Zumba

My knees only allow me to run about four days a week most weeks before they start to revolt. We have come to an agreement that if I cross train on the other days and don't run they will behave (try to not swell up too much AND we can get some good runs in on the days we agree to). Now generally my knees are kind and follow by this agreement and so I try to reciprocate. I have gotten creative with my cross training - in the winter I did a ton of swimming and recently (as you have probably read about several times) I got a new bike.

I am loving biking and I do still enjoy a good swim however, last weekend at synod assembly a friend of mine introduced me to Zumba. I had tried it once or twice before but nothing really, I had tried it in a huge group of ladies who all knew one another and apparently were professional dancers, or so it felt like to me (the one who had no clue what she was doing and felt like she was just flailing around in the room and looked ridiculous). My friend brought his laptop and a Zumba DVD and one night as we were all hanging out he said he was off to do Zumba, between our snickers I was intrigued. I wanted to try it. I wanted to try it outside of a ridiculously large group of people who all knew the routines like the back of their hands.

So another friend and I joined him, we tried it. AND I LIKED IT, seriously when I wasn't under the pressure of all the other people in the room and I didn't feel like someone was criticizing my inability to dance  we had a great time, worked up a serious sweat, and laughed at ourselves during many of the moves.

My friend gave me a zumba DVD before we left as a gift! I was jazzed. I have already done the DVD a couple times at my house and LOVE it! What a fun and new cross-training option.


What types of workout DVDs do you enjoy? (I do love all of Jillian's workout DVDs)
Have you tried Zumba? At home or in a gym?
What do you think of it?

Traditions

As many of you know I got engaged this past summer and am getting married this coming June (whoop whoop). I couldn't be more excited (seriously, I am jazzed to begin this new journey). I recognize that this also comes with all sorts of new challenges and all of that good stuff, I am not living in utopia for sure. The first major transitional piece for me comes this week. I have spent every Christmas and Thanksgiving with my family since I was born, literally, they have either driven to be with me or I have driven to be with them. Family is ridiculously important to me. Given that my call is a little strange in terms of hours/holidays and what not, I don't get to travel on the weekends much and will never have Christmas off. My fiancé suggested since my family will come up for Christmas that we should head to Wisconsin to see his family over Thanksgiving. The brilliance of this plan is that we get more than 24 hours with them and don't have to rush back so I can work Sunday morning, the crappy part is my family will be 12 hours away. I know that it will be great and that his family is jazzed to have us coming back and all that wonderfulness it is just another one of those transitions and change is always hard, even if we deny it.

I am processing the fact that I won't be with my family and that it will be just fine - just one of those things I need to think through, pray through, recognize, and embrace the new beginnings.

In an unrelated topic, for those of you who are praying people I would ask for prayers for my friend Katie and her husband, Andy, as Katie has some medical issues putting her in the hospital. It is moments like this when it is so hard to be so far away from home and to not be able to run up to the hospital and be with her. It is moments like this I curse not being able to be by her side. I cling to the promises of God in the midst of this all and know that it is God who holds them both close and is working in and through the medical staff as they figure out what is going on with one of my most favorite people in the whole wide wor