Hey hey all!  So today is the 1st day of Lent!  Now I can't assume that all of you follow the same faith as I do, that's just silly, but as a devote Catholic and a woman of strong faith I will totally be partaking in the Lenten season.  During Lent it is customary for those to give up something that we consider a luxury, something we could easily do without OR there is also the option to add something to your life, like making a commitment to add a good deed or positive change.  This year, I'm giving up make up!  I love my make up, I have at least 3 make up bags and you will never see me out and about without make up on.  Soooo, yep, 40 days, NO MAKE UP!  The pic above I took this morning, absolutely no make up, just moisturizer!  This is going to be interesting, I can't wait to see how this effects my everyday life.  I will tell you one thing, my 'get ready' time will be cut WAY DOWN!  I'm looking forward to this new idea :)  Are you giving anything up for Lent?

So let's talk about this weekend!  It was a loooong one for me, in a good way!  Took Friday off and had a great time with the family at The Great Wolf Lodge!  The kids are at the perfect age now where we can go on all the waterslides!  So fun!  One of their favorite things to do... stand under the huge bucket of water LOL!  My favorite... the hot tub :)
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Wooooosh! Haha.. Mari is in the blue, purple and green bikini and Hai is right next to her in the orange trunks!
Saturday I had an awesome Turbo class bright and early and when I got home I was surprised that the UPS man has delivered the much anticipated bag of Tropical Shakeology!
The verdict... I give it a 7 out 10.  I like it, it smells phenomenal, but it lacks (for me) in texture and volume.  Meaning, the texture is not as smooth as I'm used to and the volume is very thin, I like a thick shake and Chocolate still stands at #1 for me!  The flavor of Tropical is very good and if definitely has that smoothies effect to it so I could def. go for one every now and then if I'm feeling fruity :) 

Sunday and Monday were totally relaxing days, had a house full of kids on Monday since it was President's Day and no school, so the kids had their besties over to play :)  Can't believe it's already Wednesday!  Ahhh the benefits of a shortened week!  Hope the week is treating you well!  Looking forward to teaching my first Turbo class of the week tonight!  Do you have a workout on tap for tonight?  Maybe you got one in already?  Share with us!
 
WOW!  Thursday already?!  Yes, yes I know I'm SO late on my post this week, but in my defense I just returned from my trip to Orlando a few days ago and it took a few days to re-adjust to my routine.  But, I'm back and all chaos has been restored :)  Oh friends... where do I begin... this past weekend was one that I will NEVER forget.  It forever changed the way I will think, act and LIVE.  And all for the better.  So, let me get ya back up to speed, this past weekend I attended Dani Johnson's First Steps To Success seminar.  WOW.  That's all, WOW!  I can't go over EVERYTHING, I would honestly have a million pages of notes if I did that.  But, I will tell you this, I learned more about myself in 3 days, than I have in my entire LIFE.  This woman is not only of brilliance in a business sense, but if you struggle at all with your finances, your relationships or your faith... you need to plug into the info that she is giving out.  End of story.  I came back with a renewed sense of vision and a whole lotta information that I plan to put into action!  BOOM!  I'm excited :)  So let me share a few pics I took at the conference....
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This was Day 2 of the event. Dani sectioned us off into 4 different groups based on our personality types: Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald & Pearl. FYI, I'm a Sapphire, I'm motivated by fun, I see the good in ALL situations, I have a tendency to be a little over the top, but it's all in good nature... is that a dead on description of me or what?! :) Funny story.. when she turned to our group to talk, she cued for music to start and instantaneously ALL the Sapphires in the group immediately stood up and started dancing LOL! We can't help ourselves!
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This was Day 3. Dani did a specific workshop for those that run a home based business (ME! Beachbody Coach!). LOTS of good info at this workshop, definitely learned a lot of great concepts, techniques and practices. This training will definitely give me an edge in my business!
Definitely some great info during all 3 days of the seminar, I'm SO incredibly grateful that I went and that I took advantage of this opportunity, it will definitely come back to help me times 10!

So, while down in Orlando, I stayed with some amazing friends, really I'm so blessed to have these friendships!  We sampled the local fare and I definitely had to bring my love and those babies something back from Florida!  What kinda wife/mother would I be if I didn't, right!?  :)
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First stop was the Orlando Harley Davidson store... of course I had to get the Hubs some skulls!
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Next stop was lunch at the Alehouse (we went there ALOT!) I'm here with my housemates, the beautiful Carmela and the power couple Joe & Tina! We owned that place, everyone wanted to know about Beachbody :) All 3 of us ladies were sporting the logos in one way, shape or form!
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Right before we headed out Friday night to register for Dani Johnson and have dinner with a few other amazing peeps! SMOKIN'!
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LOVE this pic. Carmela and I wearin' & sharin' at Senor Frogs!
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My last night there, my good friend Joe and I hit up a place called Funky Monkey, what an awesome place! It looked real swanky, but the prices actually weren't bad! I had a big house salad with ginger dressing and lobster sushi...DELISH!
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Leaving Funky Monkey we passed this restaurant, Wonder Works. Yeah, it's upside down. Coolest thing ever!
So, those are pretty much all the pics I got while I was down there.  So much fun, learned SO much, met AMAZING people.  A truly great experience!  But, after 4 days I was READY TO GO HOME to my love and my babies!!!!!  I tell you what I couldn't get off that  plane fast enough LOL!  It was almost like a scene in a movie... notice I said ALMOST.  Tony was waiting at the bottom of the escalator at baggage claim for me and was gonna surprise me... well, I got off at a different escalator LOL!!! We played phone tag until we finally saw eachother haha... still an amazing reunion, I never want to be away from him or my kids for that long again, next time... they come with me!  I did have a HUGE surprise waiting for me.  MY HUBBY.. my hubby totally converted our basement into a home gym!!!  Check it out!!
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What a kick butt surprise!!!!!
Wooo!  I'll have no problem heading down at 5AM to get a workout in with this just a staircase away LOL!  I'm so blessed.  Be blessed friends.  Look for the good in all situations.  Don't get me wrong, I get frustrated sometimes and I do have an ugly side (right honey!), but I will never forget what I have or where I came from.  What a way to start off 2012.  What a YEAR it will be.  Have an awesome week fit friends.  We'll talk soon!