Day 8: Itunes U and Day 9: Taebo

The internet is a HORROR at night, so I'm trying something new... I”m going to write my blessings in the morning now, but in order to do that there might be a short time of clustering them... be patient- I haven't lost count...;)

 

Day  #8: Itunes U

One of my greatest blessings as of late has been Itunes U. Many of you don't know what that is, so let me explain... Itunes U gives the option to download University course lectures as well as published journals read aloud onto your I-device. So far I've gotten to listen to lots of 4 minute stories about children in the health care system- some happy some tragic and I've gotten to listen to the beginning of a seminary school course on Ruth, who I have always been fascinated by and wanted to learn more from.... The best universities have lectures on here... it's a HUGE blessing to me because I LOVE learning.. I LOVE it... I've even found courses I wanted to take and now I get a glimpse at the course to see if I want to actually take it when I get home.... AMAZING.

If you have an I-device..I HIGHLY  recommend this app... especially if you have lots of gigs and a good internet speed.... my internet is poorly, but if I let it sit overnight, sometimes it starts to work....;)  Check it out- it's a HUGE blessing to this girl who LOVES learning both about my career and the bible:)

Day #9: Taebo

Taebo has always been something that I love... like really.. I don't know why.... maybe it's the idea that I can pretend punch something and get exercise out of it, or that it doesnt make me want to collapse at the thought of it(though after today I may've changed my mind). Either way, Billy Blanks has become a friend and his loyal assistant Shelly has become a friend as well.. they're whipping me into shape.

This evening, I went up to set up our wednesday workout, since my partner in exercise was sick. I decided we'd start with a Zumba warmup, hit the Taebo dvd then cool down with Zumba. Little did I realize that when it says 'Taebo Express' and '10 minute segments' that they didn't mean you're supposed to do some of the segments together, but it's your way out of a 30 minute workout if you don't have time for one... which really.. who can't spare 30 minutes in their day to take care of their body.. come on. But anyway... I got going and was doing well... then Billy started getting to me. I had some people watching tonight- a deep conversation happening behind me as I lept into the air, punched and did knee-ups- but nobody came to play tonight- it was just me and Billy- probably better that way... So this first one I did was punch and knee- the punch part I dug, the knee part... OH MY GOODNESS... Killer. So I did that and wanted to give up, but wanted to know what 'combo express' was, as I knew 'boot camp power' was not for today after that workout, 'fast footwork' didn't sound fun, 'kick express' sounds good but not then, etc etc as I went down the list... Combo express seemed to be the only one my mind and body liked. So I popped it in and THANKFULLY it was much easier- less repetition of the same thing over and over and more combinations- I like those:)Afterward I did my cool down, which was super great and then put all of the chairs back...

Now, since there are limited spaces on this lovely floating home of mine, we book out the International Lounge on Mondays and Wednesdays for these exercise classes. We range from 1-sometimes 20 participants on any given night- you never know who you're going to get. Tricky bit is that we have lots and lots of chairs in this room. It's the only room on the ship meant for all of the crew to fit in at once- with about 400 something chairs and standing room. So we clear out a section each time- this time on my own, and put them back as neatly as we can. Thankfully, housekeeping is wonderful and straightens them out after we've butchered it all week. There's an art to putting these chairs back. If you stack them a certain way, all you have to do is pull a bunch off and take one at a time off as you go... you have to see it to know what I mean. New crew are always like 'wow... you really know how to do this, huh'. To that I snicker and say, 'I've only been here 2 years' or …. 'I've only been here FOREVER!' :

International Lounge at the 2011 Film Festival

Today, however, this time alone... well alone minus my friends having their conversation in the back, was much needed. In the middle of the day, I wrote down 'I just want to be alone'... guess what I got... alone time.. well... Billy time, but still.. it was kinda perfect and just what I needed. I didn't want to talk(may come as a shock to many), I didn't want to do anything but be alone and do something- there was my chance and my blessing of the day.

THANKS MOM for getting me the DVDS... I LOOVE Taebo... I may've said this once before, but I love it soo much. I think it originates from 7^th grade when I wanted to get into some shape and tried it out and kinda liked it, but then my FAVORITE teacher of the 7^th grade- Miss. Rainey started teaching kickboxing classes after school- just like Taebo- I was so excited and signed up and gave it my all...  and now I still love it... those middle school teachers sure did make an impact on me come to think of it... all stories for another day;)