May 31, 2016

Life Lately | 5.31.16

Hi Friends! Today’s exhilarating and nail biting post brings you a few key moments in Jordan’s life from the last half of May. Thrilling… I know!

May 21st, 2016 – INSANITY Certification – Waterloo, IA

This actually was thrilling. And, apparently, I am lucky to have come out alive from my overnight stay in ol’ Waterloo. Listen, I am a cheap-o when it comes to hotel rooms the night before out of town certifications. That is money out of my pocket for less then an 8 hour stay, so I choose cheap over lux. I guess this particular hotel I stayed in usually means trouble. Let’s just say I got 4 hours of sleep, saw multiple deals go down in he parking lot.. and by deals I mean things I can’t even repeat. I had about enough of the commotion by 5am that morning that I was up, ready and out the door by 5:30am, found a Starbucks and sat in my Jeep until 8:15am. After hearing the whole hotel story, Kayla made me promise to put a $100 minimum on any future hotel stays when flying solo. Clint told me to not forget my gun. Got it. Check! When all was said and done, I survived and helped certify this AMAZING crew of new INSANITY instructors. They asked some of the most intelligent questions and really dug deep into the material.

CHAMP Snuggles.

As mentioned in my last post, Champ has cancer. And it’s getting really close to the end of his time with us. Closer then I had ever hoped it would come. It’s been a rough last 24 hours. I will keep you posted and many many many many thanks for the love and well wishes. I feel them. And WE are going to need them in the days ahead. ❤

Memorial Weekend

Friday – A wonderful Happy Hour with none other then Ms. Tyree.

Saturday – A trip to Brownville, NE where I was overdressed, the town was packed with junk… err, “treasure” if you are a flea market type, the beer was good, the company in our gorgeous cuz Erika was great, the pickings for Clint was just what he wanted and the afternoon away from the city was glorious.

Sunday – A trip to Clarinda on the bikes…

for some grillin’ and chillin’ with the greatest friends a couple could have. We even got to hang with Kyle, the Lane’s and Dustin.

It was the perfect summer night.

And that Sunset was INCREDIBLE!

Monday – A trip to the soon to be open Walkup Woods to watch Clint get some mill-work done. Clint is opening a second business, in conjunction with Walkup Tree, slated to open on June 20th. He’s the hardest working, most dedicated and most visionary man I know. Proud of him. More details to come on this new adventure.

Ended Monday with a ride to Blair for some afternoon beers, good music and time spent with friends.

May riding wouldn’t be complete without getting caught in a storm. I love the thrill of watching the rain roll in, the lightening crack across the sky and those first few raindrops. It’s not so bad getting poured on when you know you are headed home. It’s another story when you are just starting out your journey to Sturgis in the pouring rain, but we won’t go back and dig up old bones now, will we? 🙂 😉

Cheers to a lovely May full of friends and fun. And here’s to bringing in June with a much needed girls vacation around the bend and a few more long lasting hugs with my buddy, Champ.

❤

May 17, 2016

Life Lately | 5.17.16

Life Lately

Rockfest 2016 was perfect. We spent about 1.5 hours at the show and about 2.5 hours in a bar catching up. HA! Haven’t missed one in 10 years, but this is definitely the most short lived experience. Lineup wasn’t my cup of tea, wasn’t feeling like rocking out and was just feeling like hanging with my girl and catching up. So we did. It was perfect.

Sasha gets ornerier the older she gets. 16 years old, spunky as all get out and tends to dig around in the firepit soot. But, she’s still cute, isn’t she?

Sunday is meant for riding the Harley’s with the hubs. ❤

Sunday’s AREN’T meant for 4.5 hours of softtop Jeep additions, but that’s what we used this Sunday morning for. Yeesh! It better be worth it come warm weather, I tell ya.

Saturday road trips to Topeka, KS for the nieces High School graduation is always fun! Isn’t my mama gorgeous!? 🙂

Made by my MIL, Robin + Caught the eye of Clint = A surprise to me! I LOVE it! 🙂 ❤

Lot’s and Lot’s and Lot’s of Champ snuggles going around our house these days. Champ was diagnosed with Cancer a few weeks back. It’s been rough to deal with. He’s my baby. For those that have pets before children, you get it. It’s tough news to hear. Even tougher to watch them deteriorate. He’s still with us. He’s still wagging his tail, following me around the house when he can and lovable as ever. And we are taking full advantage of that. Pretty sure he doesn’t mind the spoiling. Hello loads of yummy people food!

When Kyle comes home the dogs eat it up. And so do we! Don’t get to see this kid often enough. ❤ Almost 20, sophomore year at NWMSU completed and a summer of farming and college kid shenanigans ahead for him!

Have you ever played Kubb? (<-Linked) It was played at my niece’s graduation this weekend, but we are for sure going to snatch one up soon. Perfect addition to motorcycle rallies!

Parties with girlfriends are the best. 😉

Jessica’s BIRTHDAY!! You know Jess has amazing friends when they travel in from IA City and Des Moines area for a random Tuesday evening.

PiYo. Do you PiYo? I am getting ready to add it to my teaching lineup. Loving the stretch, the burn and the massive puddles of sweat from it. WHO KNEW I could sweat almost as much, if not more, in PiYo as in INSANITY. I love it. And I love the non-impact of it. I am going on week 3 of a bum foot. Fairly certain I’ve got a stress fracture going on. Doctor you ask? Hell no. I know what I need to do to get it to heal. Stay off of it.

😉

Killing those certifications! Life as a Master Trainer is so fulfilling. Seeing all of these instructors OWN their new adventures fills my happiness cup up to the MAX!!

And THAT my friends, is life lately.

April 17, 2016

Life Lately | April 2016

Hi Friends! I was inspired this weekend by my girl Katie over at Yellow Mango Life to start blogging again. She took a year off and I missed her updates! When I saw that little notification come up in my inbox that she had a few new posts up, I jumped for joy. She’s back! And with the CUTEST little addition to her family. Go check it out!

So for me… where do I even start? Here we go!

Clint’s Birthday – January

The annual Des Moines trip for Clint’s Birthday, aka Winter Party, ensued. A riot as normal.

February – Certifications

Certified some AMAZING new TurboKick and INSANITY instructors in Knoxville, IA. I love my Master Trainer job. LOVE!

Colorado – Copper Mountain – Annual Family Ski Vacay

Our annual trip to Copper Mountain Ski Resort with Clint’s family was, as always, a GREAT time away from work and everyday life to just enjoy family, clean air and fresh powder.

Master Classes – March

The first two weeks of March I spent traveling to Northwest Iowa and Red Oak, IA to offer free TurboKick and INSANITY Master Classes. Offering Master Classes is a way to spread the format love across the States and to notify folks of upcoming certifications. Always a great way to spend a day! Want me to come to you? Hit me up and let’s work it out. Bonus? I don’t charge for Master Classes! 😉

Biker B!tch Winter Sucks Party!

An evening with the Biker B’s. Shenanigans all around with these ladies.

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St Patrick’s Day Shenanigans

…with my morning INSANITY crew at the YMCA! I didn’t get to drink a green beer on St. Pat’s day this year because at 7pm, I was boarding a plane for California.

Master Trainer Newbie Bootcamp – California – March 18th-20th

Master Trainer Newbie Bootcamp. A time for Master Trainer’s within their first year as an MT to come together, learn, workout, learn some more, get pushed, learn some more, repeat, repeat, repeat. It was an experience to remember. It was hard, it was rewarding, it was eye opening, enlightening and humbling. I made new friends, connected with my 2015 Ambassador audition group, met some of the most influential folks in the fitness industry and learned from some of the best of the best. I look forward to future bootcamps when I am not the newbie! 🙂

Master Trainer newbie bootcamp was the culmination of a year long learning experience for me.

February 2015: Auditioned in Colorado to become a Master Trainer.
March 2015: Entered the 6-12 month master trainer ambassador program to start the learning and training process.
March 2015: Advanced into the fast track program for TurboKick.
May 2015: booked my first TBK certification as a trainer
June 2015: Cancelled my first certification. 😕 I wasn’t ready. There are times in life when you have to know when to push through something and when you have to pull back. I wasn’t mentally prepared to offer my own certification. I am hyper critical. Hyper aware. Hyper sensitive. I knew going into the certification wasn’t in my best interest, my future instructors or the companies. I chose more time to continue to hone my skills and craft.
October 2015: Hosted my very first TurboKick certification as a trainer. I finally did it.
2016: hit the ground running with five certifications completed, an added format of INSANITY and many more certifications on the horizon.

What a CRAZY 3 days of intense training, education and fun with fellow master trainers and ambassadors facilitated by some of the best MT’s and format/industry experts in the business.

The remaining Colorado Auditioning Crew.

❤

Super Workout

Region 2: Represent!

Sarah.

I officially met Sarah in California after speaking with her for a few months prior. I have grown so close to this girl through this experience. She is genuine, loyal, honest and you always know what you are getting with her. She and I continue nearly daily conversations and use each other to bounce ideas off of, talk through scenarios and build each other up. I dig her. She’s my jam.

April

Time with Friends – Erin was back for a few days. The three of us were roomies 10 years ago. TEN years ago I moved to Omaha and these chicks took me under their wild and crazy wings. Then Erin left us and we were forced to grow up. HA! It’s always fun to see her when she comes back. My oh my have our get-togethers changed.

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Grandma Evan’s 80th Birthday!

I just LOVE this woman. What a fun weekend of celebrating her greatness with family. ❤

The Brother. ❤

The Nieces ❤

The Husband

❤

The Mom

❤

Wine and Junk Run – Saturday, April 17th

Sara owns and operates SW Iowa Primitives, Antiques and Furniture in Emerson, IA. Each Spring and Fall she does a tour of wineries and shops in neighboring towns. Each stop requires a signature or stamp from the owner, you hit each stop and make your way back to the shop for food and prizes. It’s a great way to bring business to the small communities, find unique items and enjoy a day with your friends.

And if you have friends like mine, we definitely make it a day to remember.

Present Day!

There you have it… a quick recap of a few highlighted moments over the last few months. Today was a day of housework, meal prep, dog snuggles, an afternoon Harley ride with my man and now evening downtime. Cheers to a great week and maintaining at LEAST a weekly blog update. 🙂 No promises, folks. No promises.

December 17, 2015

Life Lately – A Whole Month!

It was exactly one month ago today I published my post on Solitude. That is the longest stretch I have ever gone without writing something, even if the something was nothing. So, what have I been up to in this last month? A lot of awesome and not awesome.

Let’s start with the AWESOME!

Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Decorating.

Yes, it went up a solid week Pre-Turkey Day.

Judge away.

Dave’s Retirement.

After 43.5 years, my step-dad RETIRED from Eaton Corporation. What a proud moment for us all! Dave is a pure example of what hard work and dedication looks like.

Thanksgiving

Lot’s of family at the Swanson’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Good food, drink and family fun.

Thanksgiving at Gr’pa Goecker’s.

The best part? We got my DAD to show up to! It was an early Christmas Miracle – it’s been a few years since he has attended.

Love that crazy man.

And then… this happened.

Iowa vs. Nebraska Game, Friday, November 27th – Lincoln, NE.

It. Was. FREEZING but Oh. So. AWESOME!

We tailgated with a few friends while attempting to stay warm. Clint had the right idea with his Carharts. He looks like he is going to work, you say? Ask him if he cared. He was WARM!

Was I warm?

Semi-warm pre-game thanks to cuddle time with the girls.

…but NOT WARM mid-game.

Seriously. 23 and breezy. Whew! But, totally worth it for that Hawkeye WIN!

Chiefs Game – Sunday, November 29th

It was 7 degrees warmer than Fridays game, so it felt like a friggin’ heat wave. The rain, however, was a bit of a damper on the atmosphere but not our spirits! What a blast.

I even ran into my Brother and Sis-in-Law! They are legit Chief fans; as in not sure they have ever missed a home game.

A successful run after TWO months of no runs (minus the trail run first of November). I’ll get to that in the not-so-awesome section.

Group Date – December 11th

A group of us went out on the town for a fun Friday night. Let’s just say we all had a grand time. Some more than others. 🙂

Claire’s Birthday – Saturday, December 12th

Live music at Bogey’s West Bar and Grill for the birthday girls 35th closed out last weekends shenanigans!

Oh – and I am now officially a Master Trainer for the INSANITY brand too! TurboKick and Insanity certifications coming up in Omaha, January 23rd and 24th. So freaking excited to train some new instructors in these formats. Insanity is already at capacity – how awesome is that?! It’s going to be a great weekend! 🙂

Can’t make Omaha? Join me in Knoxville, IA in February! 🙂 Email me at jordan.pirtle@yahoo.com.

B2B_January_Certs

So, what about the not so awesome?

Stupid back and hip issues. On-going for years, but always self-correcting. End of October I was nailed with incredible, debilitating pain, that even bending over to put my shoes on, or getting my toothbrush from the bottom drawer, was a painful process. Heaven forbid I try to do a squat. UGH!

Here we go…

1 Chiropractor
1 Orthopedic Doc
3 Physical Therapists
1 Massage Therapist
Laser Treatment
2.5 weeks of ZERO workouts
1 crabby girl who ate and drank her misery
1 General Physician
1 OB-GYN who listened to me complain because he’s been my doc for 8 years now and that’s just his thing to listen to crabby women (Thanks, Dr. Mark Carlson)
1 MRI (again, thanks Carlson)

1 Pain Specialist that injected me 8 times:

…that left me with bruises that I still have (and have grown quite impressively) a week later.

…And a partridge in a Pear Tree.

Am I better? Yes.

Am I healed? Nope.

Can I teach classes again? Yes.

Can I run again? Tried once and it was a success. (see above)

Can I put my socks,shoes, pants on? Not without some pain.

Can I sit comfortably? Yes.

Can I stand comfortably? I have to slowly get up and let my spine readjust for a second before I take off.

Can I do Yoga? Nope – tried again and I just get stuck.

Will this ever go away? Thinking no.

Thank goodness Champ gives me kisses to make it feel all better.

Yes, I am better then I was a month ago. I couldn’t hardly do anything. Now I can. The pain is still there but not nearly as severe. Am I able to explain it well enough without sounding like a pansy? No. It’s hard to explain. It isn’t just a sore muscle. Trust me – I know what that feels like.

#duh

Sore muscles you recover from, warm-up and push through. I am not an idiot (like some people were thinking)

It’s more than that.

Leaning over to pick something up isn’t just garnering a sore or tight feeling – it’s painful. Sometimes it’s more than painful in the fact that I physically just CAN’T. Period. My body won’t go that way. When I end my classes with stretches I have to support myself in every single move.

The best comparison is that feeling when something feels like it’s going to snap, or break, or pop out of place RIGHT before it happens.

That is what I feel like all the damn time.

Again, yes it has gotten significantly better. I can push through it to a point.

(People are so over listening to me, I get it)

(Try living with it and then talk to me)

So, today I am back to a Chiro. The day I had my MRI, I was feeling friggin’ fantastic, of course. <insert eye roll here for me> Like ready to go run a halfsy or rock an entire hour of Insanity with zero pain! YESS! But, as a result, the MRI showed minimal disc bulging in L4 and L5 but nothing else. NOTHING ELSE.

The next day after said MRI? I had to grab on to the side of my bed to even roll over and then had to push my legs over the edge to stand up. My body just wouldn’t do what I needed it to do. Period.

And that is my life. Great one day. A 150 year old woman the next.

You tell me!

Tomorrow is our last day at work. We are closed until January 4th. I can’t begin to explain my excitement. Lot’s of stretching, workouts, family time, pampering time, curriculum preparation for my certifications, fitness classes, learning new choreography, getting my diet back on track to drop these 10 gross pounds of extra garbage (thanks summer fun and my month of back depression) and whatever the heck else I want to do! Bring it on!

Harleys and Heels

Living Life in the Moment

Family

Life Lately | 5.31.16

Life Lately | 5.17.16

Life Lately