Fitness Competition

I went to my first fitness competition.  Wow - it was so....I just have no words :) I know how hard my friends worked and I am so proud of them.  They looked great.

 This is my friend Laurie.  We team teach and she has been such a huge help in my group fitness goals.

 This is Stacie.  The 3 of us lift together and have so much fun pushing each other!

Wow, am I white or what?!

New Launches!

We launched BodyPump 91 and BodyCombat 61 at the gym.  As always it was a lot of fun.  I LOVE teaching group fitness.  I would like to get certified in other classes as well, but I've promised TJ no more for awhile...it's a lot of work!

Comparing to Others

Sometimes I have a really hard time not comparing myself to others.  I have good friends at the gym that I lift with regularly. They are training for a fitness competition and while the thought crossed my mind to do it too - for about 1 millisecond - I decided it wasn't the right thing for me to do.  I saw this shirt and got it to remind me that I am me, and not to compare myself to others!

LesMills Launch!

Every quarter LesMills comes out with new releases.  We always have a big launch party to debut the new releases.  We decided to do this one on July 4th.  It was awesome!  We had so many people.  What a great way to get the 4th started - getting our sweat on!  BodyCombat 60 was up first!

Then BodyPump 90!

BodyCombat CERTIFIED!!!!!

I have been on pins and needles waiting to hear about my BodyCombat certification...I FINALLY heard!  I PASSED!!!!!!  YAY!  No more certifications for awhile, it's stressful!  But, I'd really like to eventually do CXWORX and BodyFlow...don't tell Tj :)

Picture!

I have been wanting this picture FOREVER!  I decided I was just going to order it and it would be my Mother's Day gift.  So, thanks honey - I love my gift!  It's huge, it takes up almost the entire wall of the dining room, so it kind of looks funny in this little rental house!  But, someday it will have a forever home like us :)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life.  I am blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers, an awesome mom and mother-in-law.  I am truly blessed to be mom to these 3! 

BodyCombat 59 Initial Training

I LOVE BodyCombat.  I have been taking it for about 4 years.  I had some world class instructors down in Florida, and they inspired me!  They were the best instructors I have ever had.  I decided it was time I became an instructor too!  I have my BodyPump certification already, so why not another Les Mills program??  BodyCombat 59 is awesome.  I love all the music so much.  Training was April 19-20 at Virginia Tech.  That was wonderful because we live across the street - no commute at all!  For BodyPump I had to drive about an hour, which still isn't too bad.  Our trainer for BC was Leslie Ann Quillen.  She is awesome.  I learned so much.  We spent so much time on coaching which will not only help me with BC, but with BP too.  We started at 8am Saturday morning.  Leslie Ann taught the master class the entire way through.  It's been a couple years since I've done an entire hour of BC - I didn't know if I'd be able to do it!  It was rough!  And, I had just had a terrible stomach virus Wednesday and Thursday and I really didn't feel well.  But, I made it.  After the master class we got right into learning.

 We learned all about technique, coaching, and more.  It was so informative.  We also presented our first track that afternoon and got feed back on it.   I knew ahead of time I was going to be teaching tracks 4 & and 5. 

Sunday morning we started right at 8am again.  We started off with Super Hero jeopardy.  It was so much fun and our team won!  I won the bonus question which was to name one of the fighters in the UFC fight the night before.  That was our homework for Saturday night - to watch the UFC fight on FOX.  I had never watched a UFC fight before - I'm hooked!

I was sad I missed Easter Sunday with my family.  But, I didn't really have a choice.  You have to attend training to certify and the trainings are always a Saturday and Sunday.  Right after our jeopardy game we presented our second tracks and got feedback on them.  Then we had more training and information.  We had a Combat challenge that afternoon.  It really was a challenge!  I loved how much time we got to spend working on our form and technique for the hooks, jabs, and kicks.  Very helpful.  Then before I knew it, we presented our second track for the second time, and it was all over!  It went too fast.  We waited in the room while Leslie Ann was in the hall and called people out to give them their final grades.  I passed with a 3/3 - the highest pass.  I felt so good when I walked out to her and right away she said to me "you are really good at this."  That made all the self-doubt, worry and thinking I wasn't good enough go away.  To have a master trainer tell you that, well that's some high praise!

Now to learn the entire release and get fully certified!

BodyPump 89 Release!

Our Monday morning BodyPump instructor moved and asked me to take over his class!  I was so excited!  Monday morning is the best time to teach, I think.  I love it.  We launched the new release this morning and I asked if anyone wanted to dress up as superheroes with me.  We had a blast.  We tried to get our members to dress up.  Only one girl did - she wore a Batman shirt.  Everyone told us they loved the costumes.
Our signs to get everyone excited!

 Me, Jon, Laura, Martha and Sarah

 Triceps!

 Biceps!

 Flex Break!

BodyPump Groundworks

A couple other instructors from the gym and I decided to attend a Les Mills Groundworks training for BodyPump.  Laurie and I presented in BodyPump and Jon presented in BodyStep.  The day started early, we had about an hour drive ahead of us.  Check-in was at 8:30, and we wanted to be there in plenty of time.  It was held at the Roanoke Athletic Club - it was huge!  Our little gym in Blacksburg is so small.  We walked into the room and all the steps were already set up for us.  I was impressed there was a table off to the side with snacks!  Cliff Bars, bananas, trail mix, waters, and granola bars.  I've only been to one Les Mills training before, and there were no snacks there.  So, this was a nice surprise!  The day started off with BodyPump. We did the express class with the master trainer.  He was amazing of course.  Then we spent a lot of time looking in the mirror while he told us what position we were to be perfecting.  Lots of practice on squat position, dead rows, bicep rows, and more.  It was great to go through all of that again with a master trainer!  Then the presentations started.  There were 5 of us presenting in BodyPump.  I was last.  I did BP89 squats.  We knew from signing up that we would not teach the entire track, and that the feedback was given in front of everyone.  So you had to be ok with that if you wanted to present.  I didn't mind - I wanted feedback!  I need to work on my coaching layers.  I have been spending hours on that this last week trying to script and put things where they need to be.  It's tough!  After BodyPump we did BodyStep.  I am not certified in that, so I just took the master class and then sat out the rest of it.  After that we had a mini lesson on how to become better instructors.  It was great, I learned a lot.  My favorite part was the description of how when we came in this morning, we didn't know we were doing things wrong, now we were aware that we were and it might sting a bit.  I guess I feel kind of like I'm going through some growing pains with my instructing.  I know now what to practice on to be better, but it's stings a little.  It was nice to know that everyone had things to work on!  After the lesson, it was BodyAttack time.  The trainer for attack was amazing!  I wish we had Attack at our gym.  I am not certified to teach it either, so I sat out after the master class.  Last class of the day was BodyJam.  Now, I am NO dancer.  I have no rhythm, at all.  I was planning on just sitting this entire thing out.  But, the trainer wouldn't allow that - oh no!  He made me get up and participate.  Ugh, I hated the entire thing.  I hid in the back and looked like a complete idiot.  Oh well.  It was a great day.  I wish there were more trainings to attend!

BodyPump and Super Bowl

I team teach BodyPump with Laurie.  She is gracious enough to let me intrude on her class every Wednesday.  We have a lot of fun.  We wore football jerseys before the Super Bowl.  I don't own my own so I had to beg Tyler to let me wear his Broncos jersey.  All our class members loved it.

BodyPump Assessment

I sent my BodyPump video in on October 20.  The website kept saying I'd have my results by 11/4.  I couldn't resist checking every day though, just to see if it changed.  When I logged in on Friday, it changed to have my results by 11/14!  I was SO bummed!!  Then this morning, Tj was checking email and said "honey - guess what!"  My results were in - I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!  I am SO glad it's over!  It was so stressful, I'm glad to have that weight lifted off me!  I am so proud of myself for doing something like this and finishing it to the end - that's a big deal for me, I don't normally finish things!  Or maybe, I haven't ever really tried to start anything...hmmm.  I'll have to think about that one.

Teaching!

I've been teaching BodyPump at the gym for about a month now, but I've never actually taught the entire class (besides my filming) by myself with no other instructors present.  It was a little scary at first to think I was in charge!  But, I wasn't too nervous and it went well.  Except for my lunge track which I totally messed up the choreography on...oh well, I kept them moving, just not to the right beats :)

There's my name right there under Wednesday BodyPump!  Can't wait to teach more!!  For now I'm just a sub, hopefully soon there will be an open class I can take!

Bodypump 87 Training

I have taken bodypump for years - I love it.  I have never seen muscle definition in my body until I started doing bodypump.  I've wanted to be an instructor for a long time.  I was thinking about it a lot when Tj was last deployed, but it's an all weekend long thing and I didn't want to have to burden someone with the kids for that long.  When Tj came home I was looking into it, but then I found out I was pregnant.  I could have still gone through the training, but I just didn't feel well.  I was always so nauseous.   Well, finally I found a time that would work for me.  I signed up back in July for training the weekend of September 14 & 15.  I was so excited.  I would be training on BP 87!  About a week and a half before the training I received my release and the tracks I was to learn so I could teach them at training.  I had the chest and back tracks.  I looked at that stuff and thought - man, how am I supposed to learn this stuff?!  I thought it was so easy!  Well, it's not as easy as my instructors always make it look!  But, I studied, practiced, listened to the songs over and over, and over again and finally had it memorized.  I felt pretty good about it.  Training weekend came and I headed out early for training - it was about a 45 minute drive.  There were 15 people in my training - 13 women & 2 men.  Some had experience in being instructors in other programs already.  Some, like me, didn't.  It was a great weekend.  I learned so much.  It was hard!  We presented our first track on the first afternoon - I did the chest track first.  I did good - no mess ups at all.  I was a little nervous getting up there in front of everyone for the first time with the microphone on.  The second day we presented our track again, then presented our second track later in the day.  It went well too, I just rushed a little.  We had a small run, for about 15 minutes, then came back to the gym for a pump challenge.  It was so hard.  The trainer set up 8 stations we had to rotate through.  He set the weight for those stations - and it was A LOT of weight.  Way more then you would ever normally use.  It was just to show us how strong we really are and how much our bodies are really capable of.  I was with two other girls in my group - one was great.  The other drove me nuts.  She was one of those who didn't really try all that hard.  She would stand there doing nothing while the instructor was turned the other way, then work only when he was watching her.  She complained and complained and complained some more.  She drove me INSANE!  At the end of the second day we received our feedback and found out if we had passed or not.  There are three different kinds of passes - I got the highest pass - yay!  All that hard work paid off.  I was so happy.  The instructor winked at me and told me to get started on learning the rest of the release and get ready to film.  I have 60 days to send in my film to Les Mills so I can be fully qualified to teach by myself.  I've been working hard and have 5 of the 10 tracks learned now.  I'm hoping to have everything memorized and ready to film on Oct. 9...it's scary!

I've taught in my gym now about 6 times.  Again, I was really nervous the first time.  But, everyone is so nice and supportive, I'm no longer worried.  I even messed up the first time I taught I was so nervous, but I didn't tell anyone and I kept going like nothing was wrong.  No one but the other instructor knew.

Got my release!  Now to study, study, study!!!

 Off to training the first morning!

 YAY!  I PASSED!!!

 At the gym, with my name on a poster telling me I was TEACHING!

What a great experience! 

Today's the day!

We got checked in this morning and hooked up right away to some pitocin.  Now we just wait!  My visiting teacher came over at 6am to sit with the kids and get them off to school.  Come to find out, because of snow, school was cancelled today!  So, she has them until Tj can go pick them up after the baby comes.

 The nurses are awesome here.  Loved this goal :)

Here we go!

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 34 today - good grief!  I can hardly believe I'm that old :)  TJ sent me these delicious treats - but he told me that he had ordered them and I needed to go pick them up - haha!  Then as I was leaving the store the cashier told me "Ma'am - your husband said I'd know when you walked in to pick these up because your tall and gorgeous"  Awww, he's so sweet!

  I have an awesome church family that loves me too!  They threw me a birthday party and it was fun to be with friends that night.

 The kids played lots of Wii and Brena was super happy about something!

Mother's Day

I can't say as I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Really, it was just mostly like any other Sunday. I didn't have anyone cook me breakfast or give me special gifts. However, I did buy myself some new silverware and drinking glasses :) But, I can say that I am truly, truly blessed to be a mother. I love my kids with all my heart. One of the hidden blessings I think with TJ being gone is how much time the kids and I spend together. Yes, sometimes it's a little rough. But, I can honestly say that it has made me love my kids even more. I didn't think it was possible to love them anymore, but I do. We have struggled through some tough times this past year together. I know we have formed an amazing bond between the three of us that I will always treasure. I hope they will too.

Birthday Surprise

Last week my good friend asked me if I wanted to go to dinner Friday night - her husband would watch my kids. Of course I said yes! I called her Friday about an hour before I was supposed to be at her house so we could decide where we wanted to go. Because you know how it usually goes - I don't know, where do you want to go? That kind of thing. Well, she automatically said where we were going because it was close and good. I didn't think anything of it, I was just grateful someone had made a decision for me, I get tired of making all the decisions! We get to the restaurant and it's packed, people are waiting. She talks to the hostess and we walk right in - I just thought she had made a reservation. Then I saw someone from our church at a table. I tried telling my friend that there were people we knew there, but she was ignoring me. Then, we turn the corner and there are 16-18 or so people I know sitting at a table with a cake on it. Now I am thinking "why didn't we get invited to this party?" Then, they start singing Happy Birthday to me - that's when I finally figured it out! It was a surprise party for me! I feel SO incredibly blessed to have so many amazing friends in my life. It's truly a huge blessing to feel so loved and taken care of when all of my family (and husband) is thousands of miles away. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a great day.

The out-of-this-world chocolate cake!

My fun gifts.

High School friends

One of the fun things I got to do in Colorado was get together with some of my best high school friends. We got to have dinner and talk all night. Well, I had to leave around 11pm, they stayed until the place closed at 2am!

This is us on graduation day - May 1996! From left to right: Valerie, Shandee, Mandy, Sarah and me.

This is Valerie and I in the 9th grade. I think this picture was taken in 1993, but I could be wrong. We met in cross country and hit it off right away.

And this was us on August 7. I had to crop Mandy out of the picture. Mandy is a model (and GORGEOUS!) but her hair is under contract...or something like that, so she can't be in any photos. You can see her in the first picture (graduation) above. Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention, Mandy and Valerie are twins.

This is Sarah and I. We played basketball together. I have such fond memories of all these girls! It was so good to go out with them and catch up. I wish we could do it more often!