FACE THE SUN . . . and NEVER see SHADOWS AGAIN !!!

Tanah Rata - Cameron Highlands

2010-01-21T10:47:00.002+01:00

This morning we took a tour through the surroundings of the 'Camerons'. Th start at a temple, Sin poh Temple, then we went to the Rose gardens. A nice area, with lots of flowers and very nice views. After that of to the Butterfly Garden. At first I thought the guide took us to the wrong place or something like that, as they showed us nothing but insects, spiders, snakes, cameleons, leguana's etc .... some of 'm very scary .... But then we walked into an area with lots of pretty butterfly's.
Right after that the guide took us to a Strawberry farm. Nothing special, but the strawberries tasted excellent!!! Then of to the honeybee farm. That was a little bit boring. Just a garden with many 'bee-houses', but that's it. Last but not least for a tealover like I am, we took of to the tea plantage. That was amazing. Especially the views. A little bit hard to describe, but when I'm home I will download a picture from it.
As this was the last site of the tour I hopped of a went on on my own. There was a trail I wanted to hike and the start was pretty close to the tea plantage. The weather still looked fine at that time. I was facing a hike up from abou 5 close to 6km. Very steep, but right in between the teaplants. After about 2km it started to rain a little. That didn't take long as before I knew it was like someone opened up the tap above. I was completely wet!!! Still the scenery was great, so I kept on walking, like I had another choice. Then at the top of the mountain I had to decend as well. The way was pretty good, as in was a paved road..... but down ..... right through the jungle. Slippery, soft ground.... The trail wasn't a tough one for endurance, but is was quite a challenge to find the spots I could step on without having my shoes and feet get suck into the ground. But even with that in my mind ..... it was awesome. The rain had stopped and I was completely alone in the jungle, sounds of raindrops falling from the leaves, birds and other sounds of nature, just lovely. I don't know how the trail down took me .... but according to the signs it was 3km. From the moment I started untill I was in the center of Brinchang it took me 3 hours. I found it surprisingly fast as the guide told me it would at least take me 2 hours to get to the top, and on the map it showed 2 hours for the trail as well .... Well never mind, as the rain was gone now, I decided to walk my way back to Tanah Rata completely. 5km in addition to what I have walked ... so in 40 minutes I was back ... I don't think it was 5km ... or I have walked very fast.
Well at least I had some training again :-)

Teman Negara

2010-01-20T13:54:00.001+01:00

From the city right into the Jungle.
The sound of cars is replaced by the sound of birds, insects and monkeys. Mmmm I love to be in the city, but the sounds of nature are just great. On the way to Teman Negara, a quick stop at a deer farm. Walked around for a little bit, have been able to feed some very hungry deer. And also a baby bear. So cute. Then then another stop at the Elephant Sanctuary. Very touristic, but a nice thing to do. Feed the elephants, ride on a elephant, then get to play in the water with the elephants. Nice stop. The straight on to Taman Negara. It's a national park, and the name actually means National park as well. The resort Mutiara is across the river and is right in the Nationial park, so a lot of animals nearby. Mainly leguana's and squirls and ofcourse bugs, but later also many monkeys!
The first evening we went out for a nightly walk hoping to spot some animals. Nothing, but it still was a nice walk around in the darkness. Different sounds than during the day.
The next day, we went out for another hike which was a bit more challenging, but I loved it. We ended the walk via the Canopy Walkway, which is hanging bridge through the jungle.
In the afternoon, we had a boat trip and went to visit the Orang Asli, the original inhabinants of this area. The chief of the village told us about their way of living and showed us some habits, like the way they shoot animals, and make fire. The live like nomads and there are 2 reasons for then to move. Either the food is gone or someone has died. A dead person never gets buried, but is kept high up in the tree, as there is too much bad stuff underneath the earth according to their believe. My personal reason not to be buried is there is insects in the ground which I do not like. Especially not here. I have seen ants as big as my big toe .... brrrr no way.
Next stop will be Cameron Highlands, Tamah Rata

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010-01-18T20:46:00.000+01:00

Well it's been quite a while again. Traveling again, but no NZ this time :-(
Only half way, as I only have 2 weeks off of work. And for only 2 weeks to go to NZ... mmmm too short I think. So new choice: Malaysia.
Start in Kuala Lumpur. 2 full days. Love the city. Many contrasts, which I do like a lot.
Huge buildings, shoppingmalls but also things like markets and China Town. Ofcourse I went to the Petronas Towers. Saw by night and day and ofcourse went up to the skybridge and enjoyed the view. Went to see the KL Tower.... if you just take a quick look it's teh Skytower in Auckland... Just a little higher. Went to Chinatown, some markets, saw some temples, mosques. Walked around the city, but also enjoyed the monorail, which is a great way for transportation. Went to the fishspa and made sure the fish had a great lunch. Then I enjoyed a massage afterwards. The food is great here in Malaysia. It's cheap, healthy if you'd like it to be.
Actually 2 days in Kuala Lumpur is too short. But got to go on to Teman Negara!!

Les Mills Instructor Philosophy

2009-08-23T20:52:00.002+02:00

Beach babes KLM

2009-08-21T20:53:00.000+02:00

Having fun with KLM colleagues at the beach in Wijk aan Zee. We are just having this awesome summer, with great weather, nice temperatures. Only few days of rain, I'm loving it.

Just keep in mind, we weren't great volleyball players. But we were the best in having a great time!!!

Long time ago....

2009-07-16T17:26:00.002+02:00

Many reasons why I haven't been blogging for a while.
Maybe not a lot of interesting stuff to tell, too busy to make time, it's summer and the weather has been awesome. I have been working a lot at KLM, but also teaching my classes, ding module training and quarterlies...... mmmmm more excuses, or didn't I just feel like writing.
Well I don't know, but here I am again.
Pompadour was awesome, my very first trainer summit. It was very much worth it. I had a great time and learned so much.
First hous and hours in the bus going to Pompadour, then when were finally able to sleep, thinking that would be for about 2 hours, but it appeared to be only 5 mins, as there was a BP Masterclass straight away. So without any sleep, I got up from the bed again, took a shower an went straight into BP 71 ... Then a full day of workshops practising and finally presenting. Man, I was nervous..... presenting as 'baby' trainer, on a huge stage with so many experienced trainers, DVD presenters and even Phillips Mills and Steven Renata in the class. And ofcourse in english, without any sleep ...... I think I can be proud of myself that I did it...... Yeah!!!

The next day was about the same, but then for BA. I did not present BA as each trainer was only presenting one program.
Both evenings filled with parties and lots of buffalo's :-)
It was awesome!!!!!

Further on, I have been enjoying this great summer we have here this year. Going to the beach, spending time at the boat of my parents. Staying up late, eating out in the backyard with friends, drinking wine and then thinking: man, I gotta get up at 4.30 to go to work again.....
Yep that's life here at the moment.

I am preparing now for the quarterlies coming up in August. Last week I received BP71, now I'm learning choreo again. Almost got the whole thing.

Another thing, I have started running, yessss, running. Can't say I really like it, but it's a good training for BA and BS. And I will be taking part in the WARR. This is a race which is organized in the airline industry yearly and now is organized in China, Hangzhou, near Shanghai. One of my colleagues has been participating for a couple of years now, and she kept asking if I wanted to join her. Since I had never run b4, this never seemed to be a good idea. But this year I decided it would be agood thing to train for. I will be doing the 10k run. It'll be fun, but it's still a struggle for me to go get up and run. Once I'm running I'm okay, and I do kind or like it then. But just te moment of getting up, change and get my running shoes .... mmmmm. Will I ever get over this?
Well next time a bit more about this. Now I have to go change and go get my bike to go to the gym. BP and BA tonight.... which is no struggle :-)

Grtzzzzz

Eurosummit

2009-05-24T12:27:00.002+02:00

Today I'm leaving for my first Euro Trainer Summit in France. Wow, I'm so excited! Getting my stuff ready, wow that many clothes for only three days?! Can't choose what to bring ... Besides sports gear I will need to bring my party clothes Yeah!!! Oh and something to tie my right hand up because of all the Buffalo's .... hahaha
Well gotta go pack

Loving BP

2009-03-21T18:57:00.002+01:00

I still can't believe how much I love doing BP and especially teaching my classes and giving module trainings. Just got home from the first day of a module training. My heart is still beating faster when I'm entering the club and get to meet new people who would like to become BP instructors. All are waiting, some exciting, some are quiet, others look a bit hesitant. Some people 'have to go', because the clubmanagers told them to. Others want to go themselves.
All different people with different expectations, but all with one goal: Become a certified BP instructor. To share my passion with these people, try to make them as crazy about BP as I am. I just can't describe this feeling. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow. Day 2, where the instructors get to do their thing, we pass the steeringwheel on to them. 2 Presentations and a Challenge!!!. It's going to be a tough day! But so many instructors make it through, so I'm convinced this group will survive to. We are there to help them out. The challenge is something amazing. It really is a challenge, and every BP instructor in the whole world has done it!!!! Can you believe that?! Each instructor from today's module is now studying his/her track. All being nervous. SOme have teaching experience, but for other's it's going to be their first presentation. It ain't going to be easy, but with effort from both sides they will all come a long way! For some 3 days is not enough, and they will have the opportunity to do this third day again. It doesn't matter. We encourage them to continue and don't give. After all it took me four exams to get my driver's lisence :-(
Keep working, keep Pumping!

I am who I am...

2009-02-19T17:22:00.000+01:00

Too fast...

2009-02-13T16:00:00.003+01:00

This trip went by too fast. Man, 3 weeks ago I was still in San Fran, and now I'm back home.
A trip which left me with lots of beautiful memories again. I'm only home for a couple of hours, but I already miss New Zealand, Les Mills, all the great inspiring people, and ofcourse the sun!
But to be honest it feels good to be at home as well. Looking forward to our Dutch Quarterlies. Tomorrow will be the first one. I won't be presenting untill Vleuten, but I will do live assesment for BP and BA. Probably will do BS and BB to work out a little after all this sitting on the airplane for 2 days .... mmmmm

But to get back to New Zealand. It was a great trip... What have we done???!!!!

Surfing @ Piha beach
Winery/wine tasting Waiheke Island
Day trip Bay of Islands (dolphin boat trip)
Day trip to Rotorua (Hot springs, Maori Culture)
Auckland Museum and a citywalk
Going out, having great dinners with good company
Mission Bay many times
Lots of Les Mills classes including Filming

Sounds pretty good doesn't it?? Well I'm going to relax a little now and will try to stay awake untill the evening so I can get back to Dutch time asap.

Dutchies teaching with Susan

2009-02-05T09:32:00.000+01:00

Karin, Dennis and I have been teaching with Susan 2 times now.
First time was last monday at 06.10am and also yesterday and 7.10am.
Still have to get used at working out this early,but I am amazed by the fact that there are so many people taking these early classes.
The dedication kiwi's have for sports and working out is something I really love. What I try to tell at home that working out makes you feel fitter and give you more energy is something that the Kiwi's know for a fact and enjoy doing because they know they will feel better and more energized. It's just great. And ofcourse it was very special to be teaching with our half dutchie Susan. A lot of internationales were still there as well so we had dutchies in the class as well as the whole canadian team in front row. Argentina and mexico were represented as well so it was good to see them

After class we got some coffee and left with all the dutchies and Anni to Waiheke Island. What a prettyt Island it is. We had a great lunch, wine tastery and also spent time on the beach. At 05.45 pm it was time to take the ferry back to the city so we would be on time for dinner.
A great day again.

Today will be the last day with the agency and then Karin and I will stay here with Jos and Dennis to enjoy our holiday even more.

So good to be back!!!

2009-01-30T02:00:00.002+01:00

Wow it feels so good to be back in NZ again. Having a great time. Jan has bene working very hard for his BB filming and when we got to the appartments he was waiting for us with some morning tea...... so sweet.
We arrived at 04.15 am and got to the appartments around 07.00am. We went straight on all day long. Did shopping, alked around the city, ofcourse joined Jan for BB and we also did BP.
BP70 is the most awesome release I think so far. For track 1 -10 all songs are great. I really must say... Glen you rock! BB is also very nice. Jan did very very well is his filiming class yesterday. He said he wasn't nervous at all....... amazing hey. The whole balance team looked good. They really were a team all the way thru. BP was jsut great. Jos and Dennis have arrived as well just on time for filming so they joined teh classes as well.
Yesterday evening we went for dinner with them. They got in in the afternoon went straight into filming classes after en 29hour flight and then of to dinner. The sent us a text this morning .... wide awake at 0600am ..... well we were to while we slept for about 5 hours orso ...hhahaha
Today is just an easy day. karin wasn;t feeling to good this morning, so I went to walk around on my own for a bit. I will do a BS class this afternoon and after that drinks at LMI with the Internationals and the rest of the Dutchies. We haven't seen them, except for Jos and Dennis.
We'll see.
I'm just loving every minute of my time here.

Shopping in San Francisco

2009-01-26T18:50:00.002+01:00

This time is de the first time I am traveling to NZ via the USA. So good opportunity to make a stopover. Karin and I decided it would be a good start of our holiday to do shopping.
When we arrived in SFO we got our car and drove to the city. Our hotel was close to Fisherman's Wharf so that's where we spent the rest of the afternoon. Whit 9 hour time difference we went to bed at around nine but still weren't abl to sleep all teh way thru. We woke up early and had breakfast as soon as it was possible (06.30am) The we got in the car and drove to Gilroy. A huge premium outlet over there with over 145 shops. I think we saw just about all of 'm :-)
It was like a shopping marathon.Starting at 10.00am all teh way to 05.30pm. Just about a day of work.
Then we drove back. Stopped for dinner on the way and I fell asleepvery early again. I think at around nine again. Ofcourse an early wake up again. And then KArin sai,well there is 24/7 gym not to fare from the hotel ... sooooooo at 05.00am we were running and doing some weight training... hahahaha.... and it felt really good. That afternoon we went had lunch downtown and then drove to the airport to check in for our flight. Man it was busy ..... very crowded flight. But finally we are on our way to NEW ZEALAND!!!

Very late... but here they are...

2009-01-14T14:41:00.004+01:00

Photo's from the Megaquarterly in November.....

Part of Life ....

2009-01-12T18:48:00.001+01:00

Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high, look it quarely in the eye and say, 'I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.'

2009-01-04T08:43:00.002+01:00

3 weken van tranen en verdriet
maar jij, jij ziet het niet
Jij blijft in mijn gedachten
en ergens ben ik aan het wachten
ik weet dat het veel beter is
wanneer ik jou uit mijn gedachten ban
maar als ik denk aan dát gemis.....
ik denk niet dat ik het wil of kan
Jij, je hebt íets met mij gedaan
ik wil er nu altijd voor je staan
daar kan ik niet van weg lopen
waarom blijf ik nou toch hopen?
hopen tegen beter weten in
mijn verstand zegt....meis, het heeft geen zin
maar mijn hartje klopt voor jou
Ik voel nu alleen de kou
De kou, de pijn en tranen
Ik probeer ze te verdringen
ver van alles weg te stoppen
en denk alleen aan leuke dingen
Maar juist de leuke dingen zou ik graag delen
met jou en niemand anders
Voor mij ben jij er één uit een miljoen
Is er nog iets wat ik kan doen?

Tears. . .

2008-12-15T19:00:00.003+01:00

You & Me
Is het ooit nog
Meant to be?

Jij en ik
Is het te laat
kan het niet meer?

Mijn gevoel heeft eindelijk gewonnen
Mijn verstand dat heb ik laten gaan
Nu vraag ik me af
Waarom, waarom heb ik dat gedaan?

Je hebt me laten voelen
Je hebt me laten zien
Jij zei tegen mij: "Durf nu eens te leven
Durf jezelf te geven

"Het moment dat ik van jou leerde
was het moment dat jij je rug toekeerde
Wat is er mis, ik weet hiet niet
Mijn tranen laat ik lopen
dit is mijn verdriet.

Is het echt te laat?
Of ben jij nu bang?
Bang voor wat er komen gaat

1 ding wil ik jou dan geven
Dat is: "Lieve schat..... durf te leven"

BODYPUMP on the beach! Impression

2008-09-01T17:50:00.009+02:00

Here some photo's from the BP on the beach event.

Another quote:

2008-08-21T12:24:00.008+02:00

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want

Quote of the day:

2008-08-18T15:55:00.005+02:00

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes, without speaking, confess the secrets of the heart."

BP on the Beach countdown

2008-08-10T19:07:00.002+02:00

Only 2 more weeks!!!!
What will the weather be like? Please keep your fingers crossed!

Start small

2008-08-08T15:13:00.000+02:00

Even the smallest accomplishment has great value,because it sets in motion a positive momentum. Once you begin to create value, you easily and naturally move toward creating even more value. The best thing about success is that it provides greater opportunity for even more success.

Go ahead and start small, and if you're unable to start small, then start tiny. The point is, do whatever you can with whatever you have, and that will be plenty to get you moving in a positive, productive direction.

There is always something you can do. There is always some small step forward that you can make right now. Your ability to accomplish does not get used up. In fact, the more you use it, the more powerful it grows.

Create a little bit of success, and experience how great it feels. From that positive, empowered place, there's no limit to where you can go.

San Francisco

2008-08-03T18:54:00.005+02:00

Fun, shopping, sightseeing and eating, All of a sudden it was 48 hours after arrival and we had to go home again. Great short break it was!!!

BODYSTEP & Driving

2008-07-27T22:29:00.000+02:00

My new addiction: BODYSTEP.I just have completed the BODYSTEP module training. LOve the program, enjoyed the training and it was good to see my trainee colleague Bas do his presentations during the module.Again following a moduel training it made me very much aware how participants feel during the training and right before their track presentations. The track I had to present was track 6, one of the peak tracks, "shut up and drive". Well for me this week was all about cars, but not all abou driving. Tuesday on my way back home from the gym I probablt got a speeding ticket. I was listening to my step track, going thru the scripting etc in the car and all of a sudden I saw the flash.... SHOOT. man, I know where this machine is, but because I was so busy with my choreo/scripting for my Shut of a drive track I forgot to take my foot of the gass pedal. Well I guess I should have shut up and jsut drive. But anyway.Friday evening I got home a parked my car, again the music was on, so I didn;t notice the reminder that I left my lights on...Saturday morning 04.55, I couldn;t start the car .... yeah right! I ran upstairs again got my lock for my bike hopped on my bike to take a sprint to the Airport. NOT Funny as I was wearing my uniform already and I had to start working at 05.30. It's only 8 km, but racing my regular bike, wearing my uniform an carrying a rather big back weren't very helpfull things to go faster. Almost there a huge motorbike drove on to the Bikerpath .... man that scared me, but then I noticed it was Police.... SHOOT, I didn't have my lights. It was still pretty dark and in my rush I forgot to grab the lights for my bike (I got separate lights which you click on and off the bike)It was a pretty funny conversation. He stopped me and said: Goodmorning lady, how come your bike doesn't have any lights? Well I said, because the lights of my car were on all night. I saw His face and explained fruther that my car wouldn't start because I forgot to turn of the lights yesterday evening, and therefore quickly grabbed my bike and started my race to Schiphol to be on time for work. (there's no public transport that early)The he asked, how come your sweating .. yeah right it was very humid, already like 25 celcius and no wind. Well anyway after he gave me a lecture about safety etc, he let me go. Still made it on time for work, but it took me about 30 minutes, 2 bottles of water to get back to normal temperatures again. Man, I was sweating like .... well whatever. So that's my week for traffic & driving. I guess I jsut have to shut up.Off to San Francisco tomorrow. Only for 2 full days, but at least it's a bit of break!I'm joining a friend of who is a cabin attendant and she has a trip to SFO.

24 August

2008-07-23T18:23:00.000+02:00

Hopefully this time the rain, storm, thunder and lightning will leave us alone with hundreds of BODYPUMP fanatics.
24 August, 2nd Chance

BODYPUMP on the Beach, Zandvoort, the Spot.
Click here to enroll

Join us and keep your fingers crossed!!!

It's raining ......

2008-07-17T17:31:00.002+02:00

Unfortunately some bad news. Due to the bad weather forecast BODYPUMP on the beach 2008 has been postponed. I just received a phonecall. I'm a little disappointed, but the forecast willbe strong winds, rain and maybe thunderstorms. Because we want safety for our participants first, the organisation decided to cancel for Saturday and postpone the event to a later date in August. I will keep you posted about this.

I'm sad right now :-(

Remember BP on the beach??!!!

2008-06-19T10:38:00.004+02:00

Here we go again. It's been 2 years, but we're back with BODYPUMP on the beach. 19 July in Zandvoort. Don't miss out on this: BE THERE!!!!

BODYPUMP on the beach
16.15 - 16.45 Voorprogramma
16.45 - 17.00 Dancers on stage
17.00 - 18.00 Kick off BODYPUMP on the beach

Quarterly 2, Vleuten 18 may

2008-06-10T16:32:00.006+02:00

Well it has been a while, but finally some pictures from my first shadow presentation as a trainee during the quarterly. I was very exited and nervous at the same time. Below some pictures: It was awesome!

Yesterday @ Work

2008-04-27T18:28:00.005+02:00

Chaos at the airport .... first day of a 2-week school holiday. It has been in the news several times that all people travelling this weekend should be at the airport early as it was going to be the busiest day. Why? Well over summer schoolholidays start at a different time for each area, this Spring holiday? Well all the schools have these coming 2 weeks off, so everyone in the country planned to leave this weekend. Even though it has been in the news... Dutch people (with children) wonder: How come all these people are here? No kidding ... I had people come up to me with this question .......

ps And still there are people complaining about the economy?

Time goes by ....

2008-02-27T03:02:00.002+01:00

.... so slowly! Yes, I'm in the nightshift, listening to the radio and the song playing right now is Hung up. The lyrics start with "Time goes by so slowly", and indeed it does. It's very quiet. Haven't really been doing a whole bunch of KLM work, since there isn't any. Luckily I brought some tapes to assess, so I have been doing that untill now. Tomorrow when I wake up I will finish the action plans of the two tapes I have just been watching. Don't really feel like doing it now. The radio is playing all these different songs which I can place in a lot of Les Mills programs. It makes it so hard to sit still, but since I'm wearing my uniform with pumps instead of sneakers I'm not really able to work out hahaha. Wish I could, as it would be a nice way to kill some time. Man, I think this is the first nightshift that has been as quiet as this one. It's hard to stay awake like this, especially since this is the first night out of three. Friday morning my weekend will start. In the afternoon I will be going to Roosendaal already with Claudia, do some shopping, relax, go to a wellness center, have dinner etc. Saturday assessment at the Roosendaal quarterly and in the evening I will be visiting friends of mine who live near Roosendaal. I haven't seen them for quite some time, so it'll be good to catch up.

Quarterly 01, 2008

2008-02-19T14:52:00.002+01:00

Quarterly time again!
BP 65, BA 60, BB 40, BC 35!
No real surprises for me this time, as I was in NZ in November, but still awesome releases and a great generic workshop: "Team teaching with music".
This time I went to Zwolle, man, that's too far. I remember saying last year, I'm not going there again, but this time I did not really have choice as I won't be able to do all my Master classes in Nieuwegein, and I'm doing assessment in Roosendaal. Well anyway, at 6.45 I was on my way to Zwolle, to be in time for BP. Of course I got lost in the City, but I managed to be there on time to do assessment for the first BP master class. Man, It was F*ing freezing cold. Outside it was -8 Celsius, but I think inside it was about the same. 2 long sleeve shirts weren't enough. I could see people wear all sweats etc during the class; I don't think anyone really got as warm as they usually do. My own master classes started at 12.00. BB at first. NOT funny, the place got a bit warmer, but still too cold to do a comfortable BB master class. Usually I start to sweat during the strength track, but now I was just about to feel my toes again. After BB I had to do BA. I was looking forward to it (Hopping to get warm). Well I got warmer, but during track 3 I still wasn't warm enough and I hurt my calf. NOT funny. I love this celebration release and I wanted to give all I had. I did anyways, but I think I would have been better when I hadn't done that, as Monday when I woke up it was completely stiff and it was painful to walk.
Well let's get back to the quarterly; of course I did BC and BP also. BC 35 is a great training work out, simple moves, lots of repetitions: Awesome!
BP is great to! Powerful uplifting music to help you through the workout. I already knew the release, because I have been assisting a BP module training last weekend with Renate. Release yourself and BP is just a way of life to warm you up. Heavy beats bring you back to squat paradise and make you want to lift more, so you will burn more. Chest makes me want to sing along, I'm so sorry for the members in my class :-). No breaks, just keep going. I love the back track, with lots of triple rows for the upper back. Great music, familiar for my BA fans in class.
Groovy song for triceps, with a new three point transition. Great move, too bad it's only used as a transition. Biceps: totally not my kind music, and since a definitely do not like to do biceps either, you probably think by now that I hate this track. WRONG! I love it, it is totally biceps!!! I think it's a bit easier than the previous release. Lunge: back to work. Man, it's a tough one. Could feel butt the day after! Chest: This is definitely one to turn up the music!!!! Hard work! I'm glad push ups are back. Mac raise is back in town as well. In addition to all of this we have good abdominal track. It's not an easy one, but I like it as it's very different again. To finish the workout, the cool down song, personally caught me the first time I heard it. Don't know why, but I love it and it really calms me down after this great workout.

Travel the World

2008-02-13T23:12:00.007+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR HOLLAND!!!

2008-01-01T05:10:00.000+01:00

And here we've made it to 2008 as well.
I wish everybody

1 Happy New Year
12 Beautiful Months
365 Memorable Days

Make the best out of it every single moment.

I'm of to work now. No sleep, so it will be a tough day. Just got home, showered, changed and now killing a few minutes as I still have a few minutes before I have to go!

Big hug for all of you!

HAPPY 2008 NEW ZEALAND !!!

2007-12-31T12:00:00.000+01:00

Persistence

2007-12-17T18:25:00.000+01:00

If you're not ready to climb a mountain, then see if you can walk up a gentle hill.
If you're not ready to walk up a hill, then set out to take a leisurely stroll.
If you're not able to walk that far, then you can take a single step.
After taking that step you'll likely find that you're ready to take another.

If you have trouble imagining yourself reaching your goal, then imagine yourself taking one small, simple action in the direction of that goal. Imagine it, and then do it.

After that first step, there will be another one you can take, something that's a little bit more challenging and yet not overwhelming. Keep it up, and soon the ultimate goal begins to come into view.

Anything can be accomplished if you are willing to keep taking the next step when it is time to do so. What you lack in brute strength, or resources, or knowledge, or skills, you can make up for with persistence.

You absolutely can get where you choose to go, step after step after persistent step. And now is the perfect time to begin.

Happy pumper

2007-12-15T17:04:00.000+01:00

Well it has been a while, but that's just because I was busy. As always of course, but also because of something special. What? Well when I got back from New Zealand I received a letter from Les Mills in The Netherlands with the news I was invited to an audition day to become a trainee and hopefully after that become a trainer. I had to choose one program, which I found hard but I decided to go for BA. I was also thinking about BP because I love that to. I was a hard decision, but BA won at that time when I had to send in the tape. The audition day was yesterday in Leusden. Man, I was nervous. When I got out of the my hard rate was the same as after a BA track 9. Out of all teh tapes only 9 people were invited to come to the audition.
What did we have to do?
Give a 5-10 minute presentation about ourselves, our motivation and whta our addition to the would be. Then we had to present to different tracks from the program we wanted to audition for. And last but not least we had to do a workshop presentation from about 10 minutes, for which we had 30 minutes to prepare.
We had to pretend the other people were the new instructors and we had to give the presentations for them, while Brigitte (Head trainer) and Arthur (trainer) were obeserving us and taking notes. We had to participate during all the other track presentations. So, we had to to a lot of programs (all except BV, as nobody was doing audition for that). We were also observed in how we participated in the classes.
I wasn't to happy with my personal presentation. I was almost last and you hear so many stories and with the nerves running through my whole body I found it hard to stick to my prepared story. After that I started to feel a bit more comfortable and my BA presentation felt pretty good. During my preparation I was a bit worried about presenting a workshop, as I do not ahve a lot of experience in giving presentation. I usually talk easily, but you have to stick to the point and man, I find that hard. I had to prepare a workshop about the key element connecting. That was a relief. I knew I could do that and after my presentation I knew I gave the best I could. And if that wasn't enough, well then I would be disappointed, but I had a great learning experience which would help me to grow again in teaching and also in other stuff.
After we all gave our workshop presentation we had to go downstairs and after a while Arthur came down to get the first person. From that moment on, everbody started to get nervous again. Shall I make it or not? Few came down very disappointed, which I can really, really, really imagine and I was one of the others: being very happy!! I did not make it for BA, but they wanted me to go for BP trainee as I probably did do very well in the BP, while I did the class!!!! Cool!!! 5 of us made it to Traineeship (1 BC, 1 BB, 1 BJ, 1 BS and 1 BP). It will all start in January. I just can't wait!! I have been assisting a couple of module trainings, but now the real thing will start. Í just can't tell how excited I am. I know it will be tough, but I want to give all I have. I know there will be ups and downs, but the downs will make you stronger so you get up again. I;m going to go for it!!!!

Awesome Quarterly!

2007-11-24T17:36:00.000+01:00

You guys ... last weekend was AWESOME! What else can I say. I had the best time. Great Masterclasses, cool party and heaps of fun!
Left home on Friday already as Saturdaymorning 09.00 am was BC Masterclasses. I didn't feel like driving almost 2 hours before that, so Claudia and I booked a room in the Koningshof from Friday. Ofcourse I still had to tell her all about NZ, so also because of that it was way better to go on Friday :-)
So Saturdaymorning BC34 was the kick off for the Mega Quarterly 2007. The releases weren't very big surprises for me this time as I had seen and even done some of 'm in NZ during GFX. But still it was great, it's good to see our own Dutch and Belgium trainers present.
I like the combo in track 6 with the side kick, knee, back kick.
After BC class I went on to BP with Susan and Steve. I always like it when they are presenting. I always learn a lot from them. During biceps Karin and Jan came on stage and did the BP dance with Susan and Steve haha ... was so much fun to watch.
Then Claudia talked me into doing BV. Actually I planned to rest for an hour because I still had BB and BA ahead of me ... but anyway .... who cares .....it sounded like fun. I don;t teach BV, but I really like the music. And since I was really sore from my classes on Thursday I figured it would be better to keep moving instead of sitting down. Christel and Patricia made it a lot of fun. I like the BV music and I can imagine it's a lot of fun teaching the class. It's very social and you get to talk and connect with the members a lot.

Then of to BB with Christel and Hadewych. I love the ending of track 9... left and right splits..... I could still do 'm... Yessss. Great music choice, good excercises. I had my BB module training with Hadewych. She's pregnant now and it's unbelievable what she can still do with only 7 weeks to go. You go girl. I love it when the Belgium trainers teach BB, they always sound so friendly with the soft G they use in Belgium. I also love the follow up cues Hadewych uses.
Well after BB it's time for my favourite class. I could feel the energy coming. Lisa was presenting with Karin and Daniel ..... awesome team. Found a good spot on the first row, together with some other assessors. It was great.... the energy ran through my whole body and I had the feeling I cold go on 4 ever. WIth track eight we had 3 slovenians coming on stage, they are also on the DVD presentation in track 8 and with track 9 Lisa pulled me on stage .... COOL! with2 more people. It was awesome. Just another energy boast!!!

Since I had all the energy going on, I decided to do BS class as well. Claudia and Cecile together with the Mam to be be, Susan. Amazing what she still can do. The did a terrific job and with the party step they changed into their 70's outfit .... FUN!!! By the time we got to the power track...my light turned off .... I had to stick with the option so prevent from falling of the step. But anyway.... it was great.

We went to get a quick and unhealthy dinner .... changed into our Pirate outfit .... and it was Partytime. Buffalo .... Haka.... drinks, more drinks... dance more dance .....and sore feet.

Next day ..... I only managed to do one BA class... was jsut too tired to do more ... haha. Stayed and watched BS and another BA class and then went home. The next weeks will be pretty busy..... I will have to do a lot of preparation for an audition day and also learn the new releases in between.... will also cover some classes at other clubs and work @ KLM has started again too.......Back to reality haha.... it's good to be home (for now)!

@ home

2007-11-15T12:12:00.000+01:00

I;m back. Did some great shopping i Hong Kong, well as far as my baggage allowance would let me. I know I work for the airline, but 20Kgs isn't enough when travelling via Hong Kong, after being in Auckland with Les Mills and a Nike Platinum at the corner. But I made it without paying excess baggage. Yeah!
I was in Hong Kong 5 years ago, but couldn't remember a lot from it. Just from my pictures, but that was about it. I booked a very nice hotel, with swimmingpool, so in the afternoon a spend a couple of hours next to the pool. What else I did? uuuhhhhh... shopping!! Bought clothes, some watches and other presents for my friends. I could have bought so much more, but I managed not to be a complete Shopaholic. Do you now the Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella? I do! And just replace Rebecca's name by mine and it would be the story ;-)

It's good to be back home. Had an awesome trip, which left me with great memorable moments. Now it's time for the next steps. To start of .... teaching tonight: BP and BA! This weekend: MEGA quarterly and PARTYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Just some more Les Mills...

2007-11-12T22:10:00.000+01:00

Had a midnight flight from Tonga back to Auckland. Tried to sleep before, but unfortunately didn't. Arrived back in Auckland around 05.00 am. And by 07.00am I arrived in the hotel. Still couldn't sleep, so ended up doing a BS class with Lisa at 08.30. Then went to get breakfast, walked around in the city, still couldn't sleep, so went to BA class. Wow, it was tough. But it felt good doing BA. At the end talked to Zoe from the UK, but she moved to Auckland now, so actually she's a local now :-). We ended up going for a quick dinner. By 09.00pm a was so tired I finally could fall asleep and slept untill 07.00 Sunday morning. Did BS with Mark and then BA with Nate, I was glad he did BA58 as I know the release and I was tired from the BS class. Still I wanted to do BA, but I wasn't as energetic as I normally am. My knees just wouldn't get up.
Then packed the rest of my stuff and my KLM collegue picked me up for the rest of the afternoon. We didn't do very much, just enjoyed the nice weather, which I will really miss back home. Heard it was cold, rainy and just now very nice :-(.
My flight is at midnight to Hong Kong.

Tonga, where every new day begins

2007-11-09T19:15:00.000+01:00

..... and where there also comes an end to my holidays. I had a great time here. but tonight is time to go home. Met some very nice people, saw beautiful islands, enjoyed the sun, well I could go on forever, but the next step is coming up. 2 More days in Auckland, then off to Hong Kong on my way home.

Here some pics of the island:

Just to let you know .....

2007-11-08T18:01:00.000+01:00

... it feels so good to enjoy the sun, nice tropical islands all around, white beaches, palm trees, blue sky ..... fresh fruit, coconuts ..... one more day to go :-)

Hello from Tonga

2007-11-06T19:00:00.000+01:00

Wow you guys, there's much to tell since last post. Filming has been great. Another experience I will not forget. Claudia and Karin both did great and of course all the others as well. Some stuff had to be done a couple of times, but still it was great and a whole bunch of fun!! I have met so many nice people and it was also good to have to experience of the GFX, which can be compared with our Mega Quarterly in November. Cool I'm going to have to party's. Yesss the Masquerade party was fun too! We first went out for a drink with the Belgiums or as they are called ' the Les Mills Family' . Lien is too young to go to the party unfortunately, so they didn't go. Cris (BP) joined us and we met some more people at the Drake. We had a few cocktails to celebrate the hard work was over for Karin and Claudia, and then of to the party. Danced, drank had fun and ended up with sore feet. Man, my high heels were killing me. We left the party around 2 am. The next morning I went for a coffee with Claudia as she was leaving at noon. Then Karin, Cor and I joined Lisa for a trip to Devonport. Dean & Kirsty were are there and so was Cris. We walked up to one of the volcanoes then had lunch and went to the gym to watch Lien and Anne shadow with BJ. Lien had a great time with shadowing in the filming. Gandalf, Matteo and Rach have been great with her. I think it's more than a wish come true for her, which is great when you know from where she had to come! Good job you girl, you made me cry watching you doing your BJ tracks!
Then unfortunately it was time to say goodbye again. Our Les Mills family was leaving at midnight and Karin, Cor and I were going for dinner with Cris. So a quick drink was all we had.

Then after dinner I packed my bags as I left for Tonga!!!!!!
And that's where I am now! Enjoying the sun, doing nothing etc. I got here yesterday, walked around for a bit and enjoyed the sun. Today I took a tour to Atata Island, were I did some snorkeling, walked around the Island for a bit had lunch and relaxed. I will be here until Friday. Then I have Saturday and Sunday in Auckland again, Leave at midnight for Hongkong, have Monday all day there and then it finally is time to go home.
Keep you posted ... big hug!

Auckland - Les Mills

2007-10-28T13:13:00.000+01:00

Yeah, back in Auckland and I'm sore already. Had an early morning yesterday. BC 08.10 with Dan & Rach. When I was walking up to the gym I saw Karin and Claudia our 2 dutch trainers who will be presenting. They just got in in the middle of the night and Claudia had to join BC after only a couple of hours sleep. After BC I stayed at chatted a bit with Karin and after that I joined BA with Mark S. I just love him. He's so good with connecting in class. In the afternoon I did another BA class. First I wanted to join BP as well, but I was pretty tired after not working out for 2 days, I decided it would be better to give my body a bit of a rest. Showed Claudia around for a bit, went to the supermarket, sat down for a coffee and later that evening the three of us went for dinner. Claudia didn't present yet, but Karin did, and I think she did great. Especially when you think of the fact she'd hardly slept over the night.
This morning Claudia presented BC for the first time. Cool! I'm enjoying this BC release, and after not doing combat for a while, I can really feel my shoulders. After BC I joined the Team teach BB class together with Karin. We both needed a good stretch. A beautiful release it is.
This afternoon I will be doing BP and BA (of course) and I'm not quite sure if I will be doing BC, might just watch Claudia and take a couple of pictures. I'll see.
Wow, it's so good to be back!

From South to North

2007-10-25T21:22:00.000+02:00

Yeah, I made my way up to the North Island. And wow what an amazing trip it was yesterday. The train left Christchurch at 07.00 am already. A shuttle goes through town and stops at the hostels to pick people up. Good service as the train station is pretty far out of the way.
The train was comfortable and the nice thing about is, that there is a viewing balcony. It's open and good to take pictures. I really enjoyed the trip. Saw so many things go by. Most impressive to me are still the mountains with snowy tops. So weird to see those when you see the Pacific on the other side. Also saw penguins and seals swim in the ocean. Later on, the landscape changed into vineyards, as the weather is good for that at the top of the south island. The train arrived 5 hours after it departed in Picton, but time went by so quickly. Than went on the Inter islander ferry. It was amazing how beautiful it was the trip through the Marlborough Sounds. I'm so glad I finally got to this ferry crossing. I already know my pictures will not show the beauty I saw in real. You just gotta go and see it for yourself.
Got to Wellington late afternoon, but for me it was just to spend the night as I left early this morning to go to Napier.

I love this city. I love the art deco. I have been walking around for just about the whole afternoon, enjoyed the sun for a bit while having a frappuchino, walked all the way up to Bluff Hill Viewing point, wearing my flip-flops, or should I say jandals while over here in Kiwi land :-)
Had good dinner at some place near the boulevard and then played around with my camera, trying to make good pictures from the colourful fountain.
Auckland is getting closer and closer ....

Stewart Island - Ulva Island

2007-10-22T18:07:00.000+02:00

Here I am again. Where do I start..... Let me think. I left you guys in Christchurch, so I'll begin from there. The bus trip took forever. It was a nice ride ... but way too long, so during the 10 hours on the bus I had decided that no matter what I was going to take the plane going back to Christchurch. Anyway ... the ride was beautiful again. For a long time I could see the Southern Alps again. We were going through a lot of small villages. Every once in a while a stop to stretch eat or do other stuff :-) Well 10 hours and 40 minutes later I arrived in Invercargill. The weather changed a lot, so by this time it rained, the temperature had gone way down and the wind was blowing. So bad that the ferry did not go that day to Stewart Island.... uhhhh any other possibility??? Well I just waited until the next morning. Still they could not tell if the ferry was going. But anyway I could cancel the whole thing and fly over to Stewart Island. Surprisingly enough, the flight were still going. Off to the airport then. The tickets were made out hand written, the reservation system was a cardboard separated into several boxes with 8 places to add the names. Really old fashioned, I think my dad used to work like that when he started working with KLM over 40 yrs ago ... haha. Anyway I hopped on the flight and when we were about to take of I got really scared. You know to small parts in the paper which tell those stories like, small plane missing in bad weather. I could already imagine this in next days paper. Luckily it did happen and I arrived safely at Stewart Island. A bus took us to Oban, the main city, or actually only city, or shall we call it 1 street village. I dropped my bag at the hostel and picked up a map to do a walk. There was this nice 6 hour walk I decided to do. Even though it was raining and really cold. The track was mostly through like a jungle.Too bad the temperature didn't feel like a jungle. Heard more birds than I saw. Passed beaches, bridges. Listened to the sounds of the birds, the wind, the rain. It felt like I was the only one there. By the time I got back I was freezing, but it was a great walk. I could really feel my feet and legs and I was tired, but it was a satisfying feeling. I had promised myself a hot chocolate and they served carrot cake as well. That was a nice treat after this walk.
Went to bed early and because of that I woke up early as well. I decided to go for a walk, as the weather seemed to be better as the day before. Went to a look out, then walked along the shore and at 8.30 I got back and went to the visitors centre if they had any options of going to Ulva Island. There was a water taxi leaving at 09.00, so I had to hurry. They also arranged my flight back to the mainland. I checked out the hostel and went on to Golden Bay Beach were the water taxi would be leaving from. It was still windy and cold and every once in a while it would still rain, but at least the sun was shining too. The weather is really amazing. Within 5 minutes it changes from sunny into rain, dark grey sky, into bright blue sky with the sun shining again. Anyway the waves seemed to be pretty high, and this boat is fairly small. Crazy .. but with this good captain it was all okay and I arrived safely on Vulva Island. This is completely national reserve. Few tracks have been set, which can be followed. The walk was beautiful. The sounds of birds, the wind blowing through the trees, the waves approaching the beach. The tress were making scary sounds like they could fall down any minute and then all of a sudden it was quiet, the sun tries to reach through the trees. I stop walking and enjoy this moment of silence. Then the birds come out again, all making different sounds. After while I see the beach coming up. Walk a long the beach see a seal sticking his head out of the water. It feel like I'm the only one on the Island. Amazing. After 2 1/2 hours I'm back at the were I started. Have to wait for about 30 minutes until the boat comes again to pick me up, right on time to catch the flight. I get to sit all the up front next to the pilot. Nice views and the flight was better than the one yesterday. The weather clearly as cleared up luckily. I arrived in Invercargill. Arranged my ticket to fly back to Christchurch and cancelled the bus ticket. Walked around in the city for a bit, got some food for tonight and also arranged the train to Picton and the ferry to Wellington. Finally I'am going to make the ferry crossing from South to North. I hope it's not too rough on the water and that the weather will be good enough to take pictures. Let's keep the fingers crossed.

AMS - KIX - AKL - CHC

2007-10-19T19:15:00.000+02:00

Wow that was quite a trip. Flew after a day of work to Osaka. Had a great flight 3 seats for me and was able to get a pretty good sleep for about 4 hours on board I think. Arriving in Japan I was very glad there were signs in English as well so I managed to get my way to the train station. Bough a day pass which would get me to Kyoto and back. I was right on time catch the 10.15 train. The doors closed right behind my backpack. The train ride was about 75 minutes. Arriving in Kyoto was an experience. How to get out. The only words I understood were Arrivals, departures and Exit. Well you would think with exit it's easy to get out .... uuhhh which exit .... Just took a guess and picked the right one. Started walking and after a while I figured out how to get to Gion, the area where the geisha's are. It was nice walking around after an 11 hour flight. The weather was great (23 Celsius) the sun was out. After about an 1 1/2 walking through smalls streets I got in another different world ... you the book about the geisha? Well that's where I just arrived. Amazing! I was told the geisha's usually don't get out before 4 pm ... but I saw quite a few walking around. Waiting patiently for people with camera's. I walked around for a while, saw some temples and then I decided to go to the station and then the airport. After almost 4 hours of walking my feet were tired. I still had some time left for the flight. Slept for a bit and ate and drank.
On the next flight I did not sleep at all. It was quite a full flight. Read, watched a movie, some comedy's, played games and then it was time to land. Immigration etc in Auckland went pretty fast this time so I managed to get a 1pm flight to Christchurch. Found a place to sleep there and more important .... a hot shower. After arranging stuff to go to Akaroa and Stewart Island .... I was knock out and fall asleep at 7pm. Woke up only once during the night and this morning my alarm woke me up at 7.30 Left the hostel at around 8.15 to get a coffee at Starbucks (Yeah!) Exactly like 1 year and a half ago. At 9.00 the bus left for Akaroa. Awesome views all around the banks Peninsula. Clear blue sky, we even got to see the Southern Alps all covered with snow.
When I arrived in Akaroa I walked around for a bit, sat in the sun even though it's fairly cold, had lunch and then went to the wharf for a swim tour with the Hector Dolphin, the smallest Dolphin in the world, only living in this area. The dolphin will be maximum 1.20m (female)-1.40m (male). After a little while we saw penguins, but still no dolphins. Finally there was one, but this one was probably still hungry and getting his fish. No interest in playing. Then all of a sudden 3 dolphins came up to the boat .. all curious. I don't think I was ever so happy and quick in cold water as I was now. So cool..... 3 dolphins swimming around us, coming up to you, I can't describe how that is. After about 35 minutes the called us in the boat again as the dolphins had left. I think my body temperature went down about 10 degrees. I was shaking all over, but is was well worth it. I spilled my hot chocolate all over as I kept on shaking. Arriving at the wharf again, took of my wetsuit and could only get a quick shower as the bus was waiting for me. Wow what a great day!!!
Tomorrow I'm off to Invercargill and Stewart Island.
Keep you posted. Big hug!

Fitvak Utrecht Demo Team

2007-10-13T23:31:00.000+02:00

Claudia, Corine and I did a demo again in Utrecht at the Fitvak. It was fun again. One more day tomorrow. Below some pics which have been taken today during the 20 minute demo of 7 LM programs. BP, BS, BV, BB, BC, BJ and BA. By the way: something very unique happened. What?! Haha .. do you like to know ...... I did BJ .... Thursday evening we have been practising until 01.45 am and again at 07.45 am. Just so you know. I am not a jammer and learning 2 routines is pretty difficult. Deng ..... but I did it !!!!!

2007-10-03T14:26:00.000+02:00

Sorry haven't been too good in writing my blog that last couple of weeks. I don't know where the time goes. On one hand that's good, because that means I get to go to NZ sooner, but on the other had, there's still so much to do.Last week I have been adapting to NZ time for a bit since I was working night shifts for a couple of nights. Too bad I had to change back to Holland time again. Furthermore I have mostly been living a Les Mills world. Learning choreo's, doing the club launch last week. I I'm happy to tell BA was best visited class. It was crowded and everyone was so excited, including me :-) It was great energy and passion. Thank you guys!What else?! BB was a low priority for quite a while, because there weren't a lot of classes to substitute and I do not have my own class. Thanks to LM NL, I was able to postpone my exam tape, but now it's time to do it. At the club I have asked for an extra BB class for a couple of weeks, so I can finally work on my BB exam. They let me do Thursday evening (after BP & BA which isn't that easy). It starts to feel better and better. I have been taping my classes and watching it. Got some help from my friend Claudia as well. She really gave me some great advice. Yesterday I filmed a pretty good class, and I will have one more chance tomorrow. Then I will have a choice between the 2 videos to send in the best one. Still I think it's a difficult class to teach. I love it, but it ain't easy. It's so hard to stay calm and be quiet for me. It's a challenge which I love to take. Life would be boring without any challenges right?!

NZ ..... Here I come

2007-09-16T16:41:00.000+02:00

Exactly 1 month from now and I will be heading for NZ again. Today I confirmed and paid for my tickets, so there is no way back. Ha, not that I want to cancel my trip anyways.I'll be leaving 16 oct and will travel via Japan. I have never been to Japan, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a short visit. Unfortunately my ticket does not allow making any stopovers, so I just have to do it with the 10 hour layover. I will be flying into Osaka and take a trip to Kyoto, from which I have heard it's a nice city. Then I will be heading for Auckland and probably fly straight on to Christchurch. I plan to stay there for a couple of days and then I will be heading south towards Stewart Island. Then back up to Christchurch to take the train and ferry to Wellington. Then I want to go to Napier, Rotorua and back to Auckland. Then I plan to stay in Auckland for about a week and then I don't know yet. It'll depend on the weather what I will be doing. I will return home 13 nov late evening, so I get back on the 14th, right on time for our Mega Quarterly that weekend. Only one more month .......

LM demo Nieuwegein 8-9 sep

2007-09-13T17:09:00.000+02:00

Here a couple of pictures from a demo triple C did for LM. The demo was a combi from BP, BS, BV, BB and BA. Les Mills was asked by Heidehal, Nieuwegein to do a demo. As we have done more demo's we were asked to do this one.

Time flies....

2007-08-28T13:42:00.000+02:00

... When you're having fun. Last couple of weeks has been busy, but fun!Last weekend and the weekend before we there were quarterly workshops and master classes. I did assessment and of course my own master classes/workshops. I'm always looking forward it.This time I did BA in Roosendaal and did BP assessment there and all the other stuff I did in Nieuwegein on Saturday. On Friday and Sunday there was assessment again. On Sunday I decided to join the BS master class. I'm really starting to like BS :-)BA is great again. I love the release. In the beginning I thought it was a bit flat, but very soon I really liked it. Some new moves, nice combinations and a good flow from one track to the other. I nearly died during the Master class. Isn't it great to go that deep! The trainers pushed us really well and just by the look in their eyes I had to give more. Awesome! I really like track 9, it makes you work hard. I always like jumps, and now we have the air jack .... Feels like a happy jump all the way up in the air. Track 4 some killing Plyo's ... cool! :-)Well I think you just have to do BA to experience it, as there is now way you can describe the true BA feeling.BP has some neat innovations, with adding the weights with the chest. It's quite difficult here as we do not have the rubber weights, so they slide off easily. Good way to keep you bar evenly!Push ups on the bar with shoulder track and also use of the barbell with the abs! And I can tell you, I did the Master class on Saturday and on Monday I could still feel my inner abs!! Thanks Glenn, you made me work my abs very well with this track! With the lunge there is use of just a weight and the step. And with assessment we already noticed a big improvement for the instructors. Really nice 90/90's, good body positions, so imagine what this will also do for your participants. Unfortunately It doesn't make it a hard track when you already have a good body position as you only have the 5 kgs weight to hold. I'm glad the bar is back in the shoulder track! Well also for this one ... you've got to feel it!BC awesome. I already did BC when I was assisting the module training, which gave me the opportunity to go really deep. I always enjoy the master class most when given by Claudia and Daniel. They are just great together. By the way Claudia will be going to NZ to be in the filming in November!!! Together with our BA trainer Karin she'll be flying out to join the NZ presenters on stage. Isn't it great!!! Well I can tell you ... I'll be there :-) and I'm looking forward to it. BB was great as well. Unfortunately for me it was early morning, and I'm usually not that flexible when it's early morning. But well, it was a great start of the day. This release is better to do for me than the last release. I found that one a really hard one.What will I have planned ..... well, tomorrow I'm of to Nice, France for 3 days. Just to relax, and enjoy the weather (I hope) and oh .. when I get back I'll be a year older ..... Thursday is My B-day :-)Then in September I will be doing a Les Mills demo again with 3 C (Claudia , tiny C. & Corine, Mamma C. & Me Kiwi C.) somewhere in Nieuwegein. In October, right b4 I leave for New Zealand, we will do another demo at the "Fitvak" in Utrecht. Just like last year.For now, I off to pack my bag and get ready for work. Late shift today. Big hug

Last week

2007-08-05T19:27:00.000+02:00

Wow, it's august already. By the end of this month I'll be one year older again. Mmmm, don't think about that too much. What have I been doing? Mmmm work, teach, learning choreo. Did I also have some fun stuff to do? Yes of course. We went for a fun afternoon with all the instructors of fitness 365 in Amsterdam to Huizen. We went Lasergaming. I don't have a clue if that's actually English but it goes as follows: The group is divided into to teams. You get a thing around your upper body with a laser gun. Then you get to enter a pretty dark area, and you have to shoot as many people from the other as possible. Every time you shoot some one you get points for the team and the opponent stays out for about 5 seconds. It's so much fun. Especially with all instructors as there's nobody who likes to loose. We played 2 games from I think 20 mins or so, and I can tell you .... it's like a workout ...run run run for your "life". Afterwards we had dinner because most of us were pretty hungry.Then on Tuesday I fell down the stairs at work (I think just about every single person at the airport must have seen it as there were sooooo many people :-( and imagine seeing a girl in uniform falling down the stairs, actually trying not to fall. Must be quite funny hey). But I hurt my back and shoulder pretty bad at that time !$#(^$#^!%$!*$. so I wasn't able to teach that evening &#)*@$^!)&*#$. Wednesday went to my cousin for a BBQ. Thursday I did my classes again, but It didn't feel to good... don't think about it too much. My mom would say you'll get better before you turn into a guy (it's a Dutch saying which I have translated). But anyway, Friday I had the afternoon off of work and went to friend and we actually did nothing but enjoy the sun in her backyard. In the evening we went out for 'Pannekoeken', something we already decided to do for a long time, but somehow we never did. This weekend I assisted BC module training. I really like to assist the module trainings. It's quite a big group, and when that happens they have assessors assist the trainers during the module. Already in these 2 days I have seen people grow into the program and their techniques and coaching. Next weekend will be the last day. Hope everyone will be able to practise their tracks during the week in an actual class. It's quite an International group this time. People from Holland and Belgium, which is the usual mix, but this time we also got people (living in Holland) but who are from France, Portugal, South Africa, Romania......The only bad thing about the module training this weekend.,..... The weather.... we have had rain, storm and cold weather for the last 5 weeks or so.... this weekend it finally turned out to be 30 degrees celcius and I was indoors for the whole weekend. The other side..... I love to assist the trainings so I may not complain. 2-morrow back to work at KLM and teach my classes again, hopefully without any pain the back.

Australia '97-'98

2007-07-21T18:16:00.000+02:00

Wow, that seems so long ago. Well it actually is, almost 10 years. I can still remember so much from that trip. It didn't start too good. We had a delay because of the weather and therefore missed our connecting flight in London. We were lucky there was still a flight available in the evening, but only one hour from home we had to wait for over 10 hours. We were supposed to have a full day layover in Bangkok, but that turned out to be just a night unfortunately. From there we flew to Brisbane for our training camp. So weird it was when we arrived. We left in the middle of winter from home and we arrived in the heath in the middle of summer in Aussie. Another drive to Toowoomba our home for the next weeks. For three weeks we worked our butts of from mon-fri and during the weekends we had our free time. We went to Brisbane, we went to the beaches, visited a Kangaroo farm, saw Koala's., stayed a night at Tangaloma Island. We were also there during Christmas and New Years Eve. That was difficult. Even though we were mostly friends, we missed our families a lot at that time. Christmas Eve we spent at a Movie theatre watching Titanic and of course crying. After that we did presents and than phoned home in the middle of the night and cried some more. That probably had to do with the fact we were all so tired of training about 8 hours a day. After 3 weeks we went to Perth, unfortunately didn't do very well in the competition. But had a great time anyways. When we were finished we took a team trip to the Pinnacle's and we also did a trip with a couple of the girls and all the parents who were there to support us to Rottnest Island. Than most of the team went home. Not me, I still had 3 ½ weeks left :-) One of the girls in the team and I joined my parents for a trip from Sydney to Cairns! My parents already flew to Sydney and we met them at the airport. We had 2 days in Sydney, and one thing was so remarkable. I thought is was cold. It was 25 Celsius, but this girl was cold. Well in Perth it was 45 Celsius. Does that explain? Sydney is a nice city. I saw it so many times on TV, but it was impressive to be there in real life. To be honest I just need to go there again. Then we got our rental car and drove into the Blue Mountains. Do go for some hikes, Saw the three sisters. I can remember it felt good to be out of town and enjoy nature. During the trips we usually stopped for lunch and had picnics. On an easy pace we drove to the north, visiting Brisbane, Byron bay, the most easterly point in Australia, the Gold coast. We also did diving and snorkelling trips at the Whitsunday Islands. Awesome! Than we arrived in Cairns, for the last 5 days we stayed there. Did some boat trips, again diving and snorkelling, but also some trips to Daintree. I can tell you; these 3 1/2 weeks went by fast. The relaxed atmosphere, easygoing people, beautiful country, this all made it unforgettable. A couple things that I noticed and was completely new to me: The dogs at the airport searching for fruit instead of drugs and the checks on the road where you have to turn in your veggies and fruits at the border. And then we I got home: 45 Celsius in Cairns, minus 10 Celsius when I got home.... NO fun, but an awesome tan :-) I had been away for 2 months.

My other passion...

2007-07-20T22:30:00.000+02:00

... One passion you know all about by now.... Les Mills, sports, especially BA & BP.The other one is traveling. It already started when I was a little kid. My dad had to travel quite a lot for his job and every time he was about to leave, I grabbed the worldmap and had him point out where he was going.. I loved geography in school, learning the countries, cities, rivers all over the world. My dad used to work for KLM as well, so flying is something I have been able to do for most of my life. I'm very much aware that's something quite exceptional, as a lot of people are not in the position they can do that. My very first flight was one of the rare domestic flights we have in Holland, from Schiphol Airport to Maastricht in the south. I do not know my exact age, but I think I was about six months or so. My mom went went to visit her sister and she took me with her. At a very young age I also traveled a couple of times to Canada as my dad's sister lives in Sarnia, Ontario. I don't remember a lot of those trips, except for the fact that I saw my cousin in Canada do synchronized swimming and from that moment on I wanted to do that as well.One of the first trips I really remember was to LA, California at the age of 5. Mostly by pictures, but still memories are there. Most of the trip was about visiting theme parks like Disney, Sea world and Universal Studios. But it was great. One thing I will never forget was the shark (Jaws) at Universal Studios. It scared me so much, that you could see my fingers and nails in my mom’s neck. About 12 or 13 years later I was there again, and I had to laugh so hard, that the thing had scared me so much. We also went to a water park with slides, and it was so cool. I still love those water parks with these enormous slides. Of course we also had our holidays closer to home. I think up to the age of 4 my parents had a boat when they sold the boat they bought a caravan. Every year we went camping during summer for 3 weeks. Either in Holland, or in Belgium or France. That was always great. The possibility to be outside with friends all the time, swim, be out on the water surfing, or go out for walks with my mom and dad, along rivers, into caves, old cities, going to castles. Of course at that young age the lakes, sea, swimming and playing was the best part, but I never mind going to the little towns or other sights in the surroundings of where we stayed. In spring we usually went away for a week by plane. That could vary from Tunesia, Greece, Malta, or some other places in Europe. Then by the age of 14, I started swimming on the Junior National Team and vacations started to be different. Mostly training camps followed by a competition. The last time we were actually able to go on holiday over summer was when I was 15, 3 weeks to the south of France. Camping and a friend of mine stayed on the same camping with her parents so that was fun. I think we spent most of the time at the beach and shopping. At that age that was just about all I was interested in.During my swimming career I have been able to visit a lot of cities all over Europe and some of them even more than 1 time. Rome(3 times), Milan, Loano and Bari in Italy, Barcelona and Sevilla in Spain. Vaduz in Liechtenstein, Vienna in Austria, Wuppertal and Bonn in Germany, Odense in Denmark, a couple of cities in Belgium, Paris in France, Athens in Greece, Zurich and Lausanne in Switzerland. Kharkov in Ukraine. But also Atlanta in the USA, Calgary and Edmonton in Canada and Perth and Toowoomba in Australia. That last training camp and competition in Australia were followed by a pretty cool vacation.
The next couple of posts I will try to tell more about my trips and why I love it so much.

Special BP workout

2007-07-18T22:03:00.000+02:00

Okay, I know it's almost a week ago, but last Thursday I had Susan T. team teach with me for my BP class. It was great to have her again since the first time she was at the club a year and half ago. It was great class and it I can tell you, it feels a bit weird to have a great trainer like her standing next to me, teaching my class with me. Last time she was at the club it was an official workout arranged by the club, with a whole bunch of instructors and I was very happy to shadow with her. But this time it was different as it was just a regular class. After BP she joined for BA class. Both classes were filled with energy, fun and enthusiasm as always. Afterwards we went for dinner at the club and finally got some time to chat.

Some more good news for me. At KLM we finally will get the opportunity to get a new contract. When I started working at the ticketoffice the only option was to work 5 days of 6 hours (75%), while I was always used to work 5 days of 8 hours (full time). Ofcourse it's quite relaxed to work only 6 hours a day, but still I have to go to work 5 days a week. And the schedule is sometimes pretty tough as we work 4 days, have 1 day off and then work 4 days again. Now we can start working 90%. So not quite fulltime, but almost get a fulltime salary. The schedule is great. Always 2 days off in between the 3 or 4 days work. Will get paid way more, because the payment for working irregular shifts is also way more!!! I'm very happy with this, as we have been fighting for this since the beginning. The exact date we do not know yet.
I will have to go and see if I can still teach 3 days a week, but 2 I will defenitely do. I just can't live without my classes!!!! Maybe a bit more freelance instead. Just have to wait and see. Will give it a try for sure!

Quarterlies coming up next month. Again assessment and ofcourse my own classes. Will be busy but lots of fun again. In about 2 weeks I will be assisting a BC module training. Deng, will have to learn the whole new choreo and I don't have the tape yet. Hope I will get it soon.

Well the weather has been better the last couple of days, so I have tried to enjoy the sun for a bit and work on my tan. My NZ trip is planned oct/nov and I hope the weather in NZ will be better than last year, or I might have to go to the Cook Islands or so. Any suggestions anyone?? Ofcourse I wil try to join the filming classes. It was awesome last year and this time there are going to be some Dutch trainers, so that's going to be pretty cool as well.

Grrmpffff :-( :-( :-(

2007-07-11T14:39:00.000+02:00

Don't you hate it when you're @ work and computers, printers, machines and/or any other technical stuff doesn't work. Well I DO!!! Same thing goes for the gym headsets, batteries, old CD's or the stereo, these things just must work properly!
Well monday was one of those days where it didn't :-(
In the middle of BA track 3 the music stopped and the headset stopped. Tried to make the class go for a bit while trying to get the thing to work again. Can tell you BODYATTACK without music is no fun and it's even harder. All of a sudden the thing started again and it was the end of the track. Same thing track 4, and again track 5. In all of this I already switched from Ipod to CD, but the problem stayed. By the time we were at track 5, I had figured to keep on going and try to stay with the timing and near the end of the track the music started again and we finished with music. Track 6 & 7 were fine and it started again with 8, again I kept going and again when the music started again it was the exact right timing. Wow, I was kind of proud of myself for staying in the right speed! Well this kept on going. The people worked really hard, but it's such a bugger when things like this happen and you're not able to solve the problem. I heard In the BODYJAM class they had the same problem too, so I was glad it wasn't just me. But with classes like this the music is soooooooo important, and it takes so much away when it isn't there. I was really glad the people stayed motivated and did such a good job. Thanks you guys.
After I was finished I spoke to the group fitness coordinator and I can tell you: He knows I wasn't pleased by this. Spoke to him today again and they now think they know what the problem is. The thing was overheated... someone left the stereo on all day after the morning classes. %#$*)(*#(@ Well I think I know another problem .... it's old and maybe it's time for a new one. The weirdest thing was ..... I did not have a single problem during BP class after BA, but maybe that's because you stop the music after each track. Well let's hope it's all solved by tomorrow.

What do people want?

2007-06-28T15:54:00.000+02:00

Good question, in this case it applies to the gym and the groupfitness classes.
To start with, we're all individuals and we all think and feel different. We all have different goals in life and expect different things from it. So do the members in our classes. Some people come to the gym because they were told to do so, others are there to loose weight, some would like to get in shape, or to recover from injuries or maybe just to socialize with others.
And all these people, with different goals, thoughts and feelings, come to our classes.
What do they expect from me, or from other instructors? Wow, that's hard.... every single person expects something different from an instructor. Can I answer to all of that? Mmmm probably not, but I can give it a try. It's hard to satisfy everyone for 100%. Because if we do so, we forget about ourselves and after a while we get lost and won't be able to satisfy others at all. So don't even think of trying to keep everybody happy. Find the right way in between.
Get to know the people in your classes. Find out why they are coming to your classes, because when you know, you can help them to make it much more pleasant for them to keep coming back and maybe bring friends with them. Why should we push a person to lift more weights if someone's just there to have fun and just wants to be entertained. Safe that energy for the person who told you he/she wants to be stronger or fitter. Figure it out ... go the extra mile and stay after class, be at the gym early talk to your people.....
And participants, don't be shy to come up to your instructor, because they are always there for you, even when they seem busy. We are also only human :-), have one head with 2 eyes only. We might miss something, but we do not do it on purpose.

How did I get to this subject? Roel .... thanks!

Up to you

2007-06-27T23:59:00.000+02:00

In addittion to a couple of posts ago:

You will never solve your problems by getting other people to change. The way to move beyond whatever is holding you back is to make positive changes within yourself.
The problem is not the particular situation you are in. The problem is the way you interpret and relate to that situation.
The problem is not the way you are treated by others. The problem is the way you allow the actions of others to affect you.
The problem is not what has happened in the past. The problem is that you're letting it continue to hold you back.
Take complete responsibility for a problem, and suddenly you are ninety percent of the distance toward solving it. For when you truly take responsibility, you gain real and powerful control.
Fully accept that it is up to you to get where you choose to go. And you'll find everything necessary to make it so. R. Marston

Busy week

2007-06-25T09:23:00.000+02:00

What a week. Teaching 5 BA classes, 5 BP classes, 1 BC class and a couple of 15 mins Abdominal trainings. Let me tell you .. I'm tired, as my work at the airport is going on too. Some social stuff in between, birthdays, parents visit and best of all: a relaxing day on friday in a Wellness Center in Bleiswijk with one of my best friends. That was a good break before Saturday's launch. Oh and before I forget, I bought a new car this week. Not a new new car, but for me it's new. I get it by the end of this week and I'm really excited. I also heard we get a Starbucks at the Airport ..... yesssss... can't wait for a Vanilla Latte :-) Don't have a lot of time to write at this time as I actually was in the middle of a assessment tape and I need to go to work in 15 mins. No early shift today, I was already glad they were so kind to adjust my late shift to a day shift so I can teach my classes tonight. I just love my monday classes. People are excited, working really hard... there's Monday BODYATTACK fire in the studio!
I'm off to work... see ya!

Live Your Passion

2007-06-14T12:48:00.000+02:00

What are you passionate about?
Dare to express and expand that passion in everything you do. Stand back and look at your life from a distance, as an objective observer. What you'll see is a pattern, a common thread running through all the various aspects of all that you have done. That common thread is connected to a passion living deep inside of you. The more fully you allow that passion to flow from you, the more richness your life will know. The more readily you admit and express that passion to yourself and to the world, the more fulfilling your moments will be. Keeping it hidden and suppressed will only lead to pain and regret.
There is a passion in you that is constantly pushing to see the light of day. Let it out and let it grow. That passion is a unique and precious gift that you have to offer to life. Give it freely, with vigor, with courage, with love, and let all truly experience its special value. Ralph Marston

Guess what my passion is? :-)

Learning choreo

2007-06-13T11:49:00.000+02:00

What have I been doing lately? Learning choreo. . .
BP I'm fininshed just Cool down and Abs which I still need to do. BA is done as well. track 8,9 and cooldown still to go. BB full thing to do yet, for BC as well. It's more difficult to learn those for as I do not have my own classes to teach so it's hard to keep memorizing when you don't do it a lot. At the launch I will be joining in for BC as otherwise my collegue will be there on her own. I will try to do at least three tracks with her, but I would need to know all the kata's as well on the other tracks. Mmmmm still a lot of work to do untill next week's launch. It'll be a lot of fun .....
How to learn the choreo? Well that's probably different for each person. BP I'll learn just easily, lying down, sitting outside in the sun, driving in my car (be aware, crazy girl in town), on my way the work sitting in the bus. When I know most of it, I watch the DVD workshops and also the full DVD just to hear what the instructos on the DVD are doing saying performing etc.
For BA it's completely different for me, I start with the DVD, make notes on my choreo and then again I start learning with my Ipod and the choreo notes. I also have to make the moves, just to get the feeling, so my fourniture has to move and I use all the space I have in my living to do BA. I apologize to my neighbours for that :-). BC is a combination of BA and BP. I need defenitely need the DVD for all the kata's. BB I think is one hell of job... I love the program but learning the choreo takes me days and days. I'm only able to do it with the DVD. It's so hard to learn.
Anyfurther ... the only music I listen to around quarterly time is LM music. My ipod is always with me, just ike my phone..... I sort of panic when I don't have it with me. It's next to my bed and some times when I wake up in the middle of the night I think of a choreo, but I can't fully remember ... I need to listen to the music, get the notes or else I won't fall asleep anymore. Call me crazy... I know Í am.... there's nothing I can change about that... sorry. I'm glad I like most of the music which is used in the program's or else this would be an awfull job to do.

Last weekend and the weekend before that I have been assisting and BP module training. It was great to do and I've learned a lot from it too. So many different people doing the training. Some love it, some had to go because the club made them. It's nice to see how the program starts to grow on people already in a week. Doing the Hongi, the challenge, learning the five key elements. It's so nice to see it's same all over the world. LM is like an international language. I love it!!! I'm so glad the talked me into teaching, it's become a part of my life and it's an awesome thing to do.

Love what you do in life or you miss out on it!

3rd Quarter Launch

2007-06-01T13:26:00.000+02:00

23 June 2007, Healthcity Toolenburg, Hoofddorp

Studio 1
09.00-10.00 BODYVIVE
10.00-11.00 BODYCOMBAT
11.00-12.00 BODYPUMP
12.00-13.00 BODYATTACK
13.00-14.00 BODYBALANCE
14.00-15.00 BODYJAM
15.00-16.00 XCO

Studio 2
09.30-10.30 RPM
13.30-14.30 RPM

Every member can bring a friend, familymember, neighbour, colleague. Come up to the reception and have your names put on the list! You don't wanna miss it !!! and we do not wanna miss YOU!
BE THERE !!!

Only 24 hours. . .

2007-05-29T16:36:00.000+02:00

. . . in 1 day. Sometimes that just isn't enough. Since my last post I have been very busy, that I was glad to read my email. That's just about all I did behind the computer. Well what have I been up to ... uuuhh..... mostly Les Mills, teaching and some work. So most of it: all fun things.
Let's see... where to start.
18-20 may we had our quarterly in Nieuwegein. For me quite long days. For example:
18 May
04.15 wake up,
05.30 early shift at KLM,
12.00 off to Nieuwegein for the quarterly for assessment, and masterclasses. (did BC and BS)
18.00 off to dinner with the family as it's my mom's 60th birthday
01.00 time to go to bed

19 May
07.00 wake up.
09.00 Workshop BP
10.15 Masterclass BP
11.30 Workshop + Masterclass BB
13.15 Assessment BC
14.30 Assessment BP
15.45 Workshop BA
17.00 Masterclass BA

Afterwards I always try to help out with handing out the choreo's and DVD to the instructors,, so it was about 20.00 when I got home. Deng .. still have to put my stuffs away, do laundry etc

20 May
04.45 wake up
06.00 work at KLM
12.30 off to Nieuwegein
assessment BP and BA and I joind BS (I'm really starting to like BS)

21 May again early shift at KLM, teach in the evening, prepare for BB demo the next day in Zeist.
22 May whole day in Zeist for BB demo's, which was a lot of fun. Then teach teach in the evening BA and joined BB since I was in BB mood after this day anyways :-)

Wednesday... no work, no teaching, but assessment tapes and a household that needed to be done. Mmmmm ended up learning new tracks, doing some assessment and enjoyed the great weather.
Thursday, Again superearly shift and teaching.. ohhh deng I just love BA and BP. It's so much fun to see how excited people in the classes get with BA! Thursday was so much fun again.
Some where in between I still try to talk to my friends. So somehow even when I'm home early I always end up going to bed too late as I'm talking on the phone and forgetting all about the time. Well, saturday work and off to quarterly in Roosendaal. Again for BP and BA and again joined the BS, to kill time, as it was in between BP and BA. Sunday work and then went to a friend of mine in Veenendaal. I went together with another friend, who lives pretty close to me. So we drove together. We actually had a relaxing afternoon, chatted, snacked, watched Grease (sang along :-), Bridget jones, the edge of reason and an episode of Greys Anatomy. Quite hard for me to sit down whole afternoon :-) But we had a great time. We used to swim together on the National Team. None of us is swimming anymore. One of us is still a synchrocoach but 2 of us (and I'm 1 of those), can hardly remember the smell of chlorine :-) Again home too late :-)
Well that's just about my week almost. Yesterday was a holiday, so the gym was closed in the evening. I organized an extra BA workout since there wouldn't have been BA that day otherwise. It was great. So many people came, and from the vibes in the studio and the feedback of the people... they all had a great time... and ..... so did I!!!!! Thanks you guys! After that unfortunately I had to go work. Late shift ...... mmm..... people at work already asked me whether I was lost... since I hardly ever work late shifts :-) Try to be more up to date with my blog.....sorry

Quarterly time

2007-05-17T20:51:00.000+02:00

Wheeha, this weekend is quarterly time again!
BP 62, BA 57, BC 32 & BB 37.
Let you know more over the weekend.
First I've gotta go to work at 5.30am and after that I'm heading for Nieuwegein. Then in the evening my mum's 60th birthday. Saturday a full day of workshops, masterclasses and assesment. Sunday early shift and afterwards some more Les Mills assessment in Nieuwegein.

Never fear. . .

2007-05-13T12:49:00.001+02:00

Never fear shadows, it simply means there is light nearby!

In a positive way

2007-05-10T13:54:00.000+02:00

I just read this and I think it adds up to yesterday's post on making choices:

How do you keep yourself positive when the people around you are so negative? How can you maintain a positive approach when the situations and events around you are so troublesome?

A sincerely positive attitude is not a reaction to the way things are. Rather, it is an expression of the way you choose for things to be. Being positive is not an unrealistic or naive view of a negative world. It provides you with a solid foundation for making real improvements in the world and creating meaningful value. Being positively focused enables you to see, and to make the most of, opportunities that would otherwise be invisible. Being positive gives you the energy to move forward no matter what the obstacles may be. When you focus on the positive aspects of a situation, there will be plenty of people who disagree with you. But that is their problem, not yours. Look beyond those who argue for defeat, and find the path to victory. Whatever the current situation may be, you can always choose a positive way forward.

Life is all about...

2007-05-09T22:05:00.000+02:00

... making choices.

Today I was talking to someone and the person was amazed that I had so much time to do sports and go to the gym. She said she never has time to do that. I'm not suprised about that anymore. It's something I hear very often nowadays. Everybody is busy with everything and so many people say: I don't have time. I think that's bull....
You can choose a lot of things you do in life. One of the choices I make is going to gym, teaching classes and enjoy that very much. But everybody can make that choice. A choice is something you prefer to do above something else. There's no right or no wrong, it's just something you like to do. An excuse which is made very often by people when they want to end their membership of the gym is: I do not have time to go to gym. But somehow these people know exactly what's on TV tonight, have seen every movie and know all about the newest commercials. Good for you, but don't come to me and complain you often feel tired, you're in bad shape, you've gained weight and other stuff like that. You choose not to go the gym but to stay home and watch TV instead. I know not every single person in this world loves sports as much as I do, but I hope everybody loves his/her life as much as I do and would like to enjoy it as long as possible. A healthy way of living will help you to enjoy your life longer. Just a work out for at least 30 mins a day would do good already. That doesn't mean go to the gym everyday. It means take a walk or ride your bike instead of taking the car. Take stairs instead of the elevator. Walk up to a person at work instead of making a phonecall to a person just 2 doors away from you. Be the one who gets the coffee, instead of the one being served. Small things like that will already help you. It's again the choice you and only you can make. I do not want to talk everyone into going to the gym, but I hope more people would like to make the choice to find some time to get up and move.
Take care.

Just a note

2007-05-04T14:28:00.000+02:00

Tuesday went all great at Fitness365. The gym still isn't completely finsihed, but good to start with groupfitness. I had the honour to kick off with BA! There where 10 people in class, and it was 50/50 men/women. For all of them it was their first BA experience, and from what I have heard, they enjoyed it a lot. With BB there where only 3 people, and it almost felt like a personal training session. Still a ot of things have to be finished at the club, the lockerrooms, showers, reception, the lounge area. From what I hear it's starts to look better everyday. Keep you posted about this.

Yesterday's BA class was especially awesome. In BP people are not as outgoing as in BA. It's different and I love it too. Was able to do some good coaching and help people to improve their techniques. It's so good to see people respond when you are trying to help them get more out of their workout. In BA people were all excited, happy, having fun and working their butt's off! Cool. I was pretty tired when I started teaching at 6.30pm, as I had night shift and only slept for 4,5 hours. But once I started with BP music it just woke me up, and then ofcourse BA, I felt like I could go 4 ever. It's so cool when people are working hard and still have fun, that gives me heaps of energy and the people in class feel that as well, so they give energy in return to me too. It's like a circle. That's why it's so important that you feel good as an instructor, that you love what you're doing and ofcourse you know what you're doing. If you don't like it, you'd better quit. People around you will feel it and you will loose the important magic.

After both classes, I stayed for a bit and chatted with a couple of members.Then I had to go home and get to work. It was very busy. Lots of rebookings that needed to be done, due delayed flights. But time went by fast and since I had so much energy in me.... sleeping wouldn't have been an option yesterdaynight. I went to bed at 07.00 am this morning and woke up at 11.00. Had beakfast and then started to fix uo my balcony. Yesterday I bought a bunch of flowers and plants to make the place a bit nicer. I have been spending so much time outside, since the weather has been so good the past couple of weeks, so I decided it was time to cheer it up a bit. I'm not much of a gardener, but it looks okay now.

Fitness 365

2007-05-01T16:53:00.001+02:00

Today is the very first day Fitness 365 is open. It's a completely new gym in Amsterdam Z.O. right next to the highway. Easy to reach, lots of parking space. Not everything is finished yet, but it's ready to open. We have had several meetings already and I know it's going to be great working there. I'm going to teach BP & BA on Tuesday evenings. At the moment the BP stuff has not arrived yet, so actually I was only teaching BA tonight. This afternoon Daniel called me and asked me if I could do the BB after my BA as the girl who's actually going to do it, had a family emergency. Uuhhh.... Since I still do not have my own BB class and hadn't paid much attention to BB anymore and the last time I did BB was 8 weeks ago ... deng ... Glad I had the day off today, so guess what I have been doing this whole afternoon .... BB choreo. But all is going to be ok. It'll be quite a challenge tonight. Tomorrow morning the BP stuff arrives, so from next week on, I will be teaching BP as well. If you wanna see some more of Fitness365 take a look here. I will tell you later how it was tonight. I hope I will get some people for the classes tonight. I really do not know, as it's a completely new gym and people will still have to find their way. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
This morning I already did BP class in Hoofddorp. I was glad to be moving again, as the past four days I haven't done a lot. I only took my bike to work and did 2 short trips on skeelers in the evening on Sunday and Monday.
Yesterday it was Queensday but I was so tired I fell asleep in the afternoon when I got home. I started working at 5.30 and got up at 4.15. Not funny, since I went to bed too late the day before. Queensday is always a lot fun, festivities everywhere, free amrkets, kids selling their toys and other junk. And then ofcourse they buy new junk with the money they just made haha. On Saturday I went to Leiden and spent to afternoon on the motorboat of a friend of mine and I did the same thing on Friday, but then I went to the boat of my parents. All those days I had early shifts, so I could enjoy the sun in the afternoon. I still love my job ... hahaha, actually I love both my jobs!!!
Talk to you later and please keep your fingers crossed tonight for me!

Another monday

2007-04-23T16:23:00.000+02:00

Wow, this weekend was great. Beautiful weather, out on the water. Enjoyed the sun, it almost felt like a holiday. Deng....too bad I got back in this world at 5.30 am this morning. That's when the unpleasant beep of my alarm woke me up. I decided to take my bike to work as the busdrivers are on strike today between 09.00 and 16.00, and parking with a 7.00am shift is quite difficult. Taking the bus to work would mean there's no way back untill 16.00 and since my shift ends at 13.30 I thought I might as well hop on my bike. Had this awesome, but painfull sliding on my bike when I got to the airport and wanted to make a turn. Not funny, as my steer got loose and didn't work anymore. Luckily I was close to the place where I can put my bike, and luckily I wasn't hit by a car. My dear daddy hopped on his bike later in the morning and fixed my steer, so I could ride my bike home. That was quite an experience at 6.30 in the morning.
Tonight it's LM time again. It has been a while since my last monday class. Due Easter and my holiday my last monday classes were 3 weeks ago ..... I'm looking forward to it again. Somehow monday is always special. It really feels like my monday :-), even though I don't teach all the classes. People are always excited in BA very outgoing, yelling, ding all the fun stuff. It's easy to get them to work hard. Also for BP, when we do team-teach. So I'm all ready for tonight.
BE UNSTOPPABLE & LIFT WAY BEYOND YOUR LIMITS

Portugal pictures. . . girls just wanna have fun

2007-04-20T17:30:00.001+02:00

Portugal pictures. . . more Lisbon

2007-04-20T17:29:00.000+02:00

Portugal pictures. . . Setubal. . . Work out, relax and fun

2007-04-20T17:25:00.000+02:00

Portugal pictures. . . Setubal

2007-04-20T16:44:00.000+02:00

Winery tour:

Around the city:

Portugal pictures. . . Lisbon

2007-04-20T16:10:00.000+02:00

Last day

2007-04-16T17:30:00.000+02:00

Wow, this week went by fast. We're back in Lisbon. We had a good time in Setubal. Marco and his friends showed us all around the city, we went to a winery, had a nice drive along the coast with beautyful views on the city, saw castles (castelo). We also enjoyed our rest next to the swimmingpool in the hotel. Had great dinners, tried local dishes, took the ferry .. wow can hardly think of what we all did these past couple of days.
Now we are back in Lisbon enjoying our last day. This morning a quick stop at the aquaduct, which was beautyfull and the rest of the day we sat in sun, enjoying our coffees, ice creams and all other drinks ..... and ofcourse try the get a bit of a tan ... eheh, that's always something I like working on.

All I can say ... I had an awesome time here in Portugal. I know I will get back here, but now it's time to go.

Lifestyle

2007-04-14T09:29:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning we left Lisbon to go to Setubal to visit Marco. We stayed in touch after we met in NZ, so since I'm in Portugal now, I might as well visit.
We took the train to Setubal, which was all quite easy. It was a nice train ride which gave a good opportunity to see some more of Portugal than just the capital. The scenery was a nice, the sun was shining and before we knew we arrived in Setubal.
Marco told me the hotel was close to his club Lifestyle, so we decided to go walk over there once we arrived to the hotel. And indeed it was close, unfortunately there was this highway in between and there was no way we could cross it. We were thinking of doing it, but climbing over the fence and then making the front page of the newpaper ... mmm..... not a very good idea, so we walked all the way around. Right when we stepped into the club, we felt welcome. There was a nice lady sitting at the reception and she jumped up to get Marco. It was good to see him again and he invited us to do BA. We decided to do that as we brought or stuff. He also asked us to teamteach with him for BA in the evening ... uuuuuhhhh.... 2 BA classes???? Sure why not.
It was fun to participate in a Portugese BA class. Not a single word we could understand, but still we could do the class. After class we stayed and chatted, then we went to the mall to get something to eat real quick and then went back for BP and BA class. Marco said Nivaldo was teaching, so we joined his class too. It was good the see him again as well. With the shouldertrack he invited us to join him on stage. It was fun to do. And by understanding the looks in the eyes of the participants they enjoyed it. Even though this was not prepared it was a fun performance, some how a BP team was created at that time knowing what we could expect and all knowing what to do. Cool !!
After BP it was time for BA!!!! It was so much fun and it was special too. The people in class did really well. We were teaching in english as my portugese still isn't very good, but it seemed that they could understand as they were doing the things we said. All smiling faces in the studio.
After class people came up and talked and said they really enjoyed it. Thanks you guys!
We went back to the hotel, to freshen up and we were going to have dinner and go out with Marco, Joana and David. We had a great evening, drank too much Sangria, wine and other stuff, we pulled behind the bar in a club to fix drinks. I assume it didn't look very professional as I had never done it before, but who cares... we had fun. It was pas 05.00 am when we saw our bed again. I'll post some pictures later.

Some more Portugal

2007-04-12T14:20:00.000+02:00

And yet another day ... still having fun, even though the sun isn´t shining at the moment. It´s not raining and it´s not cold, so that´s important.
Yesterday we have been working out... hahaha.... we went to a gym nearby, no classes offered, but there was a swimming pool, so we did some laps and relaxed for a bit in the sauna. Then we walked around the city some more and sat down and had an ice cream ... big one :-)
In the evening we went to the same restaurant as the day before. There was this really nice waiter and the food was good.

This morning we took the metro, to the train station and then took the train to Cascais. A train ride all along the coast, with nice views. At the moment just a quick stop at the Internet café, as we will move to Setubal for 2 days before we go home, and we still needed to book the hotel.
So that´s also a possibility to do a short update on my blog.

In Setubal we will try to do a few LM classes. Let you know more if we manage to do so.

Lisbon, Portugal

2007-04-10T19:14:00.000+02:00

Monday
Wow, it´s great here. Yesterday we arrived on time in Lisbon, and had to wait for a long time b4 we got our luggage. Then we took the taxi to the hotel. The hotel, The Meridian, is awesome!!!
We got a good rate for the hotel as they offered airline discount. It´s just amazing. We have a beautiful view from the room over the Pq. Eduardo VII and we can even see the Tajo River. Big beds, superb shower, it´s all very luxurious. Our bags were taken to the room (we did not have to carry anything)... it was just great. The last couple of trips I made I have mostly been backpacking and stayed in hostels or very cheap hotels ... so this is quite a difference.
After we freshened up ourselves we left to hotel to see some of the city. It was about 11.30 when left. We already saw a lot of the city. We walked down towards the water. There is this big street going down, Avenido Liberdade it´s like those french boulevards. Very beautiful. We stopped for coffee and some lunch , enjoyed the sun. We walked thru these small streets, walked up and down stairs, it´s all so sweet to see. Saw Rossio, a big square in the heart of the City, went to Terreiro do Paço fro which they say it the most beautyfull square. All little trams stop there, they look a little like the San Francisco trams. We walked again thru these small streets, just enjoying Lisbon. Then we arrived at Castelo San Jorge, which is way upon a hill and gives very nice views all over town. Had some ice cream there .... mjummy and then we wanted to go back to the hotel. hat wasn´t the easiest thing to do, but with some use of our map we managed to get back. We could feel our feet and my eyes were having a hard time to stay open. I only slept 1 hour on the plane after my night shift.
We went to a shopping center nearby the hotel and something to eat. Fell asleep right after my head hit the pillow at around 22.30.

Tuesday
Slept till about nine in the morning. We had breakfast in he hotel. Oh man ..... it´s good. A huge breakfast buffet with just about anything you can think of for breakfast. Mmmm, maybe not so good when you thinks there won´t be any BA, BP or any other class to teach tonight.. haha
Today we decided to behave like real tourists and take one of these tourist buses from which you can hop on and hop off all the time.
The first couple of stops we stayed on the bus, as we already were there yesterday. We got out the bus at the Belem tower. The tower was built in 1515 as a fortress to guard the entrance to Lisbon's harbor, the Belem Tower was the starting point for many of the voyages of discovery, and for the sailors it was the last sight of their homeland. We found a nice place to enjoy the sun, have a cappuccino and chat. I think we sat for about an hour walked back to a beautiful church, from which a can´t remember the name and took the bus from there. On the way we had a good view on the ponte 25 apr, which is a bridge made by the same architect as the Golden Gate bridge. It looks the same too. Driving past M. Pobal square going to the top of Parque Eduardo VII. This was a nice place to have a view over town again. Then walked back a saw some clouds coming. Let´s hope it won´t start to rain. Time to find a place to have dinner now.

Nightshift

2007-04-09T03:35:00.000+02:00

It´s in the middle of my nightshift. Not very busy, so okay to hit the internet :-)
Today was a good day. This morning I had to wake up at 8.15, as we had a meeting at the new club I´m going to teach at in Amsterdam. Pretty hard to wake up as I was home at 6.15 from work. With some red bull I managed to do so. At 09.00 we started with a couple presentations of the owners and the group fitness mangers. Than a couple of instructors had to present a track. We did 3 BC tracks, 3 BA tracks 1 BJ track and 1 BB track. I had to do track 2 of BA. The studio isn´t finished yet, but the stage was there already. It´s big and there´s room enough for team-teaching. Pretty cool. The studio is pretty big as well. The presentations for fun to do and it was nice meeting the new colleagues as well. The there was a surprise for us... a BP presentation from 2 mystery guests... Susan and Steve. It was great to have them over a the club ... even on Easter Sunday. Afterwards we went for lunch with them with a couple of people. Susan had her cousin over from England and made him do BP as well ...
Then I got home, tried to sleep, but wasn´t able to, as I was still excited about the day and I still had to pack my bags. At 22.30 I left to go to work again ..... I had only slept for 1 1/2 hours..... Now it´s getting tough ... I will finish in about 2 hrs. Claudia will come to the airport and at 06.50 our flight to Lisbon leaves ... yesssss. Hope I´ll get some sleep on board.
Talk to you later!

Bodies, The Exhibition

2007-03-31T20:56:00.000+02:00

Today I went to Bodies, The Exhibition. It was in "De Beurs van Berlage" in Amsterdam. Like it's already in the name, it's an exhibition all about the human body. I heard about it via a friend of mine, she is a physiotherapist and went there a couple of months ago. When she told me about it, I thought it was a bit odd, as it's all real parts of the human body which are exposed there. Muscles, bones, the human nervous system. But after I heard some more about it, I became more interested and when Claudia asked me if I wanted to go I said yes.
And it really was impressive. It's just amazing to see how a human body is build up. I think everybody knows the pictures from their Biology book at school .. but to see this in real......
Every tiny blood vessel, muscle, bone etc it was shown. And if you really think about that this all could be made within one minute :-).....
More amazing that all these things put together is the human body. The human body which makes me able to BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK and so much more. By the way: human lungs were also shown .. smokers and non-smokers. Am I glad I'm a non smoker, the smokers lungs almost looked like the highway, all covered with tar ....

Like to know more, click here

Fear? or NO Fear?

2007-03-24T19:49:00.000+01:00

I read this somewhere and somehow it reminds me of a Synchro training camp in 1995 in Calgary, Canada.

The other side of fear

Most of your fears would disappear if you would simply decide to walk right up to them.
Fear has only the power that you give it.
Your fears can intimidate you or they can illuminate you.
The choice is entirely up to you.
Your fears can stop you or they can prepare you. And you get to decide which it will be.
Listen to each fear just long enough to absorb the useful and reasonable information it may contain. Then realize that once that is done, it is time to move on beyond the fear.
On the other side of fear, there is value, there is accomplishment, there is fulfillment.
See fear as the gateway that it is, and make the choice to carefully and persistently go through it.
Allow the fear to prepare you well, then move on past it. And be amazed at the great things you can do.

Why does it remind me of the training camp? Well, first of all our theme and yell during the training camp was: Absolutely, Positively, Most Definitely, without a doubt: NO FEAR!
It was a six week training camp to prepare for FINA World Cup and the qualifying meet for Atlanta Olympics 1996 (which we unfortunately missed). The training camp was all about going beyond your limits, push ourselves further and to not be afraid. Not only in Synchro, but with everything. One thing for example was the 10m diving platform. We were all very scared to jump of the platform.... but we all did it. We did the most extreme things. Things I can remember are, swimming our free routine 11 times in a row. Which is crazy as you're dead tired after swimming it once. The only rest we had in between, was the swim back to the deck and then the music started again. We had to swim under water as far as possible. We had girls on the team swimming 100m (not me, I saw little stars already before 75m), who could hardly remember what they just did (they were almost out). Swimming 4 x 400m, trying to improve your time after every 400m. Only a short rest in between. We have been doing land drill for hours, Push ups, sit ups, flexibility.... deng .... sometimes I think I was crazy ..... but then again.... It was awesome to have been thru all of this. Learned so much from doing this all. And we also did lots of fun things during the weekends. Even though we trained 8 hours a day, we had the weekends of to have fun!!
But from having NO Fear (or at least trying to have no fear) at that time, it made me a stronger person and it made proud of the things I accomplished so far. And when I look back at all of this, I remember it all with a SMILE on my face. It was great!

Follow your heart .....

2007-03-21T18:24:00.000+01:00

Work and play

2007-03-21T18:15:00.000+01:00

Work at the airport, play at the gym. Learning new choreo at home. Went out, had fun and tried to relax. Well the last thing didn't really happen, so I'm going to try to do that tonight. Try to finish a book and maybe watch some tv. Tomorrow I have the day of ... yesssss... only one day though. I'm looking forward to be a week of off work. After Easter I won't have to work for over a week. Will go to Portugal with a friend :-) Yessss... Let's hope the sun will shine.

Valuable Words

2007-03-14T18:19:00.000+01:00

Spring is in the air...

2007-03-12T17:31:00.000+01:00

... and it gives me heaps of energy :-)!!! I just love it, the sun is shining and it makes me happy.
Last week I taught 3 hrs BA, also had my BP classes, did some practice for BA release 56, which I just love. Friday afternoon it cleared up after a week of rain, rain and some rain. I went out for dinner with a friend in Leiden Friday evening (Spanish tapa's). Saturday morning I planned to sleep in, but woke up at 06.30 and noticed the sun was shining. First I didn't want to get out of bed 'cause it was so early, but then I did, as I was restless. Had some breakfast, went to the gym, did BA team teach, went home, grabbed my bike and went for a bike ride, just to enjoy the sun. I took my regular bike, so it was more of an easy ride. All together it was about 40km. Saturday evening I did nothing, relaxed, watched TV etc. Sunday I turned my living room into a gym and did an hour of BA 56 :-), then took a shower, hopped on my bike again and went to Haarlem, where I met some friends for an English high tea. Good thing I took my bike instead of the car.... the high tea was good, but so also really bad.... (you know what I mean). The sun was shining again and it was so nice to be outside again. I just love the good weather. There were people everywhere, riding bikes, walking, people on skeelers, everyone was enjoying the sun.
Today the weather was good as well. I woke up this morning at 4.45 to go to work, so I had the afternoon off. When I came home I made myself comfortable in the doorway, sitting in the sun, where I couldn't feel the wind. Tried to read my book, but fell asleep for about 1 1/2.... it was good. Then I prepared a new mix for BP class this evening. I just heard I will be doing my BA class all by myself as my colleague can't make it. Too bad, but anyway I will make it a good class and make sure everyone has fun and works their butt off :-)
Talk to ya later...

1st Quarterly 2007

2007-02-26T15:16:00.000+01:00

This weekend was a so called Les Mills weekend. It started Thursday evening. Claudia, a friend of mine, came over. She taught BP with Aubrey and me, BA as well. The next day we went to Nieuwegein for our Masterclasses, workshops and some assessment. It was quite a long day, but I had a good time. It was fun doing the Masterclasses presented by our own trainers, which I done in New Zealand before. I think the workshops are very good. BP workshop is all about head and neck stability. Unfortunately we've got mirrors in our club. Most member just love to watch themselves in the mirror, which very often makes that they don't listen, or hear the instructors comments to help 'm improve. By looking in the mirror all the time, their neck alignment is all gone.
Why do we want a good head and neck alignment? So we do not damage or injure our neck or upper back, so we can maintain good posture and lift weights from a solid platform.
How? Lengthen the back of your neck, and gently tuck in your chin. Always keep your eyes forward!
BA presentation was fun as well. I really enjoyed B. and K. teaching the masterclass.
I was pretty tired by the end of day, but I still had to do BC masterclass. Both Tiny C. and I looked at eachother and didn't really feel like doing it, but a well, as assessor we should set an example, so we went for it. And was I glad... by the time we started track 3, I was energized and I had so much fun. Thanks C. and D. for being awesome motivators!
Saturday I had to go to work first and then I went to Nieuwegein for assesment. Claudia came back to Hoofddorp again. We had dinner from Toko Pandora and I fell a sleep early ( I was awake since 4.45 am) Sunday same thing, Work at the airport first, did assesment and also did my BB Masterclass. I loved it. Still think it isnt easy, as it's all fairly new, but a great challenge!
Next weekend the last weekend for 1 st quarterly 2007. Then all of Holland is ready for all the new releases.
Tonight BA/BP night. Tomorrow work and lunch/shopping with a collegue in Haarlem and wednesday 1 day off of work. I probably have to do some housework :-(

Live !

2007-02-21T17:11:00.000+01:00

Weekend

2007-02-19T15:58:00.000+01:00

Wow, Monday again. Time went by fast over the weekend. Friday I had a late shift at work. It wasn't very busy. Saturday morning there was no time to sleep in, as I had to go to Zwolle to the quarterly. I did assessment only this weekend. Next weekend I will be doing my own masterclasses and workshops. I was quite a drive to go there. I did BP and BA assessment and afterwards I joined BS masterclass as wanted to do something with my energy. I always get excited at the quarterly, just to be there makes me want to work out. And of course these release are special to me, since I joined the filming that time. Can't wait till Friday!
In the evening I went to Amsterdam with friends to have dinner and a drink. Unfortunately my last train left 0.42 already from Amsterdam, so It wasn't possible to go out all night. But we had fun anyways and dinner was good.
Sunday morning I woke up early to go to Roermond, where they have a big designer's outlet. Yesss shopping. I went to pick up Claudia (another one of 3C) in Eindhoven and then we drove to Roermond. First thing ; Nike store. We were both looking for new shox, and we found them. The best of that, it was cheap!!! We both bought 2 pairs, don't they look nice? :-)

We bought some other things and than went home to eat. Watched the drunk carnaval people in Uden. Then I messed up with driving home from Uden, and got lost a little, but finally managed to get back to Hoofddorp without too many more delays/mistakes. I know blonds shouldn't be driving, but I'm not a natural :-)

Tonight BA and BP !!! Can't wait to try out my new shoes. Which ones shall I wear... white/purple or silver/white... mmmm

It's up to you

2007-02-15T23:46:00.000+01:00

It is easy to be miserable. It is just as easy to be happy.
Being miserable will nourish and support your ego. Being happy will bring peace and fulfillment to your spirit.
Being miserable can be very dramatic, complicated and sophisticated. It can make you appear quite impressive to other people.
Being happy, on the other hand, is an expression of simplicity and freedom and joy. Chances are, others could be suspicious or resentful.
Once you have chosen to be miserable, it will require a great deal of energy and effort to maintain that state of misery. By contrast, when you choose happiness, that happiness actually brings additional energy and positive passion to your life.
The choice between happiness and misery is one you make in each moment, over and over again, day after day. Whether you're happy or whether you're miserable is completely up to you. R. Martson

First BB class

2007-02-15T23:28:00.000+01:00

This morning I taught my very first full BB class. I was quite nervous, as BB is such a different program and the moves are fairly new to me. But all went well, (even though I say so myself). I knew I had good knowledge of the choreo, so that's about half the class. But since BB is new to me, I find coaching the hard part. With BP, BA & BC it's all natural, but this ... wow... I really got to think. I was glad people came up to me after class, telling me that they learned new things and said they'd love me to come back. Good thing, it's all calm and you have the time for everything. I really love it, even though I still think it's hard to shut up :-), especially after teaching a BA class right in front of that .... Which was also special this morning, as normally it's a freestyle High shape class. But I do not teach freestyle classes, so for this morning they turned the class into BA, as there was no freestyle instructor available. The class did very well, even though only 1 person had done BA before. They were exhausted, even though I did way more options than usual since they aren't used to BA. Best thing was they had a good time, and that's one of they reasons why I'm teaching.
This evening I wasn't able to teach my own classes, as I had to work at the airport. Next week all will be normal again. Teaching all my own classes on Monday and Thursday. Yesssss
Can't wait for BA Monday again, it's so much fun and the class is always so excited, I love it!

Pictures

2007-02-14T11:33:00.000+01:00

Here some pictures from the final result:

And we also had a bit of snow last week :-)

It's been a while .....

2007-02-13T15:17:00.000+01:00

I'm back again!!! I know it has been a while, but I have been quite busy. What have I done? Well, I had a week off of work. I wasn't quite sure what to do. First I wanted to go on holiday for a week, but then I decided it was better not to do that, as I'm still thinking of going to NZ at the end of march. Then I finally made up my mind. In October I already bought a new parquet floor for my house, but it was just waiting ever since to be put on the floor in my house. Well, since the weather was very bad and my that was so very very nice to help me out, we have been doing this for the last couple of days (week). And I'm soooooo very happy with it. It was quite a job to do, but I think Bob the builder would be proud of me. Everything is done now. All the carpet in the 2 bedrooms is gone, and now I got a nice wooden floor thru my whole apartment. I have been throwing away a lot of stuff, and I'm going to empty more closets.... Wow, what a person can safe thru the years.. all junk. Still I find it hard to throw away stuff, but I did pretty good. I will never throw away my swimming memories. We used to give team members little gifts for good luck right before a competition, and I still got all of that. And of course all my medals.... the older you get, the more you appreciate it I think.
But a well, to get back to the house, I just need to do some cleaning, but most of it is done now. I stayed at my parents house for 4 days, and last night was the first in my own house again. It was good to be back, even though I love my mom and dad, I'm glad I back to my own place again. This morning a bought a new TV table, and I have put the old one (which was huge) in my spare room. I'll try to upload some pictures later this week, when it 's all really finished.

In the mean time I had one evening of of teaching my classes (last Thursday), but the Monday's I have been doing my BA and BP classes as normal. I was exhausted. I'm not used to do physical work all day, but now I did and after that teaching BA... denggg... I was dead! But still had to BP after that.
Which brings me to a little challenge we have amongst a couple of BP instructors here. My friend Claudia who teaches at Achmea was challenged by a guy from Fitness First, to do the shoulder track with 7,5 kg each side. Then she challenged me to do the same thing, so for the last 2 weeks I have been doing that. It's getting better now. I even have a couple of guys joining me in raising the weights as well. Good job guys!

This Thursday I won;t be teaching my class either, 'cause I have a late shift. I will be teaching in the morning BA and BB. It'll be my first BB class all by myself..... I already start to get nervous.

Oohhh and wow.... my friend Claudia already saw the choreography notes for BP 61 (we have a quarterly's next weekend and the weekend after that), and she said my picture was in there!!
First I didn't believe here, but then she took a picture with here phone and sent it to me. Pretty cool isn't it??
Talk to you later.

Everything will be okay...

2007-02-01T16:08:00.000+01:00

Some pictures....

2007-01-24T10:18:00.000+01:00

Saturday after work I went to the beach with my dad, and here are some pictures I took. The sea was still pretty rough, even though you can't really see it on the pictures. Usually the beach is pretty big, even with high tide, but now there was only a small part to walk, with lots of dirt from the sea.

Stormy days

2007-01-22T17:13:00.000+01:00

Wow, we had quite a couple of weird days. Last Thursday it started. Heavy winds turned into storm later. Windswept of over 130km/hr came from south west. At the airport we all had to work xtra long shifts as we had a lot of flight cancellations. When I drove home it rained really bad as well. When I got home, the sun was shining and I could see bright blue skies (still hard winds, but it didn't look like that). Then I went to the gym to teach and during the relaxation of BB, my colleague thought the mic was making weird noises, but it actually was the building making scary sounds. I could see the lights outside going from left to right. It was quite scary. I heard members say that trees fall down etc. Around their neighborhood. Luckily I had no damage around my house, even though I live on the highest floor of the apartment building. The next day I had to work again. I already heard the noise when I was walking thru the arrivals hall, but when I walked up the stairs to go to the departure hall (where the ticketoffice is located), I could hardly get to the desk. People everywhere. I saw on tv the day b4 how many trainpassengers got stranded at the trainstations as no trains where going, well Schiphol airport looked a sort of the same. We all worked very hard to get the people to their destinations as soon as we could. Sometimes it was difficult, but most people could understand the situation. Some people were even glad they got stranded on Thursday, because they had such a bad experience landing that day, that they didn't want to continue at all at that time. Because the flightschedule was so messed up, with crew making to many hours, flights stranded at other European cities it took the whole weekend to get back to normal. So I was quite happy I had the day off of work today. So far the temperatures have been warm for the time of the year, but for the coming days they predict temperatures below 0 Celsius... :-( I do not like cold weather. Let's keep our fingers crossed this won't go to extremes. I think it's scary that the whole world has to do with strange weather features. My cousin lives in Bahrain. At Christmas time it's supposed to be 20-25 Celsius over there. This time they it was around 8 Celsius. In Moscow, and a lot of other places in Russia it's supposed to be freezing cold, and there it's way above 0 Celsius as well. In the US, there's extreme snow fall. I wonder where we'll all be going.

NZ - Aotearoa

2007-01-17T14:11:00.000+01:00

Last couple of days....

2007-01-16T13:13:00.000+01:00

Thursday 11 January we had the quarterly club launch. The theme was (2)007. It was great fun and it was busier than I expected. Below you'll see a couple of pictures.

BC: Aubrey and I as James Bond, as we thought BC as we couldn't place ourselves being Sexy Bond girls doing BC. We saw some new faces in BC, so I hope to see the people in the class from now on.

With BP we had Mirelle joining us as James Bond, while Aubrey and I transferred to Bond Girls. Pretty hard doing pump in an evening dress, but luckily the fabric was stretch :-)

And offcourse BA. Bogdan and I were just with the 2 of us. so it was Mr. Bond with a Bond girl. Not in an evening dress, as there would have been no way of doing kicks and plyo's in a long dress, so see the result.

I was also able to join Mirelle and Bogdan for the BB launch. I wasn't very busy as it started at 22.00 and a lot of people already left. But the people who were there enjoyed it and I was glad I had a good practice for my final training day. BJ was quite a hit, and Mirelle and Bogdan had a good performance on that one. It was he very first time we had BJ in the club. So from now on it's on the schedule.

Friday I had an early shift and it was quite a hassle to get myself out of bed at 4.45, as I was home late after the launch. Only had about 4 hrs sleep :-( After work I went to the gym with Bogdan to practice BB. We did that for about an hour and a half. Then I went to see my parents. In the evening I went to Utrecht. We had a little reunion with a part of National team. We ended up with only 8 people, but still had a good time. 5 swimmers, 2 coaches and a teammanager. It was fun to see them again and hear what they have been doing lately. We have decided we should do this more often. We went to a small restaurant and had tapa's. Ofcourse I was home too late again, but at least I could stay in bed till 8. Saturdaymorning I went to Roosendaal for the last day of module training. The training are always split over 2 weekends. When it's a 3 day training, it's one full weekend and another separate day the weekend after. When it's only a 2 day training like BA, it's 2 weekends of 1 day. This way you get the opportunity to practice during the week. Ofcourse they expect something good with the final presentation on the last day. Use the circle of instruction, and CRC etc. If you pass (and everyone did for this BB module), you get 3 months to send in your DVD/video for the International Certificate.
On the way home a got stuck in a traffic jam, as a car caught on fire somewhere on the highway. I stood still for amost an hour and wasn't very amused. I was pretty tired and also hungry.
Sunday I decided to sleep in, but I'm not very good at that, so I was awake at nine. Did some work for LM (assessments), and then watched European Championships Speed skating Allround. I just love to watch speed skating. After that I had to go to work. It wasn't busy at all, but it was a nice and fun evening talking to colleagues etc. We had a few weird passengers at the desk. One of 'm kept coming to desk, he was saying the whole time: I am god and I need to go to America. It was way passed nine, so no plane going anymore. Actually it was a kind of sad, as there was no way we could come thru to him. Finally he was taken away by airport security.
Well that's it for now.

Learn to ...

2007-01-11T11:59:00.000+01:00

Learn to love the challenges, and you will grow stronger.
Learn to love putting forth effort, and you'll find yourself becoming more capable and effective.
Learn to love making a positive contribution, and your life will grow richer.
Learn to love being around people who are different than you, and you'll gain many valuable new perspectives.
Learn to love discovering what you do not know, and your knowledge will greatly expand.
Learn to love truly listening, and your wisdom will increase.
Learn to love giving, and your life will be blessed.
Learn to love being thankful, and you'll know real abundance.
Learn to love the ordinary moments, and you'll find each day filled with warm golden treasures.
Learn to love simply being, and you'll rise to a whole new level of awareness.
Learn to love something about each day, and your days will bring rich fulfillment.
Learn to love, and you'll know how to live. (R.Marston)

Bodybalance Module Training

2007-01-08T15:16:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I had the first 2 days of the BODYBALANCE module training. It was great. Really different from the 3 other programs I have done so far, but I enjoyed it a lot. I really had to switch the button. I'm quite an active person, or maybe I should say very active :-). Always busy, always moving and, yes for the people who know me well, always talking. Can you imagine how hard it was to find this switch? But it's cool. I know BB is going to help me to improve as an instructor/coach, also in the other programs, and it'll help me to keep my body fit and flexible.
One of the things I learned last weekend and which I like a lot is SBS (set-up, breath, silence). I find it difficult to use this, especially the last part :-), since I'm so much used to 'bring it home' and motivation. It's all quite a challenge. Last weekend I had to present track 5, hip openers. I can tell you, you do not want to feel what I felt on sunday morning. I was quit surprised I had so many muscles around my butt and hips, which I wasn't aware of. I could feel my butt with every move I made. I had been practicing this track the whole evening to get this swan pose and half lotus well. Warrior's, down dog's etc I could do pretty good and also deep, but the swan pose and half lotus I find very hard. Practice, practice, practice that's what I'll do. Next week I will have to do track 1, Tai chi Warm up. I really like this track, and I hope I will be able to do well, as it'll be my examination track for the temporarily certificate. Keep your fingers crossed for me.