Enjoying Variety

I really enjoyed mixing several different styles during our Epic Sparring session last night.

It was really great to see everyone feed off of each other and get helpful tips on sparring!

I am glad that everyone enjoyed themselves and definitely look forward to our next one!

Last Week + Today

    All the fun happened on Tuesday when I invited Jae, T-Berg, and their brothers to come to my house for a what I like to call "Video Game Playdate." Even though we just played Black Ops mostly all of the time their. I found out that I suck at shooting people one-on-one, or moving.

     On Thursday, I went to help out at the Aim High Blood Drive, and almost all the time I was in charge of stickers. Sounds boring, but it was really fun (kinda)! I went from working at the front to help sign in people, to being close to needles. (I'm scared just thinking about it!) 

    Saturday I woke up at 5:00 in the morning, tired as ever, ate a good breakfast and went to special training. I didn't look like it (I think) but I was VERY tired. After, I got lunch with T-Berg and went to my mom's workplace because she had to do some work. I worked on this HUGE math-English-writing-reading book my mom got, listened to music, drew on the white board, etc. We went home, and the rest of the day was calm.

    Sunday was the Sun Run! (I think I know why they did the SUN Run on SUNday.) It was 5K (or 3.1 mi.) and I ran the whole time, jogging when the group I was with had to get water. I was so relived to finished, and I ran 5,360 steps! (Thanks to the pedometer.) I'm still shocked that Brandon beat me by ONE second! Around four hours later I went to a party with air cannons, bottle rockets, flying candy, you know, things at a typical birthday party. It was pretty fun. I remember being at the opposite side of the park when they we testing the air cannon, and having a gumdrop hit my ear. It hurt! 

    Today we did fast defense and after class we sparred with the other classes and what I will remember from this day was 

1.) when approached by a stranger and he falls and asks for help, don't stutter 

and

2.) when I landed a tornado kick on Brandon!  

    Doing something special in my last sparring round was one if my goals, but I really didn't plan on it being a tornado kick! I was really proud, and a little surprised, when I did it (I think a little more than Brandon was. :P )

Did you know?: a philtrum is a groove in your upper lip.

•Serena•

Sun Run

Yesterday I went to the Sun Run. At first I was intimidated because I had never ran in an official race. I ran the 5K and I was nervous. The race started at 8:30AM. I finished at roughly 9:05AM. Out of 162 races in the 5K I got 75th place. I feel like I did a good job considering I haven't ever ran in a 5K. See you all Wednesday!
~Annmarie :0)

Running

Yesterday was the first ever Sun run which was a 5k and 10k run. When we first got there they were just getting set up and it was very quiet but as the 10k was just getting started it slowly came louder. By the starting line all you could see was a crowd of people and they were there until an air horn blew then everyone who was not doing the 10 k was cheering. Up next the 5 k runners were up and we were ready. When we heard the sound if the air horn we started  running. At the start of the run we could smell smoke from the cars and that continued until about half way. We were getting really close to the finish line and I was getting tired but we did not stop we kept going even it was getting hot and we were sweating we ran a little longer and then we were there yes I said . When we made it I was so sore but happy we made it.

Fun weekend

  This weekend was one of the best in a while. Well not really the weekend. It actually started Thursday when I volunteered for the blood drive.  It wasn't to eventful, but in my opinion it felt good helping some people out. It was like on and off.  A patient or two would come and then go, but sometimes everyone would get off the beds at once and the seating in the van would be crowded.  It was a really good experience, and helped me work on my speech skills( talking to other people I didn't know ).

Then Saturday came, and we started off with conditioning, and it made me pretty sore. But then after that I went airsofting with my friends from my school who were moving on to 7th grade, where as I am moving on to 6th, so they are going to middle school, so I might not see them again till next year. We then hung around his house for a while, which was really fun. We played BO2 and sparred with these foam axes in the backyard for the longest time. Then I helped him feed the chickens, give them the water, collect the eggs, and put fresh ice in the bunnies cages so they kept cool, and then he made me like this sugar ice stuff, which I had no idea was so sweet. Then we roasted hot dogs over the pitfire and        played catch with the lacrosse things and threw rotted apples from the orchard at each other.

The next day, I woke up at 6, which I was not very fond about. We dressed up in our work out clothes, and headed for the Sun Run. This was a real achievement for me. I only stopped once during the three miles we ran, where I usually stop about 4 times. At the end, I really wanted to sit down and relax, but that would've been bad. Instead, I visited the different stalls and drank the small cups of Jamba Juice. When we were ready to go, we went to Biscuits and ate food with the Asuncions(sorry if I spelled it wrong, guys!).
At home I took a nap for I don't know how long, and conveniently woke up about 30 mins. before the party. There, we had water balloon fights and shot the water filled bottles up into the air. It was the longest time before I went to bed, and in that time, I limped around and ate food and layed down on the couch.

-Brandon M
P.S- this is my longest blog yet.

Another Good Week

Another week closer to the test.

I was able to lift weights twice, two days of 30 minutes running on the treadmill, and averaged ~ 8:50 a mile for the Sun Run.  This plus black belt class and special training on Saturday has made for a pretty good week of working out.

I'm not sure this coming week will be as productive, but I will train as I can.  I've got a 10K run to attempt on Wednesday which I will run/walk as needed.  Asthma/allergies haven't allowed me to train as I should to get ready for it.  Right after that I leave to go camping.  I'm hoping to get a lot of upper body work in as we paddle the Sandy River.

The following week I will start my allergy shots.  Hopefully they will enable me to fight off the allergies so that they aren't such a big impact to my staying active.

Conditioning and Sun Run!

It has been a very busy weekend with conditioning on Sat and then the Fun Run on Sunday!

I have to say it has been a great time and I really appreciate all the hard work people are doing.

Thing to note though is after all your hard work don't go out and waste it by eating wrong.

Believe me, all the calories burned and benefits gained from our trainings get waylaid when you refuel with the wrong stuff.......

Kjn's note from our training last weekend was eye opening to hear that right after our training someone went and picked up fast food.....take the time and pack a whole grain sandwich...tuna or pb & j with a  yogurt and some fruit...believe me you will a ton better rather than using junk to fill your gas tank.

I speak from experience.....about 10 years ago I ate horribly.....fast food daily, etc......I really focused on my diet and working out and lost about 50lbs and I have managed to keep most of it off ever since.....I feel a ton better now than when I had that extra weight on me.

Writing workshop

  The first time I competed in Pac Jewel was amazing. Everywhere I looked people who were working hard to try and win the trophy they wanted. It was so loud and everyone was bursting with energy, even the parents watching their kids compete, cheering then on. I felt like karate here was everything, and your skills as a martial artist. Even me, who was competing against other people, thought everyone did very good, and for some people, gave it their all. I competed in two sections, open weapon forms and traditional forms. I tried the best I could, and sure enough I got placed in 2nd and 3rd. In the end, I probably smelled like sweat and looked like a mess. The kama form was the hardest, and before I preformed I practiced it many times, so I sweated a lot during the form. 

I thought this memory was a good one, even though it wasn't long ago. It was the first time I used my improved open weapon form and preformed in the Aim High Demo Team for the second time.

-Brandon M

Writing Workshop Work

During the Writing Workshop we learned how to write a descriptive story using the 5 senses. Mike then gave us an assignment to write a story using the 5 senses.

When the Aim High Demo Team was competing in the Pac Jewel all I could here was the booming sound of party rock anthem and gangnam style, our routine theme songs and the faint sound of keuping when individuals or groups of us were performing. I could see the people in front of me dancing and cheering to the music. I could feel my sweaty leggings and leather jacket against my body as I was kicking or punching. I could smell the hot, thick air as I was on the huge stage. I could taste the nervous sweat while I was on the stage. it was a great experience. it was fun amazing loud and something that I will never forget.

My Affirmation

My Affirmation is "Believe in your abilities" I chose this Affirmation because it reminds me of me and to use my abilities. It encourages me to believe in myself as who I am and not to try to be anyone else or to not try, that I should be grateful for what I have. it is also very inspirational when I am doing phase tests and fitness evaluations. Because I have great abilities I just have to believe in myself.

Writing Workshop

The first time I...

 moved to a different house, I felt sad to move away from family and old memories. I remember first walking into the new house, I thought the new house felt rough, and "smelled" funny. I watched my parents move stuff in the house, like the couch. Even though my old house felt kinda cramped, or small; from the outside, the new house looked small as well, but in the inside the new house felt humongous.

 The food we had the first week I think tasted stale sometimes, like old bread. I remember first walking in the new house, so tired I didn't really look around and fell asleep in what's now the living room.

After some years, a lot has changed, and I learned to like the house. And it has a lot of benefits like more room, a large backyard, a nice view, and others. So I'm OK. 

Did you know: We use 100% of our brains. People used to think we uses only 10% of our brains.

•Serena•

saturday morning training

I think Saturday went very well! I can tell I am getting stronger every time conditioning comes along but there are times that are harder then others but you just got to push through it and know at the end of the day that you put everything you had into it and that when the next times comes around that you will be even better. You all did very well on Saturday and I am proud to be apart of this team. Sorry it has taken me so long to blog but from now on I am going to do my very best to stay 110% focused on achieving my black belt and hope that you are all there with me!

The writing workshop

I went to the Writing Work Shop that Mike hosted. I was a bit nervous going to the workshop but he explain how he sometimes struggles with writing to and he helped us on our strengths and weakness. He gave us some writing idea examples a lot clearer and we sat in groups with our teammates. It was open for all sorts of Ideas and I had a great time. I talked to some of my teammates about what I was having a hard time with and they told me about theirs. We gave support and ideas about our writing ideas and the best part of it was we weren't shy about it. I will surely talk to Mike about my writing whens school starts or even sooner. I want to thank Mike for hosting a great workshop. I went over the sheets with my parents when I got home and we talked about writing as our subject. t-berg out. 

Writing workshop on Saturday

We had a a great turnout for the AHAMA Writing Workshop, which took place right after our Generations conditioning workout. We talked about the importance of starting with a rough first draft in which we let ourselves just focus on getting all the details down on paper (or on screen) before we start shaping those details into a story. This is our mantra: "Relax -- it's just my first draft. I'm not finished yet."

We also did some short writing exercises to practice:

• Organizing the details of our story
• Thinking about our audience -- what do they care about, what do they already know, and what do we want them to think/feel/do as a result of reading what we write
• Drawing on our five senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling) when we write
• Using similes, metaphors, and personification to make our writing more descriptive

I really enjoyed listening to different people share their descriptive sentences and stories. Everyone also took on an assignment to complete by next Saturday, July 27: writing a post on the Generations blog on the topic, "The first time I ..." and including descriptions based on our five senses.

Thank you to all who attended (and especially to those who donated to the AHAMA scholarship fund):
Jae Jae, Sebastian, Matthew, Jordan, Annmarie, Taylor, Serena, Brandon, Andy, Kaitlyn, and Olivia Leonard (from Family Kicks TKD -- yea!).

For anyone else who's interested, I've posted the handouts and exercises that we used in this workshop to the Generations page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/429485083774723/#

-- Michael

Getting Stronger

Now that things have settled down at work and getting back to normal, I have been able to get back into my routine of going to the gym before I begin my day to work out.  I am lifting weights 3 times a week after a 10 minute cardio run on the elliptical machine to warm up.  On the other 2 days I plan on running on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  I got one run in this week but my lungs needed a day off so I skipped Thursday's run.

My asthma/allergies is really playing havoc with me this year.  10 months of high stress, long work hours and lack of sleep have taken their toll.  The Black Belt test is a very strong motivator to get back into a good routine of working out and staying healthy.

What are you doing outside of class to improve your strength and conditioning?  If you think class and Saturday workouts are enough, you aren't going full out and will be struggling come the conditioning test.

I am sitting here post work out with my protein, veggies and fruit. I have spent all week working outside trying to get this new yard I have inherited back to its original glory from the previous renter. My husband has also been out of town, but by the grace of my Mother, she came to help me with the kids so I could run and train in the studio this week. And my children are spending the night with my sister just so I can train with my fellow tester's tomorrow morning. Not to mention all of the homework... My point is that as I read these blogs, I started to think about my own affirmation which is "No Excuses". It is quite a bit shorter than my first one "Live  a Life Worthy of Your Calling" which was so important to me that I had it tattooed on my arm (the shortened version of course).

I started seeing various kinds of affirmations from different people, and I am very happy to see these because they are so important. These are the words that will be embroidered on your black belt, so you can look back and remember exactly what you were feeling when you chose that phrase or a single word that sums up this last year.

I chose "No Excuses" because I have even more time constraints and commitments going on during this test. I also threw in coaching and mentoring this time:)  Don't let anything get in your way.

Biking

In the past couple days I have done about twenty three miles on my bike. The first day was with Serena and we did the greenway trail to fanno creek trail. That trail was about 5 miles. We improved this year because last year we only did the greenway trail. It was a very fun bike ride where we talked and had fun doing our first bike ride of the summer.

The very next day we woke up at 4:30 to go to buxton for another bike ride but only longer this bike ride was about 18 miles. Buxton is a spot where you can start this ride and buxton is near vermonia. In fact that is where we were heading. The trail was pretty much flat with some slight hills. We planned   on only doing five miles but decided that we needed to push ourselves further. So we did five more only this time we were getting sore but we were like it is only five more miles away so we kept going. You know what we finished the trail all the way to vermonia just because we pushed ourselves just a little further.

affirmation

My affirmation is cowabunga. I chose cowabunga  because to me that means you should not be afraid to be who you really are. When I was in the 4th grade the girls at school would pick on me for wearing boy clothes and not girl clothes.  Some of the girls at Aim High helped me realize that you should be who you want to be. If people don't like you for who you are, then they are not your friends. I got the word  cowabunga from one of my favorite movies, Ninja Turtles!!  I was made fun of  for liking ninja turtles and other "boy stuff" like martial arts, boy shorts, boy shirts or boy shoes. The word cowabunga has a lot of meaning to me because I found a way to be my self with that phrase. It's traditional meaning is great or fantastic and we are all fantastic the way we are.  When ever I am being bullied I think of the word cowabunga and what cowabunga  means to me. That's what cowabunga means to me. T-Berg out!

Preparing to go to Class

So I'm going to leave for class in about twenty minutes. So I thought why don't I do a blog? Here's how I prepare for class, first I get on my gi, next I get water together, then in today's case I iron on my phase three star, next I check that I have all my gear in my bag. I admit sometimes I am in a hurry and I forget to check for everything but I have learned from experience that in the end it always pays off when I go through this checklist. See you all at class!
~Annmarie:0)

My affirmation

I really appreciate the opportunity to choose some meaningful words to inscribe on my black belt -- it's going to be such a cool reminder of what this test means to each of us.

My affirmation is:
DARE TO BE GREAT

This phrase reminds me that I have a choice every day regarding how I approach the challenges and opportunities that come my way. Pretty much any potentially great situation or experience is going to require me to take a risk and put myself out there where I'm vulnerable. Even though it's often safer and more comfortable to stay on the sidelines or float along in the crowd, I know that I have to be willing to take chances and stretch outside my comfort zone in order to achieve something great.

-- Michael

My Affirmation

"Everything that is or was began with a dream."

I know that this quote is from Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and it's just a movie, but seeing this quote in the beginning of the movie really stuck with me. And made me realize that:

1.) How I started martial arts really did begin with a dream

2.) All great inventions, like the lightbulb, also started as a dream, then into an idea, then into reality's greatest inventions.

And it really is a fact, as much as it's an quote. Without dreams; I wouldn't be doing martial arts or show interest in writing; there wouldn't be any inventions, movies, books; or possibly no Aim High. 

I worry a little about this because the quote is long, and it won't fit on the black belt I have dreamed of. 

If that's the case, there's a another quote I really like too.

"See the good things in everything."

Meaning there may be some bad things about everything, like it could be raining and you have to stay inside, but it's really all about the good things to everything. Like it could be raining, but the rain helps the plants, and after the rain there's a chance to see a rainbow.

Did you know?: In the next 60 seconds on the Internet; 27,800 photos will be uploaded to Instagram with 520,000 likes.

•Serena•

Tournament in El paso TX!!

Last weekend I went to El Paso Tx for the battle of the champions tournament! I was very scared because I heard that el paso was a competitive place. It was not as bad as I thought, but it was still really hard!! I did not do so bad there. I went there believing in me, to have fun and because I just love competing. I got 2nd in continuous sparring and in point sparring, 3rd in open weapons, and 4th in traditional and open forms!! I have another tournament coming up in las Vegas!! I hope I can do good in Vegas to. After my plane landed I went to the track with Jae, Jordan, Jonathan and JD. We ran 1/2, sprinting a couple of times and did form. I have schedule to do my conditioning on Thursday. I will post pictures to show my team. T-Berg out!! 

Be Yourself Everyone Else is Taken

My affirmation is 'be yourself everyone else is taken'. What I believe this means is that in order to be you, you need to be YOU! Not someone else because I bet you there is someone out there just like the person you are trying to be and two of the same person is kind of boring. When you are trying to make a friend you want them to like you for you not the person you are trying to be.
~Annmarie:0)

Learning my event results and how I think conditioning went

When I heard how many black belt events I have been to I wasn't happy. Frankly I was just happy I made it to over half. I feel like I need to make a better effort to make it to the extra events outside of class. Going to these events are important and I think épée could all use a reminder of how high we need to be and how high we actually are.

On another note, I feel like we as a team did really well during conditioning this weekend. Here's what we did. First we ran a lap around the aim high building then we did a lap around aim high and OGA then we ran to the soccer field there we did forms as a team then we got partnered with a black belt so they could over look our form and over all technique. We did forms kumo 1,palge 2,4,6,&7. Then we did windsprints. After that we did something like a wheel barel race but instead of running to get to the other side we did a more like one hand forward two hands forward then push p while the other person is holding you up. After that we did a sprint race against bsbn girl Sam. If she beats you than you do 100 push ups. To support our team the people who did beat her all did 50 push-ups. Than  after that we all ran up a hill touched a tree than ran down 14 times. Than ran to kjn Jeremy and we had a closing chat and we walked back with a black belt to ask them the hardest part about their journey to get their black belt.
~Annmarie :0)

Making up my conditioning

Friday I made up my conditioning alone which frankly was very difficult. Without a team to push you and to keep you going it is easy to give up or stop just because its hard. What I did was think, what would my team want me to do? Give up and go home or would they want me to keep going and push myself. I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't giving up yet! Here's what I did, first I ran one mile around the track, then worked on my balance on one of the yoga balls, third I worked on my muscle by doing some weights (Im stronger than I thought), then did 100 push-ups and sit-ups and ran another mile, lastly I did the row machine. This experience made me think of how valuable the support of people who care about you is.
~Annmarie :0)

My affirmation

I hadn't decided on my affirmation but after looking back on the focus for BJJ I have decided for it to be "from the ground up"....meaning everything I think I know continues to be refined for my overall martial arts but especially for BJJ.

I am continually challenged in a way that I can't describe with all the different types of people you can roll with.....large, small, nimble, etc.

This particular aspect has never frustrated me more than anything.....the good news is that everyone has experienced frustration and thru perseverance you can eventually find success.

I hope to see you on the mat very soon!

Affirmation meaning

  My affirmation, "Don't fall into your own shadow", has a lot of meaning in it. Some of them basic and others meaningful. Some people can interpret a lot out of it, but to me, it has one meaning. To me, it means"Don't let your personality get the best of you". It's sort of like don't try to be someone your not, just be yourself. I don't like hiding my true self, because frankly, I can't do that. I always end up doing something that my regular self would.                                                                                            
       And to that, you shouldn't try to hide yourself at all, because it doesn't work out right in the end.
I'm not saying you should never change, because as you get older, you might be more mature, or more disciplined. I'm saying don't force yourself to change, because if you do that, like I said, it doesn't feel right.

Brandon.

Made up the workout that I missed

Hi all,
I wasn't able to go to the June 22 team conditioning day, so I did the workout on July 6. The toughest part of doing this workout alone was maintaining intensity and focus -- I was moving slower and feeling less focused than when I'm with our class. But when I was doing my forms, I was able to concentrate on doing each move more precisely.

I know that I'm going to miss one or two more of these team conditioning sessions -- I'm going to figure out which dates I can't be there, and see if anyone else needs a buddy to make-up those dates.

-- Michael

Work hard dream big

My affirmation is work hard dream big. What that means to me is that there is two parts of reaching your goal, setting your goal which is the dreaming part of it and working for it. That reminds that I can't just be lazy and let everything go into place.  We have to take action and do something about it. That shows leadership and that's who we are.  We're role models and we got to lead by example. If we show others that we can reach and work for a goal, they will want to do the same. 

Busyness

My week was VERY busy, but the busiest days were Saturday and today. Saturday started off me going to the special training that morning, my cousin coming with me to support me; then going to the bookstore to get a present for a friend. I got a book as well as my cousin (she technically got a journal, but that's still a type of book.) After special training and the bookstore, my cousin and I had a mini scavenger hunt to find all of her things. At dinner, my family, along with Jae's family, went to dinner at a place called Jin Wa. (I think that's how you spell it...)  After eating, I almost pulled an all-nighter with my cousin so she could sleep better on the plane because she left for Hawaii today . If I would have stayed up one more hour I would have pulled an all-nighter. We watched an anime called Fruits Basket and got to episode 7 before both falling asleep.

 We both got an hour of sleep, waking up at 4:00 AM today. We loaded the luggages in the van, got into the car, and sat there in the car until we got to the airport. For some reason, everytime I go to drop her off at the airport, sad songs play on the radio. It kinda angered me, listening to these songs, as if the universe was rubbing the irony in my face. 

When we got to the airport, we had to checking in and all of the other stuff that was mandatory. We got some breakfast, which for me was a vanilla maroon, a giant peanut butter cookie, and some Jamba Juice.

I talked for a bit, but soon it was time for her to go though security and get on her flight. For six 'o clock in the morning, the line moved pretty quickly.  

We returned home at seven 'o clock, and the first thing I did was walk upstairs to my room, climb into my bed, and sleep. I woke up at around one 'o clock. (I know, but I was really tired.) 

And that was pretty much my weekend. For the rest of today, I watched some more anime, played some video games, and just relaxed. 

Before I end this blog though, I would like to see a blog from all of you guys next week or something. You don't have to, but I want to hear what you guys are doing, hear what was big in your week, or more information about yourself. Challenge yourself to do at least one blog a week, or to tell others about your week. Was it stressful? Busy? Exciting? Hope to hear from you soon!

Did you know?: A Parker ballpoint pen will produce more than five miles of writing before running out of ink.

•Serena•

Conditioning

  Yesterday's conditioning was (In my opinion) fun and hard. We ran around AH, then around AH and OGA, and then ran to the field behind the buildings. After, we did all forms (Palgwe 2,4,6,7) And then polished them with the Black Belt instructors. Me, Sebastian, and Jordan got BSBN Cory , and I don't know who everybody else got. After doing polishing, we did wind sprints. We ran as fast as we could down the field and did 10 push ups.We repeated this about 6 times and Did a group one, where everybody was supposed to beat BSBN Girl Sam. People who didn't did 100 push ups, while the rest of the group did 50. Then we did wheelbarrow things where our partner would wrap their legs around us and we would support their thighs, and then then would walk forward on their hands and do a push up every 2 hand-walks.
             The next part was fun. We bear crawled up the hill to a tree, then ran/jogged back down. This was one of the hardest activities, taking a lot of time. On the 3rd or 4th tree, we had to run up and down, due to the thorns on the ground. Their were 14 trees, and rodent holes everywhere on the ground. I nearly sprained my hand when it slipped into one.
   After a brief talk, we walked back to AH, talking with our instructors about the Black Belt test. About the Black Belt events, Technique, and other important things. We picked up lots of trash along the way, whether it was an icebag or a piece of tinfoil.
  After the conditioning, BSBN Girl Sam drove to the airport to fly to Indonesia and the Lemonade Staff raised $150 for Demo team Tees.
Hope this helped, T-Berg.

Brandon.

Good to be back!

After spending a week camping and fishing it felt good to be back training.....I did do quite abit of activities like hiking, swimming, etc.....

Funny thing I thought I would be very sore from our training, but honestly I think the week off really helped me with recovery as I feel great today!

It was great to be able to provide some mentorship to a few of the testers and help them with their forms.  Forms happens to be one of my weak areas, where I think I tend to over think....but I felt pretty good about our Chumo 4 and Corio on the field!

Great job everyone!  We will see you on Monday!

Conditioning

Today during conditioning we ran a lap around the first block of aim high .Then we ran a lap around the area by OGA. After that we had to run to Five Oaks field. When we first got to the field we lined up for forms dividing the people testing for first degree and the people testing for second degree. Then we went into groups with the second degree testers and they helped us through some forms also. Right after that we sprinted.  We raced in three different flights, girls, boys and the second degree testers. In  our flights we raced from one cone to the next and the person who made it there first did not have to do five push ups.  We did this 5 times. Then we picked a partner and one person was on the ground like how you do in a wheel barrow race then the person standing has to let their partner's legs wrap around them. Then they have to walk on their hands twice then do a push up. We did that once then switched. After that we did the hardest part of all. So there was 14 trees across the hill and we had to bear crawl up the hill and run down the hill by each of the 14 trees.

On our way back to aim high we had the chance to talk to some of the coaches about the test. I was with BSBN GSam and she talked to us about some of her toughest moments and how she learned to persevere. She also told us some of her best moments.  People in her group hopefully learned that just because something stands in our way does not mean we give up.  It just means we try harder.

I was rather happy to see a post from KJN about testing. To a writer, seeing a post subject like this is always wonderful to see because it gets you excited to sit down and tell your story and the story that you hope to live out. The ages or "Generations" of this year’s testers is a wide array of people. We have kids, teenagers, twenty-something’s, thirty-something's and forty-something's. And when I made the decision last summer to test, I started thinking about how hard it would be in relation to last test. I went through a lot of stress and trying to push through the things that were the hardest, but this time I wasn't scared of my asthma or my physical limitations because my asthma is under control. I wanted to run a half marathon this year as part of my training. In the beginning of the test I was hoping that this will be as amazing as the last test. I have had so many people pushing me to be better and helping by giving me advice and being right there with me every step of the way. I have had the honor of mentoring and coaching kids in this test, and maybe even helped some adults along the way. In closing, I see myself doing another half marathon in September and a 10k run that funds the Edwards center. I am so excited to see how continuing to run might one day get me to a full marathon, hopefully by my third degree test. Standing on that stage with my fellow testers receiving our black belts is going to be even more amazing than what I thought it would be like the first time around. Its all about the people.

Sorry

Hello team! This is Serena and I first want to say sorry I haven't been blogging in a long time, the reason I haven't been blogging is because I thought I was doing too many and should stop for a while so I wouldn't be posting so much. Turns out, I stopped for almost a month.

But I'm back, and this week has been fun. 

All started on the Fourth of July, there was the C.A.T walk (KJN's version of what he thought the C.A.T walk was is still fresh in my mind by the way) with Jae, Brandon, Taylor, and my cousin Kait. I mostly ran the 5K, jogging or walking to catch my breath. Most of the time to my surprise, I wasn't panting or breathing heavily. But what I was really surprised at was my grandpa beat me. (He's a really fast walker/runner!) I beat my time from the Shamrock run with my time in the 30 minutes, not 40 minutes. We took a break and went home to rest, then watched Despicable Me 2. It was really funny in my opinion and a lot of inside jokes I found funny. We shot fireworks that night and so cars even stopped by close to my house to enjoy a free firework show!

Friday, I went bowling with the same people who did the C.A.T walk, and what I found mind blowing was my three-year-old little sister beat all of us. After my family went shopping and went home.

Saturday, Kaitlyn had a party and there was a piñata the older poom belts there got to kick it! There was a sleepover three hours after the party and Taylor,Jae, Kaitlyn, Kait, and I pulled an allnighter! It's where you stay until the next day. Kaitlyn fell asleep first, then me, the Taylor and Jae, but Kait stayed up 'till 5:30!

Today, we (being the girls) cleaned up, played, cleaned up again, helped make bronkies (bronkies: a cookie and a brownie put together.) then watched a movie. After the movie was about finished, people started to come over so we could "fight with water" (meaning play with water.) I got to say, the water wasn't that cold, but when the wind blew, it got cold. When everybody left, a couple hours later we went to Olive Garden. 

This whole next week is going to be crazy, OMSI, having our last lemonade stand, other dining places, and my cousin leaving on the 14th. Hope you guys have a fun week too!

Did you know?: if you pull and allnighter, you'll burn 161 calories.

~Serena

(Fancy Tuna!) 

Change & Growth...

Hello Team!!

I have been consistently reading the blogs and recording every entry from every tester.  I can honestly say that I feel the majority of the group is sprinting toward the next rank!  You have made so many improvements and changes over the past months and we are still a few months out!

Take some time to think about where you were at the beginning of training and what you thought it was going to be like....then compare that to where you are now.....then look forward to where you expect to be in 3 months!!  Write about your experience and the experiences you've shared with your fellow testers.

Keep it up!!

-KJN

phase 3!! :{ )

Hi team, so today is phase 3!! yay! Lets go out there and show them the best that we got!!! We all have strive to be the best tester. We can't let Jae have all the fun, sorry Jae. We all have to build off over each other because we all have different strengths and weaknesses. So lets help each other to be the best that we can be!! The year is not over but it's not a long ways away either! So be prepared for anything you might need today and/or any other day! Lets go out there and show them what we got!!   T-Berg out!! :{ ) P.S good luck!!   

Good to be Home Again

Cgn Paula's new best friend.

Cgn Paula and I had a great time on our vacation.  Most of Paula's family was there for her niece's wedding.  I haven't been able to go with her to Wisconsin for several years, so it was good to see everyone.  A couple of our friends went with us to meet Paula's family and everyone had a great time.  After the number of hours I put in at work over the last 10 months, I definitely needed a break.

One of the keys to success is to make changes if your goals aren't being reached by doing what you are doing.  I'm working through that process now to get back on track.  I should be back to working normal hours now, so I will be concentrating more on my training.  With no early morning meetings, I should be able to run or go to the gym before work again - I've got to get ready for the Sun Run and a 10K run at work by the end of the month.  I have an appointment next week to look into allergy shots to see if they will help me better control my asthma - another contributor to my not being where I want to be right now.

It sounds like I have missed some very positive trainings. I'm looking forward to see how far everyone has come over the past couple of weeks.