#3 Get certified in spinning

Do you ever want to do something, but you don't necessarily have a great reason for why?  To be more specific, your reason is simply "Just because," or "I just think it would be awesome", rather than a more well defined answer that is compelling, like "I want to do this because it will save the world, cure cancer, and make money grow on trees."

Yeah.  No great story behind #3 Get certified in spinning, and no real reason for why. Mainly, it's just because I wanted to.  I may never do anything with the certification, and that's just fine with me. Maybe it will come in handy one day and if it does, well that's sprinkles on the frosting on the cake :)  Maybe not. But still, I wanted to do it.

So I signed up for the 9 hour Spin Instructor Orientation workshop on spinning.com, and showed up at the gym near Times Square. The instructor for the class was Iona Passik, who has taught spinning since 1991, and who was taught spinning from spinning's creator, Johnny G.  Pretty impressive, right?

Throughout the course of the day we alternated from lectures in a classroom, where we went through the Spin Instructor's Manual, to lectures and rides in a spinning studio.  One of the main things we focused on in the morning was how to safely and properly set up the spin bike.  See, spinning bikes are completely adjustable - from the seat height, to the placement of the seat from front to back, to the handlers up or down, etc.  You need to have it properly set up, or you could injure yourself.

Fellow students in the Spin Instructor Class - I'm in the back of the room in the mirror on the far left :)

After setting our own bikes, we then hop on and start pedaling for the next hour, and go through the proper form for each of the various positions - seated flat, standing flat, standing climb, jumps, etc.  This is where I learn that I've been "standing flat" incorrectly for the past five years.  Oops. 

After the one hour "form" ride, we take a lunch break and are back in the classroom to learn four important items: how to combine different positions in to a flowing, challenging class, the importance of music, tips on being a great instructor, and finally - the importance of heart rate monitoring.  After learning all this, we had back down to the cycling studio and complete another hour long class, but this one is NOT easy... it's taught by the masterful Iona, and I'm sweating like a pig after only the warm up!!!

I learned a couple of interesting things while in Spin Instructor Class:

1. Spinning is not just a cardio workout.  It's a spiritual journey, kinda like yoga.
2. Spin music is supposed to be world / jazz music, not Top 40 music.
3. There is no yelling in spin class.  No Jillian Michael's "KEEP MOVING UNTIL YOU PUKE OR PASS OUT!".  It's about positive, zen-like reinforcement. 
4. I've been doing spinning kinda wrong for the past five years... 
5. Even if I never teach a spin class, I am so grateful that I took the class... I learned a lot about something that I thought I was "experienced" with.  

The final step to get my certification is to take an online exam... 50 questions... if I pass (80% required), I'm certified... and well...

I PASSED!

So I am now an official, certified spinning instructor.  I can teach a class if I want.

Or, I can just continue to take classes and enjoy my newly acquired knowledge. It's nice to learn new skills and have options.  Getting certified in spinning is something that I've wanted to do for a while, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to do it :)

Week TEN Update

Ten weeks.  I've been working on this challenge for TEN weeks. Count 'em.  I've completed 15 of the items on my list, and I have just 3 weeks to complete the remaining 15... way to leave it all to the last minute, Kim ;)

There are a couple of items on my list that I've done NOTHING with, so I need your help.  Help me, and get a shout out in the blog.  Here are the items:

• #6: Learn how to drive stick shift (Helen, Jon, anyone else???)
• #16: Go on a date with a fireman.  (OK, thinking about turning this one into "a man in uniform" just to open it up a bit more... but I still maintain that he needs to be single/divorced and a nice guy. Preferably cute ;) )
• #28: Learn the Single Ladies dance by Beyonce.  I can probably figure it out on my own, but if anyone already knows it and can teach it to me, I'll be grateful.  So grateful, I'll buy you margaritas.
• #30: Readers Poll: Get certified in scuba diving.  I recently found out that this actually takes a lot of time... and I didn't allot nearly enough for it.  Therefore, I am officially petitioning that I can replace this challenge with a different one.  Perhaps, do yoga in Times Square?  Or maybe attend a bachelorette party in Key West?? Any objections?  Raise them now, or forever hold your comments!

So, how'd I do this past week?  Pretty awesome, I think :)  See below for updated stats, yay!!!

#9: 30 new recipes.  2 new recipes this week for 17 out of 30!!

• Shrimp tacos with a cilantro chile lime sauce
• Poached eggs!! (stay tuned for post!)

#10: 12 total items done and blogged! New blog posts this week:

• Hire someone to do something I don't like doing
• Go Skydiving

#12: 30 hours of community service.  I completed another 15 hours this past week (for a total of 27), all due to coordinating my company's team in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.  Man, y'all were NEEDY this year.  300 employees in 11 different locations, and lots of work... I always say "I'm never doing this again," but I keep doing it.  This is the fourth year.  I just love organizing events!

#24: Quit something I do a lot of.  Um, yeah.  Try as I might, with all the right reasons ("You can go to the gym early in the morning!  It's better for you!  You never feel good after you snooze!"), I have not been successful in stopping my finger from pressing the snooze button... HELP!

#25: A picture a day for 30 days.  I'm ~28 days!!!  Almost done!!!

#29: Read 30 books.  Finished #12! The third and final installment of the "Shades of Grey" series.  And I'm kinda disappointed in it.  It's the same as the last two books - sex, danger, Christian and Ana fighting and making up.  Woo.  Need something new to read. Suggestions???

Awesome week... don't forget to tell me if you're interested in helping out with the above!!!

#1 Go skydiving!

I don't know why I've always wanted to go skydiving.  I just have, and it's always been on my list of things that I wanted to do one day.  Any time I've heard anyone else talk about it, I've always commented that I wanted to do it, too.  But I just never got around to doing it...

So obviously, the first thing on my list was #1 Go Skydiving!

What I found interesting is that not every one shares my excitement skydiving.  I was actually kinda shocked.  I emailed a bunch of girlfriends asking if any of them wanted to go with me, thinking that they'd all say "yes", but the majority responded with "hell no" (synopsis of the conversation).

Thank goodness my work colleague Elizabeth (we shared bone marrow together for #17 - try a new food) was enthusiastic.  What made us even more enthusiastic is that we found a groupon via Gilt City  for 50% off!  Now, most people also responded to the fact that we were going skydiving with a groupon with "Do you really want to skydive at a discount", but I had already scoped out the joint.  The groupon was just the icing on the cake!

So on Saturday, June 9, 2012, Elizabeth and I woke up early and drove (in Elizabeth's amazing Audi convertible to Skydive Jersey:

Elizabeth and I driving in her convertible :)

Skydive Jersey is located at Alexandria Field in Pittstown, NJ:

We arrived, parked, and got driven to the Skydive Jersey offices in a golf cart:

We then watch a video on the safety harness, and sign a four page legal document... one of provisions on that document was acknowledging that I could be injured or killed...  Not too comforting, but at the same time, so many more have gone before me and were fine... so what did I have to lose?

Elizabeth signing her life away :)

I also noticed that they sold cute t-shirts like the following:

So after signing our life away, we get harnessed up.  And everything else happens so quickly.  Tall, gorgeous Chuck (my instructor) says "Let's go!" and we walk over to the airplane.

Elizabeth and her instructor climb in first, and then I climb in, followed by my instructor Chuck.  Now, this plane is not what I imagined it would be.  I was envisioning it being bigger, and thought we would be sitting on little benches along the side of the plane and then having to jump out (I've seen way too many spy / war movies, apparently).  But no... it is a tiny plane, and the five of us (there is a pilot, after all) are scrunched close together.

So we're in the plane, and we start taxiing to the runway, and meanwhile, I'm starting to get nervous.  I mean, I'm in a tiny plane, and I'm about to jump out of it.  There is no way out.  Not that I was looking for one, but still... 

The longest part of the trip was actually the flight - it took about 10 minutes or so to reach 10,000 feet, and then my instructor starts telling me what I need to know.  Now I'm getting nervous...

...and then all the sudden, he opens the door to the plane, which is, by the way, literally right next to me.  So I manage a "Gah!!!" sound and my instructor puts one foot on the little ledge (OUTSIDE THE PLANE!), and tells me to put my feet on the ledge.  I grab hold to the side of the plane through the open door, say "AHHH!" one more time, put my left foot out, say "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING!", and then my place my right foot on to the ledge.

Now, Chuck (my instructor) takes his good ole time (it seemed like hours) doing some final preparations. One of the things he told me earlier is that he will do the jumping for me, so I just have to get out on the ledge and he'll take it from there. All I have to do is keep my head pressed back on to his right shoulder so I don't smash him in the face with the back of my skull.

And then, after waiting for what seemed like forever, we're falling ("plummeting to the Earth" is how one friend described it).  I immediately go from being nervous to having the time of my life (as is evidenced by this picture:

We fall for about 45 seconds before Chuck (my instructor) pulls the cord to release our parachute.  It was such an incredible experience falling at 120 mph.  I didn't even think about the fact that we were "plummeting to the Earth"... I just felt the adrenaline pumping through me, and I LOVED IT.

Too soon, the parachute opens and we slow down to start to float to earth...

While we're floating in the air, Chuck (my instructor) does donuts so we spin around in circles.

Six minutes later, we're maneuvering our way towards our landing site... and I lift my legs up, and we scoot in on our bums.  I high five Chuck, and Elizabeth and I hug and excitedly talk about how much fun we just had...

Watch my skydive journey here!!!

After we landed, we took a photo together.  The plane that took us up is in the background!!

Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat.  If any of you want to go, I'm there with you.  Diving through the sky, falling to earth, and then gliding through the air, breathing and observing, was just too incredible for words. For me, the scariest part was working my way out of the plane... but now that I've done it once, I think I'll be much less scared the next time! 

Now, my family knew that this was on my list... but I didn't tell them the date that I would be jumping. Right after we safely returned to earth, I called both my Mom and Dad to tell them the good news.  My Dad chuckled (in relief) and told whomever he was with "My daughter just jumped out of a perfectly good plane!", and my Mom (who I had talked to the previous night) scolded me for not telling her I was going to be doing this.  She then admitted that she was glad I had not told her, as she would have been worrying the entire time. :)

After our skydiving adventure, Elizabeth and I went to a local Jersey winery, Alba, and sampled the wines.

The most delicious red raspberry dessert wine... I could drink the entire bottle in one sitting... so yum!

Elizabeth brought cheese, veggies and dip for our lunch after wine tasting

This was one of the most fun days I've had in a long while... from riding in a convertible, singing at the top of our lungs, to SKYDIVING, to wine tasting... this was such a perfect day.  Thank you, Elizabeth, for going with me and celebrating my birthday in such style!!!

Elizabeth and I singing along to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call me maybe"

Highly recommend skydiving to each and all of you.  In fact, everyone gets a discounted rate for the rest of 2012 as my referral, so let me know and I can hook you up!!!  It was safe, and it was just so much fun.  And, Chuck (my instructor), why don't you call me, maybe?  :) :) :)

#18 Hire someone to do something that I don't like doing...

Sometimes, it's hard to afford the life you want.  When you're fresh out of college, with a entry level salary, living in a city that's twice as expensive as the rest of the nation, paying $1600 for a teensy studio apartment... It's tough.  So you don't splurge on any extras.  You go to dive bars, you beg your dad to be your handyman (and take you out to dinner later), and you definitely clean your own apartment.  (Tough life, right?!?)

Now that I'm (almost) 30, and more "established" in my career, I'm finding it's both easy and not easy to adjust from my former 22 year old budget.  It's definitely easy to go out to dinner with friends more often, travel for girls weekends, and buy tickets to a Broadway play... but at the same time, it's not easy to allow yourself to spend money on a task that you are capable of doing. For example, painting a room, grocery shopping, or cleaning the apartment.  Those are things I can do - I'm not an expert, but I know enough to do them relatively well.  It's not like a plumber, where I definitely need to get help from a pro. 

So on a Saturday in May, I spent a gorgeous day indoors, cleaning the living room.  I vacuumed, windexed, and dusted.  And it took me ALL morning and ALL afternoon to clean one freaking room.  And that's just ONE room in my apartment, which in total is slightly less than 1,000 square feet.

Prior to that sunny Saturday in May, I had read an article about money rules that'll make you rich.  The very first suggestion was to calculate your "hourly rate".  If you can hire someone to do something for you at an hourly rate than is less than your hourly rate, ESPECIALLY if you dislike the task, then you should hire them, even if you are capable of doing it.  It's called the happiness factor.  Now, I was surprised that an article about getting rich was essentially telling me to spend money, but it makes sense when you think about it...  If I get no enjoyment out of an activity, why torture myself to do it when I can hire someone else to do it, and at a "lesser" hourly rate to boot?  Especially when I can be spending that same time doing something else that I actually enjoy?  They don't say "life is short" because it's not true, now, do they?

Hence #18 Hire someone to do something that I don't like doing... Now, I'll admit - I don't HATE cleaning.  There are definitely worse things in life than cleaning.  But I definitely don't enjoy it, and it takes forever, and let's be honest... I'd rather be doing other things (C'mon, did you not see my list of 30 things to do?  I got plans!)  So, after the fateful Saturday in May when all these thoughts (magazine article + spending a gorgeous day inside cleaning) collided, I started researching cleaning crews to get quotes.  I found one, called them, got a quote, got so excited about the quote (because it was less than my "hourly rate", especially when divided by 2, considering I have a roommate) that I booked them for an introductory appointment on Friday, June 15th.

Well, Friday, June 15th arrives, and it's a freaking fantabulous gorgeous day.   I leave work early to meet the cleaning crew, and when they arrive, I fall in love.  They are an army of seven, super cute, tiny women, carrying buckets, vacuums, mops, brooms, etc.  And they immediately go to town on the apartment. They clean everything.  EVERYTHING. They vacuumed the couch. They cleaned the inside of the microwave.  They took out the trash AND the recycling.  They even changed the sheets on my bed for me!!! And, it only took them 32 minutes (yes, I timed them).

Granted, 7 ladies at 32 minutes is 3 1/2 hours, but still, that would have taken me at least 3 mornings/afternoons to complete.  Plus, the experience of having a cleaning crew come in was incredible... After they left, Ellie and I walked around exclaiming "IT'S SO CLEAN!" and "OMG, IT'S SO CLEAN!".  Half an hour later, I'm still screaming things like "OMG the is SO CLEAN!" Who would have thought that having someone do something for you that you can easily do yourself is so incredible.  And liberating.  No wonder the stars have personal chefs, personal assistants, personal trainers, etc...

So, now I'm sitting on my nice, clean couch in my nice, clean apartment, writing this post, and frankly I'm wondering "why did I wait this long?"  Granted, I didn't think I could afford a cleaning crew back then, and I'm not entirely sure I can afford it now, but I keep reminding myself of that magazine article's advice - you need to take happiness in to account.  Life is here to be lived... and sometimes, you just need to let yourself live it.  And, I now get back at least two Saturdays a month in which I can do just that - live.  And that, my friends, is priceless.

Week 9 update

Week Nine!!!  A little than four weeks left of my challenge...

I spent this past week getting caught up at work after being away for two weeks, getting a cold and getting rid of it (thankfully), and oh just a little something that's called SKYDIVING!!  I survived, so my parents can sleep peacefully :) :) :).  I can't wait to blog about it... hopefully the video and photos arrive this week so I can share with you!

Other updates:

#9: 30 new recipes.  2 new recipes this week for 15 out of 30 - half way there!  New recipes cooked:

• Tomato, kale and feta baked eggs
• Baked salmon with a dijon garlic dill sauce

#10: 10 total items done and blogged!

#12: 30 hours of community service.  I've done about 12 hours so far - I'm the captain for my company's team in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, and I'm coordinating 300 employees in 11 different locations.  It's exhausting, frustrating, and yet, I love this whole event planning and organizing gig!

#24: Quit something I do a lot of.  Um, yeah.  Snoozing is a bad habit that I love.  Hard to kick...

#25: A picture a day for 30 days.  I'm ~21 days in to this challenge, and going strong!!!

#29: Read 30 books.  Still at 10... but working on 11 and 12 right now...

So a little less than four weeks left, and so much left to do!!!  I'm having the TIME OF MY LIFE.  I hope you're enjoying it right along with me :)

#11 Travel somewhere on my bucket list

Each year, I end up taking a full week to celebrate my birthday.  I get to catch up with various groups of friends through dinner or drinks, I buy something sparkly for myself, and Macy's even hosts a fabulously large fireworks celebration on the Hudson River for me!! 

But this year... as much as I love sparkle... I wanted a memory, not another thing.  I wanted something magical, unique, and unlike anything else out there - a memory that sparkles.

My brother (in law) grew up in Quito, Ecuador, and his entire family still lives there.  So, when he and my sister decided to visit, I decided I wanted to visit as well... and so I booked my flight.  Then, I started to put together this challenge, and #11 Travel somewhere on my bucket list was born.  And while my bucket list is long and continuously growing, one of the places that was top on my lists was the Galapagos Islands, mainly because it is part of Ecuador and I have a direct connection to everything Ecuadorian.  :) So I reasoned "Why not splurge on a life changing vacation?"  I mean, you can get married multiple times in your life (and some do!)... but you only turn 30 once.  Might as well celebrate for months, instead of just a week!

So I booked it.  And, I had the most amazing, incredible, magical trip in my entire life.  Now, I've had the good fortune to travel to a lot of great places, like Italy, Hawaii, Greece, Argentina... So here's why this trip to Quito and the Galapagos was so incredible:

First... I got to see my family.  Not my blood family, but the family that my sister married in to, and who are so awesome. Kind, generous, loving.  And they happen to love me, for some reason :)

Second, I got to visit the one tourist site in Quito that I had not visited the last time I traveled to Ecuador in 2005, and I got to do it with my sister and brother.  This is site is SPECIAL, and is called Teleflorica.  Quito is almost 10,000 feet above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains, kinda like an oval bowl shape, and Teleflorica is almost 15,000 feet above sea level.  It is special because it has GREAT views of the city and makes you feel like you're on top of the world:

Third, while hanging out in Quito, I ran my first 5K in three years, which was a special moment for me.

Fourth, I freaking WENT TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS!!!!  What a truly magical place!!  From Quito, I flew to San Cristobal, one of the many islands in the Galapagos.  After flying in, my cruise ship company came to pick me up, we took a short bus ride to a dock, and were greeted by this gracious welcome committee:

The first night of the cruise, we stayed in the harbor of San Cristobal and went to the "Centro de Interpretación" (i.e. the Interpretive Center), which is a great little museum explaining how the Galapagos were formed, the first documentations of the island, and the "recent" history of the islands, which was interesting.

The Galapagos Islands are actually made out of volcanoes.  The glass panes represent the ocean surface, so you can see what else remains under water!

On my way back to the boat on day one, I captured the sunset, and a few sea lions taking over the public park benches :)

Throughout the rest of the trip, I had many cool moments, such as:

I had the opportunity to be like a sea lion:

I got to see some small sand crabs skitter up the beach:

I got to go snorkeling (many times!)!!!

 

I saw several beautiful fish, one which was smiling (or growling) at me:

One fish was checking me out ;)

I also saw this really cool sea urchin:

I took a pic with a sea lion and my Terrible Towel (yeahhhh, STEELER NATION made it to the Galapagos!!)

I spied a black iguana among the black lava rocks...

I hiked and climbed over several islands of the Galapagos so I could take amazing photos of the view (our boat is in the background):

I spotted a frigate.  This bird doesn't hunt for its own food.  It harasses other birds (literally grabs on and shakes them) so they get so frazzled and throw up their meals, which the frigate then eats.  Crazy:

I took a pic from the southern-most point of the Galapagos... I'm embracing the sea :)  (Notice a theme with the pics???)

I saw pear cactus trees, which were really cool:

I saw a ton of iguanas (yellow colored this time) that were just chilling on rocks, soaking up the sun, and not minding me regardless of the fact that I was a foot away!

I hung out on beaches that were FULL of sleepy (and sometimes horny) sea lions:

When snorkeling, I got thisclose to sea lions:

I witnessed a manta ray glide along the bottom of the ocean floor:

Saw a HUGE starfish:

Laughed at appropriately placed signs (this one was placed right before a steep drop off to the sea below):

I fell in love with sea lions who show no fear... 

And who are adorably cute snuggling together:

I snorkeled with sea lions, and played with them... they were so curious and playful!!!: 

I was able to capture some video of sea lions playing with me :).  Just phenomenal.  They were so curious and playful, and had no fear, as they hadn't needed to fear mean humans.  Such a cool experience!!! 

I got to try on a large shell from a deceased tortoise that weighed about 50 pounds... this pic is of me doing a plank :)

I nicknamed a giant tortoise Frank, and he allowed me to get close to him for a photo op:

I saw the BLUE FOOTED BOOBIE!

... who have a really funny way of walking, which is why there were named the bobo in Spanish...

...and I also saw the Albatross...

I saw sea lions attempt to scare the tourists by pretending to be sharks (they were floating on their backs with their fins in the air!!):

I met a lot of incredible people:

Me and Socrates, the guide I spent the most tours with.

My newly adopted parents, Rila and Mark from Toronto :)

My new friends from Slovenia, Jersey (originally Phillipines and Switzerland) and Germany :) - we were the United Nations!

Some of the fabulous crew from Tequila night... Mario and Roberto :)

My newly adopted fairy godmothers... Candy and Diane!!!

And I jumped off the cruise ship.  7 meters, 21 feet to the surface.  Here's the composite image of me flying through the air:

This trip will go down in the history of Kimmy as one of my favorite vacations... the sites, the activities, the people, the scenery, the animals, the snorkeling, the blue water... it was perfect, and magical.  This memory will definitely live in my mind, and now on the internet, forever.

I highly recommend a visit to the Galapagos, and HIGHLY recommend the Santa Cruz (the boat that I traveled on).  Great staff, great tours, great food.  Thanks to my brother-in-law and the Andrade Montenegro family, thanks to Southern Explorations for finding this tour for me and working out all the details, and thanks to everyone on the Santa Cruz for making the Galapagos sparkle.