this beautiful family was one of my very first new jersey clients (and while I swore that I blogged their session, I cannot seem to find it on here!) – the girls have grown up so much. can’t believe how time flies!
These two spunky girls kept me on my toes during our entire session a few weeks back. I loved both of their spirits and happiness about getting their photos taken, which is a change of pace of my normal toddler/family sessions! I don’t believe there was any bribery going on during the session. 🙂
Zumba – Ditch the Workout, Join the Party!
I stepped into my first Zumba class spring 2010. I only had to go a few times before I knew I had to be an instructor. By September 2010, I was licensed to teach Zumba Gold + Zumbatomic (now called Zumba Kids) and began teaching my first classes at the seminary’s gym. It was the best group of ladies to begin my Zumba journey with, as they were all energetic, excited, had a passion for dancing and Jesus. I could always try harder moves with them and would learn whether it worked or not. It was a judgement free zone (which all of my Zumba classes are that way – I am genuinely happy that each and every person shows up to my class each time and never judge them.) – I knew that I could easily mess up, laugh at myself, and move on.
After a year of teaching two nights a week at the seminary, I had the opportunity to start a Zumba Kids class at the Hamilton YMCA. From there, classes began rolling in. I ended up taking over a Monday morning class from an instructor that became injured and soon followed with a class at the Princeton YMCA. It’s been a fun ride, learning how to have confidence in front of complete strangers, laughing at mistakes made during a routine you’ve done a million times, and meeting people from all over the world.
August 2013 I was able to fulfill a dream of going to the Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando, FL. I received two more licenses (Sentao and Toning), met some incredible instructors, and was recharged with a passion to be a better instructor.
Playing a little catch up on fall mini sessions!
We may never be this close to NYC again, so we are making it a point to visit more frequently before we leave! It’s no secret that I’m an advocate for public libraries! We are fortunate to have access to both the Princeton Public Library and the Mercer County Library System. Both libraries have museum passes that you can check out. In early May, we finally made our way to Grounds for Sculpture via a pass. We also took advantage for my birthday to the Mutter Museum in Philly (though Mercer County no longer has a membership and Anthony left feeling nauseous for hours!!).
This time around, we grabbed the Guggenheim pass to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary in NYC. My oh my, we were extremely disappointed with the museum. I would have been truly outraged if we had spent money on two tickets to the biggest let down of my life.
After the museum, we walked around Central Park a bit and then made our way to Broadway to try for lottery tickets to Book of Mormon. Unfortunately we didn’t get the tickets, but it was probably for the best, as Anthony wasn’t feeling top notch that day. The two redeeming factors was gorgeous weather (hello sunset peaking through by MSG) and at the last moment we found the Pie Face, that served similar pies and pasties as the ones we had in Edinburgh.
Neighbors, colleagues, schoolmates, friends. There is a blurred line when it comes to living among other families all attending the same grad school. Jen + Phil were our neighbors when we first moved into the community (until it was torn down last summer!). 6 years later, Phil is now in the middle of the same PhD program as Anthony, we live across a courtyard from one another, and Felicity has been added to the mix. She is a spunky, sweet one year old, that sometimes refuses to sleep, but oh look at that innocent smile!! 🙂
