my son while i rock him to bed (both literally and figuratively).
you see, i am a musician (which is apparently the only requirement to become a “guest writer” on sunny slide up), so perhaps i look at things differently but music means something in a life that if we let it… means nothing. in other words, music doesn’t entertain us – it defines us. so, if your life were a music video make sure it’s worth watching, listening to or at the very least… writing about.
.bless .boom .bradley
(Brad is the tall one in the hat)
by heather | featured guests
On the topic of health this week, I wanted to share with you my new found love for acupuncture and introduce our guest blogger, Adrienne Wei from Inner Peace Acupuncture. Adrienne contacted me about doing some design work for her a few months ago and she encouraged me to give acupuncture a try. If I was going to help her market her business, I needed to understand how it all worked, right? I was nervous at first, but it doesn’t hurt and I leave my sessions feeling so relaxed – like I just had a massage! It truly has improved my overall health in the three months I have ben working with her. I encourage anyone who has never had acupuncture to give it a try. You won’t regret it! Now, here’s Adrienne…
People often ask me what acupuncture is, exactly. Allow me to try and explain:
Several thousand years ago, East Asian practitioners discovered that the body forms disharmonies as a result of the various physical and mental stresses of life. These disharmonies disrupt the movement of the body’s vital energy (qi) along the meridian pathways, which are channels through which the body’s energy is thought to flow. Acupuncture restores the smooth flow of qi. Through the insertion and manipulation of tiny needles, stagnant energy (or qi) that may have been blocked is now released and free to flow properly again. Many Western practitioners view the acupuncture points as places to stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue. This stimulation appears to boost the activity of your body’s natural painkillers and increase blood flow.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is one of the oldest medical systems used today. It is different from conventional medicine in that it treats the whole person rather than isolating one symptom, and promotes health on the body level as well as the mind and spirit levels. It has two main components, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. Acupuncture works to realign energy imbalances while Chinese herbs target the imbalances of the internal organ systems. Other modalities of treatment include diet, exercise and meditation.
Acupuncture works by activating the body’s own healing powers, so it can be beneficial for many health conditions. Currently, the National Institute of Heath (NIH) has determined that acupuncture is effective in treating over 40 different disease categories, some of which include: pain, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, infertility, headaches, IBS, high blood pressure, insomnia.
ACUPUNCTURE DOESN’T HURT. I get asked that question all of the time too. Acupuncture needles are hair-thin and flexible. Most people hardly feel the insertion. And actually, most patients leave their treatment feeling relaxed both mentally and physically.
I have always known that it was my destiny to be a healer. Growing up with a mother who was a prominent Chinese Medicine doctor, I was exposed to the practive of Chinese Medicine at a very young age. Under the influence of my mother, I found my mission in life – to help those who had lost hope and to heal the world with the power of Chinese Medicine. I enjoy helping and working with people, so after enrolling in acupuncture school and attending my first day of classes, I knew I had made the best decision of my life.
Acupuncture has helped me in my personal life and because of that treating Women’s Health has become my passion. I dedicated my practice, Inner Peace Acupuncture and Wellness, to focus on Women’s Health and my specialties include infertility, IUI/IVF preperation, endometriosis, PCOS, menstral irregularities, menopause, anxiety and stress management.
Thank you Sunny Slide Up for allowing me to guest blog and give acupuncutre a try!
by Mandi | featured guests
Today we welcome Vanessa from Our Life on Two Wheels. Vanessa and her husband Kelly are avid bikers. Their weekends are spent outdoors… in a race, down the road at a park in Raleigh, NC or out on vacation, traveling the country one trail at a time. We couldn’t think of anyone better to be our guest blogger this week, wrapping up the theme… NATURE.
Hey, I’m Vanessa and you could say that I’m a city girl. Sitting here, typing a post about nature. If you would’ve asked any of my friends five years ago to describe me, “outdoorsy” is not what they would have said. And, as I think back to my days in high school, I’m reminded that I joined the marching band to avoid gym. Yeah, not outdoorsy or athletic at all!
But, that was then and this is now. And now, I’m a mountain biker. I think you can safely say that my main hobby is both outdoorsy and athletic. Go me!
This is along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Pisgah Inn in North Carolina.
About five years ago on a whim, my lovely husband bought me a mountain bike. Mind you, we have been together since high school (yes, we are high school sweet hearts…. that could be another post!) and in all of those years, I NEVER rode a bike. He had gotten a bike a few months prior, and thought that I might like it. Back then, I liked to watch TV. Grey’s was still interesting and vampires hadn’t taken over the world of female entertainment. And looking back on it now, that was about it. Something was missing, I just didn’t know it at the time.
My first trip to Fruita, CO for some fun on the 18 Road Trails!
My first bike was great. I will never forget the first time Kelly got me out on an actual trail. I hadn’t been on a bike in years and now I was expected to ride over rocks and roots and logs laying in my way. But you know what? It was so much fun! Did I struggle because I had no fitness? Yes, many, many times. Still do! But, did I make it until the end and have this great sense of accomplishment? Yes. Each and every ride is another example of me putting myself out there and pushing thru the tough times. When you are in the middle of the woods with your only mode of transportation back to the car, you just have to keep pedaling. And oh yeah, the woods….back to that theme of nature! I certainly wasn’t getting outside while I was so enthralled with my weekly TV shows. But thanks to my fancy pants new bike, I was getting outside all of time. And realizing just how beautiful and rewarding it can truly be.
A beautiful overlook in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, NC.
Waking up after a night out in the forest—the only mode of transportation that weekend was my bicycle.
My mountain bike has given me rich, full life experiences. My husband and I have been able to see parts of this country that I never dreamed I would see. There is nothing like the feeling of being in an absolutely stunning place and knowing that at any one moment, I am the only person in the world seeing such a beautiful thing. It has happened to us many times. And it has filled us both with this sense of accomplishment. Not to mention, it gets the two of us out of the house and experiencing life. Together.
Finally getting to experience the infamous 401 trail in Crested Butte, CO with my husband, Kelly.
Mountain biking has given me the feeling of adventure. It has also given me a drive to continue to improve at something other than my 8-5 job. I have something outside of my professional life to push me and to get me to experience life. I am so thankful that my husband took a chance to get my butt off the couch. I love being outside and I love living life. I’m still a city girl, but now I’m one that isn’t afraid of a little hard work and time outside.
Along the 401 Trail in Crested Butte, CO
This one is just too pretty not to share!
