Spinning and Core Concepts

It has been raining for 3 days straight. No matter if I'm inside, I seem to have less motivation when it rains. I did complete an assignment yesterday and organized 13 songs for our first music practice on Sunday. I also made it to two classes at the gym.

I walked to the gym in the late afternoon and had soaked gym shoes. I did the spinning class and enjoyed it a lot. After that, I did the core concepts class and about died when we had to place this small ball under our back and do crunches. I had tears in my eyes...it was so painful. Today I am feeling it!

At 5, I have a graduate student mixer and plan to get some free appetizers and see some friends. I wish Dan was with me, but I know of some friends who are attending. Since I'm going to campus for this, I will not do a workout program today. I figure my body needs a small break, no? Yoga is tempting, but I'd have to leave now and I just immersed myself into a project that is due today. Also, since I have a wedding tomorrow, I will not get much work done then, so I have to work pretty hard now...so...bye!

First time doing Yoga

Today I completed my first yoga class on campus. I bought a group fitness pass, so I can experiment throughout the quarter and choose classes that are interesting and help me get back into shape.

The yoga class was pretty good. My hamstrings were so tight that they shook a lot when they were stretched. The instructor started out demonstrating moves and then she just said the moves, but didn't show them and I was a bit lost. Thankfully, most of the people in the class knew what they were doing so I watched them. I felt so tall and relaxed after the class which helped me a lot with my day.

I had a lot of reading to do before my class this evening. I have one more project to write up for the summer and then have a project due on Monday as well. We are also starting up a new contemporary service at church, so I will be involved in getting that started. I have a lot on my plate, but I'm excited to get into a routine soon. I think the workouts will help me a lot too!

Tucson, AZ

For some reason, I always want to spell Tucson as Tuscon. I don't know why, but I like my way better.

Anyway, I did have a great trip to Arizona to see my mom's side of the family and watch my uncle get married. What a beautiful desert wedding. It was at sundown and the sunset was gorgeous! Everything was perfect except the DJ played modern hits and the old fogies didn't want to dance. My mom and I rode with another couple, so we had to leave early (10:30) before we could boogie down on the dance floor. The next day we heard that they played the old stuff later in the night as people were leaving...wha whaaa.

First I should backup. I got there on Thursday and met my mom at the airport. We went to my uncle's house and had a GREAT dinner that night with Nicole's family and my family. We stayed at the Hilton which was very nice!

The next morning I enjoyed a southwest breakfast buffet and boy was it great!!! I wish I could eat like that every morning. We went to the botanical gardens and shopping. I got to enjoy spending time with my family without the stress of school or work.

I made it back to Cinci an hour later than I had hoped, but thankfully I got out of Atlanta before it was completely flooded.

Yesterday I took Dan to the airport and he emailed me and he is in Mérida. He's there for a conference and will come back on Monday. I sure wish I could be with him and visit our friends but I start school tomorrow. Speaking of, I have homework already and classes haven't even begun. Off to work!

Ohhhh, I bought a gym pass for the fitness classes. I went to turbo kick last night and wow, it kicked me. I'm so excited to do cardio classes, pilates, yoga, and anything else everyday!!!

DC

Wow, so much is happening that I can barely keep up with blogging. I finished working at the hospital on Sept 2nd and had classes all day that day. I was happy to have finished by passing an ECG exam.

The following day we flew to Baltimore and took the train down to DC to stay with Ben and Aline. We had such an enjoyable time touring the city and spending time with them. We saw the state capital, the white house, the washington monument, lincoln memorial, air and space museum, natural history museum, supreme court, national archives, and washington's mansion: Mt. Vernon. It was fantastic! The weather was beautiful and we dodged the rain twice. Ben and Aline also took us to Annapolis, Alexandria, and Georgetown. I liked all of DC and the surrounding areas!!


Tomorrow we're off to Chicago to visit friends and see the U2 concert. I'm excited to see Grant, Lynsi, Leah and Teirney!! There is nothing better than seeing old friends and seeing a great show on top of that in a great city!

Birthday Week

Yes, I have been celebrating my b-day month, but the b-day week proper went well. My friend of 21 year, Lynsi, drove to Cincinnati to spend the weekend with us. Friday night we headed to Mt. Adams for pub food at Mt. Adams Bar and Grill and headed next door to the Blind Lemon for a relaxing bottle of wine and live music. It was a perfect night for going out and I was pleased with the warm evening temperatures.


Saturday was the "big" celebration at the pool. Lynsi was born in 1980, so she was celebrating 29 years while I celebrated 30. Many friends came to send me birthday wishes, eat grilled food, and jump in the pool. It was HOT and perfect for a pool party. I was pleased with the celebration.

That evening we had Skyline Chili (Cincinnati Chili--it's a must if you visit) and went downtown to Fountain Square. We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch and listened to my kind of music, though there was no dancing. After that, we hit up a hookah bar and then came home for some karaoke. Noel's karaoke is the biggest hit ever, though Lynsi will not sing.


We slept in Sunday morning and then went to Alt Park and had ribs for lunch at the BBQ Review. YUM!!! We then went to Union Terminal, got a tour of it and then went into the Cincinnati History Museum. We had a great time, but we were so hot and tired, we had to hit up Graeter's Ice Cream. YUM!!! That night was finished off by a competitive game of Monopoly that we couldn't finish because Lynsi needed to get up early and drive home the next day.

What a weekend! Hopefully more blogging to come

the mad elliptical

So I just found out from Dan that he scored a "very poor" the other day on the elliptical. Thank goodness it's not me. I had my mind to beat it and get the best, but Dan said it must be broken. It is also quite annoying because you cannot stop or you lose all your data. I just wanted to turn the other way and it completely shut off. Oh the tricks of the trade. I'm just proud that I'm back in the gym, no matter how ghetto it is. But, who am I to ask for anything better?

We had a great weekend. Last night we sang karaoke until 3am. I suppose since this was my first time leading worship in church in over a year, I should have not sung at the top of my lungs till 3am, but it went well this morning. Church people are really more nice than honest though ;) Anyway, I am way too old to be staying up past 1am, but my friend's karaoke mic is too much fun! It just plugs into the TV and there are 2000 songs to choose from.

Today it was 95 and high high humidity. We decided to go out to our pool (the apartment has one) and we enjoyed it immensely. It was the perfect ending to a long, hard work week. Did I mention that I don't get paid for my work? I just have to continue to remind people of that and gather a bit of sympathy.

Well, pizza rolls sound like a healthy option since I started to work out again! Why do I let Dan buy these things, especially when I'm working on a cardiac floor?

work out

Our new apartment complex has a small workout area. I tried it for the first time today because it is much closer than UC's rec center. I decided to take it easy and try the fitness test on the elliptical. At a level one, I scored a "very poor". I laughed and wondered how I did that. The only thing I can really think of is that my heart rate was above 160 the entire time...177 at the highest. I don't know what's wrong with my little heart, but it doesn't like to exercise. I'm hoping with a little conditioning (or a lot), I can keep at some sort of lower target heart rate. I can say it was a good work out despite getting poor reviews from the equipment :)

Dan was in his suit while working out, so he jumped into the pool afterwards. It is cold, but refreshing on warms Cincinnati days.

I turned in my final project for my class. It feels great to have that done. Now I have this new practicum and fall will be here before you know it.

Dan started off my birthday month with dark chocolate covered espresso beans and bruschetta sauce. I am spoiled...though he will enjoy it too!