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Archive for "Zumba"

My Zumba-filled Weekend

Posted on March 29, 2018 by under Movies, Zumba.    

Missy took an impromptu trip to Branson with her family last weekend so I got roped into subbing a couple of extra classes. Here are some pictures.

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These were from Missy’s Friday night class at East YMCA.

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Brynden outfitted her friends to match both of us. We were all in our Kingston Yah Wo Mon shirts that night.

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These were the early birds at Amy’s 7:30 AM class also at East YMCA.

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Brian was nice enough to get up early and help me set up. The stage at East is heavy and takes at least two people to move.

After class, I met Brian up at the dealership where we got our cars washed which actually went way faster than usual so we had time to grab a quick bite at Dunkin’ Donuts before my 10:30 AM class. Brian bought a couple of donuts to surprise grandma and then proceeded to kick her butt at Uno after lunch.

The rest of the evening was spent bowling with some of my Zumba girls (Alex, Amanda, and Rose) and then Brian and I finished off the evening by watching Pitch Perfect 3 and Justice League. It was one of the busiest Saturdays (weekends) we’ve had in a good long time!

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Member Appreciation Zumbathon®

Posted on February 24, 2018 by under Community, Zumba.    

Just a few pics from the Member Appreciation Zumbathon we had last weekend at the Andover YMCA. We decided to have an 80’s theme so everyone got to wear fun 80’s outfits and we also did a bunch of 80’s favorites.

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Brian looked handsome dressed up in his Top Gun outfit. He helped us with the raffle and took pictures and videos.

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Some people went all-out. I loved seeing all the colorful outfits.

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There was a good mix of festive 80’s attire and regular workout clothes but, regardless of what people were wearing, everyone seemed to have a great time.

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Here’s a quick selfie I took of me, Brandon, and Kariana during the break.

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I didn’t get a lot of photos because Brian and I couldn’t stay for the entire event because we had to get ready for the Heart Ball. It’s the annual formal black-tie benefit for the American Heart Association that we’ve had the privilege of attending the last few years. More on that in the next post.

There were five instructors who hosted and led songs at the event: Charis, Mandy, Francie, Missy, and me. It was supposed to be all of the Andover YMCA Zumba instructors but Tiffany could not get the day off from her regular job and Angie fell ill that very day. We had to scramble and replace her. Thankfully, Missy planned to be at the event and knew some of Angie’s songs already so we just slid her right in. Charis, who was in charge of putting together the playlist, didn’t have to do much rearranging. She also helped me out by putting all of my songs at the beginning.

I did routines to covers of the following famous 80’s hits:
Fresh by Kool & the Gang (1984)
Take On Me by A-Ha (1985)
Karma Chameleon by Culture Club (1985)
Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder (1985)

Here’s a video of us dancing to Karma Chameleon.

I also did September by Earth Wind & Fire because I thought it was an 80’s song but it was actually released in 1971. Wow! Who would’ve have thought? Now I’m thinking, wouldn’t it be cool do a 70’s themed class? I bet I know a few 70’s hits and don’t even realize it!

Others did 80’s hits as well but we also did some regular Zumba songs and songs from other decades. The 90-minute playlist had great variety. Charis did an excellent job of putting it together.

Anyway, that’s pretty much all I got about the Zumbathon at Andover YMCA last weekend. The next post will have our pics from the Heart Ball.

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ZINCON Schedule Excel Worksheet

Posted on February 23, 2018 by under Projects, Zumba.    

The Zumba Instructor Convention web site launched last week and so I did what I normally do every year that I go to convention — I created a worksheet to help me build my ideal schedule. ZINCON registration doesn’t actually open until February 28 but the schedules are posted so we can all start building our perfect schedules. Then, when the appointed time comes, everyone descends upon the site to make sure they get their top choices.

The scene when registration opens is a lot like this one in Big Bang Theory.

So many people are hitting the site all at once, it’s actually been known to crash a time or two. I often am stuck in some sort of meeting when registration first opens so Brian usually has to register for me. Thus, the need for worksheet that tells him what classes to sign me up for. I usually give him several options in case a session is no longer available, which happens more often than not. Specially with some of the more famous presenters and new training programs.

In 2016, when STRONG by Zumba launched, the training session was full within minutes of registration opening, so I couldn’t get in it. Brian ended up signing me up for Sentao, which is the only other format that I wasn’t already licensed for at the time. I waited another full year to complete my SBZ training.

Since registration will be open in just a few days, I decided to build my worksheet before bed one night while watching the Olympics. The worksheets I’ve used in the past just allows sorting and filtering, to make it easy for me to compare sessions and review all of my options. I usually still have to build my schedule manually. This year, Brian challenged me to make the worksheet so that it would build my schedule automatically. I’ve never made that part automatic in the past because there’s multiple ways to build a schedule. You could opt to take training sessions on both Friday and Saturday, or you could just do training on Friday and regular workshops on Saturday, or the opposite — regular sessions on Friday and training on Saturday, or you could go with just all workshops and no instructor training. I usually have to decide this for myself so it’s really tricky to make a worksheet automatically build the schedule. I figured it out, though!

Worksheet 2

The solution isn’t the most elegant, but it works. Basically, I created tabs for the four scenarios: SESSIONS ONLY, FRIDAY TRAINING, SATURDAY TRAINING, and FRI-SAT TRAINING. The first tab has all of the options listed. You put an X in the SEL column to specify which sessions or training you want to take. The worksheet populates all of the other tabs. Obviously some sections will be blank in the other tabs, depending on your choices.

For example, if you opt to take a training session (which takes up pretty much the entire day) then you won’t have time to take any other sessions on that same day. If you go to the SESSIONS ONLY tab then it will have some empty slots. Depending on how you laid out your schedule or what choices you’ve made, you just have to click on the appropriate tab to view your personalized ZINCON schedule.

It’s not perfect, but it works. I probably could create an Access solution but most people don’t have access to Access (see what I did there – LOL) but almost everyone has access to Excel. The gears are working in my mind now, though. I could create a web site that does this more elegantly. An app would be better, but I don’t know how to make phone apps. Sigh.

Worksheet 1

Here’s a preview of the first page of the full schedule, should one decide to print it. I don’t know why you would, unless you just want to kill trees. There really is no need to print the whole thing. Oh, and you’ll notice there is an X next to the Kickoff session. I made it so you can’t remove that X. I’m a nerd and I think everyone should go to it. Obviously, people could still skip attending Kickoff if they want but it will print on their schedule regardless because that’s how I built the worksheet.

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I’ve enabled auto-filters so the person using the worksheet can slice and dice the schedule however they wish. This is an example of how you can filter by Time. Say, for example, if you don’t want to get up before a certain time so you only want to see morning sessions that start at 8:30 AM or later.

Worksheet 3

This next one is an example of filtering the schedule by Presenter. It makes it easier to see all the various sessions that someone is presenting. Makes stalking your Zumba idols a lot easier. LOL.

Jokes aside, it really is mostly for doing comparisons. Being able to look at all the times side-by-side makes it easier to plan around sessions that you absolutely, positively do not want to miss.

Worksheet 4

Here’s an example of filtering the schedule by Session Title. So if you just want to look at all the ZIN Jam Sessions, you can do that.

I don’t show an example of it but you can also put an X in the SEL column of the sessions that you want to compare side-by-side. Maybe they are totally different sessions at different times and by different presenters but you want to look at them side-by-side so you can decide. When you put an X on all these sessions and then filter the schedule by SEL then you can eliminate all of the other sessions and look at just the ones you want to compare. It helps to remove all the clutter.

When you are finished making your choices, remove all the Xs that you don’t need and leave only the ones that you want (making sure that there is only one session selected under each time slot). Then click on the appropriate tab based on the choices you made. The tabs represent the four possible schedule scenarios:

  • SESSION ONLY – this tab is if you didn’t select any instructor training at all
  • FRIDAY TRAINING – this tab is if you opted to take a training on Friday and picked regular sessions for all the other time slots
  • SATURDAY TRAINING – this tab is if you opted to take a training on Saturday and picked regular sessions for all the other time slots
  • FRI-SAT TRAINING – this tab is if you opted to take training sessions on both days

Worksheet 7

If you selected training sessions on Friday and Saturday, then click on the SESSION ONLY tab, you’ll see a bunch of blanks. Your correct schedule will be under the FRI-SAT TRAINING tab. It does take a bit to understand how to use the tool but, once you understand how it works, then it makes building your schedule super easy — since the tabs are automatically populated.

Here’s an example output of selecting all regular sessions.

Worksheet 6

Having your schedule automatically populate on the schedule tabs is actually a real time saver. So you can create multiple schedule scenarios. You can have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on. Trust me. Unless you are one of the lucky ones who can actually get on right when registration opens (they never tell us the time either so some people actually take the day off work so they can sit in front of their computer and wait and then pounce when the time comes), you don’t always get all of your first choices. Sometimes you can get lucky, though.

Brian is usually able to register for me in case I’m stuck in a meeting and can’t take the time to register myself. I just give him my login credentials. Thus, I’ve had to come up with this solution so he knows exactly what sessions to sign me up for. I give him multiple choices. Anyway, it’s really helped me out a lot so I usually share it with others. I’ve shared my worksheet the last couple of years.

I shared this 2018 version earlier this week on the official ZINCON group in Facebook. If you’re not in the group but would like the worksheet, please leave a comment below with your email and I will gladly email it to you.

I hope it helps. See you at ZINCON!

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2018 Black Light Zumba Party

Posted on February 9, 2018 by under Community, Zumba.    

We had a great time at the Black Light Zumba Party at South Y a couple of weeks ago. Joel sure knows how to throw an awesome party. I think this is the third year that they’ve done it. I missed the very first one but did have the opportunity to attend the one last year. This year was even bigger and better than ever.

Last year I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t glow so I decided to go all out with my outfit. Here’s a sneak peak.

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The funny thing about the tutu is that when the package arrived Brian was like, “Don’t you already have a tutu?” I have several but this one lights up!

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Sarah is one of our amazing Zumba instructors at the YMCA. She taught a few songs that night but was also helping with the event. She helped decorate and she also manned the glow in the dark body paint table. The glow in the dark body paint is something new they did this year and worked out really well.

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Here’s the scene at the body painting station.

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Brynden bought glow in the dark body paint also and she painted her face even before she arrived at the event.

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This is Brynden’s mom, Laurie. They’re an awesome mom/daughter duo.

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Here’s another dynamic duo, Andrea and Sharlie. We got light up glasses!

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Another improvement from last year is the specially designated t-shirt cutting area. I pretty much got stuck there helping people cut their shirts. Brian finally had to get me out of there so I would get a somewhat decent spot in the studio. He said people were already filing in and warned me that I would get stuck at the very back if I didn’t get up there, stat. Yikes!

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Here’s the scene upstairs. They doubled the black lights so everyone glowed. I should be pretty easy to spot in this photo. You can’t miss me and my light up tutu.

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Still can’t find me? Let me help you out.

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They were turning the lights on and off so people could test their glowy-ness. Basically, if you didn’t feel like you were lit up enough, you could go back and apply more glow in the dark body paint. I skipped the body paint because I was decked out in LED accessories from head to toe. My white gloves light up also.

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Here’s a picture of me with Hannah and Charis.

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Here’s some of our Zumba family.

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This is an awesome panoramic photo of the whole studio.

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Here’s the studio with the lights out.

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Here’s a picture of people dancing after things really got going.

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It was quite a sight to behold.

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Here’s me and Brynden. I ended up changing into my shirt from last year halfway through. It actually glowed a lot better.

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Here’s another group photo.

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With and without the flash.

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These guys are so fun!

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These are the awesome instructors who led songs at the event (from left): Jonie, Janefer, Charis, Sarah, Joel, Todd, and Missy.

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This is our Wichita Area ZINs group photo.

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Here we are with the lights on, in all our goofy glory.

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I love how welcoming and supportive our ZIN community is in Wichita. I have heard horror stories in other areas where instructors do not support one another at all. Wichita is not like that at all. Instructors team up and work together all the time to host events and raise money for various causes.

We actually have another event coming up. This one is at Andover YMCA on Saturday, February 17, at two o’clock in the afternoon. It is a member appreciation event so it’s a FREE Zumbathon. I’m hosting the Zumbathon along with Mandy, Charis, Francie, and Angie. Tiffany would have hosted the event with us but she has to work that day. We’re doing an 80’s theme so it should be super fun.

I hope you can join us!

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The Best of 2017

Posted on January 30, 2018 by under Life, Relationship, Zumba.    

Every year I post highlights to reflect on everything that happened — good and bad. I usually post it at the very end of the year or right at the beginning of the new year. I’m a little bit late posting this one because our weekends have been jam-packed with stuff. It’s been difficult to find a few minutes to write about an entire year.

First, here are links to past annual recaps to get you caught up:

So what happened last year? So much! Probably too much to condense into a single update but I’m going to give it my best effort.

We started the year off strong with a Plank Challenge and we were very optimistic about blowing our goals out of the water. However, it didn’t take long for us to succumb to life and being busy and we were back to our lazy selves in no time.

I hosted my first Zumbathon® and we raised a good chunk of money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a cause that is near and dear to me. All of the crazy fundraising we did during the “For Kids’ Sake” campaign paid off. I was the top fundraiser at our annual company “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event.

Brian and I attended more events this year than we ever have and were even inducted into the Society of 1895. I couldn’t make that luncheon but Brian attended for the both of us. Here are some of the other events we had the privilege of attending last year:

We also discovered a winery just South of Wichita. Besides selling great wine, they also host an amazing outdoor concert series every summer.

The Keeper of the Plains statue that Brian helped design was finally installed in our atrium at work. And, it’s magnificent!

I celebrated my 15th service anniversary at work. I also switched teams at this time. I’m still in Customer Care but now part of the Business Solutions team.

Brian and I traveled to two places we’d never been. First to Alaska over Memorial weekend, where we went to visit Sheryll and her family. Then, later in the year, we celebrated my 40th birthday in the Bahamas. Both trips were memorable in their own way and we feel truly blessed that we had the opportunity to go.

We hosted a couple of fun parties at the house. The one over Fourth of July weekend resulted in Brian finally completing the installation of the automatic garage door opener for our third car garage. The second one was the first Zumba World Party party that I’ve had in a long time.

Besides installing a garage door opener, Brian also installed a Nest thermostat and some smart switches.

Brian and I completed a couple of drink tours: the Wicked Brew Tour and the Carlos O’Kelly’s Summer Drink Tour. The former got us these cool, limited edition shirts from Visit Wichita. The latter got us really cool hand-blown glassware.

Besides the #DanceForKids Zumbathon that I hosted at the beginning of the year, I did a ton of Zumba. We had more Zumba in the Square events than ever. There was Zumba at the Relay for Life event, where we danced from Friday night into Saturday morning. I added a new class to my Zumba teaching scheduled — 5:15 AM on Fridays. And then, of course, there’s the annual Zumba Instructor Convention (aka #ZINCON), where we spend four days of nonstop Zumba.

Speaking of Zumba, I finally made Zumba Wear 3 Star Insider! My friend Missy and I made it during the same quarter.

Other firsts include visiting local sunflower fields for the first time and playing in a ping pong tournament with some friends. I have to say 2017 is the year that I saw my ping pong game truly improve.

This was a banner year for me because it’s the year that I left my 30s behind. Supposedly 40 is the new 30 so I’m looking forward to what this new year will bring!

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