Hello hello all!!! How is everyone's Monday going? Mine has been pretty great. Not for any reason in particular, but just a good day. It was a beautiful day with bright, sunny skies and mild temperatures. So, I opted to take a 30 minute walk with the Kenz baby before lunch. I usually spend some time in prayer/thought while taking our afternoon walks together and today was no different. I was just walking along with thoughts rambling through my head, when suddenly one just came to the forefront and stuck there.
What was it, you may ask? Well, it was about going ahead and getting certified to teach some group fitness classes. Now, I don't know WHY this thought came about. I have always had it in my head that the plan would be for me to work towards getting certified for personal training and possibly teaching group fitness classes in the future after we are done having kids (only having two, so not too too long from now) and after those kids are a bit older and in preschool at least. I wasn't even thinking about money, budgets, etc when this thought came around. It was suddenly - "Hey. Why don't you go ahead and contact your gym's head of group fitness or others in the area and see what is needed to become certified? Then, maybe you can go ahead and do it now, get on a schedule to teach just a few classes for the time being to get your foot in the door, make a little extra money (I know very little ;)), start building contacts for future plans, etc...
Here's what is going on in my head. I know I have a huge passion for fitness. I 100% plan to get into this field in the future. Teaching group fitness classes could be a relatively easy way to enter into this field - not saying it's super easy to do, but easier than going straight into training. It could possibly be a way to do something rewarding for myself outside of the home, help earn a bit extra money (every little bit helps, right?), and still be flexible enough to not be completely time consuming and a hindrance to my #1 focus of being a mother and wife first. If I did it, I would hopefully only be teaching a few classes a week - RPM, GroupKick, or Bodypump classes would be my picks! 😉
On the flip side, I also know that sometime this year we are hoping for me to get pregnant again. So, I don't want to take something on, that I may not be able to handle with pregnancy and a brand new baby. But, still - I think, if it's only a few classes, why couldn't I do that with a baby? Or pregnant? When pregnant with Makenzie I worked out up until the day before she was born, so that shouldn't stop me. And then I was back in the gym doing group classes or at home kickbox DVDs within 6 weeks after she was born. Exercise was my "me time" that I longed for. So, why not get paid for it and share my passion with others? I wouldn't want to leave anybody in the lurch, but if I wasn't teaching a ton to begin with maybe it would work out? And why put something off that I could go for sooner? Okay...lots of rambling. And I'm not sure where this is going to go, if anywhere for now. But I thought it was interesting how this option came to me out of the blue and felt like sharing it.
Now onto other things. Like my workout!!! Here's what it looked like today.
It was a fantastic workout! Like I have said before, I love a good full body workout and all the benefits it gives me!
Last, but not least, I finished the book I was reading today. Which means a book review. Actually, I have two. This past Friday I started reading Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty because some of my old colleagues recommended it to me and they usually give good recommendations. Ummm, I could only read the first 30 pages before I had to put it away or else die from teenagedom torture. It was an extremely immature and whiny book and I could not stand it! So, I quickly switched over to this book instead:
Great Book
After You by Julie Buxbaum
As I'm sure you can tell from my caption, I loved this book! It was quite different from what I expected, based on the inside cover's description. I thought it was going to be a very predictable, girly, happy go lucky story. While parts of it were predictable, the story had such a depth to it that I did not expect. It was filled with emotion and had lots of strong qualities. From being able to sympathize with all the characters to wondering where things are really going to lead and if they will be okay, it was hard to put down. Here is a description from Amazon's website:
The complexities of a friendship. The unexplored doubts of a marriage. And the redemptive power of literature... Julie Buxbaum, the acclaimed author of The Opposite of Love, delivers a haunting, gloriously written novel about love, family, and the secrets we hide from each other--and ourselves.
It happened on a tree-lined street in Notting Hill to a woman who seemed to have the perfect life. Ellie Lerner’s best friend, Lucy, was murdered in front of her young daughter. And, as best friends do, Ellie dropped everything--her marriage, her job, her life in the Boston suburbs--to travel to London and pick up the pieces of Lucy’s life. While Lucy’s husband, Greg, copes with his grief by retreating into himself, eight-year-old Sophie has simply stopped speaking.
Desperate to help Sophie, Ellie turns to a book that gave her comfort as a child, The Secret Garden. As the two spend hours exploring the novel’s winding passageways, its story of hurt, magic, and healing blooms around them. But so, too, do Lucy’s secrets--some big, some small--secrets Lucy kept hidden, even from her best friend. Over a summer in London, as Ellie peels back the layers of her friend’s life, she’s forced to confront her own as well: the marriage she left behind, the loss she’d hoped to escape. And suddenly Ellie’s carefully constructed existence is spinning out of control in a chain of events that will transform her life--and those around her--forever. A novel that will resonate in the heart of anyone who’s had a best friend, a love lost, or a past full of regrets, After You proves once again the unique and compelling talent of Julie Buxbaum.
So, if you are looking for a good book that is enjoyable to read, not too serious but not cliche either, I would suggest this book.
And with that, I say Peace Out!!! Have a fabulous night. I'm off to watch The Bachelor. More drama, drama, drama!
And also a big thank you to those of you who read, commented on, or got anything out of my post yesterday. 😀
- For those of you who teach group fitness, what are your thoughts on it? Does what I talked about sound feasible? Or for those of you who have 'known' me for awhile, what do you think about it? I do plan to pray about this issue and take time to fully consider it, but would love all of your thoughts as well 🙂
- Do you have a TV show that is your guilty pleasure? I have The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives that I keep up with. What can I say? I like TV. At least I only watch it for at the very most 2 hours a day.
