Uncategorized

14 Big Moments of 2014

| cheriarmour

Um.  So 2014 is over?  When did that happen?

So it was a big year, for things both good and bad.  And here, in no particular order, are some of the biggies from 2014.

14.  Coco.  Coco the poodle came to us from a friend of a friend.  She’s an older dog, so she was probably not going to get adopted, so without much thought, we took her in.  It ended up being a pretty sweet deal, because she’s a sweetheart, and a joy to have.  She came to the beach with us, and visited with my mom when she was sick.

13.  We went to Fripp! This was one of my favorite memories. My friend, Kelly, invited me and Austin for a weekend. We drove down to SC, and had a blast of a weekend. One of my favorite memories of the year!

IMG_0913

12.  Snow, snow, snow!  Remember snowpocalyspe that rendered Atlanta crippled?  About two weeks after, Raleigh got a similar storm that left Austin stranded for hours after work.  Melanie, another friend got into a little accident.  And my current boss’s boss had to run home in the storm.

11.  I made this, than caught a stomach flu.  I’m pretty much a straight-up vegetarian, not a pescatarian now.

photo (2)

10.  I modeled a little bit here and there.  I did some shoots for Headbands of Hope, did two shows for a local boutique.  I’m hoping to do some more jobs here and there to help pay off my student loans!

9.  We bought a house!  Which is kind of a relief, we had a few weird experiences renting, the latest of which was when a man tried to break into the girl’s apartment downstairs in the middle of the night to do her some sort of harm for not calling him back.  

Us the first Saturday when we came to scrub the house.
Us the first Saturday when we came to scrub the house.

8.  A close friend lost her mother to cancer.  The experience was jarring, to say the least, and a really painful reminder that our parents are getting older.

7.   We acquired a foster beagle.  After Mel’s mother passed, an older female beagle was left behind.  We are hanging onto her until she finds a new furever home.  If you’re interested….

Beagle

6.  I saw Stevie Wonder live!   And in good seats!  Stevie Wonder announced tour dates in September of 2014, and I went on the hunt to find affordable tickets, which was no easy feat.  Seriously, the scalpers had bought up all the tickets, and I was lucky enough to find tickets that only cost me about $300.  We had seats on the floor, and I feel like I can officially cross seeing one of the greats off my bucket list!

5.  I ran….far…in Vegas!  My first trip to Vegas was not some drunken slob-fest – rather – I ran an Ultra relay in Vegas with Bondi Band.

4.  I literally got my dream job.  I may have told this story here before, but if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, mother effin’ try again.  I’d had my eye on this job as a Group Fitness Director for over 3 years.  The first time I interviewed for the job, I made it through a few rounds, and didn’t get the job.  I was devastated (and remember, this is all taking place back in 2012 when my ego was already wounded from learning that jobs aren’t super plentiful), and I stayed in bed for days.  A few years, and some more professional development later, the job was open, and it sort of fell into my lap.  It worked out probably about a month before we got married.

3.  My sister got engaged, then married!  Deb and Luigi had been dating sort of on and off, and they decided, in the late spring, that they were going to make it official.  They got engaged, then married pretty quickly in South Carolina.  They celebrated with a reception just a few weeks ago.

DSC_0742

2.  My best friend suddenly lost his brother.  Probably one of the worst phone calls I’ve ever gotten in my life was this phone call.  Austin and I made the quick decision that the weekend of the funeral, we would drive to Philly and back to pay our respect’s to Michael’s brother.  I’ve never seen my best friend in pain like that, so it was hard, and I’m trying with everything in me to support him as best as I can through this really really trying time.

1.  We got married on August 23, 2014.  It was the most incredible day ever, and when I woke up on August 24th, I wanted to keep my eyes closed and bottle the feelings that the wedding gave me.  It was elation, happiness, and the joy of seeing old friends meet new friends all wrapped into one.  If you could shoot that feeling directly into an IV and take it, I totally would 🙂

Exit

Serial (OMG!)

| cheriarmour

First and foremost, I hope your Christmas was a good one.  I spent my first Christmas with my husband as a married couple, and it was really very nice!  We were able to sneak in a run downtown, and spend some time with one another, which is not something we get a whole lot of time to do together.  Fun fact:  you would think as a married couple you’d be all up in each other’s grill all the time, but when you both work full-time, and you both work out an have to manage four pets – sometimes spending time can be tricky.  All that to say, our time was lovely and very, very much needed 🙂

So, I’ve taken to listening to podcasts while I’m running.  I love, love, music, and am constantly reworking my running playlist on Spotify so I’m not horribly bored, especially on long runs.  But truthfully, I’m starting to feel like there are only so many times you can listen to Chandelier…

…before you can sing every ad lib on cue, and you can perform the music video, frame for frame, on a long run.  I know this because I did it in Vegas when I was running my first leg at the Ragnar Relay.

So I started by downloading a few of my faves.  Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, This American Life, and The Read, a podcast so funny, that I’ve had to stop myself from falling off of the sidewalk from laughing so hard.  So I started on the hunt for some more podcasts to keep me entertained, especially considering that training for Rock ‘n’ Roll starts in like two weeks.  And I found two that were like omg, the funniest things you have ever ever heard of in your entire life/the most riveting pieces of literature (?) I’ve ever heard.

Psychobabble with Tyler Oakley

So, if you’re into hystericalness, this is the podcast for you.  This podcast is done by Tyler Oakley, a YouTube celeb, with a wicked sense of humor.  Often he and his friends discuss pop culture, his love for Lady Gaga, and the epi is sprinkled with wise little nuggets of feminist goodness – which you don’t think you could typically get from two dudes, but they’re very socially aware.  My only complaint is that it’s only about 30 minutes.

Serial

Serial Logo

I just finished the last episode of Serial, and all I can say is OMG. Slash, I need someone to discuss it with. Slash, what is going to happen to Adnan?

So if you’re a fan of the storytelling style on This American Life on NPR, you will most likely be a fan of Serial, which is an amazing story of a murder that occurred nearly 15 years ago in Baltimore Country, Maryland.  I promise, you will be hooked.

And if anyone is done with Serial and would like to discuss it with me here the comments, please feel free to do so.

So these are the ways that I’ve managed to keep my mind occupied while working out – how to you keep your mind active while you work out?

Did you/have you/are you listening to Serial?  

To be a good, no, GREAT fitness instructor!

| cheriarmour

A few weeks back, I addressed some questions that folks have had for me regarding becoming a fitness instructor, which I did back in 2009.  That was the catalyst for a major life change for me – I dropped a whole lot of weight, and changed the course of  my career.  I’m now a Group Fitness Director, and blog – a little about running, and a lot about life – two things I would never have done had I not signed up for a Zumba® Fitness Training like 5 years ago.

I talked about how to get to teach at a gym once you do get the appropriate certifications here.

Now, let’s talk about once you start teaching.  How do you make sure that you’re a good – GREAT – fitness instructor?

Fitness instructorOnce you’ve started teaching, there are a few things to remember that will take you to the next level….

  1. Keep going to other folks’ classes.  Just because you teach a full schedule doesn’t mean you should completely stop taking other classes.  For one, you get to work out, for two, you can learn a ton of new stuff.  You get to see how other teachers cue, and cherry pick things you love about classes, as well as some that you’d rather leave behind.
  2. Keep up with your continuing education.  Fitness is not a one-and-done type of deal, and should never be.  Continue to take classes that not only interest you, but those that will challenge you, and those that will strengthen you as an instructor.
  3. At the beginning of each class?  Introduce yourself by name, and introduce the format of the class.
  4. Always ask if there is anyone who is new to class, not to embarrass them or single them out in anyone way, but to make sure that you explain some things to folks who are new to class.  Are there any contraindicated movements?  Anything you need to remind them off?
  5. Always remind the class that there are modifications to every movement that should make the movement safe for any “special” population.  That term refers to anyone who may be injured, our folks who are morbidly obese, folks who are physically handicapped in some way, elderly populations, or even pregnant folks.  Remind the class that there are modifications, but don’t assume that just because someone is elderly, that they’re not interested in a squat.  These mods are for everyone!
  6. Eye contact is important.  Make eye contact with every single person in the class.  Make each person feel like they are the most important person in the room at some point.  Because they are!  They are the reason why you’re doing what you’re doing.
  7. Your class is not the time to show out or show off.  Leave your ego elsewhere.  Your job is to be the ambassador to a good, safe, healthy time.  Straight up, don’t be a douche.
  8. Smile!  Be genuine!  Seriously.  Nothing worse than an instructor who acts like the funeral march should be playing, or that they should be taken ridiculously seriously.

So there are my tips (just before the holiday) on how to be a great instructor that your students will <3.  What is your favorite group exercise class to attend?  Who is your favorite instructor? 

Rent the Runway!

| cheriarmour

This is not a sponsored post, however, this post contains affiliate links.  All opinions are completely my own!

Approximately two weeks before my sister’s wedding, I realized that I didn’t have anything to wear, and I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired to purchase anything.  Everything I saw didn’t quite grab me.  I remembered that a friend of ours, for our wedding, had doing something called Rent the Runway, a neat merchant who allows you to browse designer collections and have them shipped to you the day before a big a event.  You get to go to your fancy event in your dress, ship it back (in a container that RtR sends you), and you’re not stuck with an expensive dress that you can’t wear again.

So for Debbie’s wedding, because she was having her wedding at a pretty nice museum, I went with something that was longer, and appropriate for a black or white-tie event.  For some reason, I had the idea that sequins would be fun, especially with the event being so close to Christmas.  I was able to sort dresses by size, by color, by length, and by the fanciness of event.  Once I found the dress that I had my heart set on, I picked a pair of earrings for them to throw in, and I picked the dresses in two sizes, that way, if one didn’t fit, I would have a backup.

The dress showed up the day before the event, and I immediately tried it on to make sure it fit!  I sort of forgot that designer clothing is really true to size, so I ordered a 4 and 6 Long.  I tried on the 6 first, sure that it would fit like a glove, and since I’d ordered the 4, I had the backup to wear to the wedding!  The finished product was here…

Rent the Runway

The dress was a Badgley Mischka, and normally retails for $700 – I was able to get a dress and earrings all for about $100. I did not stop getting compliments on the dress, which I promptly shipped back, easy peazy, the day after the wedding.

Once again, my experience was so good I rented again for some holiday parties I had last week…

Rent the Runway 2The second rental was a Slate and Willow romper, the Jessica.  This one was really fun. It allowed for me to show off some leg, and still be holiday-esque without going full-on Beyoncé.  This one, I rented along with some earrings as well.  This beauty retails for about $470.  Once again, I was able to get the outfit for about $100, and this time, I rented for about 8 days, so I could be super cheap and wear it to multiple parties.

As a girl who mostly live in workout clothes, it’s so nice to splurge, even a little, and look like a million bucks, even if for a night, all to the tune of a benny.

So if you’re interested, the holidays are an awesome time to try this out. Use promo code HAPPY2015 to receive 20% off your order’s subtotal of $50 or more here.  If you’re down for a free backup size, head over here.  And for $40 off of an order, $100 or more, head here!

What’s your favorite way to do a fancy outfit on a budget?

The best pizza in Raleigh.

| cheriarmour

Friday, I went to lunch with a friend who is getting ready to make a big decision about his job.  He’s in social work as well, so I totally understand his frustration.  When I was working in social work in its classic sense, I consistently felt really anxious, and it was a combination of us not having enough resources, and me being sexually harassed by a client who once told me that my unwillingness to have sex with him was seriously making him reconsider his thoughts on my sexiness.  I wish I was exaggerating, but that was a conversation we seriously had upon me reporting him to my boss and our company’s version of HR.

So, my friend is going through something similar, and is being pushed to the edge of his sanity.  Social work is a thankless job, and it’s really painful to watch him go through this.

All this to say, that Friday, the two of us met up for coffee, and then walked across the way to Lilly’s Pizza, a local pizzeria that offers a ton of vegetarian and gluten-free options.  Now, out of all the unhealthy foods in the world, pizza is definitely me fave, and to date, one of my favorite meals at fat camp was pita pizza, which we would eat on Fridays.

Lilly's Pizza

I ordered a slice of cheese with a Mich Ultra, and asked for some hot sauce on the side, which I did on mine and Austin’s first date.

Literally, when I bit into that slice of cheese, my world shifted.  It was delicious, not at all greasy, and the crust was to die – a little sweet, and dry.  It absolutely puts any chain pizza to shame, and just shat on Whole Foods’ pizza (which I really love a cheese slice of).

It was cool to eat that delicious amazing pizza, and let myself go while enjoying a delicious junk meal.

Where is your favorite place to get some fresh junk food in your city? 

My year in music.

| cheriarmour

I’ve used Spotify for years – love it so much that I actually pay for a premium account, and have access to all my faves on all my devices.

Spotify has been with me at every single race I’ve ever run, and now, at least since last year, Spotify has been analyzing your listening patterns, and it makes December a little more fun when you get to remember specifically what you were listening to, with numeric proof of how obsessive your personality is.  Here’s a little bit of info about what I was listening to in 2014.

My top artist?

Demi

None other than the gorgeous and talented Demi Lovato.  This is two years running now, and my obsession shows no sign of slowing down.  Even though I do wish that she would break if off with Wilmer and then maybe she and I could be good friends.  Maybe more than friends.  Idk, we would take it slow, just see where it goes.

My Favorite Artists

My faves

Like I said before, Demitria obviously came in at number one, followed by Ariana Grande, who ruled the charts in 2014, followed closely by my friend and confidante,  Gavin DeGraw.

Gavin DeGraw and your peeps truly!
Gavin DeGraw and your peeps truly!

See! I told you! Friend and confidante!

The most fun analysis of them all!  Top 100 Songs of my 2014?

Top 100We got Magic’s Rude, we got Bailando, and really weirdly enough, we have Popular Song by Ariana and Mika.  And I’m not mad at it.

The coolest little thing about what Spotify did is that they went ahead and made a playlist of your Top 100, which I was having fun with on a boring treadmill run the other day by clicking around and taking a little jog (at six miles per hour) down memory lane.

What made your top lists in 2014?

Tips for Managing Your Anxiety

| cheriarmour

I have been pretty open here about dealing with my anxiety.

To look at me, you wouldn’t know that I ever struggled with anything like that – people tell me that I’m fun, confident, and I can have fun on any dance floor that you put me on.  But despite all of that, I have struggled with anxiety, for the better part of 5 years.  Honestly, I know I dealt with it before, but I didn’t really have a name for it, and didn’t think that I needed to get help for it until I literally felt like it was running my life, and that I would need to go to rehab to get rid of the horrible feelings that accompany anxiety – the chest pains, the false sense that everyone doesn’t like you, the obsessive and repetitive thoughts – you get it.

Anxiety is one of those things that makes you understand why someone might self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.  At the point at which you’re starting to become afraid to leave your house or to interact with others, the only thing you can think of before it’s time to admit there’s a problem is to do something, anything to make the feeling go away.  Thankfully for me, I had the benefit of studying  human behavior, and knowing that if I tried to treat my anxiety with anything illicit, that nothing good could come of it.

So anyhoo, I’ve gone to great lengths to make sure that anxiety doesn’t run my life, and for the most part, I really enjoy my life.  A little spoiler alert, however, like a lot else, anxiety is one of those things that doesn’t ever completely go away.  It sort of lays in wait, however, there are things that you can do to manage, not to avoid, your anxiety.

Mam

  1. That weird feeling creeping up?  Chest tight?  Feel like you’re going to jump out of your skin?  Workout.  Workout HARD, whatever that means for you.  Maybe that’s a long run, a long Zumba ® Fitness class, a bike ride, or a long walk.  Do not use this workout time to indulge your obsessive thoughts, rather, consider this time as spa time for you.  It is your time to treat yourself.  This is a treat. [Warning: Don’t let this develop into an obsession either.]
  2. Stop binge drinking.  Though drinking is an excellent way for you to sort of get your mind off of what it is that you’re doing at the moment, once you come down (or are facing the hangover from hell), you’ve really knocked your body off-kilter.  It’s a good time to take a little break from drinking all together actually.
  3. Skip the caffeine.  Caffeine can be extremely useful for your productivity, but it also can contribute to that horribly jumpy feeling.  If you’re addicted, try to go with a black tea, which just feels more relaxing to drink for me, or go half-caff (less shots of espresso) when you order your coffee.
  4. Cry.  Don’t like, insanely cry at inappropriate times or in inappropriate places, but if you feel like you need to cry, cry.  I am a firm believer that sometimes that lump in your throat, also rudely known as globus hystericus in mental health circles might just be tears stuck back there.  Sometimes you really need that release, and if you need to cry, go somewhere where you feel comfortable doing so, and let those tears flow!
  5. Take a break.  I hadn’t taken a day off of work in a really long time – and I love my job – but I completely forgot to take some time to recharge for me.  And for the sake of my family.  On my day off I ran, I watched The View for like 5 hours (I DVR every episode), I slept a ton, and caught up on some of the blogs I haven’t read in a while.  It was glorious, and the following day, when I went into work, the sun was shining brighter, I felt more rested, and my office looked more inviting.
  6. And finally, if you’re on medication for your anxiety, take it!  I am not a doctor, however, I do know that that stuff takes forever to get into your system, and when you forget a few pills, you’re screwing yourself up.

Like I said, I’m no doc, but these tips have personally been tried and true.  How do you manage anxiety?  Or are you one of those lucky sons that have lived a life without it? 

Nick Jonas

| cheriarmour

I kind of feel weird about this.

But I didn’t really get the Jonas thing growing up, which is really funny for me, because I freely admit that I have a lot of love for talented teeny boppers.

Ariana, Justin Bieber, and I even dabble in the dark art of the One Direction.

I don’t care if it’s a kid, if the kid is talented, there is a really good chance I will thoroughly enjoy his or her talent.

Which brings me to this.

So Nick Jonas made some waves when he posed for some delightfully NSFW photos. So I’m doing my usual rundown of what’s going on in pop culture, and I stumble across this treasure trove of Nick Jonas photos…

Nick JonasNow, this is one of the safer photos, but fear not, if you haven’t seen these photos, just click through, and I have conveniently linked you to those photos.  If you’re not faint of heart, scroll all the way down, and put a smile on your face.

So I was really confused because I never got down with the JoBros that much, and I can’t really remember which one dated Demi Lovato, or if I’m supposed to still be mad at him or not.

(Fear not, because it was Joe, not Nick who Demi dated, and she is apparently over it because she was touring with Nick, and I think he played drums on Made in the USA)

So, I’m going along really confused.  Nick looks awesome in these photos, he’s diabetic, and for whatever reason, that makes him all the more adorable to me, and then he goes and does this…

Now, when you heard this on the radio, you’re like, “Oh, some R&B newbie, who could it be?!”

Well, if this isn’t your scene as much there’s a gospel version that’s actually not silly…

And I just feel so confused. I have so many questions. When did Nick Jonas get cute? When did he get muscular? Why was I not alerted to this before?

At any rate, go listen to Jealous, and add it to your workout playlist.  You will thank me!

What’s the last song you added to your workout playlist?

You’re a fitness instructor, now what?

| cheriarmour

So first and foremost, I would be a sucky blogger not to acknowledge the fact that our country has been thrown into turmoil.  And not to get all political on the blog, but suffice it to say that being black in this country over the past few weeks has been really difficult.  Like, my chest-is-tight-what-the-hell-are-we-gonna-do-to-make-sure-this-never-happens-again difficult.  I’m praying.  Hard.

↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔

So in a continuation of yesterday’s post we’re talking today about what happens after you take the plunge and go for a weekend and get your license or your cert in a certain fitness format.

Becoming a fitness instructor
Aw snap, Nike Hoodie Cheri is back….

First things first.  I kind of thought about this after I wrote the post that went live yesterday, however, I didn’t really address the process that goes into becoming a Yoga instructor.

So for starters, I am not certified to teach Yoga.  I love Yoga, and one day, I may become certified, however, I think it’s important to realize that Yoga instructors go through a different, much more intensive process to get certified.  A lot of times it involves a lot of money, some travel, and a lot of continuing education workshops.  If any of you guys are looking to become more proficient in the Yoga arena, I definitely can point you in the right direction, however, this isn’t necessarily the post, or post series for you.

Moving right along…

So we talked about the appropriate steps to go through to become an instructor in your area of choice.  So you’ve done all that stuff, right?  How do you become a working instructor?  How do you continue to deliver safe, effective, and relevant classes?  How do you make sure that you don’t get yourself in legal trouble?

Here we go.

So, for starters, you’ve got your certs and your licenses, right?

  1. Get your CPR stuff updated.  Honestly, it’s not a bad idea to have that stuff done anyways, and a lot of time, your job will offer it, or get it paid for for you.  It seems silly, but you never know when you’re going to need it, and you have to have it to teach at most gyms.
  2. Continue to take classes in the time you’re not teaching. I can’t stress this enough, but you need to be auditing other classes.  What are other instructors doing? What’s hot in the streets?  What’s up with music?  What do the classes seem to respond to?  What doesn’t work, even?
  3. Contact the group fitness director at the club/gym you’d like to teach out.  So, that’s what I do when I’m not running/teaching/writing.  I am the director of a large group of fitness instructor.  My job is to coordinate like a million instructors and make sure our group fitness schedule is diverse, robust, and running effectively.  If this info isn’t clearly listed on the club’s website, call the front desk and ask for the group fitness manager, or the director of group fitness.  Usually, they can at least provide you with an email address. When you contact his person, introduce yourself, clearly outline what classes and formats that you’re comfortable teaching, and ask if you can come in to do a demo.
  4. If your demo is good, it should be pretty easy to get onto the schedule, or at least on the sub list.  If you’re on the sub list, sub often and be available, and you should be a regular instructor in no time.   

As you can see from the tips above, once you get your certs and licenses together, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get on a schedule somewhere, provided you’re a good instructor (a topic we will touch on), and you’re prepped to either teach your one format like a rock star, or you can teach a variety of formats well (seriously, we LOVE that stuff).

This is how you get IN.  Now stay tuned, next week we talk about what makes a good instructor, and what makes a ::shudder:: bad one : )