My Goal for 2013

Happy New Year!  My new years was not terribly exciting.  In fact we spent it at home, like we always do.  And I spent pretty much the whole evening watching hula hooping tutorials on my new tablet. 

 

Which brings me to my goal for this year:  To become a great hooper. 

 

Bet you thought I was going to say something like, to lose weight, or to eat better, or to be a better parent.  Here's the reason why I didn't mention those as my goals - I already feel like I've got a pretty good handle on that stuff.  Of course I'll continue to work on it, but I don't feel lacking in any way in those departments, only that I will continue growing forward.

 

But hooping, that is something I really want to get good at.

 

So for Christmas, I got some money.  I decided to register for some online hooping classes with Safire from Hoop City.  I have been working on my Hoopnotica stuff and have found it really helpful, but Safire's tutorials are really great and the unique part about taking her classes is that you can ask her questions and post videos to get feedback.  It's very interactive. 

 

I noticed that she had a boxing day sale and classes were 30% off, so I thought that was the perfect opportunity to sign up.  I registered for Seeding 1 & 2, and got a bonus class (Planting) for free.

 

Now I spend any spare minute I have watching all the videos.  There are tons!  The Planting class was more just information on hooping.  It was rather boring but I wanted to make sure I got it all covered, so I read all the information and watched the videos.  Now I am working my way through Seeding 1.  I already know how to do pretty much everything covered in this class, but again I like to be thorough so I don't want to skip anything.  Besides there may be some stuff that even know I already know how to do it, it could use some fine tuning.  Or I might hear of some little tricks I didn't know before.  It's also reminded me that I need to work on hooping both ways.  I have only been hooping and learning tricks with my dominant side, which is really not good because when the time comes to do reversals or when I get good enough to properly hoop dance, I will be limited because I won't be able to do things both ways.  It also keeps my body balanced if I can work both sides.  So even though I don't enjoy hooping my less dominant way, I have been forcing myself to do it and to practice the tricks that way as well, even though it's like starting from scratch because it's so much harder in that direction.

 

I'm really excited, and I've already learned how to do so many more things and am getting so much better.  Still a long way off from being able to properly hoop dance, but I am getting there.  I often feel like I'm never going to be that good, but when I look at where I started I know I'm already better than I was. 

 

I love the feeling of nailing a trick for the first time after trying for so long and not getting it.  It's like all of a sudden something click and my body and mind go, "Ah ha!!!"  I can do quite a few tricks now, and it's just a matter of putting it altogether and making it flow.

 

I just need to practice practice practice!

 

I think I might start making my own hoops as well.  I wanted to buy one but the lady who makes and sells them hasn't gotten back to me (and the ones online are just too expensive!).  It looks easy enough to make, I just need to get the right irrigation tubing and some tape.  Hoop tape isn't really cheap either, but I figure I could start small and build my collection of tape, and then I'll have lots of make as many hoops as I want.  For now I just want to make one simple one that is in between the sizes of the two I already have, and I'd like to make a couple of mini hoops as well so that soon I can start experimenting with mini-hooping off the body, because it looks so cool.

 

For now I'll just leave with a video of Safire hooping with mini-LED hoops.  I thought it was pretty cool, and I love the music too.

 

 

 

Looks easier than it is

I've managed to get my hands on the Hoopnotica instructional videos and have gotten back into hooping.  I try to get in a little bit of practice every day, though it is hard at home with my limited space.  When I can, I go to the Y where there is more space to practice some of the stuff I can't do at home.  But I find it hard to practice at the Y as well, where everyone is able to see me and I'm not able to just let go as much as I can at home.  So I make my best progress in the comfort of home.

 

These videos have been so helpful!  I was feeling a little bit in a rut as far as hooping was concerned, because I had learned a lot of new tricks and then hit a wall, and had no one around to teach me more tricks to work on.  Hoopnotica has not only brought some more new stuff for me to learn, it's also helped me refine all the stuff I already know. 

 

I tend to learn things really quickly, but breeze through them and don't always practice the individual moves until perfection.  I realized I had done this with a lot of hoop tricks, I had learned them yes but was too eager to just hoop that I didn't spend time practicing all of them properly.  After watching the Hoopnotica videos, I was really able to fix some small problems I had noticed. 

 

And I've learned so much new stuff!  I can hoop on my waist, hips, chest, shoulders, neck, and have finally got the hang of leg hooping (remember this post?).  I can do corkscrews with both hands, up and down and I can do hand off corkscrews which make it look like the hoop is a cyclone around me.  Most recently I have figured out angle hooping both forwards and backwards, and now I'm trying to figure out how to do a 180 turn with it.  I'm also working on ways to move through the hoop.

 

When I watch the videos on how to do all these cool moves, it looks so easy.  My brain watches and all the while it's saying, "I can totally do this!".  And then I go to try it and it's a whole different story.  I used to feel the same when I'd watch bellydance videos.  I'm trying not to get discouraged that I don't look like the girls in the videos (who have obviously been hooping for years).....yet.  Actually I should be impressed with myself for practicing so much, and I am mastering new tricks very quickly.  At this rate, I'll be a great hooper in no time.

 

Getting the Hoopnotica videos has given me lots to work on for now, but once I've gone through those and learned all I can I'd like to start purchasing the tutorials on Hoop City.  There are tons of classes there and the great thing is that you can post videos of yourself hooping plus questions and get them personally answered by the instructor.

 

I need to get a new hoop though.  I have two, and one is too big (great for learning new tricks, but too big for me to do angle hooping because I'm short and the hoop hits the floor) and the other is too small (good for high cardio hoop dancing, but not so good for practicing tricks).  Maybe after Christmas I'll buy a new hoop from my friend in town who makes them.  Though what I'd really like is a travel hoop.  Maybe in the new year!

 

I love hooping!

Back At It

Wow how am I finding time for all this blogging with three kids?  I must be neglecting them or something.  Haha, just kidding!  They're all napping, and usually I would be too but it's Saturday and I had other stuff to do.  So now that I'm all showered and caught up on some housework (ok, maybe no so much housework as it's still a mess around here but it's the weekend so that makes it acceptable), I'm sitting down for a few minutes before it's time to get them up and move on to other things.

So pretty much the day after Lily was born I felt like I could run a marathon.  In reality that probably wouldn't have been a good idea, but that's how I felt.  Right away I felt like I wanted to get back into working out.  Of course common sense told me to give myself at least a few weeks for my body to rest, so I tried my best to listen.  I was out and about walking the town early on though, and managed to do a little bit of hooping at home (ohhhh, hooping!  That's what I could be doing now!).

When Lily was 2.5 weeks we went to a Mommy and Baby yoga class hosted by our new naturopath.  It was great and made me realize that I really miss yoga.

Last Wednesday I did my first fitness class since having her, it was the Outdoor Postnatal Bootcamp at the Y.  Tristan went to the farm with Tyler and I took Finn and Lily in the double stroller.  The class was supposed to be 45 minutes but was more like an hour, maybe even more.  It was great, we did lots of walking with breaks to stretch and do intervals of cardio and strength, and we did some jogging too.  I loved it.  I really felt it the next day though. 

Today Tyler braved watching all three kids so I could go to the gym and work out, and I was so thankful for that.  I walked there then did 25 minutes on the elliptical, and probably another 25 on the strength machines, before doing some stretching then walking home.  I wish I could have stayed and done more.  I'm hoping to meet with a wellness coach soon to discuss other machines I can incorporate into my workout now that I'm not pregnant.  I was limited with what I could do while pregnant but now I feel like sky's the limit!

I'm really excited to get back into exercise though I know I will have to start slow, mostly because I don't want to be putting the kids in childminding too much and I don't want to leave Lily too often either.  But I'm hoping to manage at least 3 workouts a week, the postnatal bootcamp one, a weekend trip to the gym, and hopefully a spin class as well to help lose the leftover baby weight. 

Now that I'm not pregnant I'm ready to pick up where I left off on my getting in shape crusade!  In the fall I'd like to take the learn to run 5k class at the Y and hopefully get into running.  I'd also like to start going to power yoga on Tuesday evenings again.  Hopefully soon Lily will be going to bed easily before then so I can go.  There's just so much I want to do!

I have so many fitness goals for the next year.  In addition to learning to run 5k, I plan on doing the Y Ride again, this time riding for 3 hours instead of just 1.  But my big goal for next year is to participate in Met Con Blue Mountain Race.  Never before would I have thought I'd want to do such a thing but now my goal is to train for it.  There is one in September of this year but I know that would be too soon after having Lily, so I'm planning to train for next year's.

If you had asked me 10 or even just 5 years ago what I did for fitness, I would have laughed at you.  Me at the gym?  Ha!  Now I can't imagine my life without it.  I know now how important it is to stay fit and active, and I can't believe how many years of my life I wasted being a potato.  If I could get to the gym every day I would.  Right now with 3 small children that's not realistic, and I know they come first, but as they get older I hope to find more time for the fitness activities that I love.

And of course how can I forget hooping!  I'll be starting that back up again soon too.  I need to find some pro hoopers in town to give me a few lessons so I can get back on track.

Regular exercise makes me feel great.  The goal of looking good is only a part of it, though it is a bonus.  The real benefits are what it does for the mind and the spirit, not just the body.  Since I have started exercising I have definitely noticed I have more energy and am able to cope with stress better.  It's win win, how can anyone not exercise?

So Lily is only 4 weeks old and I'm already getting back into the swing of things.  It took me almost a year after having both boys to do anything even remotely active, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself these days!

Hey, I might even have some time for some hooping before the kids wake up!

Leg Hooping.... AARRRGGGHHH!!!

This is frustrating me to no end!  It looks simple enough, and actually when I first tried it weeks ago I got it (albeit only briefly) very quickly and so figured I'd have it down in no time.  Leg hooping has been the hardest thing to learn so far.  I've got a number of other things down.  Maybe not quite mastered them with much finesse, but I can do them.  I can move the hoop up and down from my hips all the way up to my chest (chest hooping wasn't easy either but it was easier than leg hooping).  I can hoop around my torso both with my arms raised or with them inside the hoop, and easily move the hoop up to my neck.  I can do a number of lifts up and down with the hoop from various places on my body.  There's a few arm hooping tricks I can do.  I'm just figuring out how to move through the hoop in different ways. 

But this leg hooping business....aarrrgggghhhhh!!  So I'm working on moving it up and down my thighs which I'm getting better at, and if it falls to my knees and I manage to catch it I can keep it there for a very short period of time before dropping it, but I can't move it down and back up again with any amount of ease.

My legs are covered in bruises.  But I will get it.  I am already better than I was, I just need to keep at it.  I will get it. 

Life on the Bay These Days

You know, when I first started this blog I used to write a lot about random things that happened here, which was the point of starting it in the first place.  I still kind of do that, but I realized that there are often a lot of things going on that I would have written about before, but don't bother to anymore.  Which is kind of sad, afterall this is supposed to be about our life here.  Guess I've just gotten lazy.  I've also diverted a lot of that stuff to my other two more specific blogs.  Stuff about the boys gets put on my Dear Children, Love Mommy blog because I just found it easier to record everything about them in one spot, and also to write directly to them.  Stuff about this latest pregnancy gets put on my Doula Ambition blog.  I started that one as a place to keep all my pregnancy and childbirth thoughts, since I am very much into that kind of stuff, but since getting pregnant have also been journalling about my pregnancy there since it seemed appropriate.  So now I often feel like this blog is missing out on a lot of stuff that gets put elsewhere. 

Time for a little update on how Life on the Bay has been treating us.

It's still pretty awesome.

Life

Is good.  We have had a mild winter which has allowed us to stay active and not feel too cooped up in the house.  Tristan goes to school in the mornings and is doing very well there.  Finley enjoys his time with me in the mornings and we busy ourselves with trips to the YMCA or the Early Years Centre.  Rarely are we at home in the mornings and that's how we like it.  The afternoons are sometimes filled with classes for Tristan like skiing (which are now over) and junior chefs, but often we like to just stay in since the mornings are so busy.  I do look forward to the spring and summer though when we can just go play in the backyard or go for walks without having to worry about snowsuits, hats, mitts, and boots.  The boys are good, Tyler is good, I am good, the pregnancy is good.  I feel great and really can't complain about much.

Friends are the best

I'm still hanging out with the same wonderful group of ladies I met over the summer, and we've formed some great friendships.  Some of them have returned to work, and we don't see each other during the week for playdates as often since winter arrived but we make a point of getting together as much as we can otherwise.  We have been meeting for coffee every few weeks, and also planning girls' nights once a month or so as well.  Last time we went glow in the dark bowling which was fun.  This weekend we're having dinner and going dancing afterwards to celebrate one lady's birthday.  Well, not sure how keen I will be to go bar hopping at almost 5mos pregnant, but we'll see.  We also still plan playdates on the weekends, often meeting up for gymnastics, skating, or tobogganing with the kids.  In addition to the great close friends I've made, I'm also making new friends all the time.  When I first moved here and started looking for friends, I was always looking for people to connect with and hoping that it would turn into the kind of friendships where we hung out a lot.  I have been lucky to find that with my group of friends, but am also learning that I can be friends with a lot of different people, and those friendships can all mean different things.  Some women are other moms that I see at the same places every week, and we get a chance to talk there but don't necessarily plan anything outside of that.  Other people I've just become familiar with from running into around town.  It's been a really great feeling to know that I've met and connected with so many different people on so many different levels.

Fitness

This has been a big topic for me over the past year as I have strived to become more active, and I am still keeping up with it and going strong.  I always feel there is room for improvement in this department but then I also have to think about time constraints and that my family comes first, and also the physical restraints of pregnancy.  But there are times where I think I just want to spend hours in the gym working out and getting in shape.  Maybe one day.  I do manage to go to the gym about 5 times a week.  These days all I want to do is hoop and have been doing that as much as possible, but I have been doing spinning once a week still as well as some prenatal fitness and working out on the machines in the gym.  A friend of mine just sent me several great prenatal workout dvds in the mail as well so I am going to start incorporating those into my day as well at home while the boys are napping.  I think my hard work is paying off as I have been feeling great and I think I look fairly fit even for 20wks pregnant.  I do hope that I can stay in better shape for this pregnancy than I did for my last two, and also that I can snap back into shape quickly afterwards.

Down on the Farm

Progress on the hops farm has been great.  The mild winter has really been a blessing in that department because it allowed Tyler and John to get a lot of work done.  When I look back over the past few months I cannot believe how much they have accomplished together.  They have installed all the poles for the front 6 acres to be planted, built a barn, made a road, and built a bridge from the ground up.  Not just any bridge either, a proper bridge that will have to carry vehicles over the river.  A lot of time, planning, and money went into the design and construction of the bridge, and now it is almost complete.  It has been very exciting for Tyler to design and build it, and see it come to life.  I know he is very proud, and he should be.  I have gone through the seed catalogues and placed the order for all of our vegetable seeds, which should be arriving this week.  In the next few weeks our hoop houses will be built, and then we can begin starting our seedlings inside to get a head start on the growing season.  There is no way to describe how amazing everything is going on the farm, and we are excited to see what the next few months have in store as well.

Other Events

What other things have we been up to this year so far?  In January I participated in the Romp to Stomp out breast cancer 5km snowshoe walk with one of my new friends.  The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful day walking and raising money for breast cancer research.  That same weekend Tyler took Tristan on his very first overnight ice fishing adventure.  He had a great time, but it was still too much for him and by the end of it he was very tired and got a little sick.  Still, he loves to talk about the trip and how much fun he had.  In February Tyler's sister Rachael got married to her fiancee Scott.  The whole wedding was just lovely and we were happy to be a part of it.

That pretty much sums up how our winter has been, and it's only been less than 2 months!  Needless to say life is busy, but it's a good busy.  We are always optimistic, always looking forward.  It feels good to be happy and to have a good attitude about life.  Onwards and upwards from here! 

Pregnant Hula Hooping

Inspiration.....

I don't look like this.  I wish I did, but not even close.  First of all, I'm not that cute when I'm pregnant.  I'm short and round and funny-shaped.  And second, I'm not even a fraction as good a hooper as this woman. 

But actually, I'm doing pretty good so far!  I've only been hooping for a month or so and am surprising even myself at the ease with which I am picking it up.  Ok, I don't have much finesse yet, but I can do a few tricks that are pretty cool.  In addition to basic hip and waist hooping, I am just getting the hang of chest hooping and leg hooping.  I can bring the hoop up from my waist over my head and back down again in several different fashions.  And I can 'walk' the hoop up my arms and shoulders and onto my neck, then back down again.  Not too bad for an amateur!  It's not usually pretty to watch as I'm sure I often look like a flailing chicken or a crazy penguin, but I can work on being pretty later.  For now I just need to learn the moves.  There are other little things I work on too like arm hooping and isolations. 

But it's SO much fun and SO addictive, and I'm SO glad I am able to do this while pregnant and seeing videos like the one above give me hope that this is something I can do right throughout this whole pregnancy.

So here are some pictures taken at last week's workshop.  I'm 19wks pregnant.

I've been getting to the Y to practice almost every day, because I really want to get good at this hooping stuff!

Belly Hoop Dancing.....WHAT????

So while checking out more hoop dancing on YouTube, I found this:

AHHHHHH!!!!  Talk about my ultimate dream hobby!!  Combining my favorite pastime of bellydancing with my new found love of hula hooping?  YES PLEASE!

So I have been watching videos of this dancer in complete awe (as well as other dancers, both belly dancing and hula hooping), wondering if I could ever in a million years be that good.  I want to be.  The thing is, I'm not really the most coordinated person, and I don't have much rhythm.  I can dance, mostly because I practice, but I don't have much of a natural knack for it.  Sometimes I think, "If only I had started when I was young!".   I so regret never having the confidence to do anything like this when I was a child or teenager.  If I had then maybe I'd be amazing at it now instead of wishing I were.

But it's never to late to learn something new right?  Ok, so this is what I figure.  I'm not naturally good at dancing, but so much of it has to do with dedication and practice.  I don't have much time to dedicate to practice these days (back before I had kids I would just bellydance around my living room every day and practice my choreographies for hours), but one day I will.  I am only 30 now, so I figure that if I give myself a few years to get past having babies and raising small children, then once things calm down in that area of my life a bit I will be able to pursue my dreams a bit.  Of course I will keep doing what I'm doing now, praciticing when I can.  There is no reason not to!  But be warned, once the doors open up, I'm going all out!  I would love to take dance lessons in a variety of styles to improve my coordination, balance, and rhythm.  I'm game for anything - ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, latin - anything that's fun and has music.  Even if I don't love it the way I love bellydance and hooping, it would still be good for me.  Awhile back I tried my hand at hula dancing, and didn't like it, mostly because the teacher wasn't that great.  But I would try hula dance again, and maybe even other cultural dance like Tahitian, African, and Indian.  I actually took a few short workshops before on African, Indian, and Irish dance, and they were all a lot of fun (especially the African), so I would be game to try them all again.

So yeah, sometimes I get a little down that I didn't start dancing sooner in life or because I'm not that great, but then I remind myself that there is still time.

Better keep practicing then!



Hula Hooping - My New Obsession

I finally took my first hula hooping class today (after making sure it with my midwife that it was safe to do in pregnancy).  I loved it!  I knew I would.  I feel very much the same way I felt when I started bellydancing, so dare I say this might be my new obsession from now on.  It was so much fun.  I found the initial movement of waist hooping to be quite easy, but was surprised at how difficult just about everything else was!  Still, even with just an afternoon of practice, I've already started to get better (especially at hooping to the right, which is my weaker side!).  I even bought my own hoop through the ladies teaching the class.  The only problem is what I can do at home is very limited due to space.  But I can practice some stuff, and for the rest I can just go and practice at the Y.  I'm sure a lot of other ladies will be doing the same, it was a very popular class!

So I've already been watching hooping videos on YouTube and in awe at how amazing some people are.  It makes me want to practice and get better!  It's the same way I used to feel when watching bellydancing videos.  When I watch them, I see the movements and my brain thinks "I can do that".  But it's so much harder in reality!  As with anything though, you can only get better if you practice, so that's what I plan to do, as much as possible! 

I hope to be able to hoop as much in this pregnancy as possible.  I've already seen lots of videos online of pregnant ladies hooping right up until the last few weeks, so that gives me hope that I can keep up with it!

I'm so excited to have found this new hobby, and I think I'll be enjoying hula hooping for many years to come!