Turbo Kick

So it's been a while since I've written. I was on break from Harrington for a couple weeks but I managed to stay busy. I worked out a lot and kept busy with Alumni Board of Directors stuff. We are planning "Homecoming" events for June so we are super busy with that.
So, I've been meaning for a while to write about the workouts I've been doing at my gym/studio because I am absolutely addicted to one class called Turbo Kick. I have truly discovered my passion for working out. I LOVE group exercise classes. This has been a huge player in my weight loss. Never again (hopefully) will I ever count down the minutes on the treadmill or elliptical.  I find that hour long cardio classes are SUPER fun and keep me motivated.

So when I first started out with the gym/studio I did mostly outdoor boot camps and outdoor yoga (last summer). Then when the new space opened I took indoor group classes, like strength boxing (with small hand-held weights) and lots of other cardio and strength classes. From the first time I took Turbo Kick with one of the new instructors I was immediately hooked. It is my favorite and I don't think I could ever live without it. Turbo Kick is a high energy choreographed kickboxing style class that's as dancey as it is athletic. Instructors are certified to teach it by the owners of Turbo Kick. They are the only ones who have access to the music and choreography.  New "rounds" are released only to them every few months. Each round the choreography changes and so does the music. So basically every few months we get a new "routine" and we do it for a few months. I love it because the music is great and so is the instructor. She is SO good at cueing and is very enthusiastic without being annoying! They teach it all over the country and its supposed to be similar no matter where you take it, but in my opinion its ALL about the instructor. If he/she is good its SO much better.
The best thing about Turbo Kick is that it burns 700-1000 calories per hour. Probably more for chubs like me! ha-ha. Each class is about an hour, so when I leave I am drenched in sweat and I feel I've had fun and also worked hard.

Below are a couple links to the "promos" that the company releases to get people excited about the new rounds. Please keep in mind, the music in the teasers is NOT the music that's used for the workouts. It's such a secret that they usually don't even put the music on the promo...probably for copyright reasons too. The real music is good hip-hop, pop, dancey house stuff...its GREAT!  It's all mixed together so that the class just flows so well.  Also, the super colorful outfits in the teaser look nothing like our class! hahaha, they crack me up....they're all so coordinated! :-)
Here you go....enjoy!
We are on round 40 right now. Its awesome!


Here is round 39 too. This was the last one we did. It was great too!


This is the round 38 Promo. This is music is a sampling of the real music used in class. I LOVE that "shots" song. Its the best song to workout to! This was one of my favorite rounds.

Busy Boring Life

Ugh, I have nothing to write about. My life is pretty boring right now I guess. I have been SO busy lately between working at Harrington, private tutoring and never ending alumni board meetings that I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone think of something cool to write about on my blog. I don’t even know who reads this blog, so maybe this is more for me anyway…ha-ha.

I am in class right now, (the one that I am the teaching assistant in), and I actually have a time to think and collect my thoughts. Seems like I’d be super busy in here, but aside from the occasional question, the students generally know what they are doing and they come to class, listen to the quick lecture, and then get busy with their work. I am enjoying this “quiet” time because my shifts in the computer labs are INSANE compared to the classroom shifts. In lab I literally jump from student to student solving their problems and helping them with every issue under the sun. The students range from beginning to about to graduate, so it’s a wide range of help that I provide. It’s crazy right now because final projects/presentations are next week and this week is crunch time, so the labs are packed and the students are in freak-out mode. When I leave the lab after a shift my brain is fried from solving problems the entire time. I need a massage or something! Whew!

I will be glad when next week is over and I can take a break and focus on re-doing MY portfolio and trying to get my stuff out there again.

Easter 2010

Joe's parents (Dan and Beth) and his brother Andy came to visit us this year for Easter. This year they drove (from Omaha) so they arrived late on Friday night and left on Sunday afternoon. Dan and Beth stayed at the Hyatt Regency downtown on the river and Andy stayed with us. Chloe and Louie had fun with Andy, they always like when he comes to visit.

We had a nice time, despite a semi-rainy day on Saturday. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday. We wanted to go see one of the Omni Max movies, but when we got there they were all sold out so we ended up just walking through some of the museum for a few hours. They had some cool exhibits. It was pretty crowded and crazy, but it was still fun. I took some pictures with Beth's camera, so I will post some when I get them from her.

When we came out of the museum it was a nice sunny day outside, when we went in it was overcast, so that was a nice surprise. We went to eat at Chicago Brauhaus, a German restaurant we've wanted to try in Lincoln Square (a neighborhood just near our place). We had our fill of German sausages, sauerkraut, potatoes and beer. Luckily we went for lunch/dinner because we were all full all night from that meal.

On Easter Sunday we went to mass at the church Joe and I go to, St. Vincent de Paul in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Then we went to lunch at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in the River North Area of Chicago. It’s a really nice place and the food was very good. After that we took them back to the hotel and they took off for home.

Chloe Lives On

Chloe had her surgery/dental cleaning last Friday. I was nervous dropping her off, but she did fine, I was relieved when I got the call that she was all done. I know it's silly that I was worried she might die...but since the vet said "there's always a risk"...that made me worry. But Chloe lives on! yay!
Her teeth are like brand new, shiny and clean, like puppy teeth all over again! :-) Now, I just have to try to maintain the cleanliness by brushing her teeth on a more frequent basis. They ask that you do it DAILY, but we all know that not going to happen, so I am going to shoot for 3 times per week or so. Chloe is pretty easy and she lets me do it, so I think once we start doing it more often she will just get used to it.

Louie had a strange day without his sister at home. He was quiet calm (after the initial shock when Chloe left without him for the vet). He just followed Joe around all day while I was out running errands. I think Chloe pretty much leads the way in terms of their daily schedule, so if she isn't home to eat and sleep and play with him, he is just not sure what he's supposed to do. He was tired that night because he didn't really sleep like he usually does because Chloe wasn't there to sleep with him. Joe did say that he enjoyed taking him for a walk without Chloe though. Chloe is a major sniff-aholic, she has to stop to sniff EVERYTHING and Louie just likes to run and walk. He could care less about who peed on that tree before he got there. He just does his business and then gets on with walking. Funny how different dogs can be...totally different personalities.

5 Minutes of Fame Continues...

More of my 5 minutes of fame...
Harrington College of Design has a blog where they feature important news about things going on at the school, alumni, general design stuff. Well, they asked if they could write a story about me winning the IIDA Logo Contest for their blog....and here it is.....enjoy. I promise I will quit bragging after this! Ha-ha.
http://myharringtoncollege.com/2010/04/01/harrington-alumna-mindy-zimmer-wins-iida-illinois-logo-competition/