Pure Barre Travels

My Pure Barre fun continues. A week and a half ago I traveled to Denver for a third round of training. It was a quick trip, but this time I had another instructor with me. We had the chance to travel around the downtown city area the first day, and then day two was spent in the studio learning new moves before flying home - I told you it was a quick trip! Coincidentally, my younger brother, Kevin, was also in Denver for work. Sadly our schedules didn't align and we weren't able to meet for dinner or say hi.

Training with the double bands at corporate, in Denver

I'm having a blast teaching classes and my love for the technique seems to be spreading to other family members. My mom says she is hooked, and Jill, my sister-in-law is also increasing the amount of classes she attends each week. Now, if only I can get Drew to a couple of classes... We are hosting a Man Up and Tuck event next week. I'm crossing my fingers our kickball team won't need us and he will participate. The event is basically a regular PB class, but guys are invited to take and will get a Man Up and Tuck t-shirt. The studio also offers beer and wine after class. We're working on partnering up with the bar next door to offer drink specials and appetizers, but nothing is definite yet.

Surprisingly, this summer the studio has seen an influx of clients. We've added a handful of extra classes to the schedule, offering more than 40 each week. More classes = more teaching for me which I am not complaining about. I absolutely love teaching, meeting clients and answering questions. On the other hand, all this PB teaching and marketing projects has left me with very little time to study real estate outside of all the house work. I am really disappointed in myself that I still have not taken the test.  I know I need to just suck it up and study, making it a priority. especially before I forget everything I learned in class.

Military Madness

Yikes! Tomorrow is the last day of July! Where does the time go? I can't say I am surprised though it's been one heck of a month; one busy summer! But, we're embracing it and trying to enjoy every second together.

Rewind back two-and-a-half weeks...  Drew and I had a ball to attend! Our second military ball and I must admit I was excited to get dressed up and go dancing. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of dancing from the two of us, but Drew surprised me and his eldest sister by submitting us for a service award. The two of us, along with about 6 other women were awarded the Molly Pitcher award - "The Honorable Order of Molly Pitcher is bestowed by the U.S. Field Artillery Association and the Air Defense Artillery Association to recognize women who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the U.S. Field Artillery or Air Defense Artillery Communities. The award is named after Molly Pitcher who distinguished herself during the American revolutionary war."

To wrap up the night Drew and I did a little Pure Barre. The studio is holding a contest throughout the month of July, encouraging clients to post pictures doing Pure Barre moves outside of the studio. We're calling it "tuck around town". There is also a contest between the instructors, and the best picture between instructors gets a special prize. I couldn't let the moment pass by of the two of us dressed up in our formal attire so we did our own tuck around town photo at the ball. God bless my husband for supporting my crazy ideas!

The following day the military events continued. It was the annual family picnic. As commander Drew hosted the event, but had an amazing group of women behind him who had been planning the event for months. The women did a FANTASTIC job organizing the entire day and making sure all the kids had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did get one of the two of us wearing our Army shirts, playing in the whiffle ball tourney, as well as one when the local firefighters showed up to cool off the kids. Considering the heat that day, it was definitely needed! 

Nearly a Washout

Well our 4th of July was definitely a washout, but the entire weekend wasn't a complete loss. We had planned to visit a nearby water park July 4th, but with all of the rain, opted to stay inside, watch a movie and play around in the kitchen. Drew baked cookies and I made a homemade fruit salsa. We packed up our goodies and spent the evening at my parents house for dinner. My older brother was busy, but it was nice having my parents and younger brother around to catch up. I hadn't seen Kevin in a while, and my parents hadn't seen Drew for some time.

The rain continued on into Friday. We both did our own thing in the morning - Drew helped with a military funeral and I worked out and taught at the studio. It was crazy how many road closures there were and how difficult it was to drive from point A to point B. We took advantage of the short break in the rain towards mid afternoon to do some gardening. Drew had been wanting to plant flowers in the front yard for some time and we were finally together at home to do it. I, on the other hand, have no green thumb. I've tried planting flowers in the past and the buds always fall off and the flower dies. I find it frustrating and a waste of money. Drew wouldn't accept that as an answer or excuse and we went out together to add some color to our yard - make it a mature/adult yard. I'm not exactly sure what type of flowers Drew bought other than they are perennials. I've been carefully watering the flowers every morning and crossing my fingers they will at least make it through the month!

Mother Nature didn't forget about Saturday either. It rained ALL MORNING! Thankfully, the rain tapered off into the evening and we were able to enjoy the night out at the casino. We bought tickets to the Barenaked Ladies concert and it was held outdoors at the casino. It was my first time seeing BNL in concert and visiting the casino.. or any casino for that matter. I was a little underwhelmed when we first entered the casino. I think I was expecting an extremely GRAND building inside. It definitely seemed smaller than I imagined. We played a few slot machines and I even came out as the big winner between Drew, Jill and myself. I won a whopping $6.25! WOO HOO! lol. I would have kept playing but I really didn't like the game so I cashed out for a voucher.

The concert was a lot of fun too. I was shocked by how long the two opening acts played. Maybe because we had been hanging around at the casino for hours before the concert, and it seemed as though we waited FOREVER, but it didn't seem as though BNL played for very long. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out and do something while we were both not busy. All of the bands were really entertaining and interacted with the crowd a lot.

Overall, it was a fun, eventful weekend. It felt like an even longer one too despite the usual time together. I'm looking forward to this upcoming weekend. We have a lot on our calendar including a military dance and military picnic! Let the fun begin :)