Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Back to School... Part 2

So as you know already, Alexa went back to school yesterday! So I thought I would weigh in with my view of what has been happening around the house. I thought it would be easiest to explain through a top 5 list, so here we go.

"Top 5 things that have changed at the Schirm house since Alexa's going back to school"

#1 - We MUST live by the calendar.
#2 - Packing our lunches every Monday and Wednesday night will replace our dates!
#3 - Her school bag is no longer full of water toys.
#4 - Swimming suits will now be shortly replaced with sweatpants!
#5 - I now get calls to help her find her classroom from 100 miles away!

So there you have it, my top 5 list.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Back to School...

Well today was my last first day of school... Well maybe not. But for my undergraduate it was. Anyways, I started back at Ames today for my last semester. I am driving to Ames 2 days a week to finish up classes. I have three on campus and two online so it shouldn't be to bad. I was looking at some of my syllabus', and they look kind of frightening. I do recall however, this summer talking about missing school. Sometimes it is fun to learn... when it is things you want to learn about. But now that I am back sitting in lecture for a 4 hours every Tuesday and Thursday and then doing the endless papers and studying.. I think I will regret that comment. But for now I am going to feel blessed to be at school learning new and interesting things, I hope.

Anyways today was it. It was actually very strange going to class and then driving all the way back home. I think it is going to be very challenging to get all my work done being that Payton is done and nobody around me is studying. But I will do my best not to procrastinate too long like I am doing right now. But that is beside the point. Now that I am almost finished with school.. and not hating it so much anymore.. I think I will miss it when I am done, especially Iowa State. It was the best school for me. Good thing God has a plan for my life because I did not want to go there. Actually I didn't even have plans to go there until about May of my Senior year of high school. It just goes to show that God is bigger than we can ever imagine and even when we don't think it is the right choice, if God is calling you to do something, then do it because He is always right.

But Iowa State and all that it came with it (SALT) changed me in more ways that I could have dreamed. And now that I am finishing my last few classes and my last few times on the campus I can look back and just be thankful that I had the opportunity to attend such a great school, get a great education, and experience all the awesome things that God did while I was there. I mean geez He could have sent me to Iowa.....

But anyways, enough of me ranting... I really do need to study.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

VITALITY

It's official, I am going to be starting up a spinning studio and hopefully later on nutrition counseling here in Vinton. It has been a long haul of working out the details, writing a business plan, presenting it to the bank, requesting a loan, figuring out how many bikes to order, ordering the bikes and now getting people to sign up, but I'm sure it will all be well worth it once I actually get to begin doing the fun stuff.
The business is going to be called, Vitality: Beyond Fitness. Here is the logo, thanks to Angie Sanders...

For the first few months I plan on teaching just spinning classes. I know, I know many have no idea what a spinning bike is or what a class involves. Here is a picture of the spinning bikes that I am purchasing:

And for what a class involves; well basicially it is just like riding a bike outside except with a lot more sweat and tears involved. I'm just joking, usually there are no tears, but there is a lot of sweat. Much more than you would think. Anyways, you will just have to try it to find out for your self.
Later I hope to add nutrition counseling and other fitness classes to the mix. Well spread the word and if you are interested let me know. My business e-mail is fitness.vitality@gmail.com if you would like to sign up.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Aloha...

We made it back from our lovely honeymoon to the Big Island of Hawaii. It was an amazing trip full of many stories of course. The trip in itself is a do again. If anyone desires and active vacation (I know that is an oxymoron to some) I would definitely recommend going with Backroads (click here). Although I'm not going to lie, it was tough and I would train more next time. I only thought I was going to die a couple of times and I only had to walk my bike up the mountain once. Which I must say I thought was pretty good. But I will reiterate that the trip was amazing!

We got to bike along the coast and around the rim of a volcano. We got to hike into a volcanic crater and through lava tubes (not my favorite part as I am a bit claustrophobic but very cool in itself). We got to kayak in the ocean where we encountered a school of dolphins and snorkeled with them in the water. We got to snorkel and cliff jump (which was a bit scary for me, but apparently not for Payton as he did it numerous times from the highest possible point of course). And yes we did lay on the beach and by the pool although, we never did it long as Payton and I always got bored. But we did relax somewhat, the last day I guess.

Here are a few pictures and narrative of our trip....

Payton body-surfing on the waves...

A beautiful sunset...


The girls happy to make it up the mountain (7 miles, 1500ft elevation gain)...

Fresh bananas straight from the tree...

Two lovebirds on an adventure on their bikes...

Cooled lava...

Enjoying the black sand beach...

The beautiful Hapuna beach (out our hotel window)...



Preparing for our kayaking adventure...


The backroads van (the van that hauled us around all week)...

On our way, (4024 feet down, 32 miles) to the beach...

The volcano venting poisonous gases behind us...



One of the many sea turtles we found sunning on the beach...


Another beautiful sunset...


Dressed up for dinner...

The wonderful, delicious food...




The bike...


The beautiful lookouts...

Snorkeling...


Lounging on the beach...



The volcanic crater...
Waterfalls...


And yet another sunset...
Payton, trying to be a native (he needs a little more sun)...

Pictures don't do this island justice. It was a great time and we hope to have the opportunity to go back some day!

MAHALO!