Fitness, Fun, Friends, & Finance

For many years I've enjoyed going to they gym and taking group fitness classes-- for me it's never mattered what class was offered, if the time was right I'd be there to get a workout and socialize.   Each time we move, hanging out at the gym is the way I end up meeting my new friends.  I had often thought what a great job it would be to teach the classes.  Back in December 2013, the fitness director at our community gym let me know they were having a person come onsite to do a group fitness certification and if I was interested I could join the group.  Well, you often don't get obvious signs like that, so I figured this was my opportunity and it couldn't be any clearer.  I got certified as a group fitness instructor and then also as a TRX instructor.

About a year ago, I was hired at our gym and started teaching classes.  I wanted to teach a cardio sculpt class that the director was doing, so she worked with me to get started, however, I found I have a hard time keeping beat and counting.  I realized I would need to adjust the class to not have to worry about the beat of the music.  I tweaked the class a few times and now have a a circuit training class and a group of 8-10 regular attendees.  Below is a photo of my group.

For me the best part of being a fitness instructor is having a group that regularly attends and getting to know each of them.  I've seen so many people loose weight and become stronger over the last year and I'm happy to know I have made a difference in their lives.  I will admit, that many mornings I'd like to just crawl back into bed and do nothing all day, but having a job now,  I've got to go, be positive, and make sure anyone else who dragged themselves to the class gets what they came for. When the hour is done, even if I didn't work out myself, those endorphines got flowing and I feel great heading off to start my day.

If that opportunity never presented itself to me over a year ago, I'd still be crawling back into bed skipping my workouts when I wasn't feeling great.

Angkor Wat - Temple Tours

Hearing so much about needing to see the temples in Cambodia we decided this was a family trip we should take.  We scheduled a spring break trip to Siem Reap, where the temples are located and enjoyed 1 day of temple viewing and 2 1/2 of relaxing and shopping!

Many of the temples were built between the 900's and 1200's.  In 1431 the King moved the city center from Angkor to Phnom Penh.  Amazingly the temples were abandoned and finally rediscovered by the French in the 1800's.  The temples did not have the flood of tourists they do today until the movie Tomb Raider was made in 2001.  Angelina Jolie filmed there and many of the restaurants claim to fame include being her favorite spot to eat.

We opted for a boutique hotel, small with only 28 guest house style rooms, but it provided 3 different pools to cool off in.  Fred had picked the resort without quite noticing that it was a wellness facility. That goodness you were not required to participate in the 3 day detox of coconut juice, acupuncture, and meditation.  We did however enjoy the extensive juice selections and massage options.

Cambodia accepts American dollars, so we stocked up with a wad of little bills for our market shopping.  There were 3 markets in town that sold clothes, silver, jewelry, and lots of other fun novelty items.  The big hit of Cambodia are these loose fitting pants that have elephant designs on the.  They sell them in other countries including Singapore, but the best deals are in Cambodia.  Unbelievably, 10 families from our community ended up going to Siem Reap, and I happen to run into my friend Tina and her son 10 minutes after arriving in town to begin our first day of shopping.  What a crazy small world.

 The girls and I have tried the fish spa, but Fred hadn't so we made him put his feet in.  A real bargain in Cambodia-- $3 for 30 minutes.  In Singapore it's $25 for 30 minutes.  Notice the sign says, Please feed our hungry fish your dead skin-- kinda gross and it feels very weird having the fish eat away at you.  Fred did pretty good, a little squeamish feeling until he got used to it.

There are some vehicles in Cambodia, but most people get around in tuck tucks or motorcycles.  Below is a picture of Fred and Jen riding in the forward facing 2 seats.  Surprisingly, in different countries the tuck tucks are all a little bit different.  In Cambodia they are basically a 4 person cart that attaches to the back of motorcycle.  In Thailand, it is a large 3 person bench seating area build onto the side/back of the motorcycle, but if you read about my Bangkok trip (last May) you can actually squeeze 5 people into one tuck tuck!

Overall, it was a really great experience going to Cambodia, we got to meet the friendly people who love Americans and also get a glimpse into an area that capitalizes on their history to make a living.