New Year Schmew Year

Despite the fact that I've had the plague for the past 3 weeks (it really has no name, so the plague it is...) I had a fabulous New Year's Eve. I was really bummed I couldn't drive down to Des Moines to see a good friend of mine (I just wasn't feeling better despite the Z pack and vitamins and water and working out to flush out that darn plauge) so I volunteered to be DD.

Have you ever been a DD on New Year's Eve and sober to witness the debauchery that is midnight? If not, I highly recommend you attempt it. Sure, you may need to make a back-up plan in case you end up downing holiday themed drinks and dancing on ottomans. Which  by the way, leads me to point one: if you are sober on NYE you must go to a posh lounge with ottomans. Each ottoman is a magnet for strangers leaning up on each other and passing out, resulting in a fun game of "spot the sloshie". Whereas yes, I am guilty of taking a brief cat-nap in a public, downtown establishment (ONCE OK PEOPLE!! And it was in a pub in Dublin, so really, it's probably encouraged) I at least hid on a booth bench for a snooze (ahh, comfy).

I also highly recommend you go to a lounge with a cover band modeling after a band where most members are dead. This makes it easy to weed out the tools who claim they were front row at the concert of the band last year (I regret to inform you skinny-jean, skinny-tie clad man, that you were not, in fact, front row to see Let It Be live last summer. George Harrison is dead).

I also recommend wearing your sensible cute shoes, not the ones that give you numbing pain on the bottoms of your feet that you typically rely on alcohol to dull. That was a poor life decision on my part. But they were oh so cute, and resulted in my pal calling my outfit my "Badass" outfit all night. Will post picture of shoes at some point.

Best of all, we all got home safe in icy conditions, I enjoyed myself, my friend enjoyed herself, and I am not dehydrated today. Huzzah!

Happy New Year to all my wonderful friends!

Reflections

365 days. 52 weeks. Lots of new things.

A dating life. The loss of my Grandpa. A new job. Quitting other jobs. Running a household (of one...). Missing friends. Making new friends. Having a social life. Wonderful holidays with wonderful people. The birth of my nephew. Neglecting updating my blog for 6 months...

So let's start with what's been up since last time.
Job: Crazy. Challenging. Gratifying. Hair pulling at times. But a great start to my career.
In other wonderful and exciting news, I am officially a certified Personal Trainer. Wooo! Hardest test of my life, but I am official and certified. Now I just need some gumption and guinea pigs and guts to get started.

On the topic of Dating:
Ha. I feel like I've gone on dates with them all. High maintenance, low maintenance, educated, non-educated, athletic, non-athletic, passive, aggressive. And I am no closer to anything than I was last year at this time. Therefore, I am focusing this year on the single, and being ok with that (emphasis on the ok with that...)

So tonight starts the beginning of the ok-ness. And it will most likely be rung in with a sparkly dress. And I will blog about the ringing in later this weekend. And THAT is my other New Year's Resolution. To be more connected. With friends, family, new people, and those to be met.

So Happy New Year to you all! 

A Victory!

With shaking hands and a pounding heart I went into my closet this morning, and took the pair of shorts from the bottom of the pile. These shorts aren't just any shorts. They are THE shorts. The "goal shorts".

Now, for those of you who know me, I am a true hourglass, curvy woman. I have boobs and a butt and I am SO not ashamed to admit it. I love my body type, and always have. I am strong and athletic with calves that look great with a pair of heels or trainers. However, with curves comes a constant battle of clothes not fitting, or not fitting correctly (too big in the waist, too small in the butt, too much boob showing, meteor shower on my thighs shows, the list goes on. I haven't really lost any weight in the past year, although I have been working out tons and strength training like a mad woman.

Fast Forward again to my closet this morning. I pulled out my shorts. They are navy blue, Gap chino like shorts. What's more American than navy blue shorts? I put both legs in and BAM! Like Emeril, they fit. This is a victory for me, proof that I don't (more like refuse) to deprive myself of foods I love, work out every single day to exhaustion, and let the scale dictate health.

Don't get me wrong, I have lots of goals for my health, however, it felt great today to shimmy in my skinny shorts and button them without sucking in :)

Cheers to a healthy 4th (I WILL be eating s'mores and a burger)!

New Job!

Hi All,

Well, since my last post, there has been one huge thing that happened:

I got a grown up job! Not only a grown up job, but a job in the field that I want to work in! I am the new Fitness Center and Group Exercise Coordinator at a local Community Center.

I am so, SO excited to dive in and start learning... and there will be a LOT of that to do. I am in charge of a staff of about 35 and ALL of their schedules. Good thing I like logistics :)

I also get to lead a Teen Bootcamp. It. Is. A. Blast. They are a group of awesome teens who are so hard working and fun. Last week we did 15 minutes of warm ups and plyos (hard plyos, they were troopers: jump squats, butt kicks, high knees, and burpees). Then half an hour of circuit training (thank you Garage band for letting me make tons of 1 minute clips with 30 second pauses!) and 10 minutes of core and cool down. They were such troopers. We set team goals, and I think they even had fun.

I am SO excited about this path that I am on. It has taken a while for me to get what I want, but the wait has been so worth it. The experience I'll gain here for my age is great! Cheers to a healthy 4th!

You Win Again, Mini Golf

Last weekend, I went on another Match date. I had spoken to said gentleman a few times. He was a Fitness Professional, and seemed pretty nice. He invited me out Mini Golfing, and I said sure.

Let me take the opportunity to present my only mini-golfing experience previous to this date. My brother decided he wanted to go to Grand Slam for one of his birthdays. Grand Slam was the Babe Ruth of all kids' South Twin Cities birthday dreams. Arcades, mini-golf, batting cages, and laser tag, this place was AWESOME. For realskis. At the party, my parents let me partake by mini-golfing. Because giving the most accident prone child of three a putter and a golf ball is obviously the best choice. All I remember about that day is my mom saying, "This is NOT baseball!!!" as my golf ball went flying across the course. Call me Tiger Woods baby.

Present Day:
Upon meeting at the mini-golf joint, I met my date.

First indicator it wasn't going to work: he was wearing khaki cargos, brown lace up Heavy Doc Martins and black, halfway up the calf socks. 


After making lots of small talk, we continued through the different holes. Although said date was slightly boring, the hilarious gay couple behind me kept narrating my awesome mini-golf skills and cracking me up.

Along about hole 7, I had to putt my ball into the hole from the edge of a water trap. I'm sure you can all see where this is going...

Upon putting out of the water trap, I tipped backwards, resulting in a Matrix-like backbend over the man-made creek. To my date's defense, he did grab my arm and rescue me from the perils of having a wet butt for the rest of the evening. I'm of course laughing in hysterics b/c the situation is rather hilarious. I don't think my date appreciated the exuberance. I was cool with it. *sidenote: the couple behind us ups their commentary, and it is just freaking hilarious by this point*.

Aside from my date just kind of being boring in general and kind of annoying and whiney about the putter he was given the topper on not wanting to see him again was when he thought he messed up recording the score, and he walked all the way through the mini-golf course (a good 10 minutes of me waiting up at the top...) to attempt to figure out where the score could have gone wrong. And by walking all the way through, I do mean through other peoples' games resulting in me realizing that he is kind of rude even after I told him I'd take one for the team and he could have winning score. 


All in all, it was an hour and a half of my time, and I stopped by Dairy Queen on the way home, so all was well. Beware of those with Doc Martin's and shorts. 

Digging in the Dirt (and other adventures of grandeur)

Hello All!
I apologize for my absence. I fully realize all 6 of my followers have been waiting on the edge of their seats waiting for another haphazard date. I regret to inform you, there have been no dates since the last post (not even bad ones)!

I have been far too busy doing this:

And This

I will write stories regarding both of these next time. Until then, I have lots more garden beds to dig up and plant, and end tables and small figurines to dust.

To Weigh or Not to Weigh

Since starting studying for my Personal Training exam (through ACE), I have been going back and forth about scales. Some advise throwing your scale away and using a tape measurer and the way your jeans fit to measure ones successes, and I can see how that would be extremely beneficial. Less mind games, less

However, since I am an anal retentive control freak at times  like to know, I prefer weighing myself daily. But that scale is really hard to face at times. So I definitely don't do it every day. Or after ingesting massive amounts of pizza and beer (yup, even health professionals do it at times...). I only weigh myself on days that I feel fabulous, and if that number doesn't match what I'd want it to, then I put the scale away and focus on my goals.

But here is the case in point: If a number on a machine that is probably inaccurate anyway is determining the mood of your day, put the scale in the back closet. Step back and learn how to rely on how you FEEL. Do you feel strong and healthy?  Do you feel like shakin' your tail feather in your pair of jeans? If so then celebrate!

If you're not feeling so rocking one day, stay away from the scale and put on something comfortable!! That cute belted sundress that makes you feel like a million because if doesn't have a button at your waist, or your yoga pants that instantly lift your butt.

If you focus on how you feel, you will start to make connections between your habits and the benefits or downfalls of them. Then, if you want, integrate the scale slowly into your feel good routine.

Tomorrow is Sunday, a fresh start to the week. Start on a good note and don't weigh yourself :)