What a week...

I've been unintentionally avoiding blogging this week, but needed to get it done this morning seeing how it is my last opportunity with a computer that has the internet. It's been such a long, rough week that I can hardly believe I made it through.

Last Friday, my manager (the only good manager I've ever had) informed me and my coworkers that he is leaving the company. Today is actually his last day. I was completely shocked and kind of devastated. Working for him the last year or so has been a great experience. He was so willing to help me learn, pushed me to do things that would help me grow, was always praising and thankful when I did something well. When I found out he was leaving, I was freaked out. I didn't (and really, I still don't) know who my new manager will be. It could turn out fairly good, or really, really bad. All weekend I couldn't help but just burst out into tears at random moments. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my old manager. He has a fantastic opportunity and I'm glad he took it. But not knowing where my job sits is very unsettling. Being in the dark has always been hard for me.

Monday night, I had to sub in O-town so I drove up to my parents' house after so I wouldn't be alone that night. I honestly don't remember the drive from the gym to their house because I was so upset. I talked with my parents for a while, got a blessing from my dad, and seemed to feel a little better. I was still on edge, but I didn't feel like crying. After I got home that night, my old roommate came over and we talked for a while. I'm so lucky to have support for times like this!

The rest of the week has just been kind of a blur. I'm hoping that by Monday, I'll know where I stand with my job and I'll be able to make the right decisions concerning the situation. For now, I'm glad this week is over and I can take some stress relief time this weekend... hopefully!

You've Got to Show Me JAM!!!

I know I've already posted this week, but something so fantastic happened I just had to write about it. It's even a kind of fix to my earlier post...

I've been teaching Body Jam for almost exactly two years now. I was completely in love at first. It was so awesome to get up there week after week and dance with some of the most awesome and inspiring people I've ever met. Over the last couple of months, between getting my RPM certification, my own RPM class and losing my Jam partner to a very, very sweet cause, I was getting less passionate about Jam. My class moved to a new time which seems to pick up for a while but then started slowing down again. Numbers kept dropping and I was getting extremely frustrated and tired. This week totally reopened my eyes to why I actually do what I do and why I love it so much.

Every three months we release new music and new moves to every program. RPM was a blast last week and is still a lot of fun. But Tuesday night this week was almost a brand new experience. We launched Jam in O-town and, with over 50 people in the class, totally rocked it! I honestly don't think I've personally taught better than I did that night. It felt so amazing and to see that many people just letting go and having a fantastic time made me realize why I push myself so much. Teaching with Mike and Nikki (and missing Sherry, who was in the class with her baby bump) was completely incredible. I had so much fun, but it made me very nervous for Wednesday night, my class. Our numbers don't even come close to competing with Ogden, and I was worried our launch there was going to be a bust with maybe 10 or 12 people.

As the starting time got closer, more people I had never seen before kept showing up. We only had about 4 or 5 regulars, but we had 29 PEOPLE show up for our launch. Compared to over 50, it doesn't seem like much, but it's a smaller club and that is more than I've ever seen in my class! The energy from everyone participating was absolutely perfect. The three of us had a blast teaching, again, and it was the best time I've had in a very, very long time.

I got home and had a quick text chat with Nik about how we can pull out it in Layton every week and I seriously broke down crying. It felt so good to be back in my zone and love every second of it! I seriously never want this feeling to end! So here's the JAM message...



love...

Cabin Fever!

I decided I moved into my own place at the wrong time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love my apartment. However, with the weather turning bitter (and I mean bitter) cold outside I'm forced to stay in a lot. For a while I was catching up on photo editing and enjoying the time alone. Now I'm all caught up (pictures from Europe coming soon) and I really have nothing to occupy my time.

Last night was pretty great. I got to spend some time with an old roommate who I hadn't really seen or talked to much since I moved out. I love that I'm getting to be with my friends again... hoping to keep up the trend this weekend!

I guess all I'm pretty much saying is I can't WAIT for winter to be over so I can spend more time outside. I'm excited to go running, hang out on my little deck, just be outside without being super cold! BRING ON THE WARM WEATHER! Please :)

Challenge!

Well, the work week is almost over which means my opportunity to keep up my "resolution" would be greatly reduced. I thought I'd write about the freaky dream I had last night that woke me up around 1:30 this morning, but even I've had enough of my dreams! So I want to let you know about my challenge. Telling people will make it easier to keep up with since I'll be accountable!

This last Monday marked the beginning of the Gold's Gym Challenge in our area. A 90 day competition to see who can lose the highest percentage body weight. The competition is usually just for members, but this year they are offering a separate competition for employees. The prizes aren't as huge, but it should still be a good opportunity. I'm not really even expecting to win anything, just in it for the hopeful self-improvement.

As of Jan. 1st, I was not allowing myself to eat processed sugar. My desserts consisted of a piece of fruit. I'm keeping that up at least until the contest is ended (more than likely until my marathon in May) and hopefully that will add to the progress. It's SO HARD when I visit my parents' house on Sundays and smell the homemade goodness that comes from the oven, but I've resisted so far! We'll see how that goes :)

I'm also changing my routine at the gym. I had gotten too used to my classes and I wasn't seeing any changes. The only classes that will remain the same are the ones I teach. Otherwise, I'll be switching it up! And I'll be adding running in, too, since I need to be training! As soon as I get my new running shoes I'll be on the treadmill.

That's pretty much it. I feel like if people know what I need to be doing, I'll be more likely to keep up with it. If anyone reading this wants to ask me questions during this challenge, please do! Ask me about progress, good days, bad days, slip ups, anything! The more I have to answer, the better I'll do.

Thanks for reading!

Orange Fizziness

I know a lot of people make "New Year's Resolutions" around this time... I for one hate that phrase. I would rather make short term goals and hit them. HOWEVER, one goal I do have for this WHOLE YEAR is to make at least one blog post per week. This being the first full week of the year, I'm starting now!

I previously blogged about the weird dreams I have when I take Emergen-C before bed. I have now determined that it is not only this health related product, but Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold (orange flavor) that produces this outcome as well. I have had a sinus infection since Saturday (not long enough for antibiotics, sadly) so I've been taking all kinds of decongestants and whatnot. My favorite discovery so far has been the new orange fizz. The dosage states that a person can take this product every 4 hours. If I followed that, I would never be conscious. It knocks me out for a full 8 hours, meaning I sleep through my alarm if I don't take it early enough in the evening (late for work TWICE this week).

Last night, I had one of the strangest dreams and I'm convinced it's a result of my medication. I dreamed that I was in a field with praying mantises all around me. Not really a big deal, right? Except, in my dream, these little insects had two spiked forelegs (which they actually do) that were used to dig into people, transfer poison into our blood, and kill us (which they DO NOT do - to my knowledge). One mantis got its spikes into me, but I got them out in just enough time to not be killed. I finally escaped the field and went to my sister's house where her kids were OBSESSED with lizards. I found it strange, but figured "kids, they have weird obsessions". By the end of my dream, after I had unconsciously turned off my alarm, my sister and her husband were starting to turn INTO lizards. This finally freaked me out enough to wake me up...

On a side note, I do have other goals, one of which I have enlisted the help of a friend for. Here's hoping success is in the near future! Let me know if you see any changes :)

Another side note... I changed the name of my business AND my business blog. If you'd like to see it (I'm trying to not make it easily accessible to a few certain people) let me know and I'll give you the address!