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Nick Carter Live in Concert!!! WAHOO!!! Just as things were really starting to stink here in Connecticut, I got Nick Carter tickets today! I’m going to go see him on February 20th at the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ. I don’t think I will be able to sleep until then! Now my next mission is to figure out how to get a backstage pass. It has been my lifelong (okay, since I was 14) dream to meet Nick. If anybody has any hints on how I can get some backstage passes drop me a line at shana@shanamartin.com Things are going so so here in Connecticut. I’m learning a lot at the health club, and meeting some very interesting people. Coaching track is going great! As always I am having a blast with all of the athletes. March 6th is my Grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary, so Miles and I are going to fly down to Sarasota and spend some time with them. We will also visit Miles’ Grandma down there. I’m so jealous though…my dad is going down a week early with cousins to see a space shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center! They will also spend a few days a Disney. That’s about it for news around here. A few plugs quickly… My car broke down last week and was serviced at Portland Automotive in Portland, Connecticut. Let me tell you, I have NEVER had such wonderful service. They really are great guys and did a wonderful job on my car. Next is Mobil. When my car broke down, it was about 2 degrees out and I had no sweatshirt or cell phone (no worries, dad gave me plenty of lectures later about that one) and the nice lady from Mobil gave me a pair of gloves and had her son drive me home. Plus their towing service got my car off the road for free! Alright, time to go coach. But please don’t call me coach…I go by Shana. Coach Martin makes me gag…I’m too young for that.

Middletown, Connecticut

So here I am in Connecticut.  Moving was a pain in the butt!  Two days of driving followed by moving all of my heavy crap upstairs.  Kitty was pretty     funny through the whole trip over.  Within an hour she had ripped open her carrier box and was roaming free in the car.  The vet gave us some drugs to relax her during the trip, so she spent most of the time sleeping in the passenger seat.  It was pretty funny watching her walk sideways in the hotel room though!

My primary reason for moving out here is to test out my skills as a track coach.  All through college I had my mind set on working in a health club setting as a personal trainer, fitness director, etc. but now I’m opening my mind up a bit more.  I received my Level 1 USATF coaching certification and if things go will, I will get my level 2 this summer.  So far I am having a blast!  The kids at Wesleyan are great!  Everybody has such an interesting background and are very well rounded. 

I also took a job at WOW Fitness in West Hartford Connecticut at a personal trainer.  I will be spending most of my time there.  It is defiantly a culture shock working there compared to Supreme.  Everybody acts…well different.  I won’t go into details, but I have already decided that I probably belong in the Midwest.  Anyway, it’s a fantastic facility, and they offer super fun classes too!  The other female trainer that works there is a pro fitness competitor!  It’s so neat to have somebody to talk to about fitness competitions…that actually understand!  There is also a much higher population of bodybuilders around here as well.  Maybe it’s the lack of beer and cheese that Wisconsin is so famous for?

I spent most of the day today cleaning the house and now I’m off to learn a bit more from Karen at WOW.

Vail, Colorado

Right now I am in Vail, Colorado and loving it! I flew into Denver on New Year’s Eve and Miles and I drove up here. We are staying at his friend Grant’s family’s home (mansion?). The place is beautiful! It overlooks the slopes on a mountain of it’s own and there is a fresh layer of snow on everything everyday! Anyway, being the dumb blonde that I am, the first thing I wanted to do was go for a run. Keep in mind that where we are is about 2 miles above sea level. So I jogged about a block and was totally out of breath. Pretty embarrassing. So I continued my pathetic walk/jog for about 20 minutes and called it quits. We went with Grant to see Gangs of New York, which I really did not care for (too long, lots of violence, Leo didn’t remove enough clothing, etc.) then we were off to party for New Year’s Eve. We went to a few parties with Grant’s family, and then we headed off to Kaltenberg Castle in Vail. There was a techno DJ and we danced the night away.

On New Year’s Day I went for another run, which went a little better. Then I took Mario…oh wait, gotta talk about Mario! He is this Great Dane that is almost as tall as me! Anyway, I tried to take him for a walk until he saw a Yellow lab. He pulled me for three blocks down the snowy road! My first skiing experience in Vail! After wrestling him away from the other Dog, we all drove into the village to hang out. Miles and I looked in the shops and ate some great food. That night we decided to go tubing on top of Lion’s Head Mountain. Was that ever a blast! They pulled you up the mountain while sitting in your tube, and then they had different lanes for you to tube down. I think I tweaked my neck a bit on one of the runs, but oh well!

Today we are getting ready to go skiing. This will be my first time downhill skiing ever. See, by the time I had reached age 16 and still never skied downhill, I was too embarrassed to try it out and look like the only teenager that couldn’t do it. So here I am, 22 years old and I’m going to look like tool in front of all these pros. Bah, who cares, I look like a fool all the time anyway! K…gotta go put my warm duds on! Wish me luck!