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| I came out of a killer, motivational spin class and finally did what I've been wanting to do. Sign up for a half Ironman in May. I'm going for it baby!! A week before my birthday, I can check off a half Ironman from my bucket list. |
Speaking of bucket list- I'm an officially trained ninja now.
Crazy huh? Life has an amazing way of putting amazingly fun things in the path.
One of my clients who has an intense fear of her heart stopping (same one I did the Color Me Rad with), and recently has come into exercise found out about this event. She's made AMAZING strides and is one tough girl. Well, she has had an incredible crush on a pro American Ninja Warrior for YEARS. She saw a flyer that he was coming to town to do a Ninja camp in Vegas. She was scared to death but so eager to go and she came asking me to go with her. I looked it up and was amazed. Several pros to show and teach the tricks to overcoming ninja obstacles. I knew this was a huge step for her to overcome a lot of anxiety she carries and prove to herself she can do anything she sets her mind to. I also wanted to add ninja to my resume, so I agreed to go and make a fool of myself at all cost to get her the attention of this pro- Flip Rodriquez.
I've never really had a girls weekend, like ever. So it was really fun! We stayed on the strip in Aria and had a fun time walking the strip. We laughed at her shopping bags with clothes and me carrying a cute Mario stuffed backpack I'd found for Jaylen's stocking along the strip. We got dressed up for dinner and had a fun dinner at a nice Mexican place.
While on the strip, people kept trying to give us free tickets to go into nightclubs. I finally grabbed a couple tickets from a guy, with no real intention to go. Crystal was shocked that I'd grabbed them (she's very timid and scared to do a lot of things, major anxiety issues). I could tell on our way out of dinner that she really wanted to try to see if she'd be brave enough to go into one. I didn't care to go, but I could tell this was a BIG deal for her. She'd been to Vegas many times and always too scared to go in- the bass would stop her heart, she'd never done it- so many fears stopping her. So, I said, "Let's do this thing. You can easily do this and come out okay." So away we went, checking into a night club, Haze. She was grabbing my arm so tightly and was so scared to go in! I marched her right into that place and walked right down to the dance floor. She shrieked! "I can't do that!!" So eventually she summoned enough courage to just stand on the dance floor. It was way fun- a couple songs just goofing off on the floor and she was GLOWING. So proud of herself- she kept saying no one that knows her would ever believe she'd done it! Amazing how everyone has such different challenges. After 15 minutes, we left. When we got back to the room, she was literally beaming.
She has a lot of sketchy people in her life- drug dealers, a list of bad, abusive boyfriends, a family (brother and dad) she is constantly having to support and take care of. She told me how funny it was that anything I tell her to do or I do with her, she's able to do and not worry. She expressed to me that she knew she could trust my judgement and knew that I would never get her into any trouble like everyone else in her life. It made my heart break for her, but I'm honored to be helping her along her journey to discovering herself and breaking out of so many fears.
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| View from our room |
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| We got to Camp Rhino. Only girls there. |
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| Parkour over boxes |
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| Where Flip gave me my nickname, Mrs. Parkour |
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| The 15' warped wall. Only girl to touch the top! It was such a fun challenge! |
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| Spider wall |
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| Balance test. Jump on and roll a big tire across the floor |
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| The walls we climbed and other obstacles. |
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| These rings were hung so high it literally felt like I was flying through these. I loved that feeling! |
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| Miss Crystal with her crush, Flip |
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| Two of the pros- Brent and Kacy |
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| After the spider wall it was a rope swing to the inverted net |
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| TOUGH- ouch. |
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| Up the inverted wall, hanging on to 2x4s. |
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| I made it through!! |
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| Pros- Grandpa Ninja, Brent, Kacy and Flip |
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| I liked this at the gym.. |
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| We got photobombed by this random dude at Haze. |
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| Morning of Ninja training! |
I've never been so sore. I had scratches on my legs, a whole in the knee of my pants, bleeding from my wrist, a pulled hand muscle that swelled up like a grape, and the thrill of a lifetime.
It was a very fun trip- I became a ninja, aided in a wonderful person proving to herself she can do anything, and was a great trip to think and truly see how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband and kids. I'm grateful to have the beliefs I have that have led me where I am today. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. I missed my family while I was gone, and was so excited to see them the next day.
Crystal is set on auditioning for American Ninja Warrior next year. I will finish the half Ironman in May and see where life goes- I would love to compete on the show. What a fun, new challenge!!
