Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Here's to hoping you and your families had the best Christmas yet and will be having a great new year when 2012 comes along!!! Love you all!


*On a side note, I've decided to get another type of Zumba license. I'm going to a Zumba Toning certification in March! Didn't take me long to spend the Christmas money once I saw that a training was coming to our town! Yay for no traveling! Just get up, get dressed and drive down the road! :) I'm super excited about this! Can't wait to add another dimension to my Zumba classes after March!!

Kyle's still working hard on his thesis. He's got 2 out of 4 chapters written so I'd say that's major progress!! He's got articles and papers strewn out all over the office floor...I'm trying to be patient with that.. haha! He's a good, hard worker and he'll have it finished by this spring and be able to graduate in summer if all goes the way it is going right now. :) Then maybe we might take a nice trip in the summer somewhere to celebrate his success.

Well, I better cut this off because I've got a CPR training to go to and then I'm out to lunch with a friend of mine.

An Update

Well, it's been a little over a month since the last time I've written. Sorry for being so lazy on this blog lately. Just got busy with a lot of other things so I'll give ya'll an update on the goings-on in the past month..

*Zumba has definitely been the major thing keeping me running from one place to another. Seems like I've got something Zumba-related most weeks and sometimes every night! As it stands now, I'm teaching regularly 3 times a week, soon to be 4 regular classes. A friend of mine had been teaching at Idaho Power for an employee wellness program they've got going on there. She's gotten too overwhelmed with other things in her other jobs and whatnot. So, she's handing it over to me. So after Thanksgiving week, I will be teaching M, T, W and F! Once the holidays are over then, I'm going to restart the Zumba Fitness for Faculty for another 6 week session. Whew! But the good news is, I'm really close to my final weight goal and all of this Zumba has definitely been the driving force to get me there! I'm pretty happy with that!


*School: Kids are still acting pretty decent. They're teenagers and they're talkative and at times, immature, but that'll be kids for you. If talking and immaturity are my biggest problems, I'd say I've got it made in terms of student quality. :) I love them to death (well, most of them ;) ha!).. They're great and I can always count on a pretty good laugh from them every now and then. Grades are good for the most part and I feel like this is going to continue to be a good year. I had my first formal observation today and the students in my 5th period did extremely well for me. They were attentive and mostly engaged and the principal even chuckled a little at one of my students. I think that's a good sign.


*Personal life: Hectic. What with Zumba and Kyle doing Master's work, we rarely find a lot of time to sit back and relax but lately we've found a little time. So I can't complain too much. We have a friend couple who have invited us out to their cabin in Donnelly (in the mountains) a few times. We've only really been out there once so far but we love going out there. It's so peaceful and quiet! Not to mention, great times with friends! We eat good too. ;)


That's what has been going on so far in our lives lately. About to have some very special visitors here on Monday night to stay with us through the Thanksgiving week. We can't wait to have my parents here for a nice, relaxing visit. I'm sure we'll try and take pictures. Until then, have a great rest of your week!

Almost halfway there..

Well, it's almost mid-October (which means Thanksgiving is near and so are the Christmas holidays, which means the year is almost halfway done..) and so far, I've survived the first couple of months of school. I've started up a Zumba Fitness for Faculty for a couple of schools near to my high school. We're having the classes at one of the elementary schools since they won't charge rent. :) We're having a blast!! Class is every Thursday right after school.


One thing though is that I am so busy. There really isn't a night or weekend where I don't have some sort of commitment. It's beginning to get tiresome. Granted, it's great exercise but at some point, I'm going to have to sit tight and not commit to stuff right away. I swear that Zumba is keeping me more busy than my real teaching job--haha! At the same time, if I don't have these classes or have to skip one for some reason, I feel bloated and I don't feel good. These classes are like a drug. I have withdrawals, like the bloating and icky feelings, when I don't get to partake in the classes for some reason. I'm hoping that at least in November, I'll be able to take a little breather. I've got 2 parties I'm going to be participating in for Zumba purposes: Zombie Zumbathon and a "Wicked" Zumba party...sheesh! Lots of fun but after I get done with those, I'm going to collapse! :) I'm not having my Saturday Zumba class on the 29th so that Kyle and I can escape town for that weekend and have some peace and quiet. No Zumba. No nothing. It'll be nice. We can be refreshed and then come back that Sunday afternoon ready to start it all over again--full force!


The kids in my classes are all pretty good kids. Only minor problems such as the normal stuff like, too much talking and not staying on task. However, I've remedied that for the a little bit (especially for my 6th period). It's called new seating charts and a heart-to-heart talk with them saying I know they can do better. So far, it's worked. *cross fingers*


Kyle is still working on his Master's. He hasn't started writing yet. He's hoping to start that soon. I'm hoping he'll start that soon too because that means this madness will be done. :)


Well, I better get going. Gotta go practice with a fellow Zumba Instructor for the Zombie Zumbathon later this month. :)

1st couple of weeks down, several to go!

School has gotten off to a great start! My kids are great and (mostly) behaved. :) Sure, they're talkative and can be a bit rambunctious but they're good kids, all in all. I've been majorly saved by my fellow German teacher, Jamie Gilderhus, with all of her lesson plans she so graciously gave to me this summer. I've been trying to beef them up where I can to make them my own. I've been trying to figure out my own pace as well and doing lots of trial and error attempts...although since school has but barely started, I haven't had that many "errors"...yet.. I should get a picture of my classroom up on here pretty soon.


I've also volunteered to be the Wellness Champion for my school in order to get more involved with the teacher community at Timberline HS. All a Wellness Champion does is be the contact for the lady at the district office to send posters and flyers and whatnot to me and I can hang them around the school for faculty. I also get to help decide what health initiatives we'd like to implement for the district based on needs and desires of the district. With that said, I've decided that I want to start up a Zumba Fitness for Faculty class on Thursday afternoons. I've already had about 8 teachers at my school say they were totally interested in participating and so we'll see once I get an actual location how many more I'll gain. I would do it at my school but there's been a snag, (don't want to go into details) so I'm working with the district lady to get someplace else worked out. :)


Basically, I've been going nonstop lately. I'm tired. Whoever said half-time employment was actually half-time? Yeah, it's called half-time because I'm only paid for HALF of my time spent. ;) No worries, I love my job so far and don't have very many complaints about getting to school at 10am... that part is awesome, I won't lie.


I've also started up a German Club and have a few student participants already. We're having a "Club Rush" this week to promote all of the school clubs and hopefully grow ours. I also have a Back to School Nite event tomorrow where I get to meet some of the parents of my students. I'm also going to try and snag some and try and convince them to come to my Germany trip parent meeting the following night so they can have their kids take part in a wonderful travel opportunity. I think the parents are the ones who I can grab and actually get their attention about this amazing opportunity. Who wouldn't want to go to Germany in 2013 with a couple of AWESOME German teachers?

Well, that's what has been happening with me so far since school started. Kyle has still been plugging away at his Master's. Not a lot of spare time lately except for last weekend when we drove up to Donnelly, ID to stay a night at one of his coworker friend's cabin. They were up there and so we had a nice visit with them. The fresh mountain air was just what we needed. It allowed us to have a nice sleep that night and we woke refreshed the next day. It was a great weekend.

Jennifer Campbell rocks Zumba at the Canyon County Music Festival

Here's a video of me teaching a Zumba routine (Bollywood music) at a local music festival. :)

And it's begun!

The school year is nigh and I'm gearing up for it this week, which means meetings, meetings and more meetings! I'm getting at a taste of how exhausted I'm about to become. Although I will say, these days I've been going all day. With this part-time gig, I probably won't be as tired. But the anxiety and good stress of starting something new will probably weigh on me for a little bit. Nonetheless, I'm completely excited!!! I've got new ideas for the classroom (stuff for getting the kids to participate, etc...). I've met one of my students already--he's a German exchange student. Already forgot his name. LOL! Anyway, he's gonna be my teaching assistant for my German 3 class,where I only have 9 kids and he'll be my resource for culture questions and any doubts I have about my language skills. I'm sure he'll be willing to help me out. :)


I'm sharing a classroom with another teacher who's there in the morning and the great thing is: I DON'T HAVE TO MOVE ROOMS FOR EACH CLASS!!! I get to stay in that room in the afternoon!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THAT MAKES ME! I get to plant myself right there and stay. I have my desk all set up for the most part, aside from odds and ends that will be added I'm sure as the year goes on. I plan on making a filing system (I'm not organized--not quite sure I'm gonna do this but it's gonna happen). I've got ideas for small projects. I'm excited for them. I think the kids and I will get along just peachy (here's hoping).


I'm sure I will have updates for ya'll soon. I'll let you know how the first few days/weeks went.

Wow, that was random/weird/nice...

I just had the nicest thing sent to me. A girl on Facebook befriend me after I sent a friend request because we had gone to middle school together. She was part of the people who may or may not have had a hand in making my life a little harder than it needed to be at that point in time. But I don't remember her being one of the MAIN ones. So anyway, she sent me a message apologizing for the way she treated me and that she hoped she didn't cause me too much grief. She said she wasn't really that way and that she's thought about me over the past several years and wanted to basically make amends.


That is an awesome thing for her to do. I mean, yeah, it came in 16 years later but hey, better late than never I suppose? I replied back to her thanking her for the nice message and that I turned out okay (debatable?--haha) and that I was very fortunate to have 2 very loving and caring parents to help me get through all of those tough times. Not every child has 2 parents nowadays that will take time to listen and comfort their children in times like those. I'm extremely lucky. And I told her that I really don't remember her being one of the main ones that gave me issues anyway. Or at least not that I can easily recollect. I do remember 2 girls to this day but it's all in the past and I have such a good life now that who cares what those 2 girls are doing? If I held that anger and sadness in for 16 years, they would've won. This girl that wrote to me actually seemed like a pretty approachable person when she was by herself and not around those other girls. I told her that pretty much. I said that, "Deep down, I think I knew you weren't like the other girls and it sorta confused me at the time. You seemed like you were a very pleasant person." Ahh, the power of peer pressure. I believe it's the strongest when you're in middle school. You're caught in between being a kid and an adolescent/teen. You're not quite sure who you're going to be at that time so you let other people decide for you, unfortunately or fortunately (depending on who you choose to be around)..


But it shows her maturity in writing this message and I only can appreciate her for this act of kindness.

The room is booked!!

A fellow Zumba Instructor and I have officially made it a goal for both of us (and other Treasure Valley Zumba Instructors) to attend the 2012 Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando, Florida!! Apparently this year's Convention was a huge hit because not only did 7,000+ Zumba Instructors from around the world attended but ALSO the hip-hop artist, PITBULL made a special appearance for the Friday night Fitness-Concert! Wyclef-Jean also was in attendance as well!!

What happens during a Zumba Convention you ask? Well, think of it as a Comic Book Convention...BUT WAY, WAY, WAY COOLER!!! People also tend to lose a few pounds while there too due to massive amounts of exercise! This convention is only open to Zumba Instructors who are a part of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN) and are in good standing. There, they can get extra specialty certifications such as Aqua Zumba, Zumba Toning, Zumbatomic (Zumba for kids, ages 12 and below), Zumba Gold (Zumba for the active, older adult or the de-conditioned individual), etc. There's a new specialty that they've showcased during the convention and that's called Sentao, which is a Zumba workout on a chair--very low to no impact on the joints! The convention also offers specialty "boosts" which are little flavor sessions people can go to if they already teach a certain specialty and just need new ideas and whatnot. Now, the convention isn't all work and no play, they DO have LOADS of fun there too, such as the Glimmer and Glow Party and as I mentioned earlier, the Fitness-concert where special guest appearances may happen!

As you can see, this is a beyond-awesome event and I must be in attendance next year with thousands of my closest friends in the Zumba Fitness world!! And that's why I've gone ahead and booked a room at the most coveted event in a Zumba Instructor's fitness career...

This is what I'm talking about!!

This is my sweaty, hug picture with Camilo Jimenez. He's the guy that taught the Zumba Master Class I wrote about in the previous post. I had an AWESOME day.

And about a month later, I decide to post something...

Whoa, sorry ya'll. It's been awhile. Quite a bit has happened since the last time I wrote. Well, summer has officially begun and I'm happy to say that I can actually CELEBRATE this summer because I AM AN OFFICIAL EMPLOYEE OF THE BOISE SCHOOL DISTRICT!!! I have a part-time German position at a high school. I'll be teaching 3 periods in the afternoon every day (4th, 5th and 6th) and it'll be wonderful. :) I'm so excited because I think this position has potential to last a long time. It also has potential to grow into full-time maybe the following school year. I'm so happy now. I've already started some brainstorming for the year and for the lessons. Gotta get started since I haven't really thought about German in awhile. Hmm.. ;)


Another thing is Kyle got a small raise for good works at his job. Every little bit helps, right? :)


We went to Yosemite in early June and it was an awesome sight to see! We definitely enjoyed seeing the huge, beautiful national park. I will hopefully post pictures soon. This site tends to be a little slow in the picture uploading mode so I'll have to pick a few good ones to put on here so ya'll believe me that we actually went. hehe..


Today was a STUPENDOUS day because I got to do what I love to do the most: ZUMBA FITNESS. A fellow Zumba Instructor was lucky enough to have an important person in the Zumba Fitness industry come up to Idaho and conduct a Master Class (basically a HUGE Zumba class for any and everyone to have a great time and move/groove to music with one of the best dancers). He definitely was energetic and talented..AND his looks didn't hurt either. ;) His name is Camilo Jimenez and he had us dancing the whole morning!! The class started at 10am and ended at 11:30am. There was hootin' and hollerin' all over and especially when he would wipe his sweat with his shirt and "accidentally" lift his shirt up to show his abs. Hmm...he was eatin' it up. He loved the women screamin' at him. HAHA. I wish I had a video of it. I had a couple pictures with him. One where I was all dry before class (no sweat) and then one right after class and he gave me a BIG, SWEATY HUG. It was a good picture. Soon as I get it, I'll post it.

After the Master Class, a friend of mine that I had driven over with and I went to Nampa to go shopping at the Zumba Basics 1 training that was being held by Zumba Education Specialist, Barbara Klontz. I'm following her blog in case you'd like to read it. It's over there on the right side of my blog. She talks about having the condition of Hemachromatosis (body produces too much iron) and she's constantly in pain and is sick a lot, yet she has the gumption to be this powerful Educational figure in the fitness industry despite how crappy she feels. It's very inspirational. :) I was telling my friend that I almost feel as if these ZES's are like mini-celebrities because I just look up to them so much because of their expertise in the fitness program that I absolutely love. They are just awesome. I can't describe how completely phenomenal they are as people.


Well, it's getting kinda late so I better get going. I'm completely exhausted from this magnificent day.

New businesses take a lot of time and commitment!

As my mom and dad and many of you already know, starting up a new business is time-consuming and takes a lot of patience and most of the time, a lot of $$$! I've had a little taste of that lately with working at the Nampa Fit Studio. I've been so busy lately with doing Zumba Fitness demos for prospective Studio customers! Seems like every couple of weeks there's a place to be. It's fun though to get out into the public eye in hopes that client numbers will grow. At times, however, it gets a bit discouraging when I do put in all that time at the different locations--preparation, gas money, energy and only to not see class numbers grow. It's like, "where did these free credits go?" Why aren't these people taking advantage of a free credit? Anyway, I'm starting to see the fruits of my labor, if only for a short time--who knows if the numbers will continue to go up but Monday night was awesome! I had 6 people in my class! I had been having anywhere from 1 or 2 students and barely able to make 3 students! 3 students equals me getting paid. Anything under 3 means I'm either not getting to the studio because nobody signed up or there's only 1 or 2 people and I give them a workout for free. I'm so glad now that my numbers seem to be slowly increasing. It's definitely not been easy to come by. Time, patience and LOTS of energy. I love my boss though. She's what makes it worth all the trouble. She's so easy to work with and has given me ample opportunities to show myself and my trade of Zumba Fitness. She's invested TONS of money into this fitness studio of hers and I admire her for it. It's risky nowadays to put your life on the line and lay out a lot of money on something that may or may not work out. Fortunately, everybody is looking to lose a few pounds here and there so I think this studio will go pretty far and grow to be very successful.


At my other studio, I'm starting to see my numbers grow there too and that's been all me trying to get my Saturday class introduced into the public. I've walked around town posting flyers, handing out cards, posting on Facebook, etc...I've spent lots of my money on business cards, printouts and free class cards in hopes of upping my numbers there as well. This one is a little harder in some respects because really, nobody else is helping me promote that class but ME. I mean, it's on the studio owner's schedule printouts but I'm sure he doesn't really say much but that's okay. It's my class, my business that I have to grow and nurture. I've just completed my big project that I had been working on..my contest video for the Zumba Home Office. I choreographed (all on my own--my very first choreography project without the help of any youtube channels or other Zumba Instructors) the song of their choice, "Contigo" (a salsa song) and put together a production. It was truly amazing to see these 9 women come together for me to make this contest video. After the deadline is up, I will post a segment of it so ya'll can get a glimpse of my final product. I have to say, I'm extremely proud of myself and my students. Even if I don't win the contest, I can say, "Look what we did and look how much fun it was to do this together?" It'll give me the confidence to do it again in the future.




I love my job as a Zumba Instructor. It's worth the money. :)

Photo session. :)

I'm trying to upload a few more but the site's being difficult so I'll try later. But these are a few of my favorites. :)

Exciting opportunity

Well, hello there!

Just a real quick bit: I've decided to enter into a contest for Zumba. I recently got an email about a contest opportunity. It's a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to either London or LA to help make a new Zumba video game--they've already got one but they'll be making a new one and the winner gets to be in it and help make it (probably, if I win, it'll be to LA--it's probably which place you're closest to, more than likely). Anyway, what I have to do is submit a video of myself teaching my class a preselected song and what they're looking for mostly is enthusiasm, charisma, energy and excitement from everybody involved. I think I can pull of the energy myself, but I've gotta make sure my students do as well. Lots of smiles and excitement. I also have to do a 30 second spiel about myself and why I should be chosen. That'll probably be the hardest part. I'm really excited about this opportunity and I know that chances are slim that I will win but hey, you never know if you don't try, right?

Have you ever...

Had someone give you food because they thought you were really sweet? That's what happened to me today. Kyle calls me on his way home from work and says the lady at his favorite place to eat lunch (Thai House) liked me so much that she gave him my favorite food from the buffet for free: orange chicken and chow mein noodles. I've never had that happen to me before. She just scooped up the food from the buffet and gave it to Kyle and said, "Here. Take this to your wife because she's so nice." Hilarious and sweet of her to do for me...and the really funny thing is that I've only spoken like 2 or 3 times to her and it's all been small talk. Regardless though, it really made my afternoon and made me feel really good. Now I want to eat the orange chicken...

"I like to see your body movin'..."

Movin' is exactly what I've been doing--as in, Zumba Fitness all over the place!! I finished with the high school gig last week. My body's probably pretty relieved. :) This week's been pretty relaxed and non-eventful. I subbed for a fellow instructor last night and had 8 people in the class!!! That's a really good number--it'd be better to have a few more due to getting paid a little more but I'm not complaining by any means! And I'm so excited that I got some feedback from a Zumba student of mine that said since she's been taking my class, she's down 10-15 pounds!! I couldn't be happier for her and I know she's ecstatic!

Another tidbit of news: I just got hired at Gold's Gym! I don't have an official schedule of classes yet but that will come soon. Probably when a new one comes out. The class coordinator has to see where I'd fit in with all the other classes. Looks like Zumba is taking over Idaho Gold's Gyms by storm finally--Idaho's been kinda slow to grow in this awesome, effective program. In fact, when I met the coordinator for my audition, she told me that for the longest time she fought bringing Zumba into the gym since they already had a dance class through the Les Mills program. She didn't want to have to pay for another dance program but her boss came in one day and asked her, "So why don't we have Zumba at our gyms??" LOL! Beto Perez (the founder of Zumba Fitness) would be so happy to know about this and how it's finally starting to take root here.

Anyway, I'm having a blast doing this and will be instructing for a long time to come--it gives me so much more enjoyment than any other mode of exercise or other exercise program. I love ZUMBA!!!!

Jen Campbell Zumba Demo

The reason I'm not facing my students, there's a mirror that I'm looking at and for that particular song, it's just easier at times to face the mirror so we're all going the same direction. Especially in smaller spaces like this studio and with a large number of people, it also helps to do this. :) Normally, I face them though and smile constantly.

Oh and the girl in tie-dye is my friend, Amanda Farner. We were coworkers (aka partners in crime) at CHS. I miss not seeing her face most every day at work. :'(

Status update

First of all, I'm exhausted. Second of all, I have officially lost 30 pounds!! Took me 4 years to get to this point but it's awesome! I want to keep going for another 10-15 pounds but I feel pretty great about myself right now. I feel so accomplished.

The reason I'm exhausted is I've been teaching Zumba NONSTOP. Started a couple of weeks ago at the karate studio (W,Th,F) and plus my two Saturday classes. Well, I also added an extra short-term assignment for myself...This week and next I'm teaching Zumba at Bishop Kelly High School (the Catholic high school) for the girls' PE classes. 3 periods a day, for 3 days a week, for 2 weeks. Next week will be my last and I'll be there M,W,Th. Then I'm done with that. I've been so sore but it's worth it. To see those girls running..no sprinting..to class to see if they can get their favorite color belly scarf and be the first on the floor to start dancing, it's all worth the pain and soreness. I love it. They love it. Every time I walk in the front door of BK, the girls who have been taking Zumba yell out to me, "ZUMBA, ZUMBA!!!" I love it. Have I said that already? The PE teacher's been pretty impressed with the class. If I don't have a job next year, I will definitely be there for both semesters!!!

Anyway, gotta go. Write more later.

So far, so good!

Getting through my first week of Zumba 4 days a week and so far, it's going well. I've been able to introduce new people to the Zumba Fitness program and so far, they seem to be loving it! Granted, it's been a little overwhelming for some but they will love it once they get started!! :) I'm excited for the health benefits it's going to present me too! It'll probably take a couple of weeks for it to register with my body what exactly is happening. Right now, I'm a little more sore than I usually am! Yikes, this morning I had to stretch around in bed a little more so that I could get up and be able to walk--haha!! Anyway, it's going to be a lot of fun for me and hopefully all of my students!


Nothing much else is new with us. It's spring break for the schools right now so I've been enjoying a much needed mental rest period after all of that testing that I did last month. Got my first paycheck for that and it was nice. Helped cushion our tax expenses we had to pay out--OUCH! Maybe the second paycheck that will come at the end of April will feel a little better and we'll be able to save it. I start right back into the subbing mode on Monday for the traveling German teacher. Now starts the time where I will be more avid in watching for job postings, if there are to be any--but now is the time when people are deciding whether they want to sign their contracts for another year and when some decide they want to retire or move out. The question is if those positions will be refilled. I have a very slight job prospect if all goes right and that's the traveling German teacher position, except it won't be traveling!! She seems to think that the high school she starts out at every morning (her home base) might take her on as full time if the numbers of students for German rise enough. So then that would mean that a German position at the second high school will open up. It would probably be a part-time position but at this point, I'll take it!! Plus, I can offer up that I can teach ESL English for other periods as well! So my fingers are crossed in the back of my mind but I'm not getting too excited just yet. Who knows what will happen for that. We'll just have to "let the rose unfold". ;)

I'm officially working this coming week at a new place

So now I'm officially an employee at the Meridian Martial Arts studio (aka Karate for Kids). I will be working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights as their official Zumba instructor!! The owner just informed me though that every 9 weeks, they'll be testing and will have to figure out what to do once the Zumba classes grow--meaning, we'll have to be cancelled every 9 weeks so as not to disturb the Martial Arts testing. Bummer but at least it's every 9 weeks and not every other or every 2 weeks. That would get old fast. :) So, right away, she told me the week of April 6-8th, there's testing going on which kinda stinks because that's the first official week after the introductory period next week. I will be starting next week on Wednesday and we'll go through Friday but the following week is testing so we'll have to not have class then. I hope that doesn't make attendance die right away...Probably not though. They have a pretty large customer base of parents that would understand that and I have friends that would like to do it there and I'll just relay the message.


Anyway, the testing I've been doing has finally come to a close. Yesterday was the last day of testing and WE ARE DONE!!!! I was so happy to be finished. And it was a beautiful day, to boot! I came home, plopped down and chilled out the rest of the day. We had hamburgers for dinner to celebrate. It was delicious! I spent the last few days at my old stomping grounds (Caldwell High School). Every once in awhile, while walking down the halls or seeing some of my students, I got reminiscent and kinda sad. I miss that place and (most) everybody in it. I miss my kids especially. I really want to be there for them and cheer the seniors on to graduation but sadly, I won't see that, unless I manage to make it to the graduation ceremony in May. I might try and make it. Some of the kids really want me to be there that day. *Sigh* I miss them terribly. :(


I guess that's about it for updating right now. I'll let ya'll know about the new place after I get it started.

Agony and irritation is finally over!

And I'm not only talking about past physical ailments... ha! I'm talking about that dang Karate studio that I did a demo class for last week and they just wouldn't call back and I was beginning to get majorly irritated BUT!! they called me this afternoon and told me that they wanted me to come in on Monday for a finalizing of scheduling Zumba at their studio! I'm so excited!!!!!

Only I know the truth.

Went to weigh in today at WW and was deeply disappointed. I am determined now that those scales are definitely rigged!! I've been working my butt off lately with working the test and also practicing Zumba and doing auditions and holding class. I've been eating like a bird lately (not very full meals) and my scale at home has weighed me the lightest I've been since last summer. My clothes have been fitting me really well to the point of some jeans fitting looser. My scale told me that I have dropped at least 3 pounds since last month when I weighed in at WW. Yet, I go into WW this morning and it says that I've gained 0.2lbs!!! What the flapjack??? That doesn't make sense to me AT ALL. It almost made me feel as if I never wanted to step foot in there ever again. I can see why people lose interest in that program simply because of the weighing in aspect!! I love the new plan though with the free fresh fruit and veggies (0 point values)...BUT THE SCALE HAS GOT TO GO! I was almost tempted when I got to the doctor's office to have them weigh me there so I could prove that the scale was off. Kinda crazy when you're tempted to have the doctor weigh you, huh?? HA! Anyway, I'm not going back to WW until next month when I absolutely have to do my monthly weigh in.

Guilty...

I haven't been tracking my food intake the past couple of weeks. I've been bad about that. However, I've been doing tons of activity with all this Zumba. I've been getting plenty of activity!! I've actually been keeping an eye on the scale though and not eating actually that much. I've actually lost a couple of pounds though. :) This morning I weighed myself this morning and it's the lowest it's been for a while--probably since early last summer. I'm satisfied.


Tomorrow's my first official class at The Studio in Nampa. We'll see if anybody shows. So far nobody's registered but it's just the beginning. We'll see what happens in the near future.

New employment and new blog!!

I just auditioned to work at a studio in Nampa, ID. It's called NampaFit Studio. They hired me on!! I will now have a busy schedule of Zumba!! I will be teaching Thursday nights (8-9pm), Saturday afternoons (1:30-2:30pm)!! Wow, I'm gonna get a lot of exercise whether I like it or not... ha! In an effort to spread the news about my new classes, I made a new blog: www.zumbawithjen.blogspot.com. You can take a look at it and see how it's progressing. I'm so excited to get started with my new classes!!

A continuation

As I was saying, Saturday's training was extremely exciting and overwhelming at the same time!! We did Zumba for a little over an hour first thing and then had a break for awhile and came back to a lecture from the ZES (Zumba Education Specialist) Madalene Aponte. She is such an excellent speaker and teacher! She has an awesome personality and told great stories about her experiences with the founder of Zumba, Beto Perez. She showed us how to break down a song and put it with choreography. Then we all got a chance to come up with choreography for a song. We broke up into 4 groups and put choreo to a song. I'm actually gonna use that choreo for my future classes!! :) We had lunch and then the afternoon was a solid 2.5 hours of dancing and learning the first 4 basic Zumba rhythms: Merengue, Cumbia, Salsa and Reggaeton. The other 4 will be learned at my next Zumba training whenever I decide to go.

I joined ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) so that I could be privy to new choreo when it's released and new music! It'll give me that extra boost for my classes that I will be teaching eventually.

Other cool news: I made my business cards and started giving them out. I've already gotten calls from 2 places wanting to get to know me and see what I've got to offer!! :) :) Tuesday night will be my first demonstration class for a place that hasn't started Zumba yet and is trying to see if it's for them. I hope I can convince them!! On Friday, I will stop by another studio to get to know the owner and see what she's offering me too. She really wants to meet me and have me do a little audition for her. Guess I better bring my music and ZUMBAWEAR just in case she wants me to perform...

I will let ya'll know what happens with my new endeavors!

A quick update

I'm kinda limited on time right now to write more but here's the quick version:

Friday: we went to the airport to catch our flight to Spokane for my training.
Saturday: I was dropped off at the fitness facility for my Zumba training at about 8am. The training went from 8:30 til about 5 or so. It was so much fun! I will explain more about what we did during the day when I have more time this afternoon.
Sunday: spent a leisurely morning in the hotel before we had to get our stuff together to come home in the afternoon.

Now it's the workweek and I'm still plugging along at that dumb exam I've been proctoring for the last week or so. We have about 3 weeks left in the process. I swear my brain is going to smooth over after having to read the same stories over and over and over again, only to have some kids say, "I don't know" to the question I've asked. Wish I could just know what they're going to answer before I even have to read those horridly boring short stories.

Anyway, it's time for me to finish getting ready so I can go get some coffee before having to report to the next school. Later!

It's getting closer

My ZUMBA certification is coming up next week!!! I'm so excited! I had another good class today. I was missing a couple of people who normally attend but that's ok. Still had a great time and a great workout! The ladies are getting a huge kick out of the belly scarves I had bought for the class. I'm so happy I could make their day that much more jingly. ;) They're all pretty excited for me to go get my certification too. They all hooted and hollered when I told them I was gonna go get it officially. I'm so happy I have these girls--now I need to see if I can expand my clientele even more so.


Kyle and I are learning a new skill. We signed up last week for 4 private dance lessons. We're learning the Lindy Hop swing dance right now. We had our first lesson today and it was fun! I think we're getting the hang of it, actually! I did end up being dizzy by the end of the lesson because there's a lot of spinning for the follow part. It was a great workout as well for the legs. I'm feeling pretty fatigued now. But I feel great. I'm having to wear a knee brace though right now because of the increased amount of dancing I'm doing--it gets kinda hard on my knees. Plus, having been a runner in the past, my knees are feeling it. I don't mind though. I've started taking some Glucosamine/Chondroitin and wearing the brace now. I wore the brace today and my knee felt loads better. No major pain twinges. I had a difficult time this past week trying to workout, thus, didn't work out as much as I usually do in order to give my knee a rest. On Wednesday during my normal Zumba class time, where I'm the participant, my knee really wasn't having any of it and I ended up really having to take the intensity down a couple of notches (which I hate doing that) but I needed to reserve my strength for the weekend. I'm going to continue wearing the brace every day this week to kinda help stabilize my knee and see how that works. And, of course, continue taking the supplement. :)


This week I start administering the English Language Assessment for the Caldwell School District. It's gonna be a busy few weeks up until late March, but it'll be some good money for me for a solid month. No wondering for awhile about where I'm going and if I'm gonna get called to sub. It'll be a nice distraction. Pretty soon, it'll be that time to really start looking for future employment. I'm really hoping SOMETHING materializes for me in the next few months. I'm patiently waiting for that perfect job (well, it might not be perfect, but it'll be something I've been waiting for for a LONG time).

Billie Jean's...not my lover?

Hahahaha..Just thought I'd catch your attention with a goofy title. The reason I made it that way was because we did a new routine this morning in ZUMBA class to that song by Michael Jackson. I think everybody loved it!! I made $30 today! It's not all about the money though...we got a great workout in and everybody had fun!! The money does help, however. It makes driving the 20 minutes to downtown Boise even MORE worth it besides the fact that I get to share my love for ZUMBA. I just leave that class with such an endorphin high. It's so much fun dancing in that class. It seriously does not feel like you're working out. Seriously. I want everybody to try it. When I come home, I will have my ipod ready and we will have our own ZUMBA session. Complete with belly scarves. :) Well, those might be a little harder to get on the plane...I'll have to see what I can do.


Now, Weight Watchers is going to have to their annual Walk It Out 5K challenge. My leader was saying that if we do it on Sunday, we could start out earlier and have a big party afterward. Where am I going with this? Well, I've sent her an email with a small proposal about that challenge day... How's about I put on a little ZUMBA party for everyone after the challenge? I'd do it for free probably. I don't mind. It's for a good healthy cause--getting people to move more. She hasn't replied yet but that's because I've only just sent the email. We'll see. I see it as a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about these classes, not only mine (although that's a really good way to spread the word for myself) but to also let people know that this is an excellent cardio alternative to the boring treadmill/stair climbers and such. It's just pure fun!


I've also had the secretary at the catholic high school I sub for tell me that she'd like it if I held a ZUMBA session after school one day at the school for the teachers or something. That would be awesome too!! Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun with this. Who knows? Might be a career choice... ;)

1,2,3--ZUMBA!!

I had an awesome turnout this time at ZUMBA class!! I had about 8 or 9 people there today, not including myself!! I actually made some money! I socking it away so that I can buy some belly dance scarves for the class and so they'll have more confidence in their moves and shimmies. :) I'm so excited now! And I would've had a couple more people had other circumstances not gotten in the way for those couple of people. I think things will start picking up now. Hopefully it carries through for the next few months. It'd be nice to have some extra pocket money for little things.

The ability is back but beware!

As you'll see at the end of this post, I have added the comment abilities back. Now, beware though because last time I removed it, it was because of someone or something posting a mysterious link. I was afraid it was a virus and didn't want anybody to click on it and harm their computer. So, that being said, if you see a weird link or something that's not recognizable, DON'T click on it. :)


Saturday's ZUMBA class didn't go so well. It didn't go at all. I had to call it off because I only had one student show up. Kinda awkward to workout with only one person unless I'm practicing. I'm making flyers available that I can take to people or businesses and ask for them to display them in the window or at schools (in the faculty lounges) and whatnot. This is my shot at marketing myself. If this doesn't work after awhile, then I'm calling it off. :( I'm optimistic that it'll work though.


I love the practicing for ZUMBA. It's so much fun and it's making me get to the gym for sure. I'm definitely noticing some changes (again) in my body now and I'm liking those changes. I'm also trying to get myself into the weight lifting classes more often in the week so that I can have chiseled arms and shoulders for my little ZUMBA outfits! It's working so far--I'm seeing some gradual chiseling action! Eventually I'll get a picture on here of me in my ZUMBAwear.


Uhhh, anyway, that's all I have for today. Really don't have much to say this time. :)

And the application process continues.

Today I went to the dentist and while the hygienist was cleaning my teeth, she was telling me about places I should apply with and see if they have openings. I told her that I've sought out just about every place, even the community colleges and she lit up and told me that I should definitely keep trying with those people. So, in my mind, I was all like, "yeah yeah yeah" but when I got home, I sat down at the computer (as I usually ALWAYS do) and thought about other places. Suddenly, it occurred to me that there was a community college that I hadn't thought of: Treasure Valley Community College!! I looked on their website to see if they had any openings and if I would qualify. Sure enough, I saw that they had a few openings in the Adult Education department for English as a Second Language and also for Learning Skills (study skills, basically). I was ecstatic when I saw this and also was excited about the fact that all positions required a Master's! Ding, ding, ding! Of course, this isn't a professor position--it's an adjunct position, which is part time...but hey, it's something. They pay $500 per credit and they have 11 weeks in a quarter. So you can probably do the math. No seriously, you can do it. It hurts my head to do all the calculations. Anyway, I filled out the application(s) and printed off resumes, and cover letters. I already mailed one off today. I'm aiming for the ESL and the Learning Skills positions. We have to fill out separate applications for each subject we're interested in teaching. It gives me something to look forward to...again. For a short time. There's no guarantee that those positions are in Idaho though. They have this college in Oregon, just across the border from Idaho..in the cities called Nyssa, Vale and Ontario. These positions that were available said they were either in Ontario or here in Idaho (in Caldwell). Ontario is an hour's drive from our house. Not terrible but probably not really worth the money should I only get one course to teach, since the money is kinda low. But if it's in Caldwell, HECK YES.


So there, that's what happened today. :) Oh, and I've officially taken over the Saturday morning ZUMBA classes for awhile anyway. I've been trying to hype it up all week to people so I'll get a better attendance than last week. We shall see. I'm carpooling with my friend, Belma Sadikovic (she's a cool Bosnian chick!) tomorrow because she's been dying to try it. So I told her I'd pick her up, bright and early at 9:45am to get to class on time. I think she'll love it. I also chatted it up with my hygienist today and she was extremely interested. She had me write down the time and place today before I left so she could come. I'm excited to see how many people show tomorrow! :)

Class was pretty successful!

I realized I forgot to say something rather important in the last post: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Well, I did my class on Saturday morning and it was pretty much a success! I had just 5 people before class was over with but that was ok. 3 of them had never done ZUMBA before so they knew nothing if I messed up. wink, wink... I had a great time and I hope the students did, as well! We shook our booties all hour and got a great workout in. Now, since Marcela is leaving on Sunday, I've offered to sub for her again on Saturday since I know she'll definitely need to pack last minute stuff and help out her hubby. She hasn't given me a response yet so I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to offer again. I had so much fun with class that I want to do it again! I had to get over the initial jitters and self-consciousness that I felt before class started but once the music started, I started moving and wanted everyone to learn the moves! Or at least keep moving themselves. The important part of this class isn't to get the moves right, it's to not feel like you're working out but partying or just dancing the hour away!! That's what it feels like for me (most of the time) whenever I take the class as a student! After all, the motto of ZUMBA is "Ditch the workout, join the party!"


The only bad thing about the possible takeover of this Saturday class (which is more than a possibility--I will take it until I get tired of driving to downtown every Saturday morning), is the fact that I will start missing my regular Weight Watchers peeps. I usually go to the 10am meeting and have been going solidly up until the whole ordeal of Marcela teaching at the studio. That's my favorite time to go to meetings and weigh in! So now it's up to me to figure out just how long I wanna keep doing this Saturday gig. Gotta figure out what's more important to me. WW is definitely important but it's got the flexibility of finding other meeting times when I need them for sure. Plus, I've definitely got the flexibility now that I'm a Lifetime member of not having to go every weekend or week, although I like to go most weeks when I'm putting in the effort of losing so I can keep myself accountable. It's just that the people in Saturday's group are the best, including the leader! I don't feel annoyed at their comments at all. Whereas, I've been to one or two meetings where there's a person in there that KNOWS EVERYTHING, or at least he'd have you believe that. I mean, when you're a Lifetime member, you've heard everything and yes, you do know a lot! However, that's when you gotta sit back and let other people learn instead of butting in every five minutes (or less) with your five cents. Anyway, needless to say, this particular group is my favorite and it's gonna be sad to not see them for awhile while I enjoy this newfound hobby. BUT HEY, at least I'm missing the meetings for exercise and not sleep or just sitting at home. That's the important part. I attribute all of this ZUMBA venturing and the ability to FIT into the outfits to Weight Watchers--without WW, I'd still be close to 200 pounds (or over) and be miserable. They're the reason I'm able to get up and run a half marathon every year. Without WW, I'd never be able to even conjure up the motivation to do those things!! :) I love my life right now and where it's possibly taking me right now. Well, except for the not having a full time job right now. But at least Kyle is still employed and is doing well. That we can also be thankful for in these times.

My first opportunity!

This weekend, my ZUMBA instructor is going to be out of town in order to check out the area to where they are relocating. SO, she told me that in order to have a practice at leading a ZUMBA class, she'd let me sub for her at the dance studio she usually works at on Saturdays!! WOOHOO!! Anyway, I'm really excited and I've already begun practicing for this awesome opportunity! Now I just have to see if people will come so I can get some money for my time. I've already tried a couple of people but one said she could come but then just told me she couldn't because of a work schedule change. boooo. excuses. I'm tired of hearing excuses for not working out. "I'm too tired..", "It's too inconvenient...", "but first I have to do this...then I have to do that...it's too much".. ugh. I mean I understand the working part, really I do. But I'm just tired of excuses in general when it comes to well being. Those same people who make all the excuses are the same ones who complain that they need to lose weight. Yet, they don't want to put in the effort or time. You have to make time for yourself because YOU ARE WORTH IT. Sometimes you have to say "No, I can't do that, I have to go work out" in order to make time for yourself. Or sometimes you have to say to yourself, "get off the couch and go workout even though you're tired after work. you'll thank yourself later and feel much better". It's the truth. Give yourself some tough love. I have done that to myself plenty of times. I've needed a swift kick in the pants at times when I just want to be lazy and sit around. My clothes thank me for it later on. Then I like looking in the mirror more.


So anyway, that's what I'm doing this Saturday morning unless something crazy changes and I'm not allowed to do it. In that case, I'll just sit at home and pout. ha! just kidding. Maybe I will just have to have my own ZUMBA party at my house!! harrrumph! I hope nothing changes. I need to do this for myself.