April Noteworthies

Why is it that as the year progresses, time seems to fly by more quickly?  I can't believe we are already in May!  Aside from running the half marathon , April was pretty uneventful.

Echo has continued his agility classes and I have continued to fund it, le sigh.  I just don't have the heart to quit because he has his happiest moments there!  In fact, he has improved tremendously!

A video posted by @trulyblessedssl on Apr 23, 2016 at 12:27pm PDT

 
I have also taken the train more because I save on gas and parking.  I also get to squeeze in a little bit of reading along the way.  Double win!  This month, I finally finished The Story.  It essentially is the Bible, but rewritten in a way where it reads more like a fictional book.  I learned a lot more than I knew before, but truth be told, it was still rather confusing and a little difficult to get through.  I think I have been working on this book for over a year - eek!

Hopefully I will have a better update in May when there will be more happening!

Hollywood Half Marathon

My friend and I had been training for the Hollywood Half Marathon for the past 6 weeks.  Every weekend, we dreaded the long runs....7 miles, 8 miles, all the way up to 12 miles the weekend before.  On the day of the event, adrenaline was pumping and we were ready.  My goal was to finish under 10/mi.  Not only did I reach my goal, but I crushed it!  I felt amazing the entire race and finished in 2:01 hrs @ 9:17/mi!

 Yes, it is still dark!  We got up at 3:30AM to take the train into Hollywood for a 6AM start time!

 Here we are halfway through the race, still feeling awesome!

A video posted by @trulyblessedssl on Apr 9, 2016 at 10:20am PDT

Here we are coming in at the finish line!  The best part of this video is overhearing a man say "That's what I'm talking about!  That's victory right there!"

We finished right before the rain started!  What a wonderful experience and a wonderful race!  And yes, we did decide to twin it!

Wedding Coordination: Westin Pasadena

A couple weeks ago, I had a the privilege of coordinating a wedding at the Westin Pasadena.  My Bride and Groom were extremely detailed oriented which made my job easy, yet a little more stressful since I had very little margin for error.  Luckily, everything went as smoothly as possible given the amazing assistance I had and we stayed ahead of schedule throughout the day!  I even met new amazing vendors whom I hope to work with again in the future!

  Beautiful Bride taking a moment for herself on her big day

 A traditional twirl at their first look

 The two ringbearers decided to take a nap right before the ceremony!  Luckily, we found two additional stand-ins!

March Noteworthies

Gosh, where did the time go?  The 1st quarter of 2016 has flown by and the only resolution I have been able to stick to is to read one book per month, which brings me to Redeeming Love.

This is a book I strongly recommend.  It is story about a young girl who was born out of wedlock, unwanted by both parents, sold into prostitution, grows up with self hatred, lack of hope, and mistrust toward everyone, but then meets a man who feels called by God to make her his wife.  Through his obedience to God, love, patience, and faithfulness, her journey to rehabilitation, to gain hope and trust in the world again unfolds.  Quick and easy read - definitely pick it up.  

I have also been training for my half marathon scheduled on April 9th, so every weekend has been consumed with long runs.  Luckily, I have friends who join me in this endeavor to make the time pass by a little quicker.  We've discovered that the long runs are much more enjoyable when you have a reward at the end.  I recently starting utilizing the metro by parking my car at a station, running to a cute street with a lot of bakeries and coffee shops where we pick up a coffee after a run and then riding the train back to my car.  It makes for the perfect Saturday morning.

I also coordinated another wedding at the Westin Pasadena and had the best team working with me that day!  Believe it or not, everything was on time and everyone had a blast!  I'll post a separate entry with more photos of their big day.  Congratulations to the newlyweds!

A photo posted by Cameron Leung (@cameronleungphoto) on Mar 26, 2016 at 11:47pm PDT

 

Finally, I have been continuing Echo's agility classes because he just loves it so much.  He can hardly contain himself when we pull up to the building and will whine the entire time waiting for his turn.  I think agility classes really help build a dog's confidence, especially when they are able to conquer their fears.  

He was so nervous getting on the bridge because it wiggles.  
I know one day he will confidently walk through it.

Here he is in slow motion jumping over a hurdle! 

And this is my favorite video of all time.  This was the first time Echo had ever tried climbing the bridge.  I thought he would be really scared, but step by step, he quickly grew accustomed to it and I couldn't get him to stop!  Every time I would release him to start climbing, he would let out a loud yelp out of excitement.  It made my heart so happy to see him so happy!

Classpass Review

I recently decided to take advantage of Classpass which allows you to attend classes at any participating studio up to a 3x times a month per studio, especially because they had a $19 special for 2 weeks option!  I utilized my Classpass to attend a couple Pilates classes at my favorite studio Sweat Pilates.  Each class typically costs $35 for 50 mins, but with Classpass, depending on how many classes I would take in the 2 weeks, the cost was super duper low!

 
I've also always wanted to try kickboxing but with a punching bag so I visited Classic Kickboxing.  The instructor was really attentive and passionate which I appreciated.  There was a lot of downtime in between as he demonstrated the exercises which made it difficult for me to break a sweat (I don't sweat easily).  Also, because it was my first time, I'm sure my technique didn't optimize me for the best workout especially because my wrist was hurting with every impact.  All in all, it was a good experience, but I don't think that would be my workout of choice in the future.

Lastly, I have always wanted to try hot yoga, so I visited Santa Anita Hot Yoga.  Omg, the room was so warm when I walked in I felt like I couldn't breathe and it only got hotter!  I have never sweat so much in my life!  I took the beginner's class and it was a little too slow for my liking (though I am not a yoga expert) and the instructor's exhale came with some sort of whistle sound so it was really distracting.  I did buy a Groupon for this studio that expires in May so I am sure I will be frequenting this studio, but will probably not take this same class again.

Classpass costs $60/month for 5 classes and $119/month for unlimited classes.  I wish I was able to attend a spin class and a barre class, but alas, work got in the way and I couldn't try those classes out.  Classpass also includes 1 hour of gym time at Gold's gym, so I think it's worth it if you like to change up your fitness routine.  For me, I need to go to the gym more than 3x a month, so I have to pay for my monthly gym membership.  On top of that, I already pay for my bootcamp, so to pay for another $119 wouldn't make sense for me right now.  I still recommend it though!!

I've realized how grumpy I get if I don't get a workout in especially after sitting all day.  Here I am at my ghetto 24 hour fitness gym, lol.