if not now

zumba shoes and stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:54:00 +0000

OK so one of my favorite things I like to talk about on here is SHOES and what shoes to wear to Zumba class.

Largely because searches for "zumba shoes" are a huge part of what drives traffic to this site.

Anyway...shoes for Zumba class:

My oh my how things have changed over the years!!

I remember, back in the day, when everyone was wearing Nike Musiques. Remember those? Back when Nike had that killer dance fitness clothing line?? Yeah, that clothing line rocked. They need to do that again. They had some sweet Nike Shox training shoes that were OK for Zumba class, too, if you liked fitness sneakers of the high-heeled variety.

I'm normally a Nike girl, I swear...

And then there were the dance sneakers, usually worn by instructors with a dance background, and incidentally, by their students. OMG these make me cringe just looking at them. How are you supposed to do squats in these?

But, you know, whatever. I'm not here to judge. Some people swear by them and really, it's all about finding what's right for you. Personally, I'm waiting for a pair of these babies...over there to the right...I'll be watching for you, FedEx man...

Too bad "finding what's right for you" can "cost an arm and a leg". Phew!

Nowadays there are almost as many great shoes for Zumba class as there are participants. In fact, Zumba Fitness itself has come out with a few different models that are worth checking out.

Everyone's got their favorite. Brands are recognizing Zumba Fitness, and dance fitness in general, as a force they need to contend with or at least, if you don't like that metaphor, certainly a need that they'd be wise to meet. Zumba Fitness is hugely popular now (I seriously didn't have to actually say that, did I?) and brands're riding the Zumba train to the bank!

So, I'm thinking dance sneakers, and then I'm thinking brands riding the Zumba train, and lo and behold what did I find?? Bloch, the maker of many of those popular-with-the-dance-crowd dance sneakers, have come out with a line of dance fitness shoes! A line of "Zumba" shoes, if you will! Checkout the first couple of rows here!

Oooh, aaah.

They're not really for me--we can discuss my favorites another time if you want--but they might be for YOU.

So that was kind of an interesting find. Anyway...the point is, find what works for you.

The gotta-haves:

Smooth sole that lets you turn and pivot and move side to side.
Support where you need it
Good fit--not too tight, not too loose.

The should-haves:

Breathability--a leather-and-mesh upper is better than all leather. If not for your sake, then for the sake of anyone standing around when you take your shoes off.
Thinner or wider soles, for stability, as opposed to thicker, platform-like, or narrow soles.

And so help me, if any of you comes into my class wearing anything resembling these? I'm kicking you out of my class!

tough mudder

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Tough. Mudder.

If you want to inspire instant respect for your badassery among your friends, you family, and random people you meet on the street, tell them you've done Tough Mudder. Finishing Tough Mudder earns more points than just trying it...but you gotta be pretty awesome just to try, so, you know, it's all relative. :D

Of course, I'm a little biased. I did TM--and finished--at Mt. Snow in VT last year, and the hubby and I are signed up to do it again this year.

It took me 5 hours. FIVE HOURS. Five hours! At a 10-mile distance, I traveled approximately 2 miles an hour up and down that @$$#0!& mountain. TWO MILES an HOUR. My granny walks faster than that. A 9-month-old crawls faster than that. But I guess that's fitting, considering that parts of the course were so incredibly steep, all you could do was crawl.

(I'm going for more of a zig-zag motion this year, as opposed to trying to tackle the slopes head-on. Shh, dont' tell anyone my super secret strategy.)

I saw grown men cry on this mountain. I saw men and women getting carried off the mountain on stretchers. On the log pile, getting ready for the obstacle wherein you hoist a log onto your shoulders, carry it up the mountain, and then turn around and carry it down (seriously, are we crazy?? Why the hell do we DO this??) I was picking out my log ("Please, God, let me find a smallish one...") and some guy not fifteen feet away from me got a log dropped on him that broke his wrist, right there next to me!! Holy crap! What the hell am I doing here???

Big, tough-looking, muscle-bound guys were besieged by cramps and stuck on this mountain. Tiny girls in tinier shorts were frozen and chattering under emergency blankets on the mountain. And as I waited for my turn to run through the Electroshock Therapy,(yes, it is exactly what it sounds like--live wires dangling from a frame waiting to shock the poo out of you) five hours after I started, I thought to myself, "Get me off this freaking mountain. It is MOTHER'S DAY, I should be in BED getting breakfast brought in on a PLATTER and reading HOMEMADE CARDS that make me cry!! I am NEVER! Doing this AGAIN!"

But then...

I finished.

I crossed the finish line. I got my orange headband. I got my free beer. I got hosed off. I donated my never-gonna-come-clean-again muddy shoes. I finally started shaking from hypothermia, after my body was, apparently, in denial while I was on the mountain.

And I cried, because I couldn't believe what I'd just done. TM includes obstacles that seriously challenged me in physical ways, of course, but even more difficult for me were the mental challenges--I strongly dislike tight spaces, have a fear of drowning exacerbated by the fact that I'm not the most amazing swimmer, and I'm afraid of electrocution. Ahem, Electroshock Therapy, Boa Constrictor, Walk the Plank...I was tested.

And then I was hooked.

So how about you? Are you doing Tough Mudder, Diva Dash, Warrior Dash, Ruckus Boston, or any other obstacle runs, muddy or otherwise?

lesson learned

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:52:00 +0000

OK. So. The lesson learned from the past week is: Have your cheat day. Enjoy it. Relish it. Revel in it. But then, for all that is good, get rid of the leftover junk food in time to get back into the slow-carb thing the next morning.

Do not--I repeat, DO NOT--assume that you will be able to leave the junk food there until next cheat day.

It will tempt you.

It will call to you.

It will seduce you.

Until, by the end of the week, you are a pile of quivering mess at the feet of the junk food, desperate for a second chance.

At least, if you're anything like me.

SO! Tomorrow marks another day!!

PS: I just joined a weight loss competion. Paid my money...and REALLY wanna win it back. I think a new wardrobe would be a nice reward, what do you think? Now excuse me, I gotta go study up on my technique...

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000

There I am, courtesy of my very good friend Juliet (ahem name dropper!). She owns West on Jade Photography. Check out her website; she totally rocks as the best photographer I know. She's pretty much famous in the Zumba world, and is making quite the name for herself as a wedding photographer too.

Seriously, go check her website. I'll wait.

You back?

OK.

So, yes, this picture was taken at a master class with the very amazing and supertalented George Iu and Peter Wang, Zumba instructors from China. They're so good. omg. So good. The energy! The fun! The moves! I wanted to take them home with me and make them my very own personal Zumba instructors. People have live-in nannies, live-in housekeepers...I'll have live-in Zumba instructors. The kids won't mind all sharing a room together, they love each other...

I had taken a class with George and Peter at Zumba instructor convention once, and it was a lot of fun, but it didn't, like, blow me away or anything. But this class blew me awayyy. Like a hurricane. George and Peter rawked me like a hurricane. Hehehe.

thoughts on my first cheat day

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:02:00 +0000

First cheat day since starting the slow-carb diet:

Source: tastykitchen.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Strawberry-and-cream cheese-stuffed french toast with toast and sausage and coffee and orange juice
Roast beef and turkey and cheese sandwich on hoagie roll
Chocolate cake
Chocolate fudge
Cinnamon twist
Chocolate eclair
coffee coffee coffee
water water water
wine
water
chicken, pineapple, and roasted red pepper pizza
Mountain Dew
one praline pecan

If the goal of cheat day is to eat so much that I never want to look at food again? Mission @!#$%^& accomplished.

*hic*

progress--my first week

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:14:00 +0000

Source: picturesofpugs.tumblr.com via briar on Pinterest
OK so, first week of slow-carbing it.

It wasn't completely bad.

Every day so, I've done well until that dreaded mid-afternoon slump. Every day, between 2 and 4, I'd get cravings while helping my kids with their after-school snacks and wouldn't you know it, I just happened to have freshly-made baked goods standing by in the cookie jar.

At least they were whole wheat and full of flax seeds.

And every day I strayed a little less.

So, for next week I need to control the cravings. Technically you're not supposed to snack on this plan, but Ferriss says that if you must snack, grab some carrots. So, I have some baby carrots in the fridge. And a ton of tea and coffee. And ice water with lemon. Those will the the things I aim to grab when I'm tempted. Not only will they satisfy my need to have something to do with my mouth and hands, but they'll hydrate me and help me feel less hungry. I need to hydrate more anyway.

Anyway, I'm down about two pounds so far. Not exactly breathtaking results, but not bad considering my slips into carbland.

I am very much looking forward to cheat day. I only have to get through tomorrow (with two classes of my own and a master class to go to, I think I'll be eating a lot of carrots) and Saturday's breakfast. Then the rest of Saturday is going to be a no-holds-barred cravings-fest. I've been daydreaming about what I'll eat that day. The daydreams are usually a good sign I need to drink some tea. :)

In case you're wondering, here's what I'm eating; I haven't posted any pictures yet because by the time I get finished preparing each meal, I'm so famished and drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs, I can't be bothered to grab a camera...

Breakfast: Eggs scrambled with either lentils or black beans, garlic, spinach, and other veggies like broccoli or zucchini, and topped with salsa. Coffee, black with cinnamon.

Lunch: Big salad with spinach, black beans, chicken breast, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, more broccoli or cauliflower, sprinkled with lemon juice. Ice water with lemon.

Dinner: Another big salad like lunch.

hey, it's lunchtime!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Because I love you and I want you to eat well and be healthy and I don't want you to have to choke down on gross, disgusting food that you know you should eat but really would not even feed to your dog, here is one way to eat lentils that actually tastes good. I got this a long time ago--and have, in fact, posted this recipe on this blog once already--from my friend Michelle. I'm even stealing her picture. Thanks Michelle!

Red Lentil Soup

ingredients
1 c split red lentils
3/4 c chopped onion
3 c water
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic
1 green chilies (remove seeds for milder heat)
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled & chopped or dried ground to taste
1 16 oz cans whole tomatoes w/juice
3 T veg oil
1 T ghee or unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
fresh coriander garnish
can replace 1 tablespoon olive oil w/ ghee if you have it

directions
In sauce pan combine the lentils, water, tumeric, cumin, ground coriander, and chili powder. Heat to boil, reduce heat cook covered 30 minutes.
In blender combine garlic, onion, chili, and ginger; process until fine. In a skillet heat 1 tbsp olive oil or ghee in pan. Add mix from blender and cook 2 minutes. Make sure the lentils are cooked. Stir in garlic mixture, salt, chopped tomatoes, rest of olive oil, into the lentils. Llet simmer until thick (about 30 mins).

Makes 6 1-cup servings.

adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:16:00 +0000

I like to think of life as one big adventure. Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Don't you think? I mean, everything you undertake: changing jobs, getting married, having kids--you're risking a lot, doing those things. What if your new job is worse than your old one? What if your spouse leaves you? What if your kids grow up and don't like you? What if, in all those things, something worse happens? Just living, itself, is a risk. Thinking of life that way makes it easier for me to try things that kind of scare me. Those things are just, you know, part of the adventure!

In 2011 it looked like this:

Fellow ZJ Ali Struyk and me

I left all my favorite, fullest, most fun, most crazy, most energetic classes in search of classes that were a better fit for my family's schedule, that didn't take me so far away for so long. Now, instead of teaching in a gym where my classes were a convenient option for the members and where I didn't have to worry about marketing or whether I'd make any money...I'm teaching on my own, in my own town, building up a whole schedule of classes from nothing at a brand new location. No one knows I'm there yet, and if no one comes, I don't make money. People need to make an effort to get to my classes, because they aren't already going there for something else. It's freaking scary!
I took on a role that allows me to teach my routines for Zumba classes to other instructors. I've become comfortable--probably even overconfident--in teaching my own classes to students, but teaching to other instructors has me doubting myself and dry heaving before every single session and master class. I always get the same run of questions chasing itself around my head: "Who am I? Who am I to assume I have anything to teach other instructors? I can't even lose weight! What will they think when they see me??" I've never experienced such self doubt in my life--not even when I was 20 years old and a nurse was handing me a baby and expecting me to take her home and be her mother, when I'd never even changed a diaper before going into that hospital. So far, my experience as a Zumba Jammer has been both incredibly frustrating, in ways that brand-new programs often are, kind of like growing pains, and amazingly rewarding. (My experience as a mother, in case you are wondering, has been pretty non-stop amazing, even during the frustrating parts.)

Last August my husband and I left our kids with my sister for a week so we could go on a trip to Catadupa, Jamaica. This was no luxury resort vacation. We were up in the mountains in the relentless heat and humidity, working, building, teaching, and praying alongside the people of Catadupa and their close neighbors. I was so excited in the weeks coming up to the trip, but also nervous that we would come off as arrogant Americans, swooping in to save the day. I was so anxious about it, and so overwhelmed by the traveling and the insane bus ride through the narrow mountain roads that, by the time we got to the compound where we were staying, I had a huge migraine and I was starting to question our decision to come. But the week was so incredibly rewarding--it so far surpassed anything I'd hoped it would be--and I came away feeling like the people we'd been privileged to work alongside in Jamaica had become an extended family. Oh, and I learned a lot more about the team of volunteers from our church, too. Maybe more than I wanted to know?? ;) Just kidding, guys... Anway, we're going again this year. I can't wait. I can't wait to see everyone and see the progress they've been making and how plans are going and how my VBS kids are doing... Oh...and I'm dying to try out that rope swing into the river again!

Two words: TOUGH. MUDDER. 10 grueling, cruel, tortuous miles up and down (and up and down and UP AND FREAKING DOWN) Mt. Snow's ski slopes, through the mucky, muddy woods, and over snow and ice, all in the name of fun. Well, fun...and free beer. I earned my orange headband after 5 hours of sweating, freezing, swimming, climbing, and more. At one point I had to beg some caramel corn off a spectator (thank you, anonymous spectator!) because I was starting to see spots despite all the water and banana pit stops. At another point I had to find a place off the trail to pee in the woods. Waiting for my turn through Electroshock Therapy--and after that, the finish line!--I was thinking, "Never again. I did it once. I'm never doing this again." But then I got my orange headband and got in my car with my family and we were heading home..and not FIVE MINUTES into my relaxing drive--oh, it felt SO GOOD to sit--my hubby says, "I think I'm gonna get a team together for next year" and it was all over. I was hooked and we got home and signed up for Vermont 2012 and I've been hooked ever since.

2012 will be a lot more of the same. More Tough Mudder. More work as a Zumba Jammer. More marketing and working hard on building up my classes--finding new and innovative and effective ways to get people in the door and get them coming back for more. More Jamaica! And more adventures of other types, too. Here's a hint: I'm saving up for quad skates.

Source: thenewwittys.blogspot.com via Lynet Sandoval on Pinterest

um...hm.

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Hm, I just realized something re: my title--If I don't weigh/measure myself again before I post again, or I do but nothing changes, do I just title it with the same thing as last time? Nah...I'll just girl up and think of a title. Anway...

So for a little more detail on what I can eat and what my day looks like on the slow-carb diet and the other recommendations I'm using from the book, here's the schedule I'm aiming for. I'm not saying it's happened yet...it's the aim.

6:30 wake up, drink a bucket of ice water. OK, not a bucket, but when faced with the prospect of drinking 150mL of iced cold water directly upon waking, it feels like a bucket. Seriously. I haven't even peed yet. My feet have not even touched the floor. Speaking of feet...

6:35 or whenever the heck I'm supposed to be done with all that water, and provided I can put off running to the toilet long enough, work my little feeties with my Sole Training knowledge. Ahhhhh. Makes my feet so happy. Happy and not-dead-looking.

7:00 breakfast time! A mixture of whole eggs and egg whites, veggies, and (gag!!!) lentils. I hate lentils. Dear sweet goodness, I hate lentils. Does anyone really like these things? Oh my head. They're so gross. So they get buried in eggs. And salsa and broccoli and cauliflower. With a side of either coffee, black with cinnamon, or green tea. I love my Tazo® Zen Tea.

7:30 because Tim says take half an hour to eat your meals: Take a nap and try not to think about food until lunch time. OK OK, just kidding--it's not really that hard to not think about food because 3-ish eggs, and all those veggies and all those lentils make a girl pretty freaking full.

7:55 get the kids on the bus and exercise: Either strength (kettlebell swings, side and prone planks, myotatic crunches) or cardio (Zumba class, of course, or willPower & grace, the other format I now teach.) or flexibility...or a cold walk outside in the cold with just a tee shirt and gloves...in the cold. More on that later.

8:00 to 11:00 business stuff--marketing, choreography, blah blah blahhh...

12:00 lunchtime! Chicken breast, black beans, pile of veggies, and hot peppers. :9 yummm

12:30 to 5:00 play with kids, clean the house (haha!) talk to friends, blah blah blahhh...

5:00 ish... Dinner! More chicken, more *gack*lentils, more veg veg veg.

8:00 lie on couch with ice back on neck and shoulders for 30 cold shivery terrible minutes.

9:30 go to bed and dream of all the wonderful lentils I will eat tomorrow.

So! The cold stuff: drinking ice cold water, taking walks in the cold with no coat, resting on an ice pace--all these things are meant to capitalize on the body's thermic response to cold, or something like that. Don't ask me the science. Read the book, or google it online. I just know that the body burns way more fat and calories with this cold treatment than it does without it. There's other ways to cold-therepize yourself, too--ice baths (no thanks, I like my heart beating at its normal, non-arrested beat) and ice-cold showers...but I'm starting with this. I'll tell you how it goes.

I hate the cold.

OK that's it for now...upcoming topics include things I can't wait to do in 2012 that will probably be easier if I am a few pounds lighter and how am i supposed to lose weight when losing weight seems to be a full time job and i already have so much other shizz going on. Fun stuff!! ;) <3

180.0/34.5

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:39:00 +0000

OK everyone, first and foremost: HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2012 bring you blessings beyond measure. May you never have to wait in long grocery lines, always get the last copy of your favorite movie at Redbox, and never smell like onions in public.

How's everyone doing? What did you do for the holidays? Did you go away? Did you stay in? Did you play in snow? Did you stretch out on a sandy beach?

We stayed in, and while there has been no measureable snow, there was a tiny, magical moment on Christmas morning when the kids were all getting up to open their presents and we looked outside to see that it was snowing perfect little flakes. It was just enough to set the right Christmas mood after a December that had been almost entirely 50 degrees until then. Nice, nice. Now, I don't want to see another flake until next winter. I'm such a scrooge. ;)

So, I mentioned resolutions in my last post and that's what I want to talk about today. Mine is, once again, to get healthy and lose some serious weight. But I'm gonna break that down a bit.

I'm reading this book, 4 Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss. I'm trying to adopt the slow-carb diet he presents in the book. So far it's been kind of OK. If you follow Jackie Warner's advice in This is Why You're Fat, (Yes, I've been reading an unusual number of diet books lately. These two, plus YOU on a Diet by Dr. Oz, are my favorites) you've heard her say you should ADD the good stuff before taking away the bad stuff and so, according to her, it's been a GREAT couple of days!! :) I ate well at every meal but mid-afternoons found me snacking on my own homemade treats...the ones that are supposed to be for the kids' lunches. Fortunately I made them with whole-wheat flour and chock-full of ground flax so at least things should...um...keep, um, moving along. Right?
You'll see some changes here, mostly for my own benefit. For one thing, the title of each post will contain my current weight and current waist size--not exactly easy stuff for me to put out there so blatantly but I do it for two reasons: 1) The first time I lost weight--before gaining it all back, which I will NOT be doing this time--I wanted to be able to go back and see my progress. This should make that easier. and 2) Accountability. If I'm going to post my shizz right up there for you to see so easily, I want it to trend in the right direction. So I'd better do what it takes. Right? Right.
I'm taking pictures of my meals and posting them to a private flickr page. I'll post more about that soon, as soon as I work it out. I don't want the pictures available to the whole world, just cuz pictures of veggies and lentils aren't that exciting...but I do want YOU to be able to see them so you can kick my butt if I start posting pictures of, say, gigantic pieces of red velvet cake floating in a river of chocolate sauce.

So, that's what I'm doing. I'll post more details on 4HB and the slow-carb diet soon, in case you're interested. And I think I have some fun stories to tell about my adventures in Zumba and whatnot. :)

resolutions. discuss.

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

Me, I like resolutions. I like the promise of a new year, like turning the page in my notebook, fresh and clean after the messy scribbles of the last page. If the new year didn't come right directly after what is, for me, the very messiest part of the year, I think I wouldn't feel that way, but by the time December ends I am desperate and ready for change and the start of a new year just seems like the right time. Of course, I struggle with not being very goal- or task-oriented, so my resolutions are usually forgotten as real life takes over--just like that notebook page gets written on and scribbled over and things get crossed out and other things get written over it. But yeah. I'm an idealist. I love the feeling of hope and expectation and anticipation of goals accomplished. I'm working on how to get things really done this year...it's actually one of my resolutions to not say I'm going to do something and then not do it. I like resolutions. I'm ready for 2012.

calmame

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Deep breath!

OK. I am calm. I am calm.

Sorry for the temper tantrum of the last post. I am calm now. I am...zen.

No! Wait! That's the wrong picture!

OK much better. I'm Jamaica-calm.

Hey wait! I haven't told you about Jamaica yet, have I???

I will. Just not right now.

dont wanna talk about it

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:10:00 +0000

Don't ask me.

Don't ask me if I'm eating right or if I'm exercising or if I'm doing any of the things I told you I would be doing.

I don't wanna talk about it.

And please, PLEASE don't ask me about how I look or how my body image is or how my self esteem is, or anything like that right now.

new toy

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 01:07:00 +0000

Oh you're in for it now.

I just got a new laptop. Well, netbook. It's tiny, lightweight, and ...well, obnoxiously slow...but hey, I can get online anywhere there is wifi. The better to blog at you with, my dear!!!

I'm not really prepared to post about much else right now--I'm busy watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on TV--but I'll tell you I've lost a couple of pounds this month and it's due more to it being too dang hot to eat than to me following my own rules...but hey, I'll take it for now. :)

Till later!

9 days in

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 09:59:00 +0000

Today is July 9, which means two things:
1) it is the 9th day of July, the month I am dedicating to eating healthy. Or, healthierrrrr.
2) the last day of Zumba instructor convention is tomorrow, and soon all my friends will be home with pictures and stories and new Zumbawear stuff.

Now, you might not care about the second point. You may not even care about the first point! Although, if you don't care about either point, you might want to redirect your browser cuz, um, that's all I got for today. But For those who might care...

It's the 9th day of my month of healthier eating!! Now, I have to tell you , I started out thinking I'd go vegan again, cold turkey...so to speak. But that means I'd have to throw away a ton of food and buy a ton of other food, and the food budget in this house just cannot take that kind of pressure. So a more gradual, more flexible plan was in order.

Then I thought I would make one change--big change, little change, just some change for the better--per week. So this first week I gave up any food that would be explicitly considered junk food. You know, all the stuff I love: brownies, ice cream, cookies, cake.

I did pretty well with that. There was one time I ate half a frosted sugar cookie from the supermarket and then threw the rest away because it tasted chemical-ish. Gross. That was 7 days into the week, so I guess the ol' taste buds had done some housecleaning. And there was one night when I took the kids for ice cream. I started my kiddie-sized cone but didn't' get halfway through it before I decided I was done. So I threw it out. And one night, we had s'mores and I had one s'more that was absolute perfection--marshmallows toasted just right, chocolate perfectly melty, graham cracker just stale enough that it doesn't smash to pieces when you bite into it, perfect ratio of chocolate to marshmallow to graham cracker...I ate that whole thing and savored every bite.

Now, you might be thinking, "That is what you call 'doing pretty well'"??? And you would be right to question. Generally speaking, half an ice cream cone, half a frosted sugar cookie, and a whole amazing s'more do not a diet plan make. But! If you saw how I've been eating lately--and by lately I mean, like for the last year--you would be amazed. Amazed!!!

And the best part was my mental attitude. Approaching the week with a vague plan made me more than a little nervous at first. You know, failing to plan is planning to fail, and all that. But I have such a stupid, obnoxious rebellious streak--great when put to good use protesting all that is bad, but really really lame when engaged in self-sabotage--that I can't go into this with a strict policy of "eat this, don't eat that". Because as soon as I tell my self I'm never going to eat cheese again, I go to the supermarket and buy up every kind of cheese I love (which is a lot) and plenty of crackers and wine to go with it all. I tell myself it's a "last meal" before the diet. But then I tell myself I won't do it anymore. And then I do.

So this week, with the permissive attitude, it was easy to take every decision on it's own and measure if the treat was really something I wanted. If it wasn't, I was free to leave it and have something else or even have nothing now and something treat-ish another time. It was...liberating. And kind of a revelation for me. I'm usually like, "What?? There are sweets at this party? But I'm not supposed to have sweets! OMG let me just eat the ENTIRE TABLE full of sweets NOW while I'm at a party because you have to eat the sweets at a party, it's rude not to, so let me cram all these down while I STILL CAN!!!" And I tell myself it's just for that one party or event, but really. There's always some other party, or event, or birthday, or date with the hubby, or family outing, or girls' night out, or...or...or...

Hehehe yeahhhh. I'm that dumb.

Anyway, for this next week, the plan is to drink no sweetened beverages. Tell ya how it goes.

Later...starting at a new gym, food type or calorie content?

I'm back, so help me Jebus

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:45:00 +0000

Thee of you keeping track (i.e. zero of you) will notice that, for the last two years, my posts on here have been VERY sporadic. And when I do post, I'm not really giving you a whole lot of information. Especially not anything too personal. There are several minor reasons for this--time crunches, the inconvenience of sharing a computer with the whole family and having to wait my turn, and a little struggle with the kind of inherently-narcissistic nature of blogging--but really? the thing it's really about?

I've spent the last two years getting fat again, and I didn't want you to know.

Of course, maybe if I'd been making time for you more regularly, that accountability would have made it harder to ignore plain truth, but as it was, I just came up with excuse after excuse--I'm just bloated, it's the weather, makes me eat, I'll start tomorrow--until finally I looked in the mirror and saw the same face (and ass and thighs and gut and back and arms) that stared out at me three and a half years ago.

I didn't want you to know. I mean, some fitness instructor I am. Some role model.

So I've been vacillating between struggling with it and promising to do better, and trying to ignore it and hope the fat will go away on it's own, and giving up altogether and just sitting down to a table of brownies. You've witnessed some of that here, but none of my attempts at getting back on track have been very serious, or long-lived. I think that might have been because I wasnt really experiencing any negative effects of my backsliding. My family life was great--now that my youngest is about to go to kindergarten in the fall, I'd just given up a bunch of classes on nights and weekends and now I'm working on getting daytime classes, so I'm spending more time with my husband and kids than I have in a VERY long time, and this is actually an enjoyable thing so far.

My love life is great--I don't have to expand upon that, right?

I'm a well-respected Zumba instructor, I still love teaching, I'm learning new things--new rhythms, new steps, new methods--and meeting new people and I'm fully enjoying my new position as Zumba Jammer.

I have adventure in life--thanks to the surge in free time, my husband and I have found things we enjoy doing together, which has always been a difficulty--and this summer we're going to Mexico as part of a missions trip.

And my health is amazing--you'd think, just by looking at my bloodwork and resting heartrate and whatnot, that I was at a healthy weight.

So all great stuff, because as we all know, you don't NEED to be thin to enjoy a great life.

BUT...here's the but. There ARE some things that I feel my rapidly-increasing weight (almost 30 lbs in two years, for the record) IS impacting:

*My career. I want, more than I can even state, to be a ZES, or Zumba Educational Specialist. I know what it entails, and I'm willing to work so hard. I want to lead people to be great instructors. I get off on seeing people get to do what they love. And it's not for me to say what Zumba Fitness looks for in it's trainers, but if it were up to me, I'd want to find someone who represents the benefits of the brand--for one, a strongand healthy body. I'd at LEAST want someone who can wear the clothes, y'know? And thoughts like that influence my confidence levels--not just when I'm taping the videos for my application for the next ZES call, but when I'm at events with other instructors, when I'm teaching, when I post pictures promoting my events. I KNOW I shouldn't worry about it; I should focus on my skills and doing what I love and helping other people. And I do. And that other stuff isn't ALWAYS there. But it keeps popping up, in the back of my mind.

There are other things too, like how I'm influencing my children's choices. I want them to have a healthy mentality, but how can I model that, pass that onto them, when I don't have a healthy mental process regarding food myself? and I can't remember when I ever did?? How do I know what it is like to wake up and not worry about what I'm going to eat or not eat in tbs meal or that situation? What does a normal relationship with food look like??

Holy long post...

Anyway, I'm planning a month of pure eating. I still have to hammer out the details of just what that means--do a little research, decide how much I want to sacrifice, how to make it work in the midst of, you know, LIFE--but the month of July is going to be at least processed-sugar-free. I'll let you know what other details I hammer out, but that much, at least, is a given. Why July? Well, because my birthday is at the end of June and that just isn't a good time for me to be making huge changes. I'm going to have cake. Dammit.

And you'll want to stay tuned--I'll be issuing challenges you can do with me, like drink more water and whatnot. Having people with me will help me along, and really, we all know blog oh is all about the blogger.

I hope I haven't offended anyone with this post, but if I have? Well, it is what it is. I'm trying to get back to the very early days of this blog when I was honest. I want to inspire people, and I'm not going to worry anymore about people I know reading it.

Here we go.

happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:22:00 +0000

Hey people!

It's a new year. Everyone's making their resolutions. A lot of fitness people get frustrated with the new-years-resolution crowd, but I don't mind it. Partially because I AM a part of that crowd again this year? Maybe. But really, I think it's better to try, give up, go back to your old ways, and then try again come the new year then to try, give up, and figure it's not worth it. Or try, give up, and then get intimidated by the fitness people who are so frustrated with the NYR crowd and just forget it.

Of course it's best to just try once and DO IT all the time, but who does that?!?! Fitness people. Who get frustrated with the NYR crowd. Which makes me wonder if the frustration comes from a secret fear of being that person, that person who has been healthy, has backslid (backslidden? backslided?), and now needs to get back on track. On New Years Day. Whatever. I'm no shrink. And of course, it's slightly less-good, but still better, to try, fall, try again with the very next food/fitness decision you have to make, and not wait until tomorrow/Monday/the new year. But really. Let's take what we can get!

Anyway, as part of my own journey, I joined up with a group of women in my area who are doing a weight-loss competition. I'm not hugely competitive, but if it involves competing with myself I can totally get behind it. More about that later. So I joined up, went to get weighed, and--congratulations, me!!!--weighed 171.5!! That is exactly what I weighed 3 years ago, right before I went vegan and lost all that weight!!! WOW! I'm SPECTACULAR!!!! I'm back where I STARTED!!!

So, I cried on the way home and was bummed out all day. I walked around in a fog, feeling all pity-party-ish. Then I pulled myself together and looked at my options:

I could say, "Eff this man!", give up, and gain a thousand pounds on brownies and ice cream. But I didn't want to do that. I have goals that necessitate being healthy. More about that later too.
I could go vegan again, which I would actually really like--I felt so light and healthy. But then I end up eating different dinners than the rest of my (hard-core carnivore) family, and that kind of goes against what we teach the girls about eating what we serve them, and not being short-order cooks. It worked before, because I was working at night and they never knew what I had for dinner because I took it with me. Plus, trying to grocery-shop for two different eating styles is hard, and not easy on a tight budget.
I could plan out a way to eat that wouldn't depress me, would work with my family's goals and budget, would set a good example for my children, and would fuel my workouts, which I would increase and actually plan and write out.

I chose number 3, as I'm sure you figured out. I'm still working on it. I've said in the past that eating "everything in moderation" doesn't work for me, because if I have a little chocolate, I'm going to have a lot of chocolate. But I'm trying to change that attitude, because when I tell myself I "can't have" this and that and this, I do well for a while and then dive headfirst off the deep end and gorge myself until I...well, until I gain back everything I lost, apparently. ;)

I mentioned in my last post (if I remember correctly; it's been a while, huh?) that I'm tracking my food intake on Livestrong.com and I still am, but I have to be more faithful. Like, if I'm doing ok, and tracking as I go, and then I eat a quarter of my husband's birthday cake? I'll just stop tracking for the day. I need to not do that!!

I need to create some visual inspirational aids. Like, I just read on FB that one of the Biggest Loser guys writes his goal weight on his arm. I kinda think that's a good idea...but then, he lives on the BL ranch and doesn't have to explain to strangers at the grocery store why there's a big 140 or whatever on his forearm. I need stuff like that to look at and remind myself why I ~~can't~~ dont' want to eat half a pan of brownies. With frosting. And milk. Because it's easy to be inspired on January 1. It's harder, for me, on Jan 19. Or, really, pick a date. So yes, I will be making some visuals. Any suggestions, like the arm tattoo, are welcome.

OK! I have a lot more to write about, including the things I told you I'd write more about! But alas, I shall save that for another post. Promise it won't be long.

things like this make me feel like getting off my flabby behind and putting on my running shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:24:00 +0000

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/runner-crawls-across-the-finish-line-23309759

New Zumba Video Game!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:58:00 +0000

food!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:04:00 +0000

I sure do love to eat.

Yessir.

Love it.

But balance--you know, that all-important, energy-in, energy-out balance--well, it isn't really my thing. Hence the 20 pounds I have gained in the last year and a half.

20 pounds.

TWENty POUNDssssss!!!

When I was at my smallest (and still thought I was SO FAT and still cried when I looked in the mirror sometimes, oh it pains me to say that now, why do I have better body image now than I did 20 pounds ago??) I was this close to being within a healthy range of weight for my height.

My height: 5-foot-2. I know. I am shortness.

My healthy-weight range, according to BMI: 101 to 136 pounds.

My lowest weight, post-children: 143.

That is 7 stinkin pounds away.

Now I'm back up to 161 and I don't fit in any of my clothes and blah blah blah and OMG and cry cry cry and dieting sucks and FML (not a lot, I really do have better body image these days, but, y'know, everyone has those days where it all seems so futile...) but never fear! I am relentless in my pursuit of bikini-readiness in 2011!!

And now, my sweet, loving, supportive fellow instructor and BFF is here to help! She's tracking my progress with the MyPlate feature at livestrong.com for me, which is supercool, because if I have to tell someone what I'm eating then, well, I'm a little less likely to scarf down that extra piece of Halloween candy. I just love her!

I do have to say that something about the site, and how it relies on calorie counting, has not lent itself to a very healthy diet, for me at least. I can eat whatever I want, as long as I stay within my formulated calorie count for the day, based on my weight, my losing goals, and my base level of activity (which, I have to tell you, is alarmingly low. If I'm not teaching a class, I am sitting on my rear end in some form. At the computer, playing with Bek, driving in the car...it all amounts to sitting on my butt). And when I teach classes, I enter it in to the site and it subtracts those calories I burned from the total that I've eaten!

Isn't that cool? It's like a game! How much activity can I do so that I can eat whatever the heck I want?? See that chocolate bar? See that ice cream? See that cheese??? I can have it all as long as I work it off!!! Yesterday was a pretty prime example of this: I taught two classes and went to another, for a grand total of 210 minutes of Zumba class. I burned a whole day's allowance of calories. So, on the way home, I stopped at McDonald's and ate a whole day's allowance of calories.

Hey, don't judge me. For your information, I wanted something healthy! But it was late and I was on the highway and that's all there was! It was so good... ;)

So yeah...not sure if that's the right attitude. But you know I hate dieting, and it depresses the hell out of me to think I have to eat a certain frickin way for the rest of my frickin life. It really does seem to be working; I don't eat crap at every meal. It's like, as long as I know I can have something I love, I enjoy the healthy stuff too.

i

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:43:00 +0000

I want...

to inspire.
to go to Zumba Convention next year.
to go to Zumba Club Med next year.
to buy a whole new wardrobe. In a size 4.
to grow my hair long again.
to cut it all off after that and donate it so someone will wear a wig with my hair, which is weird but also awesome.
to someday have a studio of my very own.
to make a significant contribution to my family's income doing what I love.
to go back to school.
to mentor girls and young women.
be a leader in my field--someone other instructors turn to.
do 30 pushups in a row.
get back to drawing and writing and maybe...acting.
try roller derby.
serve God and be unapologetic in my faith.
teach my children the things they won't learn in school. Like how to balance a checkbook. OK, maybe their dad will have to teach them that one.

I reserve the right to:

give up the notion of "what I'm going to be when I grow up", because growing up is a process and not a destination and I am a person and not an endpoint or a checklist.
get cranky sometimes and need a time out.
use exercise as a serious venting mechanism.
try lots of different things, even when it means failing at some.
cry/yell/jump up and down, as long as I don't hurt anyone else.
be less-than-perfect.
be completely myself.
lose some friends and make some new ones.
call my mom just because I know she loves me no matter how stupid I'm being.
spend a whole day in my PJs snuggling with my family.
use lots of creamer in my coffee even if it means losing weight more slowly.
drive 4 hours to take a class with my favorite instructor.
wear bright purple cargo pants in public. With pride.
shower three times in a single day. Or not at all.
go too long between blog posts...

blah blah diet blah blah convention blah blah BETO!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:59:00 +0000

SO, how are y'all doing???

In my part of the world, we don't actually say "y'all." We say "you guys." Or, like my grandparents, "youse guys". But for some reason, the older I get, the harder it is to group people into "guys" because really, most of the people I talk to nowadays are women. And I just can't bring myself to say "you ladies" most of the time. I just can't. Saying that makes me feel like I should be drinking tea and wearing a dress and heels and pearls and stuff. I'm a coffee-jeans-chucks kinda girl. "You girls"? Nah...doesn't work either.

Hey you!!

So I've been on this diet for about a week and a half. It's going OK. I need to go food shopping again, because I look around my house for something to eat and end up going, "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."

Now, before you start, please don't tell me that it's not about the diet, it's about a way of life or a way of eating. Because really, if I have to think about this as something--a way--that I have to maintain for the rest of my ever-loving life, I will cry. Really. As it is, I can barely think about keeping it up for the entirety of today. I just have to go moment by moment. Decision by decision.

But yeah, it's going OK. And I guess that's all I really want to say about it, because thinking too much about it just makes me want to reach for the nutty bars. Man, I love nutty bars.

So...convention! It was AWESOME! I do not have any pictures of my own to show you, because the settings were all wrong on my camera and it said I only had, like, 12 pictures to take on my memory card, and I figured I'd just get all bent out of shape if I set up to take lots of pictures and then died after just 12. So I didn't bother. Then, on the ride home from the airport, I fiddled with the camera, fixed the settings, and got the thing to say I had something ridiculous like 600 pictures. Nice, right? Nice. But I'm not much of a picture-taker myself anyway, so it's all good. For this post, I will be gratuitously stealing pictures from my friend/roomie. She won't mind, will you Michelle???

BETO!

Michelle with Tanya and Gina

These were all over the floor in the hotel/convention center. So cool.

This is the guitarist from Bachaco. Check them out;they rock.

I'm already planning to save for next year (dear God in heaven, please someone give me a job so I can save for next year!!) but I think that, instead of Convention (or...maybe...in addition to it???) I want to go on whatever Zumba vacation they plan. Like, last year they went somewhere warm and beachy. I can't remember where, but the pictures made me drool. And this year they're going to Ixtapa Mexico. And next year is sure to be equally awesome. And when they go, it's Beto, some ZESs, and not-very-many other people. Taking lots of Zumba classes, relaxing on the beach, sipping yummy adult beverages... sighhh...

So that is the motivation for this diet. Because you know what? The whole time I was at convention, I could have gone in this pool:

But I never did! Not once! And do you know why??

Well, partly because it was almost always full of Aqua Zumba trainings.

But also! Because there was no way I was prancing around in front of my Zumba instructor colleagues in a bathing suit! Not even my very cute polka dotted retro suit! No way, no how!

(I will also say that I'm not really much of a swimmer. It just doesn't thrill me like it thrills other people. But really--I would have liked to at least go for a little dunk. And a little hot tub. And a little reading-in-the-sun, poolside.)

So, yes, if I cannot swim with my instructor friends because I am too dang insecure with how I look in a swimsuit, than I really need--an attitude adjustment? Well, yes, because I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons why my current attitude is stupid. But also I need to whip myself into shape. Be a model of what a Zumba body looks like. Yes.

But...Halloween is coming. And with three kids who can really haul in the goods, my house is going to be FILLED with candy.

I think maybe some little gnome is going to come in the middle of the night and flush candy down the toilet. Not all of it. Just the Butterfingers, Snickers bars, Kit-Kats...just the things I find utterly irresistable.

And isn't Halloween candy just a witch? (Hahah get it? Halloween? Witch?) It's so tiny and so individually wrapped. Now, for some people, this is great! because they can just take a little tiny piece, unwrap it, and eat it, and be satisfied!

Not me. HUH-uh.

I eat one. Then I think, that was so tiny, I can just eat another one. Then I repeat that process. Until the bag is gone.

Moderation? Is not my thing.

Which brings me back to the diet. And why I can't stand picturing myself on it forever. When I am trying to eat well, I can't have sweets in the house. At all. Because I devour them. I have to put a total moratorium on anything I like to eat. Good thing for my kids there are lots of things that have no power over me. Oreos? Don't do it for me. Sugar wafers? I just don't understand the appeal. Fruit snacks? Gag me with a spoon. But they love the stuff, so I can still keep a little sumpin sumpin around to toss in their school lunches every once in a while.

So we talked about the diet. We talked about convention. Talked about my motivation for losing weight, as disturbed as it might be. What else?

I'm slowly (so sloooowly) in the process of adding classes. I will continue to look for opportunities in my hometown, so my old students and I can whoop it up. I've had one or two things fall through, and it's taking its toll on my spirit, but I'm still going. It's tough, after three years, to practially start over again. Build up a class base again. Find a reliable place to teach without having to compromise my ideals. (Ideals? Something like that.) My schedule is here, and I'll keep updating it as I go. I also need a part-time job, to pay off some debt we dug ourselves into while I was with the studio. And I am WAY excited about throwing some crazy Zumba Jammer sessions...once the Zumba website for them is up and running. So, things are happening. Just...freaking...slow.

How are YOU? How do you keep your spirits up when diet or body image or circumstances try to drag you down? I pray. A LOT. It helps. Thank God. Like, literally. But I want to hear from you; how is your life??

kill me.

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:16:00 +0000

started diet yesterday.

feel like used-up toilet paper.

will post about it once i'm done detoxing.

good morning, world!

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:23:00 +0000

Hey y'all...it's 6 am and I've been up for two hours. I'm in Florida! for Convention!!! YAY!

I'm fuh-reaking starving and there are exactly 50 minutes and thirty-five seconds until the free continental breakfast at my hotel. So I thought I'd take advantage of the free computer access and type away for a bit...

Zumba Jammer training is today! Very excited. So excited to be part of the first group of Jammers. I think it's going to be a great program. They really haven't told us much about it yet so it will be interesting to find out more details. I can't wait to meet the other Jammers and see who else is in my area, since I haven't really heard about too many Jammers from my little part of the world.

Since I left the airport yesterday (and my kids didn't even cry when I left! I'm so proud of them! Of course, one of them is 11 and way too cool to cry and one of them made sure to know exactly when I'd be home so she could write it on the calendar and count down to it and one of them cried all the way to the airport so by the time we got there she'd apparently gotten it out of her system and OMG I miss them already!) I have peed approximately 362 times. I'm like a freaking puppy, I tell you. Too much excitement.

See the joy of early-a.m. blogging? TMI! Before breakfast!!

I tell myself every time I travel anywhere, and lug around a 50-pound suitcase, and only wear 1/3 of the clothes that I bring, that next time I will pack lighter. I will. I said that over vacation, when we had to drag all that stuff--all that stuff!!!--through the train station, onto the train, off the train, to the condo...it was awful! So I've been telling myself forver that I would not do that to myself again. I would pack light for Convention. I would bring two or three outfits with me and make use of the hotel laundry. Easy peasy. I could probably fit that in my carryon and not even have to check anything.

HAHA!!

I'm pretty sure that every. single. piece. of fitness-related clothing I own is currently in my suitcase. Certainly everything that says "Zumba" on it. I wanted to pack lightly. I really did. But how do you know ahead of time what you're going to wear?? What if I'm kind of bloated? Sweats and a baggy shirt. What if, by the end of the week, all that exercise and no-way-I'm-eating-crap-in-front-of-these-skinny-people eating has me looking totally hot? I need my super-cute tiny clothes! What if it's hot? What if it's cold? What if someone runs out of clothes and needs to borrow something from me? What if OMG!! Tanya B.!! wants us to wear something in particular because we're all going on stage together and it's the one thing I own but didn't bring?!?! These are all the things I have to consider!!! So I packed everything! Including three pairs of sneakers!! Because the convention hotel is carpeted how do I know what sneakers are going to work on that particular carpet?!?!

Heavy suitcase.

It's OK though; I'm strong.

Grr! This post just isn't taking enough time to write. It's only 6:21 and I'm still starving!!!

*drool grumble drool*

Zumba instructor convention. Are you going?

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Paine) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:54:00 +0000

Disclaimer: I would like to apologize for the extremenly focused audience this post targets. If you're not a Zumba instructor, your interest will likely wane after the first word or two. If you're a student of a Zumba instructor, and your instructor has subs lined up for all her classes next week, and you're all put-out because you hate when there is a sub...well, I empathize. But I'm not really sorry. Because, convention!!! Anyway...

Zumba instructor convention is in just a few short days. I leave on Tuesday, and I'm excited, but I still kind of feel distant about it, you know? I feel like, yup, I'm going, and that's awesome, but it's in the future sometime.

It should hit me that I'm actually going sometime between getting to the airport...and takeoff.

The funny/sad/amusing thing is that I'm no so much excited about convention (although I am, don't get me wrong) as I am excited about having time to myself!! Time to do what I want to do! Putting me first! For someone of my incredible selfishness, this is such a lovely prospect!

I have a whole day in between my Zumba Jammer training on Wednesday and my first day of convention on Friday. A whole, blissful day of nothing planned. And since the hotel is too remote to walk anywhere, I am going to sit my heinie down in a lounge chair with a big, easy, mindless book and a drink and a Costco-sized bottle of sunscreen (although come to think of it, Costco bottles of sunscreen are the same as regular-sized bottles. You just have to buy three or four at a time. Huh.) and do nothing.

Just thinking about it makes me drool a little.

I teach all morning tomorrow, and then I have to spend the rest of the day looking for teaching jobs (anyone need a Zumba instructor? I give a great class, but I'm not the best employee...) so no packing tomorrow. Then Sunday is church and family time. Then Monday is my last day with my kids before I leave. So I dont' know when I'm packing. Or doing laundry so I have clean things to pack.

I just came up with the solution! I won't pack anything!!! I'll just get down there with the clothes on my back, and buy all the new Zumbawear that will be out in the shops! I'll be the best-dressed instructor there!!! I'm a genius!

Oh wait. I'm broke!

Details...details...

Anyway, so I am bringing the camera and will do my best to take pictures, even though I hate taking pictures. I always say I'd rather live the moment than experience it second-hand through a camera lens. But then I always end up wishing later on that I had pics of everything and everyone.

My convo roomie and I were talking about who we'd want to meet while we are there. There's no one I'm dying to meet...but that's because I've already met a lot of people. I want to meet as many people as possible...there just aren't any specific people I will be looking for.

How bout you? Are you going? Are you hoping to meet anyone in particular?