Today was a special treat: I got to go sans-child to SLC for a Zumba master class. It’s basically an extra-long Zumba class with a few extra incentives like refreshments and giveaways.

I didn’t think to snap any pictures BEFORE we turned all sweaty and un-photogenic…

There were a few other instructors there. Here’s me and Kate.

And me and Laura.

I even won something. I don’t know that I’ve ever won anything in a drawing before. I wasn’t even paying attention when she called my name and it took me a minute to figure out I was a WINNER!

Meet my new Zumba bag:

The other fun thing I got to do today was use a $100 gift certificate we got last Christmas for a swanky furniture/decor store. It was tricky to find things under $100 (or $200) so I wouldn’t spend anything out of pocket, but in the end I picked out some seasonal serving items and a covered dessert platter.

All for free! What is more fun than FREE?

On the way home I was dying of thirst and for once in my life I had no water with me. My brilliant solution: stop by Krispy Kremes and order a dozen donuts plus a cup of water. I have only been to Krispy Kremes once before, and today was the first time I’ve used their drive-through. How many countries in the world feature places where you can drive up to a window and get twelve fresh-baked donuts without even leaving your car? I love America.

спални комплекти

The best fun thing that happened today is we caught Wes on video trying to jump.

One of my friends (Melissa) got me a ticket to the 12:20 a.m. showing of New Moon the day it was released. After I agreed to go I had serious second thoughts because, um, who is it that’s always dead tired by 9 p.m.?

Oh, yeah–that would be me.

But as it turned out I had no trouble staying awake, even though I was tired. Maybe it was the adrenaline from Zumba mixed with the anticipation of seeing my boyfriend, i.e., Edward. In any case, I was alert the whole movie and the drive home.

The night started with my Zumba class in Lehi at 8 p.m. I used two songs from the “Twilight” soundtrack to get us in the mood, plus I wore my vampire shirt. I used it to experiment with t-shirt cutting.

Zumba was insane that night. Usually when I get to class there are a few people lined up outside, waiting to go in once the class before ours is finished. But when I got there Thursday night about twenty people were already in line. The facility puts a cap on the number of people allowed in to Zumba, but we exceeded it. The front desk sent someone up to ask me if they could let more people in even though there weren’t any more passes. I let them in. Everyone had fantastic energy and we had a good time.

Melissa’s in my Zumba class, and afterwards she kindly let me into her home to shower (since I live 20 miles away). We headed to Chili’s for a late dinner wiith her sister- and mother-in-law.

We each wore a Twilight shirt for the occasion to appropriately profess our love (we have the same boyfriend).

We saw a lot of different Twilight t-shirts at the movie theater. And a few guys. My favorite t-shirt was worn by a guy and said, “Real men read Twilight.”

We had a few minutes to pose with our boyfriend.

And with our boyfriend’s rival, Jacob.

About the movie…it made me like Jacob a lot more. But I may have been a tiny bit swayed by his rockin’ body. And I’m not even shallow like that.

I thought the movie was funny and entertaining. Unless I was drugged over with fatigue and just thought it was a good movie. I think I would see it again.

Melissa and I agreed that the only real downer about the movie is that we see Jacob walking around for half the movie shirtless (see “rockin’ body,” above). And then near the end Edward takes off his shirt and…well, it didn’t really compare. At all.

But we’ll still take Edward over Jacob.

Did anyone else see New Moon yet?

I helped organize a Zumba Halloween party that raised money for the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. The party was on October 29th. The first hour was all Zumba (in 20-minute segments taught by three different instructors), then we broke for a dance performance by P.A.L.S. (a dance troupe of young adults with Down syndrome). Following that, I taught my 20-minute segment, we drew some names for prizes, and then we did 20 minutes all-request Zumba.

Around 75-100 people came, many in costume. In spite of the heater not working and it being about 40 degrees outside, the event was a success. For a first-time effort at organizing a fundraiser, it turned out well. And I learned a lot. One thing I’ll do differently next time is not agree to teach three back-to-back Zumba classes the same day as the event, because by the time it was my turn to teach my body was like, “Three hours of exercise is enough. I quit.” It was fun anyway, but I was tired.

I just got back pictures from the event taken by our talented photographer, Tabitha Davidson (check out her photography Web site).

Observe:

We held it at The Apollo in American Fork. The lighting was cool.

Desree taught the first segment, and we had a surprise visit from Michael Jackson!

Then Jessica taught.

And Laura. I didn’t even recognize her when I arrived. Nice wig, Laura!

(By the way, these three ladies are GREAT Zumba instructors.)

I was supposed to be a schoolgirl.

The last song I taught was a booty battle. My classes love booty battles. We divide the room in half and face off. One side does a move, then the other side does the same move, trying to best them. There is much booty shaking and smack talking.

Wes was Superman.

GOOD NEWS

I got a new job teaching aerobics at BYU starting winter semester. I’ve been subbing there for a year, but now I’ll be teaching four classes a week. Aerobics at BYU is open to anyone in the community (not just students) and it’s the cheapest deal around: $44 for a whole semester (3 1/2 months) and you can go to any of the cardio classes. Here’s what I’ll be teaching:

M/W 6 a.m. (step aerobics)
T/Th 5:30 p.m. (Zumba)

Other cardio classes you can attend:

M/W 5:30 p.m.
T/Th 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 8:30 a.m.

So if you’ve been looking for a new workout class, especially once the new year hits, come check it out.

AND NOW THE BAD NEWS

Sort of bad news. I guess it depends on how you look at it. I’ve had four miscarriages this year. Four miscarriages is not usual, especially not four in a row. But hurrah for insurance, which will cover 100% of the recommended tests. Without insurance each test would be $250-$570, and there are eight of them. If any of you have had recurrent miscarriages and actually found out what the problem was let me know.

On the bright side, I like not being pregnant because I can enjoy teaching aerobics and Zumba without the inconvenience of morning sickness, varicose veins, or a big belly.

MORE GOOD NEWS

Speaking of which, I’ll be teaching a new Zumba class in Springville at the Academy of Ballet (200 South Main) tomorrow (Thursday Nov. 12) at 8 p.m. Cost is $3.50.

I’ll also be teaching another 8-week Zumba session starting in January 20th on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. My current session just ended last night. I gave my class a survey at the end to see how to make it better next time. They were a subdued class, so it was hard to tell how into Zumba they were. Turns out they loved it and only wished they could make the class longer than eight weeks.

AND ONE MORE THING

I’ve lost weight since I started teaching Zumba/aerobics last year. I’ve gone down about a size in both pants and shirts. So I have all these old t-shirts and tank tops that I used to workout in that I never wear anymore because they’re baggy.

This week I pulled out one of my old tank tops and took a scissors to it. First I cut off the straps in the back and tied the straps together behind the neck (halter top fit). Then I cut straight down the back and took out a few inches of material to make the shirt less baggy. I saved the material to use for ties. I punched holes down the back side and used the extra material to tie the shirt back together.

It was a good practice attempt. I’m going to try it again on another shirt I actually like. If it turns out well I’ll post pictures. Have any of you done this before?

This weekend John and I dumped Wes off at another family’s house, got a 4-star hotel off Priceline.com for 40% off, and spent a couple nights in The Big City.

Travel Savvy Tip: Before you bid on a hotel on Priceline.com go to betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com to see what rate other people have been winning hotel stays with. These Web sites also teach you about “free rebids” and how to use them to maximize your bidding experience.

Friday night we ate dinner at Christopher’s. It was perfect: ambiance lighting, soft jazzy music, and delicious food. As we ate we realized it had been a long time since we had gone out for a nice dinner together, just the two of us. It was nice.

Travel Savvy Tip: When you stay at a nice hotel, book your dinner reservation through the concierge. First, it saves you the hassle of doing it yourself, and second, often they have partnerships with area restaurants and can offer you discounts or special offers.

We got a free appetizer coupon through our concierge, but we ended up not using it because we were eating early enough to order their early bird special–four courses for $28. I had shrimp cocktail (yum), green salad (yum), Parmesan encrusted halibut (oh my gosh yum) with mashed potatoes and green beans, and for dessert bread pudding (on the floor dying of yumness).

I ordered the bread pudding because they were out of creme brulee, but normally I’m not a big fan of bread pudding. This was until I met Christopher’s bread pudding that’s served warm dripping with caramelized butter sauce. Every bite melts in your mouth and makes you think, “Oh my gosh! This is GOOD!”

The halibut, too, I was surprised by, probably because I don’t eat a lot of fish and the only other halibut I’d had was at Magleby’s (the place that tries to pass itself off as a nice restaurant but is really sub-standard–except for their chocolate cake, which is made by someone outside the restaurant named Lenora and is really to die for), and let’s just say the fish at Magleby’s Was. Not. Good. But the Parmesan encrusted halibut at Christopher’s was juicy and tasty and melted in your mouth. So glad I got that.

After dinner we walked around Temple Square.

There was a concert in the Tabernacle by the Orchestra on Temple Square. It had already started by the time we got there.

We waited outside, and during a break between songs we were allowed in. We heard a song by a 12-year-old virtuoso pianist from Hong Kong and then an orchestra piece by Wagner. I play the cello and love orchestra concerts, so this was a nice treat.

After the concert we walked to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and watched the movie about Joseph Smith. It was sad. Good, but sad. It’s hard to watch a lifetime of trials and hardship condensed into an hour and ten minutes. But it put me in awe of how faithful and obedient Joseph was even when he didn’t know God’s plan for him. No matter your religious background or personal beliefs, you should admire Joseph’s willingness to obey faithfully.

Saturday was actually the reason we came to Salt Lake City. I attended a Zumba instructor training workshop. It’s meant for people who want to teach Zumba but never have. Because I already teach Zumba and am a member of the Instructor Network I could take the workshop for half price.

It was a good review and so much fun! One of my students-turned-instructor was there, which made it even more fun. That’s her on the left, with Lindsey (who led the workshop), and me.

We jammed all day long with the merengue, cumbia, salsa, and reggaeton. It was great to meet the new soon-to-be-instructors, and I set some new goals for myself as a Zumba instructor.

Back at the hotel John and I went swimming, sat in the hot tub, and visited the sauna. The hot tub and sauna felt SO GOOD. And normally I don’t like saunas. They’re too hot. But it felt good on my body after being so active all day long.

Travel Savvy Tip: Before you travel someplace go to Tripadvisor.com and research your hotel, restaurants, and activities. There’s a wealth of information there from other travelers who have been there, done that, so you can know before you go what to expect.

We came home on Sunday and picked up Wesley. He didn’t seem to miss us at all. I didn’t hear much about what he did while we were gone, except that he went to two basketball games, got a pony ride, and had a lot of fun.

Wes doesn’t have a costume this year. At least, not yet. When he was born I got him a Superman costume off eBay, which was supposed to be for babies 0-9 months and which served him well for two Halloweens.

Here he is 6 weeks old. I think he weighed about 5 lbs back then.

And here he is last Halloween, 13 months old.

The ironic thing is that I normally despise dressing myself up for Halloween, but since I’m teaching Zumba at a Halloween fundraiser party I’ll be all decked out this year. Dressing up one person is enough work, but two? I have no ideas and really no ambitions to dress Wesley up. Unless you have some good, easy suggestions for me. Any?