I did not sign up for this . . .

Greetings again!

So soon you might say. . . well I am really in a lonely stage right now so I just want to talk to anyone/something to get all my thoughts and things that are happening out there. I really would like someone to come home to sometime whether it be a roommate or whatever, but it' getting a bit lonely. I guess going home for Christmas is just around the corner so I must be looking forward to that so much. So this post will contain a list of things that have gone on today and thoughts that have been floating about and I just need to get out there.

1. I bought an underarmor shirt at Fred Meyer on Friday and wore it for the first time today and HATE it. It's blue (not my color) and a v neck (not really my body type) and just not that nice. Why did I buy it? Don't know now really. Anyone want it?

2. I took my first spin class tonight and got my butt kicked. It was sosososo intense and I was sweating buckets after the warmup. I burned 750 cal said my heart rate monitor and my shirt was drenched. It was good to experience. Next up . . . a couple other cardio/step classes just to experiment. I am getting bored with my workouts. Which leads me to . . .

3. I really want/need a personal trainer to switch up my workouts and have someone else design it rather than me just looking up other workouts on the internet and in books. Too expensive though.

4. I did not sign up for this weather. It's brutal. I was in drive thru at work today and not really expecting this super bad wind so I was frozen all day. We shut the window every chance we got, wore gloves, had 2 heaters, wore a coat and a couple layers, drank so many hot drinks, didn't even feel like eating cuz I was so cold, but got many, many tips for sucking up the weather to serve our customers. That was a nice surprise as sososososo many customers were still super rude and picky.

5. I need to move south. I am such a warm weather person and am not really happy or motivated to do anything unless I am warm. You know me, I just am always so cold. So the sooner I can move the better. Any ideas?

6. I read the best thing in the Daily Bread today. Something that I just needed to hear. Because I am really pessimistic and wished I was a more optomistic person, however God wants us to be realists. People of faith are realists who recieve it all. All the good and bad of life and REPEATEDLY choose to know that God really loves us and is constantly at work FOR OUR GOOD AND HIS GLORY. He doesn't want us to suffer or be miserable all the time. He wants to give us our desires and wishes so that He will receive glory. He is not going to place us in a position where we are not happy and then don't want to praise Him at all, even though we need to in those short times that we are afflicted. As it says in 1 Corinthians "Our light affliction, which is for but a moment, is working for us a far mroe exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The ball is in our court too though. We have to repeatedly choose to remember that God loves us. It doesn't come naturally because we are taught to blame others, the weather, our failures on ourselves, etc rather than just looking UP and seeing a God who is still smiling down on us. It's work, but what a payoff.

7. Just a big thank you to my parents who put up with a phone call from me every night, who support me, and are praying for me all the time. I am so blessed. I can't wait to see them at Christmas!










So since I never post any pictures, I am going to post some pictures of the chocolate buffet that Diana and Leia and I went to on Saturday. YUM!

The Saga Continues . . .

Greetings my beloved readers!

I don't really know who reads this thing still but I love writing on it when I have the time. Which would be right now as I ice my knee after yet another workout. Didn't push it too hard today as I have to gear up for a hard day tomorrow. I joined the Steve Nash Sports Club yesterday. I am a sucker for a good sale (obviously) and so my seven day trial turned into a membership. He sold me. The gym is awesome! It's huge and such new equipment. There are not that many people in there at a time. They offer classes such as spinning and yoga and personal training. That I will have to pay for eventually but for the first hour you get a free consultation. I am stoked. The guy that I was talking to also is going to help me watch and talk to the trainers to shadow them to practice for my upcoming weight training exam. I practiced on Leia last night too. LOL. It was fun, but she knew too much already so it wasn't as realistic. I guess some clients will think they know everything though, so I should be prepared.

I am super stoked about this opportunity and gym. I got an awesome deal as a corporate member under Starbucks! Who knew? And I hope to get a job there in the near future and then I won't have to pay any fees. Here's to hoping the next step is to move into the condos/appartments above the complex in the area known as Morgan crossing. It's a huge new area practically in White Rock and just 10 min drive from work at the max. As close as I am now, except I would have the gym there, shopping such as Thrifty foods and Walmart and all the good shops in Morgan Crossing strip mall. Not that I shop that much but if I did, it would be nice. I just have to find someone to share an apartment with to cut the rent. Then it would all work out!

The good thing about Steve Nash too is that they just bought out Fitness World and so there are locations everywhere in the lower mainland. So if I end up wanting to move, then I can just go to the gym in that location! Yay! And the one in vancouver has massages and all sorts of added bonuses in the club. It's so cool. A little more expensive than "She's Fit" where I have been going, but it's a small price to pay (no pun intended). Added bonus is that there are GUYS working out there too! It's a good change and a much needed one.

It seems that this gym issue helps solve a little more in my life. I am wanting things handed to me right now as I am comfortable, but I really need to work harder. I need to network more, get out there, and make some decisions without this huge fear of failure. It's frustrating having that hang over my head. FAILURE. I have no expectations to live up to except my own and I have placed them so high that all I do is fail. I am not good enough unless I am perfect. That is definitely not the mentality that I need to have to achieve. In order to achieve my dreams and goals I really need to want to succeed more than I am afraid to fail. I think that overcoming this is the first step. So I have been trying to step out of my comfort zone, do things that I just hate doing in order to take risks and see myself actually fail. That way I can compare that situation to this false failure that I have placed on myself.

Anyhow I have really lofty goals that are readily achieveable, I just need to work at it, do things I don't like, and take one day at a time.

As for the rest of life, pretty much all I do is go to the gym, work, sleep and eat. I love love the gym. I am totally a gym rat and even more so now. I should just sleep there. haha. But on other notes, tomorrow I am going to the States with Leia to do some shopping. A little bit of Christmas shopping but more so just general shopping and eating at my favorite restaurant called Milagro. It is the best homemade mexican good I have ever had. Every single person that I have taken wants to go back, and has gone back on their own.

Saturday is the big day that I have been waiting for since July. After Diana and I feasted on chocolate at the Chocolate Buffet at the Sutton Place Hotel in Vancouver, we have been planning this pre Christmas party there again this year. So Leia, Diana, Amy and I are going there on Saturday all dressed up and ready to feast. I haven't really eaten chocolate in all of November so I am ready for it!

I am also stoked to have this weekend off to relax a bit (not really a word in my vocabulary, but I will try) and finish all my weight training homework and get ready for my exam. I am almost ready so I will book the practicum exam soon next week or the week after. Then phase 2 will be complete!!!! I also get Sunday off so I can go to church!!!!!!! and watch football all day!!!!!! It's going to be the best weekend ever!!!

Well this has been a super lengthy text but I just have a little bit more to share so bare with me. As a result of not going to church, I have been neglecting (procrastinating day after day) reading my Bible and praying. I have not felt "far from God" as so many people say, but I feel so proud and boastful. I have been trying to do this all on my own without any words or wisdom from the One who really is in charge. So the past couple of days I have been giving a little more time to building that relationship and already I feel so much stronger because of His Strength really. He is the one that builds me up. He is the one that feeds my mind, soul and body. He is the one that I should be living for. He is the one that has expectations that I should be trying to reach and live for.

Thanks for listening today. You are one tough cookie if you held on until now. And if you did, you win a free training session with yours truly. Haha. No but seriously, call me if you want some advice/direction. I will be elated to give it to you!!!

Later days!

HIIT, FITT, Don't sit!

Greetings beloved readers,

Here I am once again after a super awesome weekend! My fitness course is so great! I love it. I have learned so much already and there is much more to come in the weight training and personal training part of the course. The things that I have learned the last two weeks have helped me understand my training better and have given me the answer to the "why do I do this exercise" question that I have had for so many years. It's so neat to see all the things I read in magazines and books really become defined. It's more working out with a purpose.

I have already shared a lot with people at work but I can't wait to explain things to people who really want to get in shape. Things like working out at a high intensity for shorter periods of time is better for you than dragging out a low intensity workout for an hour. A study in an article that I was reading showed that a person sprinted for 1 min at 100% effort 3 times with 20 sec rest in between then rested 1 hour. They took the oxygen consumption of the body (the use of oxygen in the muscles to promote exercise) after that 1 hour and it showed a higher level than light exercise for 20 minutes straight. It is crazy. During the workout, you may burn more calories doing a long run versus a couple sprints, however up to 3 hours after your workout, your body is still burning fat and sugar. Low intensity exercise does not do this, nor does it burn as much fat (despite popular belief), nor build up your heart muscles to decrease your risk of illness.

I have learned all this and sososososo much more. I just love sharing. I took the fitness theory exam on Sunday and on Friday, Sat and Sun this week is the weight room instructor course. I am pumped for that. This week has been a good week too as I had a really good time on the weekend and am so happy doing this. I love personal training and know that it is exactly what I want to do.

I was at the Passion Tour event on Friday night at Roger's Arena in Vancouver. Louis Giglio was speaking once again and Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and David Crowder Band were singing. Louis was talking about the will of God in our life and that Louis himself could tell you what that was. We were all shocked. He said that it is the deepest passion that you have for doing something. What do you really, really want to do in life? That is God's direction for you and that you just need to work at making Him first in your life and really glorify Him in that occupation. He of course said it more eloquently but I really needed to have that reaffirmed. I have heard that so many times, but right this week I just really needed to hear that, with me not knowing WHERE I want to be and how I can be the most effective at it.

I wish the work situation at Starbucks wasn't as bad as it is. I really don't like going to work, but this week I realized that I love working for the company. I love making the drinks and serving people and connecting with the partners. I am thinking that I might just transfer to another store come the new year rather than just up and quit. We'll see a little later. As for now we are slugging it out.

Here's a shout out to my Dad. His birthday was on November 8 and that's surely a date I will never forget. I hope that he knows just how much I look up to him. I try to emulate him in so many ways and love hearing all the wisdom that he wants to share. He is such a great Dad and person. His hamster buddies, men in the church, families that we know, and his own family have an incredible amount of respect for him. He tries to live what he speaks and what the Bible says, even when it's tough and I admire that. So Dad, (I know you don't read this but Mom will show you I am sure) I am so thankful that you were born so that I could be born and that you could be my Dad. I love you.

And so concludes this saga, so until next time "EAT GREEN TO STAY LEAN"!