Les Mills Quarterly

This weekend Matt and I and a bunch of other really awesome people traveled to Chicago, IL for the Les Mills Quarterly!  A Quarterly is an event hosted 4 times a year (get it? quarterly?) that puts all of the Les Mills group fitness classes together all in one day.  It started at 8 am with BodyPump and then went straight to 5:30 pm with classes back-to-back (yes we had a lunch break). It's also an up-skilling event for all instructors and also open to non-instructors. The classes are presented by the national trainers and presenters of the specific classes.  It is really awesome because these people are the ones who are the presenters on our DVD's that we learn the new releases off of.  The coolest part? One of those national presenters who was up on the big stage on Saturday was our very own Laura Wilson.  She is the owner, an instructor, and our leader at Kiwi Fitness!  

I talked my friend Amber into going with us after she joined us at Kiwi for our launch back in January.  Our launch was basically a mini Quarterly.  She loves Les Mills classes too and I knew she would love this event.  I am SO glad she experienced with us :).  Matt also came along.  I was so happy to have him there.  He is such a supportive husband and having him there by my side was so awesome.  He did a lot of the classes and even tried a class I never thought I'd see him do..BodyStep! It is basically a step-aerobics class-but more hardcore because it's a Les Mills class :). He actually wasn't too bad! One of the other girls there got a nice video of him.  He is such a trooper. There were 20-some of us there on Saturday representing Kiwi Fitness.  The whole event was amazing and I will never forget it! Can't wait until the next Q!

Dinner and drinks the night before at Harry Caray's in the hotel

Our group!

Love these boys :)

YES! We have arrived :)

Freezing cold walk to the gym from the hotel

Coffee 

300 BodyPumpers!! So cool

so tempting to buy all the clothes..darn marketing 

We found one of my friends' dads at the Q! He takes classes up in Lafayette and was really excited for BodyCombat :)

Kiwi goes to Quarterly!

My super-awesome-rockstar-of-a-husband. Love you!

Amber! Waiting for BodyPump to start!

Ok so the guy turning around is Glen. Glen Ostergaard. The program director for BodyPump.  I was in awe. 

Sheldon-also a presenter for BodyPump and on our DVDs

LAURA! Love her. This was right before she hopped up on stage to present for BodyStep.  She gave Matt a shout-out during the warm-up :)

Proof Matt did BodyStep :) Love him.

After re-fueling at the lunch-break...ready for more!

aaaaannnndd he's out.  Lunch break + a space to lie down= Matt is alseep

Laura presenting for BodyAttack!

8 classes and 9 hours later...we made it!

cat update

Good news! The cat is out of the crawlspace.  AND back with it's owner :).  

Matt called me today and gave me the number on a "lost cat"flier that was on a stop sign in our neighborhood.  I called and left her a message telling her I didn't know if it was her cat, but that we have had a cat in our crawlspace for a few days now.  

I got a call from her husband about a half hour later.  After a minute, we both realized that we were next-door neighbors! Their cat had slipped past them and ran outside when they went to let their dogs out.  Luckily, I've been taking food down periodically and filling up her water.  He came on over and tried coaxing her out...she wouldn't come.  He left a couple of her favorite treats down there and went back home.  He said that he came back a little while later and called her name again and she came running out and jumped into his arms :)

YAY for the cat being found!

cat in the crawlspace

We have a cat in our crawlspace.  I hear her meowing at night and I have seen her big self once.  I heard her a couple days ago and then I noticed that the door to our crawlspace had been knocked open.  Most likely by this mischievous cat.  So my natural reaction?  Call Matt and freak out.

He came home from work and set out on his mission.  I looked outside and he had his Carhartt overalls, work boots, and a rake in hand. He was down on his belly trying to peer into the crawlspace while gently coaxing her out with "here kitty kitty" and whistles. No luck.  She never meowed and he never saw her.  I promise she is down there.

I just really don't want her to die down there.  Is that morbid? #1 because that just makes me really sad and #2 that's just not cool.  So this afternoon I heard her again.  We trekked outside and went on the search for her.  Nothing.  I heard her meow, but Matt didn't. After a couple minutes she quit meowing. Dang cat! So we decided that since we didn't want her to die I put a small bowl of water and food in there.  Maybe tomorrow we can coax her out since she knows we give her food.  Is that bad? We didn't know what to do.

I think tomorrow I'll call animal control, but I don't know if they will go down and get her.  Or if they will charge us a pretty penny.  We will see...

How the heck do we get her out?!

monday monday

What a great Monday! Mondays are my fave.  I love that Matt gets off work at 10 am and can make it to my class, I love teaching my BodyPump class, and I love that I usually have the rest of the day off to spend with my hubby.  Today was a little different because I picked up 4 extra hours at work, but it was still a great day.

BodyPump this morning was amazing!! I had a record-breaking 15 people in my class! Ok, that might not sound like a lot but usually the morning classes aren't as busy as the evening classes so 15 was rockin!  Last week, I had 9 and then to see 15 people filling the room today was so cool.  I was so excited and happy up there.  I just want our classes to keep growing.  Spreading the Les Mills love :)  

Life has been pretty steady and great here at the Dunn household.  We are just settling into our routine (probably just in time for Matt to change hours at work) and enjoying each other.  Matt has been working out with a friend at the gym throughout the week,  They lift weights and play racquetball...which has quickly become his new passion :).  I just love that he is working out and enjoying it and still making an effort to always makes my Monday morning class. It really helps him to have a workout buddy. I am so thankful for that. I told Matt today that I want us to both be healthy and then live long enough to spend time with our great-grandchildren.

I have been spending time trying to figure out my new camera.  A couple weeks ago we bought a Canon Rebel T2i DSLR camera.  It is so much fun! And it takes beautiful pictures.  I have always wanted a big nice camera and I finally have one! We have been playing around on it and last night I went on and read up on a few photography blogs.  Now, I am not really planning on diving into this photography thing head first...I don't know if I could handle adding another hobby or responsibility...but I am loving playing around with it! I want to learn enough to be able to take great pictures of our kiddos when that time comes.  It is kind of confusing to me what everything means-aperture, shutter speed, exposure, manual mode and on and on, but I am just taking my time getting to know my new friend.

We have been talking about our next house project when Spring comes back around (which I am so ready for even though Old Man Winter has been pretty nice to us so far-keep it up!).  We have pretty big plans for some landscaping around the house.  I would say that is one thing our house lacks-curb appeal. We are in desperate need of some landscaping.  Matt has all these ideas, I am just hoping we can do them all.  All I know for sure is that we ARE getting rid of this horrible red lava rock junk. It makes me mad.  I don't know why I despise it so much, I just don't even like the sound it makes when I step on it.  I am just excited to get started at it all!

Happy Monday!

much needed meet-up

Look at this face! 

I can't get enough of sweet Madi.  I hate not living right next door to the Hills...then I could just drink wine with Ashley and play with Madi all the time (not simultaneously of course :) ).  I hadn't seen Madi for a couple months and I feel like I have missed so much! She is such a happy baby and Ashley is such an amazing mom to her.  I was able to meet up with Ashley, Madi, and her mom today at Starbucks before they headed out of town today.  I rushed over from teaching BodyPump so I could see them.  It was amazing to spend time with them.  Madi is so smiley and so much more interactive than the last time I saw her.  I pray my baby will be as good as Madi :).  

kiwi launch

I'm a little behind on this post, but I'm giving myself credit for posting at all :).

In January, we had our very first launch/open house at Kiwi Fitness!  It was an amazing day.  I love that I was able to be a part of this experience.  We decided on the date 2 weeks prior which meant we only had 2 weeks to get the word out there.  I sent an email to all of my co-workers and actually had 8 girls who came! That was one of my favorite parts was seeing them push themselves and really just be there to support Kiwi and to try our classes.  

A "launch" is a term used in Les Mills land which means a day where we launch all of the new releases that came out.  Every 3 months, Les Mills comes out with a new release for every class which has new music and choreography.  We always make a huge deal out of it and invite the public for free so they can try out the classes.  The excitement is always sky-high around launch time.  We also used this launch as an open house for non-members to come try Kiwi Fitness out for free to see what they thought of the classes.  We ended up having over 60 non-members come for the day on top of the already 30-40 members join us! We had a record-breaking 64 (YES 64!) people in BodyPump.  

Here are some pictures from the day...

We started bright and early registering people at 7:45 am and ran all the way until 2 pm! One class after another :)

Rachel and I signing people in

BodyPump 80! 

64 people in BodyPump! Most I have ever seen! 

Eye of the Tiger-bicep track

Killer shoulder track! I do have to say I am so happy with this picture...during the last launch I had my husband take pictures and he got one of me doing a push-up.  My form was stinky.  So for the next 4 months I worked really hard on perfecting my form and working to do more on my toes.  Hard work pays off! It's nice to actually see a difference.

After BodyPump it was time for some BodyAttack! It's a 1 hour sports-inspired cardio workout.  I LOVE BodyAttack.  It's one of those classes that can really push you to your limit and work to get results.  I have never done anything besides this when I am smiling while in so much pain and so exhausted.

Next up was CXworx.  It's a 30 minute core class.  Results come quickly!

While taking a break during BodyCombat :)

I love all of the Les Mills classes and love bringing new people and introducing them to this amazing workout.  The whole day was amazing and I can't wait for next launch!