What Zumba is to Me.

I remember a few years ago, my sister Jana was telling me "You have to go try a Zumba class. You'd love it. Its working out but its, like, FUN." I had never heard of it but I just assumed it was just like going salsa dancing. Which isn't my cup of tea. I went on a date once salsa dancing and I guess in that culture you are supposed to have intense eye contact, which immediately creeped me out.

I never liked chocolate/sweets that much, until I gave birth to Kaius! I guess! I turned into a baking machine. I blame Pioneer Woman, but also would kiss her feet if I met her.

A few friends of mine started a facebook group called "Facebook Biggest Loser". The person to lose the most weight won all the $, it was $20 per person. Well, there were a lot of people who wanted to just do it for free and not for the monetary reward, myself included. I didn't want to temporarily diet with the incentive of money, I wanted to make a lifestyle change (but really, I'm a big cheapwad). ((However, I guess due to not enough people paying, they cancelled the whole thing...Oh well! I was making a change by myself.))
So, I got a gym membership, I started going in the mornings before everyone was up.
It made me feel good that I was doing something...but I would run 2 minutes and have to walk the rest of the half hour. I had never been in that bad of shape!

They had a new Zumba class starting. I showed up, there were lots of ladies there. I just kinda inched my way into the back area. I just looked around at the girls there and said "Am I ok here? I've never done this before." and there was little miss Lisa,who had never done it before either, she was nice. Then, Cammie graced the stage. I remember all throughout the class, Lisa and I kept saying to each other "This is so fun!". I definitely didn't have the stamina to make it through a class, I remember just stopping and standing a few times to catch my breath. At the end we were saying how we couldn't wait for the next one. I casually mentioned to Lisa that I'd love to be up there someday. The next class she asked me if I was going to become and instructor. I was like psh...maybe in a few years?

I enjoyed Cammie's classes because I could TELL she was having the TIME OF HER LIFE. I looked up her Zumba profile and added her on Facebook. I thought she looked like a nice, fun person. Since I just moved to a new area, I thought "what if she and I became friends?"


I would email her messages every once in a while and tell her how awesome she was. She kept things very business and polite. A few months later, she invited me to a "Zumbathon"



and I said, "you say its Zumba and I come running!" so we carpooled together with some friends, and invited them all over for dinner. I served the best sandwich ever,



and I'm pretty sure that's why they all liked me after that :)



I find myself thinking a lot that I think Zumba was made specifically for me. If you know me, you know I LOVE color. Zumba clothes are the most colorful clothes with the coolest, funkiest color combinations. I love that I get the chance to miss my kids. I love the friends that I meet at classes. I love that I'm passionate about Zumba and I am actually having people come to my classes!

If you'd like to come I would love to have you!


1164 South Main Street

Mondays - 8:30 PM
Thursdays - 8 PM
Saturdays - 10 AM

$5 a class or $40 for a 10 class punch pass.

My Instructor training with Gina Grant was awesome. Ok, some of it was awesome. Most of it was going over the steps, how to do Cumbia, Merengue, etc. I used to sit and wait for Cammie at the end of each class, and I've heard many people ask her to break down moves for them. And what shoes are best, etc etc...
So as soon as I heard what each move was formally called what, the rest was pretty much boring. She had to keep going over the moves and I definitely wasn't back in tip top shape yet. I was so so SO mentally and physically drained when there was about an hour left of the training. Me and this other guy Josh were like...basket cases. He said his brains felt like mashed potatoes.

And he said somethin...about pouring gravy on his head. I dont remember exactly. I had been trying to be really awesome when I knew Gina was looking at me, but towards the end she pointed at me and made the yawning motion with her hand.
Well, sh*%.
I nodded back to her. I stopped pretending after that.
But I wasn't too tired for a photo with her!


Then on the way home Jana started feeling like me. We got in her car after our carpool dropped us off and she couldn't even turn the key properly, and didn't know what direction she was driving, haha. We got back to her house and made her husband make us food :).