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Friday, 24 October 2014
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Zumba! Zumba!
If you are anything like me, you
don’t enjoy going to the gym and embarrassing yourself in front of those who
actually know what they are doing. To remedy this, I go to fitness classes! If
you have never been to one, you are seriously missing out! They are a dream
come true for people like me who are both insecure and very easily distracted.
Fitness classes are a place for both beginners and more advanced gym patrons to
get their workout on in a relaxed setting. Today I’m not going to tell you
exactly what happens in each class, but I’ll give you more of an overview instead.
This way, you know what you are getting into without being overly prepared.
It’s better to not overthink it and just dive in headfirst.
. Yoga
Not gonna lie, I was pretty
skeptical going to yoga for the first time. I had never done yoga other than
Wii Fit and I really wasn’t looking forward to falling on my ass out of a tree
pose in front of a whole class of people, but I pushed myself to go. It was a
great experience! To this day, I can’t say that I ever clear my mind or focus
entirely on the stretched muscles like you’re suppose to, but if you can fully
immerse yourself in it it will be a whole new experience. I have seen people
come to yoga from all age groups and no one is ever perfect at it. If you can’t
stand in a pose for too long or something hurts, there’s always an alternative.
The instructors are easy going and not going to push you into things that you
aren’t comfortable doing. It’s more relaxation than working out.
Spin
Class
I had heard how great spin classes
were from my roommate freshman year and I was pumped to go, but I wasn’t able
to fit it into my schedule until last year, my Junior year. I would love to
tell you that it is the best class ever, but it is not…it is not a good time.
Your backside will hurt for days and sweat will come pouring out of you like
there is no tomorrow, but it is worth it. If you get a good teacher, like I
did, he or she will push you and make you want to come back no matter how bad
you just want to lay on the ground and die instead. It’s a great cardio workout
and your legs will thank you. The class is very high intensity with very few
breaks, but you control how much you get out of it. If you push yourself and
try your hardest, you will see results, but if you just glide along and do the
very minimum then you might as well just take a seat on a bike on the main
floor instead. Typically, I don’t see many older men or woman in the class, but
all are welcome.
Zumba
I could talk about zumba all day,
literally. It is my favorite class ever. If you couldn’t tell from the previous
sections, I get distracted very easily and lack motivation. I can’t use an
elliptical for more than 5minutes before loosing my mind. I either get bored or
don’t push myself because no one is there to tell me that I can go faster or up
the intensity. Zumba fixes that issue. It is dancing, which is not repetitive
like a treadmill or elliptical, but gives you just as much cardio. I can’t
dance for shiitake, but if I could dance everyday, all day I would. You don’t
have to be a good dancer, you don’t have to have rhythm, and you really don’t
really even have to be able to do the moves as long as you keep your feet
moving. You could literally do an intense version of “the sprinkler” every
other move and still get a workout. The three types that I have gone to have
varying degrees of difficulty…
1.
Zumba Toning
2.
Aqua Zumba
3. Zumba
Zumba Toning and Aqua zumba will
give you generally the same type of workout. They are less cardio and more
toning. You won’t sweat as much but your arms will hurt like a swift kick to
the shins for the rest of the day. These two classes have the most diversity in
attendees because they put very little stress on your joints. Especially Aqua
zumba, which takes place in the water so there is less weight on your legs and
knees. You don’t even need to know how to swim because you are only deep enough
into the water to reach your shoulders and that’s it. Think “water aerobics”.
Regular zumba is my personal
choice. Depending on the teacher, it will have varying degrees of difficulty
but you generally sweat the same. I had a couple instructors who taught mostly
pop song/dance while another stayed with Latin flare. Typically, Zumba is
mostly Latin dance, but I prefer a good mix of both. In other words, I can’t
move my hips or feet fast enough for Latin, so I prefer to twerk it in a good
pop medley. No one is going to judge you either way.
Another good thing about zumba, is
that it is easy to do at home. The “Just Dance” video game gives you a similar
workout especially in the “Just Sweat” section. There are even games
specifically for zumba out there and plenty of YouTube videos. You can find a
few of my favorite Youtube routines on my Pinterest.
Hopefully this motivated you to
get up and get moving. There are plenty more classes that I did not mention
that may appeal to your specific interests even more, so go out and find them!
I am not expert in any way, I am not all that coordinated, and I’m definitely
out of shape so if I can do it, you can to. All the classes I have ever gone to
have a very welcoming atmosphere. Some of the coolest people and the people I
relate to the most I have met through these classes, because we all share a
similar workout mentality. If you do end up going to a class I would love to
hear about it! I truly hope that your experience is as rewarding as mine have
been. I’ll miss you, but I’ll talk to you again soon! <3
Sarah is a student at Bradley University and is interested in studying many things. With biology being one of her subjects, she would have to say that her favorite class is art. She loves her two pups named Pebbles and BamBam, all of the other pets she has at home, One Direction, food the requires little effort such as applesauce pouches, and oh..peacocks with glittery Iphone cases that are sold at an exclusive peacock bed and breakfast. She enjoys crafts, baking, sleeping for more hours than recommended, hanging out with friends, participating in events such as The Color Run, going to concerts, and watching Netflix.
Where to find me:
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Monday, 20 October 2014
Liebster Award!
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Wow! I am honored to have received this award from the gorgeous,Michailah, at The Original Culture. Thank you so much for noticing The Traveling Blog and for the award!
The Rules!
-Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display the award
-Answer the 11 questions given to you from the blogger
-Give 11 facts about yourself
-Nominate 11 blogs you think are deserving of the award (less than 200 followers)
-Let the bloggers know you have nominated them
-Give 11 questions to them to answer
Here are Michailah's 11 questions:
1. What makes you feel alive?
Wow, you picked one of the hardest things I always question. What makes me feel alive is the continuous love I receive from my family, my boyfriend, friends, and the Queen. I am so thankful for each person that loves me and takes time out of their day to have a chat with me. I am so grateful to know that I am loved no matter what mistakes I make. I have my parents unconditional support for the big decision I made to move out of state and know that they are always there for me even when I am thousands of miles away. This love makes me feel alive.
2. What is your favorite era?
I believe I love the 20s-30s. I love the glitz and how proper things were back then. The ladies were classy and the men were coy gentlemen. The music was amazing. No reliance on technology.
3. Where would you like to live in 3 years?
I will answer this question as unrealistic as possible, Brighton. You can thank Zoella for that one.
4. What kind of phone do you have?
iPhone.
5. Why do you blog?
I love to write. I always have. I think that I am capable of writing about things that people would be interested in. I also have a lot of things that I am passionate about! I would even want to share with the world any exciting things that are going on in my life. This goes for all of the people that also participate in my blog. I love that we all get to share so many ideas and opinions on one blog.
6. What is your favorite color and why?
Purple. Can anyone really explain why they like their favourite colour? I just like it. It looks great in a home, on a person, and on paper. It is a feminine colour, but not as girly as pink is.
7. Were you ever in a spelling bee?
I think I could be! I am that grammar/spelling nazi that will correct you...even online. Sorry in advance.
8. How old are you?
23 years young.
9. What is your dream job?
I have a lot...make up artist for my favourite celebrity or Cirque Du Soliel, professional blogger, wildlife photographer, work with animals by doing veterinary research, or a pediatrician. Yeah...I am all over the place.
10. What is your favorite post from your blog so far?
This is a really hard question since there are posts on my blog that are not written by me. I know it is expected that I pick one of my own, but there is one that I love and was so excited to have published! That is the post titled "How to make your life, your life!" It was written by my boyfriend's cousin, Paulina. She hails all the way from Germany and had a lot of positive advice on living your life. Click here to read the post! Danke Paulina<3
11. If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Cheese Pizza!
11 Facts about me:
1. I own the coolest pet ever, a chinchilla. Follow her on instagram: @queen_chili_the_chinchilla !
2. I used to dance and my favourite style of dance would be lyrical.
3. I am licensed (in Illinois) for cosmetology.
4. I am the oldest of 4. I love them all, but am happy to call Queen Chili my only child.
5. I live with my boyfriend in Utah. It has so far been quite the experience. Living with a boyfriend in a new state...it has been a year here so far and I am still adjusting.
6. I am half Polish and half Mexican.
7. I love animals. Of all kinds, but am not too keen on the reptiles...or insects. Just the cute things.
9. I really do love to read, but with my job I find it hard to put aside any time for myself.
10. Speaking of, I work for Wayfair! I love my job.
11. I am from Illinois and am familiar with one of the greatest cities in the US, Chicago. I also lived in San Diego, CA for a very short time. I love the ocean and the mountains in Utah are lovely, but it is nothing like my home.
Blogs I Nominate!
Molly Mac
Simply Lyss
Little Miss Plus Size
Simply Lyss
Little Miss Plus Size
11 questions for you!
1. What is your favourite holiday and why?
2. With money not being an option, what would you do to make the world a better place?
3.Name 3 artists I should listen to!
4. If I could get you 1 gift for Christmas, what would you like?
5. Let's be friends! Follow @thetravelingblog on Instagram and I will follow you back! Who else should I follow? What's your favourite Instagram account?
6. Thoughts on love during this generation?
7. Fame or true love?
8. Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley, or Melissa McCartney? Who do you love most?
9. What is your style like?
10. Make-up staple product?
11. Which is better: taking a bath or having a shower?
Those are all my questions for you! I hope you like them and have fun answering them and learning a little about me!
Michelle is a licensed cosmetologist with a passion for writing. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, organizing things, listening to music, and video chatting her family and friends. Being a huge animal lover, she loves her chinchilla named Queen Chili and misses Delilah, her Goldendoodle who lives with her family.
Where to find me:
Monday, 13 October 2014
How to play the game:
No one is perfect,
So stop being so hard on yourself.
Laugh until you cry.
Cry until you laugh.
Life is hard, just accept it.
It’s okay to ask for help.
Stand firm in your beliefs.
Love someone with all your heart.
Love yourself.
Never forget where you came from.
Apologize when you’re wrong.
Break through your comfort zone.
Ignorance is not bliss, study and work hard.
Forgive, but never forget.
Be gracious in all that you do.
Erika is a senior at Nerinx Hall and will be attending McKendree University fall 2015 with an interest in International Business. She is a phenomenal soccer player who has played all her life and will join the women's soccer team while in college. If she is not training or at a game you can find her working, hanging out with friends, reading, studying, eating chicken wings, or tanning.
Where to find me:
Monday, 6 October 2014
A night to remember
If you’ve
been to one of their concert you know that it’s an unforgettable experience and
not one night of the tour is like another. It’s like when you hit one of the
item boxes in Mario Kart. You never know what item you are going to get, but
you know that no matter what item it is you can be sure that it is going to
emotionally scar someone around you. Every time I play Mario Kart I know I feel
my blood pumping through my veins and my excitement building when I get a red
shell, and that is just like how it feels when you “think” Niall is looking
directly at you in a crowd of thousands of screaming fans. It’s a thrill ride
all on its own.
Before I
start I should clarify that I am 21 years old and my primary focus was quite
literally to never take my eyes off of Niall Horan. He’s a work of art, what
can I say? Both bubbly, energetic personality and brilliant blue eyes stole my
heart over those two nights.
The first
night happened to be the wonderful and handsome Liam Payne’s Birthday, so that
was a good distraction from the Irish ball of sunshine for a couple hours. The
night was all about Liam and it was everything I had hoped for. I would say
probably 80% of the posters in the crowd were telling him happy birthday and
all of the boys made mention of it in their speeches. It was so sweet! His
parents and girlfriend were even in the crowd that night to celebrate along
with him. I had no idea they were there until Harry graciously made mention to
the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Payne “did the dirty 21 years ago today” and pointed
them out in the crowd for everyone to see. Their embarrassment was the most
memorable moment of the night. The whole crowd singing “Happy Birthday” to the
birthday boy closely followed this intimate moment. His smile lit up the
stadium. He looked so happy. My dad came to drop me off but didn’t attend the
concert (he went to the jazz festival instead) and he said he could hear us clearly
singing it to Liam from outside the gates. Now if that’s not love, I don’t know
what is.
Along with getting the gift of no
rain and a cool breeze, Liam also received a few gifts from the crowd that were
quite lovely. A pizza hat, pineapple hat, crown, and batman stuffed bear were
only a few of things I saw him with that night. I don’t know if the strangely
large amount of hats I saw on stage were a sign that people weren’t so fond of
his hair cut, but I’m going to assume it was just a coincidence because he
looked lovely that night.
Now, many more things happened the
first night than I mentioned, but nothing was more important than Liam so I’m
not going to bore you with the rest of the details.
The second day was a big day for
One Direction’s opening act, 5 Seconds of Summer. I love 5SOS almost as much as
I love 1D, so you can be sure that I was rocking out just as hard for them. The
reason this night was so special was that they sung their song “Long Way Home”
for the first time on stage that night. That song is my favorite off their
album so I was incredibly excited and you could feel that excitement radiating
through the crowd as well. Not everyone in the crowd knew them or their music,
but they still got the crowd up on their feet and singing along with a couple
cover songs in the mix. They sung both “Teenage Dream” and “What I Like About
You”. I have never seen a grown woman in her 40s get up out of her seat as fast
as I did that night. I kid you not, when “What I Like About You” started
playing she shot up out of her seat with beer in hand ready to get her groove
on. This may have happened on the first night, but we’re going to pretend it
was night two to keep things organized. To distract you from my deceit here are
some of the pictures of the punk rockers themselves…
Before I continue on and talk about
the main event and I do remember one other moment from day one that might
interest you. Part way through the concert, a couple girls and their moms refused
to go back and sit in their row and instead stood in the aisle (I was the aisle
seat in the section next to them). I was perplexed! I saw no puke, nobody
fainted, and everything looked all well and good. It wasn’t until a security
guard came over that things got a little too spicy up in the 200s. The guard
kept arguing with one of the moms still standing in the row about what seemed
like spilled beer. She ruthlessly stood her ground so he asked her and her other
mom friends to leave. As the guard was taking her away, she yelled one last
time at the mom standing in the aisle and took a swing at her head. I don’t
condone violence, but I was very entertained. She apparently took this game of
Mario Kart a bit too seriously. She was not going let that other woman take the
lead with a blue shell, but all she had to back her up were a couple green
shells and we all know how useless those things are.
Now back to
the boys. I think my camera had a bit of a thing for Louis because I tried so
hard to get decent pictures of all the boys but most of my good ones were all
Louis Tomlinson. Not that I’m complaining because he always looks ruggedly
handsome and he had killer vocals that night.
Zayn,
on the other hand, is like a hidden gem. It was always so hard to find him on
stage to take a picture when he wasn’t singing a solo because he is more
serious about his singing and didn’t goof off as much as the other boys. His
voice was on point as usual. If there is one thing that you take away from this
story, it should be how seriously amazing his vocal range is. His high notes
will take your breath away even faster in concert than when you listen to them
at home on CD.
The thing I looked forward to the
most at the concert was Harry eating a banana. That doesn’t sound like a thrill
but when you see it on tumblr for months and then don’t see it at the first
concert, you get a little testy. Thankfully I witnessed it for myself the
second day and I was not disappointed. For some reason, I find the fact that
they will eat food on stage and basically do whatever they want very refreshing
and I live for it.
Harry’s charm and charisma didn’t
stop there. This is the concert that will go down in history as the concert
that they brought a cute little girl with a cast on stage with them. It was
just as cute as you might imagine. Harry requested that she come on stage so he
could sign her cast and immediately the rest of the boys made their way down to
sign it as well. Harry asked if she knew any jokes and sadly she didn’t…Liam
was so sweet with her and Louis even asked her if it still hurt so that he
didn’t put her in pain while signing it. Niall wasn’t so sympathetic and ended
up just mocking the way she said “what” before signing her cast, but it was
cute not mean. YouTube it if you have to, it was hilarious. I have never been
so jealous of a little girl in my life, but they could not have picked a nicer
kid to bring on stage. You go Caroline! And in the words of Harry Styles “Damn
you, funhouse!”
As much of a goofball as harry is,
his voice was just as spectacular. He had a good mix of silly and serious
rocker those nights.
I saved Niall for last because
there’s something special about that kid to me. In all of his speeches he spoke
from the heart and nothing sounded rehearsed. You could see how focused and
intense he got when he had the guitar in his hand. It’s hard to sing, entertain
the crowd, and play the guitar at the same time, but he does it so well. The
way he looked at the crowd and smiled showed how much he appreciated every
single person that was there. On a less serious note, his hair looked luscious
and when he laughed I think my soul left my body. If you haven’t heard his
laugh or seen the smile he makes when he laughs, you need to reconsider what
you are doing with your free time.
To finish things up, I’d like to
mention how incredible their stage was. No words can describe it…
For those of you who soldiered
through and read until the end I really appreciate it. I hope every single fan
gets to see their idols in concert some day because the way I described those
two nights does not fully encompass the experience. I hope to see you all back
here when I start posting about crafts and stuff, because you know I’ll miss
you!
Sarah is a 21-year-old sculpture
major at Bradley University who enjoys art, animals, geekery, music, and a good
cuddle. She may be long winded in text, but in life she’s a bit shy at first.
She’ll be around every so often with crafts and life events so stay tuned for
another trip into the unknown.
Where to find me:
Thursday, 2 October 2014
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Circus Arts
In Janurary of 2014, I decided to take a trapeze class and it totally changed my life. Prior to taking this class I had basically zero experience working out. Lifting the milk jug out of the fridge was a struggle. I knew this class was going to be tough.....but wow. In my first class we learned how to properly hang from the trapeze bar and a few other basic hangs. I have never been so sore in my life. For the next three days, I felt like I got hit by a bus. Normally I would have been like “This is way too hard. I’m too lazy for this. I’m not going back.” but something about it made me want to come back the following week. At this next class we worked on things we learned in the previous class and also added in a few more tricks that were slightly more challenging. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t struggling as much as I was the week before. As the weeks went on, I continued to progress. There’s just something about learning new tricks and perfecting them that is so addicting. A few months after starting trapeze, I decided to try lyra (also known as aerial hoop). I am now obsessed with training on both these apparatuses. Since starting, I have became so much stronger than I ever imagined I could become. In addition to that, I have noticed that I am more energized and motivated. The rush you get from doing aerial arts is just incredible. I strongly encourage everyone to give it a chance. My classes were filled with people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. It’s a fun way to work out and no prior experience in anything is needed. The internet is full of resources for you to find a circus or aerial art school near you.
Click HERE to watch my videos on the trapeze and lyra! Do you have any cool hobbies or skills? Tell us!
-Ryna
x
Ryna is a licensed cosmetologist that specializes in special effects and avante garde make up. She is also a REDKEN Certified Colourist and has attended many workshops and academies to expand her knowledge in the beauty industy. As a hobby, Ryna also enjoys training as an aerialist. You could say her hair and make up match her circus-like personality. If Ryna is not at the salon you can most likely find her at EDM concerts, making flower crowns and many other things for her new company, swinging on her lyra hoop, making YouTube videos, or hanging out with her friends.
Make an appointment at Frank Gironda to see Ryna!
1 (630) 904-3600
Ryna is a licensed cosmetologist that specializes in special effects and avante garde make up. She is also a REDKEN Certified Colourist and has attended many workshops and academies to expand her knowledge in the beauty industy. As a hobby, Ryna also enjoys training as an aerialist. You could say her hair and make up match her circus-like personality. If Ryna is not at the salon you can most likely find her at EDM concerts, making flower crowns and many other things for her new company, swinging on her lyra hoop, making YouTube videos, or hanging out with her friends.
Make an appointment at Frank Gironda to see Ryna!
1 (630) 904-3600
Where to find me: