I hate going so long without a post but I haven't had anything I can post in a few days so this will have to do.

PICTURES!The Reason I Smile!

New Job!

I am so excited to tell you all I am officially employed once again...well, sort of.
I have passed my Personal Training Certification test in Mid August and after getting laid off from the bank have been searching for the perfect fit for me & my family in the world of personal training. I believe I have found it!
I have been hired as a personal trainer at Transform Fitness on the South side of Holland. It is a small gym that opened mid October but has a lot of heart and is really nice inside. It also has the benefit of being 24 hours. Meaning every member gets a key card and has access to the gym any time of the day. They also offer month by month membership fees so you don't have to commit to 6 months or a year. Don't want to pay for a gym in the summer...don't have to. The other great thing about working for them is that I am hired as an independent contractor so I am free to work at other gyms as well as work out of people's homes. Which leaves the door open for so many more fitness opportunities.
It is a really great opportunity for me and am so excited to see where it takes me.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in personal training here are the details of what I offer.

Transform Fitness -

Located at 523 W. 17th Street
Holland, MI 49423

1/2 off one time enrollment fee ($30)
$30/month membership fee

24 Hour access to the gym

$35/hr or $20/half hour for one on one personal training
or two on one personal training.
You & a friend can train together for the price of one. You each would have to have your own memberships and each would pay the $30 enrollment fee.
Packages:
6 1-hour sessions: $200
12 1-hour sessions: $385

*If you happen to already be a member of Transform & are interested in checking out personal training I am offering a free 1/2 hour session to show you what it is all about.

Just want the gym membership? Great, tell them I sent you. :)

Have the equipment at home & want a workout written for you?

1-hour full body workout (6 week workout) - $50
1 in home demonstration of the exercises
Accountability - Phone calls & e-mails from me to keep you accountable

If you know of anyone who might be interested have them contact me. :)
my.fitness.MI@gmail.com

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Sweet Hannah Banana,

Happy Birthday. I can not believe you are seven years old! Whow, where did those seven years go?
You are a beautiful, energetic, fun loving girl. You can always make me smile and I love that about you. Stay true to yourself always and never lose your spunk.
I love you sweetheart!

Winter 2003Winter 2004
Here are a few pictures from her party.

Quitter! heheh

I failed, I am a failure.
Not even two days and I failed. I guess I am really am a meat & potatoes girl! Raw is not my thing at all. This morning I woke up and just the thought of having to eat raw all day made me super nauseous. I tried to make myself a nice fruit smoothie and not think about it but it was no use. I kept thinking about lunch & dinner and felt more & more sick about it. (I'm lame...I know:)
So I caved. Still have a bunch of 'raw diet' in my fridge so I will still be eating a lot of raw fruits & veggies but the whole dinner thing...I need a good dinner. That's all there is to it.

However, the water part is still on for 30 days. I have discovered how much I enjoy an ice cold glass of water. So that is my new 'organic cleanse'. I WILL stick to this one!
I will have to stop by GNC to pickup an actual cleanse and test it out. :)

Raw Diet - Day 1

Today I went shopping to get everything I think I will need for my cleansing process. Let me tell you, eating healthy is not cheap...whoa. I was shocked at the total. But with that said, my house is stocked with what I need to 'eat raw' for at least a week.

I can tell you this is going to be way harder then originally expected. Breakfast is easy. Grapefruit & an apple in the morning is perfect. Although, Payton's Peaches & Cream oatmeal didn't smell too bad compared to my wholesome meal.Lunch was ok. I made a chop salad with cucumbers, carrots, peppers & nuts with a side of cauliflower. It was a little bland but not as bad as I thought.For an afternoon snack I had a banana & then split another one with Payton.
Dinner is where things got hard because I look forward to dinner...I am a meat & potatoes kind of girl. Surprisingly dinner wasn't too bad. I had raw 'spaghetti' which is Zucchini grated thinly topped with sauce. I did cheat just a bit because I did not want to get the food processor back out to make sauce so I used the jar stuff. After my first day, a week sounds like a very long time. So if I don't last a week doing this...oh well. :) Can't say I didn't try.

Gone Crazy...?

So I've decided to do something a little crazy. I really feel like my body needs a cleanse from the holidays and such but am scared to try the commercial, store bought cleaners.
In replacement of that, I have decided to try out a raw food diet. I know, completely crazy & totally out of the blue. If you know me at all you understand how much I love things like cheese, bread, & meat, not to mention wine & beer. :)
Originally, I thought I would say 30 days but then I came to my senses. So for one or two weeks, depending on how my first day goes, I am going to try the completely raw food diet. Yikes! That means none of my favorite things for two whole weeks potentially. Then after the two weeks is up, for the rest of the remaining days...until Feb. 16, which is 30 days. I will continue my detox in terms of my beverages only. Meaning, only water to drink with the exception of 1 glass of Crystal Lite per week (come on people, I'm only human :) but I can eat any food I wish.
I have found some great websites to help me out & hope that I can do it. I am worried about getting enough to eat to keep me full & give me the calories I need to be able to still run after Payton & exercise.
So the journey starts tomorrow morning...wish me luck!

Little Blessing

Here are just a few updated pictures of our Little Blessing.

Payton just HAD to have this adorable hat...she insisted.
(At least that is the story we told Daddy :)She is really big stuff now so she thinks it's okay for her to go up our VERY steep stairs all by herself.
That face has 'Naughty' written all over it!