What Happen to April?

Wow, time flies when you are having fun, and or are really busy! I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of April! Where did the month go? As I have alluded to in previous posts work has been going great. I'm enjoying getting to know the clients and seeing them get excited about the changes they are seeing with themselves! It's awesome when a move/the technique "clicks" with the client. Just last week I had two people (I won't name names but one of them does read this blog!) tell me that they are seeing physical changes having only taken class for two or three weeks. One told me that her pants that were too small at Christmas are nearly too big right now! The other woman is finally seeing definition in her arms after trying for years to tone them. It might sound cheesy, but it feels really good to help others feel good about themselves and get excited about working out/staying fit.

Me and three other instructors from the area. The two girls to my right teach at a nearby studio. The girl to my left is our studio manager and an instructor

I had the privilege at the beginning of the month to get advance training in Columbus. It as a lot of fun to see another studio, meet other instructors, and take class from an instructor who has been teaching since 2008. She did a great job of giving us new ways of encouraging clients and helping them really connect their mind and body with the technique.

My schedule will be changing on Wednesday so I am looking forward to getting to know some of the evening clients.

Funny story from this morning... one of my 6am clients told me after class that I have improved so much. It was a bit of a random moment in time, but it was really nice to hear. For one thing, it's nice that clients feel comfortable talking to me and another to have someone acknowledge my teaching evolution.

Any who, yes, I taught at 6am this morning which means I have been up since 4:14am. I am exhausted. Bed time.

Celebrating Life and Health

What a beautiful day. I really hope this nice, sunny weather sticks around for a long time. Lexi and I took a nice long walk around the neighborhood and it was so refreshing. I can tell a huge difference in her when the weather gets warmer and she can lay in the sun or run around the yard. She's a much happier dog. Now that the weather is warming up I'm challenging myself to get 10,000 steps in a day. Today I did awesome with about 12,000, but I know I won't hit 10,000 without making a conscience effort to get the extra steps. You'd think that teaching fitness classes all week that I work out a lot. Unfortunately, I don't always get to take class after/before I teach. Next month is going to be even harder with consistent real estate classes mixed in throughout the week and weekends. However, I am challenging myself to attend 20 classes throughout the month of May - 20 in 30 days. I think it's do-able. I'm also focusing on eating a lot better - not as much processed foods. There are so many yummy fruits and vegetables in the spring/summer that there is not reason not to eat well. It also means not buying the sweets and junk food. I've been really good when it comes to drinks. I no longer buy pop. Any pop in our house comes from Drew. And, that's fine. Drew doesn't have to give up pop just because I am or completely change his eating habits, although I know he too wants to eat better and get in to better shape. The neat thing about Drew is, he is always willing to try new things and he adapts pretty well. If I don't buy cookies or chips, ice cream, etc. he's okay with it. But, he will eat ice cream for breakfast if it's in the freezer ;)

I don't know about you, but this past week was a very long week. Long and hard. Our nation went through a lot in a matter of days and many people are still grieving and recovering from the horrific events in Boston. (For me, it's still hard to fathom what led the two brothers to want to kill/hurt so many innocent people. I will never understand. My mind doesn't work like that.) For the last month or so I had been planning to attend my friend's baby shower in Indiana and because of how difficult and sad the week had been it became even more important to me to attend the shower. Not only did I want to be there for her, but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate life. A life that will soon be a part of this crazy world. I know my friend is going to be an amazing mom and to see all of the other wonderful people "baby H" will grow up learning from was comforting.

Celebrations of life continued on Sunday as I joined the rest of the family at my parent's house to celebrate Kevin's birthday. His birthday was really last weekend but he already had plans and couldn't  come. So, needless to say, his birthday extended for another week. Once again, it was really nice being with family and enjoying a nice, tasty meal. I am so very blessed to have wonderful caring people in my life. I hope we always cherish each other and our company.

A tough week ended on a high note.

Praying for Boston

I had originally planned to do a follow-up of last night's post, elaborating on some of the topics I skimmed over, but I am just not in the mood right now. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened at the Boston Marathon today. I'm not even sure if there are words to describe how I am feeling. From shocked, to heart ache, to anger I've felt it all as more details develop. It's hard to wrap around why people do terrible things to each other. Sure, I was prepared to worry about bombings while Drew was in Iraq, but to have to watch your back at a race, or be afraid of getting shot at a movie theatre or in school... it's devastating. I realize that's what the people creating the violence want... to create fear, and we can't go around being afraid all day, everyday, but it's hard not to ask "why". Why do these terrible things have to happen? Why do so many innocent people have to suffer? I just read an 8-year-old is one of the victims from today's explosions. It just mind-blowing.

Fortunately, there is a lot of good in this world. And, in times like this when things don't make sense prayer can help us to find peace.
"We will RUN and not grow weary, for our God will be our strength" - Isaiah 40:31

I hope the victims and their families are able to find peace and strength.

Yikes!

I should really be asleep right now as I have to get up really early to teach, but a part of me isn't quite tired yet so I figure I will write a quick post to update you on the last two weeks. April has been a very busy month for us. Drew spent a week in Seattle for additional Amazon training, I spent a day in Columbus for advanced Pure Barre training, I started my real estate classes, and we had our first house guests! Oh yea and I may have had my birthday on Friday ;)
Needless to say, it's been an exciting 14 days!
This weekend was shorter than usually since Drew had to work an extra day (he was off an extra day the week before when we had family in town), but we made every minute count and were able to spend quality time together which we don't get too much of these days. It made for a low key, and relaxing birthday. He got some yard work done around the house while I was working, and then caught up on his sleep. Friday night we celebrated my birthday with a dinner to PF Changs.

I promise I'm not that pale!

I love that they have a menu of gluten free items to pick from, including a chocolate torte. This evening I spent dinner with my parents and brother. Mom grilled out and I was able to enjoy a nice home cooked meal with great company. Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't come because he was enjoying his own birthday celebrations at a music festival, but that just means we all get to get together again next weekend.
Last weekend was full of family fun on Drew's side. He and his sisters hosted the 4th annual Susan Bake Off in memory of their mom. His aunt, uncle and cousins drove in from Georgia for the event and stayed with us. They were our first guests! Of course, that meant leading up to the weekend we were putting beds together, organizing paperwork (our office was a disaster!), cleaning, cleaning, and attempting more cleaning. It really wasn't as bad as I may make it sound, it was just a lot of last minute stuff. Drew's sister moved into her new place the weekend before and in turn we "inherited" a lot of stuff. Drew was then in Seattle the days leading up to his family getting into town, so whatever we didn't get done together before, I had to get ready myself. Luckily, we inherited two extra beds (one from Gayle and one from Jill) so all of our guests had a place to sleep. But, we also inherited a lot of tools, another (our third) refrigerator, a dresser, etc. etc. Our garage is still a disaster, but the bedrooms turned out great.
I'll touch more on the house in a future post, as well as some of the other topics I teased, as now I am getting sleepy and it's getting late. Four a.m. will be here before I know it!