Whew, I'm back from New York. What a weekend! For those who I didn't tell, I went there to compete in the Women's Fitness Extravaganza.
After getting up in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, I made my flight and managed to meet Mike at the Airport in Newark on time. The hotel was just awesome. Our room had a perfect view of the Manhattan Skyline. After we got settled in, we went to the lobby to meet people.
Kenny Kassel, the shows promoter and a friend of mine introduced me to all sorts of interesting people. One man who I got a chance to talk with was Arnold Schwartzenager's body guard! I wouldn't think Arnold would need one, but this guy was super cool. I also was introduced to Robert Kennedy, the publisher of Oxygen and MuscleMag magazines. I felt a bit bad for Mike because he didn't know anybody and didn't really fit in. He was in quite a bit of shock to see all of the bodybuilders and "different" looking people. It's not everyday you see 20 women with 5 O'clock shadow in the same room. After taking a bit of a nap, I got a chance to hang out with some of the fitness girls and models. They are all so incredibly nice. It was neat to hear how things really work in the business. Speaking of business, Mike finally found his place that night. Mike met Scott Eppringham, a super cool guy who takes care of Kenny's website and other business matters. They started working on advertising stuff on Mike's computer, and Mike and Scott became new best friends. I hardly saw him at all for the rest of the weekend! But I guess Mike was a big help for a lot of the advertising stuff.
Saturday was the big day. I hardly slept the night before. I had to get up early to get my make up done by this wonderful lady named Lori. Lori used to be a model, and now she does make-up for models all over. One of her closest friends is Lenny Kravitz! It was super fun to listen to her stories. Anyway, I got my make-up done, then basically sat around being nervous all morning. Of course Mike was nowhere to be seen, since he was working on business stuff with Scott. What a goof.
I competed in two different divisions for the Extravaganza, the figure show and the fitness strength show. In the figure show I was placed in the middle class, based on height. It started out with the two piece round, then the one piece. I didn't even fall in my heels! I actually felt pretty confident out there, but I'm sure my posture still needed work. For the strength show there were three rounds: a straddle hold, bicep curls, and one arm push ups. There were only two other girls in that competition, who were fitness pros, so I knew I didn't have a chance. It was tons of fun being on stage with them though. In the morning show we only did the straddle holds. I actually beat one of the girls!
After everything was over in the morning, I went back to my room and slept. I needed a nap SO bad. When I woke up, it was time to get my make-up redone and get backstage for the evening show and finals. We started out the evening show with the fitness strength bicep curls. We had to curl one half of our body weight as many times as we could. Of course both girls made me look like a weakling, it was still fun. Then the figure one piece round. Nothing new and exciting about that. After the one piece, we had to quickly put on our two pieces and go back on stage to find out who made top 5. I made it! I ended up in fifth place, which was better than I thought I would get...I was still a bit disappointed though. It turns out the judges were pretty messed in the head. The results were all over the place. Oh well, I still had fun up there.
After the show we posed for pictures for like EVER. I took one picture with Mike where I kissed his cheek. This random guy was like, "Woah! How much did he pay for that?" We thought that was pretty cute. After all of the pictures, I went to the room and stood in the shower for like 45 minutes and just scrubbed. I had so much of that tanning crap on, the shower was orange the whole time, and I still didn't get much of it off. It was also nice to get off the layers of make-up on my face. Then I got ready for the banquet. I finally found Mike...he was upstairs schmoozing and having drinks with the business guys. I managed to drag him downstairs so I could finally eat!!! It was great, I ate all sorts of pasta, and cheese stuff. Yummy yum! We hung out down there meeting people and taking pictures. I must have been in a million pictures last weekend. Then we went upstairs and ordered a PIZZA! Just what I had been dreaming of for the past three months. When the pizza got there we ate pizza and watched "Superstar" on Mike's laptop. What a good movie! Mike zonked out after the first five minutes, but I managed to watch the whole movie and eat the whole pizza. hehehe. My body didn't react too well to that though. I woke up several time in the night to throw up. I managed to keep it down, but it didn't feel so good...overall it was worth it though.
The next day Mike and I got up fairly early, packed up, and headed out to New York City. We spent most of the afternoon walking around Times Square, since we hadn't really made any plans to do anything. Let me tell you, New York City is a different world. Most people are incredibly rude, and everybody is in a hurry to get somewhere....even on a Sunday! People would just run right into you and keep walking! The cars didn't stop at crosswalks, they would just honk and speed up. Yikes! We also saw our fair share of "Rolex" watches, "Gucci" bags, and "Oakley" sunglasses. I actually haggled with a guy for some Foakleys and got them for $5. hehehe. We did walk to the Empire State Building and took a ride to the top of that. Wow was that cool. The upper deck was completely open to the outside. It was a beautiful sunny day with quite a view. After walking around Times Square some more (and stopping to eat a lot of junk food) we went back to the hotel, then off to the airport. My first connecting flight to Detroit got stuck on the ground for about 2 hours, so I missed my connecting flight in Detroit. They had to put me in a hotel. It was actually kinda fun, I got a BUNCH of free food, and my hotel room was super nice. Plus, when I finally got back into Madison yesterday my boss didn't make me come into work until 3:30! I sure have had my fair share of problems with airlines this summer though.
So now it's back to the normal life. I can eat what I want when I want. I work at Supreme all this week, then it's back to school a week from today. This weekend I do get one last good time...J.R. and I are doing a Lumberjack show in Burton, Ohio. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hick town!
K, I think I've written enough for now. I have to go to the grocery store to buy some real food!!! BYE!

It's early, and I'm tired and cranky. I had to open the health club this morning…so I had to be up at 4:15 am. Ick. Plus Karate went until late last night. Not only that, but everybody at the club has the nerve to tell me how tired I look! Well, what do you expect??? I haven't eaten all summer, it's 5am, I worked out 4 hours yesterday, and I have a lot to do before I leave for New York tomorrow. And people wonder why I am TIRED??? Oh man am I cranky.
So yesterday was a psycho crazy day. I took Body Pump in the morning, and then worked for 8 hours. After work, I took an hour spin class, then running immediately to an hour Cardio Karate class. After that I had to book it over to candidacy for karate. I was so beat…but I had to do the 2-mile run. Fun stuff…not. For the rest of candidacy I was SUPER cranky. I can't wait to get back to my normal hyper, happy self.
I leave for New York tomorrow morning! I'm so excited! This is gonna be a super fun weekend. Anybody have any good ideas as to what Mike and I can do in New York City on Sunday? I'm sure there are plenty of things to do…we just have to pick!
Well, back to work, and trying to stay awake!

What a cute banner...perfect for my website! hehehe. So this is my second post for today, holy cats. After work this morning, I took a nice nap. Then I took a body pump class.. I forgot how tough those were! It was a good workout though. I think I may teach that class someday soon.
After body pump, I had to pick up a pair of shoes for the fitness competition this weekend. They are a really cool looking pair of heels....but they were $70!!! Yikes! The sad thing is I know I won't wear them except for on stage this weekend....cause how often do I dress up? Like, never.
After that I did some personal training, then worked at the desk again at Supreme. Fun stuff.
In canidacy for karate, we started the two mile runs today. It wasn't that bad, but it's just not much fun running that hard at the end of the day. I guess I will have to get used to it though.
Right now the cat is eyeing Elvis. I know she wants him dead. I think it's time for me to kick her out of my room and get some sleep. Good night.

Last week was very crazy...that is why I didn't post. Okay...so last weekend. How did it go? For those of you who didn't know, I competed at the Fitness America Regional Fitness Pageant in Milwaukee, WI.
I thought I did quite well. I didn't flub up my routine, and I was confident on stage. I was leaner than I had ever been, and felt great. So what happened? I didn't even make it into the top 10. There were twenty girls. It was very hard to stand on stage and watch those girls get their medals. To make things worse, we had to stay up there for another 20 minutes for picture after picture. I just wanted to get out of there. I didn't think I would be as upset as I was, but I got pretty emotional. I guess it was a combination of not eating, and reflecting back on how much work I had put into this. I mean, I didn't get to go to Dairy Queen once this summer! So anyway, I was walking back to the van with my dad and this Judge ran over to me. He told me that if it had been any other competition than fitness America, I would have done fine. He said that I had TOO MUCH muscle and was too lean. That was a shock. It's kind of hard to be told you trained too hard. But it did make me feel quite a bit better. Now I'm not really sure what to do for the fitness competition this coming weekend. It is sanctioned by a different group, so I'd assume I should stay lean. With my luck, they will tell me I'm not lean enough. I guess we'll have to see. But overall, I was happy with my performance, which I guess is what important. But if one more person tells me that I should be happy for being able to compete in fitness competitions, I'm gonna gag.
Oh, funny (well not so funny at the time) story. So I get home from Milwaukee around midnight. Mike was in town moving, and he had the key to my apartment. When he came over to let me in, he was like, "Shana, something happened to Elvis...." Elvis is my pet lizard. He's just a little guy, with a really large and long tail. What happened was Mike came over to move some of his stuff while I was in Milwaukee. When he went into my room there was a huge mess of screen and sand from Elvis's cage. But he wasn't in his cage. Ezra (the cat that I am taking care of for the summer) had gotten to him. The first thing Mike saw was his tail underneath my bed. He later found Elvis (still alive!) in the corner of my closet. That cat got a hold of Elvis and chewed his friggin tail off. I already had a bad day (with my placing at the fitness competition) so I just kinda lost it. My poor Elvis is only a few inches long now without his tail. I was told that it will probably grow back and that he will be okay, but he sure does look funny. For now, Ezra is banned from my room.
So I have one more week of this dieting crap. It's really hard to stay motivated to diet when you have somebody tell you you are too lean. But this is a different competition, and they will be looking for different things. I am also very excited about the trip to New York. Mike is coming along and we have all day Sunday to see the city. It's gonna be a blast!
Alright, I opened the health club this morning at 4:45 so I'm a bit out of it. Only an hour left of my shift, then I'm gonna take a nap! Bye!

     Um….yeah, so it's been about a week since I've written anything here. That's how stinkin' busy I've been! Less than a week before the Fitness America pageant in Milwaukee and two from the Fitness Extravaganza in New York. I just want to EAT again!!! It will be so nice not to have to calorie count anymore. I'm sure I will still be working out as much (if not more) but I will be able to have my pizza and cookies! Yum yum yummy yum. Okay…new subject. <>

    Like most weeks, I've spent my time working at the health club and working out. I was invited to take the next round of canidacy in karate! I start candidacy classes on Tuesday and will be testing for my black belt in the end of October. Things will be kind of tough with track practice then straight to candidacy class. I think I can do it though, that black belt is important to me. I also will not be getting certified to teach Cardio Karate until candidacy is over…that would be WAY too much on my plate! <>

     OH! Great news! My new laptop arrived! I sure hope I don't have to send this one back; Mike did a great job ordering it. It does everything! I am still using my old computer for Internet stuff though; Mike wants to put Windows 2000 on here rather than Windows Me. I dunno, computer geek stuff I guess. Hehe. <>

     K, more fitness contest stuff (since that's about the only thing going on in my life now). I got my one piece ordered. It cost me $225!!! I had it made by the designer that makes them for the pros. I'm not really sure why…. I guess I would kinda like to win. J Once I get done with track, I would love to get some good modeling jobs. (Quit laughing…) A lady that works out at Supreme is designing my routine outfit and fixing up my two-piece. I bought the bikini from the store…. it looks perfect except there are playboy bunnies on it! So we needed to get those removed ASAP. I just bought my heels two days ago. I was told the ones with tiny heels make you look feminine. I tried them on once and nearly fell. This is going to be a major project. I totally feel like Sandra Bullock from the Movie Miss Congeniality. I am the least feminine girl around…yet 30% of my score is femininity. Yikes! So I have to go get my eyebrows waxed (youch!), teeth bleached, my body artificially tanned, finger and toe nails done, and take a make up and hair lesson. Oh lordy, this could get interesting. I'm thinking of going to work tomorrow in heels, just to practice wearing them…HA! Yeah right. <>

     I am really excited to go to New York though. Mike and I left all day Sunday to hang out in the city. What should we do? There is so much. I'm sure we'll think of something! I wouldn't mind eating at every restaurant we can find! <>

     Speaking of Mike, the poophead is up in Hayward at his friend Matt's cabin all weekend. I am SO jealous. I was invited, but I really needed to stay here, make some money, and work on my routine. I will thank myself later…. I hope! <>

     When I am done working today, I think I am going to start scanning in some pictures of this summer and last year. Look for cool page updates coming soon! Also, if anybody has any good ideas of stuff I should add to this Website let me know…I'm always open to ideas! I should probably get back to work. Have a good day all!

Okay, I have to admit it...even I am starting to get sick of Backstreet Boys. Why? Only because I have been working on my fitness routing non-stop for the past two days, and BSB is my music. So I put a different picture up. This is a picture of the computer I will be receiving in the next few days. Currently the BEST laptop Dell makes. (Though they are coming out with the new edition in about a week....but for now I've got top of the line, hehe.) This one I won't have to send back because Mike ordered it for me...and he knows his stuff. PLUS I got the color keypads. :) Isn't it sad that with this whole awesome computer system, with a CD burner, DVD drive, etc, I am most excited about the keypads?
Yesterday was a good day. I worked for a few hours in the morning at the health club, then I worked with Shannon to start on my fitness routine. For you guys who have no clue what I am talking about...I am doing two fitness competitions this month. That is why I have been dieting so hard the past two months. The routine round of the fitness competition is scored for: gymnastics, dance, flexibility, and strength. Shannon did a great job putting the routine together...it will look really cool. After working on the dance, I went home and cuddled up with my kitty Cleo for about 3 hours in front of the TV....that was very relaxing. Then off to Karate.
I will officially begin candidacy for black belt on August 14th. It will be three intense 1 1/2 hour classes every week for the next 2 - 3 months. It will suck once school starts though. I will have class all day, then track, then candidacy until late. I will be pooped! Not to mention I won't be getting much homework done. But I really want to get this black belt, so I think it will be worth it.
Mike finally made it into town last night and we hung out for a while, before I conked out early. It sucks...I can't even stay up late if I try now.
Today, I slept in, went to Karate, then worked on my routine for like ever. It's done now!!! Now I just have to practice it over and over and over and over............
This afternoon I have to help Mike move all of the crap out of his apartment. I'm so excited......(sense the sarcasm?).
Anyway, I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend! Bye!

Wow, this is an OLD picture of BSB. Cute though, eh?
Another long day of work. It was kind of cool...ESPN2 played the boom run finals several times. I wish they would have played the other rounds...where I actually did well. :) Anyway, it was cool to see some stuff on ESPN. SO MANY people saw it! Like EVERYBODY that came into the club today had seen me. I feel so special. hehehe. :)
Funny story. So this guy comes into the club today, dressed up all nice, wearing too much cologne. He was like, "My sons are the best athletes in Wisconsin. They are both being recruited by the top colleges in the nation. But unfortunately, they are wrestlers, and there is no money in wrestling after college. I don't want my sons to have to work for anybody else, I want them to both be professional athletes. How much money is there in pro racquetball?" I just about flipped! What a loser! I couldn't believe it! He wasn't going to let his kids wrestle in college because there is no money in it. BAH! So I had to jump on this one...I was like,"Do your kids enjoy wrestling?" He said, "Of course they do, they are both state champions." (Which is total crap, just because you are a state champ at something doesn't mean you enjoy it.) So I told him how important it is to let your kids do what they enjoy, rather than what will make the most money or make the parents happy. Oh man did I hit a nerve there. "I have worked with pro athletes in the past," he said. "I know how the world works, and I don't want to get into this." Then he stormed off. Oh man I was pissed. One thing that really gets me is a parent that gets too involved in their kids activities. Like the ones that are on the dock screaming at a judge because he didn't hold the pole for the logroller right.....or the parent who makes their gymnast do 10 pull ups and 50 pushups before bed each night. My dad did the right thing. He said me down when I was little and told me about several different sports. He let me choose. Because of that I wasn't forced into anything I didn't want to do. My dad has always been proud of me no matter how I finished in anything. I hope I will be able to do the same with my kids.
Okay, new subject....the sexy lifeguard at the YMCA. Turns out he is moving back to Cali, so I only got to watch him during logrolling for a month. :( Did I ever mention this guy is hot? Not just hot, we're talkin, holy smokes - tall - dark - handsome - and muscular - hot. In case you are reading this Mike......you know you are still the most wonderful guy, and I love you very much. :) But this lifeguard......woah man! Okay, I'm done now. :)
Well, gotta work early again tomorrow. Goodnight!

So pretty much nothing exciting has happened in the past two days.
Yesterday I got a LOT of jobs done. I finally sent in the whole application and my music for the Fitness America competition. It's crunch time! I also got quite a bit of cleaning done in this stinky house. Then I worked from 4:30 until 8:30pm. Yesterday it got up to 104 degrees here. It wasn't much cooler when I tried to go to sleep either. After laying in my own sweat for five minutes, I decided to hop in the car and go sleep at my dad's house...with AC! Wow, that was wonderful.
Today I worked all day. After work I took a spinning class, then a cardio karate class. Lotsa fun there...not. I am also making arrangements to do some lumberjack shows a few weekends during the school year. Those should be fun, and bring in some $$$ as well. :)
Gots another long day of work tomorrow, I'm going to bed! Goodnight!