Light The Night with Zumba

I love to read blogs…and two of them that I read religiously are don’t waste your cancer and enjoying the small things.  Both have recently mentioned how blogging is funny because sometimes there are events that just don’t make it into the blog, whether they are huge events or totally insignificant little things…sometimes things get through the cracks and go unnoticed. And what do you know…oddly enough I was looking back for a post on last years Light The Night walk and I realized I never posted anything about it…weird huh?!?

So last year, myself, my Mother and a few amazing life-long friends participated in the Light The Night 5k walk at Angels Stadium.  Mother and I have done MANY MANY breast cancer walks/events since her battle with breast cancer back in 2004.  So now that I too am a cancer survivor we’ve made it a point to make sure we do at least 1 breast cancer event every year AND one Lymphoma event too!!  So Light The Night is a walk that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, they have walks throughout the year all over the United States. Actually another blog I follow recently posted about their Light The Night team (see here). Since lots of my friends are Angels fans, we do the Orange County walk that goes through Angel Stadium. Its lots of fun, and I love everyone that supports me during these events.

Last years team…2010 Carin’ For Erin

Anna, Nichole, Sandi, Gabby, ME, Erika, Donnita, Jamie, and Bernie (aka Mother).

This years Carin’ For Erin team has grown…by lots of people…and some of our old team members are multiplying (Jamie is prego w/ Baby Jaxson due in Oct…and they will “both” be participating in the walk this year).  Anyway…I’ve totally fallen in love with Zumba.  I try going as often as I can…and my AWESOME Zumba instructor, Kim Jenkins (who can be found here) does private parties. So I thought…I wanna get Kim to my house so all my girlfriends can do some Zumba…wheels in my head were turning and HEY…we’ll make it a Zumba fundraiser for Light The Night!! I  planned for Saturday August 27th…you know RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of a freakin’ heat wave in Southern California! We were in my backyard at 6pm and it was still well OVER 95  degrees. But around 25 faithful women showed up paid $10 for an hour of Zumba (and jello shots to follow)…and we got to shake our booties!! Whoohoo!! So so so much fun!

This was the group that turned out!!! Friends from all walks of life!!!

 

   

Can you tell that purple is our new team color this year?? Ü

I heard a lot of laughing from back in this corner with these ladies <------

I hope they all had a good time. I was very proud of my best friend Cindy…who doesn’t dance sober nor does she ever work out…but she hung in there and did the whole hour!! 

 

 

After the hour of Zumba we had chips and salsa, fruit, cookies, muffins, candy…you know all the healthy foods! haha  Oh and beer, wine, Toxic Lemonade, and 75 jello shots…

I think Kim liked them…or Jen was just REALLY good at forcing them down her throat!

Thank you ladies for coming and donating to a wonderful cause, and to those that are always supporting me through sickness and health I appreciate it oh so much!…oh and the total we raised was $287!! yay! Ü

My pantry door is decorated with  “donation balloons”…I feel like we look like Vons.  If anyone is still interested in donating to our team or any individual member of the team, our donation page can be found here  OR if you’d like to register and become a MEMBER of our team you can do that at the same site as the donation. (Its free to register…most awesome event ever! haha I likey free!)

Who says little boys can’t play with high-heels? heehee

Gosh…its not summer vacation anymore but Geez-La-Weez its HOT this week! Thank the Lord I picked to teach swimming first…(and Zumba second…SOO excited to start that unit!)  You know getting over 100 freshman bodies into a 50 meter pool..teach them something useful and then get them back outta the water before anyone gets hurt is a VERY high stress job…may sound “easy” to some of you but the anxiety of an old lady (me) is crazy.  I think back to when I was 16 years old and a lifeguard…like really…how did I not stress the HELL out everyday while watching families come in to swim, babies and all…with hardly any supervision. I don’t think I could ever be a lifeguard again…I’ve changed too much. True crazy Mom now! Ü

Nothing all that exciting has really been going on lately…just lots of work and school. I’m still getting used to having 3 different classes to prep for…PE, Online Health and regular Health…its getting better I’m starting to learn how to manage my time more efficiently.  Souza Life is back on a routine…cooked dinners during the week…trading off who gets to go work out which nights while Owen sleeps…watching lots of reality junk tv (TOTALLY my guilty pleasure)…and doing homework! I’m soooo sick and tired of doing homework. God please give me the strength to get through another 5-6 months of this b*llsh*t.  
But, I will say, this is what helps me get up every morning…While I was getting dressed and ready for work Owen was playing in the closet, he seemed to be TOO quiet…so I peeked in, scared to look to see what I’d find….

         
                

…and there he was, playing with some of Mommy’s VERY old dress shoes (I’m talking paralegal days). He loved them. I told them they were only for girls…so then he insisted that he put them on me…**Owen is going to KILL me when he grows up and sees these..and then when he realizes I posted them on the internet…oh man! hahaha**

Kim Jenkins, my zumba instructor just left my house…we were choosing the playlist for this Saturday. I’m pretty darn excited for this Zumba party…I mean fundraiser heehee! We’re having it here at my house this Saturday!! $10 for an hour of Zumba and some cocktails to follow whoohooo. Zumba and drinks….TWO of my favorite activities!!!!
We’re raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and participating in the Light The Night 5k Walk on September 17th with team Carin’ For Erin! Yay. Today I went to a friends house and was a little over-come with emotion when I walked into the house and they were there, decorating their shirts with puffy paint…both so excited about  their “team shirts” for the walk and zumba night.

Thank you Taryn and Erin for coming out and supporting us…and always being there for ME! I look forward to having you guys on our “team” this year…since the walk isn’t on a Sunday like last year and you’re able to stay up past your bedtimes!! haha
Our friendship started 5 years ago just as new co-workers with similar or the same name as me and have really become people that I’m grateful to have in my life! And I CAN’T FREAKIN’ WAIT to watch both of you Zuuuuuummmbba! heehee.

Now time for homework…..or bed??? Hmmm..Good Night!

Low Key Weekends…

Many know that we usually keep ourselves pretty busy on the weekends. We have LOTS of friends with LOTS of kids…which usually equals…LOTS of places to go and parties to attend! And this weekend was no exception. Our little Wyatt Manley turned the big ONE…and we celebrated at a local park (Santana Park in South Corona) that also has water features!

Owen was so excited….and couldn’t stand still long enough for a good picture…so these are the only ones I could get him in one place long enough for a quick snap of the ol’ camera!~ He didn’t want to get soaked. The water was chilly and it wasn’t crazy hot outside either…it was funny!

Matt & Ryland playing w/ the water gun and Joel and Wyatt having fun too!

What did our parents do with us before parks finally realized that Southern California is WAY to hot for regular parks?!? I love this water feature parks!!! But we celebrated big Tank Wyatt turning ONE.

Owen and Ryland had such a good time together…they are considered the “big boys” of the group since Jaxon, Wyatt and Tyler are the “little boys” these days.  Heather had gotten Owen the same quicksilver board shorts as Ryland and of course they were both wearing them on the same day (totally not planned but TOTTALLY cute!).  It was  a lot of fun to watch them actually play together, chatting away to one another.

Watching them together it looked like they could have been brothers…it was so cute. We could see them chatting to each other and Heather and I kept asking ourselves…what could they be talking about?!? Yosh said they were probably talking about chicks. haha

Now while Owen naps I gotta get my butt outside for a bit…my “pretty brown fat” is slowing starting to fade back to its ugly white/peachness again! haha